I think a god knocked at my door...

[Heartsong]

Evening, Everyone!

I had posted in this part of the forums previously that I had been receiving some unusual visions during my meditations, among other things. After some soul searching, further meditations, divinations (by myself and others), signs popping up every time I turned around and finally just straight up asking, I believe that I can safely conclude that a god has decided to plop into my life for as long as I have something to learn from Him.

Between you, me, and the doorpost (to quote my dad), I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It's a little disconcerting when you're trotting on your merry way and then suddenly a god quite literally drops into your life without so much as a "Howdy!" and then proceeds to let you know your under their tutelage for a time. I mean, how do you even respond to that coherently? Not that I'm complaining, exactly...more like a touch overwhelmed.

That being said, I do have a pondering.

Odin has made himself rather clear to me that he is my patron, for lack of a better term at the moment, and I was curious if anyone had a similar experience with Him, or another deity. I plan to do quite a fair amount of research (I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about the Norse pantheon aside from general information, much less how to interact with on a regular basis with deities outside of rituals), but could anyone give me a sense of how to proceed? I figure I ought to thank him formally, give an offering, etc.

If any of this is making sense, I would be very grateful to know others have had similar encounters with deities, or at least could point me in a direction for more information about having a patron.

Thank you kindly!

~Heartsong~

[SnowCat]

I met Bast at Alameda East Animal Hospital the night Blanca passed. It was comforting and overwhelming at the same time. I had a passsing knowledge of Egyptian deities, but hadn't felt a connection. With my British Isles gene pool I had always gravitated to the Celtic arena, with Norse being a close second. But here I am, ten years later, still following Bast.

Frosty

[Heartsong]

I've also always been drawn to the Celtic pantheon, and little bit to the Greek, so having Odin reveal himself to me was decidedly unexpected. Any knowledge I have of the Norse mythos is due entirely to my mother (an avid reader of it), but I hadn't ever demonstrated much interest in it until this recent event in my life. I'm not even sure where to start. Well, I'll amend that a little. I've been getting a pretty clear message that I should start with runes, but from there? I reckon that'll become clear in time.

You know, I read an article recently by a woman who's patron was Loki. I felt a great deal of sympathy for her when I read that. A very challenging relationship, I can just bet. She talked about having him in her life was akin to a chaos bomb constantly going off, relationships, money, and fur flying everywhere!! But anyway, to the point, she spoke at length about how some people were blessed with one deity taking an active role in their lives for the entirity of it. Others expereinced gods coming and going as they were needed.

I don't know how long Odin plans to let me walk with him, and, again, I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that he even contacted me (It very much was like Thor dropping onto the back of the aircraft in The Avengers movie. Very dramatic. Cape flapping in the wind and hair flowing. Still have a hard time keeping my chuckling quiet about that.).

Thank you, SnowCat, for responding. It's nice to know other people have similar experiences. ^.^

I'd love to hear others' encounters with deities as well .

[ladywhitewolf]

I had always felt very connected to the Egyptian pantheon. I love everything and anything Egyptian. A couple of years ago Set started appearing in my dreams. For some reason he hasn't stopped. That is how I discovered him. It was like being spiritually smacked on the head by a brick.
Then there is the time I visited the Metropolitian Museum in New York and I found myself drawn to a large statue of Sekhmet. At that time I had never heard of her. That day I was fascinated and kept going back to take pictures of that statue. I think I have been thwapped by both those deities.

[Holdasown]

Odin Shrine:
http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/odin/about.html

Blog by a godspouse of Odin:
http://krasskova.weebly.com/1/category/odin/1.html

Looking into the runes is a good start too.

[Heartsong]

Ladywhitewolf, I know what you mean by being drawn! After seeing him and the rune wunjo in my meditations, I had an intense urge to buy a set of runes. I couldn't function until I bought them online! And I find myself being pulled to trees since this started happening, and while I always was fond of trees, now I had to touch them, feel their texture under my hand before I could move on to wherever else I was going.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, and thank you,holdasown, for posting these links. They're awesome, and just the kind of info I was looking for.

[Vervain]

On the topic of trees and people who study the Norse mythos, I HIGHLY recommend that you get your hand on a copy of Tree & Leaf, a compilation of J.R.R. Tolkien's shorter writings. It has some beautiful concepts and stories in it, and even though it was written to be very Christian it really just comes out being very spiritual and there is much that a Pagan can agree with. http://www.amazon.com/Tree-Leaf-Includi ... 0007105045

That's the edition I have, it's beyond wonderful.

[Heartsong]

Ack! I meant to reply to you here, vervain, and I totally forgot!

I have every volume Tolkien ever published and what his family published (I am proudly one of those people who can quote him front to back and back again, ha!). I adore Tree & Leaf and completely agree that it has some of the most moving, gorgeous writing that he ever put on paper.

I think I'm going to start a blog in the writing section on my interactions with Odin, or the black-haired man as I refered to him in a previous post, because they keep happening and if I don't write them down somewhere, I might just lose my mind.