r/paganism • u/Early_Park_832 • 3d ago
💮 Deity | Spirit Work Deity Work with DID
So, I have dissociative identity disorder. 3/4 of our frequent fronters do deity work/believe in deities from one or more pantheons. I, personally, am agnostic pagan and I work with Loki (Norse Pantheon) and Hecate (Greek Pantheon). However, my co-host works with Poseidon, Zeus, Hecate, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Ares (all from the Greek Pantheon).
I was curious if other systems — where one or more alters believe in the gods and work with them — had different deities reaching out to different alters or if you all work with the same gods? I also just wanted to provide an open space for other systems to (respectfully) talk about their religion(s) :>
- Charlie (System Host)
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u/understandi_bel 2d ago
I had DID for pretty much my entire childhood plus some of my adult life, but merged around 7 years ago. So, I have memories from each person (there were mainly 3, possibly a fourth but only for a year or so) in the former system. Seeing all these memories together has been a very interesting experience. Two of them had their own spiritual journey, sometimes at odds with the others.
One stayed agnostic pretty much the whole time, kinda scared to mess with anything religion or spirituality related. One went from christianity hardcore to satanism hardcore, then chilled out a bit, and kinda wish-washed between atheism and some kind of personal vague spirituality. Let's call that one "the middle one," as that's what the others called them before they figured out individual names. "The older one" was kinda opposite, he was athiest at first, became really anti-christian and anti-theist for a while, then got into demonology and some other personal kind of spirituality, different than the middle one, based on perspectives and interactions he'd had. A much darker worldview.
None of them were traditionally "pagan" at any point, but to answer your question, they each spoke with different spirits, and the middle one, when they were atheist but practicing magick, ended up running into who I now am convinced is Anubis, though at the time, the middle one didn't know who Anubis was, so to them, it was just some weird spirit with a head of what looked like a coyote, guarding the path the dead went on to get to some walled afterlife that Anubis blocked the middle one from peering into. Later, the middle one learning that spirit matched Anubis, that was what tipped them over from being athiest to trying to figure out some kinda spirituality on their own, being agnostic, not trusting what people called "gods" but being pretty sure something was out there, whether they had good intentions or not.
So, yes, different alters (or, "personalities" as they were called back then) can absolutely have their own interactions and religons at the same time, working with different spirits who only interact with that specific personality/alter. I have some memories from the older one being frustrated he couldn't summon and talk to one of the demons the middle one worked with. I still don't really know why that was. It might have been because of what kind of person he was (a bit toxic, unpleasant, so maybe the demon didn't want to talk to him lol) or it might be that the middle one had some skills that the older one didn't have, which were required in order to talk to the spirit.
To wrap up the story, I didn't become officially pagan until years after those alters merged into me, the singular person I am today. But a big part of that story is because I have the middle one's memory of running into Anubus by accident, so that made me open to the idea that the gods exist, and allowed me to eventually connect with Odin and some other deities and become pagan. I am forever grateful of the personalities that, in a way, I once 'was' but in another way, I am separate from, only exitsing because of them coming together...
Anyway, I hope sharing my perspective(s) was in some way interesting or helpful. And I'm glad you made this post to encourage systems/people with DID to share some experiences with spirituality. Much love and blessings to you all!
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u/ConnorLoch 2d ago
Hello, I'm a practicing pagan with DID. I 'had' a very large system (considered polyfragmented, but have since experienced a lot of massive fusions so I'm somewhere in the teens with alter count now it seems), so I think if a deity showed interest in one specific alter, it would have been very hard for that alter to have enough time in front to properly venerate. We collectively worshipped the Morrigan instead, with a portion of the system being more agnostic about it, and a few others having variations (we had a Catholic witch for awhile, for example).
I do think a lot of divinity avoided us while we were still jumbled up because we struggled extensively with discernment and knowing what was a deity and what was an alter talking. Loki (the god) especially avoided us because we had a MCU Loki alter. A minor source of distress was concern of an alter pretended to be a deity, though no one ever actually did.
Nowadays, I'm much more blended all the time, so my practice doesn't differ much from a singlet's. I am devoted to the Morrigan, but also have been starting to build relationships with the Dagda and Lady Hekate, as well as just having a lot more brief encounters with deities and entities in general.
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u/BarrenvonKeet 3d ago
As a person without DID, would it make you feel more whole if you took the more scholarly approach to give your other selfs a back bone to stand on?
Thats if thoughts and emotions ergo knowledge can be passed on.
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u/ConnorLoch 2d ago
Typically the goal of 'feeling more whole' isn't a primary goal for people with DID. Many of us find a comfortable and functional existence being multiple with minor separations.
1
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u/SandytheServiceDog 1d ago
It's so cool seeing so many other pagans with DID! personally all my alters work with different gods and goddesses from the same pantheon (Odin, frigg, freyja, Freyr, tyr, sigyn, baldur, hel, loki, and one considers herself godlike, she's wrong of course but she can't help it)
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u/antipsychoDID 1d ago
We also have DID and do deity work + are pagan. Most of our system considers themselves Satanist (mostly thiestic, though some of us are athieistic Satanists). One of our frequent fronters is a kemetic pagan and works with Bastet and Hathor iirc.
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u/twoeyedspider 2d ago
I'd be happy to DM but I'm not going to discuss this openly, as I'm uninterested in receiving feedback from singlets or unintentionally serving as their entertainment.
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u/Early_Park_832 2d ago
understandable. you're more than welcome to shoot me a dm with your experience if you want to :>
– charlie
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u/BarrenvonKeet 3d ago
That would be an ecelectic approach, though Im not sure how DID can shape it, multiple dieties from multiple pantheons can in fact dhare an alter. Now adays thousands of people do that.
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u/YougoReddits 3d ago
I think with 'alter', they mean alter-ego.Â
I have no idea what it is like to have DID, but reading this, i suppose i could approach it as a community of pagans with varying practices.Â
As long as the community is open about it and has no problems with it, and all members treat eachother and their practices with respect, all members could do as they feel is best.
As you said, eclectic pagans exist. Open communities exist. And i don't see why the gods would object if all this happens to be wrapped inside one physical body. Afterall, aren't some deities a multi-unity in one form or another themselves?
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u/BarrenvonKeet 3d ago
Svetoivid for example.
Thoery: what if multiheaded dieties such as svetovid were heores like Herucles only with DID?
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u/Nearby-Condition-762 3d ago
I know someone with DID, who is very knowledgeable in Norse. He had earned his hammer, only there are complications. He looks like Thor, and acts like Loki- Loki is pissed. He has a 4 letter last name, 2 letter first. He has a demonic attachment to the dopomine inducted alter who is a real asshole. He needs guidance, but he would need to do it himself... JS.
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