Identity & Affiliation

[qos]

I'm curious about how friends on this list self-identify in a couple of areas.

First, do you have a particular title, role, archetype, or other identity label you use for yourself? Priest/ess, shaman, god-spouse, witch, devotee, seeker. . . .

Are you affiliated (officially or otherwise) with a specific path or tradition?

Are you sworn or dedicated to one or more specific deities or types of service?

Comments

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

"Pagan" and "shaman" (or neoshaman) work well as convenient labels. I'm not a part of any specific path; I create things as I go along. I do have agreements with certain places (and the spirits that inhabit them), and I am also working with the Animal Father in specific on my path. However, I don't have anything so strict as what some folks have.

[die-uberfrau.livejournal.com]

Do you have a particular title, role, archetype, or other identity label you use for yourself?

I am a God-spouse, a priestess, and shaman-in-training. I am a hedgewitch, riding the boundaries between the worlds.

Are you affiliated (officially or otherwise) with a specific path or tradition?

I identify as a Northern Tradition Paganism, previously Asatru/Heathen but I abandoned that label over community politics. Deeper explanation can be found here (http://freyskona.weebly.com/why-i-dont-identify-as-asatru-or-heathen.html)

Are you sworn or dedicated to one or more specific deities or types of service?

I am dedicated to Frey; at Yule 2007 I took His etin-bride Gerda as my Patroness. I serve the Vanir as Priestess, which is to say Frey's extended family, and am trying to be a source of information and inspiration in this service.

Great post! :D

[oakmouse]

You know mine already. ;)

[sharpchick.livejournal.com]

When pressed to label my spiritual practices, I say I am pagan. If someone wants me to be more specific, I say I am a panentheistic pagan. So no, I have not dedicated myself to the worship or service of any specific deity.

Unwittingly, I have been wandering around for years believing a lot of the same things as my Caddo g-g-g-grandmother. And that was before I knew she existed. I identify very strongly with a deep sense of sacredness of place, and the creator and the creation are not separate energies for me.

It is very easy for me to see feminine and masculine aspects in the creation, so I have from time to time, studied the images and aspects of many deities across several pantheons. If I needed to speak specifically about deity, for me it is the Great Spirit.

A couple of times a month, I meet with a small study group of eight other people (also solitary) who call themselves pagan, witch, priestess and shaman. We are a very diverse group, with perhaps half following a Wiccan or traditional witchcraft practice. There is another woman who, as I do, identifies more closely with spiritual practices of Native Americans. One man would kind of scrooch up his forehead if you described him as Druidic, but that's pretty close. There are no ceremonial magicians in our group.

[rainstardragon.livejournal.com]

First, do you have a particular title, role, archetype, or other identity label you use for yourself? Priest/ess, shaman, god-spouse, witch, devotee, seeker. . . .

Well, I consider myself Priestess and Minister, and often use the Mother role/archetype. The Mother Archetype has some rather strong leanings toward the Woodland/Sea Maiden. I also consider myself a witch and Healer (as most of my practical workings have seemed to center around healing for years). Devotee most accurately describes my relationship with Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukiyomi.

As cheesy as it sounds, and I like the title less now that I have seen it used in a book by an author that often gets a lot of flack, I've considered myself a Dragon Priestess since I was young, long before S.R.W. even THOUGHT of writing her first book on dragon magick. I am also a Storm Priestess, in my self-labeling.

Let's not forget... I'm a flaming Pagan... It doesn't come up unless asked or someone somehow "gets it" but I'm pretty set in my personal path despite having an open mind to others'.

Are you affiliated (officially or otherwise) with a specific path or tradition?

I trained in Wicca and am ordained through Orderae Occultis of the PULC. Those I trained with were a splinter group, so I'm pretty sure that someone interested in "pedigrees" wouldn't be too happy. I also am very drawn to Shinto and Shamanism, and plan to be affliliated with the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America as soon as I can be certain of being able to do my donation (Amaterasu is not very worried about it, but it would make me happy to donate).

I've done a lot of ecclectic study on my own... My own personal path I don't think HAS a name. And I'm not calling it the dragon path... that sounds cheesy and too easily confused now with a particular couple of books (I've not finished reading the second one YET... so I've got to try to be quiet till I have, and I'll admit slight disgruntlement as she ALREADY HAD Black Forest Tradition started).

My "family" coven is the Coven of the Azure Rose, we meet infrequently, usually whenever we can.

Are you sworn or dedicated to one or more specific deities or types of service?

Starting out I was under tutelage of Athena, Pan, and Diana, as well as Mother and Grandmother. I re-swore myself to "Storm" and "Raina" (quotes as the names of the deities I serve aren't names so much as energy pulses, and this is about as close to my language as I'll get them), as well as "Flow" and "Current." Again, I'll mention Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukiyomi, though the relationship I have with them I can't really put to words very well. They are there when I seek them, they seek me out at times, and I will make offerings to them in gratitude. Take that as it fits best to you...

Of course, the dragon bears mentioning again, in a sense I serve and am dedicated to the Dragon of the Sea (the name changes at times, but I know who it is), who is an emanation of sorts (to me at least) from Source.

I also find a bunch of little dragons and energy swirld that I end up "mothering" for a time before they spin away again. I suppose that part of my service is to offer a haven for those little ones, those that come to me for help, offer healing energies to those that ask, and to ask/work for for weather changes at times they are crucial to the area (such as right now, when rains would help with the cleansing fires that are raging in the area).

I think this is about the best I'm going to be able to sum up my current self-identification.

[erl-queen.livejournal.com]

Title:

Depends on context. I am a Hellenic polytheist (religious path) and a spiritworker (spiritual 'job'). For Dionysos, I consider myself a maenad, devotee, and priestess, though the last one is the least important to me. There are smaller roles I identify with, connected with individual deities/spirits (such as being an oracle), but those first few are the most important (barring a couple I can't talk about publicly).

Specific path/tradition:

Hellenic polytheism is my core religious tradition. I have occasional contact with other forms of polytheism, esp. Germanic. As far as my spiritwork, it is a combination of a few different elements, as I've had to figure it out as I go along.

Sworn/dedicated:

Yes, I am completely devoted to Dionysos in every way, and to my daimon just as deeply. I am also devoted to Hermes and Apollon, and a collection of spirits/wights, though those might be called more 'working relationships', rather than a union like the first two. I am strongly called to the service of oracular work, but I am not formally dedicated to it, nor to any of the other spiritwork-type things I do - yet I am fully committed to the path, more so each day.

[dangerousface.livejournal.com]

I'm a pagan bootscrape. I do what I'm told.

I'm a member of the Kingdom of Asphodel, which is a legal pagan church and has an incredibly diverse tradition and practice.

I'm dedicated to no one Deity in particular. I'm in training to a person who is a Tool of Baphomet.

[dragonscholar.livejournal.com]

I adapt a "name" that helps identify me, and that provides a kind of meditative focus. I also find various archeypes, people, etc. that function as role models/patrons.

[tinuviel13.livejournal.com]

I am a Priestess, Witch and Sorceress. I consider myself a ritualist and potions master and magick worker.

I am an initiate of the Feri Tradition of Witchcraft.

I am a priestess of Lilith and Aphrodite. My mother is Keridwen and my father is Herne. I work with a large pantheon of Gods, primarily the Gods of Feri. I have nine altars in my living space and keep all my Gods fed. I dance in the candlelight and sing to them on a regualr basis. My connection to these Gods opens me up to all possiblities and my life is happier and more fulfilled than before I was a priestess.

[jcalanthe]

I don't really have a title/etc - I'm just doing my thing, you know? Spiritworker fits about as well as anything.

Path/tradition-wise, I'm an animist - bearfairie likes to say that she'll talk to anything that'll talk to her, and that's largely true for me (with the obvious caveat that they're not out to do me harm). I also work with faeries & other noncorporeals (which is all of a piece to me - faery, ancestor, rock, land spirit, tree, water, I'll talk to/work with any of them and more). Orion Foxwood's Faery Seership is the only "organized" human thing I've worked with in terms of Faery - most of it is UPG, or based on convos with bearfairie (which I guess makes it shared gnosis), but at least some of his stuff speaks to me - there's definitely overlap. & I suppose I'm pagan, though it's not a label I closely identify with. It's only very recently that I've started working with deity at all - a few months ago, I was still describing my practice as non-theistic (but it's hard to remain atheist/agnostic when one's partner is working with multiple deities in the house, and not in an abstract way :).

I'm not sworn or dedicated to anything - that's not how I roll. I do make agreements with various parties & to do specific things, and I take those commitments very seriously.

Interesting questions! I've enjoyed reading other people's answers too.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

I would define myself as Woman, Dedicant, Seeker, and Priest.

I underwent Women's Initiation with Adelphai, an eclectic Hellenic pagan group with varying membership and practice, in fall 1999. It was the year I turned 30 as well as the year I engaged myself to my now exhusband. Interesting set of choices. Hellenic ritual was my introduction to pagan practice, and this group (when drama is not operating) is POWERFUL. Amazing experiences. I practice with Hermes, Hestia, Artemis, and Aphrodite on a regular basis, and occasionally work with Hekate and Persephone. I used to identify very strongly with Persephone.

About two years after that I found a BTW study group. I got a pretty firm grounding in BTW practice and found another piece of Family. Great people.

I Dedicated to the Deities ... eight? years ago... when studying with the BTW study-circle. I was warned; the tsunami hit anyway, and washed away a lot of my personal myth that was actually bullshit.

I have worked since then with some of the Celtic deities: Brigid, Argante, Cernunnos, and others to a lesser degree.

I consider myself a priest of Hestia; I am exploring other commitments once I have the Hestia-work better organized. I am still Seeking. There is so much out there... I don't have the strong pull toward a single path or Deity... but then, my quiet green path, tho' chaotic and eclectic, is often satisfying.

(now to see what's on the top of that hill, where my path disappears into the mist... *grinning sneakily*)

[revpanthera.livejournal.com]

1. Identity label

I identify as a Priestess and Witch. I am a trained clairvoyant and spiritual healer. I am a Priestess of Death.

Are you affiliated (officially or otherwise) with a specific path or tradition?

Yes, I am an initiate of the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft.

Are you sworn or dedicated to one or more specific deities or types of service?

No. I was surprised to find myself dedicating myself to the Goddess in 1995 at our Summer Solstice ritual. And did so again this last Solstice. The only Deity I've been close to doing so is Kali Ma. I am also very connected to Quan Yin.

[revpanthera.livejournal.com]

I find I'm having trouble replying to your request, however, it is not forgotten.

It's hard to spend time in the room with the computer since it's so blasted hot in here most of the time.

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

I understand!

Whenever you have time for it. . . Or would you like to try a phone call? I'd be happy to share my number with you -- and since I have I-work-for-the-cell-phone-company mobile plan, we can do it my nickle without any problem. But email is fine too.

[queenofhalves]

priestess, witch, and healer.

i teach in reclaiming sometimes, and am a feri student. if i am ever initiated into the feri tradition, i will be called a "priest."