The Pagan Experience - March Week 3

Building A Connection With Deity

Instead of talking about my Deities, and those whom I worship, I'd like to actually talk about how to build a connection with a deity. This would have definitely come in handy when I struggled with building a relationship with my newest Deity, Achilles, whom I will discuss next month (stay tuned)!

This is also part of my Pagan Journal Prompts, and is week 13.

Building A Connection With Deity

• Establish a home base.
• Your home base is where you start from; in other words, where you are right now in your beliefs. It is also where you will return as you explore other ideas about Deity. As your ideas change, so will your home base. Ask yourself: what do you believe about Deity right now? Take some time to identify your ideas and express them. Make a list of your ideas about Deity and see if you can identify their connecting themes. Begin where you are currently. Study, learn, and experience all you can about your current beliefs.
• Make a connection.
• After you've studied and learned for a while, give it a rest. Let all that knowledge and theory percolate awhile. In the mean time, focus on opening yourself to connecting with your concept of Deity. This is the point where you and the Divine intersect. Go find it. 
• Develop a relationship. 
• Once you have a connection with your concept of Deity, you need to being forming a relationship with it. How does Deity interact with you, and how do you interact with it?
• Flex your ethics muscles.
• Allow your Deity concepts and your ethics to develop together. Your ideas about Deity and your philosophy of life should be in harmony with each other. There is no reason for your ethics and your Deity images to conflict. If they do conflict, something is wrong and you need to take a hard look at both of them. There is no need to do anything you believe to be unethical in your religious practice. Keep your ethical muscles healthy by working them for yourself and insist that your Deity beliefs and your ethics support each other.
• Keep exploring.
• When you feel ready, venture away from your home base and explore as many other perspectives for which you have time and interest. Being an explorer is a lifetime process, so pace yourself. Don't let your other responsibilities slide because you're going a hundred miles an hour in your studies. Keep all aspects of yourself in balance. Don't form your opinions on a perspective until you've tried it on. It's even ok to try on an idea you don't agree with. Be open to learning from unexpected sources. Good ideas and insights can come from anywhere. It's ok to agree with an idea originating from someone no one has heard of or who is unpopular, and it's ok to disagree with an idea even though it comes from someone famous. Evaluate an idea based on its substance, not it's source.
• Be respectful.
• You are going to encounter a lot of different ideas about Deity throughout your life. Be respectful of what works for others, even if you disagree with them. Sometimes we learn the most from what makes us uncomfortable. While you're respecting the views of others, don't forget to include yourself. Don't bash where you came from or what you used to believe. For whatever reason, you needed to be there then, and where you came from got you where you are today.