How do you know a god/goddess has chose you?

[unbreakablespirit]

Hi, Im working on my book of shadows and i've heard a god/godess will choose you, or you can choose them. How exactly does that work? Can YOU choose them, or do THEY choose you and how will I know if they do??

[Lost_Demise]

To me I think if anyone has chosen it is the god or goddess that does so and you finding or following them is a result of accepting that. Then again I am not a wiccan and others could have very different views on the subject.

[JuniperBerry]

You just know, I think. There's a difference when you begin getting to know that particular deity than before with other deities. I don't know if I'd say there's any "choosing" going on, but rather a found and discovered relationship on both sides. You soul recognizes something within them, and they recognize something within you and it just clicks. Though they understand you and the world and it All much more than you do.

[Sythan]

You pick who to whorship. They will not pick you. By worhsipping and giving praise to them do you gain their attention and favor.

[Traumwandlerin]

Simetimes they'll pick you, sometimes you'll pick them. If you were chosen, you 'll know for sure. If not, no problem, it's as equal as the other, no way is better.

[JuniperBerry]

Heh.

And the varying answers would lead me to say...depends on the God doesn't it?

[Traumwandlerin]

And how you define chosen

[JuniperBerry]

On my phone, so bear with me.

You remind me of a friend who can be very particular about the definitions or subtle meanings of words.

I've given this some more thought, and since my belief is that the soul, which makes us human and separate from beasts, was been into us from the gods (at least from a heathen stand point), that there is then something intrinsically a part of us that negatwas choice but rather makes us who we are. And it isn't so much the fact of choosing or being chosen, but in recognizung the soul-complex that we descend from.

[Traumwandlerin]

Well I think we just resonates best with a special energy, this might be a special God. I would say if you find the resonating God on your own, you chose yourself. If you've come a hard way, you can consider yourself as chosen. And of course, there might the the ones who really were chosen. Where the Gods fast up your development so you'll recognize the resonance. I consider myself chosen, but not towards a special God but a special path.

The question is of course "Why do we resonate this way?". I don't mix well with the theory of different souls. In my opinion there is no Hekate-soul and no Odin-soul. The souls were created alike. But of course every single soul experiences different things and will develop themselves on their way. They start alike, but will end up as specifialized souls. So in the beginning the experience may be random, I guess if a God sees potential in your development, it will give you more chances to experiences things that will you drive closer to this God. You can consider that as being chosen.

Well, but I don't believe in Gods. I do believe in spirits and souls. So maybe I got it all wrong and this would only be the case for spirits

[Ravencry]

I think (from my experience) you feel drawn to a particular deity. I wouldn't consider it 'chosen' but it is more than just 'picking' them. Do you feel drawn to any Goddess or God?

[Earth Ritual]

From my perspective, relationships with deities are established before birth as a modus operandi of the Spirit World and they have a great deal to do with planetary origins, bloodlines, and destiny. There are exceptions to this.

[JuniperBerry]

Well I think we just resonates best with a special energy, this might be a special God. I would say if you find the resonating God on your own, you chose yourself. If you've come a hard way, you can consider yourself as chosen. And of course, there might the the ones who really were chosen. Where the Gods fast up your development so you'll recognize the resonance. I consider myself chosen, but not towards a special God but a special path.

The question is of course "Why do we resonate this way?". I don't mix well with the theory of different souls. In my opinion there is no Hekate-soul and no Odin-soul. The souls were created alike. But of course every single soul experiences different things and will develop themselves on their way. They start alike, but will end up as specifialized souls. So in the beginning the experience may be random, I guess if a God sees potential in your development, it will give you more chances to experiences things that will you drive closer to this God. You can consider that as being chosen.

Well, but I don't believe in Gods. I do believe in spirits and souls. So maybe I got it all wrong and this would only be the case for spirits

I don't know if I'd spilt it up so simply as Odin-sould or Hekate-soul, either... Especially in this day and age where, as a genetic mutt, I would have several aspects of 'soul' from my ancestors. I do think that the gods gave us soul since it appears that our anthropologists and scientists still can't answer when or what sparked the human in us through evolution. A big question of course is why did they begin having funerary rites instead of leaving the dead where they were. Something made them believe in the divine, and the afterlife, and the existence of gods.

In my beliefs, it states that Odin and his brothers found two logs (not literally, the tree has significant symbology) which they made into man:
Soul gave Othin, | sense gave Hönir,
Heat gave Lothur | and goodly hue.
(Soul, Mind, Will)

But yet, Tyr ((Týr, *Tiwaz, Tius; Tisa, *Týa, *Tiwon) is also in the mythology and a member of the Aesir but he is thought to be an older god.

"The earliest appearance of the god we know as Týr appears to have been as the great sky god of the Indo-Europeans. This we surmise from the apparent derivation of the names for many of the sky gods in Indo-European peoples - examples include Dyaus in the Rig Veda, Zeus for the Greeks, Jupiter or Jove among the Romans, Sius in the ancient Hittite pantheon, and perhaps Zîu, Zîo, Tîuz, or Tîwaz in the original language of the Teutons - from a single source, and the similarity in function displayed by these deities." Our Troth.

If Indo-Europeans were worshipping Tyr long before they moved into Northern Europe and encountered Odin, then they must have already had soul. Maybe they were inspired by gods who walked the earth (and still do- but our lives are too full and busy to hear the heavy silence of the forest, or the creaking of the wind) and this was the beginning of soul birth- then as the Indo-Europeans spread they found lands where the gods were strongest and formed a relationship and a heritage. Or possibly Odin, Tyr, Hekate, etc were with the early people all along, and as the people migrated the gods migrated with them and eventually the people came to know them more and more and develop mythologies.

Tyr, as the sky god who fertilized the earth with his rain-semen, was no doubt the more prominent god in these early times over Odin the god of divine madness and inspiration. Our gods evolve with us and with our needs, as surely as Thrud, the daughter of Thor and Sif, is not just helpful in agriculture like her parents, but as a 'young' deity has grown with us to become the goddess of modern agriculture - looking over the plow and tractor and organized farming. Magni and Modi, also sons of the thunder and lightning god, no doubt have some interest in modern electricity and energy and have grown to rule this as surely as their father rules over the source. So yes, I can see the gods there in the beginning with the people, and moving with the people, and finally being understood more clearly by the people. Somehow, through all of this, they have shaped our souls and our souls return to those who can continue shaping it.

(Hmm. I'm going to have to work that out more. Sorry if anyone reading this is snoring, but I love this puzzle aspect of mythology. )

I do have an experience from childhood that I believe came from Odin. I don't know if I would consider this being chosen or not. I didn't know what it was until I became interested in heathenry, so it's not like I was chosen and had no personal choice...but I think once I found heathenry on my own, the choice of becoming heathen was made much easier by this experience.

[Love_For_All]

I feel like you feel it in your blood, it just comes to you that this is your deity. They may not always be identifiable, but you will always know who they are when you see them. That's how I felt.

[MsMollimizz]

When I was drawn to Isis I would hear her name on tv or...and I'd get this warm fuzzy feeling.
I saw, heard, read her name I'd get the warm fuzzies again...
When I got Mysteies of Isis the first page, no the first paragraph said when you get this warm wave
over your body when you think about her Isis is actually making her presense known that she has
been trying to get your attention (paraphrased)
Gentle Light
MsMolli

[Purewitch22]

Well, for me (Not sure about anybody else though) I had dreams about Hecate, over and over. Then my friend (Who has been "possessed" so to say by Aphrodite, told me Hecate was wondering how my gift is going. It was Aphrodite at the time. I can tell when Aphrodite is talking to me because my friend isn't herself. She gets a different personality all together.. But I'll say you can tell. Deep in your soul, and heart, you know,