How do you connect?

[SilverShadow]

I'm a little headblind these days.

It hasn't always been the case. But I spent a great many years actively blocking out the Gods and my own intuition (because both were telling me to stop wasting my life with a horrible person but I didn't want to listen).

Anyway, I'm back trying to connect with the Gods.

I don't feel like any are actively ignoring me, though I'm headblind so they might be and I just can't tell But reaching out is a lot harder than it used to be.

For me, connecting with the Gods a whole range of methods from meditation, to offerings, to simply putting it out there that I'm actively listening for any messages they have. Those methods work some of the time, sometimes they don't. Tyr seems the most receptive, but then....and this may sound completely crazy....I've always felt closest to him out of all the Gods. Though, Freya seems almost as happy to be connected with (but that might be because we both love cats, ha ha!)

It got me thinking though, what methods does everyone else use? Do you specifically call on a God? Is it all ceremony or do you get a bit casual with the whole deal?

[Rae'ya]

Re: How do you connect?

I'm a little headblind these days.

It hasn't always been the case. But I spent a great many years actively blocking out the Gods and my own intuition (because both were telling me to stop wasting my life with a horrible person but I didn't want to listen).

Anyway, I'm back trying to connect with the Gods.

I don't feel like any are actively ignoring me, though I'm headblind so they might be and I just can't tell But reaching out is a lot harder than it used to be.

For me, connecting with the Gods a whole range of methods from meditation, to offerings, to simply putting it out there that I'm actively listening for any messages they have. Those methods work some of the time, sometimes they don't. Tyr seems the most receptive, but then....and this may sound completely crazy....I've always felt closest to him out of all the Gods. Though, Freya seems almost as happy to be connected with (but that might be because we both love cats, ha ha!)

It got me thinking though, what methods does everyone else use? Do you specifically call on a God? Is it all ceremony or do you get a bit casual with the whole deal?

Sometimes you have to work harder to get their attention after a period of ignoring Them, because you are not just connecting, but repairing a lost connection.

My signal clarity is largely dependent on how much work I'm putting in. I always get a response, but it's not as intense if I've let my devotional work slip, or after a grace period that I've been given. I meditate, do trancework, journey into the Hall of the Nornir and to the home of my teacher, and offer Skuld a regular blood offering.

[kalynraye]

Re: How do you connect?

I was and still am extremely hard headed and often ignore the things I don't want to hear. Even those words coming from my Goddess and God. I have tuned them out and rushed head long into the path I wanted, rather it be with my ex or other things. And they have let me run head long into those paths that I shouldn't have taken. They taught me lessons but I have always just spoken straight to them.

I have never had to be in a ritual or trance to speak to them. Though some of my most close and powerful meetings with them have been while meditating. Everyday though I speak to them. Rather its in thanks or I have a question or I'm pissed off and asking for patience. I talk to them constantly. I always have. I might possibly drive them crazy lol but they are with me. I do also like to offer small offerings of thanks on a regular basis.

[Thorbjorn]

Re: How do you connect?

For me, connecting with the Gods a whole range of methods from meditation, to offerings, to simply putting it out there that I'm actively listening for any messages they have. Those methods work some of the time, sometimes they don't. Tyr seems the most receptive, but then....and this may sound completely crazy....I've always felt closest to him out of all the Gods. Though, Freya seems almost as happy to be connected with (but that might be because we both love cats, ha ha!)

It got me thinking though, what methods does everyone else use? Do you specifically call on a God? Is it all ceremony or do you get a bit casual with the whole deal?

I don't know why you'd think it's crazy to feel Tyr is the most receptive. Maybe it is he whom you are connecting with. He may be calling you for a reason. Keep in mind he is extremely rigid with regard to promises. A gift asked for demands a gift returned.. a gift for a gift, a promise for a promise. A promise made to him must be kept at all costs, so tread lightly with Tyr. Here's a little something about him from Raven Kaldera http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/tyr/index.html

I don't think one needs to connect with all the Gods and Goddesses. I say a simple general prayer to all of them, simply addressing them as "Gods and Goddesses, Aesir and Vanir", but I rarely call on them by name or offer to them individually, except for Thor. He is always in my thoughts. Though I may start making an offering to an individual along with Thor, as I feel I need to for extra help or thanks. For example, since I'm in tight financial straights right now I may make an offering to Freyr.

Sometimes I feel Thor is not there, and in typical two year old fashion I want his attention all the time. But I know he is busy, and when I need him and earnestly call him, he comes. Sometimes a God(dess) you want to commune or converse with is simply busy. "Hello this is Thor. I am not available right now but please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible."

[Crimson Horizons]

Re: How do you connect?

Sometimes you have to work harder to get their attention after a period of ignoring Them, because you are not just connecting, but repairing a lost connection.

I agree strongly with this. Look at it through this lens, SilverShadow; a friend/sibling/parent/etc. has been ignoring hypothetical you for years then suddenly they want you back in their life. It may happen, it may not, but it's going to take a lot of work on their part for hypothetical you to let them back in their good graces. A gift for a gift is needed, but if you have been shutting the gods out and rejecting their gifts, their hints and advice, it may take a good while (and a hit to the resources, by they time or monetary, as well!) to repair that relationship. I wouldn't let that discourage you, if you are truly wanting to reconnect. Just know that the gods are beings with thought, emotions, etc, they aren't just going to take you back in because you're sorry. It'll be a work in progress, and I hope that you make it through!

I realize this doesn't actively answer your question, though, so let me try. I don't have many dealings with the Regin themselves, though I can feel Heimdallr from time to time. Mostly, I deal with the ancestors and the wights. The way I connect to the gods, the few times I do, is through community and sacrifice. When we set out a plate for the gods at our feasts, I can sometimes I can feel them there.

[SilverShadow]

Re: How do you connect?

Oh dear, I think I framed my question in the wrong way!

I wasn't asking for advice specifically for my situation, though it's very much welcome! If nothing more, I know it will help others who are in the same boat. I'm not the first to try and block out the Gods, doubt I'll be the last, ha ha! Please, rest assured, I'm fully aware that I've probably hurt some feelings by blocking them out.

My real aim was just to ask how other people connect. Obviously some methods aren't anything I can do, but I like to hear how others go about it. Just like with real life interactions, I want to change it up every now and then!

And I am loving the responses! So thank you all. I'm very interested in Trancework, but I'm not sure I'd know where to start with it. Anything that involves 'Astral' stuff has always been just beyond me.

I don't know why you'd think it's crazy to feel Tyr is the most receptive. Maybe it is he whom you are connecting with. He may be calling you for a reason. Keep in mind he is extremely rigid with regard to promises. A gift asked for demands a gift returned.. a gift for a gift, a promise for a promise. A promise made to him must be kept at all costs, so tread lightly with Tyr. Here's a little something about him from Raven Kaldera http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/tyr/index.html

Oh, I'm sure that if I am connecting with anyone (the other option that it's just a fantasy of self-importance playing in my head) that it's Tyr! I just sometimes think it's a bit crazy to think that an actual God would connect with me in that way. It's like, sometimes I can feel him by my side. To me, that's a little crazy.

And thank you for the words of concern. I've been aware of his stern promise policies for a while, but it's always good when someone points it out again.

[Norse_Angel]

Re: How do you connect?

In my own connections, I can't stay away from forestry or wilderness, away from the loud and heavy world we are so used to. The gods call me there, where I make offerings to them, and mediate. I actually have my own grooves of trees that I sit in, where the Gods join me In a very peaceful way. Otherwise, while I'm doing home rituals, while I lay down the stead, and setting, I will always strain mentally and sing verbally to the God or Gods I want to hear or witness my working.
I can't say too much on reconnecting, I have never broken my connection since it started, and I do workings almost every night.
My only advice on reopening a connection is to go to a forest, which is in my mind, where you will find all that you wish to communicate to.

[Rae'ya]

Re: How do you connect?

And I am loving the responses! So thank you all. I'm very interested in Trancework, but I'm not sure I'd know where to start with it. Anything that involves 'Astral' stuff has always been just beyond me.

Trancework in it's most basic form is just another means to achieve an altered state of consciousness. Many people find that trancework helps them connect with external beings easier than meditation, because it's a more external, excitatory form of ASC than introspective meditation. You don't actually have to go anywhere with trancework, but most find it easier to journey or fare forth with trance than with meditation. It takes most people years of practice to get consistent results with faring forth. As to where to start... if you've ever danced to music with a beat then you've probably experienced a trance state. Achieving it at home rather than in a nightclub can be trickier though!

Within a Heathen context, the closest you'll get to a historical precedent for trancework is seidhr. Otherwise you have to go pre-Viking-Age or branch out into the Saami traditions to find inspiration from earlier and neighbouring forms of shamanism. The triggers for trance in seidhr is generally chanting (which is intimately involved in breathe work and moving your ond around) and ritual, with some sketchy evidence for something that might have been drumming, and some even sketchier evidence for a shaking, swaying type of trance. Utiseta is more like meditation than trance, but some of the more extreme forms get into the realms of sensory deprivation, which can tip you into a trance state. Then you have ordeal work, but that's a whole other kettle of fish, as is the use of entheogens. Basically, if you want something outside of seidhr, you'll find more information in Northern Tradition sources than traditional Heathen sources.

Hrafnar is a good place to start for seidhr, while Northern Tradition Shamanism is a good place to start for everything else.