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I am also lokean and I consider myself to still be a baby witch, it is absolutely so hard to find good sources and supportive community. A lot of people are stuck on the post-christian narratives of very black-and-white thinking despite being pagan, so they villainize deities and spirits that don’t neatly fit into their idea of “good”.

There’s a lokean subreddit that has a long list of reading resources, so that is something to look into. I’ve heard good things about Dr. Jackson Crawford’s work. He’s not a pagan, so he focuses on historical translations and interpretations of folklore and texts. I have read some of his translations but not a ton yet. http://jacksonwcrawford.com/

I’ve also seen some recommendations for Loki & Sigyn: Lessons on Chaos, Laughter, & Loyalty from the Norse Gods and plan on reading it myself soon.

Ultimately your practice is your own. As long as you are still practicing, then you are making progress! There’s no true “right way” to do things, do what feels right for yourself and your practice. (As long as you don’t use closed rituals/practices of course)

My altar space currently is a medium size box of valentines chocolates that I sanded down and painted. I have it filled with whatever reminds me of Loki (like crystals, rocks, or trinkets) or things I have made for them (like prayer notes, figures, and fake dandelions). I have a little dish and goblet for perishable offerings and a tray for my devotional jewelry. It took about 8 months to get it looking how it does now, and someday I hope to expand it to an end table size. There’s nothing wrong with starting small and building up, just don’t let wanting things to be done well intimidate you out of making small progressions.

You got this!

Burdens of being a Lokean

Vent post ignore me bleh

And a reach out to fellow Norse Pagans for advice

Ugh. It’s hard to practice being Pagan sometimes. Especially of the Norse variety. And most definitely especially as Lokean. Any means to get materials to practice is full of marvel content. So saturated it makes it near impossible to find what I need

Don’t get me started on how unserious people like us who practice things like Norse Paganism are treated. People treat those who practice Greek paganism more serious than us. Don’t lie, you’ve seen it

And the people who only consume marvel Norse content that try and correct you on your own religion

I just wanted to practice my beliefs in peace. I want to be able to get materials from reliable sources that have their best interest in me. Not AI money grabs. Not people selling “love spells” or just bullshit people who want easy money by taking advantage of people’s beliefs

Is there any advice on how to get reliable sellers and resources for my craft? I want to practice my belief but there’s just so little I can do. I’m a Hoosier and well. Indiana is famous for the KKK after all

Any reliable sellers? People? Just. People who take being a Lokean serious? And don’t call us devil worshippers? And just insult Mother Loki every chance they get?

I’ll never forget that time I was at a cosplay convention and the topic of religion brought up and I was told to “never trust Loki. Protect yourself. He is a liar and promises you pain and suffering-“ and just went on a rant about how wrong I was

I chose Loki because he chose me dammit!

Everyone follows their own path in life. From you believing in a god to people who don’t at all. You are deserving to practice what you feel. It’s YOUR laugh. YOUR path. Everyone has a path

Just please. Help? I want to make a proper alter and practice my beliefs

I get chaos comes with the job, but sir the winds turn eventually 😭

Sincerely yours, a baby witch that’s suffering

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special reminder that sacrifices take many forms and don’t always require the death of something necessarily.

We live in a capitalistic society where money directly correlates with survival. Spending your hard earned money on supplies or offerings is most definitely a valid sacrifice. Most people do not have the means or skill to go out and properly/respectfully offer up an animal. The action of hunting, slaying and recycling is not relevant to most modern people anymore. We don’t hunt in fields anymore, but we do hunt for bargains at the grocery store. We do labor at our jobs for money. We exchange that labour for produce, meat, fruit, veggies and cream. Don’t feel like you’re cheating by offering a store bought steak to your deities just because you didn’t personally butcher the cow yourself. This all still counts even if it seems non traditional.

Time is a sacrifice. Dedicating hours to creating a piece of art for your deity, a song, a poem, or studying with them can count as a sacrifice of time. Time is a form of currency. Every living moment you spend honouring your Gods is a sacrifice.

Emotional turmoil or struggle can also be considered a sacrifice. Doing intense shadow work that brings you to tears but also allows you to overcome your struggles can definitely count as an emotional sacrifice, or a sacrifice of self comfort.

Working out and training your body is also a sacrifice of comfort, you’re literally offering pain and struggle up to your Lords as proof that you are willing to overcome adversity to become stronger and healthier. That is a sacrifice, one that most people (myself included) have a very hard time preforming.

A lot of our relationships with our deities revolve around transactions, giving offerings for example in exchange for blessings. Remember that even if you don’t have something physical to offer right now, there are always things that can be sacrificed or offered to the Gods that go beyond the physical. When we willingly put ourselves through strife in an effort to make positive changes in our lives we are making sacrifices. A part of us must be killed to create space for something new. Your Gods see your efforts and cherish them, do not underestimate their value.

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Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Everyone has an inherent value. Regardless.

Regardless of their size or weight, fitness level, health, ability/disability status, ease or difficulty to accommodate their needs, or the reasons behind them.

Regardless of their gender identity or expression, pronouns or use of neopronouns, agab, labels or multi labels, or newness to the community.

Regardless of their culture, skin tone or pigmentation, accent, language or dialect, ethnicity, nationality, or socioeconomic status.

Regardless of their religion, being multi-faith, being atheist, or otherwise not having a defined religious viewpoint.

We should be caring for and respecting each other. We should be supporting those that need it in the areas where we can help, not sitting silently while others are continuing to be further marginalized. Those of us that have some privilege and can exist semi-peacefully within society, we should be using that privilege to support and uplift and advocate for those that don’t. Push their messages forward! Educate yourself on their experiences!

Be a safe space, be a safe person. Be someone that will listen, believe, and support their peers. It’s not a competition to see who has it worst. It should be a community that supports everyone in their struggles. Support who you can, how you can, where you can. We have to do this together, we can do this together.

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I want to quickly tackle a topic that I've kind of been putting off for a few years now. On social media, I've seen people throw around the idea that personal gnosis (emphasis on personal) is exclusively legitimate when it's attained by means of some deep, transcendent state of meditative trance. It's never stated but it's always implied. Now look. Sure, history shows that such drug-induced states could have been commonplace among the völva, who were indeed considered messengers of the divine. I'm not denying this. However, this doesn't mean that experiencing the divine is reserved for a spiritually inclined elite made up of those who master trance and deep meditation. What I've seen is people saying that if you've experienced the divine by this or that means, then your experience was in fact not divine. That if you've felt divine presence through the mundane, then that's just your brain playing tricks on you. Wishful thinking, at best.

But listen to me: during the Iron Age, you would look up at the sky during a storm and hear Thórr beating his anvil, or riding his chariot through the clouds. You would notice a tomb devoid of any snow during the winter and know this was Freyr protecting a deceased devotee. You would listen to music during a gathering and feel that the Gods were singing along. Who's to say that there's no divinity to be found in the mundane? Who's to decide what's "truly" divine and what's not? There is no "verified gnosis". So when you feel in your heart that what you've experienced is divine, you might as well assume it was.

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you are not a bad worshipper for not thinking your deities everyday

you are not a bad worshipper for being indecisive about your alter(s)

you are not a bad worshipper for feeling overwhelmed about certain aspects of worship

you are not a bad worshipper for only worshipping one deity

you are not a bad worshipper for worshipping every deity

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Don't ever hesitate. Reblog this. TUMBLR RULE. When you see it, REBLOG IT.

Depression Hotline:1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline:1-800-784-8433

LifeLine:1-800-273-8255

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Rape and Sexual Assault:1-800-656-4673

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Runaway:1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

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UK Helplines:

Samaritans (for any problem):08457909090 e-mail jo@samaritans.org

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Mind infoline (mental health information):0300 123 3393 e-mail: info@mind.org.uk

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b-eat eating disorder support:0845 634 14 14 (only open Mon-Fri 10.30am-8.30pm and Saturday 1pm-4.30pm) e-mail: help@b-eat.co.uk

b-eat youthline (for under 25’s with eating disorders):08456347650 (open Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 8.30pm, Saturday 1pm-4.30pm)

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suicide hotlines;

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Trinidad and Tobago:868-645-2800

Ukraine:0487-327715

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“Chaos didn’t knock—it kicked the door in with a smile and a clipboard full of unsolicited advice.”

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Top Recommendations for Norse Pagans that aren’t Problematic.

There is a lot of books by people who are racist and part of far right side of Heathenry and I’m going to try my best and list the books I have that helped me on my path that isn’t problematic and have questionable intentions. Books and YouTube channels.

Anglo Saxon Socerery and Magic by Alaric Albertson. He is very knowledgeable in his work and path especially on runes which includes the rune poem to make your own interpretation and witchcraft side of things. He even talks about the Elves which I appreciate because not a lot of Norse authors talk about them. It’s more Germanic than Norse but I can’t see any problem adopting certain aspects since they are very similar. I will say he does take himself a bit serious at times but his information is so good and worthwhile. I have not read his first book on Travels through middle earth but it focus on more the pagan side.

Poetic Edda and Prose Edda: it’s what every Norse pagan needs. It’s the foundation of Norse paganism not bibles but myths and tales that can help along our journey. There is tons of translations, but my favorites are Dr. Jackson Crawford Poetic Edda and Anthony Fawkes Prose Edda. But look into other sagas as well like Volsung which Dr Jackson Crawford also wrote about.

Beowulf. More of a Germanic tale but again includes it has roots of Germanic sorcery, traditions, religion like the concept of Wyrd (Fate), the runes, and values within his society like loyalty and mythical creatures. Again there is many translations even Jrr Tolkien did a incompleted version of Beowulf but I think Tom Shippey finished that version I could be wrong. Nonetheless explore more than one, the oneI have is by Seamus Heaney.

Grimm Fairy Tales this mostly German Folklore but it’s still quite important to learn about in German folk magic, creatures and entities in German folklore tends to be very real to the practitioner in their spellwork.

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith a very progressive outlook in Norse paganism, he talks about creating communities in Norse paganism and calling out and denouncing Nazis in the community how Norse Paganism is inclusive and how to be open to all types of people. But he has a beginner approach to the deities, beliefs, values within Norse paganism.

Look into a lot of academic sources that’s where you will find a lot of information on Norse paganism and religions.

Tacitus Germania - A Roman historian talking about the Germanic tribes their culture and customs.

Saxo Grammaticus history of the Danes

The Viking Way by Neil Price it goes good in depths about magic in Scandinavia like Seidh

Dictionary of Norse Mythology a quick guide to northern myths, if you are trying to find a specific god and you don’t have time to look up in a book it’s in there with great information to each one.

Children of Ask and Elm: History of Vikings by Neil Price on Scandinavian culture during the Viking age

Some YouTube Channels

The Norse Witch: Bente lives in Germany and their channel encompasses all of Norse paganism more around magic. They do interviews with other Norse witches of folk magic like Icelandic and Danish. Even gives good book recommendations and advice on general spellwork as well!.

Dr Jackson Crawford he is an author but he also has a YouTube channel. He was a professor in Colorado on Norse culture, mythology, and language and now is a full time YouTuber. He did a series of videos on the runes which are more historically accurate. Discusses the myths and the language and what do they mean. Jackson Crawford isn’t a Norse pagan nor he doesn’t care if you are one but just letting you know he isn’t coming from a pagan perspective.

The Welsh Viking also like Jackson Crawford but still has really great knowledge on Viking culture.

De Spökenkyker who is a channel that focus on German Folk magic living in Germany who is a practicing German Folk Witch.

Please feel free to add on any recommendations that are helpful and useful to the Norse pagan Community!

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Alright, I feel the need to address this because I feel it wasn't addressed well in a post I recently reblogged. It's not ok to judge how people worship their deities. If someone has a less formal relationship than you, there's nothing wrong with that because what works for you may not work for someone else. We are all different people with different needs, and even the gods themselves understand that. If you're friendly with your gods, flat-out, so am I. I literally consider the gods family, to some degree, so I want to make it clear that I personally have zero issues with people's personal relationships with their gods. Literally do whatever you want because life is short, and who cares about some random person's opinion online. Be yourself, and practice in a way that feels right!

Moral of the story: don't let someone's opinion online - regardless of who it is (including me because I'm NOT an authority) - dictate your entire way of worship. You'll be much less happy, and it's honestly not worth it to constantly conform to what others think is "the right way". Nuance exists in all things, and that certainly includes individual practices. We can disagree with others while still respecting their practices.

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On a walk, I found a dead bird. It lay with its neck snapped beneath a shroud of leaves and thorns - a nettle bit me as I pushed it aside, revealing its hidden treasure. It died last night, I know that, I can see it in the brightness of it's feathers and the fullness of it's body. I lay flowers and berries beside it, a gift to the broken bird, and prayed that from her death will come life.

I realised then, that I do not wish to be cremated or buried, I do not want to trapped in a box or a urn. I want to be like this bird, hidden in the thorny embrace of nettles and thistles, their bites no longer causing me pain. I want to lay in the dirt and grass, my chest bare and ripped open as I display my still heart to the world. I want my organs to feed a fox and her cubs, I want my flesh to be stripped by and their young. I want my hair to sit in the nests of young birds and my bones to feed the soil.

I want life to sprout from my corpse, for my face to be lost to time and my body dragged beneath the surface where it will rot and melt into the earth and feed the world above. I want to return to the world that has fed and housed me, I want my energy to grow flowers and trees and feed bugs and birds.

I want my death to create life.

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I'm a big supporter of "the gods love you, regardless of how much you're able to do to worship them", but at the same time, it's difficult to forge a relationship with any deity (or even other people) if you don't allow yourself to be known by them. If you don't have moments of vulnerability, moments of silliness, moments of small joy even, then it's difficult to forge relationships or take them to a deeper level. Loving gods (or even other people) can be a scary thing for some people (hell, it was for me), but if you don't allow your heart to be exposed, even just a little, then you're not going to get back as much as you're hoping to.

Anything that's worth anything in life is going to require some level of risk, as terrifying as that feels sometimes, and in my opinion, having a deeper connection with a deity is one of those things that's worth the risk.

My point isn't that we aren't loved by the gods if we don't do a ritual everyday or pray every hour; my point here is that we cannot deepen our bonds if we aren't willing to dip more than just our toes into our deity relationships. Love your gods, and know that you are loved, but they can't really help you if you won't let them in, you know?

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Unpopular Opinion Time

The doodle you make or the picrew you use, the poorly executed poetry or basic bare bones prayer will ALWAYS be better than AI generated offerings.

I am sick of having my feed flooded with practitioners, pagans and other polytheists using AI. Specifically deities like Brigid should never be offered AI in my opinion, it’s essentially a slap in the face.

AI generated spells aren’t shit, it’s what a computer assumes will work based off of what it can gather from internet trends and research. MAKE IT YOURSELF, ask a human for help anything but AI.

There is no place for Artificial Intelligence in these spaces.

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I made this to dispel TikTok misinformation. Enjoy.

Plain text: "Trickster gods are not gonna eat you"

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In paganism there seems to be an ongoing issue with people not acknowledging its many issues. Pagans will often claim to be the “accepting” religion, with an absence of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. It does appear that way when you first enter it. This is a lie.

No religion is immune to bigotry, brainwashing, abuse and exploitation. Pagan communities can be breeding grounds for abuse just as churches.

White supremacy is rampant, as is cultural appropriation. Women are treated as reproductive objects while in other more modern spiritual circles exists misandry. All religions are capable of harm. Do not be arrogant enough to think ours is an exception.

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✨ Subtle Deity Worship Master List ✨

Greek Deities:

Subtle Aphrodite Worship

Subtle Ares Worship

Subtle Apollo Worship

Subtle Artemis Worship

Subtle Athena Worship

Subtle Dionysus Worship

Subtle Eros Worship

Subtle Hephaestus Worship

Subtle Hermes Worship

Subtle Demeter Worship

Subtle Hera Worship

Subtle Zeus Worship

Subtle Circe Worship

Subtle Hestia Worship

Subtle Helios Worship

Subtle Persephone Worship

Subtle Poseidon Worship

Subtle Hekate Worship

Subtle Hygeia Worship

Subtle Nemesis Worship

Subtle Psyche Worship

Subtle Asklepios Worship

Subtle Haides Worship

Subtle Harpocrates Worship

Subtle Erebos Worship

Subtle Medea Worship

Subtle Tyche Worship

Subtle Lethe Worship

Subtle Selene Worship

Subtle Eris Worship

Subtle Themis Worship

Subtle Talos Worship

Subtle Thanatos Worship

Subtle Nyx Worship

Subtle Phobos & Deimos Worship

Subtle Pan Worship

Subtle Hypnos Worship

Subtle Charybdis Worship

Subtle Skylla Worship

Subtle Harmonia Worship

Subtle Galatea Worship

Subtle Hyacinthus Worship

Subtle Triton Worship

Norse Deities:

Subtle Sigyn Worship

Subtle Loki Worship

Subtle Baldr Worship

Subtle Freyr Worship

Subtle Odin Worship

Subtle Heimdallr Worship

Subtle Freyja Worship

Subtle Thorr Worship

Subtle Tyr Worship

Subtle Jormungandr Worship

Subtle Hel Worship

Subtle Sleipnir Worship

Subtle Idunna Worship - created by @soil-and-stanzas :)

Subtle Fenrir Worship

Subtle Frigga Worship

-

This list will be updated as I make more posts! I will be making separate lists for these pantheons because I have too many links lol.

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Nazis will never be welcome in paganism. They have no space in our communities, we will have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to nazis. You have no right to the cultures, gods and religions you hijack to spread your disgusting ideologies. You will find no refuge or comraderie amongst pagans.

Reblog to let nazis know they’re not welcome here.