Over at Twilight and Fire Elizabeth Vongvisith has written an excellent essay about the odd and frankly destructive competition within the spirit work/pagan community over who is the “better” or more “worthy” servant of the gods. As a god-spouse, her focus is primarily on the perception by some people, both those who do and don’t have that particular relationship to the gods, that being a spouse is the penultimate form of service to the divine. She does a really good job of addressing/debunking this view, as well as expressing her intense frustration at having to do so yet again.

The argument made here apply equally well to other forms of divine interaction, including shamans, spirit-workers, devotees, priests/priestesses, and many others. There are many paths of Service. Different people honor the gods in different ways, and in return are cherished and supported in different ways by the gods.

It’s not rocket science, but for some reason this point needs re-iterating ever six months or so.