Welcome to How We…
Each month, members of the Children & Families team will be sharing How We have introduced aspects of our community to our children. We will cover everything from the Aether to Zeus and we invite you on our journey. We continue with How We Introduce The Gods
I’ve introduced my 5-year-old to many of the Gods and Goddesses through stories. We have some illustrated mythology books, some books for the festivals which also mention various deities and we’ve covered some when they’re linked to Home ed projects -i.e., Gods of fire when we did about volcanoes. We also look them up when doing the Aether Patches quests.
The one they connect to the most though is the Green Man. They love the story we have about the Green Man, and we’ve made various Green Man crafts – plates with faces on covered with leaves, or googly eyes on leaf puppets. When we go out, they love covering themself in leaves and saying ‘look I’m the Green Man’. They also associate him with our allotment and give thanks for helping our food grow.
Krys (They/Them)
Manager, Children & Families Team
I introduced the children to the Gods through the myths, legends and stories of many cultures including Greek, Roman, Norse, Celtic and Native faiths. I wanted them to be open to the idea that belief in deity wasn’t just a one man show as they are taught in school at a young age.
When the children were a little older, they asked questions about God, and I was open and honest about the differing beliefs including monotheism, polytheism, and other concepts. I left my children to ponder on their own thoughts about deity and at the moment they are open to there being something greater than we are but are undecided in the form or concept of which they take.
As they grow, they will discover ideas and have their own thoughts but I’m happy they have the knowledge that there are no rules about how they see and relate to deity. They also have the knowledge that my views about deity are different from others’ views.
Hannah
Mid-West & Wales Liaison, Children & Families Team
The first introduction to the Gods for my children was the Irish pantheon. Part of our family are from Cork, Eire, so we read (and embellished) stories of Cliodhna, who is a patron Goddess of Cork. We explored Manannan mac Lir, among others, as well as the heroes of the Isle.
After this we moved onto the myths and legends of Greece and Rome, as I felt both pantheons were relatively well written about and there were several books and shows that featured Greek and Roman Gods that were aimed at children. From this, my son briefly found and affinity with Pan and my daughter continued to learn about various pantheons.
When they were younger, the Gods were more stories and characters than anything more tangible. As they have grown older, my son now feels the Gods represent the spirit of the thing, for example, Pan exists not because he is someone you would bump into on a walk through a woods or forest but because he is the spirit of the woods or forest. And my girl has recently returned to Paganism, and is currently Seeking her path, drawn more to Norse Gods than their Celtic counterparts, it is interesting to watch her journey.
Lyn
Deputy Manager, Children & Families Team