Deities, God, Cartoon characters

"Say a prayer to whatever Deities you believe in..." she said, with just the faintest hint of contempt.
Please allow me to explain:
To me, every single God, deity, action figure, sports hero, movie star, et al, has only one true function. Without exception (really?), the reason to think about, pray to, chant a mantra, offer sacrifice to any God of any name in any religion is to catalyze the energy that figure represents. When a person says they are living in Jesus, to me what they are actually doing is aligning their heart, mind and soul as closely as possible with the qualities associated with Jesus, and the favorable consequences of holding such fervent faith. Even our sports heroes, such as Michael Jordan, and our rock stars and movie stars, function to catalyse, to activate, to awaken, to strengthen that form of energy, that character quality, that heart quality, whatever desirable quality expressed by that public figure, to awaken that quality within yourself.

Example:

Lakshmi, or Sri when she is especially known as the goddess of beauty (though sometimes considered to be separate entities), is the Goddess of fortune, wealth, power, and loveliness. Wealth means not only money, but also the higher values and qualities of life. The power of the mind and intellect is also a must if one wants to be truly wealthy, which includes spiritual wealth.