I have a patron God - Ing-Frey, to whom I dedicated myself in February of 2004.  Because I speak openly and often of my relationship with Him, the question I am asked most often by other Pagans - and particularly Vanic-focused Pagans - is how to go about taking on a patron Deity.  This is a complex issue that cannot be answered in a sentence or two, so it warranted an essay.


An Argument for Patronage

I have heard many Germanic polytheists in the United States say that having a patron Deity is ahistoric and that one should deal with the ancestors and wights first before trying to latch onto a specific Deity.

I do think it is important to honor the wights and beloved dead, and indeed, I think it should be just as important to honor these Beings as it is to honor the Gods.   However, for those of us who come from families with multiple generations of dysfunction and abuse, or families who are violently opposed to our religion of choice, the ancestors may be missing or even antagonistic.  Even with those of us who hail spiritual (as opposed to blood/genetic) ancestors, some of us can't perceive the dead in the same way that we can Gods or wights.  But more to the point, there seems to be an ideology behind "deal with ancestors and wights first" that the Gods do not bother with individual humans (as some claim, especially those of the opinion that the Gods only bother with kings or Very Important People), and They are not invested in our lives.  If that is the case, in my opinion, there is no point honoring Them in rituals or conduct oneself every day in a way that They would find honorable.

However, to my understanding of the research I've done over the years, there is instances of people being chosen by a God and having a personal relationship with a Deity.  It is not a concept unique to Christianity or Wicca.  For the sake of brevity, I will only mention a few references in the lore to the concept of having a primary Deity relationship.

Indeed, before Thorkel left Thverá, he went to Frey’s temple, and taking an old steer up thither, made this speech:--”Thou, Frey,” said he, “wert long my protector, and many offerings hast thou had at my hands, which have borne good fruit to me. Now do I present this steer to thee, in the hope that Glum hereafter may be driven by force off this land, as I am driven off it; and, I pray thee, give me some token whether thou acceptest this offering or not.” Then the steer was stricken in such a way that he bellowed loud and fell down dead, and Thorkel took this a a favourable omen.
Viga-Glum's Saga, Chapter 9.

As late as 998 the men of Thrandheim are represented as refusing to break their image of Frey at the command of King Olaf, 'because we have long served him and he has done well by us. He often talked with us, and told us things to come, and gave us peace and plenty.'
The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia, Craigie, Chapter 2.

Odin once wished to slay Wikar by a grievous death; but, loth to do the deed openly, he graced Starkad, who was already remarkable for his extraordinary size, not only with bravery, but also with skill in the composing of spells, that he might the more readily use his services to accomplish the destruction of the king. For that was how he hoped that Starkad would show himself grateful for the honour he paid him. For the same reason he also endowed him with three spans of mortal life, that he might be able to commit in them as many abominable deeds. So Odin resolved that Starkad's days should be prolonged by the following crime: Starkad presently went to Wikar and dwelt awhile in his company, hiding treachery under homage.
Saxo Grammaticus, History of the Danes, Book 6.

While it could be said that Thorkel and Starkad are notable for their mentions in history, the men of Thrandheim were by and large un-named, which would rule out the theory that Gods only bother individually with "those who are important" and not "the little common people".  Thor Himself was thought to be a Deity of the common people, would it not be a concern of His how the common people are faring?

Moreover we see far too many examples of people called Freysgodhi or Thorsgodhi, including a woman named Steinunn Refsdottir who owned a temple to Thor and composed a flyting in His honor against Jesus.

Finally, it should be pointed out that a majority of Pagans within the Scandinavian countries consider it 'normal' to have relationships and interaction with the Gods and other spirits, and the belief that American Heathens have that the Gods don't deal with individual people as a rule is considered strange and unnatural to them.


The Nature of Patronage

Renaissance artists and writers often had a "patron" - someone wealthy and powerful, who financially sponsored their work in exchange for some pieces specifically made for them.  This sheds some light on the understanding of what a patron Deity relationship looks like.  They will be your Divine benefactor, in exchange for your service that you uniquely provide, with the makeup of your soul and its talents, and where your Wyrd will take you.

This becomes even more clear when we see that when Thorkel sacrificed the steer to Frey, the word used was "fulltrui".  While it was translated from the English as "protector", this is a bad translation.  The word "fulltrui", cognate with "fully-trusted", is still used in modern Icelandic legal terminology to denote a legal representative.  And I believe this relationship is reciprocal: the Deity who is your patron will represent your best interests before the Multiverse.  They can "pull strings" (in this case, the strings of Wyrd) to help get things done.  This is not to say that a Deity can and will intervene in every situation in one's life, and indeed the Gods help those who help themselves.  But sometimes a little Divine "oomph" is needed to get things done.  This is in exchange for the person being helped to represent the Deity and Their agenda here in the world.

Having a patronage relationship with a human is a surefire way to establish a Deity's presence in the world.  More people for the Deity cult means more offerings which, to the Gods, is like food.  It gives Them power.  The Gods don't need our offerings to exist, but They definitely benefit from them.  And offerings are not just libations and food, but one's daily life can be given as an offering, the daily work given mindfully to honor that God.  It doesn't mean becoming a monk or an ascetic - far from it in most cases.

Having a patron Deity does not mean, either, that you become a monotheist and never honor any of the other Gods.  Indeed, another anti-patronage argument I have heard is "we're not monotheists".  And no, we're not monotheists.  I agree.  Having a fulltrui is hardly being a monotheist.  It is rather like having a spousal relationship, or a parent/child relationship, or (in most cases) a best friend.  You have other friends, but you deal with who you're closest to the most - they get first priority in time, attention, and so on.

You see, if I need something, it is best to go to my patron.  "A gift for a gift" is big in the Northern way.  I give Frey most of my Deity attention.  Ergo, He is most likely to be of help if I need Him to intervene or give counsel (sometimes this happens).  And He's much more likely to be of help than asking some God who I never bother with much because it's "what They do".  I think of it rather in the analogy of going to a family member you haven't talked to in 10 years and asking them for a monetary loan, or going to your best friend who you see regularly, who you eat with sometimes, who you have traded favors and hospitality with back and forth.  Being Gods, even if They have a specific domain or sphere of influence, I would assume They must be reasonably good at other things or be able to convince the Gods who are of a particular domain, to help.  While I have gone to Frey's family for assistance with specific things, this is because I work with Them primarily.  That being said, I am likely to go to Frey first before I attempt to ask anything of Anyone else, unless I'm sure They are willing and able to help.

So, there it is.  I promote the cultus of Frey (and by extension His family, the Vanir) in the world, and I also try to live "green" and help the environment and also be helpful to other people where I can be.  In exchange, I have asked Frey for things and He has delivered, including (but not limited to) a nice home, better employment for my partner, health, friendships, and the like.  Frey has been very good to me, but I do work hard for it.

In keeping with the idea of a reciprocal representative relationship (alliterative, that), the "chicken and the egg" question comes to mind - do the Gods call us because of specific qualities compatible with Their interests, or do we call the Gods to invoke that which we would like to manifest within ourselves?  I think it is likely some combination of the two, and it does seem in many cases that a person will reflect - in some aspect - the influence of Their patron.  For example, Freya often takes in women who are abused, and teaches them strength.  Njord tends to call those with a deep love of the ocean, and His influence makes His followers more empathic and less likely to get embroiled in conflict and drama.  Wuldor challenges His followers to become more physical as well as improve mental clarity and wisdom. 


Finding a Patron

Having a patron Deity relationship can be very rewarding, as well as very complicated.  It is important to only initiate one if there is a need, and only then after much consideration and preparation.

Being dedicated to one specific God or a pair of Deities is not for everyone.  There is nothing wrong with not having a patron God, and considering the nature of oaths and the seriousness of the relationship (see below), most people are better off not taking one anyway.

However, even among "general practitioners" they will notice themselves favoring 2-3 more than the others in the Northern pantheon.  Then there are those of us who feel compelled to one more than the Others, and after a time it may be worth making the relationship more formal.

By "compelled" I don't mean being "tapped".  I have unfortunately come across many Pagans who collect Deities like baseball cards and think Gods are calling to them for the most ridiculous reasons: seeing a God's name on a message board is not the same as getting tapped; seeing an anime character with the name of a specific Deity does not mean 'They are getting your attention'; having a cucumber dropped on you at the supermarket does not mean Frey wants to be your new best friend.  And so on.

How do you know it's real?  Having random, frequent, and intense dreams about a Deity may well be getting a message to do something with that Deity.  Feeling a need to invoke Them in most of your rituals, or pray to Them when you need help, or are giving thanks, is another clue.  Doing research on the Deity and hungering for more is yet another clue.  Obviously, being told by a Deity directly that They want you to be one of Their people happens, as well.

In some cases, some of us want very badly to have a specific God or Goddess as a patron, even going as far as to take oaths to Them, and it doesn't work out for whatever reason.  Sometimes the God/dess is not right for us at all, and the dedication was made in error; sometimes They are only meant to be a guiding influence temporarily, not permanently.  These things happen, and should be taken into consideration.

That said, in other cases some of us find our patrons because we run the other way.  When I started working primarily with the Germanic Gods, back in the 20th century, it was Freya and Woden who spoke to me.  (Admittedly, some of this may be due to working with the liturgy in The Tree.)  I planned on dedicating to Woden in 2003, and Freya re-directed me to Her brother.  Apart from a few brief encounters with Frey, I didn't want much to do with Him and He didn't interest me very much.  I was also very weirded out by the idea of oathing to such an obviously masculine Deity.  Now, of course, I can't see myself as being dedicated to Anyone else, but when He first made His intentions known there was a fight.

This brings me to my next issue: a disproportionately high number of Germanic Pagans (of any tradition) have Odin or Thor as a patron.  There are several speculated reasons for the large number of Odin devotees, but the most plausible one is that there is more about Odin in the Eddas than any other God, and a lot of people who come to Paganism want power and wisdom and Odin seems to be the go-to Deity for that.  Of course, there are many who hop on bandwagons and will work with a God because other people are doing it and it looks cool.  This is as true of Paganism as anywhere else.  It stands to reason that most people who have one of the Vanir as a patron Deity are dancing to the beat of a different drummer, and some of us more so than others.

In other polytheistic traditions - in Hellenic, Kemetic, and Celtic polytheism, for example - there are many people who worship Deities of the opposite gender: men devoted to the Morrighan or Athena, women devoted to Apollo or Wepwawet.  In the revival of Germanic Paganism, on the other hand, it seems that most people stick with Deities of their own gender, so you have men devoted to Thor and Tyr and women devoted to Frigga and Freya.  There are a fair number of women devoted to (you guessed it) Odin or Thor, but you almost never see a man devoted to Frigga.  I have received flak for being a female oathed to an obviously masculine Deity like Frey, and have been told that "Freya or Frigga would have more to offer"; indeed I have met less than ten female devotees of Frey over the last six years (and not for lack of trying). 

That said, when dealing with the Vanir, there does seem to be a trend where more people are devoted to Gods of the opposite gender, than with the Aesir.  Thus you have men who are oathed to Freya, and women to Njord or Wuldor, and so on.  This is still in fewer numbers than those who work with the Aesir, but it happens enough to be of note.  Looking at the broader context of history, Frey and Nerthus both had wain processions conducted by a female priestess and a male priest respectively, and Freya's favourite Ottar was a human male.  So, if you find yourself as a man called by Freya or Nerthus, or as a woman called by Frey or Njord, do not automatically assume that you have "nothing in common"; it is likely that part of the mystery of the Vanir is many (though not all) of us will meet our Divine anima/animus, and be completed by Them.

Finally, a note should be made about having more than one patron Deity - it is more common in religions like Wicca to have a "patron God and Goddess", and indeed if you feel compelled to have "one of each" (or even two patrons of the same gender), by all means, do so.  Do not assume that a patron pair will be lovers: in most cases, They won't be, and indeed a patron pair may not have anything to do with each other in historical accounts - They may not even be from within the same pantheon.  For the past couple of years, I have been working closely and intensely with Nerthus, Frey's mother, and She has a fair amount of say in how I conduct my spiritual business.  I have not ever made oaths to Her, nor does She require them from me.  For this reason I am more likely to say "Frey is my patron" and that I am merely a "devotee" of Nerthus, but I would definitely say that while Frey is #1, Nerthus is a very close 'second in command'.

If you believe a certain Deity is supposed to be your patron, you should wait at least six months to a year before taking any oaths to Them, unless They tell you otherwise.  You should spend this time doing regular rituals where the Deity is invoked, as well as meditation and prayer time with Them.  If you can, do activities within the Deity's sphere of influence (like going to the ocean to commune with Njord, or out in a thunderstorm for Thor, or growing plants for Frey and/or Nerthus).  Research the mythology of the Deity and (if applicable) who were Their human followers in history.  Think about what service you would offer the Deity in exchange for Them becoming a Divine benefactor.  What lifestyle changes, if any, would you have to make to be more compatible with the values the Deity holds dear?  (Specifically when working with the Vanir, as Powers of Nature, you should be prepared for the inevitability of having to give up or modify certain habits, as They do not think well of the wastefulness of modern living.)  Finally, it may be helpful to ask the Deity Themselves, if They would patron you, and take an omen (such as a rune or Tarot pull) on the matter.

Once oathed to the Deity, what you have, They will use, in exchange for protecting and helping you in life.  Like any relationship, it is also important to establish healthy boundaries - some clear do's and don'ts with how you and the Deity interact, what you will and will not do for Them, and Them for you.  It is important to still be your own person, and not follow any suggestion or command blindly.  It is OK to question things.  It is only when boundaries are preserved that trust can be maintained.




Not everyone will have a patron Deity, and whether you do or don't have one the most important thing to keep in mind is that to commune with the Gods at all is a privilege, not a right - They may be invested in our world, but They do not exist for our benefit... or our amusement.  When people say they are "God-bothered", it suggests clear disrespect, and a lack of understanding that they should be grateful the Gods are bothering with them at all.

Those of us who are dedicated to the old Ones are are bridge-builders between Gods and man, letting the presence of our Gods flow through us in ways magical and mundane, to be the change They wish to see in the world at such a time as this.  The Vanir, in particular, have a lot of investment in the Land, and those who do not want to see the Land destroyed.  To answer Their call is a sacred thing, not to be taken lightly, and always to be held dear.


© 2009-2010 Nornoriel Vanyahildë