The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

Hey everybody! This question has been on my mind for a very long time... Do Pagans experience gods like Christians do? My family is pentacostal and speaking in tongues, baptism in the spirit and prophesy is very present. I'm just wondering if we can experience things like that. A touch from the gods/goddesses, a gift, an overwhelming presence of love and power, something... Not like the paranormal such as spirits, entities, etc. but the gods/goddesses themselves. I'm sorry if this question seems stupid, but I really need to know.

 
It's going to vary from person to person, and what tradition they're practicing.  I'll do my best to answer, but know that this is UPG.

I *do* experience the Gods--in prayers being answered quickly, or feeling Them nearby when I'm struggling and need someone to lean on (though 9 times out of 10 the Morrigan tells me to go fix whatever I'm worrying about).  Every once in a while They speak to me in words (and sometimes tell me things I don't want to hear *looks towards Anpu and Set*).  I feel Ausir's presence all around me this time of year--I live on a farm and right now the crops are being harvested (not only is Ausir Lord of the Duat, He's also an agricultural Deity).

How you experience the Gods is a huge case of YMMV.  I hope this answered your question.

Do Pagans experience gods like Christians do?

I'm curious about why you think pagans' experience of the gods would be substantially different from Christians.  Did something specific spark this question?

My family is pentacostal and speaking in tongues, baptism in the spirit and prophesy is very present. I'm just wondering if we can experience things like that.

 
Some pagans definitely experience these types of things. They are usually referred to as "ecstatic states," which is a very broad term. They can be controversial in some circles, partly because people who don't experience them tend to see them as being crazy or ridiculous or pretentious or other negative things.

Do Pagans experience gods like Christians do?

I'm sorry if some of you got offended by the way I said that... I definitely should have said that differently. Hopefully you got what I was trying to say. It's just that experiencing the gods is something I always wanted to do. I was Christian for my whole life and not once have I experienced "God" but I would sit back and see all of my friends experiencing it... It honestly feels like a curse. I feel like my soul is in a drought, a spiritual desert and has been for 18 years since I was born, and my entire being is aching for a drink... That's the best way I can explain it. :ashamed:

Not everyone experiences the gods firsthand. Some of us have godphones that ring off the hook, and some of us get total radio silence. In ancient times, it wasn't expected that people would have a close relationship with the gods; in fact, for reasons to which I can well attest, being godbothered myself, most would have preferred not to. It's okay if you don't hear them. Doesn't mean they've rejected you or anything.

 
This.

It's just that experiencing the gods is something I always wanted to do. I was Christian for my whole life and not once have I experienced "God" but I would sit back and see all of my friends experiencing it... It honestly feels like a curse. I feel like my soul is in a drought, a spiritual desert and has been for 18 years since I was born, and my entire being is aching for a drink...

 
Oh, goodness, this makes me wish I could give you cookies through the internet. (Um, that is, the kind you eat.) I grew up with absolutely that sort of longing, and shaking it has been really hard.

As stephyjh said, not everyone has a godphone. I definitely don't. The one time as a young pagan I thought a goddess was speaking to me... I was mistaken. I've come to accept that in my practice right now, the kind of super direct contact some people have is just not going to happen for me. Part of me wonders if it's because I'm not ready to change my life in the radical ways that might be required of me if I were to start speaking with gods. The rest of me is pretty content with what I have.

What I do have, in case it's helpful to you, is a moral guideline that corresponds really well with my own feelings of right and wrong, and a beautiful, complex mythology to go along with it. While I don't experience the gods outright, one particular goddess does speak to me in other ways - namely, as soon as I saw a representation of her, not knowing who she was, I felt a peace and happiness and love of her. I still get a little giddy sometimes when she appears out of the blue in my consciousness, and every book I check out from the library gets turned straight to the little section on her before I start reading it properly. (Even though most of them say the same things.) But it took me a long time of waiting (and avoiding this particular goddess's tradition because it seemed daunting) before I got to that point.

Something else that helps me? Every day I burn incense for my gods, and I can sometimes get messages from them through that. For example, ritual cleanliness and purity is important to my path. Once I started my prayers without brushing my teeth first, realized it, and decided to keep going. The damn incense wouldn't light. After I brushed my teeth, it lit up, no problem. If I'm asking my deities for reassurance or support on a matter, the incense will often curl to me instead of its usual practice of just going straight up. It feels like acknowledgment.

These are very little, everyday things, but they help me a lot in my ongoing awareness of deity despite not having a godphone. Daily devotionals (to me, just a prayer, a small offering of incense, and a naming of the gods) assure me that they won't be too far from me even on the days I don't have time to read up on them, or communicate with other pagans online or off.

Best of luck to you in finding happiness and fulfillment on your path.

I mean, sometimes I get a feeling like I'm not going to feel the Gods like I think I'm supposed to, but what a horrible feeling that is... Seems like you can empathize with me on this. I just want something to break this wall I have built up inside of me. I meditate a lot, but all it is is me trying to silence my inner chatter because it's all over the place. I just want to experience what some people on this forum talk about. I want to experience that love, peace, and oneness with the gods.

 
Have you tried listing to music while you meditate?  I've found that helps.

Often the way I feel the Gods is just in small things.  A quick prayer in the morning, wearing certain pieces of jewelry, some songs on my iPod (I have playlists for the Gods I work with), time spent writing...everyday things are actually when I feel Them closest.

It's not always big things (honestly, if I actually saw one of Them standing next to me I'd freak out) but little things that add up.