I was curious as to what members here thought of "Godspousing".
For those who don't know what the term Godspousing is: It is, essentially, individuals who believe they have a lifelong intimate relationship with a deity- mimicking marriage.
In the Norse tradition (and please keep in mind I can only tell you what I know of this from Norse tradition, as it is what I study and practice) this is often a person in a relationship with a horse who is horsing a deity (this is referring to deity channeling/possession..which is another topic in and of itself). This type of a relationship typically involve a lot of work; consistent devotional practice, commitment for longterm, rituals, etc.
Heathens do tend to call themselves by names in regards to what deities they feel close to, or focus on in their practice. I call myself Lokisdottir (Loki's Daughter) because its symbolic of how I view Loki sometimes. The same as how Odinsmen/women, Thorsmen/women, Freyasdottir, etc all connect themselves to their deities through these nicknames. But now individuals who are coming into the practice are claiming their names are given to them because they are Godspouses with these deities.
Though there are only a few things in the lore that allude to spousing, where a deity does "fall in love" with a human, it's received a lot of skepticism, ridicule and critique. The community as a whole likes to avoid the topic, so we never talk much of it. For some reason that is unknown to be, it's almost become a "trend" in the last few years, as more people begin to come into the Heathen faith. And it seems to revolve around specific deities, which is all the more curious. (If I had a nickel for every girl that ran around claiming "Loki is my godspouse" since the movies Thor/The Avenger came out..).
I'm just wondering, in general, what the rest of the community thinks about Godspousing in general. I'd love to have this same discussion with my kindred.