To add onto what Pers said, if you use Tom's image, it'll distort how he really is to you. Which can offset and slow down progress with your workings. Think of it as looking at a painting or well anything with sunglasses, can't really see anything. That's kind of how your perception of a deity works. You don't see them as living breathing entity of some form, you see them as a certain way only. Well, you don't really learn much from them because of how you would refuse to see them as how they would prefer.
I hope this helps and doesn't just kind of fill up space in the conversation.
Thank you, for your continuing replies, and concerns.
Come April, I will be a Lokean for 13 years. I don't believe having a movie replica, on my altar, will change how I see him.
I've dabbled in the use of voodoo dolls, and usually find them in "suggestive" poses, altar-wise.
So, as I get a kick our of the man and his character, I believe a figurine or photo would be a nice touch ...
Well, for me personally, I thought it was appropriate for me to form a good bond with Loki before I start working with him. It's because I'm afraid of making divines angry.(Pitiful, isn't it?) But Loki and I are getting very close :) And to further answer your question about Tom-Loki, I think he would like it! I've put a green little My Little Pony figure on his alter since, ya know, The whole Sovaldifari thing XD
You don't "get" his love and affection by doing anything any more than you "get" a person's love and affection by doing anything. It's not one thing or another really; Loki is as much a person as anyone else. You might accidentally bump into him and him like you off the bat, or you might keep an altar to him for 30 years and him not like you one bit. It's in what you do and how you do it and why you do it. If it's for selfish reasons such as, "I want a deity to love me because ___" you aren't going to get much of anywhere with Loki, or if you do it's likely that it won't make you happy that you wanted it. Loki has a tendency to show you your flaws, often so you can fix them or learn to live with and love them. So if you are running after him because you feel you need his love and affection in some way, it's possible he'll show you what you really need.
Honestly, do research into the Northern cultures that worked with Loki, read some blogs on him, and figure out what you can/want to do in order to talk to him and if you want to. Remember not to ask for more trouble then you can handle; Loki, though I love him to death, can be tough to handle at times. Sometimes it's hard to handle the truth that you are hiding from, but when he does it (at least with me) it's never out of spite (though he does seem to get a kick out of it).
