revlisrekons

[revlisrekons]

The Forbidden Discussion: "what happens when your deity leaves you?"

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To all be on the same page, let's review some vocab: <3

Worshiping (a Deity): Worship is always invited and never frowned upon. It is essentially the idea of admiring a Deity and setting up a space for them. It is harmless and people do it all over the world with multiple Deities constantly. There is no end goal, except for becoming closer to that Deity.

Working with (a Deity): This can be considered taking Worship to the next level. This involves the “imitation” of a conversation between yourself and the Deity to which there is a mutual understanding of a mentor/mentee relationship. Typically, when one is working with a Deity, there is an end goal in mind that involves learning a new set of skills or the development of emotional growth.

To begin, I don't think a Deity will ever forcefully leave *you* because they aren't attached to *you.* Deities are powerful, limitless beings. They have other things to do. For starters, Deities, always, take time away. They are important beings with a lot to do, you can't expect them to just hang around your altar all day. There will be days, weeks, and months one could go without seeing their Deity, but that doesn't mean they've stopped working with you. In fact, most Deities will make an effort to get your attention before they stop working together so the practitioner is aware. If you feel like a Deity has left but you aren't sure, give it a while. I'd say, a good rule of thumb is three months. If you haven't interacted with your Deity in three months and you feel no guilt or any kind of feeling like you should be talking with your Deity, they have probably realized that this connection between the two of you isn't right for working together, and that's okay. Deities are allowed to say no. When Deities do severe that connection, it's because they've either realized that this working relationship isn't working, or that they've taught you all that they can for where you are in your life. The second one is probably more common than the first. In conclusion, Deities will break the mentor/mentee bond with you, but you are always allowed to worship them. They aren't going anywhere, really.

So, what does that look like? What does it feel like?

Allow me to use the very real and very raw departure of Lord Dionysus as an example of what to expect:

I had worked with Lord Dionysus since July 26th, 2021. He came into my life very suddenly but he was adamant about starting a relationship and working with me. Previously, I had only been working with Lady Freyja. She was my first Deity ever, so you can imagine my surprise when the next Deity who is coming into my life is Hellenic, let alone Lord Dionysus. He left me exactly a year later, with about as much notice as when he was arriving. I remember when I was working with only Lady Freyja, it took her months to fully come into my space and for me to feel comfortable as a spiritual hostess (think dinner party- not séance.) With Dionysus, he was very primal and instinctual and didn't let me ponder over the best offerings to give him. He was very clear that he was just going to be here for as long as I needed. This was just basic worship, but I could feel the desire to work with him bubbling beneath my skin.

When I finally wrote a prayer to him, directly asking him to work with me on specific things, he agreed to. There were about three, maybe four, categories of my life in which I wanted his aid. I'm not going to get too specific because I am a big believer in my spiritual privacy, but he agreed to help me with my desires in exchange for an altar space and devotional offerings.

He was very quick to subtly teach me the ways of Hellenic Paganism. He always made it a point to not accept my offering until he had done his side, like a true petition, even if I had never wrote one until after working with him. He taught me to stay cleanly for the Hellenic Gods, often accepting baths as a personal cleansing practice. In fact, as I was touching up on my Hellenic Paganism for my newly entering Deities, Lord Hades and Lady Persephone, I found that a lot of what I was worried about learning, Lord Dionysus had taught it to me one way or another.

The day that Lord Dionysus decided to communicate that our working relationship would be put on hold was a normal day. I started noticing signs that he was wanting me to talk with him, which these included my mind pointing out the wine, cheese, and grape stand at my local supermarket, the wine and grapes next to each other when I opened up the fridge later that day, and other, more mental signs. I decided that a good discussion between the two of us, and my spirit guides, couldn't hurt. It was, after all, only a Friday night. He probably wanted me to do a devotional act or some tarot and journaling.

When I in fact sat down to do some tarot and journaling, I found out he was leaving. The card that told me everything I needed to hear was the Page of Wands.

My question was: "I'm unsure I am ready to work with new Spirits. I'm open to the idea, I'm just not sure I'm ready." (Him and I had previously been discussing Deity work) and I pulled the Page of Wands.

Not once, but twice.

The tarot book that I have been reading for almost a year now (Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness by Rachel Pollack) defined the upright Page of Wands to have qualities such as, "a particular announcement to the world, and to ourselves, that we are ready to begin either a 'project' (this can refer to a relationship as well as a practical plans) or a new phase of life." (169).

This completely blew my mind.

Over the next day, I began saying goodbye, which included cleansing Lord Dionysus' previous altar space and giving thanks to him by cleansing all of his offerings that weren't votives and rearranging my space. He kept his grape soap and his snacks, as well as his candle. Everything else, the playbooks, the crystals, the offering bowls, the tarot cards, where cleansed and replaced on either my altar or made to be Lord Hades'/Lady Persephone's. For example, Lord Dionysus' wine glass was one of his most precise offerings I ever gave him, and he decided that it should be Lady Persephone's chalice. (because they are homies like that, obviously.) There were no feelings of anger or sadness from him, only bittersweet energy.

This is Lord Dionysus' candle the day after his last day. I burnt it until the wick gave out. All of the devotional herbs I gave to him at the start of our relationship were charred at the bottom of his candle, with all of the wax evaporated completely. The halo of soot that descends upon the candle like a curtain serves as a reminder: our working relationship is over, but my story isn't.

I am very grateful for the experiences and life lessons that working with Lord Dionysus taught me. Working with him was definitely a challenge because there's not that many resources on how to work with him or what he likes, etc. There was a very big learning curve, but when it is all said and done I would definitely love to relive my year with Lord Dionysus.

If you are feeling called to work with him, I can't recommend it enough. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me all that you need.

Blessed Be <3

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Work Cited:

Pollack, Rachel. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness. Weiser Books, 1980. Accessed 17 October 2021.

[revlisrekons]

<3 introductions <3

Name: Revlis

Big Three:

Cancer Sun

Capricorn Moon

Scorpio Rising Deities I am a Devotee of:

Lady Freyja, Goddess of war, death, beauty, and sensuality.

Lord Hades, God of the underworld, wealth, and death.

Lady Persephone, Goddess of rebirth, death, and springtime.

Magickal Arts that are very prevalent in my practice: -Spirit Work -Glamor Magick -Seasonal Witchrcraft -Tarot Divination