Worship vs. Veneration

Hey all. Today I will go over worship and veneration. What are they. How are they different. And how can you include worship and veneration into your practice.

Disclaimer: I'll talk about worship and veneration in regards to how I know them. I'm sure there's cultures and religions out there that sees things differently then I do, which is valid. However, I'll only speak on what I know.

Thank you for the feature!

+ ° · WORSHIP · ° +

Worship

noun

The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.

"The worship of God."

verb

To show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites.

"The Maya built jungle pyramids to worship their gods."

- Lexico

The act of worship is as the word itself implies. You worship a deity by showing deep respect, reverence, and adoration. People who worship will do so through acts like prayer, going to religious services, participating in rituals, making sacrifices, and leaving offerings, to name a few.

In most instances, people who worship will pray for guidance and assistance in their everyday lives. If you never worshipped before, my advice is to do your research, find the being that you want to guide you, and pray to them. You may never receive fancy visions and clear signs, and that's ok. Too often, I see people waiting around for a deity to show them a sign that they want their worship. While, in some cases, deities do call out to their followers, that is not the case for everyone. I say if you want to be led by a specific deity, and that deity belongs to a path that's open to you, go ahead and start worshipping them! *

* After doing proper research on said deity, of course.

+ ° · VENERATION · ° +

Veneration

verb

To regard with reverential respect or with iring deference.

To honor (an icon, a relic, etc.) with a ritual act of devotion.

- Merriam Webster

In both Pagan and non-Pagan circles, I've heard the words, "worship," and, "veneration," used interchangeably, but they're actually quite different even if the acts themselves appear similar to the observer.

During the act of veneration, the practitioner will honor, give their devotion, and profess their love to whatever or whoever they feel is deserving of their veneration. However, veneration IS NOT THE SAME as worship. Showing your love and devotion in an act of veneration, is just that, love and devotion. It is not the religious act of worship. This may sound confusing, but think of it this way: you may love and honor the deity that you worship, but love and honor doesn't solely belong to the realm of worship. For example, I love my husband, my family, and friends, but I don't worship them. I do, however, venerate my ancestors, some saints, and angels. I do not worship them.

Acts of veneration may include: building shrines/altars, praying, and leaving offerings. The most common instance of veneration that I know of would be the veneration of Mother Mary, hence the picture of one of her altars above.

If you feel like worship is not for you, or that you want to reserve acts of worship for a particular deity or deities but still wish to show respect to other entities, veneration could be the correct option! Often times, spirits, heroes, angels, ancestors, saints, and guides are venerated! The only time I believe veneration is not suitable would be for deities who expressly commands to be worshipped, like the Abrahamic God, for instance.

+ ° · IN CONCLUSION · ° +

I hope that I cleared things up between worship and veneration. The two concepts may look quite similar, but they are actually very different. I wish that anyone who reads this article will leave here with a better understanding of these two concepts.

Take care all!

Reference:

Background image: Darius Kraus

First Article Image: Ric Rodrigues

Second Article Image: Kool Shooters