Welcome to Gaia! ::

For me it was pretty much an experience that could be explained by my scripture. During a meditation I saw and experienced what my scriptures and mythos describes as my God. The feeling that was present in me after the experience is consistent with others in my scripture, mythos, and irl who have encountered my God so I'm pretty convinced I encountered my God.

Basically when you think you get a call from a known God, check the mythos concerning the God or Gods in question. If something seems off in the encounter in comparison to the mythos, try to get another encounter and test the being in question. If they don't meet your testing then it probably isn't the being you are seeking.

I can tell you what brought me into Seeking Wicca.

I had one of the best orgasms of my life and was basking in the afterglow, coming down, when I was struck my this feeling. My whole body felt lighter and I had about twenty thoughts in a single instant- all of which having to do with life, death, sex and love.

I can't really explain it in words- they couldn't do it justice.

I came out of it feeling like there was more to understand, that it was important for me to understand. Some of the experience reminded me of stuff I had read years ago about Wicca, so I posted on a couple boards asking if a Wicca would be willing to contact me and talk with me.

I got a handful of replies from Alexandrians, Gardnarians and some others- including a Kingstone HP in my area and a Gard HPS several hours away.

I started working with the Kingstone HP. We had long conversations about magic, spirituality and religion. I liked him as a person- and we have a lot in common, but as a spiritual mentor, I wasn't completely comfortable with him. When I had questions, he'd answer- but it left me feeling empty and depressed.

I was also talking to the Gard HPS- mostly because she's around more. I think she could tell something was up. She'd ask me how I was doing, and I'd share with her what I was thinking and how I was feeling about my Seeking. She always knew exactly the right thing to say to me to help me feel better- and she would answer the questions in a way that gave me the tools to release those feelings of emptiness. She challenged me to read things that I hadn't read before- we laughed and joked and we get along great.

I'd share some of my frustrations about paganism and she'd finish my sentences.

She explained to me that I was welcome to Seek with her coven- that even though I live a long way away, she's willing to find a way to help me make it work. She has a very no-bullshit attitude. The coven is amazing- spending time with them just makes me smile from my toes up.

I'm still Seeking. I've found a coven that is an amazing fit- and no matter where my quest for understanding takes me- however this call is answered, I'm richer for it.

Mostly I just looked up stuff. Mostly just to see who may call me, who I might ask to serve ect ect.

I remember this one time I was praying the rosary (don't ask why) and I was like slammed against the car seat. I'd jerked up and I felt like I was tunneling really, really fast down somewhere then I saw this woman. I could not figure out who she was for a SERIOUSLY long time. She's young, inhumanly powerful, black wavy long hair, kinda intimidating. Black dress and really pale and a rocky landscape in the background. The eyes...this is gonna sound weird, but when I saw her eyes they looked both crowish, and human. And there's fog that surrounds the rest of her. I think she's Morrigan.

The other 2 I've gotten during praying randomly.

The other 2 dieties I've seen are this dude with antlers, black wavy hair (little long but not REALLY long), seriously ripped, really dark skin, but in a red way. I haven't seen his legs (they're covered by fog), but I'm inclined to believe that they're either like a satyr's or a centaur's. Haven't seen his face.

And the third one is a woman with a wine colored dress, she's pregnant and she's got a gold and wine colored jewel girdle belt thing that goes over her pregnant bump. I think she has brown hair but she's got a light I think that's centered either in or behind her stomach, so I can't see her face. Her arms are open and covered in a forest green floor length cloak/shawl.

I know some people who are part of Feri, and I read a bit about it. It's at the top of my list if it turns out Wicca isn't what is right for me.

Not for definite. They may only want you for something specific, or for a short time. I personally rarely make formal dedications. But at this point there are relationships I have with deities that are sort of implicit dedications.

I've looked into it quite a bit, and it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read your post.

As some have suggested, there is a reason for something to feel right.

My path for deities has mostly been kind of like a try-and-fail - solving a puzzle with different kinds of pieces with some intelligent guesswork.

I know that, growing up in a Jewish household, I never really had any particular negative feelings towards that God, but I felt like the extremely logical and social aspects of the talmud always spoke to me much more than any religious faith or practice. When I was small (read, like, five), I believed in a god/s with male/female/and child aspects.

So when I got into those exploratory teenage years and began to read more extensively outside of Jewish literature, I arrived originally at Brit Trad Wicca and loved the basics and structure of the ritual of it. But it still wasn't quite right - I felt too linked to something more vague and fluid than the duality of the Lord and Lady.

Eight-plus years later, I'm still exploring. I feel that even more than finding a correct answer, I'm called to learning. This has resulted in a friend of mine speaking to me about a possible calling from various deities of learning. I'm looking into it.

For one group I know, they regularly include various deities in their rituals. One of them felt an immediate, intense connection at the time of ritual. Another has had numerous and persistent dreams relating to a particular deity.

Finding that feeling can be a result of happenstance or exploration. Wandering blindfolded as we are through life, this path has felt like being able to feel the right tide pulling beneath bare feet. Or whatever kinesthetic analogy works best for you, of course. smile