How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

[Norse_Angel]

Re: How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

You know, I like that. It is a good compromise. Not too familiar, it's respectful, but not stuffy or formal.

In our system though, the only God you should refer to as anything else is our Father. For it is the respect of a child for his parents that we follow in praising him, AllFather, Odin.

[Thorbjorn]

Re: How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

Certainly, I say something like "Hail Odin All-Father" or "All-Father, please ... "

[Jembru]

Re: How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

I wasn't going to discuss how I address my deities in Japanese, but looking at how the conversation has progressed, it may be more relevant than I thought.

So.. honorifics are a bit different in Japanese because not using a suffix with a name can be quite insulting (you can get away with dropping them sometimes if you're particulary close, in which case tone of voice and context come into play, but this must be done with care and is probably best avoided). This has given rise to 'cute' or 'familar' suffixes that you can use to denote your closeness or endearment while still showing that you value the person as a human being (yes, dropping the suffix can seem THAT degrading to the listener). Even pets get 'kun' or 'tan' after their names.

So in the context of the language, I had to select some form a address. I decided not to look to Shinto for this, because I need to make it clear that I am not trying to address a Shinto version of my Gods, but the Wiccan and Celtic deites I've taken time to forge a relationship with. However, for the sake of ritual, sometimes 'sama' (always without the honourixic prefix 'o' though) feels right. Usually they get the more neutral-polite 'san'.

The biggest issue for me was what to call them when addressing them more generically (the dualistc 'god' and 'goddess' or 'lord and lady'). Would I use 'kami(sama)' and 'megami(sama)', for example? If a female deity can and is refered to also as 'kami' why would I thenuse the word that specifically means 'female deity'? It seems a bit lopsided (again, this is a lnguistic issue as Japanese doesn't make a distinction between male and female for the most part). So in the end I started using 'mother and father' (okaasan to otoosan). This time, usng the honourific 'o' because it's a linguistic norm.

Oh but.. although I don't use 'sama' after a deity's actual name, I will sometmes use 'kamisama' collectively (never the genuine plural which would be 'kamisamazama'). If I use this, it's in the way I use 'deity' as a cop-out phrase in my PF posts.

I've noticed I'm developing a trend towards using 'God' on it's own in English rituals, to encompass both genders recently. I'm not sure if this is the influence of Franchesca De Grandis's writing style, or a cognative crossover from Japanese.

[Jembru]

Re: How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

That's one of the reasons, if not the

Sorry to be late. I wasn't able to reply to this sooner because I couldn't read the black text on my phone (I've removed the formatting in the quote). I don't know why, but for some reason I imagined that the gods Asatru and Heathenry did demand respect. I dunno, it just seems to have that sternness about it from the outside. It's interesting to hear differently though.

[LunarHarvest]

Re: How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

So in the context of the language, I had to select some form a address. I decided not to look to Shinto for this, because I need to make it clear that I am not trying to address a Shinto version of my Gods, but the Wiccan and Celtic deites I've taken time to forge a relationship with. However, for the sake of ritual, sometimes 'sama' (always without the honourixic prefix 'o' though) feels right. Usually they get the more neutral-polite 'san'.

I will admit that I am certainly not as well versed on this subject to give what I would view as a proper response, but I will do so to the best of my ability! >v<

So in Shinto there are a good number of titles that a person uses when referring to different Kami. As Jembru already covered, as in Japanese, it generally is seen as highly disrespectful or improper to not use the titles when referring to the Kami on an individual basis, and that the honorifics are a method, in my opinion, of conveying the reverence and sincerity of our prayers, worship, and ritual. As a continuation of this, I rarely refer to the Kami without using their honorific. This is my take on the matter anyway.

To give some examples of different Kami honorifics I will list some Kami with their honorific underlined.

Amaterasu-Ōmikami
Inari-Ōkami
Susanoo-no-Mikoto
Ōyamatsumi-no-Kami

[Thorbjorn]

Re: How do you address and refer to your Gods and Goddesses?

Sorry to be late. I wasn't able to reply to this sooner because I couldn't read the black text on my phone (I've removed the formatting in the quote). I don't know why, but for some reason I imagined that the gods Asatru and Heathenry did demand respect. I dunno, it just seems to have that sternness about it from the outside. It's interesting to hear differently though.

I don't think they demand worship, but if you disrespect them deliberately it can make for bad times. They do demand that you keep a promise or oath if you make it, especially Odin and Tyr. The other gods seem to be more forgiving about it. There's only one story I know of in which a king swore himself to Thor, but then switched allegiance to Christ. That really pissed Thor off, and he didn't forgive the king. Some people say the gods don't give a crap about us, others say they take a strong interest in us. I'm kind of the opinion that they have things to do, and don't micro-manage us mortals. But I think they are there when we need them, like family and friends who don't meddle in your life but will help when you ask them. For the people who say the gods don't give a crap about us or if we worship them or not, I have to wonder then "why would you worship them?"