Day Eight
Prompt: Do you have a connection to a deity, pantheon, or certain aspect of the universe? How did this connection happen?
I'm a pagan, so yes. I worship deities from multiple pantheons (kept separately, of course) and am devoted to Skadi and Apollon. For Apollon, I was just persistent. It was very one sided for quite a while, but I think I was able to prove myself and I've been devoted to him for about 8 years, I think. Skadi just kind of happened. I really don't know how to explain it. I don't know when that transition happened, so there isn't really much for me to add.
I tend to feel drawn to deities associated with war, the sun and/or the dead. I've also noticed recently that a lot of deities I worship more actively are also associated with either wolves or ravens. I don't only worship deities that fit into these categories, but I do feel a particular draw to those deities. I do have some theories about this.
For war deities, I think it's because I'm an activist and I believe the things I believe very deeply. I think war deities kind of have that energy and modern worshipers might want to consider appealing to them before going to protests, particularly protests where there might be an element of danger. The war deities I worship (to varying extents) are Ares, Tyr, Lugh*, Odin*, Freya and The Morrigan*.
For solar deities, I genuinely don't know. I don't like sunny weather, I'm not a morning person, I get irritable when it's hot out...I don't understand this one even a little bit...but I always feel drawn to solar deities, it's really odd. The solar deities I worship are Apollon, Helios, and Lugh*.
As for deities of the dead...I think it's because I do spirit work and am lowkey obsessed with death. Not to an unhealthy degree, I just have a lot of interests that involve it. I'm interested in forensics, why killers are the way they are, spirit work, horror movies, the Black Death...I guess I just invite this sort of attention with all of that. I will note that I am differentiating between gods of death and gods of the dead. I'm talking about the deities of the dead who watch over the place(s) people go when they die, not the deities that are death or the personification of it. The deities I worship are Hekate*, Odin*, The Morrigan*, Freya*, Mannanan Mac Lir and (more recently) Ereshkigal.
I don't worship all of these deities to the same extent, but I do worship all of them at least occasionally. I'm a reconstructionist pagan, so all of this is kept separate.
Notes: * = they're at least adjacent to this category, or it's debatable. Freya is included with deities of the dead because she gets half of those who die in battle.