I have been reading a lot of great posts lately and I'm thinking that I'd like to do a link round up post every month just to pass along things I'm reading that other people might not have seen.
For example, anybody who works with the dead or with death gods or war gods might be interested to know that Syrbal is collecting empty bottles of alcohol for her shrine to the War-Dead:
I feel I should do something to note a decade of walks and songs for the dead, but my imagination somewhat fails me. In the early years, as on the opening night in the photograph to the right, I used to light the labyrinth with luminarias or electric lights….one for each dead troop, US or Coalition. But there almost EIGHT THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED now, and I can’t light that many lights…the luminarias in that photo are just over 400, not even 5% of the total now. And that number surely does not include the suicides of veterans that I cannot trace.
Then there was this great post about being god-owned, Patronage and Other Deeper Relationships:
I gave myself to Him fully, and completely, and continually do so. It was not until after I agreed, that I learned I never actually had a real say in the matter – neither of us did. [...] I feel like my being given a choice like that, is rare, even if it wound up not being an actual choice. And going into my relationship with Him willingly, is a beautiful gift.
Another friend of mine made a post about kittens and yarn and The Ties That Bind Us:
The world is networks. Energies and impacts are yarn. And we all well know they are here for us to manipulate, but we have to be careful. To me, deities and powers are the ones winding and unwinding. They’re the ones working with the ball. We’re the cats in the floor, and there are certain threads we want, and certain we don’t.
I really enjoyed The Nuance of Non-Physical Relationships, even though I don't agree with absolutely everything she says:
I think one of the biggest pitfalls that we have when it comes to deity relationships is that we allow them special treatment. I consider a relationship with a god to be similar to that of a mortal. I wouldn’t marry a mortal after only courting/dating them for a month- neither would I oath myself or betroth myself to a god in any format with only a month or two of working together. I always urge people to take their time with gods.