I was curious as to what members here thought of "Godspousing".
For those who don't know what the term Godspousing is: It is, essentially, individuals who believe they have a lifelong intimate relationship with a deity- mimicking marriage.
In the Norse tradition (and please keep in mind I can only tell you what I know of this from Norse tradition, as it is what I study and practice) this is often a person in a relationship with a horse who is horsing a deity (this is referring to deity channeling/possession..which is another topic in and of itself). This type of a relationship typically involve a lot of work; consistent devotional practice, commitment for longterm, rituals, etc.
Heathens do tend to call themselves by names in regards to what deities they feel close to, or focus on in their practice. I call myself Lokisdottir (Loki's Daughter) because its symbolic of how I view Loki sometimes. The same as how Odinsmen/women, Thorsmen/women, Freyasdottir, etc all connect themselves to their deities through these nicknames. But now individuals who are coming into the practice are claiming their names are given to them because they are Godspouses with these deities.
Though there are only a few things in the lore that allude to spousing, where a deity does "fall in love" with a human, it's received a lot of skepticism, ridicule and critique. The community as a whole likes to avoid the topic, so we never talk much of it. For some reason that is unknown to be, it's almost become a "trend" in the last few years, as more people begin to come into the Heathen faith. And it seems to revolve around specific deities, which is all the more curious. (If I had a nickel for every girl that ran around claiming "Loki is my godspouse" since the movies Thor/The Avenger came out..).
I'm just wondering, in general, what the rest of the community thinks about Godspousing in general. I'd love to have this same discussion with my kindred.
Id hate to see the divorce, lol. But in all seriousness. The gods have lain with mortals in many cultures. Look at Zeus. If it moved he would mate with it. But I personally think that it is a devotion to a God above all else. Catholics are married to there God in theory. In practice is a different story. But it is really not that uncommon. Just usually called something else. I believe it to be a spiritual thing. And most of the time probably not reciprocated by the God/goddess. I could say I was a carmen elektra spouse but if you asked her, she would just look confused and walk away. That makes me sad.
Just Mindanao throwing this out there. I respect everyones path, while I may put my remarks in a light and humorous (at least I hope) manner it is not to belittle anyone.
Part of what bothers me about godspousing is that some of these deities, Loki in particular, do not seem the kind to take on the relationship described by the godspouse. While Loki was notorious for taking on consorts throughout the stories, he was singularly dedicated through marriage to Sigyn and never called any of his other consorts his "wife". So to hear someone say they are "Loki's wife" is strange.
Here's a really good article making that point and outlining it:
Lol @ Zues comment... I was thinking, some gods are known for that and some aren't. Also that it's similar to nuns. I think they say they're "married to God." So it's not totally unknown in our age and culture. Of course, like anything you'll find some fakes and fluffies pretending they know what they're talking about, but to me that reflects on the individual, not an entire practice, belief, or whatever.
Also it's my belief that whatever religion or God or goddess people worship, there's always an intense and very personal relationship between a person and their god. It's different for everyone.
It's a very interesting question, LokisDottir, and I love the way you explain what you're talking about.
Firstly, I would like to point out that the information I hold is something I learnt theoretically. Excuse me if I am not as experienced as you are with Godspousing. However, you asked for points of view so I will give my personal opinion about it. :P
It is not that strange for me to see religions that have it's adepts marry a diety or more. As I have read about it before, it has been done in Mesopotamia and anceint egypt as well. You gave us your view from the norse shamanism tradition, which is really neat and informative. I cannot really tell you that know much about Mesopotamia or Ancient Egypt or any other ancient culture but I do know that in Haitian Vodou (and Santeria too,as I have read somewhere) that a person may marry a diety or have a simple relationship with it regardless. Usually it is the spirit that calls that person to get married to them and it is usually confirmed by divination, after that there is a ceremony called the "marayaj" that is performed and the person is thus married to that particular diety.
Also, there is usually one night out of the week that is set aside for that person to have the relationship with them in a separate room dedicated to diety. It is believed that the diety speaks with that person through dreams; often giving advices and other things.
As for my opinion, skepticism, etc. I'll tell you this:
I do not ridicule it. People have their free will and tendencies. I am more like 'neutral' about it. My opinion about this is that people can do whatever they want.
Very interesting and informative! Thank you for the reply. I suppose "neutral" is the best word to describe how I feel towards it as well. I tend to never say what a deity can or cannot do/will or will not do (having Loki as a "patron" you learn to expect the unexpected). In regards to marriage, I think some people get the wrong impression of godspousing and fail to realize the giant commitment they are making. I think it's also important in any relationship that the feeling be mutual. In regards to some of the recent Thor/Loki godspouses I have seen some who are more fangirl/boy than anything- and I don't believe that to be a true spousing- just one party being obsessed over another.
I do not whole heartedly condem godspousing by any means. Though I do personally think it is quite obvious to tell a fake from one that might be plausable. I find it very disrespectful to claim you are a godspouse or have been intimate with a deity you know nothing about. It gets even worse when said deity has by the text never been known to take male lovers or have ever been married. If you wish to be believed know what you are talking about and make your claims plausable. Another thing, why is consent not seen as important when it comes to gods? Either they think the deity in question is fake or thinks the god serves them. Like you don't even have to be concerned with what they want at all. They don't have thoughts or feelings on the matter. Who cares what they want right? Upg is all well and good but burning all the text and making exclusively false claims and saying outrageous things for attention is wrong. Not everything needs to necessiarily be 100% backed by the text but with it is leaps in logic so much so that it actually goes far far out of it's way to straight up contradict like everything... that's a different story. Show me how you got from point A to point B using good reasoning skills.
