#i love the whole polytheism of it all

[callisteios]

Orthodox also have nuns and monks, but my knowledge ends at the strictly male-only monastic community at Mount Athos

Ok well not to be rude to the Orthodox Church but I was mostly right. Plus I think I would have a hard enough time joining Catholic nuns as a non catholic, don’t you have to be Greek or Russian or Serbian to join an Orthodox Church?

Please tell me more about what the men are doing on Mount Athos though

[hedgehog-moss]

Pls give recommendations for Odd books 🙏

Here we go, a list of literary oddity :) This post contains majestic spheres, alien taxonomies, cruel subway polytheism, a fourth-dimensional cat, disturbing earthworms, infinite space football, existential mussel terror, a Parisian absurdist time loop, and a picture of a telegraph-pole-man-cheetah. I'm not exactly recommending these books, in the sense that I won't take any complaints if you find them more odd than good, and some of them transcend the concepts of good and bad anyway.

• The Other City, Michal Ajvaz. It's all like this:

• Contes du demi-sommeil, Marcel Béalu ('Half-asleep tales') —is the book that prompted my post about stories that have no ambition or justification beyond being odd. I'm sad that it hasn't been translated :( One of the tales is about a strange opaline sphere that rolls on the road. It doesn't accelerate when the road becomes a steep slope but continues rolling majestically. At one point it floats away towards the sky. Someone wonders if it was the moon. Someone else says authoritatively "It was an angel's egg." Everyone is reassured by this explanation. The whole thing feels exactly like remembering a dream you had. There is also a man who reads too much and whose body atrophies so only his head is left and his wife puts it in an egg cup for better stability.

• Leonora Carrington— The Skeleton's Holiday, or maybe the Hearing Trumpet. I've read them so long ago but I think the latter is the one with the old ladies and nuns? There's also a guy who was murdered in his bath by a still-life painter because he said there was a carrot in one of his paintings, but it might not have been a carrot? It's hard to remember details from this book without feeling like I might be making them up. Bonus Leonora Carrington painting which kind of feels like a short story:

• The Codex Seraphinianus, of course. I wish there were more bizarre encyclopaedias out there.

Also I love this review:

• Sleep Has His House, Anna Kavan —I really liked the way this book used language; making life feel like a fever dream even more than in Samanta Schweblin's Fever Dream (which I really liked too.)

The eye is checking a record of silence, space; a nightmare, every horror of this world in its frigid and blank neutrality. The actual scope of its orbit depends on the individual concept of desolation, but approximate symbols are suggested in long roving perspectives of ocean, black swelled, in slow undulation, each whaleback swell plated in armour-hard brilliance with the moonlight clanking along it . . .

• The second half of Michael Ende's Neverending Story, where things get stranger! I remember the hand-shaped castle with eyes and the city of amnesiac former emperors and the miserable ugly worms who cry all the time out of shame then create beautiful architecture with their tears...

• The Gray House, Mariam Petrosyan. This is the one I had in mind when I talked about a 'museum of the strange, but one you wouldn't want to be trapped in after closing time'. Another book that made me feel uncomfortable in a similar (good) way was Edward Carey's Observatory Mansions, the protagonist of which is a man who curates an odd private museum and can't stand the sight of his own hands.

• Oh, speaking of uncomfortable, and hands—He Digs A Hole, by Danger Slater. To me this book was in the more-odd-than-good category but I liked its refusal to have a coherent philosophical meaning. It's about a man who can't sleep so he goes to his garden shed and saws off his hands and replaces them with gardening tools. Then he starts digging a hole. And then it gets weird. (Read at your own discretion if you have a worm phobia; there's some body horror featuring sexually aggressive earthworms. And then it gets disturbing.)

• 17776 — Someone sent me an ask a few years back to recommend this online multimedia narrative to me and I really enjoyed it! Here's the summary, borrowed from the wiki page: Set in the distant future in which all humans have become immortal and infertile, the series follows three sapient space probes that watch humanity play an evolved form of American football in which games can be played for millennia over distances of thousands of miles. The work explores themes of consciousness, hope, despair, and why humans play sports.

• Saint-Glinglin, Raymond Queneau —the author admitted that this book presents some "internal discontinuities." I didn't like it much but I respect the talent it takes to write a novel where everything feels like a random digression, including the key suspenseful scene that matters to the plot. The one digression I loved had to do with the way the narrator is existentially horrified by various sea creatures. It's like he dreads them so much he can't help but think about them when he should be telling a story.

The oyster... This gob of phlegm, this brutal way of refusing the outside world, this absolute isolation, and this disease: the pearl... If I conceptualise them even a little, my terror starts anew. The mussel is even more significant than the oyster and even more immediately admissible in the domain of terror. Let us indeed consider that this little sticky mass whose collective stupidity haunts our piers, consider that it is alive in the same way as a cow. Because there are no degrees in life. There is no more or less. The whole of life is present in every animal. To think that the mussel, that the mussel has, not a conscience, but a certain way of transcending itself: here I am once again plunged into abysses of anxiety and insecurity.

Near the beginning he philosophises about what would happen if a man and a lobster were the only two survivors of the apocalypse. The lobster would break the man's toe and the man would say, "We are the only beings that remain on this devastated Earth, lobster! The only living beings in the universe, struggling alone against the universal disaster, don't you want to be allies?" But the lobster would disdainfully walk away towards the ocean, and "the sight of the inflexible and imperturbable lobster pierces the sky of humanity with its unintelligible claws." (I can't overstate how little this has to do with the rest of the book.)

• Autumn in Beijing, Boris Vian —needless to say the story does not take place in autumn nor in Beijing.* To the extent that it can be said to be "about" something, it's about people trying to build a train station in a desert with tracks that lead nowhere. (I just went on goodreads to check the title, and it's actually called Autumn in Peking in English. I also discovered that it was featured in a list of Books I Regret Reading. I liked this book, but I understand.)

(* French writers love doing this—like when Alphonse Allais said about his 1893 book The Squadron's Umbrella "I chose this title because there aren't any umbrellas of any sort in this volume, and the important notion of the squadron, as a unit of the armed forces, is never brought up at all; in these conditions, hesitating would have been pure madness.")

• The Library at Mount Char, Scott Hawkins—I fear this one makes a little too much sense for this list, but you can't say it isn't weird; and I loved it and recommend it any chance I get.

• The Eleven Million Mile High Dancer, Carol Hill —this book was so wacky and made me laugh. I've not yet managed to successfully recommend it to someone; its brand of odd didn't resonate with the people I know who've read it but that's okay. You could say it's about a woman astronaut whose weird cat disappears into the fourth dimension (or the quantum realm?) and she goes to space to save him—but that makes the book sound more straightforward and less messy than it is. Her cat leaves her a note before he disappears:

• The Bald Soprano, Ionesco —fun fact, there's a tiny theatre in the Latin Quarter in Paris where this absurdist play has been staged every night for nearly 70 years, with the exact same set design and costumes and everything, like the actors are stuck in a time loop. They celebrated the 20,000th performance this year! There's an actress who has been playing her character for 40 years and said joining this theatre was like joining a religion. I've been going to see this play as a New Year tradition with my best friend since we were 14, so I love it madly, though I wouldn't say it's good, necessarily—the author said it was about "absolutely nothing, but a superior nothing."

• Statuary Gardens; or Les Mers perdues (apparently not translated) by Jacques Abeille. This man is obsessed with weird statues. Unfortunately I find his writing style rather dull—I feel like he takes strange ideas and makes them feel mundane in a bad way...! But his books still have a nice, quiet, oneiric atmosphere, and images that stayed with me, like a solitary gardener trying to grow stone statues in the depleted soil of a walled garden. Here are some illustrations from the second one:

I'll look into some of the books recommended on my previous post! (and I agree with the people who brought up Cortázar, Borges, and Junji Ito. <3) Some potentially-odd books I have on my to-read list: Clive Barker's Abarat, Goran Petrović's An Atlas Traced by the Sky, Salvador Plascencia's The People of Paper, Jean Ray's Malpertuis; Jan Weiss's The House of a Thousand Floors; Brice Tarvel's Pierre-Fendre.

[boofindoopin]

ugh everything is ow

BREIF MENTIONS OF SA

Fun fact about me! I adore Epic the musical! I, uh, definitely do not adore PJO. I obviously don’t care if someone likes PJO, like, I had my phase too. But, I do need people to know WHY I dislike one Greek mythology retelling and dislike the other.

____________________________________________

I, personally, don’t even consider PJO/HOO, TOA Greek mythology retellings that they market themselves as. I consider them stories loosely based of Greek mythology. When I say LOOSELY I mean it. Many, many, many creative liberties were taken with that series.

I would consider Epic: The Musical a greek myth retelling. Yes, it takes creative liberties, but, not to the extent PJO does. You can tell Epic is telling the story of the Odyssey and Odysseus throughout the whole soundtrack, a stark contrast to PJO where you have to sit there and say to yourself “was this part of the myth, or something Rick Riordan made up?”

Neither are accurate sources of Greek mythology, obviously. Retellings shouldn’t me where you get your info from, kids. I’ve read the Odyssey and can personally tell you that Epic isn’t always accurate to the source material, and it cuts out a lot of things, (Ex. You know, the SA….)

Even though Epic cuts out some things, it is still a lovely retelling, even though the things they cut do bother me sometimes, I can get over it. Also, the fandom is mostly amazing. All of them are so so talented. The songs are banger too, No Longer You and Hold Them Down are actually so amazing.

____________________________________________

I don’t enjoy PJO for two big reasons: The fandom, and the actual books

“But Marcella!” You cry, clutching your pearls. “The PJO fandom is comprised mainly of children!”

Yes, I was one of those children many years ago. Now that we are all grown up, there are also adults in the fandom. I honestly think sometimes they are almost as bad as Disney adults. Sometimes I question if they even know what the Iliad is. I can’t be in a fandom where no one knows their Greek mythology. There are few things that bring me joy in this life. Those things are: Thanatos, Greek myths, carbs, coffee, Ares, Aphrodite, books, and on the rare occasion my friends and family. Let me have my myths please.

The books, along with butchering Greek mythology to the point I don’t even think it can be called a retelling, it also has some questionable shit. The whole thing about the fucking NAZIS, ARE WE FORGETTING ABOUT THAT? WTF WAS THAT? Also y’know, giving poor Nico every possible controversial character trait and aspect, so you could kill him off of it got too much hate. (I know your tricks, Rick, I’m a writer too)

Also, in a book where children have goodly parents and worship the Greek gods, you could have researched Hellenic polytheism just a little bit. Like, it isn’t that hard. Please bro.

————————————————————————

Anyways, point is, I’m not saying you can’t like PJO, and you can’t dislike Epic. Like whatever the frackadoodle you want. I just wanted you guys to know I have my reasons for being a hater.

[tino-i-guess]

Need some opinions/help

TLDR; In October, in a somewhat impulsive decision, I started worshipping Athena and Hermes. I am having doubts and feelings of inadequacy due to not being as invested as some other people. Does all of this mean I should leave the religion or stop for the time being?

I am quite new to hellenic polytheism. I've always had an interest in polytheistic religions, occasionally doing some research but never really doing it heavily. I knew the very very basics of hellenic polytheism, since a friend of mine practices. In the beginning of October, I had a slight breakdown. I have been struggling with school a lot and was feeling completely lost and abandoned by most people in my life, so I did what looking back on it was a rush decision. I made an altar for Athena and prayed (more like begged, I'll be honest) for some kind of help. I made a small offering based on what I knew and that was that. It wasn't a completely unexpected decision, since I had been thinking about it for a while.

Well, it worked. I did quite well on my upcoming test and felt calmer in general. I decided to make a small altar for Hermes too and do more research. For the past few months, I have thus been trying to do as much research as I can, pray and make offerings based on what I know the best I can. However, recently I've been having some doubts.

I feel out of my depth and overwhelmed. I've never been religious, nor has my family ever been religious. Every time I try to research more, I feel overwhelmed and tear up with all the new facts and seeming rules. Things are contradicting each other and I have no one to check with because my friend is also pretty new and we're not very close. I feel as if I'm constantly messing up. A lot of the practices relies on instinct and reading between the lines. I have anxiety and I'm autistic so these two places are my weaknesses, in some cases even impossible for me without direct guidance. I'm confused on so many concepts that everybody else seems to find obvious.

I feel inadequate. Everybody I have seen talking about the religion seems really fully into it and devoted to it (something that I think is amazing and wonderful) but I feel like that cannot be applied to me. I feel like I somehow don't believe/love the Gods as much as others. I don't want religion to take up a big part of my life, at least not as I am currently. Additionally, I don't have much free time or energy in general, so I am not able to make offerings and pray properly every day. I also struggle with intrusive thoughts, which makes prayer and worship extra hard. However, I do love the Gods and the thought of taking down their altars and just stopping makes my heart squeeze. But then again, I don't feel as close to them as a lot of people I have seen, tho that might be a time issue. Part of me is definitely stopping me from getting closer to them by constantly saying how ridiculous I look trying to 'bond' with them. I want religion to be a casual facet of my life, to be able to make a weekly offering and pray once a day maybe without much worry or anxiety, to learn about the religion and Gods more and more.

I feel upset and stressed about this whole situation. I don't want to stop but part of me feels like I am being constantly disrespectful. A small part of me also feels like I have somehow offended Athena specifically. I also am hesitating stepping back, lest I upset kharis, if somehow I've managed to establish it with my flaky track record. I want honest, hard opinions and advice. Am I simply not cut out for this? Is this just a beginners rut sort of deal I need to power through? Did anybody else feel like this? How did you deal with it?

I am sorry if anything is unclear. Writing this made me quite emotional and my thoughts are all over the place. If I haven't mentioned a crucial detail or something, please ask and I'll happily respond and give more details on some things. Thank you in advance, χαίρε.

[lucent-roase]

okay watch me awkwardly explain an au or headcanon or something

here’s a small comic-y thing i wasn’t going to post but i haven’t posted any art for over a week i think

i never finished it but the idea was Hunter converting to paganism after all of his religious trauma because i’m pagan and want to project it onto someone

honestly for him it doesn’t really make sense because the isles now knows about the archivists and how they created that world but idk… but who the hell cares what makes sense???? Willow is also pagan here and she’s like “haha yeah i’ve been practicing ever since we went back to the Human Realm” and to me its real

they would either be Hellenic or Nordic polytheists, i don’t know much about Norse religion practices but i read a book about the mythology a long time ago and i’m sure Hunter would love it (plus, i mean, being polytheists they could worship anyone)

i’m sure finding out that the Titan wasn’t saying all that stuff to Belos would probably be crushing to hear. for Hunter, he had to realize that the Titan never had big plans for him, and Willow had to realize that she’d been blatantly lied to her whole life. especially in hellenic polytheism, people can communicate to their gods and deities and i’m guessing Hunter would find a lot of comfort in that. i bet Willow would like to have an outlet where she could just rant to someone finally without worry about what her friends would think.

[hyakinthou-naos]

My Day to Day Life as a Hellenic Polytheist: Altars, altars, altars! [post 4/4]

Hello Temple patrons and visitors, in lieu of doing days 6, 7, & 8 of @wisdom-devotee 's 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism I decided to instead answer the questions through a narrative blog post (since the questions for these three days flow together).

I have kept a standing altar (an altar that I leave out and erect all the time) of one kind or another, pretty consistently for the past 7 years.

I just recently moved into a new home, which means crafting a whole new setup for my altars and worship space. In this new home I've actually been able to create, not just 2 standing altars, but 7 shrines dedicated to my 5 Household Gods - as well as 2 Hindu deities (Shiva and Shakti-Durga-Kali). All of these altars have been an immense labor of love and I am so happy with how they have turned out.

Standing Altar 1 - Honoring the Okios and Household Gods:

Standing Altar 2 - Honoring Lady Aphroditê and Oceanic Witchcraft:

Shrine to Lord Apollo:

Shrine to Lady Hekatê:

Shrine to Lord Hermes:

Shrine to Lady Hestia:

Shrine to Lady Aphroditê:

Shrine to Lord Shiva / Shiva-Dionysus:

Shrine to Shakti / Shakti-Durga-Kali:

- Aön

[h0bg0blin-meat]

I think I need to make it clear for many Vaishnav (looking especially at you, ISKON) Hindu extremists (and even many Shaivites) that ya'll can have your sects and your beliefs as Vishnu or Shiva as your supreme lords. I don't have an issue with that.

But when you try to say that this is the ONLY truth about the Vedic religion (I'm not using Hinduism here because it doesn't sum up the pantheon as much as the ''Vedic" word does, despite the term being associated with the Vedas, and yes we need to come up with a better word that comprises this entire pantheon as a whole), that's when I have a problem, because that is definitely NOT the entire pantheon.

Do not spread the beliefs of your sect as the ONLY canon belief and don't speak for the people who don't fall under this category. I have seen this in all of social media and it pains me how much of a linear pantheon this once oh-so flexible culture has become.

Yes the concept of Prajapati and the Supreme being has existed since the Vedas. But when you say that Vishnu and Shiva are somehow superior to other gods as the ONLY CANONICAL BELIEF, that just flips me off, and I'm gonna call it out.

How dare you forget the four Vedas, that had no mention of such an idea? This might tick some people off but Indra, Agni, Rudra (which later became synonymous with Shiva, but is a whole different deity), Mitra, Varuna, Vayu and a few other Gods were just as much powerful as Vishnu or Shiva, if not more. This is ANOTHER canonical truth that these extremists (again, somehow mostly Vaishnav) are denying.

Ancient pantheons weren't some linear path with just one canon event. These were their own multiverses of a plethora of VARIOUS canon events, myths and legends. So stop making the Vedic religion a linear, rigid pantheon. Remember? It's not an organized religion. There can be SEVERAL canonical truths. Like I definitely understand that a religion/culture changes overtime. It evolves. Fine. Vishnu is the supreme God now, fine. But you can't deny the history. The Vedas that didn't canonize this. Are you gonna say that these Vedas, that came BEFORE this Vishnu/Shiva being the considered the supreme lord(s), were wrong? I hope not lol.

Besides, I'm not even gonna get into ISKON. They have regarded anyone that's not Vishnu as a demigod, which is ABSOLUTELY VILE AND DISRESPECTFUL. Do they even KNOW what a demigod is??? FUCK NO. They don't. They just like to use that word to inferiorize other deities, due to their unhealthy and toxic obsession with Vishnu, who doesn't deserve it. On top of that they have claimed that worshipping such gods will not lead you to eternal peace, or that it's somehow wrong. Ah yes. Gotta love gatekeeping and toxic cult fan behavior. Call me rude but if you disrespect a GOD (yes, Indra, Mitra, Varuna and others are ALSO GODS, FYI) is WILD, and they should be called out for it. (Some Shaivites have done the same in case of Shiva, and they need to be similarly called out.)

In conclusion, worship whoever tf you want, but remember that theologically, and even historically, there can be more than one canonical story. It really depends on which sect/region you belong to. You CAN be a polytheist. Idk why Hindus these days are inadvertently trying to appeal to the monotheistic pantheons so much, to the point that they have an internal dislike for polytheism, which they're not aware of, but it shows when they speak up.

This pantheon (like every other pagan pantheon back in the day) is very broad. Remember that. And it's very flexible. So let it be like that, and stop gatekeeping it and having a war between who supreme Lord is. I'll stop my yapping here. But I hope people understand this. Cuz damn.

[miryum]

I had a thought—

So Hogwarts was founded around 990 CE, right? Up to when Harry attended, that gives us about 1000 years that Rowling didn't cover or explore. And that means 1000 year of troubles that I have questions about

1000-1300 CE: Okay, so like, medieval times. Can we talk about the sexism that would be here? How did the professors handle that? The girls would have to wear these horrid clothes and expect to have flying lessons? Or were flying lessons only for the boys? How much of Hogwarts was gender segregated? And the Holy Roman Empire was all the rage. That means ultra-Christianity. What if a kid from upper Scotland came in and worshipped polytheism? What then? Would the other kids have burned them or killed them?

1400 CE: This was when witch burnings/huntings were getting popular. I'm assuming that the kids were safe when they got to Hogwarts, but what about Muggleborns? If a guy dressed in robes came to this peasant's mudhut and said "your daughter's a witch!" you're telling me that those parents wouldn't burn their daughter at the stake? And yes, wizards/witches could easily hide their abilities once they graduated, but what if they had a kid that came out magical? How would you explain that your baby is levitating to the townsfolk? Or what if you married a muggle? Would you have to hide your identity your entire marriage? Would you have to hope your kids weren't magical like you? And what if you're a woman who then marries an awful muggle man and you know you're stronger than him and can kill him extremely easily in his sleep, but you can't because it's 1400 CE?!?!

1500 CE: We're getting to the Renaissance right now, okay? So all these kids are beginning to explore literal magic and you're telling me they didn't mix that with the new inventions of the era? Was Galileo or Michelangelo really a wizard? And if all these inventors/thinkers were wizards, who else? Magic has spanned all of time, apparently, so were the pyramids built with magic? (sorry, that was a small side tangent.) And then the Reformation came along and split everyone into different religions. Were there tensions among Catholic/Lutheran students? What about the teachers? What if a Lutheran fell in love with a Catholic at school? What then?

1600-1700 CE: Now lemme ask about social classes. How big of a problem was that? And I think we all know that this problem spanned much longer than just the two centuries I'm giving it. Imagine if a Dutch aristocrat's daughter was admitted to Hogwarts and "oh, it's just a fancy boarding school?" you tell the parents, "great! she can go" so then she gets there, all dressed to the nines with the ballgowns and big wigs and finds out she has to room with a peasant girl and an artist's daughter. Can you imagine?! And yes, maybe they would've become friends, but realistically, probably not. The daughter would demand her own room, but the headmaster couldn't do that, so what would happen? Would she order her new roommates to help her get dressed each morning? Would she look down her nose at them? Would there be different tables in the Great Hall for the upper class? I'm assuming that the professors would have different viewpoints concerning what their background was, so would the Dutch daughter be aghast when her professor (who used to be a blacksmith's apprentice) takes her down a notch and hits her in front of the whole class? And what would recreational activities be like? Yes, everyone would have the same uniforms during class, but can you imagine a guy walking up to you on a lazy Sunday dressed in his powdered wig and golden coattails with their weirdly high white socks and buckled shoes?

1800 CE: Slavery. We know that had to have been racial segregation, right? And even if Europe was all progressive and abolished slavery starting in the 1400s, some countries definitely still had slavery. And don't even get me started on America and Ilvermorny. Being a Southern belle and then having to take classes and eat in the same room from the same plates as someone that looks like the slaves your father owns? (What about the fucking Civil War?! Confederates and unionists in the same school?!) And I'm sure the same thing happened in Hogwarts! And I didn't even mention the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the 1500-1800s!! How did Hogwarts handle racism? If they just banned all non-whites from the premise, then they lost a large chunk of the next generation of wizards and witches. And those poor boys and girls they banned. Imagine having all these strange phenomenons happen your entire life and have no idea why or trying to hide them because you didn't go to Hogwarts and learned what they were or how to channel them!

1900-2000 CE: Oh my fucking god. Where to begin? The style is drastically different from the 1600s. Now students are coming in with flappers dresses and their hair slicked back and everything and professors are like, "what the fuck?" Did the Yule Ball have different types of dancing? I'm assuming so. Were their more dances because the students loved it? And then the fucking Great Depression hits and now most students can't even buy the necessary textbooks to come to school. Most are needed by their families for work (AND ALSO!!! I didn't mention, but in medieval times, did parents even let their kids go to Hogwarts? They needed them to work the fields or stuff.) Then, growing anti-semitism starts up and some of the students are discriminated against because of their religion, just like back in 1000-1300 CE. The World Wars happen and what if a German kid (who's being indoctrinated and I can go on a whole other rant about children in Germany I swear, don't get me started because I will defend the kids until my last breath) is proudly wearing a swastika just like his daddy and then sees a Jewish kid and starts yelling slurs, just like his dad does? How many kids did Hogwarts save from concentration camps? Did the magical kids beg for the muggle siblings to come and stay at Hogwarts to save them from Auschwitz? Then there were hardly any boys for a generation because they were all off fighting a goddamn war! Things started to chill out for a while until kids came into Hogwarts wearing bell bottoms and tye-die and the girls were burning their bras and were the boys cheering them on or was there serious backlash? How much fucking weed was passed around in the 70s? (This is the marauder era btw.) Did the gay wizards/witches finally feel safe enough about coming out? Or were there too many people against them still? OR, did the homophobic people learn to be more accepting because they had to be? Because they were in the same classes, same dorms, same everything as gays? What about magic birth control? Or, was everyone too worried about Voldemort to burn their bras and come out as gay? How much did Voldemort truly influence the Wizarding World? And then Harry fucking Potter came along, the 90s happened and now, his kids have just graduated! I'm assuming Hogwarts has to have changed with technology, but how much? Do professors think magic is losing the battle to technology or are Muggleborns actually still more fascinated by magic than their phones (I'm assuming if you saw someone change from a human to a cat, that'd be more cool than a TikTok, but who knows?!) Does Hogwarts have WiFi and outlets? Or are kids forbidden from technology? And how did kids from the 80s-90s keep up with technology? Did they all just trapse down to a small town by Hogsmead and have to catch up with all the blockbuster movies there?

In short, I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

[tenebrisdivina]

Godspousery: A Different type of Relationship

This begins my series of posts on Godspousery

Art: by art of yayu

After receiving permission from my deities; I have been guided to share some of my experience with spousery as it may be of help or interest to some, since there is a lot of confusion and misconceptions around what this path actually is and means.

To preface this: I am more traditional and old school meaning that godspousery to my eyes is only marriage to the divine. I have been married to both my spouses ( who are demonic divine dark lords) for 6 years (at point of this writing) and have worked closely with various divine beings and spirits for close to 16 years now.

I have noticed in more recent times that some people misconstrue the term godspouse to mean just about any and all types of relationships with the divine. In my experience this is not the case. It is not a term that covers all types of relationships ( ie familial, platonic, devotional etc). Nor should it be used as a catch all phrase as there is a distinct difference between these types of relationships. Genuine godspousery is not the same as a platonic or other relationship with the divine. Nor is it a stand in for any form of romantic or sexual relationship with the divine.  The term spouse is used for a reason ( ie married to the divine). I am also of the viewpoint that devotional polytheism and devotee ought to be used more often to refer to these other types of relationships instead of lumping it all together under one term.

Godspousery is a sacred path and practice. It is not something to be taken lightly nor for the human egoic wants and needs, since its really not about you or your ego. I have the experience of having a patron, having normal devotional and/or working relationships with gods, spirits and Demonic divine as well as being espoused. All of these types of relationships are different; though most often share an element of devotion and being a devotee and some are more heavily focused on this then others- such as patronage. While godspousery and patronage both have heavy elements of devotion to them, one of the key differences I have found is that my spouses are connected to me on a much deeper level, soul level- then just normal devotion. They know me ( the entirety of my being) in ways few others do. How we connect on this deep level is rather like puzzle pieces fitting together- but in a way in which each of use is whole in and of ourselves (still learning to be on my part; though it is encouraged)- however there is a sense of joining and completeness to this relationship. Of balance between us all so that we may build and prosper together. It feels like home. Of course there is love as well- but this more complex than what humans often consider love to be. Especially with such darker beings as I am bound with. The Demonic divines’ ( and deities’ ) understanding of what love is reaches far beyond what humans know it as. And often it may not look like anything humans are familiar with. There is also a lot of trust and learning to trust my spouses in this and on my personal path. There is a depth of presence and feeling of being held in a sense but  rather across all aspects of myself and in all realms, that comes with this perhaps particularly to my dynamic at least.

 On this- a side note; there is no room in godspousery especially at this depth of relationship, for co-dependence or toxic/problematic attachment styles  or relationship patterns etc. If one genuinely connects with a god/god-level being on this level and one still has these problematic traits; they are soon worked through so that a healthier type of relationship between the parties is formed and possible. One thing about this is that a genuine deity/ god-level being- will not tolerate, enable or conform to ones insecurities or problematic/toxic attachment styles and relationship patterns. They can help one to move and heal into a healthier place, but they will not interact with you in a way that enables these styles to continue- especially in a such a depth of relationship. While the deities and beings in question may be “understanding” of this is a way- they do not enable it.

One of the main differences I have found between Patronage and Spousery- is that while my Patron knows me well as well and knows my soul so to speak- it is a less intimate dynamic in a sense. He knows me well and guides me as a close mentor, cares about me specifically and guides my path, but there is more of an overarching kind of strategy to it. Not to say that my Spouses don’t also have this, but it is a bit more calculating and for me patronage, is more focused on guiding me rather than the intimate relationship that Spousery affords. My Husbands feel closer to my heart and more deeply “internally” connected- They nourish my soul and They are a place of rest. While my Patron can also nourish me it is not to the depth of how my Husbands do so. ((sometimes for some godspouses; a patron may be the Spouse, but this is the difference I have noted between Them in my situation.)

Godspousery is also different from parental relationship with deities. Parental relationships (which I experienced while being a devotee of Setekh and Kali ma) feel very- well parental. While I was deeply devoted to them, regular worship, bhakti etc, It was more casual in a way. I could connect about anything and they would offer advice or aid. Tbh it was impactful and healing but it was not this soul level depth that my Spouses have. While I called Setekh and Kali Ma my patrons and for a while they were- it is still a different relationship from my actual patronage with Lord Abaddon. In all cases I felt cared about by these divine beings and have been intimate with them. But with the more “parental deities” it wasn’t so personal, so deep reaching and was more similar to a “regular” devotee relationship with a deity. My spouses are also obviously a lot more intimate with me and also know me with a depth that the others “don’t”. All of these relationships have been and are very valuable and meaningful to my journey and path. But being espoused- my Partners also have more impact on me then anyone else.

All these types of relationships mentioned are again different from regular devotee and/or working with the other deities and demonic divine beings, and all are impactful in their own ways. Regular devotion and “working with” is often more “business-like.” Some beings I work with may be stricter on how They are to be approached and worked with, and some may over time become more like casual acquaintances and friendly. But there is still a distance to it- even if some of these practices involve sexual relations/exchange, it is more “professional.” These beings also know I am owned by and married to my Husbands, so there can be also a reservedness to the interactions. ( I use the term owned because I am- in a BDSM sense I am in a heavy M/s relationship with my Husbands, this is personal but also aids in my specific workings, priestessing and dynamic- obviously this is not the case for all godspouses etc).

[key-aka-daddy]

I'm new to paganism and looking into Hellenic paganism.

Hi, as I mentioned, I am new to paganism, and I am doing research as of today. I was introduced to it by my aunt, who is Hellenistic pagan. She explained what it was and before I knew what it was, I labeled myself as agnostic. I feel as if what she described to me and what I have learned through research are very connected to how I feel and believe. I want to learn from experienced Hellenistic Pagans. I felt very connected to it from the start, and I want to try it out. I had heard of it before but never knew the name. I had strongly believed that Greek gods were real and felt connected to polytheism. My aunt guided me through how to talk to the gods and figure out which ones that want me to worship them. She had taught me the correct poses for praying to them but never what to say or how to say it. I deeply want to learn all about it. She walked me through making an alter for each of the gods and apparently the first one that wanted to contact me was Hermes. I have always loved Hermes, and he is my favorite god (is it wrong to have favorites?) she said that it made sense then that he had wanted me to worship him. She also said that trickster gods can pretend to be other gods, so when I was ''talking'' to Hermes, for the first 20 minutes he was pretending to be Apollo. I have also always loved Apollo, and she said that some of his signs are black birds and Hawks, I see a whole bunch of them, hawks often like to circle my head. Like I said, I want to learn as much as possible. I want to learn how to prey, what to say in prayer, what kinds of offerings to give them, how to write a prayer, so forth. She also said that its okay that I had asked a lot of questions. I was sitting down, talking to them the way she taught me, and they wouldn't answer and it made me feel as if I did something wrong, as if I was disrespectful in some way. I want to know about stuff like that to. Thank you for letting me yap.

[icaruslamenting]

⌗ !! ꒰ 31 days of helpol ꒱ 🏛️

(so sorry for missing the other days!! i’ve been spending lots of time with my family and we’ve finally [after five months of issues] started moving into our house. it’s been such a wave of relief that there isn’t any more issues, so all that’s left is to get moved in and wait for a few other things to get finished up)

day twenty-five - “what was the most surprising thing you’ve learnt about hellenic polytheism or your deities?”

how flexible this religion is. like in many religions (like basically every one with some form of holy text that they follow), there’s rules and strict things that you have to follow. a lot of time, followers of said religion will also bring those words to an extreme. “do this or this god won’t love you” “don’t do that or you’ll suffer eternally” things like that. i’ve seen none of that with hellenic polytheism. i mean, sure, the occasional bad person pops up every once in a while, but that’s not what the religion has been. i’ve felt more accepted than ever since, which i never expected lol

day twenty-six - “do you celebrate any festivals? which ones or why not?”

i’m trying to?? but i don’t really know what festivals there are (i’ve only just now started learning about them)

day twenty-seven - “share a fun fact about one or more of your deities which you think is underrated or not well-known”

i don’t have any facts that come to mind😭 my mind’s just blank right now

day twenty-eight - “what is your favorite myth?”

ICARUS. ANYTHING ABOUT ICARUS, ANY RETELLING, ANY FORM OF RETELLING (story, poem, painting, etc…), ANYTHING. i loveee the story of icarus. i’ve even wondered before if hero worship is possible for icarus (is it?) so i can show how cool and amazing i think he is

day twenty-nine - “what is an aspect of your deities you really appreciate?”

their unconditional love. i am yet to hear about a deity who doesn’t unconditionally love their devotee/the person who worships them (and this goes for every deity)

day thirty - “do you have a visual interpretation of your deities? is this different from usual depictions you see of them?”

for Lord Apollo, i usually imagine him with tanned skin, blond long hair, the usual sort of depiction of him that you’ll see a lot from people. like with how i see all gods, i don’t imagine him as having any irises. i feel like eyes are what truly makes something human, so the lack of that shows that they aren’t human. but that’s just a personal thought!!

for Lady Aphrodite, i can never keep a steady depiction of her in my mind. seriously. there is one image of her i have in my mind that repeats though. so, if you’ve watched arcane, you know how viktor and jayce and sky looked in that cosmic realm sort of thing?? imagine that but it’s not like she has a human face or hair like how they did in the show. everything is like whatever that other stuff is, the weird cosmic bodysuit (please tell me this is making sense🙏). i imagine that, her body type and facial features that’s typically seen in statues of her, and everything is carved out like a statue. her hair is long (like going down to her feet kind of long), it’s wavy, and is constantly moving like a flowing waterfall. the only thing that’s different about any of her appearance and any of the colors are her eyes which are pure white. and that’s about all i got for an image of her.

for Lord Hermes, the designs for him from epic the musical. specifically the one by wolfythewitch. where his eyes are covered by his helmet (following the theme of the whole gods and eyes thing), i imagine him with wings both on his feet and his helmet, light brown curly hair, and i also kind of imagine him with slightly pointed ears?? i dunno, i always associate him with puck from a midsummer nights dream, so a mischievous sprite with sort of fairy/elf-like feature but in the most gorgeous way possible.

for Lord Dionysus, much like Lord Apollo, the typical depiction of him. black wavy hair, leopard print and purple everything, hints of wine red in his clothes, sort of maximalist clothes?? but somehow in an ancient greek way?? like combining the fashion of ancient greece and modern times. i do imagine him with darker tanned skin though, which i see sometimes in art. and of course, the whole no irises/eyes thing

day thirty-one - “share a positive experience you’ve had this month/year with one or more of your deities?”

Lord Apollo - when he comforted me while i was crying, then later the sun was shining as it rained (which is my favorite type of weather)

Lady Aphrodite - when after taking a break for months, i prayed to her for the first time, and the next day i looked in the mirror and i felt so pretty. looking back on the selfies i took at the time, i still think i was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous

Lord Hermes - when i wanted to talk to Lady Aphrodite because i was feeling insecure, but he wouldn’t let me use my pendulum to talk to her and kept refusing to let me put the pendulum down until i talked with him. so i talked with him instead and he helped me out <33

Lord Dionysus - when he helped me memorize my whole script a week before my play. a week. mind you, i had maybe three lines memorized overall, and he helped me remember all 42 lines and 3 monologues. i know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was shakespeare😭 i was struggling a lot. but i got multiple compliments after the play, and a little girl told me i was her favorite character <3 never forgetting that feeling

[loemius]

Do you worship/honour any less known gods?

Also do you try to incorporate all gods (including minor gods) into your practice or do you find yourself sticking with the same few?

hi!! thank you so much for the ask, this is a great question!!! i do try to incorporate all the gods into my practice. to keep it simpler on myself i like to use phrases like "this offering is for all the deathless gods" or something similar like "for all the immortals" "for all the gracious gods" etc. i'll pray to all the theoi in general and talk about my day and thank them for their blessings, then move onto prayers for specific theoi if i have any that day. i also will give offerings to specific theoi solely for them when they have festivals. like for example demeter and kore have a whole string of holidays in the coming weeks, so they'll be getting offerings just for them. i'm a reconstructionist so i really lean into the idea of polytheism as a system of gods that all work together and try to honor that. i'm definitely closer with with some theoi though! i'm an apollon and aphrodite devotee, and i consider apollon my patron god. they get daily worship from me, but i definitely do my best to worship all the theoi. as for lesser known gods i worship: HERAKLES. i think everyone Knows about him but i don't think ive ever met another herakles worshipper on this website. i find his story inspiring, in a way. he's given these impossible tasks and went through so much grief and hardship, and yet he never gives up and always pushes through. and he's not afraid to call on others for help! he's such an interesting figure and i really, really enjoy worshipping him. if anyone's interested in him, i highly suggest the book oxford handbook of herakles. i found a pdf of it online! really good resource. thank you again for this ask and very thoughtful question!! may the gods bless you always with happiness, health, and love <333 as a reminder my ask box is open for more q&a's!!!!

[poorbrokemess]

About me? (TLDR: this is a temple. Polytheism. Deities. Partner is Trans. I dont mess with closed practices)

If you care lol

I'm older than you. (Most of you at least lol.) I was a teen mom, my oldest is almost 17. If that helps.

I have a lot of dead people I care about.

Father

Brother

First love/best friend

Best friend/sister from childhood

And Mike.

I name him only because I feel he will be brought up a lot. He is part of my spirit team. I knew him in life, but we were not close until after he died.

Plus expected others like grandparents and aunts/uncles,people I knew from childhood but those are not *impactful* as the others to me personally

Let me explain.

I deal in death. Idk all it entails. But sometimes I know before hand. Sometimes I get the gift of experiencing it. Sometimes it's just folk in my dreams staring at me that I KNOW are the dead waiting for me.

As if I'm a doorway.

Which, being born dead, and dying a few times naturally and chosing to come back, may have something to do with it.

I think if I learned the skill, more than the inborn talent, I could be a medium of sorts.

I'm autistic. I gathered some alphabet letters along the way, from the

🌟trauma🌟

CPTSD, OCD, ADHD, as well as others

Agoraphobia has been my biggest struggle. So I may post about that as well.

But at the end of the day this is my temple.

For the Gods.

I recognize all Gods/goddesses/deities/spirits. I'm someone who believes in all or none.

I *work* with Loki, Hekate, and Thanatos.

I am devoted to Loki, his children, Lucifer, Hades, Hermes, Hekate, Hypnos, Osiris, Thanatos, Anubis, Hel, Isis, Hephaestus, Thor, Ares (his twins hold a very special place with me), Pan, Dionysus, Apollon, Artemis, Bastet, and Tyche.

I'm sure if I forgot one they will let me know.

I recognize them all however.

You'll notice Lucifer and Hades are my most posted about.

That's because they have been here for a long time, but I've been ignoring them.

I do my absolute best to stay away from closed practices, but I love them all the same.

I've felt Lucifer for a long long time. Like forever. But because of his connection to Lilith, I've struggled immensely.

I finally. Finally get over myself. Begin to work with him diligently.

Then in comes Hades. Who. Surprisingly, is easy to miss. Quiet. Calm. Chill, yet warm. So quiet.

*hey, just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm not here 🤨*

So they are new. But the kind of new that says *oh, I've known you my whole life*

Idk

Also my partner of 14 years is Trans. So, leaf if you don't like that.

I also don't want to be told it's okay to work with Lilith(or other closed practices). I personally feel like for my practices and beliefs it's disrespectful unless they come to me, which she/they have not.

I'm just a mess 🥰

[broomsick]

second attempt at nordic polytheism anon (what a name...) here again! i totally forgot to ask: do you have any recommendations on necklaces/jewelry that one can wear which isn't too obvious but still represents the faith? i'm from germany, so stuff like thor's hammer or runes are either frowned upon or straight up illegal (like the tiwaz rune for example... which is a shame bc i really like tyr, i think he could help me with my job where i have to decide over justice and injustice)

Welcome back! I’m so sorry to hear that you cannot wear Tiwaz in the name of Týr. I have a friend who considers him her primary deity, and who loves him dearly, and she would be devastated if she couldn’t wear his most prominent symbol. Same goes for me, as I’ve worn the same Mjöllnir pendant for nearly eight years, now. It could be possible for you to acquire one such pendant, made using a minimalistic design! I find that wooden ones are generally more discreet, as well.

These are the types of discreet designs I mean! You'll notice that the very last one to the right has a low-key Tiwaz carved onto it. Just in case you're curious, here are the artists to each of these: Hunterbone, KykvendiByK, Pagafanshop.

The same type of logic could also apply to a Tiwaz pendant, though I can't know for sure how far this ban on nordic symbols goes. It's also possible for you to browse for jewelry inspired by norse mythology, but that might not be as well-known, or which hasn't been co-opted by wh1te supremacist groups. In this sense, there are so many fun symbols for you to choose from! And they can be as secular-looking as you need them to be. The cat or the falcon to represent Freyja, the raven or the wolf to represent Óðinn, the goat or a drinking horn to represent Thórr, the weaving spindle or a cloud to represent Frigg, the boar or any symbol of agriculture (sickles, wheat...) to represent Freyr and the elves, symbols of the sea (anchors, sailboats, compasses...) for Njörðr, etc etc.

Just doing a bit of digging around mythological sources could give you loads of ideas! Surprisingly enough, the wolf is a very prominent symbol of Týr! After all, according to myth, Týr was the only Áss who was brave enough to relentlessly care for Fenrir: he would feed him and help him grow when no one else would approach him, for fear of being attacked. In this sense, they shared a bond like no other. One of mutual respect. And in the end, Týr respected Fenrir to the point of keeping his oath to him and losing a limb in the process, for it was only fair for him to do so. With as little historical information as we have on Týr, we do with the cards we've been dealt.

Rings are also quite discreet, a lot more so than necklaces! I have a whole bunch of norse pagan-themed rings that I wear on a daily basis: I have one which depicts the Ægishjálmur, and one that's decorated with the Elder Futhark alphabet, for example. I also wear a serpent ring in honor of the Miðgarðsormr and of Loki, and a ring with a low-key dragon design (a dragon tail and wing wrapping around the finger) to represent the tale of Sigurðr, who is the hero I work with the most, and who is very dear to me.

I hope I could help you out a little, and I wish for you to have a fun and fulfilling journey on the nordic path!

[orangepunkwitch-blog]

Sharing this here in case any Lokean followers haven't seen this yet.

Everything Ocean Keltoi has explained, I already knew, but it's nice to hear him not only say it, but have all the points together in one video.

And as someone who, while a newbie Pagan, encountered and started working with Loki first, I never EVER got the whole anti-Loki stance some Heathens have (despite never interacting with them; I've only ever heard of them or saw comment threads and the like online).

The first I've ever heard of Loki was when I was a kid and heard his name mentioned in The Mask. A god that creates such a mask because he thought that was funny? I loved that concept as a kid (and my weird-ass logic made me think I wasn't allowed to convert since I was baptized in the Serbian Orthodox church; my parents never made it seem okay to explore other beliefs... ever). When I became a fully developed adult and my brother passed away in 2011, I became agnostic, until I once expressed to a friend that I wished one could still worship old gods again, because the Norse gods sounded so much nicer than the biblical god. That's when she told me that that's a thing, and I discovered what paganism was. And then I made it a point that, while I will open myself to any of the gods who listened (and even said to them it's okay if they don't want to interact with me, since I'm so used to no god ever listening to me), I still hoped Loki would be the one to answer, because I'd prefer a god with a sense of humor who doesn't judge a mortal for simply being human. The rest is history.

I've had 2 instances where I've asked him for help, as I was desperate and didn't know what else to do and couldn't figure things out for myself. Both times he helped, it sort of put me almost in a state of madness because of HOW he helped (he's helped me with some small stuff too but sometimes the big stuff is.. a LOT). The first one was we were not able to afford rent anymore, as rent kept going up while my muž and I lived in Pittsburgh, so I asked for help, thinking he'd either help with our financial situation (namely I was hoping for a decent-paying job similar to what my muž made) so we could afford to rent elsewhere or that a place would become available that had significantly lower rent. You know, something like that. Instead, he gave us bedbugs. Because he KNEW that our only option was to move in with my parents and I didn't want to resort to that, so he forced my hand. His reasoning roughly being, "It's either the bedbugs or a fire in the building, and I REALLY don't wanna be that guy, so you got bedbugs."

The second time, without going into detail, he induced a non-threatening medical "emergency" (as in, give me a spook bad enough to warrant my first trip in an ambulance) to get the ball rolling to lead me to getting the surgery I needed for my endometriosis. His reasoning being, "You finally have health insurance and there are vaccines available. You have no excuse now. Not even this pandemic."

I'm doing much better now and it's thanks to Loki. He basically was the kick in my ass needed to make the only decision that would actually work out for me, even if I didn't think it would.

Despite making my practice something along the lines of "Serbian Polytheism Pagan Edition," Loki is still in my practice, and helped me learn an awful lot regarding non-xtian beliefs and beings, including and especially the Trickster archetype.

Any Heathen that bans Loki, avoids him, etc. either have a lot of xtian baggage that they still need to work through, or they're the type of people that don't like being held accountable for their actions and kept in check. Xtianity (as it is commonly practiced and forced onto people by power-hungry assholes) has really affected how many look at non-xtian beliefs, because everything has to be compared to xtianity (even some atheists are guilty of this because everything is xtianity to them).

Lately, I haven't had a whole lot of interactions with Loki I feel could be worth-sharing because I'm not having a whole lot of interactions with him in general the past few years (except for everything regarding me getting my surgery) and that's because the gods are giving me space to learn and grow and figure some stuff out on my own. I do chat with them from time to time via divination, but in terms of actions, they're letting me do my thing for a bit.

[weidaoduzun3]

Demiurgy and How a Confucian Passion for Learning Can be Considered As Such.

What is Demiurgy? As the author of Egyptian Mystic Polytheism so succinctly puts it:

Demiurgy is a type of “devotional act.” A devotional act is any activity outside of direct prayer with a religious purpose and significance. What makes “demiurgy” unique as a type of devotionalism is that it is principally concerned with the act of creation. Like theurgy, to mimic the gods and pursue likeness, one must participate in creativity as a lesser version of God’s creation. Producing, crafting, constructing, and creating are all acts that mimic the “Demiurge” or “Creator Deity.”

So, essentially, these are mundane activities that are performed with the intention to ritualize and devote said craft to the Demiurge, the Creator god of the Cosmos. As the quote above mentions, this is similar to theurgy in that these mundane activities help us mimic the Creator.

With that out of the way, lets take a look at Corpus Hermeticum XI.22, which I think supports such ritualized "demiurgy:

Mind is seen in the act of understanding, God in that act of making.

This sentence refers to God’s literal creation of All Things and how He is seen through His creation, as this whole preceding paragraph refutes the idea that God is entirely invisible and “unseen.” For context, here is the passage:

In Corpus Hermeticum V, we are told God is invisible and entirely visible. For us to understand God, we must become like Him (Corpus Hermeticum XI.20), as so much as that is possible, in each of our Fated predispositions. A way to do so is to create things ourselves through begetting, making music, writing, or exercising, i.e., our own Demiurgy. You can find a list here if the reader wants a more comprehensive list of things that can be considered a devotional act to the Demiurge -- Demiurgy. So essentially, if God is seen in His Creation, we too can see the Demiurge manifests itself via our lesser creations.

Also, possibly a Confucian passion for learning could be considered Demiurgy. Let me explain: To take this principle out of context and apply it to Hermetic thought, I'd like to talk about the Confucian disciple Yan Hui 顏回, who was unmatched in his genuine and effortless love of the Way and learning. In the Analects 6.3 we see a ruler inquiring to Confucius about a "disciple who loves learning":

There was one named Yan Hui who loved learning. He never misdirected his anger and never repeated a mistake twice. Unfortunately, he was fated to live a short life. Since he passed away, I have heard of no one who really loves learning.

Yan Hui is also praised for his love of learning in Analects 2.9 and 5.9. Generally speaking, in Confucian thought, learning, rites, and conforming to cultural adornments 文 do indeed change our native “stuff” 質, which Confucius thought contained inherent flaws that were corrected via rigorously conforming, yet also effortlessly loving social and cultural arts, rites and learning. So, if learning in and of itself can change us for the better; correct our inherent flaws, and make us more like God, then we should all try to emulate Yan Hui and his effortless love for learning because when we learn, we grow. According to Chapter 2 of Effortless Action: Wu-Wei as a Metaphorical Concept and Spiritual Ideal in Early China by Edward Slingerland, learning and instructions (and other things) are essential to constantly strive for and put effort into to abide by the Confucian Way. Learning and instruction change our inherent "stuffs" in a way that makes us effortlessly abide in the Way 道.

So, back to the Hermetica. In Corpus Hermeticum XI.20, we are told to:

“Make yourself grow to immeasurable immensity…”

Arguably, this can be done by a passion for learning (and, of course, many other things)— which cannot be taught but must be realized. And what do we see all throughout the Hermetica? A yearn for Gnosis. Gnosis differs from conventional knowledge, as gnosis is experienced rather than learned. Something that Edward Slingerland argues is the source of Confucius's frustration with the current age of the Zhou Dynasty in Analects 15.13:

I should just give up. I have yet to meet a person who loves ren 仁 as much as he loves the pleasures of the flesh.

Confucius is frustrated by the fact that you genuinely cannot teach a person ren 仁 or "humaneness." Whether we are talking about ren or gnosis (mind you, two completely different things), these things must be experienced and "recollected," as Edward Slingerland argues in Chapter 2. The idea that the gnosis of the gods, God, and the Demiurge is "recalled" is found in passages from Plato's Phaedo 73c-75e and other dialogues I have yet to read, such as the Phaedrus and Meno. Likewise, in Analects 7.30, Confucius exclaims:

Is ren really so far away? No sooner do I desire ren than it is here.

Recollection is also found in the Corpus Hermeticum IV.2:

The man became a spectator of God's work. He looked at it in astonishment and recognized its Maker.

Now that we have established that the Analects, Platonism, and Hermeticism are structured somewhat similarly, let's look at Corpus Hermeticum I.31, we read:

“Holy is God, who wishes to be known and is known by his own people…” Corpus Hermeticum I.32: “Grant my request not to fail in the knowledge (gnosis) that befits our essence.

This suggests that God wishes us to know Him as much as possible according to our inherent predispositions to gnosis. So what I’m getting at is that if we can realize and acquire a Confucian-style passion, such as Yan Hui, for learning, this can change us and make us become more like God. The love for learning. The yearning to know God and His creation and the sciences that we have developed to understand his creation is most certainly Demiurgy. We never stop learning, whether we continue education after high school or not.

So, now that we have established that learning can indeed change us and help us mimic and help us recognize God and the Demiurge's creation, here are some examples of how I use my love for learning (but this love cannot be compared to Yan Hui's) as Demiurgy:

Reading academic literature on my beliefs

Learning the mythologies of the Ancient Egyptian gods

Going to college to broaden my knowledge and to establish a career.

Learning about myself: both my corporeality (psychology/body/health) and my incorporeality (soul).

This list goes on and is certainly not limited to those few bullet points. But if it is not clear by now, learning helps us grow as individuals; learning allows us to better understand the world around us, from our own communities to other cultures around the world. Such a whole-hearted pursuit of learning can be considered Demiurgy because we are actively creating a better version of ourselves. Just as in my musings, I consider Demiurgy because I am creating writings that will go on to inform and help other people understand the topics I write about with an intention of devotion to the Demiurge. My active pursuit of learning also is Demiurgy because everything I learn is done in devotion to the Creator of a world I love so much, and He is ultimately responsible for the very things I choose to learn.

So, do you all think the yearn and love for learning in and of itself can be considered Demiurgy?