devotion is not a solo act
the benefits of parallel play
]
]you will remember
]for we in our youth
did these things
yes many and beautiful things
]
]
]
Sappho, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho, translated by Anne Carson
Some images in my head of devotion still look like sitting in a temple all by myself, chanting or singing to the godds. There is something about ‘good’ reverence that seems to ‘require’ a solitary practice, a practice that is unseen and unknown.
I believe in the mystery of it. I believe in the don’t-share-everything-on-social-media. But what I think can be tricky is devotion that comes with the weight of self-accountability.
Devotion that can seem like a demand instead of a delight.
Of course, not all magickal practice is delightful, but what if it didn’t have to be so singular?
The Case for Collective Devotion
To be fair, when I think of being in a temple with Aphrodite (or another godd), I can also picture being a part of a group of practitioners, perhaps all chanting together to build energy and power.
Instead of unaffordable or inaccessible temple space, what about parallel play for devotion?
I’ve always heard of parallel play as a way to help us neurospicy folks get things done. When we’re not doing things alone or because of the demand of someone else, we can do things because we feel a chemical boost in sharing that time with someone else doing things we love, even if we’re doing different things.
(But it’s a stage of play as a child, where we play in the same room as other children while not interacting with other children.)
In a class I co-taught early in 2024, I suggested we spend a few minutes (these increased each week) doing whatever we considered devotional simultaneously. At the start of class, we would create sacred space, turn on some music to hold the space, and then do devotional practices that called to us at that moment.
(This was online, so everyone was in their own spaces, on mute, just doing their thing.)
And WHY NOT?
Why does devotion have to look a certain way or be done alone?
I encourage you to find a friend to join you in this parallel play. You can set a time for both to do devotional work and be on Zoom or in the same physical room.
And going back to the idea of parallel play, let’s emphasize the PLAY. Maybe you share your devotional practices, maybe you do something together, or maybe you get silly. Maybe you just show up and sing to yourself.
Devotion can look many different ways. (Thank goodness. Thank the godds.)
What might your devotional practice look like with this idea in mind?
Who would you want to parallel play with?
Why not make it a community effort?
Why not play?
xo
Irisanya
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What a delightful idea! I think we may adopt this in some form in Ariadne's Tribe, maybe for our monthly online get-togethers.
I dance, and I dance when other people are there, but seldom with other people who really know or get what I'm doing. That would be interesting to explore.