Having a devotional practice can be challenging, especially if you’re just starting out on the Pagan path or you’ve got a lot of mundane commitments. If you’re new, there may be so many options of things to do that you don’t know which to incorporate first. And everyone has work or family or community commitments that take up time in the appointment book. But Paganism is a practical tradition, making use of what works and building on small moments to create lasting connections. Coffee With The Goddess is a devotional practice that does just that.
I was first introduced to the concept of coffee devotionals by an Evangelical Christian friend who regularly had Coffee With Jesus. Sometimes she would celebrate these occasions by going to a coffee shop with her Bible study workbook and camping out while she immersed herself in the Word of the Lord, but more often she would wake up and dedicate the first half-hour of her day exclusively to God, enjoying prayer and meditation over her first cup o’ joe. Later, a Pagan friend told me of a similar practice where she would brew a cup of coffee (or sometimes tea) and do Tarot readings for herself to get insight from the Goddess on her own life. She was accustomed to offering spiritual advice for others, so taking the time to focus on herself was a special treat that she enjoyed with a specially prepared cup of coffee and the intention of not focusing on the never-ending to-do list for a while. It’s a practice that I’ve incorporated into my own life as a way to connect with Deity and add regular observance to my schedule.
Coffee With The Goddess can — and should — be personalized to fit your own schedule and practice. You don’t even have to call it Coffee With The Goddess if that doesn’t suit your style. You might call it Morning Orientation Meeting or Spiritual Focus Session or Me Time. What name you call it by matters less than the practice itself, but the concept hinges on a few central ideas: a regular appointment, a warm beverage, and a devotional practice of some kind.
A Regular Appointment
First, decide how you can fit Coffee With The Goddess into your life. Do you want to have an appointment every day? Every other day? Every week? Every third Thursday of the month? That’s between you, your appointment calendar, and the Divine. But make the appointment. And keep it. Not because you have to, not because there’s a celestial secretary looking judgmentally down on you and keeping track of your no-shows, but because it’s your half-hour (or hour, or hour-and-a-half, or longer) to focus on yourself and your relationship with Deity. Claim that time for yourself. Treat it like a very important appointment because it is a very important appointment — between you and the eternal, the awesome, and the numinous. The world has a way of stealing our attention away from spiritual things, so enforce the boundary of having time dedicated to yourself. Like Caroline Dooner says, you are not alive just to pay bills and lose weight. So leverage an extra half-hour in the morning or that time after dinner but before bed. Set aside one lunch period each week. Treat yourself to midnight moongazing on a Saturday. Find what works for your schedule right now, and begin.
A Warm Beverage
Next, decide what you want to drink. Do you like coffee? Tea? Broth? Hot toddy? Whatever your fancy, pick something warm and soothing. It doesn’t have to be something reserved strictly for your devotional time, although you can do that if you would like to reinforce the specialness of the experience. The idea is to feel the warmth of the Divine with a little bit of help from something tasty, and to reinforce that feeling of centeredness, connectedness, and serenity through the ritual of preparing and drinking the beverage. If you’re a magickal practitioner, you might prepare your beverage according to the associations of certain plants and spices, or you might empower the beverage with a certain intention before you drink it. My personal drink is masala chai with milk. Sometimes when I feel that I need extra support, I’ll have a dark roast robusta coffee with cream, sugar, and cinnamon.
A Devotional Practice
Once you have your beverage, it’s time to sit down and spend time with the Divine in whichever form you are currently working with them. Whether that Deity is familiar to you or someone you’re just starting a relationship with, the point is to be with them for a while. You could do this through prayer, meditation, or divination. You could also use the time to study their mythology or work on projects related to your practice, such as scribing your Book of Shadows or grimoire or creating or using devotional objects like prayer beads or shrines. Whatever you choose — and it doesn’t have to be the same thing every time — let it be something that builds your relationship with the Divine and helps you center yourself as a spiritual being walking a path through the world.
Getting The Timing Right
Once you’ve tried Coffee With The Goddess a few times, don’t be afraid to change your original scheduling. Some people try for weekly and find that they gravitate to a daily practice. Other people plan a daily practice and only get to it once or twice a week. Some people find that a longer monthly devotional time is more effective for them than several shorter weekly devotional times. Some people find that a weekly schedule doesn’t quite feel right and that planning by the phases of the moon helps them to remember their appointments and feel empowered by the rhythm of nature. Let your own rhythm guide you, and work with it for a while. Give it a few months, then start incorporating any goals you may have into that rhythm. If you want to have a daily practice, then build up to a daily practice. If you want to have an immersive three-hour experience, then work that into your schedule a bit at a time. Remember, the most lasting personal practices aren’t imposed all at once but rather grown over time. All it takes to start with is half an hour, a hot drink, and the willingness to commune with Deity.
What would you like your Coffee With The Goddess to look like? Take a moment to figure that out, then open your calendar app or your appointment book and set a date with the Divine. Enjoy your coffee!