This is a post I made in June and never finished
Lately I’ve been noticing a small but growing number of people calling themselves “godslaves”. These individuals are generally of a mystic bent, Norse or Hellenic, and have a strong devotion to a particular deity, to the point where they see themselves as being “owned” by the divinity. There is often a connection or crossover with kinky Master/slave relationships. I have not so far seen this type of language used among Celtic polytheists, though it may be out there.
While we make think of slavery as being a thing of the past, it still exists in the form of human trafficking, especially of a sexual nature. Out of respect for this I really think the terms master and slave should be avoided. Now, from what I understand it does not necessarily mean the god has total power over the human. But it still seems a degradation of human dignity and spirit to choose the name “slave” for oneself. Isn’t “servant” good enough?
I wonder about the social/psychological forces behind this trend. I know many Pagans seek out intense, ecstatic experiences and sometimes a loss of control is a part of that. Also I wonder what the ethnic background of these “godslaves” is- I bet pretty much all white. I have a hard time believing African-Americans would think it was cool to call themselves “slaves”. It just seems to me like there’s a lot of privilege behind that, and I challenge people to really think about the implications of this practice.
More information on real slavery:
HumanTrafficking.org
Campaign to Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking
FBI Page
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