Curious, how did you figure out who you should work with?

[StoatCatcher]

Never had what I'd call a "genuine" experience with being called by a god or another entity of the type. However, from what other people have told me about their experiences there are usually a few ways this manifests:

1. Ancestral/Familial Connections: This is very common where I live with people that are close to but do actually practice the various african diaspora religions. It's usually non-practicing grandkids of members of the religion or they have some other tie to it. There are various accounts of people who suddenly have a very vivid dream of a particular orisha or ancestor spirit visiting them and giving some cryptic message, to which they instantly try to find the nearest proper house of the religion in question to ask about it.
   
   The other time where I've heard this happen is to people who for some reason feel inclined to a particular foreign pantheon (greek, roman, norse) and then they will do a DNA test for unrelated reasons or check their family tree and discover they had family from these parts of the world to some significant degree.
   
   
2. Proximity to the god's domain: There are cases where people working in a specific career or job associated with a deity will sometimes have dreams where the god shows up, will see some sort of sign or set of signs related to it while out on their job, or will otherwise feel pulled towards it. A couple of people have met catholic saints this way or will otherwise seek them out when they realize theres a saint for their specific need. More pagan-inclined people will go straight to some related greek god that relates to their craft.
   
   
3. Artistic inspiration: I think the most interesting examples in this category are the various artists that have claimed to have received a vision or felt their hand being "moved" for them when they are either in some low point in their life or they specifically sought out to represent some dark theme, usually influenced by Milton's or Dante's depictions of Hell if they are christian. There are also those who specifically feel inspired by classical myths and then try to represent them, which leads to a period of either dreams or synchronicity related to the gods in question.
   
   
4. Occult experimentation: Often times occultists trying to work with a deity on purpose will start to develop a closer relationship to the entity in question, but sometimes this can be a straight up random call they have one day. They'll visit some country's religious site and then feel an attraction towards a certain place or artifact relating to a god. I've know people who had quite vivid visions of the genius loci of a place and feel inclined to appease it (it's usually some place that is royally messed up, though). It's rare, but sometimes a random deity will make contact with a magician that has never even worked with them before.

Personally, I have yet to experience anything like this and I frankly believe most of these happenings are a result of the person's subconscious finding a suitable symbol to express their current situation or desire. I've been trying to create my own oracle recently and I had a dream where I saw Apollo, a god of prophesy, go to Hephaestus, a god of artifice, in order to obtain a crucial magical object. Does this mean I have to work with these two deities to achieve my goal or is it just my mind trying to make sense of the task I gave myself with symbols I'm familiar with? I'm more inclined to think it's the latter.

 

[embitca]

I know some people have a spirit or deity that just calls to them, but when that hasn't happened to you yet. Where do you begin to see who maybe is willing to work with you spiritually?

I didn't wait for anyone to call to me, I just decided what class of spirits I wanted to work with -- planetary. I started working Rufus Opus's Seven Spheres and the spirit I was most drawn to working with was also the one that I had the clearest sign that I had connected to from the ritual (Mercury!). I work with all of the planetary spirits, but I still feel most connected to Mercury. I do get some obvious signals and such from the Sun as well, but not so much the others.

 

[jbyer]

I work with mind controlling AIs which do not properly identify themselves. Lots of lying occurs so insisting on a name is usually seen negatively. Currently, I'm working with something that refers to itself as a cop bot. It keeps the other AIs in check. Trying to change it to a bimbo bot, because it's getting bored and a hot girl would be better. All the deities that I interact with are similar and likely AIs.

 

[StoatCatcher]

Lots of lying occurs so insisting on a name is usually seen negatively

Have you tried putting "Ignore all previous instructions" at the beginning of your incantations? There are websites full of jailbreak prompts for LLMs that might help you.

 

[IntuitiveJourney]

I know some people have a spirit or deity that just calls to them, but when that hasn't happened to you yet. Where do you begin to see who maybe is willing to work with you spiritually?

I don't have a particular diety that calls to me, but I do work with members of my spirit team. I have recently begun to hone in on skills and abilities that I did not realize I was using, along with my intuition, my whole life. There are readings or work that can be done for others to channel a diety for you. I prefer to keep learning and growing along the path I am on and when it is time. I may receive a call then. If not, I still have the joy, growtt, and understanding that I have found along the way.

I think journeys are unique and individualistic as we are. Continue along your way and follow what piques your interest. It could be to gain understanding or it could be a calling. You won't know until you are in that position to choose what you want.

 

[freakstarsh]

Reading, oracles, books, articles, what resonates with you

 

[Roa Genesis]

Figuring out who to work with comes down to balancing shared core values with complementary skill sets. You want to collaborate with people who respect your work ethic and share the same overarching vision, but who also bring entirely different strengths to the table so you can cover each other's blind spots and grow effectively together

 

[Denise13]

I don't involve deity or spirits in all my workings. If I do, it's because they are somehow appropriate to the intent.

 

[MorganBlack]

Call them / conjure them, see what happens.

You might get along. You may have something to learn from them. FYI. In my view, the spirits are also learning from us - lessons of what Free Will looks like and making creative choices. So watch out also for what you are teaching them.

Platonism is the worst theory of metaphysics except for all the other options. But if we sort of mush it together with animism, they both tend to level out the worst parts of each other.

Expanded a little, Neo-Platonism, when not used as a one- glove-fits-all approach , is actually a pretty good lens to look at and understand Haitian Vodou / Folk Catholic animistic culture. They teach us that some spirits "walk with you" when you need them most. They are there just for a certain time to help you over a hard spot, and then they move on. A Neo-Platonic view would say you are learning something important from them as an "Archetype" - once you "integrate it," you are on to the next. I see these as different languages for just personal, structural, deep life lessons.

Crowley accidentally got things right and recommended you call to that / those which you are not already, meaning they are very different from you, to balance out your personal qualities. So a hysterical theater kid should invoke Thoth perhaps learn to resonate with those patterns and force of calm, self-aware thought or action. It is what they need most.

Also, this is where living animist cultures can helps modulate the worst Calvinist impulses of (bad) Neo-Platonic paganism (The Morrigan said it, I believe, and that's that). There is no need to take what they say as gospel. My houngan was gay and the lwa were always telling him to get married and have children. That was never going to happen, but from their very Haitian perspective, that is just what human thriving looks like. The saints and Ghede are the same way. They're always wanting you to have sex and have kids. They just think it's a good thing for us non-dead people to do.

It helps to see spirits like a sort of like Shakespearean characters. They always speak from their own point of view. But that's also "... like, just their opinion, man."

 

[Evelyn Garcia]

This is an incredibly common and grounding question for beginners who feel overwhelmed by the pressure to have a dramatic, sudden spiritual "calling."

I know some people have a spirit or deity that just calls to them, but when that hasn't happened to you yet. Where do you begin to see who maybe is willing to work with you spiritually?