Freya doesn't give me her necklace back 😄 I made one out of clay and carved Freya's runes in it. I always hang the necklaces of my gods on their little shrines when I don't wear them.... but Freya's suddenly was so entangled into an ornament after the first time I out it there, that I could not take it off the shrine anymore without ripping it apart. Soooo I guess she wants to keep it 🤗
Thank you! I'm new (ish) to the pagan community and I'm always second guessing if I'm doing things right or "good enough" or just being lazy, and this video was confirmation for me that practice can be just as simple and mundane as I've experienced it to be, and I need to stop listening to the internet dazzle spectacularized experiences while demeaning my own and making me feel like I'm less than or doing everything wrong. It's hard to find like-minded people, and among my closest IRL friends who practice, I'm probably the most dedicated and devoted to the practice and tend to be the "spiritual leader" guiding them along, so it's put this anvil over my head to make sure I'm "doing it right" and not passing along wrong information. My own husband rationalizes my experiences away, so I don't even tell him about them anymore, and it's made me afraid to open up more even to people I believe wouldn't judge them. He thinks the gods of all religions and mythologies are fake and made up, and I used to think that too. Even if it is, who cares if it's improving my life and making me happier!
It took me quite sometime to figure out what deity was reaching out to me or if I was only imagining things. I told them that I’m sorry should anybody try to reach out, I’m extremely dense when it comes to hints. So, after some struggle turned out I was right with both ideas on who it could be. Know I worship Artemis and Hekate, and even Hades showed up out of nowhere during a drawing session. I tried to draw a portrait of Artemis and Hekate and he was just like “Hi, what are you doing? Can you paint me too?”. That one took me by surprise, I did some research and am now also partly working with Hades. The journey of figuring that out was quite fun, especially when looking back on it.
This is a helpful video! I don’t do deity work, but this gave a lot of interesting insight to what it looks like, and you made it feel much more approachable than I’ve seen it done in a while
I'm so glad! I've felt for a long time like there was always a dose of realism missing from deity work conversations. It's hard, too, since it gets really personal and many people don't feel comfortable sharing the realities of something so intimate.
Haha ive had my daughters doggo steal offerings off my ancestor and deity altars many a time. Its the first place the greedy boy heads to when he comes to visit! 😂 I really don't think they mind, I feel they find it funny esoecially Hecate, but definitely be very careful with offerings if you have food orientated pets in the house! 😂❤😂❤
I work with Thoth as he's reached to me when I was little. My routine looks a lot like yours, just lighting candles and short thoughts like asking him for wisdom and patience at my work. Also, wearing purple clothes and silver jewellery makes me connected with him through the day as these are colours associated with him. Btw, that lightning and Mat Auryn stuff was wicked. 😱 And I have a "difficult" necklace too, I believe I have to cleanse it as every time I wear it, everything gets heated (it's a wolf necklace).
If I may make a suggestion for those who'd rather not use alcohol in ritual work. Make your own cider. I'm 51 and I don't drink. Never have and never will. Giving your time to make cider will add your energy to something you made to be shared with your deities.
Your videos on deity work are so helpful. I never thought I would take up this kind of work but I have recently started working with Hestia. I'm a homemaker and my daily labor is dedicated to running and maintaining my household and supporting my family so Hestia feels like a natural fit for me. I made a poster with a statue of her and her Orphic hymn and put it up in my kitchen. We set a portion aside for her at dinner. I can't say I've had any experiences but it's a nice thing to do.
@@witchyfeltthat I just started so I don't have much! I spend a moment with my kitchen shrine before making dinner. I try to keep it simple with her, I also have a fairly involved ceremonial magic practice that takes up a good portion of my time and it's important to me to strike a balance between the mundane and the mystical. Working with Hestia is an attempt to bridge the gap, as it were.
As far as offerings go, my gods don't ask too much unless one gets something, then they all ask. Recently though I was drinking orange juice and I could feel one of the gods that I work with sharing it with. It's was like he stepped in and was like "don't mind me. I'm just going to steal some of this."
I've been working with Lilith and Freya, and I've found a lot of similarities between them, with a few (very strong) distinctions. They both definitely have that trial by fire vibe for sure, though I always think of it as like pure independence and survival instinct more so than anything "mothery". I do find Freya to be more in the teaching wisdom through these trials though, whereas I get a lot of the actual physical lessons and real world application through Lilith's teachings. Of course, this is all upg, but I find very strong communications from them through animal experiences, especially feral female cats. In terms of offerings and daily work, I'm very much in the same boat of candles and incense (when I have them on hand), but I also find that being kind to and taking care of the strays in my neighborhood as a great way to give them offerings. There's this one cat (I call her Lilith), who regularly visits me to eat, but refuses to come inside or show any desire for domesticity, and since I had an issue with mice for a while, as a means of honoring her, I would make sure to catch mice with nontoxic traps (think Tom and Jerry lol) and leave the remains for her. The part that always feels very strange is that she essentially just materializes when I put out the mice, no actual sign of where she's coming from and no act on my part to alert her of my presence. If I get a chance, I'll try to get a photo for the discord :) Anyway, I really loved the video, and I really appreciate how open you're becoming with the specifics of your practice. Blessings🌿🌾🌑
I have aphantasia and usually my dreams have no visual component, but whenever someone from my spiritual team reaches out I can see things. It's absolutely wild and I'm always floored by it. Besides that I sometimes get scent signals, like my grandma's perfume or clove and tobacco for one of the deities. And occasionally I'll feel something like a buzzing at the back of my neck that seems to mean I should grab my cards because someone wants to tell me something.
Don't mind me, I forgot to comment on this video after watching it. Love seeing deity work videos. They always give me more things to think about while developing a relationship with deities! Much love Nike!!
Second thing because I completely forgot about the "Leave your experience in the comments" like a derp. Calmness in nature to get closer to nature deities like Pan, calmness while doing a mantra like with Shri Ganesh or Hanuman and protection while I look at my Zhong Kui statue that is in front of me at my desk. Things like that make it known to me that they are there and that vibe swift while thinking about them is huge for me
I have been so stuck in my head, feeling like I was imagining a connection with a deity in my life. I saw the signs and ignored them as I thought I was just making something out of nothing. I’ve been focusing more on offering my time, words, and lighting a candle in their name, and just divined with a pendulum while watching this video of yours. This confirmed that Freyja was in fact the deity giving me the signs. Thanks to you, you gave me the confidence to believe. ❤️ I’m excited to see where this new knowledge takes me.
I find pendulums to be the most efficient tool for communication with deities w/r/t worship instructions and explanations on how this world works. My personal practice is built upon their answers.
I’m currently frustrated with my pendulum work. I try to see if anyone has anything to say and nothing happens. So I switch pendulums. Then repeat the question and yet again nothing. I don’t know how to get results.
This is a super helpful video!! I've been wanting to work with a deity for a while but have settled with just worshipping because I don't know how deity work is "supposed" to look like. I would also say I'm pretty spiritually deaf in that I don't hear or see messages clearly. This gives me a lot more comfort that perhaps the deities that I'm worshipping have been with me far more times than I thought. I want to say that I am actively working with a deity actually and I have noticed my goals that I asked for help on coming to fruition... Thank you again Nike for your video
Does anyone have advice for what to do when you feel like you're.. too practical/realistic to really fully give yourself over to your beliefs? Does anyone even experience this? Whenever I feel like I've received a sign, or when I communicate with deity or even do any kind of witchcraft related things I still struggle letting go of my "am I just being ridiculous?" thoughts and after 5 years I'm a bit tired of it tbh :'D I'd love to be able to work at it in some way, where I can feel more secure in my beliefs and in my relationship with my deity, which coincidentally is also Freja!
Can confirm Freya's trials by fire. I never really put 2 and 2 together, but I've been praying to her and working with her through some things in my life, and it's really been one stressful thing after another, ever since I began working with her. Like you said though, it's nothing I CAN'T handle, but just....it's a LOT lol. I definitely feel like I'm growing, and yes, in that way she is helping me, but man...she is tough. I appreciate her help, but I may have to take a break haha.. Thank you for this video, it definitely helped me understand more about my own practice and experiences with Deities. 💖
This just came out as I was starting to do some research on Benzaiten and not finding much 😂 I'm going to have to star polishing my translation skills once more and find books in their original language, to have some solid reference.
Thank you. This was lovely, and answered some key questions I had. I had no idea who you were but was led to you by Freyja, with whom I now work, after She called me to Her. I can confirm through my own UPG the aspects of Freyja you assert here. I would add that I’ve experienced a lot of the sensual and magickal empowerment aspects of Her, in addition to the strong motherly energy She has. Peace to you.
Makes me wonder who was trying to tell me something. Before we moved. A little bird would knock on my front window. It wouldn't fly away even myself or the cats would go to the window. It would do this several times a day and at different times. It stopped doing it when I put in my notice so we could get ready to move.
Just a small story I like to tell about how I had to be beaten over the head before I realized who I was being called to: I've always loved cats (so much that when we had to separate the cats and dogs growing up the cats went into my room). For several years people would give me and/or leave behind owl themed things. Finally, I was debating dipping a toe into paganism and, having been inspired by the moon that night, was wonder if I should go with Diana or Artemis. Except every single time I tried to think 'Artemis' Athena popped into my brain instead, until I finally was like "fine, I'll look into Athena!" She's been very helpful since.
A few years ago I had a horrible nightmare. In the dream a symbol appears and the nightmare ends. I woke up and immediately looked up the symbol. It was the eye of hours. Then the name Isis popped into my head. (I wasn't a practicing witch at the time. I simply meditated.) The next day I got my first tattoo and it was the eye. And I began a beautiful relationship with Isis.
I also am newly working with Artemis! I had a really really crazy experience with her last week. Let’s say I found her feisty side! I adore her and hope it’ll be a long lasting connection
@@Roomyvegeta1 yeah there were a few things that happened because I’d been working with Persephone a fair but over Samhain. I think I neglected her a bit! But yes, very mothering which is why I love working with her so much. I love nurturing part of working with deity and I definitely need that from my connection with deity
@@EvelynAlice7 I relate with that a lot! The side that Artemis shows us is very protective and motherly as well, with a hint of fierceness underneath. She encourages to slow down and rest and steady ourselves, like a huntress slowing down to steady her aim, and she encourages us to remove things from our life that are causing our exhaustion. In interpreting the tarot readings we do for Artemis and the ways we feel her presence, Artemis' perspective seems to be "If you want to accomplish all of these things in life, you won't be able to do living so frantically and running on an empty battery. Learn how to truly rest, and then prepare yourself for the journey that you've chosen."
I don't work with deities but I've had plenty of experiences with my grandparents through dreams and smells mostly. Sometimes I'll physically feel them like my grandfather hugging me or my grandmother holding my hand. There was also this one time before I started practicing witchcraft where my grandfather scared the living shit out of me by blowing on my ear when I was all alone in my new apartment.
So I’ve had an idea of a drawing to make in honor of Artemis for her love and support throughout the difficult times around my dog’s passing. And I’ve been pushing it off and just delaying it not wanting to go back to it. But the past week I had it in my head that I’ll just get it done and it’ll be fine. Several days of procrastination later when I had the reference photos all set, I was really pushing the limit of Artemis’ patience with it. So, a couple days ago I was bitten by my friend’s dog. First time I’ve been bitten any harder than a small nip, so I took that as a sign that her patience was wearing thin. I got the drawing done that night XD When it comes to the gods, if you say you’re going to do something just do it XD
Helios showed up in a dream and said he liked Brandy. That's what I offer him most of the time. He also got mad at me cuz I ignored him and reached out to Jupiter. I certainly learned my lesson. He nuked my desktop.
This is such a great video! I had one experience back in September 2020, where I was particularly upset with someone and felt so lonely that I sat down and prayed to whoever was listening. Suddenly, my room smelled like freshly cut apples and I felt so calm and understood. Almost as if someone was there, putting their hand on my shoulder and catching me. Never had this experience again but your video confirms my original thought that I somehow reached someone with my prayer.
Speaking of dreams I don't usually see my dreams but I can sense stuff happening and I think they are getting stronger cause I have a bit of a hard time remembering them but Ive been remembering them lately like this one about a show I like.
Every SCA Viking knows that if you want to win at combat, you inscribe Tyr on your weapon. 😏 The god of war & justice! (if you're a viking, they are obviously the same thing) Found you & your cohorts right after my tarot card reading told me that the answer was the hanged man. Reversed. Which, of course, is Odin upright. Nice to meet you on the first day of the new year ☺️
I work with/worship a few gods in the Greek pantheon, but I have a couple small stories of things with hermes and Hypnos. Starting with hermes, I have a cat (named Daisy) and, any time I’m doing some divination with him with my pendulum (it’s actually just a pendant clock necklace but it works) she always comes over and is all over the pendulum, which is funny cause hermes doesn’t actually like her (asked him using the pendulum) but she doesn’t do this with any other deity. And with Hypnos. Sometimes when I’ve been awake till 1-2 am trying and failing at sleeping so I’m reading or drawing or just on my phone, I’ll just feel someone enter the room, and a bit later (anywhere from 10-30 minutes) I’ll just feel a WAVE of exhaustion and be able to fall asleep very quickly and usually get a great nights rest, with a decent amount of dreams (I don’t get too many dreams thag I remember, cause I’m pretty sleep deprived and I noticed when I don’t sleep enough I stop dreaming)
Thank you for this wonderful video! I recently started worship, (with the Goddess Nyx) and have been nervous that she will be mad or upset with me for not having the energy to dedicate a ton of time to her. I am hoping that I can develop my intuition, and my Claire senses to better communicate. I also love your cat! 😸
For me the deities I work with typically communicate through feelings and thoughts, especially if they're things that don't necessarily follow my personality. I'll use my tarot deck for clarification if I need it.
I almost never remember my dreams, whenever I do that's sort of a sign to me that it was something important. A while ago mum just randomly gave me a crow feather she had found in the garden and the night I put it on my altar I had someone show up and introduce themselves as Loki. The more I researched the more I realised they'd been around for quite a while and I'm a dumbass
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for sharing your experience! I have done research and even have an altar set up for the Norse pantheon but I have felt kind of lost when it comes to worship or spending time with them. I come from a christian background and it was obviously very structured. Paganism is so free it can feel overwhelming. I mainly don't want to offend them so I am just afraid to start.
LOL I hear ya about the offerings and cats. I have to really be careful since my little Loki is VERY nosy and he WILL get into the offering unless I cover it or put it inside a jar.
When I was out with my friend the other day I saw an eagle and it's rare for me but I'm quite positive it was an eagle so pretty sure that might've been Zeus saying hey
Thank you for this! I've been thinking about getting into deity work but hesitant as I have a healthy fear of getting in over my head with them 😏 this was helpful and calmed my worries
Thank you for this video. I found it very useful. I'm not a pagan, but a Christian with gnostic and kabbalistic leanings. I treat my God Yahweh more henotheistically, and I was surprised to see that I communicate with Yahweh in similar ways: through dreams, through tarot, through meditative writing. This video helps me feel more connected to those who have different gods and worldviews than me. Thank you again
I am a new witch and about a month ago I started getting videos about deity work recommended to me. One afternoon I wondered if there were any deities who might be interested in working with me and who they might be (mind you, I didn't use divination or anything, I was merely wondering to myself out of curiousity). At this point I wasn't even doing actual reasearch about it. Within the same week I started seeing a lot of bees (I live in a city) and one night I was dreaming about being with people and going from one room to another... At some point I found myself on a staircase with realistic statues of lions and lionesses on them and they moved their heads when I walked by... Weird, but ok...then I got to a "room" with no walls or ceiling, there were more lion statues and a standing statue of the goddess Sekhmet in the middle, as I got closer she tilted her head to look at me. And then I woke up. Now, I tend to be quite skeptic, but the timing and the fact that I wasn't doing any type of reasearch about her (I was actually wondering about Athena), led me to believe that she was calling out to me. I had a couple other experiences since then but this comment is already long enough. XD Thank you for this video, it was very interesting.
P.S.: Sekhmet is considered the Eye of Ra, and the bees the Tears of Ra. That's why I associated them to her. Also, the moving statue thing? I later found out that many people had experiences with a "living" statue of the goddess in the temple of Ptah in Karnak. When I looked it up it was the same statue I saw in my dream, and I had never seen it before.
O.o I had an awful day and TH-cam just randomly brought your video up, probably because of my research on celtic mythology for my book. 😅💕 I have to say, I like your approach on all that! Quite inspirational!
Okay, quick disclaimer, I have absolutely no experience with deity work, but I am looking to start and have been doing all sorts of research and such. But I have felt Artemis calling to me for a while now, and honestly, I have always loved her and her mythos, even as a little greek mythology loving child I always loved Artemis and just thought she was the coolest. A few weeks ago, it was a full moon, I was in the car with my mum, she was driving us to my cousin's for a family dinner, I was in the passenger seat, at the time I was also working on a drawing dedicated to Artemis, and then on our way, we saw no less than 20 deer in a span of about 5 minutes. Keep in mind we were in a fairly large town and usually, the deer keep to the ravines near by but they were all fairly close to the road. I feel like this is a sign but I'm looking for an opinion from someone with more experiance. Thanks :)
If you really want to worship Artemis then you don't need a sign. Just do it. Artemis is inherently worthy of worship. No one needs an excuse to pay Her what is Her due
Great video as always! I'm just starting out on the pagan path.. although it's / nature has called me as long as I can remember. Now the part where you describe the smells, shadows and room energy.. it made my hairs stand on end as you described exactly what's been going on here!! My wife has also smelt the flowers at random times when I have.. I've not mentioned the presences as I think she would want to move!! It's something again I have often experienced. Amazing to here you mention it. Would be great to know more about your experiences/knowledge of this or the same from your friends who I also follow. Thanks again!!
Another superb video! This is one of the best diety work videos I've seen. Sometimes I doubt myself and my own UPG moments. This is so approachable and a great reminder that those remarkable moments aren't constant.... but can happen. I'm going to have to save this video for future self questioning sessions 😅.
Great video! Clearly explains the more nuanced parts of daily practice that sometimes have me a little wavering on the validity side. It’s nice to hear that others experience it too, and in different ways! Just what I needed this month 😊
I have had two dreams about Odin in the past few months. One was I was in a wheat field, I was standing there and two black birds flew over my head and landed in front of me. Right after they landed i looked up and heard a deep intense voice that yelled Odin and i woke up. Th second one was really long but at the end the Odin from the marvel movies cam out and told me to take this path that i wold hav to go alone for he was going to die. He killed himself (and Luke sky walker lmao) to save me in order for me to get continue on the trip or journey or task i was headed down. It’s kinda hilarious to me that I’m still like maybe it wasn’t a sign, but I have a crow tattoo that i got without scheduling when m tattoo artist is booked until 2023 she called me up and was like you want a tattoo? I now researching Odin because I’m still a little worried about working with him I’ve only ever worked with one deity before.
I have goosebumps because this is the third video I’ve seen that has brought up Freya the first talked about her being associated with the queen of wands(which I pulled in a reading not too long ago), the second video said she likes amber as I put my citrine on the closest thing I have to amber, and now this I’ve never even worked with any deity. To top it off I’ve recently rescued 2 kittens that were from the same litter👀….I’m scared lol I don’t think I’m good enough for all that tbh
My friend, there's no such thing as "good enough." She's approached you, so clearly she thinks you're capable. The gods don't expect perfection from us, and we all start as beginners - there's no shame in making mistakes. Just keep reading and asking questions and we'll all learn as we go. I know this comment is a couple months old, so maybe you've already sorted things out, but I wish you well wherever you're at.
HELP!!!! Are these signs? My 🍃 man randomly ignoring me. Almost running over a crow twice A huge fight w my s.o. My apt getting broken into Getting hit while driving(they ran) Running out of money All of this happening in a 24 hr span!!!!!😩
Honestly. My story on how i got into the craft/deity worship is rather funny. Its not magical or anything. I got to know the band ghost and suddenly there was this interest in paganism. No idea why.
Demons didn’t really exist in paganism the way they do in Christianity. There are some examples, but keep in mind that when we talk about “Demons” the Christians also classed our Gods as demons too.
@@WarriorWitchNike There actually have been people in the pagan world that has needed exorcism and I believe Fr. Vincent Lampert may have been involved in one in the past. Do you think the believe in Christianity creates the demons? Also, what's up with some of these new age practitioners who claim that their spirit guides turned demonic on them which turned them to Christ?
Feeling connection to someone strong may be fun or assuring. But how do you know that they are truthful to you or they will not harm you or they are not just toying with you. You don't know them very well, do you? They are just different creation like us. Only because they have some different abilities than us humans doesn't qualify them to be worshipped. I see them, feel them sometimes, even I watched their dance when I was little. I don't mind them being my neighbor as long as they don't harm me. But worshipping just anybody is not my thing. I only worship the one who deserves to be worshipped, creator of us, them and all
Pagan just means ethnic, so it might be considered cultural appropriation to worship deities belonging to an ethnicity other than your own. Not that I care, but just making a point.
![Rest In Faith [Sleep Meditation by James]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6SgbnbMGhrg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Rest In Faith [Sleep Meditation by James]](/img/tr.png)
"there are lots of smaller gods that dont have lots of bodies of work to referance" as i stare at my Arianrhod alter
Freya doesn't give me her necklace back 😄 I made one out of clay and carved Freya's runes in it. I always hang the necklaces of my gods on their little shrines when I don't wear them.... but Freya's suddenly was so entangled into an ornament after the first time I out it there, that I could not take it off the shrine anymore without ripping it apart. Soooo I guess she wants to keep it 🤗
Thank you! I'm new (ish) to the pagan community and I'm always second guessing if I'm doing things right or "good enough" or just being lazy, and this video was confirmation for me that practice can be just as simple and mundane as I've experienced it to be, and I need to stop listening to the internet dazzle spectacularized experiences while demeaning my own and making me feel like I'm less than or doing everything wrong. It's hard to find like-minded people, and among my closest IRL friends who practice, I'm probably the most dedicated and devoted to the practice and tend to be the "spiritual leader" guiding them along, so it's put this anvil over my head to make sure I'm "doing it right" and not passing along wrong information. My own husband rationalizes my experiences away, so I don't even tell him about them anymore, and it's made me afraid to open up more even to people I believe wouldn't judge them. He thinks the gods of all religions and mythologies are fake and made up, and I used to think that too. Even if it is, who cares if it's improving my life and making me happier!
It took me quite sometime to figure out what deity was reaching out to me or if I was only imagining things. I told them that I’m sorry should anybody try to reach out, I’m extremely dense when it comes to hints. So, after some struggle turned out I was right with both ideas on who it could be. Know I worship Artemis and Hekate, and even Hades showed up out of nowhere during a drawing session. I tried to draw a portrait of Artemis and Hekate and he was just like “Hi, what are you doing? Can you paint me too?”. That one took me by surprise, I did some research and am now also partly working with Hades. The journey of figuring that out was quite fun, especially when looking back on it.
This is a helpful video! I don’t do deity work, but this gave a lot of interesting insight to what it looks like, and you made it feel much more approachable than I’ve seen it done in a while
I'm so glad! I've felt for a long time like there was always a dose of realism missing from deity work conversations. It's hard, too, since it gets really personal and many people don't feel comfortable sharing the realities of something so intimate.
I always count on your recommendations, Olivia, and I trust you 💜
Haha ive had my daughters doggo steal offerings off my ancestor and deity altars many a time. Its the first place the greedy boy heads to when he comes to visit! 😂 I really don't think they mind, I feel they find it funny esoecially Hecate, but definitely be very careful with offerings if you have food orientated pets in the house! 😂❤😂❤
I work with Thoth as he's reached to me when I was little. My routine looks a lot like yours, just lighting candles and short thoughts like asking him for wisdom and patience at my work. Also, wearing purple clothes and silver jewellery makes me connected with him through the day as these are colours associated with him.
Btw, that lightning and Mat Auryn stuff was wicked. 😱
And I have a "difficult" necklace too, I believe I have to cleanse it as every time I wear it, everything gets heated (it's a wolf necklace).
If I may make a suggestion for those who'd rather not use alcohol in ritual work. Make your own cider. I'm 51 and I don't drink. Never have and never will. Giving your time to make cider will add your energy to something you made to be shared with your deities.
Yep, other things like tea, lemonade, kykeon, etc are also great options.
Your videos on deity work are so helpful. I never thought I would take up this kind of work but I have recently started working with Hestia. I'm a homemaker and my daily labor is dedicated to running and maintaining my household and supporting my family so Hestia feels like a natural fit for me. I made a poster with a statue of her and her Orphic hymn and put it up in my kitchen. We set a portion aside for her at dinner. I can't say I've had any experiences but it's a nice thing to do.
@@witchyfeltthat I just started so I don't have much! I spend a moment with my kitchen shrine before making dinner. I try to keep it simple with her, I also have a fairly involved ceremonial magic practice that takes up a good portion of my time and it's important to me to strike a balance between the mundane and the mystical. Working with Hestia is an attempt to bridge the gap, as it were.
As far as offerings go, my gods don't ask too much unless one gets something, then they all ask. Recently though I was drinking orange juice and I could feel one of the gods that I work with sharing it with. It's was like he stepped in and was like "don't mind me. I'm just going to steal some of this."
I've been working with Lilith and Freya, and I've found a lot of similarities between them, with a few (very strong) distinctions. They both definitely have that trial by fire vibe for sure, though I always think of it as like pure independence and survival instinct more so than anything "mothery". I do find Freya to be more in the teaching wisdom through these trials though, whereas I get a lot of the actual physical lessons and real world application through Lilith's teachings. Of course, this is all upg, but I find very strong communications from them through animal experiences, especially feral female cats. In terms of offerings and daily work, I'm very much in the same boat of candles and incense (when I have them on hand), but I also find that being kind to and taking care of the strays in my neighborhood as a great way to give them offerings. There's this one cat (I call her Lilith), who regularly visits me to eat, but refuses to come inside or show any desire for domesticity, and since I had an issue with mice for a while, as a means of honoring her, I would make sure to catch mice with nontoxic traps (think Tom and Jerry lol) and leave the remains for her. The part that always feels very strange is that she essentially just materializes when I put out the mice, no actual sign of where she's coming from and no act on my part to alert her of my presence. If I get a chance, I'll try to get a photo for the discord :) Anyway, I really loved the video, and I really appreciate how open you're becoming with the specifics of your practice. Blessings🌿🌾🌑
I have aphantasia and usually my dreams have no visual component, but whenever someone from my spiritual team reaches out I can see things. It's absolutely wild and I'm always floored by it. Besides that I sometimes get scent signals, like my grandma's perfume or clove and tobacco for one of the deities. And occasionally I'll feel something like a buzzing at the back of my neck that seems to mean I should grab my cards because someone wants to tell me something.
Don't mind me, I forgot to comment on this video after watching it. Love seeing deity work videos. They always give me more things to think about while developing a relationship with deities! Much love Nike!!
Second thing because I completely forgot about the "Leave your experience in the comments" like a derp.
Calmness in nature to get closer to nature deities like Pan, calmness while doing a mantra like with Shri Ganesh or Hanuman and protection while I look at my Zhong Kui statue that is in front of me at my desk. Things like that make it known to me that they are there and that vibe swift while thinking about them is huge for me
I have been so stuck in my head, feeling like I was imagining a connection with a deity in my life. I saw the signs and ignored them as I thought I was just making something out of nothing. I’ve been focusing more on offering my time, words, and lighting a candle in their name, and just divined with a pendulum while watching this video of yours. This confirmed that Freyja was in fact the deity giving me the signs. Thanks to you, you gave me the confidence to believe. ❤️ I’m excited to see where this new knowledge takes me.
I find pendulums to be the most efficient tool for communication with deities w/r/t worship instructions and explanations on how this world works. My personal practice is built upon their answers.
I’m currently frustrated with my pendulum work. I try to see if anyone has anything to say and nothing happens. So I switch pendulums. Then repeat the question and yet again nothing. I don’t know how to get results.
This is a super helpful video!! I've been wanting to work with a deity for a while but have settled with just worshipping because I don't know how deity work is "supposed" to look like. I would also say I'm pretty spiritually deaf in that I don't hear or see messages clearly. This gives me a lot more comfort that perhaps the deities that I'm worshipping have been with me far more times than I thought. I want to say that I am actively working with a deity actually and I have noticed my goals that I asked for help on coming to fruition...
Thank you again Nike for your video
Does anyone have advice for what to do when you feel like you're.. too practical/realistic to really fully give yourself over to your beliefs? Does anyone even experience this?
Whenever I feel like I've received a sign, or when I communicate with deity or even do any kind of witchcraft related things I still struggle letting go of my "am I just being ridiculous?" thoughts and after 5 years I'm a bit tired of it tbh :'D I'd love to be able to work at it in some way, where I can feel more secure in my beliefs and in my relationship with my deity, which coincidentally is also Freja!
Can confirm Freya's trials by fire. I never really put 2 and 2 together, but I've been praying to her and working with her through some things in my life, and it's really been one stressful thing after another, ever since I began working with her. Like you said though, it's nothing I CAN'T handle, but just....it's a LOT lol. I definitely feel like I'm growing, and yes, in that way she is helping me, but man...she is tough. I appreciate her help, but I may have to take a break haha.. Thank you for this video, it definitely helped me understand more about my own practice and experiences with Deities. 💖
This just came out as I was starting to do some research on Benzaiten and not finding much 😂 I'm going to have to star polishing my translation skills once more and find books in their original language, to have some solid reference.
Thank you. This was lovely, and answered some key questions I had. I had no idea who you were but was led to you by Freyja, with whom I now work, after She called me to Her. I can confirm through my own UPG the aspects of Freyja you assert here. I would add that I’ve experienced a lot of the sensual and magickal empowerment aspects of Her, in addition to the strong motherly energy She has. Peace to you.
Makes me wonder who was trying to tell me something. Before we moved. A little bird would knock on my front window. It wouldn't fly away even myself or the cats would go to the window. It would do this several times a day and at different times. It stopped doing it when I put in my notice so we could get ready to move.
Just a small story I like to tell about how I had to be beaten over the head before I realized who I was being called to: I've always loved cats (so much that when we had to separate the cats and dogs growing up the cats went into my room). For several years people would give me and/or leave behind owl themed things. Finally, I was debating dipping a toe into paganism and, having been inspired by the moon that night, was wonder if I should go with Diana or Artemis. Except every single time I tried to think 'Artemis' Athena popped into my brain instead, until I finally was like "fine, I'll look into Athena!"
She's been very helpful since.
A few years ago I had a horrible nightmare. In the dream a symbol appears and the nightmare ends. I woke up and immediately looked up the symbol. It was the eye of hours. Then the name Isis popped into my head. (I wasn't a practicing witch at the time. I simply meditated.) The next day I got my first tattoo and it was the eye. And I began a beautiful relationship with Isis.
Came here via Olivia, so glad I discovered you! Love finding a new voice in the community that I really connect to!
This is incredibly helpful especially as someone who has taken up hellenistic paganism, and works heavily with Artemis
I also am newly working with Artemis! I had a really really crazy experience with her last week. Let’s say I found her feisty side! I adore her and hope it’ll be a long lasting connection
@@EvelynAlice7 Really? She's always been incredibly protective and motherlike to me
@@Roomyvegeta1 yeah there were a few things that happened because I’d been working with Persephone a fair but over Samhain. I think I neglected her a bit! But yes, very mothering which is why I love working with her so much. I love nurturing part of working with deity and I definitely need that from my connection with deity
@@EvelynAlice7 I'm curious how have you built your relationship with her?
@@EvelynAlice7 I relate with that a lot! The side that Artemis shows us is very protective and motherly as well, with a hint of fierceness underneath. She encourages to slow down and rest and steady ourselves, like a huntress slowing down to steady her aim, and she encourages us to remove things from our life that are causing our exhaustion. In interpreting the tarot readings we do for Artemis and the ways we feel her presence, Artemis' perspective seems to be "If you want to accomplish all of these things in life, you won't be able to do living so frantically and running on an empty battery. Learn how to truly rest, and then prepare yourself for the journey that you've chosen."
I don't work with deities but I've had plenty of experiences with my grandparents through dreams and smells mostly. Sometimes I'll physically feel them like my grandfather hugging me or my grandmother holding my hand. There was also this one time before I started practicing witchcraft where my grandfather scared the living shit out of me by blowing on my ear when I was all alone in my new apartment.
So I’ve had an idea of a drawing to make in honor of Artemis for her love and support throughout the difficult times around my dog’s passing. And I’ve been pushing it off and just delaying it not wanting to go back to it. But the past week I had it in my head that I’ll just get it done and it’ll be fine. Several days of procrastination later when I had the reference photos all set, I was really pushing the limit of Artemis’ patience with it. So, a couple days ago I was bitten by my friend’s dog. First time I’ve been bitten any harder than a small nip, so I took that as a sign that her patience was wearing thin. I got the drawing done that night XD
When it comes to the gods, if you say you’re going to do something just do it XD
Helios showed up in a dream and said he liked Brandy. That's what I offer him most of the time. He also got mad at me cuz I ignored him and reached out to Jupiter. I certainly learned my lesson. He nuked my desktop.
After the discord discussion, the Hekate part at the start is too relatable XD
This is such a great video! I had one experience back in September 2020, where I was particularly upset with someone and felt so lonely that I sat down and prayed to whoever was listening. Suddenly, my room smelled like freshly cut apples and I felt so calm and understood. Almost as if someone was there, putting their hand on my shoulder and catching me. Never had this experience again but your video confirms my original thought that I somehow reached someone with my prayer.
Speaking of dreams I don't usually see my dreams but I can sense stuff happening and I think they are getting stronger cause I have a bit of a hard time remembering them but Ive been remembering them lately like this one about a show I like.
Every SCA Viking knows that if you want to win at combat, you inscribe Tyr on your weapon. 😏
The god of war & justice!
(if you're a viking, they are obviously the same thing)
Found you & your cohorts right after my tarot card reading told me that the answer was the hanged man. Reversed.
Which, of course, is Odin upright.
Nice to meet you on the first day of the new year
☺️
I work with/worship a few gods in the Greek pantheon, but I have a couple small stories of things with hermes and Hypnos. Starting with hermes, I have a cat (named Daisy) and, any time I’m doing some divination with him with my pendulum (it’s actually just a pendant clock necklace but it works) she always comes over and is all over the pendulum, which is funny cause hermes doesn’t actually like her (asked him using the pendulum) but she doesn’t do this with any other deity.
And with Hypnos. Sometimes when I’ve been awake till 1-2 am trying and failing at sleeping so I’m reading or drawing or just on my phone, I’ll just feel someone enter the room, and a bit later (anywhere from 10-30 minutes) I’ll just feel a WAVE of exhaustion and be able to fall asleep very quickly and usually get a great nights rest, with a decent amount of dreams (I don’t get too many dreams thag I remember, cause I’m pretty sleep deprived and I noticed when I don’t sleep enough I stop dreaming)
personally i feel a huge difference between pantheons, like their presence and their signs are very particular to that pantheon
Thank you for this wonderful video! I recently started worship, (with the Goddess Nyx) and have been nervous that she will be mad or upset with me for not having the energy to dedicate a ton of time to her. I am hoping that I can develop my intuition, and my Claire senses to better communicate.
I also love your cat! 😸
For me the deities I work with typically communicate through feelings and thoughts, especially if they're things that don't necessarily follow my personality. I'll use my tarot deck for clarification if I need it.
I almost never remember my dreams, whenever I do that's sort of a sign to me that it was something important. A while ago mum just randomly gave me a crow feather she had found in the garden and the night I put it on my altar I had someone show up and introduce themselves as Loki. The more I researched the more I realised they'd been around for quite a while and I'm a dumbass
Ahhh yes... the clue by four. I am very very familiar with this.
Share a moment with them... powerful quote...
Also the crow thing makes a lot of sense...lots of crows where im at
I also wear bones...but only small ones...
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for sharing your experience! I have done research and even have an altar set up for the Norse pantheon but I have felt kind of lost when it comes to worship or spending time with them. I come from a christian background and it was obviously very structured. Paganism is so free it can feel overwhelming. I mainly don't want to offend them so I am just afraid to start.
LOL I hear ya about the offerings and cats. I have to really be careful since my little Loki is VERY nosy and he WILL get into the offering unless I cover it or put it inside a jar.
Actually I got a spg of someone saying they working out with Thor too like I did back when I worked with him.
When I was out with my friend the other day I saw an eagle and it's rare for me but I'm quite positive it was an eagle so pretty sure that might've been Zeus saying hey
Thank you for this! I've been thinking about getting into deity work but hesitant as I have a healthy fear of getting in over my head with them 😏 this was helpful and calmed my worries
Thank you so much! This is so helpful. It's been hard for me to figure out how deity work actually goes down.
Thank you for this video. I found it very useful. I'm not a pagan, but a Christian with gnostic and kabbalistic leanings. I treat my God Yahweh more henotheistically, and I was surprised to see that I communicate with Yahweh in similar ways: through dreams, through tarot, through meditative writing. This video helps me feel more connected to those who have different gods and worldviews than me. Thank you again
I am a new witch and about a month ago I started getting videos about deity work recommended to me. One afternoon I wondered if there were any deities who might be interested in working with me and who they might be (mind you, I didn't use divination or anything, I was merely wondering to myself out of curiousity). At this point I wasn't even doing actual reasearch about it. Within the same week I started seeing a lot of bees (I live in a city) and one night I was dreaming about being with people and going from one room to another... At some point I found myself on a staircase with realistic statues of lions and lionesses on them and they moved their heads when I walked by... Weird, but ok...then I got to a "room" with no walls or ceiling, there were more lion statues and a standing statue of the goddess Sekhmet in the middle, as I got closer she tilted her head to look at me. And then I woke up.
Now, I tend to be quite skeptic, but the timing and the fact that I wasn't doing any type of reasearch about her (I was actually wondering about Athena), led me to believe that she was calling out to me.
I had a couple other experiences since then but this comment is already long enough. XD
Thank you for this video, it was very interesting.
P.S.: Sekhmet is considered the Eye of Ra, and the bees the Tears of Ra. That's why I associated them to her.
Also, the moving statue thing? I later found out that many people had experiences with a "living" statue of the goddess in the temple of Ptah in Karnak. When I looked it up it was the same statue I saw in my dream, and I had never seen it before.
@Trinity M I never mentioned my ethnicity, why are you assuming what I am? Also, I have done reaserch and the Kemetic pantheon is not closed.
O.o I had an awful day and TH-cam just randomly brought your video up, probably because of my research on celtic mythology for my book. 😅💕
I have to say, I like your approach on all that! Quite inspirational!
Just the video I've been searching for, Thank you!🙌
Okay, quick disclaimer, I have absolutely no experience with deity work, but I am looking to start and have been doing all sorts of research and such. But I have felt Artemis calling to me for a while now, and honestly, I have always loved her and her mythos, even as a little greek mythology loving child I always loved Artemis and just thought she was the coolest. A few weeks ago, it was a full moon, I was in the car with my mum, she was driving us to my cousin's for a family dinner, I was in the passenger seat, at the time I was also working on a drawing dedicated to Artemis, and then on our way, we saw no less than 20 deer in a span of about 5 minutes. Keep in mind we were in a fairly large town and usually, the deer keep to the ravines near by but they were all fairly close to the road. I feel like this is a sign but I'm looking for an opinion from someone with more experiance. Thanks :)
If you really want to worship Artemis then you don't need a sign. Just do it. Artemis is inherently worthy of worship. No one needs an excuse to pay Her what is Her due
Great video as always! I'm just starting out on the pagan path.. although it's / nature has called me as long as I can remember. Now the part where you describe the smells, shadows and room energy.. it made my hairs stand on end as you described exactly what's been going on here!! My wife has also smelt the flowers at random times when I have.. I've not mentioned the presences as I think she would want to move!! It's something again I have often experienced. Amazing to here you mention it. Would be great to know more about your experiences/knowledge of this or the same from your friends who I also follow. Thanks again!!
Not diety related but lightning when it hits your house is L O U D. when i was a kid it hit our house and set our dryer on fire
I love your personality
Blessed be.
How do you balance your burning insense with your cats? Do you leave them in another room? Can you do a video explaining this?
Another superb video! This is one of the best diety work videos I've seen. Sometimes I doubt myself and my own UPG moments. This is so approachable and a great reminder that those remarkable moments aren't constant.... but can happen.
I'm going to have to save this video for future self questioning sessions 😅.
Throughly enjoyed! Very lovely. It is always fun to see how others do things
Futhorc runes? It's the first time I've ever heard of them. Will you ever do a video on them? It would be really cool!
This is really helpful! It took me so long to understand that it was more feelings!
Great video! Clearly explains the more nuanced parts of daily practice that sometimes have me a little wavering on the validity side. It’s nice to hear that others experience it too, and in different ways! Just what I needed this month 😊
GREAT VIDEO!!! especially for baby witches that might idealize deity work to a certain point (used to be my case)
I have had two dreams about Odin in the past few months. One was I was in a wheat field, I was standing there and two black birds flew over my head and landed in front of me. Right after they landed i looked up and heard a deep intense voice that yelled Odin and i woke up. Th second one was really long but at the end the Odin from the marvel movies cam out and told me to take this path that i wold hav to go alone for he was going to die. He killed himself (and Luke sky walker lmao) to save me in order for me to get continue on the trip or journey or task i was headed down. It’s kinda hilarious to me that I’m still like maybe it wasn’t a sign, but I have a crow tattoo that i got without scheduling when m tattoo artist is booked until 2023 she called me up and was like you want a tattoo? I now researching Odin because I’m still a little worried about working with him I’ve only ever worked with one deity before.
Could you please share some recommendations on books about deity work?
Another great video!
I have goosebumps because this is the third video I’ve seen that has brought up Freya the first talked about her being associated with the queen of wands(which I pulled in a reading not too long ago), the second video said she likes amber as I put my citrine on the closest thing I have to amber, and now this I’ve never even worked with any deity. To top it off I’ve recently rescued 2 kittens that were from the same litter👀….I’m scared lol I don’t think I’m good enough for all that tbh
My friend, there's no such thing as "good enough." She's approached you, so clearly she thinks you're capable. The gods don't expect perfection from us, and we all start as beginners - there's no shame in making mistakes. Just keep reading and asking questions and we'll all learn as we go.
I know this comment is a couple months old, so maybe you've already sorted things out, but I wish you well wherever you're at.
I come from Wolf.
11:30 I've been there. It tripped me out the first few times.
HELP!!!! Are these signs?
My 🍃 man randomly ignoring me.
Almost running over a crow twice
A huge fight w my s.o.
My apt getting broken into
Getting hit while driving(they ran)
Running out of money
All of this happening in a 24 hr span!!!!!😩
Jesus, who did you offend!?
Honestly. My story on how i got into the craft/deity worship is rather funny. Its not magical or anything. I got to know the band ghost and suddenly there was this interest in paganism. No idea why.
Does anyone have an example of any of these pagan gods driving a demon out (exorcism) of person?
Demons didn’t really exist in paganism the way they do in Christianity. There are some examples, but keep in mind that when we talk about “Demons” the Christians also classed our Gods as demons too.
@@WarriorWitchNike There actually have been people in the pagan world that has needed exorcism and I believe Fr. Vincent Lampert may have been involved in one in the past. Do you think the believe in Christianity creates the demons? Also, what's up with some of these new age practitioners who claim that their spirit guides turned demonic on them which turned them to Christ?
@@dag4710 lol new age isn't paganism. New age is filled with abrahamic theology, just as satanism. Try doing your homework the next time.
Feeling connection to someone strong may be fun or assuring. But how do you know that they are truthful to you or they will not harm you or they are not just toying with you. You don't know them very well, do you? They are just different creation like us. Only because they have some different abilities than us humans doesn't qualify them to be worshipped. I see them, feel them sometimes, even I watched their dance when I was little. I don't mind them being my neighbor as long as they don't harm me. But worshipping just anybody is not my thing. I only worship the one who deserves to be worshipped, creator of us, them and all
Pagan cultural appropriation? lol don't be a clown. It's against God, that's the issue.
Wrong person, sorry.
Cringe monotheism. You're not gonna convert anyone here...
Most of us are here to worship you, not Isis. 🤗
Worship my wife🙌🏼
Pagan just means ethnic, so it might be considered cultural appropriation to worship deities belonging to an ethnicity other than your own. Not that I care, but just making a point.
Pagan cultural appropriation? lol don't be a clown. It's against God, that's the issue.
@@dag4710 which God? No real God opposes polytheism