@vitka, Op is not asking for information on Godspouses. They're asking for personal opnions on it. Like how do you feel. About it it and why? It's a community engagement post (which i think this site needs more of, information is useless without context and discussion).
I am not wiccan. But I've studied it and I've looked into godspouses before and to be frank I respect people who commit to it (nuns are in a literal sense godspouses so hey it is a universal idea), but I personally dislike the notion of it.
The concept of Godspousery is not something that is part of Wicca. I suppose some might incorporate that in their personal practices, but it is not a Wiccan practice. I do work with my Patron deities, but not as a spouse/
Sylla, if you had actually gone to the links provided above you would have noticed that the links are for posts that are asking to engage in discussion about what people think of Godspouses, not just informative posts. Hence they are asking the exact same thing this thread was asking, and linking them was helpful.
well through mythology it's a thing [heck, you could argue Jesus was the result of a godspouse] and you could list many a demi-god as a result of human and deity love affairs [cough Zeus cough] i personally have never had [nor do i want] a godspouse or similar relationship with a deity. it could work for some i'm sure [though i highly doubt a physical child could be born from such relationships, but they're gods so i suppose check with Maury for paternity] i feel you should look for someone on your own mortal plain for 'true love'... then again, how many forums have we seen of people asking to summon succubus/incubus?
i would like to believe a godspouse would form more from a deep connection than a sexual one [cough Zeus cough] and i've had deep connections with deities in the past one could argue the emotions felt could equate it to romantic love [and who's to say they're wrong?] i feel the energy of a deity is so powerful we mortals might have trouble fully understanding it. so a deities love for us could be so great the closest we humans can get is romantic love. sometimes however, we need to take a step back and think with our heads and not our hearts, otherwise we might wake up in bed with Zeus and realize we've made a terrible mistake [oh hi Hera. isn't Greek mythology fun!]
I've seen this topic popping around enough times around here to want to say something so here goes.
Before I begin, the bulk of my spiritual knowledge comes either from UPG, or lore(from whatever the external source in question is) which was then backed up by personal experience and as such always take a practical, direct, and subjective approach.
First off, I do believe in having certain spirits as spouses. We experience all kinds of emotions towards spirit, and they experience all kinds of emotions towards us. Viewing us as either friends, business partners, family, or something equally close, so it would make sense that both sexual and romantic emotions are to be paid attention towards.
I have known several individuals with spirit spouses, in that, they had a wife or husband who was/is a spirit. Some of these people have chosen to forego relationships with humans in favor of theuir spirit spouse, whereas others have more polyamorous relationships with their spirit spouses, having either human lovers(or spouses), or other spirits.
One of these individuals in fact is simply continuing the relationship that he had with his wife before she died. Some of these spirits are completely unknown entities, others are well-known ones. Some of these relationships are sexual, some romantic, some both.
Regardless of the spirit, the person married to the spirit is a practicing magician with regular interactions with the entity, rather than simply the follower of a religion who declares themselves a spouse of a spirit.
Much like human lovers, spirits can reject any relationships you may wish to have with them, and may be interested in humans that do not like them back. It is, to some extent,similar to romantic relationships with humans, though the spirits tend to be more patient and have a different outlook on things than humans. Once again,though every kind of spirit is different in these things.
In my opinion, a marriage to a spirit is essentially a pact made with the being. Except nstead of being the simple pact that's more like a business deal, it has another emotional layer to it. For the majority of history, marriages were made for more power or resources, rather than out of love. Depending on the person, some may be entering the marriage for the mushy stuff, and some for the power. Most, however, do so for both.
The same ideas about trust, and respect, following through one's end of the bargain, tailoring the pact to the person you wish to become rather than the person you are(or worse yet, the person you are led to believe you should be), under promise, over deliver, etc. all apply for the marriage, though the gravity of it is clearly more serious since it involves sharing most of one's life to an entity.
The biggest problems for most people are either approaching this kind of thing from a religious perspective, wherein they simple declare themselves Cthulhu's bride or something without ever actually meeting Cthulhu, or asking him about the matter, or after being spurned even, and the fact that simply few too people can ever wrap their heads around the notion that a human, plain and simple, can ever remotely be an equal to the gods. Which can be an outrageous statement to make, yes, but ultimately it is because the marriage is based on mutual respect, admiration and equality rather than subservience that most people find the idea questionable.
You won't have much luck with Cthulhu, or Thoth, or Athena, or other figures which aren't overly attached to love or similar things, though you may be surprised by what you find if you just ask the spirit(one person I know is married to a demon who is pretty insistent on not fulfilling love-related favors, and always nudges the magician to focus on their work, for example).
Elements of this can be found across history. There was even a Mesopotamian king who married a goddess(will try to dig up the article when I can), and one need not look farther than the Christian tradition, where nuns become the "Brides of Christ".
Essentially, approach the matter with an open mind and an open heart and who knows what you'll find. There's a chance for heartbreak, sure, but that aught to be balanced with the odds of pure elation.
Coming from a Godspouse of Thor, I think it'll be good to hear the point of view from someone who actually is involved in the practice.
I've been a godspouse to Thor for about 5 months, now. I'm still relativley new and I'm still learning and I'm still exploring. He came to me with very romantic intentions, and I couldn't ignore them. He wouldn't let me. He saw me as someone having worth. Someone beautiful, Someone worthy for his love.
When people hear the term godspouse, they think of being married to a deity.
Well...it is what it entails. Not for me personally, I think it's a special kind of devotion between the devotee and the deity. I'll be quite honest, I haven't had time to honor Thor as much as I should have. I think it's a practice that is based largely on UPG alone. There's many experiences with each person. I've met people having being godspouses to Thor,Loki, Jormungandr, and even Fenrir (since I'm largely involved with he Scandinavian Pantheon)
When I first heard of the practice, it piqued my curiousity. I never researched much until Thor came to me with intentions in about...mid 2014 I want to say. Back then, I was terrible at keeping communications with my gods. (Still kind of am..) So, I didn't go into the practice any futher. Until he came back again 5 months ago. I jumped in, seeing what lessons and experiences I can learn out of this.
As the name obviously implies, it is a relationship between the deity and devotee. Other godspouse friends of mine have told me they lay down ground rules with their own. As I have for Thor. For example, I have Moljnir ring that I wear every single day. You would never catch me without it. I sleep in it, bathe in it, and work in it.
That's about all I have for my response. If you want to mail me any more questions, feel free.
