As I brought the beers out of the back room, I was not surprised to hear a familiar voice in the back of my mind, not unlike a clearing of the throat. I knew that it was Thor, making sure we remembered to fill His cup on the altar when we poured ours. What was surprising to me was our guest, who suddenly looked around and asked, “What was that?” Since our kids have all been brought up to listen for the voices of the gods, the whole family suppressed smiles at our non-pagan friend’s surprise. “That’s just Thor,” we reassured him.

Thor is a good friend of our family, and while we first started offering Him liquor before potentially dangerous thunderstorms, we have come to simply accept His presence as a frequent guest. If we are drinking, we always share whatever we’re having with Him. He appears to like our home-brewed mead, as well as beer, ale, and especially Captain Morgan’s rum. I think He just likes anything sweet and strong like the traditional mead. Thor is known as one of the gods more friendly to man, so it’s not surprising that He’s often around.

When I was a teen, even as a closeted pagan, I worked out ways to honor the gods. It’s easy to tip a few drops of what you are drinking out for the gods if you are at a picnic. At the table with the family or strangers in a cafeteria, I learned to discretely spill a few drops on a saucer or other dish with a silent prayer.

Children see the gods more easily than adults. As pagan parents, we worked hard to make sure teachers and others didn’t talk our kids into disbelieving what they experienced if others could not. One night our daughter came in from a walk in the woods and told me, “We felt something shift when we passed between two trees, and I’m pretty sure I saw a unicorn about thirty or forty feet away.” Rather than telling her that the moonlight was playing tricks on her mind, I let her know I was happy she and her friends hadn’t gotten stuck in Faerie and to try to remember where those trees were.

Another time, exhausted from two weeks of camping, my daughter asked for Thor’s help while packing up our cottage. All day long she could feel His strength giving her the ability to lift, load and even toss heavy objects. Later, when we stopped for supper at an all-you-can-eat steak place, we were all amazed to watch her wolf down six steaks until we realized it was still Thor, simply eating His way. We know we can call on Him for help and it will come, and each time we do, we know better what thanks He’ll want in return.

There are many ways our pagan friends interact with the gods. Some are servants of the gods who’ve called or even claimed them to do Their work in this world. I know women who experience a god as a lover or husband. Others treat relationships with the gods as business— we give Them worship, They answer our prayers. In our family, They are more like friends who drop in and like you enough that you aren’t afraid to occasionally ask for help. When you’ve learned to feel the presence of the gods, you may start to look for it because Their presence makes you happy. As with human friends, the gods will introduce you to other gods. I’ve lost track of the number of ladies I know who were working with Freya and She sent them to Brigit, or Brigit sends one of Her followers to work with Freya. I think those Ladies must be friends on another plane.

Still, having “invisible friends” is not an unmixed blessing. Many of my friends had gods appear to them when they were little. Some stopped believing until they met others who felt the gods gave them permission to trust their own experiences again. At least one ended up in therapy and drugged for not denying her divine visitor, so we have taught our kids to be careful about sharing their experiences. The gods can be more focused on making contact than being aware of what effect it may have on our lives.

But even for those who haven’t lost the ability to hear the gods, most communication with the gods is through Meaningful Coincidences. One of our friends couldn’t afford to buy as much as seeds to grow his food in containers, and a packet of tomato seeds blew right into his face as he walked through a windy city street. Another was given a valuable violin by a stranger who bore an eerie resemblance to Santa Claus. I know people who’ve prayed for protection, or healing, or jobs— and gotten them. Sometimes a miracle happens, and only then do we extend our senses to feel the presence of Whoever sent it. Sometimes we feel Someone helping us when we are doing energy healing. Or we see a Lady speaking to us when we are meditating, and three years later, discover that someone who wrote thousands of miles or years away perfectly described our vision. Only then we feel the laughter of a goddess confirming our discovery.

Other times, these strings of coincidences can only be seen as Divine Intervention in hindsight. Friends tried to move for six months, and each week some new inexplicable disaster prevented them from going— a car broke down, a legal matter appeared. They persevered and have had nothing but trouble with their new place. This was when we came up with the expression: “When the gods tap you on the shoulder and clear their throats, it’s best to listen, because if you ignore Their hints, They are not averse to pulling out the celestial clue-by-four.” Look at the thousands of stories from 9/11, when some stroke of luck kept people from getting to the Twin Towers at their usual time.

The gods rarely appear in Attribute Enshrouded Manifestations telling us what to do. Sometimes I wish They’d do us the courtesy of introducing Themselves more directly, but there may be some cosmic physics that prevents Them from doing that. Our human friends aren’t perfect either, so we’ll continue to share our joys (and mead) with Them, ask for help when we can get it, and try not to expect Them to be perfect. Special abilities or not, They are not symbols or archetypes but, as we are, individuals.

An avid historian, Tchipakkan knows more than anyone really needs to about Anglo-Saxons. She is becoming better known for her work in the pagan communities, for her extensive knowledge of the healing and magical arts, as well as practical herbalism.

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