Over the centuries, the many gods have starred in myths, movies, poems, songs, books, and TV shows.
Some of these were created from devotion, while others merely featured the gods as characters.
I get it. The gods are cool.
We tend to idolize powerful people and the gods, with their superhero-like powers, are truly extraordinary.
But fandom and devotion are two very different things.
Admiration is Easy
It’s looking up to someone else, seeing something about them that looks extra special, and thinking “Wow, that’s amazing!”
Maybe it’s the leather-wrapped chick straddling a Ducati at a stoplight. Or the guy who has worked hard to remain sober for how long now?
Superheros come in all stripes, and not all are immediately visible.
It’s simple to hero-worship mighty Zeus with his thunderbolts, find Hermes’ trickster-ish self amusing, or drool over sexy Aphrodite.
But none of these are devotion.
Admiration isn’t bad, but it doesn’t create the kind of relationship that devotion does.
It’s so easy to identify with someone or something and then post it on social media, wear it on our t-shirt, or whatever.
But this fandom, this superficial identification with someone out of admiration, is often something we do for selfish purposes. We might do it to boost our ego, or to make us feel better about ourselves in some way.
For instance, maybe the football team I cheer for wins more often than the team you like, so I decide that makes me a more discerning fan.
I can now look down my nose at the poor slobbering idiot that you are, and congratulate myself on my superior sports acumen.
This sort of one-upmanship happens all the time, but it’s not devotion.
We can admire others all we like, but admiration doesn’t change our lives like devotion does.
Instead, admiration is window shopping – looking into someone else’s life and liking what we see, but not fully appreciating what it took to get there.
Devotion Takes Effort
For that, we have to do more than gaze through windows; we have to get closer and get to know people.
And that’s work.
Now we have to spend time with others, bare our soul a bit, and apply ourselves to that not so glamorous thing called discipline.
So that lady on the motorcycle might get greasy in her garage some weeknights, because owning a motorcycle takes work. It’s devotion to that bike. It’s a commitment to continued knowledge of its inner workings, which takes time.
The guy who is still clean and sober probably takes regular time each week to attend meetings, and has likely done a ton of messy, painful internal work. Devoting oneself to understanding addiction and working to stop it isn’t remotely fun.
Any way you look at it, devotion involves time and effort.
You might see others and say you admire something they have or some part of who they are, but don’t assume you can stand in their shoes without working for it.
Devotion to deities is similarly difficult.
It’s often unseen – holding the gods tight in our hearts, prioritizing their needs above our wants, and maintaining respectful relations with them.
It’s not something we can really brag about either, because we are constantly working on improvement.
Therefore, devotion isn’t a task that can be finished or completed – it’s an ongoing life choice.
Hindrances to Devotion
Furthermore, devotion is unpopular. It’s not something that we naturally want to do.
As a species, we generally prefer ease and comfort. And in western culture, we have refined this tendency to an art form. It’s so endemic that we may no longer see it.
We’re used to having things handed to us, to having things available to consume – food, social media, TV, internet, movies, shopping, and a whole host of other distractions.
We’re used to having these things vie for our attention, to having them constantly available, to not have to work for them.
So the notion that relating to the gods takes work doesn’t fit with our idea that we can have everything we want without much effort.
Here’s a radical thought: we aren’t the most important things in the universe. The sun does not revolve around the earth, and our human needs and wants aren’t always the most important.
The gods aren’t here to cater to us.
While they may very well meet our needs, like or even love us, doing things for us isn’t their main reason for being.
No, they have their own agendas, and relating with us may help them achieve those agendas, along with helping us be better humans into the bargain. Mutually beneficial to both parties, in other words, but not strictly necessary.
Now if we don’t want to engage with the gods, we don’t have to. Not usually anyway.
Nor are they obligated to engage with us, even if we want them to. They make their own choices, as do we.
So… Are We All In?
Here’s the thing: if we do choose to engage with the gods, dabbling doesn’t help.
They will want to know whether we’re serious or not.
Do we truly want to know them? Can we be trusted to put forth the consistent effort required to do that? Are we willing to prioritize their needs over our desire for fun, entertaining diversions?
These are uncomfortable questions, but they are ones that it’s necessary to regularly ask ourselves.
Maintaining devotion means keeping our gods as the center of our universe.
They should be the hub about which our days revolve, and it takes disciplined focus to keep them there.
It’s so easy to be distracted by inconsequential things that don’t contribute to our relationships with the gods.
These less important things might not be bad, but they waste our time so we need to guard against them.
Finding Devotional Time
There are different degrees of devotion, because some of us work forty hours a week and come home to raise our families. So not all of us have multiple hours per week to spend in study and worship.
But our gods understand that. While time can be important to some, what they seem more interested in is consistency. Most of us have at least a few minutes per day to pray and meditate, if we think about it.
While praying before an altar is good, we’re not limited to only praying then.
As one of Pan’s people, I may be more casual with my gods than others because He can be rather casual Himself.
That doesn’t mean I don’t respect deities, just that I stand on less formality with some of them, at their request.
So when I suggest that we might pray during a morning shower, or meditate on our gods’ virtues while cleaning the house, take it with a grain. Your deities might not be okay with that but mine are, so long as it’s done with respect.
Or find other moments during our days to interact with them. Do we really need to watch that NetFlix show, or could our time be better used in researching our gods?
The question is do we think our deities are important enough to consciously include in our daily lives?
Everyday Devotion
What might daily devotion look like then?
I can’t speak for others but I think maintaining regular prayer, emulating our gods’ values, offerings, meditation, and study are all important. So some combination of those would probably qualify.
Prayer can be loosely defined as talking to the gods. Superficiality doesn’t work here, not in the long term.
As time goes on, prayer often becomes intimately emotional as parts of one’s soul are bared. Not always comfortable, but necessary for internal change.
Then there’s obedience – the choice to act in accordance with a god’s wishes or values. Again not easy, but necessary. How will we reflect their values if we don’t make that effort?
How will we help our cherished gods be more present in this world if we don’t take the time to scour our souls of the toxic beliefs that come between us and them?
You know the ones: painful things like thinking that performance = personal value, or struggling with our worth, or… there are too many to list.
Part of devotion, then, involves examining our souls for erroneous beliefs and partnering with our deities to remove these beliefs, so we gain the ability to cleanly reflect our gods in this realm.
Regular offerings are essential, and each deity may define them differently.
Food, drink, time, energy, attention, and a whole host of other things may qualify as desired offerings.
There’s no reason to be grudging with our offerings, because our gods often pour so many blessings into our hands.
In comparison with those gifts, what is a glass of clean water or some incense, given with respect and thanks?
Meditation is mental training for communication with the gods, because it teaches our brains to quiet their chatter and be still.
That helps us parse who is talking – deities, spirits, or our overactive imagination – and helps sharpen our discernment.
Study opens us to further insights about our gods. Maybe we just glimpsed a deeper meaning of some deity’s myth, with new insight granted during prayer.
Perhaps we need to see how the meaning of that myth connects with this story, and now we can.
But without study, we might not have the base knowledge to understand those insights from our deities.
A Personal Choice
For me, daily devotion often involves all the above, along with whatever internal soul work is the current focus. I attempt to live in accordance with Pan’s values, as I understand them.
I also maintain a certain level of ritual cleanliness, which varies according to the requirements of certain deities.
The end result is that devotion looks like giving my life to my gods, adhering to the discipline of that position, and becoming less full of myself and more of a conduit for the energy of my gods.
And it’s not remotely easy.
But devotion can be many things. It might look different for others, but it’s always focused on those we’re devoted to, not ourselves.
It’s dedication in the face of difficulty, courage in the face of fear, and continued effort when it feels like there’s nothing left.
It’s giving everything to the task and holding nothing back.
Devotion is Rewarding
Oh, that’s extreme, you might say. Perhaps.
But devoting oneself to the gods is a sacred act, and they honor that. Devotion opens one’s heart to their love and gives them greater access to one’s soul.
This results in a level of communion that is the most blessed, joyful, intimate experience imaginable.
To me, devotion is worth all of my hard effort, every tear, each denial of frivolous enjoyment, and every choice to serve my gods.
I would choose them over all others, every time, because I love them and I can no longer imagine life without their assistance and companionship.
So yeah, you can be a fan of the gods. That part’s easy.
Fandom will probably get you more likes on social media than any sort of devotion will. If that is what you want, go for it!
Devotion, though, is not for the faint of heart.
It involves frequent sacrifice and usually does not encourage a life of ease. It also flies under the radar, so no one will pat you on the back for it.
But for those willing to give themselves to the gods, devotion can be one of the more rewarding spiritual paths in polytheism.
If you do choose devotion, don’t give up quickly.
Pursue it with passion! I think you’ll find the gods are good and look kindly upon those truly devoted to them.