Ways of the witch (a guide to witchcraft)

Deity work

The final and less common way to work with deities is being a whole priest/priestess. As you can imagine this takes YEARS of practice and a long standing strict working relationship with them. They may ask you to be in this role when they feel you're ready for it, you may ask to take on that responsibility. But it's a ton of work, hard work. Absolutely not recommend for beginners. Not only is it like a working relationship where you regularly do spells, offerings etc. but you'd be helping other people connect with that deity too. Hence, priest/priestess.

How to you know a deity is reaching out?
There's many ways, I'll list a few. But double checking via divination or other forms of communication is always key. There are tricksters out there, be aware if that. And when it comes to signs seen online, always remember the algorithm plays a part in what you see. Example: If you watch a lot of videos about Aphrodite and you keep seeing Aphrodite online, it's probably just the algorithm. If it comes out of nowhere however, that could be a sign.

Anyway, signs:
-symbols, animals, colours etc associated with that deity showing up a lot
-songs or books that mention that deity
-epithets of that deity
-sudden calling toward that deity
-people around you suddenly talking about them/ the subject they rule over
-dreams or visions
-their name/ motifs showing up in divination.
-cravings for their sacred foods
-sudden mood shifts associated with them (like Aphrodite being love, Eris being strife etc)
-suddenly smelling their sacred flower/plant

Once you know who it is, or you've reached out and they've agreed to work with you it's time ti set up an altar. Or at least have a few things dedicated to them (like jewellery etc)

Things you can include are:
-candle they can communicate through
-divination tools they can communicate through
-statuette or figure of them
-art of them
-motifs (like grapes for Dionysus or the sun for Apollo)
-crystals associated with them
-devotional jewellery, prayer beads etc
-things you've made for them
-offering box/bowl

And some devotional acts are:
-art, writing, songs etc
-researching their mythos
-prayer
-talking to them
-wearing devotional clothes (jewellery, veils etc)
-deity specific acts (like walking in the woods for Artemis or visiting a graveyard for Thanatos)
-and of course, offerings.

Like I said, they can be harsh at times in a tough love way. But they won't actually hurt you, if they do then that's definitely not an actual deity.

Red flags to look out for that it's a trickster:
-they can't answer common question about that deities mythos
-they're outright mean and cause you physical and emotional harm
-they demand outrageous requests
-they get angry when you can't fulfil a request at the moment
-they try and bed you/ marry you
*note: while god spousing is a thing that's a whole other ballpark and happens over a long period of time after a lot of working together.
-they can't fulfil request they should be able to
-they discriminate against you

Having some kind of conformation like a sign given to you is always something you should ask for them first communication. They understand why, and if they can't fulfil that task, that's not your deity.

Remember, these are otherworldly beings. They're powerful and don't have the same human mortals and structures as we do. So while you can have problems with their myths, they themselves need to be respected. The idea that deities are all good and can do no wrong comes form modern Christianisation. They're always meant to be something that represents a part of life, good and bad. You don't have to like a certain deity, but you should respect them and understand they aren't human and human ideals don't apply to them.

Personal experience:

So like I said, we don't have a strict working relationship. But since we do a lot of sleep and dream work, Hypnos does pop up here and there. He's very quiet, but very powerful. He's gentle, we've had no bad experiences. He seemed more intrigued of my existence as a fictive of a character based on him than anything. You can always tell when he's around because you get this overwhelming sleepiness, the sudden urge to drop everything and go take a nap. I have that effect too, because I'm connected to the part of the brain that controls sleep so if I'm not around the front, the fronter knows it's not me. And if I'm the one in the front, I'll know he's around because I'll be even more sleepy than usual.

We have a little box of crystals and small teddies as well as sleeping cherubs dedicated to him, and our melatonin is kept on the altar anyway. So there's always something for him nearby to show we're open to sleep magic and appreciate him. Eventually I do want to move into a working relationship, but we gotta sort some stuff out first.

So far his presence has been very calm and nice though. With that underlying sense of intense power you know he holds but just doesn't use.

So that's the very basic rundown of deity work, hopefully this can be a brief guide that'll help you decide what you want to look into regarding deities next. It's late, I need to sleep now. Rest well everyone!