Patron is not a word I typically use to describe any of my relationships. So, to make sure I was really sure of what a patron is before I write on it, I went to Google. And wound up with quite an array of different definitions. At least I can take comfort from my lack of clarity in the fact that it doesn’t seem like there’s a very cohesive, concrete, community-accepted definition of “patron” in a pagan context.
I’m going to roll with Chris Thompson’s pithy definition: “A patron deity is a deity with whom one has a special or personal relationship, or a deity to whom one owes special devotion.”
While Zagreus is also my spouse and he owns me, I suppose by that definition, he is also a patron. He is always there with me, in one form or another – sometimes multiple at once. He guides me, and loves me; protects me, teaches me, supports me, and completes me. He is my world, and my heart. He is above all others. And the most he wants from me, is for me to simply be.
By that definition, there are a few other entities I would feel safe applying the “patron” label to. Although my relationship with him seems to be pretty volatile, Dionysus is another one I have a personal relationship with that isn’t just casual. He mostly works with me on the liminal, boundaries (or lack thereof), and madness. He’s not one that I would go to for comfort in most cases, but he’s definitely been a prominent force in my life ever since he informed me that “plans change”.
Ariadne is also another candidate, although I’m less certain of her since our interactions have been fewer. But things feel more permanent and somehow serious with her, than other deities that I have personal – but not really devotional – relationships with. She is the one who is working with me on learning certain divination techniques.
If you want to include angels in the mix, then there are also Sariel, Samael, Keziah, and maybe, maybe Lu. (More on the “special” side, of “special relationships”. More like an undeniable connection that I work very hard to not feed). But my relationships with angels are different than with deities, and it feels like the same dynamics do not apply.
Reconstructing the Labyrinth 