#mixed pantheon paganism

[luckywolfsbane]

Thank you, Apollo, for non-drowsy nausea medication. Ik you're not directly responsible, but this shit is so effective that it must have been blessed by either you or your son, Asclepius. I swear to fuck.

[hiddenhearthwitch]

📚 Small Intro To Polytheism📚

One of the most frequent asks I receive is how and where to get started when it comes to polytheism. This is a fairly broad subject and I’ll try to be as general as I can for advice but I will include specific references for Norse polytheists as that’s my shit. This information can be used to help you find a pantheon or to help you pick deities to work with it. If you’d like to use it to pick a patron deity that’s super, if you want to worship 20 gods and not have a patron deity that’s cool too. You do you dude. Please keep in mind this is all reflective of my research and personal practice. 🌻

Picking A Pantheon/Deity

This really boils down to personal preference. You’ll read a lot of posts and books that tell you many different ways and it’s entirely up to you because it is your practice.  That being said, there’s a couple of different ways to go about it. 

Research! This is one of my favorite ways to delve in. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with reading the stories of multiple pantheons and picking on that calls to you. You can also talk to other devotees and see what they have to say about deities and their religions. It is important to keep in mind that some religions are closed so please do proper research!

For example, I wasn’t originally a Norse pagan. I read some stories and thought the Hellenic pantheon would best suit me. I reached out to Eros for a while but after feeling no real connection to the pantheon I continued my research! After reading up on the Norse pantheon I decided to reach out to them out. Obviously, I fucking loved it because here I am. Point being, you can pick a pantheon based on research and not some divine message or whatever. You are also more than welcome to try out a religion, decide it doesn’t suit you, and move on. 

Divination! You can use runes, a pendulum, tarot, etc.This can go a few different ways. You can write pantheon/deity names on separate pieces of paper, mix them up, and place them face down then ask the pendulum to pick. You can assign a deity/pantheon to each suit of cards or major arcana card or even do the same thing with runes. 

For example, this is how I found a devotion to Frigg and Hel. I asked if there were any deities who were interested in working with me and pulled the runes Hagalaz and Berkana which read as Hel and Frigg to me. I followed up with tarot cards and pulled Death(Hel) plus the Queen of Pentacles(Frigg).

Asking/waiting for a sign. This isn’t something I’ve personally done so I don’t have much to say on the subject. You can go about meditating, praying, doing a ritual, or whatever and essentially wait for a sign after. It can come via a dream, something you experience, symbols you see in your daily life, it’s pretty much up to your intuition to decipher it. If anyone has information they’d like me to add in here please let me know!

If there’s a god you’re curious about and don’t want to do any of the above it’s totally cool to just reach out and ask if they want to work with you. 

Idk How To Research

Same, tbh my keyword search game is weak. Anyways, good portion of us are looking up dead religions with little reliable resources. To give those curious about the Norse an easy head start here’s a compiled list of  books by yours truly(click me!!) . It’s important to take everything with a grain a salt of salt when doing research. In my experience a lot of the retold Norse sagas have been Christianized or written under heavy Wiccan influences. It’s a good idea to do research on the author before reading one of their books.

Other blogs! There are tons of great witches and pagans on tumblr that have information waiting for you. 💗 You can search their blog/tags for good references for books, websites, podcasts, etc. Plus lots of blogs are open to answer asks. If you don’t know where to start for searching it’s best to try things based around your interest like: “norse polytheist”, “hellenic witch”, “gaelic polytheism”, etc.

Media! How lucky are we that we live in the age of technology? Knowledge is right at our fingertips! There are countless documentaries, podcasts, and audiobooks on youtube full of information for different cultures and religions. I’d personally recommend almost anything by BBC, Myths & Legends, and World Mythology!

Books! I love starting on goodreads to find good books and trust worthy authors. They’ve had almost every book I looked up with bunches of different reviews so you can get varying perspectives. Check out your local library as well! A lot of city libraries have online databases now of all of their books so you can “check it out” online and read the PDF(personal fave). 

Feeling Lost Still?

That’s completely reasonable and your feelings are more than valid. It can be overwhelming and lot of information to soak up. Just do your best and take it at your own pace, there’s no rush to find a deity or pantheon. 💞 Below are a few other general concerns I hear a lot that I was hoping to address.

“I’m leaving a monotheistic(Christian, Catholic, Jewish, etc) religion and it’s giving me anxiety.” This is entirely common and almost expected in my opinion. I was raised Roman Catholic and my first year to two looking into polytheism riddled me with anxiety. I was constantly concerned that god would smite me down or I’d face an eternity in hell for worshiping false gods. While I can’t speak for everyone that fear was entirely erased for me when I found my gods. I’ve never felt so safe and strong and hopefully with time you can find the same in your gods!

It’s okay to want to learn more or to seek something more. I can’t tell you how to handle your anxiety but please know you’re not alone in that fear. There’s whole communities out there willing to support you and help you find your safe space(including me)!

“What’s UPG?” You’ll see a lot of posts, mine included, that mention UPG - UPG is Unverified Personal Gnosis. This is essentially someone’s personal thoughts and beliefs about a deity. For example, I associate Sif with hazelnuts. There’s nothing in the lore or any book that says that she likes hazelnuts; that’s just a personal opinion(aka a UPG).

“How do I reach out to the gods?” I have a lot of information on my blog about this topic although a lot of it is Norse specific. You can check out my beginner polytheist tag here and my beginner norse post/ask here.

Altar! This is my go to typically. Altars aren’t limited to the cookie cutter image that comes to mind(no hate though I have a few); one thing you can make a side blog dedicated to your pantheon/deity, make a small one in a tin can, or even make one in a video game like Minecraft or some shit. You can be as creative or as to the book as you want. It’s up to you.

Prayer! You can totally just sit down and be like, “Hey man wanna work on some shit together?”. While I’m not 100% that all gods would be down with you being that casual it’s still something you can try.😂 You can reach out to them by sitting down in a quiet space and meditating into prayer, praying in the car or in the shower, or just pray at the altar you set up if you did. Again, I can not reiterate this enough, it’s your practice, reach out to them as you please.

Do something personal! This is more like devotional work in my opinion. Let’s say you knit and you want to reach out to a creative or domestic deity, you can knit something as a devotional act to them and as a way to reach out. For example I pick up litter in honor of the Vanir and Jörð, or I play Skyrim for Thor and Týr.

Most importantly just be honest and up front with the god that you’re reaching out too. Considering that statement be honest with yourself as well. There’s no point going into a relationship with a god if you can’t be upfront, it’ll end up in nothing but grief.

“Can deities reach out through gods/signs?” They totally can. However, it is up to you and your intuition if a deity has and it’s not likely another witch will decipher that for you. Sounds, experiences, images, all have different meanings to each of us - they may show you something that’s very personal to you but would be mundane to someone else. Trust your instincts. However, please remember that not everything is magical, sometimes a raven is just a raven and not Odin.

✨Take everything you learn with a grain of salt. Including this post.✨

Patreon | Shop | Instagram

[themuseumofwitchcraftandpaganism]

Did Christianity Steal From Paganism? Yes... No... It's Complicated. Part 1: Rome

Tis the season so I figured I'd talk about the topic that's been the subject of debate for a long time, most recently with the 2024 Olympics. I will be discussing the visual aspect of these religions, not the theological aspects.

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: No

Let's get into it: It took about a hundred years after the death of Christ for Christianity to start gaining popularity in the Roman Empire. At around 100 AD the first congregations secretly started meeting in basements and had to be very subtle with their worship. Being Christian at this time was a crime; they refused to pay the federal taxes that exalted the emperor as a god. At this point, after the Roman Emperor died, the Senate would vote to either add them to the pantheon or erase their legacy from public consciousness. Some emperors weren't very lucky but most of them got deified. The Christian citizens of Rome refused to offer sacrifices to the emperor because it broke the first of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not have no other gods before me." There isn't much Christian art from this time, and they were definitely the religious minority.

Skip forward to 306 AD, there's yet another civil war over the throne of the Empire. The two men fighting for it were Constantine I and Maxentius. In addition to battles, the two of them funded public projects to gain the approval of the people. They both built baths, aqueducts, and basilicas. Basilicas were the Roman equivalent of city halls: the local government operated out of them, trials and town meetings were held there, and there were small niches in the walls dedicated to different gods. Maxentius built the basilica on the left (below) and Constantine built the one on the right (below). Constatine's basilica, Aula Palatina, is still the largest remaining Roman structure that's a single room.

Maxentius' basilica was bigger but in 310 AD Constatine beat him and took the throne, partly because of the support he got from the Christian citizens. In 312 AD, Constatine converted to Christianity and enacted the Edict of Milan which made Christianity legal.

But look at Aula Palatina. It looks like our modern idea of a church. It has rows of benches, which would've been used for town meetings, and a semicircular niche at the end called an apse. In a Christian church, the apse is where the altar goes just like the niches in the Roman Pagan basilicas where different gods would be worshiped. Constantine didn't change the design from a Pagan basilica at all --because why fix what isn't broken? -- and just placed it into a Christian context.

For the next hundred years, Roman citizens started to mix Christian and Pagan imagery.

Families would bury both Christian and Pagan members in the same catacomb and decorated it accordingly. The fresco below (320-340 AD) is from the Catacombs of Priscilla (200-400 AD). It has an image of Christ as the Good Shepard in the middle, but the birds along the outside represent the four seasons; an image that featured commonly in Pagan catacomb frescos. Christ's clothing and contrapposto posing is also reminiscent of Pagan statues, particularly of the god Apollo.

The fresco on the left (below) from the Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter (~300 AD), is visually similar to the last one fresco we looked at. Christ is in the middle and around him are the four Evangelists and Bible stories like Jonah and the whale. In the four corners again, there are personifications of the four seasons. Elsewhere in the Catacomb, there's a depiction of Christ as Orpheus (right, below), again combining these Pagan and Christian icons. In the Bible, it says that Christ will tame all the wild animals, and the artist is likening that to the Roman Pagan story of Orpheus taming animals with his music.

If you look at the middle of this complex fresco on the left (below) from the Catacomb of Commodilla (100-800 AD), it has a depiction of Jesus and three of the apostles dressed like Roman senators (300-400 AD). On the right is a depiction of St. Paul as a Roman philosopher from the same Catacomb.

But this interest in combining artistic traditions extended to the sarcophagi that people were buried in too. Roman Pagans usually opted to be cremated rather than buried but when they did choose to be buried, they liked to carve scenes of their gods into their sarcophagi. Roman Christians, who almost always chose to be buried, did the same. The sarcophagus on the left (below) belonged to a woman named Arria (b.~350 -- d.~400 AD) and depicts a story about the Roman Pagan moon goddess Selene. The one on the right (below) belonged to a Senator named Junius Bassus (b. 317 -- d.359 AD) depicts difference scenes from the Bible like Adam and Eve and Jesus entering Jerusalem. Do you see the visual similarities? Both sarcophagi are also carved from marble.

The mosaic below is perhaps the best example of how Christian and Pagan imagery and theologies were mixed. It used to be the floor in a wealthy Roman's villa and was found in Hinton St Mary, Dorset, England; it's the furthest north Roman mosaic ever found. The bottom panel depicts a beardless Christ with a chi-rho behind his head. (The chi-rho, XP, came from the first two letters of Christ's name in Latin. It's a Christian symbol that's still used to denote that a figure is Christ.) On either side of him is a pomegranate. Pomegranates were sacred to the goddess Persephone; Roman Pagan religion taught that she went down to the Underworld for half the year and then up to the mortal world for half the year, fueling the changing seasons. Persephone and Christ are both gods that went to the afterlife and then came back to bring new life to humans; it's not hard to see how they got conflated on this mosaic. In the corners around Christ there are four men. Their imagery is reminiscent of both the four Evangelists and the gods of the four winds, again doubling Pagan and Christian imagery. In the upper panel, there's a scene portraying the Pagan story of Bellerophon spearing the Chimæra while flying on Pegasus. That story is frequently understood to be the "Good triumphing over Evil" story archetype, much like the story of Christ triumphing over death/sin is. Whoever owned this villa literally mixing both the visual and theological elements of both Paganism and Christianity.

In the late 300s, the Emperors (who were all Christian now) started introducing laws that made it harder for Pagans to practice. They banned animal sacrifices eventually Christianity was officially declared the religion of Rome in the late 400s. However, the enforcement of these laws wasn't applied very well and people continued to practice Roman Paganism until the fall of the Empire.

But even after the fall of Rome, Roman Pagan imagery persisted in a Christian context. In the West, Emperor Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire, which was Christian, purposely copied the imagery of the Roman Emperors. He used equestrian statues and coinage of him wearing a Roman laurel to demonstrate his power. The top two images below are of the Chrisitan Emperor Charlemagne and the bottom two are of the Pagan Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

In the East, the early Byzantine Empire were still interested in Roman drapery and architecture. Below is Archangel Michael (left) as well as Emperor Justinian and Theodora (right) preparing the Eucharist. Both images display Roman architecture and drapery. Byzantine would eventually move away from Roman influences but in its early days, they were definitely inspired by it.

So, the answer everyone is looking for is NO.

The Christians didn't steal anything from the Pagans, they made an association. They produced art in the style that was popular and followed the artistic trends of the time. Christian and Pagan imagery was produced in the same medium and combined until Paganism was phased out over hundreds of years. They saw similar gods and iconography and combined them to make a message that was understandable to all audiences.

Happy Yule! Happy Winter Solstice!

Further readings:

The Deification of Roman Emperors (Chapter 4) - Invented History, Fabricated Power

BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Roman Religion GalleryThe Paleochristian Art of the Roman Catacombs ~ Liturgical Arts Journal

Chi Rho - Wikipedia

History of Christianity - Wikipedia

Anglicanism: a Gift in Christ – Part 1: An Ancient Church

Constantine the Great - Wikipedia

Maxentius - Wikipedia

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus - Wikipedia

Marble sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymion | Roman | Severan | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Smarthistory – Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire - Wikipedia

Equestrian statuette of Charlemagne - Wikipedia

Smarthistory – San Vitale and the Justinian and Theodora Mosaics

ARH1000 Early Christian & Byzantine Art.pdf | Free Download

The image of Christ in Late Antiquity | Semantic Scholar

mosaic floor | British Museum

[devout-khajiit]

Ask Me a Pop Culture Paganism/Magic Question Game

Link to my original ask game, where this is an expansion of! I had help from @jasper-pagan-witch for some questions, mostly in the PCM section! Thank you Jasper!

For this ask game, either copy/paste the whole question or note which section your number comes from!

Note: If you work with multiple folks or multiple sources, pick based on the ask and what you feel like answering most.

Remember, it's Tumblr etiquette to send at least one ask to who you reblog from!

POP CULTURE PAGANISM

Who is your favorite PCP entity you worship/work with?

What is your best / favorite experience with an entity?

Have you ever had a bad experience with an entity?

Who is your favorite character in fiction and would you consider working with them?

What's a character that you like in the canon/fiction but would never consider working with? Why? What's a character that you hate in the canon/fiction but would consider working with, or already work with? Why?

What headcanons about the entity you worship/work with do you love? What do you hate?

Have your own headcanons ever played a part in your PCP? Has others headcanons ever played a part in your PCP?

Does the fandom influence how you perceive or interact with your entity or PCP in any way? Does interacting with your entity or PCP influence how you perceive or interact with the fandom? Does the source influence how you perceive or interact with your entity or PCP in any way? Does interacting with your entity or PCP influence how you perceive or interact with the source?

Of who you work with, who is the most like their canon counterpart? Who is the least?

Are there any entities you don't talk about, but want to?

Are there any entities you're currently interested in?

What entity do you work with where you had to fill in the most blanks due to lack of canon information?

What entities do you worship but not work with? What entities do you work with but not worship?

Is there any fictional species/race that you already do or want to include into your practice?

If you had the choice, what fictional species would you want as a familiar or other form of spirit companion?

What's your main unverified personal gnosis about any entity you worship/work with?

Which entity surprised you the most when you began working with them? Why?

Who is someone where your experience went way different than expected? Who is someone where your experience went about how you expected?

Are any of your worked with entities comfort characters? Are any of your worked with entities discomfort characters? (Where they make you uneasy in some form or another.)

Are any of your worked with entities "controversial" so to speak in the fandom? Why? Are any of your worked with entities essentially fandom-wide blorbos?

How does your entity feel about the fandom and how it interprets them? Does your entity engage with fandom at all?

Do you primarily work with heroes, villains, anti-heroes, anti-villains, any other sort of thing, or any mix of the group? Would you ever consider working with someone outside of your usual type?

What's your favorite story about your entity? Least favorite? What's a story that doesn't actually fit them very well?

Do you pick and choose from pantheons or do you prefer to work with whole pantheons? Does your source even have a pantheon?

If you had the funds and means, what is the most extravagant offering you would give?

Quick! You need to write a short prayer to an entity!

Quick! Pick the first entity that comes to mind and ramble about them!

Quick! Tell the story of how you met your main entity!

Quick! Make up a headcanon for the fictional character based on your experience with the entity!

Quick! Build a digital altar in something like Pinterest or this Picrew, and share a screenshot! (Or share the one you already have!)

POP CULTURE MAGIC

What's the most effective PCM spell you've ever cast?

What's a PCM spell that didn't work out very good?

What's your favorite PCM spell?

What's a spell you want an excuse to cast but never found one?

Would you build/have you built a spell based on a pop culture source that you don't care much for?

How often do you use PCM spells built by others compared to ones built by yourself? Have you noticed a difference in them?

Do you invoke pop culture entities for your spells? How often? Which ones?

Do you ever invoke non-pop culture entities for your PCM spells?

What series do you find gives you the most artistic leeway for spells and other workings?

If you work with multiple sources, which is easier to write spells for? Which is harder?

What series/character/concept do you want to write a spell based on but you just can't quite figure out how to?

How often do you use PCM-inspired spells versus non-PCM-inspired spells?

If your PCM series has magic in it, how do you incorporate the in-universe magic to your practice? If your PCM series has no magic, how do you make magic based on it?

How has working with a PCM source with magic in it changed how you approach your magic and the in-universe depiciton of magic? If your PCM series has no magic, how has figuring it out changed your approach to magic overall?

Do you practice divination methods based on a PCM series?

What's your favorite aspect of your series to base spells on?

What is a paradigm or element from your pop culture source that has helped you in your magical practice?

What is a paradigm or element from your pop culture source that you refuse to use?

Does your pop culture source have an elemental or similar system? Do you use this system? How extensively?

Does your pop culture source have an alphabet, rune, or similar system? Do you use this system? If so, for what?

Is there a particular species of creature from your pop culture source that you find yourself drawn to or actually work with? If so, what is it? If not, what creature would you consider?

Is there a particular species of creature from your pop culture source that you avoid at all costs? Why?

Do you blend different pop culture systems together, or work with them separately? Do you blend them with other parts of your practice?

What was the easiest thing to adapt from your source's magical system? The hardest?

Did you have any help from entities from your pop culture source source to learn their magical aspects?

How do/could you include PCM in your day to day life?

What's an aspect of your PCM that cannot work in a day to day context?

Quick! You need to pick something mundane but fantastical from your series and make a correspondence list for it!

Quick! You need to make something mundane from your series into a divination method! What do you transform and how?

Quick! Make a quick, easy spell you could theoretically perform now/soon!

GENERAL / BOTH

What drew you to PCP/PCM in the first place?

What discourse from the fandom do you absolutely despise? What's a fandom discourse that you think has a really good point?

What's one fandom discourse, and what's your stance?

Do you have a specialty in any specific series/fandom?

Do you have a series you love but don't/wouldn't touch for PCP/PCM? Why? Do you have a series you hate but do touch for PCP/PCM? Why?

Is there a series you know very little about but still adore for PCP/PCM?

Are there some series you'll touch PCP for but not PCM, or vice versa?

What series inspire you the most for your craft?

Do you engage with the fandom at all for your craft? Does the fandom influence your craft in any way? What's your general opinion on the fandom of your series?

What fascinates you more: PCP or PCM?

What choice words do you have for the creator of your series?

If you could meet the creator of your series, would you? What would you do or talk about? Ignore if they happen to be deceased or anything like that. Imagine an ideal world here.

How magical or mundane is your series? Does the presence of magic make it easier, or does the lack of magic make it harder?

How long have you been into your series?

Does your series have an emotional attachment, nostalgia value, or anything else of the sort?

What's your favorite song from your series soundtrack if it has one? What's your favorite fan song for your series, if you've heard one?

What's your favorite episode / game / part of the game / book / part of the book from your series?

Would you suggest your series for people to get into outside of PCP/PCM? Would you suggest your series for PCP/PCM for other people?

How far into the series do you think one needs to be to do PCP/PCM well?

What's the main thing you engage with from your series? What thing do you barely engage with from your series?

What's a series you used to do PCP/PCM for but have since stopped? Why? Do you think you'll ever return to it?

Would you ever consider doing PCP/PCM for an entirely mundane universe? Like no magic or fantastical elements at all.

Would you ever consider doing PCP/PCM based on fanfiction, or something like fanfiction?

What is the most intensive project you've undertaken involving one of your pop culture sources?

What's something from your series that just makes you cringe a little or a lot?

If you could, what aspect of your series would you change?

How do you feel about shipping culture about your series?

Quick! Ramble about your favorite aspect of your series!

Quick! Go on a rant about something about your series, be it canon or fanon!

Quick! Think of a fanfiction idea for your series!

[blog-names-are-overrated]

Imagine if a halfblood was pagan before learning they were a demigod and they turned out to be worshipping a completely different god than the one that was their parent

Like an Apollo kid worshipping Aphrodite

Or a Demeter kid worshipping Hera

Or an Athena kid worshipping Hephaestus

Or an ares kid worshipping Apollo

Actually fuck it let’s mix some pantheons

A Loki kid worshipping hestia

Hermes kid worshipping mars

Venus kid worshipping Artemis

[that--witchling]

As a pagan, who's gods are mostly Hellenic (I do worship a couple of Hindu deities), I find myself trying to balance my practice and my Hindu family.

But I also think that coming from a polytheistic religion has also helped me when I started working with the Hellenic Pantheon.

I just never expected to have this and I'm not sure what to call myself or where exactly I fit in. I'm sure I'll find my place eventually, but right now, it's a bit of a mix.

[maidenofsophia]

Stuff About Me

Disclaimer: This is getting to be an old blog and during that time my spiritual path has taken many turns from Gnostic Christian to Filianist to Eclectic Pagan. Posts from the past might be very different from what my beliefs are today, including both religious and political.

What Am I (Currently)?

My name is Rose. For simplicity, I refer to myself as either a Sophian Witch or Déanic Pagan. My path is a bit of an eclectic mix of my religious journey so far, I synchronise what I've learned as a Gnostic, a Wiccan, a Filianist and so on but would not label myself as either of those anymore as I don't feel fully aligned with any of them.

What's a Sophian?

A Sophian is a devotee of the Divine Sophia, aka Holy Wisdom. A Sophian views Wisdom as the Ultimate face of God. There are many different versions of Sophia, from Platoism to Gnosticism to certain branches of Christianity and so on. I personally worship the TrinoSophia, or Sophian Trinity, as I believe was revealed in the Nag Hammadi texts. This being Barbelo, Sophia and Zoe.

What does Déanic mean?

While I'm not longer a Filianist, I do still consider myself Déanic. A Déanist is someone who worships the Ultimate God as the Divine Feminine. The Supreme Goddess who created all without the need for a male counterpart or Father God - Déa being the feminine Latin word for God. However, while some Déanists and most Filianists worship an exclusively feminine deity(ies), a few like myself believe there are 'lesser' gods and other entities who are children of Déa but higher than humans and some of those can be masculine or non-binary. I worship the Goddess as the alpha but also have a place for the divine masculine, not as Her equal but still worthy of respect and devotion.

Where does the Pagan come in?

It feels like the most simple and therefore truest label for me to identify with. Not all Déanists are Pagan as many prefer to mainly see Déa as the Creator but above rather than within Her creation. Personally I see Her as both within and beyond (panentheism). The Mother created and watches over us but the Daughter walks with all creation as both Princess of the World and Queen of Heaven. The other gods I worship too feel very much a part of creation. I love nature, I love animals and for me no church or temple can compare to the sense of divinity I find when just walking through the forests or gazing at the moon. And connecting my spirit to all that's around me makes me feel complete in a way Abrahamic-like theism cannot compare.

What is your pantheon?

First and foremost, I am a devotee of the Lady Sophia; divine wisdom. I worship Her in Her threefold form as I believe was revealed in the Gnostic scriptures and what I made sense of through the lense of the Filianic trinity. That being She is, in Three modes:

The Mother (Sophia, The Creatrix)

The Daughter (Zoe, whose name means Life)

The Absolute Deity / "Dark Mother" (Barbelo)

I also invoke the Seven Great Ladies, who in Filianism are known as the Seven Janyati. These are the Seven Powers that reflect the highest aspects of Déa. I use their Greek names; Theia, Phoebe, Nike, Metis, Themis, Tethys and Rhea.

For the divine masculine, I worship the Horned God. Not as Sophia's consort or equal, but one of Her most honoured children or "emanations" as both male and female and other entities all came from Her. My preferred name and form for him tends to be Cernonnus, Celtic being my most direct ancestry. But He also comes to me as Pan and Lucifer. If Sophia were to be seen as a Queen, then my Lord wouldn't be Her king consort but more a loyal Knight in Her service or governing Prince.

Sophia is much more the Déanic part of my identity, and while I do connect with Her and other goddesses via nature, Cernunnos is much more the 'Pagan' side of me, being Lord of the forests and the glen.

I also invoke and honour Mary Magdalene as my Hera (a Filianic term for an ascended human soul). I believe She was Jesus' most enlightened disciple and an avatar of Zoe Sophia, the divine spark, fully realised in woman form. I worship Sophia and Magdalene as the Divine image of Mother and Child.

What is your scripture?

I don't see any religious text as the definitive Word of God. I believe they all have been written by people who felt God in their hearts through their own interpretations and some I connect and find wisdom with, others I don't. I try to read all with an open mind.

Both the Gnostic texts and the Clear Recital (the Filianic Scriptures) are probably the closest to my heart and influence my path but I don't hold either to be without error.

What are your current political beliefs?

I'm very much a proud "wokey leftist", support complete separation of Church and State, am pro LGBTQ (as well as being a lesbian myself), fully support every person's right to bodily autonomy. Not to say I won't call out BS on the left by certain individuals where I see it.

Enjoy my blog!

[orinene]

ABOUT ME

I'm a neopagan that worships the Greek/Roman, Norse, Egyptian pantheons, a Theistic Satanist, and a discordian

I worship Gaia, Aphrodite, Nyx, Eris, Hel, Idunn, Hathor, all the Mousai/Muses, Lilith, Hecate, Apollo, Thor, Dionysus, Hermes, and Horus

I'm in a godspoused polygamous relationship with Gaia, Aphrodite, and Eris

I'm transmasculine and transhet or just straight (and poly)

a minor/under 18 (not listing my age though for privacy)

Even though I do like the Percy Jackson books and Lore Olympus THIS IS A RELIGIOUS BLOG

I'm a metalhead; favorite bands are Iron Maiden, The Trve Mayhem, Burzum, and Amon Amarth

I'm a sanrio fan (if you couldn't tell, my favorite character is cinnamoroll but I also like hangyodon)

I am mixed race, my mom's from El Salvador and my dad's from Bangladesh

My temple is @temple-of-gaia

My new non-pagan blog is @orinene2

my discordian blog: @goofball-of-eris

my theistic satanist blog: @lcfr666

my linktree

[chloroplasted-cyclopamine]

something i think is funny whenever i come across it on the internet is when people assume that there is like, a book akin to the bible with the full set story of greek mythology. i think since christianity is so widespread there is an assuming that other religions operate the same way just with a different god, even if said religion is polytheistic and not monotheistic.

once someone on youtube in a comment section, the shuddering inducing comment section of a video which claimed athena to be the “goddess of love” and then an influx of people who said that “it was aphrodite” and more people saying “shes the goddess of beauty”,

i was told to my greek mythology special interested self, my hellenistic pagan face (not that i think i know more than everyone, but definitely more than the people who insist miss lady aphrodite is NOT a goddess of love?) that aphrodite WAS the goddess of love, but when her son eros was born, she gave that title over to him instead…i do enjoy a few laughs in my daylit periods of ongoing enforced stress i must admit

they also insisted that ares was the only war god, not athena. and would not take the fact that eros is a very complex god when it comes to origins. although they have left the interaction (thank apollon) i still think it is so interesting the idea that each god is part of a set storyline with one job only, and that there are no crossovers of domains (especially with domains as fickle as love and war), and it makes me so giggly when the first result on google has more accuracy than a hand crafted by the world human mind.

we seem to forget that greek mythology was passed down through oral tradition and story telling, occasionally written down or drawn on walls or bowels or other forms of pottery, or made into statues. these gods were at constant evolution and still are, because greek gods are the peoples, unlike the christian lord, the greek pantheon is under the influence and impression of the society it lives within, not the inverse.

there are gods with mixed parentages (aphrodite, hephaestus, eros, dionysus), gods with many many titles (apollo, artemis, perhaps poseidon) and gods whose characters are very fickle throughout myths because it was a large region of people all retelling the stories to one another and mixing with other large regions of people and their stories and sometimes scribing that into some lasting piece of art

overly sarcastic productions on youtube have very accurately described each piece of art as a snapshot of the gods in their ever changing states, you can also go look at jake doubleyoo on youtube and at the videos not of comedic edutainment of the various mythologies and instead some insightful commentary on the greek mythological origins of all the surviving mythology we have

just something ive been thinking about :)

[windvexer]

Hi! Idk if this is a silly question, I’ve seen people have mixed opinions on this. Do you think certain pantheons or deities are more possessive than others? Like for example someone works with a Greek gods and then they want to go introduce themselves to a Roman god is that like “bad”(idk what words to use rn other than bad). Like people who “mix” pantheons together.

I'm not really a pagan, so I can't comment on pantheons as a whole, or even popular deities.

However, I can say that I 100% believe some gods and spirits can be very possessive, even jealous. This is something I've experienced, and have heard about from others. This can be a part of their personality as a whole, but it can also come down to their relationship with an individual, or individual circumstances.

Such behavior can be uncomfortable and hard to deal with. The individual practitioner or pagan should feel comfortable saying, "you don't get to control who I interact with, and your behavior to limit who I can talk to is unacceptable."

Unfortunately, from time to time, it seems that gods and spirits may demand a practitioner doesn't work with certain other entities, or that working with one group may preclude working with another.

All that being said, it's my understanding that if this happens to the average pagan who works with popular pantheons and deities, it's rare. Popular pantheons and deities are popular in part because they're easy to work with, and aren't a ready source of interspirit drama.

[astro-witchery]

~~~ 🅘🅝🅣🅡🅞 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My name is Sasha. I am a cosmic/astro/lunar witch. This means: I do a lot of rituals around the moon cycles, I tend to also do intention setting based on lunar phases, and live my life by astrological and cosmic patterns and magic.

I am also an astrologer (I’ve been practicing and studying for over 6 years). I’m a Sagittarius sun, Sagittarius moon, and Cancer ascendant in Tropical Astrology. {Scorpio Sun, Sagittarius Moon, and Gemini Ascendant in Western Sidereal.} I study all types of astrology but I’m most well versed in Western Tropical and Western Sidereal Astrology.

I also do tarot, oracle, & dabble with other forms of divination. Plus, I believe myself to be claircognizant and use this to help aide in my witchery.

I consider myself an Agnostic Pagan and Witchy. I am also and animist. I identified as a Hellenic Polytheist for a while but have recently decided to explore my ancestry and it’s relation to other spiritual paths (absolutely not in a folkish or racist way btw!) I am adopted and it’s always been really hard for me, not being able to explore my ancestry and do ancestor work within my spiritual practice.

I am possibly a mix of Anglo-Saxon, Devon, & Cornish descent. My adopted family is of Scottish, Welsh, & French descent. I’m still putting together my biological family tree. This very hard for me to do as I don’t have a lot of access to info being an adoptee. (I am not claiming I have certain rights to cultures because of this, I am just trying to learn about my ancestors and their spiritual practices to find answers about my own inherent beliefs about spirituality that I was born with.)

I have always had a love for religious and philosophical studies. I had very profound spiritual experiences at a very young age (for example: I knew I was reincarnated without even really knowing what death was or about spirituality). Most people in these spaces have a similar story to starting off Christian and not being satisfied (or being traumatized) by their church. I grew up Baptist and when I could explore other options after I left home I did.

I currently research: Christian Sects (especially Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, but also really enjoy niche fringe sects and “folk Catholicism” or “Christian Witchcraft”), Pagan and Polytheistic religions (Hellenic Polytheism, Proto Indo-European Polytheism, Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, Norse Heathenry, & Celtic Polytheism or more specifically Cornish/Devon/Welsh Druidism), Hinduism, Buddhism, Atheism, and honestly I could add more to list but I don’t want to ramble on. This does not mean I am an eclectic witch or that I mix pantheons or practices, I just enjoy reading/studying all types of world religions and I’m still searching for the right practice for me.

This is just a place where I can share and reblog helpful info and share aspects of my craft ~

☾ ⁂ ——————— 🜸☆

𖦹 This Account Stands Against Bigotry 𖦹

This account is accepting of all people of all religions and belief systems that are not harmful to others. This account is a safe space for LGBTQA+ identities, disabled folks, mentally ill folks, plural/multiple folks, & strangers/travelers/homeless folks. This account is against racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, ALL the problematic isms.

I don’t do DNIs bc I prefer to block people.

I am happy that you are here! If I follow you back it will be from my main account @s4shiii

Feel free to send asks to get to know me more, to inquire about readings, or ask astrological questions. I do offer full paid astrological natal chart readings in Western Tropical & I also offer tarot card readings all for a sliding scale price! ~

[constantly-in-a-state-of-change]

ANYWAYS… if you’re a Celtic pagan (a pagan that works with the Celtic pantheon) I love you. I want to be you.

AND if you speak Irish, Scottish, or Welsh I love you even more. As a Canadian who’s grandparents immigrated here (from the UK) before my mother was conceived it is a bit tough to know I’m missing out on my own culture so much by not even been there yk? Anyways, I love being a mix of English (eh) Scottish, Irish and welsh! And I wish more people (that aren’t white supremacists) could see we also have a unique experience as kids of immigrants ❤️❤️

[italicism]

✩ my introduction post

my name is Eleonora but u can call me Nora

i identify as an Italicist, i work with the deities native to the italian peninsula and it’s ancient populations (Veneti, Sabines, Iapygians, Latins, Etruscans, Samnites, Romans). i’ve been shaping my own personal sacra privata and interpretation of the religion based on the actual religions, Ovid wrote of Janus to be the first ever god of the latin pantheon and him being a personification of the universe itself, in the etruscan pantheon the main deity was Voltumna/Veltha (called by the Romans as Vertumnus) and in the Venetic pantheon the main deity was Reitia, the mother Goddess , thus, one could choose which creator they prefer or worship them all three as the superior triad of Reitia (Mother Goddess) Janus (the universe) Voltumna (the seasons), usually in the Italicist neo-pagan reconstruction they are worshipped as a sacred triad, but everybody’s practice is private so they can do as they please. (also to note in ancient times they were NOT worshipped as a triad but were the three Main Gods / Creators of the Venetic, Etruscan and Latin pantheon, so making it three creator Italian Gods.

my interest is in the pantheons and myths before the syncretism (as much as possible) my interest is mostly aimed to the cults of the people/peasants and the gods in their oldest original forms and attributes. my views on the afterlife are mostly etruscan based mixed with some latin

my main deities and entities (at the moment) are Turan, Diana, Janus, Vertumnus, Saturn, Vanth, Venilia, Angitia, Selvans, Venus, Minerva and Reitia but Ceres is my patron Goddess

i go by she/her and i am 18 years old, i am italian

in this blog i will also discuss and share about italian folklore

here is the PDF document i wrote explaining more in details my beliefs as a self identified Italicist:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19eHczbPHQG2zhOZKhG86IRXuUA2hiu9evbGs2IFA190/edit

i’m open to meet more polytheist / pagan friends, especially the ones working in the italic branches!! ♡

[itmeblog]

Okay, because I'm nosy and it has just come to my attention that Halloween is one of our weirder holidays here in the US and I had time, I actually did go outside and ask ~10 people on my walk with the dog if they thought Halloween was a Christian holiday because I do associate it with the church but not the same way I do Easter or Christmas or other holidays?? [But the US is culturally Christian so there is totally a chance that it is but I'm so entrenched in the culture that I don't see it. Note: I was raised without a definite religion. Frankly I know more about the Greek pantheon than the Abrahamic religions, I am not the person who should be asking such questions]

And it might be like this because it's relatively new. Like, Halloween started getting popular in my area in the late 70s early 80s so maybe it's just not as well branded?? But I did find out that my neighborhood has a delightful mix of people and if you ever forget that the US is culturally Christian nation please do randomly approach people about their feelings on holidays.

So far the answer 9/10 seem to be "no" but the justification for such varies I got several "It's a pagan holiday", "it's a commercialized pagan holiday that has lost its way (possibly from a pagan)", "it's evil I don't fuck with it" , "Halloween in and of itself is not a holiday but rather is the precursor to one [episcopal from the south]" "it's just the culture but it's not really Christian [woman who worked at a church for 11 years]" and one "yes" from a man who recognized it as vaguely pagan but the way Christmas is, but it bears noting that he also wanted to get into my pants.

The more interesting question at hand is likely how did this happen? Christianity rebrands pagan rituals all the time [easter bunny, Saturnalia], so what's going on with this one?

I may cast a wider net and dive deeper into this later, but I have also received several lessons on theology today, so that is the risk I must be ready to bear.

[broomsick]

Is it alright if I ask you for some guidance on connecting with the Norse pantheon? I'm entering into a really scary time in my life, grappling with going to college in the city despite being (up until now) a lifelong country bumpkin and possibly even moving out for the first time, all while being a timid autistic person with a terrible anxiety disorder.

Basically if there's ever a time I'd need the gods to be present in my life it's now, but I still struggle to feel connected with them sometimes. I still connect with them, I've had dreams where I talk with Odin and Thor and Freyr, but I can't say they're a completely consistent part of my life. Sometimes I even question if they're really protecting me, even though I know that's almost certainly the anxiety talking.

Is there anything you'd recommend doing to connect with the gods during a really stressful time? I have a very small and honestly not very impressive altar so maybe I should work to spruce that up more. Any guidance would be appreciated, sorry for bothering you 🙏 Thanks!

Hi there! First of all, I want to tell you that moving out is indeed scary, and it's very brave of you to consider moving so far! I definitely understand your situation, as I haved struggled with anxiety pretty much forever. Unfortunately, being a pagan with this sort of mental health challenge can bring about a lot of insecurity. And I find that sometimes, it can also make us feel disconnected from our spirituality. I don't think that this is something we can completely overcome. As a matter of fact, I find that it's better to ask yourself "why do I feel this way right now?", rather than say "I should be feeling this way, so why don't I?". What I learned with time is that our day-to-day circumstances affect our spirituality more than we think. For example, I often start to feel disconnected from my spiritual life when I've had a stressful week at work, or even just when I try too long and too hard to connect with the Gods. And on top of that, with social media being the way it is, people cant help but compare themselves with pagans who have more time and money on their hands. Now, I'm no expert on all things psychology, but I do know about spirituality. And I know that it comes and goes in waves: every single polytheist I've met experiences moments when they don't feel as connected to their Gods as they used to. Even those whose very career was tied to their spiritual practices. But those are not bad news! It only means that you have a healthy relationship with spirituality, and that you're not letting it overshadow the other important aspects of your life.

But more on the tips to stay connected to the Gods. What I know for certain is that sometimes, we have no control over how connected we feel to them. But there are a lot ways for you to keep them close to your heart. The first, in my opinion, is to make your spirituality into a safe and happy place. Find ways to make it fun! By listening to music that feels spiritual to you, writing down prayers or devotional poems when you’re inspired, wearing a piece of jewelry in their honor, making a Pinterest board into a little online shrine, drawing a rune or sigil which represents them on your skin, making art of the deities you love… In other words, don’t be afraid to mix your passions and your faith. No matter how “casual” it may feel! Sometimes, “casual” is what we can manage given our busy lives (which is why the size of your altar does not matter, it’s the love you pour into tending it that makes all the difference). It’s both perfectly normal and healthy. And if something about your practice/belief doesn’t feel right anymore, simply let go of it. Same goes if you don’t resonate with something that every other pagan seem to do.

Another tip I can give you is to simply try (don’t worry, I will elaborate). By this, I mean adopt simple gestures to honor them, even if there might not necessarily be a response. I find that this is especially important in moments when you struggle to feel the presence of your Gods. Leave them a small portion of your dinner every now and then. Do a little bit of research on this or that deity when you can. And if you’ve got the time, offer them a fruit, or a cup of coffee! Anything will do, no matter how small. Light a candle for them every night (routine helps a lot), and pray if you’ve got something on your mind. It’s normal not to see some sort of immediate response. But if you look around yourself during the day— if you look at the sunset on your way home from work, at the trees that rustle with the wind, or at the rain pouring outside your window—, and if you listen carefully to what people tell you, you might start to notice some signs. Recurring patterns and omens are a typical example of signs that a deity might send. It’s also fun to draw parallels between every day things and your deities. For example, to think of Freyr when you tend a cute new house plant. Or to pray to Skaði during a snowstorm! I have always loved “inviting” deities to witness certain events, so as to share the joy with them. I simply close my eyes, focus of the deity I want to call out to, and speak their name aloud, or murmur it. Actually, if you’re interested in this topic, I have written this post, which could be helpful to you!

Don’t be afraid to keep trying, that’s my most important tip. There’s really not much else we can do when we feel disconnected from our faith. Make your belief into something that feels right. Spirituality should be a happy place for you, and not a reason for worry. You deserve for your practice as a norse pagan to feel joyful and fulfilling. Above all, don’t force anything: these sorts of moments are inevitable. I’ve known them myself, and so has every other pagan. But things will get better soon, that I guarantee!

[liza-the-witch]

Felt like I should give an update on my practice since I having been posting as much. So as long as I've been working with deities they have always been demons and recently angels. I've always had a fascination with Christian mythos and characters and utilizing them in my magic. Stuff like the Greek pantheon just doesn't spiritually speak to me, at least not where I'm at in my practice now. I've also really enjoyed the concept of the mixture of folk catholicism and pagan magic but I never really dove into it until recently.

I've started working more closely with Mother Mary and also here and there with Jesus and I chose a Patron Saint. I am not converting to Christianity, I would not call myself a Catholic or a Christian as I don't believe the Bible is the word of god and I also view God pretty differently then most Christians. I'm still doing glamour magic, I'm just mixing it with the other stuff as I always have. Just figured I'd let y'all know if I start posting about Christian characters that's why