michi-izkur-ereshkigal:

doe-eyed-harpy:

What do y’all mean when y’all say you do/don’t “connect” with the gods? I don’t feel a deep, personal connection (which is what I’ve assumed “connect” means) with most of the gods, but that doesn’t preclude worship. Nor have I noticed such an emphasis in other faiths I’ve been privy to on interactions like I’ve seen described here re: polytheism (like, for instance, god phones or being directly called by a god as opposed to just being drawn because of similar interests/values.)

So, seriously, what are y’all’s various definitions/understandings?

No idea, the emphasis is a pet peeve of mine. It scares new worshippers away, or makes them feel unworthy because they can’t feel Apollo or Zeus. They don’t hear the words of Athena. They don’t receive signs from Artemis. And so these new individuals or people transitioning from some other form of paganism to Hellenic faith think that they can’t worship Apollo, Zeus, Athena, or Artemis.

Do I have a deep connection to the two Gods I am specifically devoted to? Yes, more prayer, more or seperate offerings, I may petition them first in times of need. I have this language with them; I can’t explain it well, it comes in the forms of abstract thoughts, emotions, feelings, that translate into meanings— and its mostly me just listening. The term godphone I don’t use anymore, I’ve explained my frustrations with it before and said I do have staticky godphone but what does that even mean? So I gave up using the word and just stick to the description above.

However, thats still faith. I have had experiences like that with a few Gods but not every God I worship, sometimes its only one instance. (Its just happens to be consistant in those two).

Other than those two Gods, all can still receive worship. Not every ancient contemplated if each god had a special connection to them. If they, as an Athenian, where good enough to worship Athena, they got a sign. They are … Gods. You worship, praise, and petition them.

As for “calling,” when I was an eclectic pagan then eclectic polytheist it meant, for me, an intense interest, a desire, a cluster of thoughts about a God, even a feeling of longing. It happened with multiple sun goods til I said screw it and just worshipped “The Sun.” I found and worshipped various Gods like that (and some I found in other ways) until I learned about revivalism and reconstructionism. However, even when I was an eclectic I had never recived signs (if what I described counts as “signs”) from all my Gods; for example, I began worshiping Hestia when I knew within the next year I’d be living in my own apartment not because I recived a sign of any kind it was a deliberate “I should worship the Goddess of the home because I’ll have my own”

I sometimes see a post going around, and I think its for Witches, but it says something akin to “not every god is going to want to work with you and thats okay, move on.” All I picture is a pagan/polytheist wanting to worship Athena , not receiving any “sign” so they end up giving up. Possibly because of reading that post or one like it that emphasizes “communication.” It breaks my heart to think the person would feel so unworthy, simply because they can’t “communicate”, that they would stop.