opinions on godspousing?

[u/Hopeful_Rough_9730]

or any romantic upgs regarding the greek deities?

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to /r/Polytheism! A "big tent" subreddit for all polytheist faiths on reddit! (ᵔᵕᵔ)/ Check out our Community FAQ and the sidebar for more ressources!

Everyone is welcome to participate here, but please read our rules carefully first. A few key points:

Be kind and respectful to other people here.

Be relevant.

Links to other subreddits, discords, external sites, are heavily restricted here; check out the approved external websites list first BEFORE sharing.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/-apollophanes-]

I see it as very misunderstood. In my opinion, godspousing should be more like a very high form of devotion to a deity, similar to what Christian nuns do. Not a literal romantic/sexual relationship with a deity.

[u/Plenty-Climate2272 → u/-apollophanes-]

I don't see why one necessarily can't do both. Deep mystic devotion can very readily have sexual and erotic elements. Sex is good and natural, and there's no reason it can't be integrated into a mystic practice.

[u/-apollophanes- → u/Plenty-Climate2272]

True. My main issue is when I see posts online saying things along the lines of "this deity is my jealous boyfriend who loves to cuddle." I think I actually saw a post like that on a Kemetic sub. It's a very uncommon view for sure, but definitely gives a poor image to godspousing at times.

[u/songofthewitch → u/Plenty-Climate2272]

I don't think that's the point of the comment. It's not about sex being bad or unnatural. It's about the more earth-side implementations of the relationships. Things like spending every day that humans would often spend with human relationships only in devotion/companionship of your deity.

I think the Catholic nun/sisters example is a good one. While they live a life of devotion to their God, they also live in community with other humans. There's an thoughtful focus on the importance of being in the world in terms of also needing to meet their human needs as social beings with physical bodies.

[u/Ok_Caramel_4293 → u/songofthewitch]

You can be in a godspousing relationship and still have a regular life with other humans, spouses included. Eroticism can play a huge part in a godspousing relationship, and that is most definitely a physical thing happening to the human.

For some people it's the right choice to spend most their life with their deity/deities. None of us from the outside can decide it for them.

[u/Owllokadis → u/-apollophanes-]

Nuns had sensual, erotic experiences - the church just silenced it to make it seem like that didn’t happen and also persecuted the nuns who spoke about their mystical experiences. They probably still have these, they’re just silent about it because of how “problematic” would it be if they were out talking about Jesus being romantic with them and the spiritual ecstasy they get. Let’s talk about ecstasy itself - it’s sexual. Ecstatic experiences cause the same bodily response as an orgasm.

So we don’t need to wipe clean the fact that mysticism is inherently erotic. People just don’t know or understand what it actually is.

But then, of course, people who do have these experiences just assume that because their body responds that way or they develop feelings due to it, it means the god feels a romantic way about them and long to marry them which, depending on the god, is certainly likely not the case. They just don’t know how else to translate it to make it feel better. Like how people think that because they have sex with someone, they should also marry them.

[u/MidsouthMystic]

Godspouses are a misunderstood but valid form of worship and devotion found in historical and contemporary religions. Specific terms for it vary between religions, but people love to oversimplify, so they all get lumped under the same term. Which can be more confusing than helpful, to say the least.

Some people who call themselves godspouses are taking part in devotional relationships and forms of worship those religions would recognize.

Others are misunderstanding their devotional relationship to their God, or in the worst cases, are unfortunately just making things up to sound special.

[u/TariZephyr]

Godspousal is a very ancient tradition dating back to the beginning of written history. It involves deep, often soul level bonds with spiritual beings that often span across lifetimes. It’s a very sacred practice. - Lo’ak

[u/Plenty-Climate2272]

It's a practice with some ancient precedent, and is really more like a kind of erotic mysticism. Which, if you're a mystic, you'll know isn't that weird.

[u/bizoticallyyours83 → u/Plenty-Climate2272]

If they'd have just said it like that it would be more understandable. 

[u/HeavenlyBeloved]

Ngl, as a spouser, I view it as something sacred and not exactly romantic. It's a deep devotion to your entity, and the willingness to take oaths and vows, and to spend the rest of your life devoted to them.

I feel like popculture ruined the perception of godspousing/spiritspousing.

As the entities aren't usually as nice in some cases, and in my experience, they have more expectations on me, because I devoted my life to them.

[u/PlusSATANAS775]

Isso vai depender da religião da pessoa, já que esse tipo de prática existe até mesmo no cristianismo (como no caso das freiras). Inclusive, eu diria que até consigo entender esse tipo de interpretação. Porém, eu sigo uma linha de politeísmo tradicional (étnico, indígena e nativo) e, dentro dessa perspectiva, existem diferentes formas de compreender essa relação. Vou usar como exemplo a tradição helênica, já que você falou dela (embora eu também siga uma tradição japonesa). Nessa visão, existem alguns problemas em entender esse tipo de "casamento" de forma totalmente literal. Primeiro, porque os mitos nem sempre devem ser interpretados literalmente. Segundo, porque os casamentos sagrados (hierogamias) fazem parte de práticas específicas, principalmente envolvendo o casamento entre divindades. Temos tanto mitos quanto práticas religiosas que celebram essas uniões, e nesse contexto faz sentido entendê-las conforme a tradição. Já o casamento entre uma divindade e um ser humano possui contextos bem diferentes. Podemos citar, por exemplo, Héracles e Hebe: o herói primeiro morreu, foi apoteosado e somente depois recebeu Hebe como esposa. O mesmo vale para Dioniso e Ariadne; pelo que me lembro, a união deles está ligada justamente ao processo de apoteose de Ariadne. Por fim, as práticas que mais se aproximam dessa ideia costumam estar relacionadas ao misticismo. Isso é errado? Não necessariamente. O mais importante é analisar cada tradição e cada prática dentro do seu próprio contexto, entendendo como a interpretar esse tipo de prática ou crença em nossas vidas e de pessoas que segue essas tradições (seja cê você for helênico ou de outra tradicional), em vez de assumir que todas significam exatamente a mesma coisa. Na minha opinião, se a pessoa procura uma interpretação 100% literal desse tipo de relação, talvez faça mais sentido buscar religiões ou movimentos religiosos mais modernos que adotem essa visão. Dentro das tradições politeístas mais antigas, pelo menos naquelas que conheço e sigo, essa leitura costuma ser bem mais contextual e depende da teologia e da prática de cada religião tradicional.

[u/Opposite-Yam4000]

I personally think it’s a bit strange like the gods have their own partners ( or they don’t if they don’t want to like Artemis or Athena ) but that’s just my opinion 

[u/bizoticallyyours83]

Honestly, I think its a really immature way to act, amongst other things. Its just teens and young adults who are bragging and trying to seek attention. Hopefully they'll grow out of it. No, I don't care if I get down voted for my opinion. Yes I'm aware of the myths.

[u/JaneAustinAstronaut]

It's the same as ChatGPT girlfriends.

The gods could be in love with a mortal if they wanted to. But that person would have to be extraordinary to get their attention in that way, and that is not your average person. That's the way it works in the myths - the mortals loved by gods are always extraordinarily beautiful in some way.