My lover Ember and I have decided to go through Galina Krasskova’s Devotional Polytheist Meme questions together, over the next several months. We encourage our friends to follow along, and welcome links to other people’s answers in our comments, as well as your thoughts on our answers.
How have the divinities helped you in times of adversity and violent upheaval?
As with most other manifestations of the divine in my life, divine assistance is usually pretty subtle. Sometimes, it’s so subtle that I didn’t notice anything was amiss until I looked back later and saw how things might have gone wrong if not for just the right “coincidence” coming along at exactly the right time. It’s kind of like a parent solving a problem before the kids even know anything’s wrong.
In truth, I rarely ask for help from the gods. There’s a level on which I’m afraid that I’m actually alone in my head, and if I asked for help and it didn’t happen–or at least not in a way I could see–that would be proof that the gods don’t exist. I am a poor polytheist, some days, and the doubts get to me.
I imagine a great rolling of divine eyes, celestial mutterings about how the slow boy never quite gets it. But I digress…
The thing that’s really saved me, more times than I can count, is having a safety net of friends and neighbors. It doesn’t keep me from getting knocked down, but it makes it so much easier to get back up again. Sometimes, I have no idea what I did to bring these folks into my life. I can only imagine that someone is moving things behind the scenes.
Ember’s answer can be found at her blog, Embervoices.
