Patrons and Matrons, Oh My!!!
This week's pagan_prompt :
Modern Paganism tends to incorporate the idea of 'Patron' or 'Matron' deities - deities which someone feels close to and with whom they feel they have a special connection.
Do you have any deities that you feel especially close to?
If you have any patron or matron deities: How did they become your patron or matron? What type of relationship do you have with your patron or matron? Do you regularly honor your patron or matron? If so how? Finally, how do you view your patron or matron in the context of your own personal theological framework and view of the cosmos?
Why yes, I do have a patron relationship (pauses for shock to die down). No really, I do, and that deity is (drum roll please) Hermes!!!!
I know, this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who has known me for more than a day or two, but Hermes is my patron, so far my only patron. I found him waiting for me when I first came to Paganism (not converted, I had no prior beliefs to convert from), after searching through traditions and pantheons he was there waiting for me, felt like he had been there forever and my worship of him felt more right than anything before. In 2006, there was a series of events that finally clued me in that my relationship with Hermes was anything but casual, I had been reluctant to refer to him as a patron but if you have one they will make it obvious and before long I had all the evidence I need. One year later I made a formal oath to him, a year after that I ended up making a second oath adding a new layer to our relationship. He comes first for me, and every part of my spirituality (and much of my mundane life as well) comes directly from him.
If you are wondering at my reluctance, its because I view a patron relationship as a very serious thing. Patron is one of those terms we all share in common, though definitions can differ wildly. We all agree it refers to a special relationship with a deity, but what sort of relationship? It can refer to anything from picking a deity's name out of a book a deciding I'm going to worship him, to a god snatching you up and saying you work for me now.
For the record, I define a patron as an exceptionally close and intense relationship wherein a god takes you under their wing, giving you special privileges and protections that their other worshippers don't get in exchange for some special work from you that likewise their other worshippers don't have to perform. Its not that I'm dismissive of other sorts of divine relationships, really any relationship you have with a deity, whatever sort, is important and I recognize that. But still, there is a big difference between what a religious lay person has with the god they feel closest to, and what someone who is Owned has with their Divine Boss; the relationship dynamics in those to situations are so far apart (read different, not better than or special, if that's what you get out of this it says far more about you than it does about me) that using the same term to refer to both of them doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I personally feel that the term patron, by its mundane definition, better fits the more intense ownership/service path, but I also know not everyone agrees with me and definition wars rarely work in the aggressor's favor.
Lately, I find myself using the term God Owned more often. First time I used it it was a joke, might have passed but that someone I have nothing to do with decided to be personally offended by it and that episode sort of made it stick. Eventually though, I had to admit it fit a little better than I may have been comfortable admitting.
Modern Paganism tends to incorporate the idea of 'Patron' or 'Matron' deities - deities which someone feels close to and with whom they feel they have a special connection.
Do you have any deities that you feel especially close to?
If you have any patron or matron deities: How did they become your patron or matron? What type of relationship do you have with your patron or matron? Do you regularly honor your patron or matron? If so how? Finally, how do you view your patron or matron in the context of your own personal theological framework and view of the cosmos?
Why yes, I do have a patron relationship (pauses for shock to die down). No really, I do, and that deity is (drum roll please) Hermes!!!!
I know, this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who has known me for more than a day or two, but Hermes is my patron, so far my only patron. I found him waiting for me when I first came to Paganism (not converted, I had no prior beliefs to convert from), after searching through traditions and pantheons he was there waiting for me, felt like he had been there forever and my worship of him felt more right than anything before. In 2006, there was a series of events that finally clued me in that my relationship with Hermes was anything but casual, I had been reluctant to refer to him as a patron but if you have one they will make it obvious and before long I had all the evidence I need. One year later I made a formal oath to him, a year after that I ended up making a second oath adding a new layer to our relationship. He comes first for me, and every part of my spirituality (and much of my mundane life as well) comes directly from him.
If you are wondering at my reluctance, its because I view a patron relationship as a very serious thing. Patron is one of those terms we all share in common, though definitions can differ wildly. We all agree it refers to a special relationship with a deity, but what sort of relationship? It can refer to anything from picking a deity's name out of a book a deciding I'm going to worship him, to a god snatching you up and saying you work for me now.
For the record, I define a patron as an exceptionally close and intense relationship wherein a god takes you under their wing, giving you special privileges and protections that their other worshippers don't get in exchange for some special work from you that likewise their other worshippers don't have to perform. Its not that I'm dismissive of other sorts of divine relationships, really any relationship you have with a deity, whatever sort, is important and I recognize that. But still, there is a big difference between what a religious lay person has with the god they feel closest to, and what someone who is Owned has with their Divine Boss; the relationship dynamics in those to situations are so far apart (read different, not better than or special, if that's what you get out of this it says far more about you than it does about me) that using the same term to refer to both of them doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I personally feel that the term patron, by its mundane definition, better fits the more intense ownership/service path, but I also know not everyone agrees with me and definition wars rarely work in the aggressor's favor.
Lately, I find myself using the term God Owned more often. First time I used it it was a joke, might have passed but that someone I have nothing to do with decided to be personally offended by it and that episode sort of made it stick. Eventually though, I had to admit it fit a little better than I may have been comfortable admitting.