Choosing Your Diety

April’s showers have greened the earth, and few celebrations represent the land’s fertility as Beltane does. Observed May 1, festivities typically begin the evening before on the last night of April. Beltane is a celebration that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history. It’s a time when the Earth mother opens up to the fertility God, and their union brings about healthy livestock, strong crops, and new life all around.

Litha, the Summer Solstice

Also called Litha, this summer solstice honors the longest day of the year. Take advantage of the extra hours of daylight and spend as much time as you can outdoors. There are many ways to celebrate Litha, but most focus on the power of the sun. It’s the time of year when the crops are growing heartily and the earth has warmed up.

Lammas/ Lughnasadh

At Lammas, sometimes called Lughnasadh, it’s time to reap what has been sown throughout the past few months and recognize that the bright summer days will soon come to an end. Typically the focus is on the early harvest aspect or the celebration of the Celtic God Lugh. It’s the season when the first grains are ready to be harvested and threshed, when the apples and grapes are ripe for the plucking,

Mabon, the Autumn Equinox

During the autumn equinox, the harvest is winding down. The fields are nearly empty because the crops have been plucked and stored for the coming winter.

Mabon is the mid-harvest festival, and it is when Pagans take a few moments to honor the changing seasons and celebrate the second harvest. Many Pagans and Wiccan spend the equinox giving thanks for what they have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings.

While Pagans celebrate the gifts of the earth during this time, they also accept that the soil is dying. Warmth has now past, and cold lies ahead during this seasonal shift when there’s an equal amount of day and night.

https://www.learnreligions.com/eightpagan-sabbats-2562833

Choosing Your Diety

Choosing a patron Deity can be a big deal: it’s like choosing your witchy mentor, your go-to God/ Goddess, shaping your spiritual life for years. Your patron can be a powerful source of spiritual insight and development.

What is a Patron Deity?

A patron Deity is your main Deity. Your go-to Goddess. your main Man. The one who guides you. The one who will weave your path with you. The one who is always a big player in your spiritual practice. They are your Cosmic Teacher. They are a powerful link with the energy of the Divine. As you work with a patron, the energy of their archetype rubs off on you: a devotee of Venus will find probably herself encountering themes of sensuality and the arts in her life, a devotee of Brigid will probably end up as a healer of some kind.

Most people end up with a kind of Deity or Archetype they like to work with, usually correlating with their current life’s passion or calling. It’s just kind of natural. If you are a homebody and a devout home-maker, it makes sense that someone like Hestia would be the sort of Goddess you’d get on with – and it makes sense that a fighty run-for-glory Deity like Mars might not be your spiritual bestie. Once you have a patron Deity, it doesn’t mean you are in a monogamous relationship for life. Other Deities will still come in and out of your life, depending on what they have got to teach you. Sometimes you will have more than one Patron Deity, and that’s totally fine!

How do I find my Patron Deity?

Finding your Patron is great fun, because it’s like dating. You get to know a whole bunch of different Gods, so then over time not only do you know what you like and need, but you can be looking for that special feeling of connection. That powerful resonance. So we start with research. Which pantheons are you into? Who calls to you? Who are you fascinated by? It’s time to have fun and start learning and researching about lots of different Gods and Goddesses. Start flirting with the ones who catch your eye. Read their mythologies. Look up artwork of them on Pinterest. Maybe join a course to learn about them, or read a book and do some ritual for them. You could get one of those books with loads of different rituals to different Goddesses or Gods and see who you vibe with – Michelle Sky does some cute ones in her Goddess Alive! series, and there is a great illustrated mythology book by Kris Waldherr called The Book of Goddesses which is GORGEOUS.

Basically, your hunt for a Patron is a wonderful excuse to pop to the library or spend some time getting books off Amazon, which is awesome because Pagans LOVE reading and buying books! Over time, you will meet Gods and Goddesses you are really into: you can try connecting with them, doing ritual with them, feeling them out and seeing if there is a connection there.

How will I know when I have found my Patron?

It depends. You will probably just feel it. You might be magnetically pulled to one Deity, or just get crazy excited when you see or read about them, or get chills when you think of them. You might just decide it. You might

read about a God and just decide – Yes. That’s the one for me. You might just have a favourite Goddess and decide, Her please. It doesn’t necessarily have to be all burning bushes and sacred signs from the heavens. Don’t think you have to wait for some super magical showy sign to prove you are making the correct choice and that you are right. Trust yourself.

Choice is the true power of the witch: knowing oneself, making decisions for oneself, not giving away our strength and power to something outside of us. We don’t passively hand away our responsibility and power to Fate or Destiny, waiting for something else to decide our future for us..

Can you make a wrong decision?

If your heart is open and earnest, if you are walking into a relationship with a Deity centred on love rather than what you can get out of it, you are good.

Again, it’s the same as human relationships. Going out with someone cos you like them is good. Going out with someone cos they have a nice car and a beach house is…. less good.

What do I do when I have found my Patron?

Tell them they are great and start including them in your life! It’s time to connect with them. and build a relationship with them.

How do I connect with my Patron Deity?

How do you connect deeply with anything? You love them. You offer them your devotion, your passion and commitment: take time to hang out with them, think of them in your day to day life, chat to them in the mornings, leave them offerings, play their favourite songs, read books about them… you bring their energy into your life.

Relationships are not a one way street. You don’t get the good stuff without putting in a little effort, without paying attention, without showing up. You gotta work for it. Good news is though, it won’t feel like work. If you have chosen a patron Deity who you are head over heels for and super excited about, meditating with them, leaving them offerings, drawing little pictures and playing music that reminds you of them or whatever it is you are up to is going to be so much fun! You are going to want to do it!

How do I love a Deity?

Mainly, you just pay them attention. Here are some ideas.

• Talk to them. Pray to them.

Tell them what’s going on. • Tell them how great they are and why you like them so much. All deities like that. • Leave them offerings daily. • Play music you think they would like or that reminds you of them. • Cultivate an altar for your Deity • Create a Pinterest Board for them • Meditate with them • Draw pictures of them • Write poems for them • Connect with their energy daily • Consecrate an activity to them