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Invoking/ accessing patron godforms - a practical guide?

20:09 / 12.02.03

Please tell me if I am overreaching myself but my (middle) namesake is an ancient Celtic-Irish goddess, so I feel an affinity with her. I'm really a whatsit - a neophyte, if you will - but I did hear about using godforms as archetypes to, well, I dunno really, put oneself in a ritual space? perform tasks for you? Me and the Morrigan go way back so I was wondering if there's any way I can officially ritualise her or whatever into being my patron goddess, or indeed, if I should do some checks before even attempting this to see whether or not she SHOULD be my patron goddess. I've had some mild experiences around her but as I"ve noted before, certain things I just don't want to mess with without a little prior guidance. The Morrigan is very similar to Kali, but also explicitly the Goddess of War and a bit of a slut to boot - a slut with a gift of prophecy (shades of Lord Fanny?). If anyone uses godforms or invokes patron god/esses and they have any warnings, encouragement, teachings to impart that would be really helpful. I have kind of chant to her and her sisters - she's a triple goddess, a proto-Trinity symbol, 3 in 1 and 1 in 3 - that I have been doing just to open myself to the possibilities. Is there anything else I can do? And what would I do if I do somehow access her (in whatever form, symbolic, dream, sign, etc.)?

Cheers
SV

21:18 / 12.02.03

I guess you should use whatever you feel comfortable with. Maybe use a sigil to contact her in dreams?

I normally just read a lot about the god/goddess and then "talk" to them throughout the day until I get a result. It helps to have something to focus on (eg The Moon). Keep talking and thinking until you feel her presence in your life.

08:55 / 13.02.03

What Wulf said - I think that starting off with reading and research would be an excellent way to begin - this is a secular kind of worship in itself i suppose. This might even trigger dreams/syncroncities in itself - This might turn up some ideas you might want to incorporate into a small ritual or dedication. You could maybe build an altar or whatever's sacred to Her, but like Wulf said whatever you feel comfortable with. As for checking out the rightness of building a relationship, I'd suggest doing some divination - but this tends to be my answer to everything

This thread got some go(o)d ideas:
http://www.barbelith.com/underground/topic.php?id=10567

09:05 / 13.02.03

Working with Gods is all about relationships, and I'd no more approach an entity cold and ask it to be my patron, than I would introduce myself to a complete stranger and ask them to be my best mate. It can sometimes be seen as the magickal equivalent of sending your CV off to random employers asking them for work. It might work, but you're probably better off getting to know the personality in question before you rush into making any big requests. Best advice would be to take it slowly, if you're looking for a patron, then it's a long-term thing. Make sure it's what you want. Make sure you're familiar with what it means to be in service in this sense.

Also, if you accept that they are Gods, then by definition they should not be at your beck and call; so politeness, courtesy and respect are always the operative words. Another thing to remember is that just because you may feel an affinity with what a particular entity seems to represent, it doesn't necessarily mean that they owe you anything. A patron isn't necessarily something which you're born with, in the sense that we are arguably born with 'power animals' or 'totem beasts' or whatever. Your relationship with a patron is closer to that of an employer, and you may have to earn their patronage.

I think there's some good stuff on this subject in the thread "Invoking Pan" which came up awhile back. Oh, and I'll spare you my usage of the term 'godforms' rant, which appears in the thread "new inspiration..working with Gods...or something".

09:22 / 13.02.03

Be Careful.

trouser the trouserian

10:39 / 13.02.03

In my experience, having long-term relationships with Gods/Goddesses is quite different in character to doing a ritual invocation. Gypsy's point
...if you accept that they are Gods, then by definition they should not be at your beck and call;
echoes my own experience in that the Gods/Goddesses I have long-term relationships with only turn up when they feel like it, usually through dreams or liminal visions. Behaving in a manner which a particular God/Goddess is likely to find pleasing can be useful, and at times, somewhat challenging.

13:17 / 13.02.03

The Morrigan is very similar to Kali, but also explicitly the Goddess of War and a bit of a slut to boot - a slut with a gift of prophecy (shades of Lord Fanny?)... – slinkyvagabond

Um, NO. The Morrigan is not "a bit of a slut".

The sexuality of women in ancient Irish society , and by extension the sexuality of ancient irish deities, is something you'll want to do quite a bit of research on if you're serious about dealing with The Morrigan. Modern ideas of women's sexuality will be found quite lacking and more than somewhat irrelevant here.

The term "Morrigan" means "Great Queen" in ancient Gaelic. That is pretty much the only way to approach her without getting your ass sorely kicked in nine different directions.

Stay humble, yet aspire to fearlessless in Her presence. And good fucking luck.

13:42 / 13.02.03

Ah, something else which came to mind...

There is a Welsh/Cymraeg deity named Morgan, who deals with water (rivers, I think?) and is not the same as The Morrigan. The closest cognate in the Cymraeg "pantheon" would be Rhiannon, whose name also translates to "Great Queen". As far as I know Morgan is not an aspect of Rhiannon.

Rhiannon and The Morrigan are quite different. There is a possible connection between Macha (an aspect of The Morrigan) and Rhiannon in that both are associated with horses, and of course both The Morrigan and Rhiannon deal with sovereignty. But their temperaments are not similar, and it's best not to confuse the two.

EE

16:35 / 13.02.03

Presents are always good. You know, sacrifices and the like. Likewise acts of devotion, such as setting up shrines or temples to your patron. Works for me.

17:48 / 13.02.03

A classic means to invoke godforms is a four-fold dedication.

The magician would start with describing the attributes of the godform in the third person ("The Morrigan are the six winged harbingers of battle..")

The magician would then move to invoking the deity, addressing her/them in the second person, really feeling her/them entering the room ("You are the Morrigan, battle-bitch queen of war…") Now is a good time to offer gifts to the deity.

Then, the operator would evoke the deity, becoming her/them down the point where the magician feels his kinesthetic form change and his brain rewire to the point where he thinks as the deity. Here we find the magician speaking as the god in the first person ("I AM the Morrigan, and my shadow sets across every solider, my talons dig into their flesh and my six eyes see every battle…")

Note that if you do choose to evoke the deity, you will enter a Gnostic trance and you may therefore forget what happened while you were under the trance. You may wish to employ a second operator (a recorder) to assist with information gathering and the reestablishment of your identity while you are in trance, or you may wish to use a tape recorder.

The magician, after completing his business as the deity, would offer thanksgiving the deity in the second person ("Thank you Morrigan…")

Finally, close the operation. You may not always wish to banish away the godform at the end of the operation, as there are many circumstances in which you would want to have the godform dwelling in you for an extended period of time. I would not recommend keeping the Morrigan around in this manner if this is your first time working with her/them.

I believe there is a thread around here debating the virtues of banishing after operations.

21:54 / 16.02.03

B-C: sorry, I'm going to sound very snippy here but I KNOW what "Mor-rigan" means. But I was being facetious with the "bit of a..." remark, which you're right, was probably not the best start to make. Otherwise, thank you for your comments. You've given me a lot to think about, including whether or not I want to get into it in the first place. Some more research on my part is definitely needed although I do know more about Celtic-Irish society and mythology than comes across in my first post. Including that the other aspect of the Morrigana is Badbh...

Tryphena Absent

22:25 / 16.02.03

Erm, this is probably my area so I guess I should say something! Erm, my patron goddess is Hecate and has been for over three years to the point where I don't invoke her through ritual anymore, she's just there all the time. I chose her, or rather she chose me, because I felt that I needed a crone - I always identified with the older aspect of the Demeter/Persephone/Hecate trinity. I'm also a bit of a chameleon and she was the goddess of change, different choices, crossroads. Note that I'd been a practising witch, a little sharper then wicca but witchcraft all the same, since the age of 12 and I came across my aspect goddess when I was 17 so it took quite a while to actually decide what was right.

My patron is great when I'm in a magical bind, I can let her take control and she tends to help me but then help is a rather relative term isn't it... a friend once said of Kali: she doesn't do what you want- she helps you even if it means killing you slowly and painfully and he meant it. I suspect this applies to Hecate and to The Morrigan actually so there you go. Shocking stuff.

I wrote something about worship a while ago but it's very incoherent and really quite personal, I'll provide a link anyway and I hope it's not too difficult to read. I suppose it's really about my relationship with my deity and the way it works, I kind of reiterate the fact that a relationship is not about our wants and desires and I'll say it again here because you will not find a patron if that is your purpose. Sorry.

The Morrigan huh! Fiery, interesting choice, just offer yourself up to her - that one's going to need quite a lot of grovelling though.

22:37 / 16.02.03

yeah, I guess my initial post was really badly worded. I was probably tired so I apologise for seeming to make light of this issue. I know that I can't find a patron god, I guess I have to be found. Funny that maiden-mother-crone thing comes up, I did have a terribly odd experience involving a geographical triangulation, a mother, a very unexpected, appearing-from-nowhere crone and a maiden (me - yes, I was technically too). I'm not saying this has any relevance to the Morrigan but it's interesting that so many traditions have this tripartheid form, and that in pre-Christian religions it usually pertains to godesses, until appropriated for the Christian tradition.

Tryphena Absent

23:16 / 16.02.03

I've always looked on the whole trinity thing as a very useful tool. It was certainly the first thing that grabbed any kind of identification in me and it was weird that I'd choose the crone when I was a maiden but it's just where I'm centered I guess. It's always a good sign if people strongly feel that one part is specifically identified with them, generally means they'll continue with the craft, no identification and there's a good chance you'll stop doing it after a couple of years.