Service for a God or Goddess. What’s it like? What does it mean to someone? Why do it in the first place? As someone who has one particular God sitting over my shoulder, a Goddess in flirtation mode at the moment, and another God that provides lessons from time to time…and someone who is open about all of this, as well as knowing that the Gods, Goddesses, Spirits of Place and Ancestor exist – I get these from time to time. Some of its sarcastic in nature, other times its meant in a joking manner (as if I were crazy in the head), and sometimes its a serious inquiry. Regardless of which manner of questioning, its real for me. I do believe. What others may or may not think or believe in regards to that is of no consequence to me. I do believe.

Mesa Verda – where I experienced Crow like I had never before

So, what is it like to be in service to a God or Goddess? Well, its not like I am being asked to be an Indiana Jones type and retrieve artifacts and put those back into their appropriate locations. Nor am I being asked to locate runaway teens, slit their throats, and draw mystical symbols on the wall using their blood. If that’s the type of stuff you think its all about – congrats, you’ve been watching way too many b-rated movies. I do have a service I am to do as directed by Crow. The podcast serves that purpose – bringing the voices of Paganism towards the forefront. Its not about making people believe in Paganism, rather its about setting those voices where they can be heard. Those listening will make up their own minds. And honestly, I would tend to believe that most of the Gods and Goddesses are likely to want people to come to them on their (the people) own accord. There’s also other requests that get made from time to time – but its far more mundane than one would think. Building feeding stations for wildlife. Taking stewardship of a particular area (think along the lines of picking up trash). And that’s just where I am concerned. Many others who provide services to the Gods and Goddesses that call to them will have various other services and requests that they (the people) choose to do.

That’s right. Choose. I choose to do what is requested of me. I can always turn and say “no”. But I don’t. That’s my choice. Many folks that I have discussed this with have mentioned that I may be possessed by a demon or spirit and am compelled to follow what I am told to do. That’s just not the case. I do what is asked of me, because I choose to do so. It really does come to just that.

So, what’s it like? What does it mean to me? Why would I do it?

Well, serving the Gods is like anything else in my daily life. I do what is asked, and I do what I need to do to survive in this capitalistic, monetary-hungry world we all live in. I work to make a living just like anyone else. I do my morning observance of the sun’s rising as I normally do. I provide the crow squadron outside my building with leftovers from my lunch, as an offering back to Crow. And I continue to try to make the presence of the podcast better known, so as to follow the request I was given:  to provide a voice to the Pagan community through the podcast. And where the podcast is concerned, I am providing one of many voices…I’m not the be-all, end-all of the podcasting world – and have never, ever claimed to be such.

For me, following the call of a particular God, God, and Goddess is about honoring what I am: a polytheist. I believe in the Gods and Goddesses. I believe they are all separate entities that exist. I attempt to honor who they are through my daily tasks, living my personal life, and offering service to them when and how I can. The meaning of living my life in such a way provides me with the comfort of honoring them in my own manner. Sometimes, the tasks are lessons that I learn as I move through my daily life. Sometimes, the reward of accomplishing a task is a bit more physical, and substantial – such as watching the birds of the neighborhood eat their fill of birdseed left within my stone circle in my backyard. But the real meaning comes from fulfilling my promise, my oath to being who I am without apology or regret.

Why would I do this type of thing? Because of who and what I am. And because of what I have experienced as a Pagan. As a Druid. As a person. As I said previously, I’m a Pagan. I’m a Druid on my Bardic Grade within the framework of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids. I am a denizen of this planet. And the Gods are here. And they are real. Of that, I have no doubt.