Barbelith Underground > Temple > Pop Culture Entity

I think the idea of formulating an intent and then trying to find a deity to match it, is almost as arse-backwards as just picking a random pop-culture figure for no apparent reason.

Both seem to emerge from the notion that deity is functional, like a servitor, something that you use to fix a problem. I think this idea is at the root of the criticisms that people were making of pop culture magic in the 'post modern magic' thread - but it extends way beyond pop culture stuff. Most magicians, especially of the chaos variety, do seem to relate to their Gods in this sense. Deity is approached from a utilitarian perspective, rather than a 'religious' perspective.

There is a knee jerk fear of religion in occult circles, as if it is somehow for the weak and those who need to be told what to do. Not like us magicians, who are mighty willful souls that bow to nobody and worship nothing but our own mighty willful souls!! I really think this perspective is born more from fear than anything else, fear dressed up as individualism, but fear all the same. A fear of allowing for the possibility of something bigger, more phenomenal and more mysterious than us in the universe. A fear of dealing with something that cannot be bound and contained by the limits and parameters of our imagination.

For me, "worship" means "to give worth to" and "sacrifice" means "to make sacred". I have a blatantly religious approach to deity work. It's all about worshipping a specific aspect of this fantastic, extraordinary, beautiful, terrifying reality that we find ourselves confronted with. Celebrating a part of reality in the form of a God or Goddess. Giving a name to a piece of the universe or an area of human consciousness, and then trying to build a relationship with it. Getting to know it better. Stepping further into its specific territory. Learning more about it. Opening myself up to its influence. Exploring its mysteries.

I think that if you miss this, and approach deity purely on the basis of "what you can get", then your work with said deity will be hugely diminished. I find it really quite shocking how few magicians seem willing to let their deities actually be deities, and seem to want to confine them to either a servitor level of simple functionality; or else treat them as some kind of vague ephemeral archetype that they might think about over lunch from time to time, but never really do anything with...

It's not about subservience. These things are worth celebrating. They are worth bigging up. That's why they are Gods. Love and sex, pleasure and joy, passion and dynamism, life and death, fertility and fecundity, will and desire, renewal and decay. A ritual celebration of one of these aspects of reality, called to as a God or Goddess, affirms a place for it in your world. Opens you up to its influence. Regular service to the Gods develops this further. Contact with the Gods changes us. Transforms us. Makes us more like them. Over time, we become more fertile ground in which their mysteries can flourish. We learn to live more and more within their sphere of influence. They grow to feel an affinity and affection towards us and may bestow their gifts. We begin to have genuine relationships with the Gods, and earn the right to be able to go to them with our problems and day-to-day fears and frustrations. They recognise us, hear our prayers. The divine is alive and active in the world.

I may personally think that this sort of approach is problematic when applied to, say, "Ponch" from CHiPs. But if you feel more comfortable with pop culture deity, then why not think about an aspect of reality that you want to celebrate and build a stronger connection to in your life - and then find a convincing pop culture mask for that principle. Daisy Duke, from the Dukes of Hazzard, for instance.