#pagan discussion

[faeyramaeyra]

🌸 A guide to Plant Wards 🌸

What are they?

To put it simply, A plant ward is a plant in your home that wards and protects the room it is in or your household. How much it wards depends on the energy, effort and intent you put into it.

How do you get one?

All you need is a plant. My plant ward use to be a monstera (I had to give it away to move houses unfortunately) but yours can be any plant. My tip is to get a plant that will grow fairly large leaves. The bigger the leaves, The more negativity it can ward off. From my experience, Small plants as plant wards do not last very long and cannot take the hits to ward your space. I simply just asked the plant to protect and ward my space. Then it just started doing it’s thing from there.

Do you need to do anything for the plant?

Yes. You need to take care of it by giving it water and adequate light for whatever plant it is. Also re-pot if/when needed. Different plants have different needs. I use to communicate with mine to figure out what it needed and when. Giving offerings to your plant ward is a must since you have to give something to receive something. Fertiliser is a good offering for them. If you do not take care of the plant or provide it with offerings, It will not ward your space. Simple as that.

How do you tell if the ward has been hit?

Plant wards can react in a couple of different ways when they have been hit by something. A common sign I noticed was drooping of the leaves and the growth of smaller leaves becoming hindered. Remember to rule out mundane reasons for leaves drooping and plants struggling to grow since things like inadequate care can cause those issues. Another sign I noticed, Which is very uncommon, Was the plant having physical damages to it. I say this is uncommon because things like pets, not taking care when handling it etc can cause physical damages to it. I have only had one instance of a plant having physical damage due to negative energies it was warding off.

What do you do if the ward has been hit?

Don’t panic for starters. It’s better the plant was hit instead of you. The first thing you should do is check in with the plant. Make sure it is okay, figure out if it needs anything and monitor it. Cleanse your space and yourself, renew your protection methods if you have to. If you work with deities, Check in with them. After you have done all that is when I recommend figuring out what was sent to you or who it was sent by to make sure it is not a deep issue etc.

Can you get a plant ward as a beginner?

Absolutely, In fact I encourage it since I believe it is such an easy way to ward your home!

🌸 If you have any questions, Please ask away! 🌸

Tip-Jar and Readings

[samwisethewitch]

TW: This post contains explicit discussions of white supremacy and the alt-right, including mentions of racism and antisemitism.

One of my most impactful recent library reads was Sisters In Hate by Seyward Darby, and I want to take a moment to encourage other white Americans to check it out as we prepare for next years' presidential election and all the shit it's going to kick up.

Sisters In Hate is a book about the role of women in American white supremacist movements and specifically in the alt-right. Darby does a really excellent job of showing just how critical white women are to these hate movements. The book also gives us a detailed look at what radicalization looks like and how that process can be different for different genders.

The book is divided into three sections, each of which follows a real woman through her radicalization into the alt-right. I especially want to draw Tumblr's attention to the story of Ayla, a self-proclaimed "polyamorous, raw foodist-vegan, feminist, pagan" whose radicalization started in college with natural living and homebirth and ended with her running a popular tradwife blog and speaking at the Unite the Right rally.

I think a lot of leftists and liberals feel that we're too smart, or too educated, or too savvy to fall for white supremacist recruitment schemes. We are not. Intelligent, college-educated, left-leaning people are radicalized every day. Some of them are less overtly hateful, like your college friend who starts voting Republican in their 30s. Some of them are like Ayla, and their radicalization takes them all the way to the other end of the political spectrum until they're openly and genuinely calling for a white ethnostate with the same passion they once used to advocate for feminism, racial equity, and queer rights. And we need to remember that any one of us intelligent, college-educated, left-leaning white folks could be in her position, which is why it's so important to learn about radicalization tactics so we can recognize and resist them.

I'm not gonna lie -- this book is hard to read. The text contains racial slurs, white supremacist rhetoric, antisemitism, and anti-Black racism. All of this is condemned by the author, but Darby doesn't shy away from showing just how vile this movement is. I had to take a lot of breaks from this book and read it over several weeks, but I'm very glad I did because I feel like I needed this information.

White supremacist recruitment efforts are going to pick up in the next year, especially if Tr*mp is the Republican nominee for president. Stay informed and stay ready.

[sunlitpath]

Apollo, god of knowledge

Thank you for holding me accountable

Thank you for pushing me to be better

[jezzzebel]

Some kiiiiinda unconventional things you can do for YULE!

1. Make paper snowflakes with intentions and hang them on your wall! For stuff like house protection, abundance, and good fortune!

2. Do a Yule themed reading with an uncommon divination method!

3. Do a bibliomancy reading with a book about winter, Christmas, Yule, or holidays!

4. Make a Yule log but with things corresponding to what you wish to achieve next season!

Example: Put something purple on the log for psychic power strength.

5. Drink tea flavors you've never tried before. And stir them with intention.

6. Make a Yule themed poster, art, zine.

7. Drink hot chocolate. Just that. I love hot chocolate.

[enbysiriusblack]

Sirius was in the middle of taping a dung bomb underneath a desk in Flitwick's empty classroom when Peter spoke.

"You going home for the holidays?"

Sirius easily slid out from under the desk, folding his arms on the top as he glanced over to Peter, "Nah. I'll probably go to James' instead. See how long it takes them to come drag me back themselves instead of sending that wretched Kreature."

Peter nodded, "I might come join you, Mum's place is always packed during winter."

Sirius grinned, "Brilliant", he climbed over the table and jumped off it, "We can spend Yule together."

Peter smiled back, "Yeah. The Potter's made you your own guest room right?"

"Oh, I forgot you haven't seen it! It's much cooler than my room at Grimmauld Place."

"Oh, no naked women?"

Sirius laughed, "Absolutely not. Maybe I want my mother to have a fit, but definitely not Mia. But Monty got me these proper band posters and there's this huge Queen one over my bed, and last summer when I flooed to the Potter's, me and James stole this traffic cone so that's in there. Oh, and Mia met me in Camden as well and she got me all these muggle clothes and Marlene built me a cupboard to put it all in."

"It sounds nice, can't wait to see it."

Sirius grabbed Peter's hand to drag him to the next classroom, "Merlin, neither can I. And you can borrow any of it, of course. I actually got a guitar for when you come over."

"You got a guitar? What kind?"

Sirius shrugged, "Fender Strat, I think. You'll play it right? I love hearing you play."

Peter beamed, "Course, I will."

Sirius tousled Peter's hair before glancing at his bag of dung bombs, "Only got a few left", he sighed.

Peter held his hand out, "Pass them here, I was thinking if we put them on the doors instead and leave them open then the smell would reach to a further distance."

Sirius instantly perked up, grabbing Peter's face and quickly giving him a kiss before turning to the windows, "Make sure all the windows are shut as well!"

Peter, cheeks still bright red, walked over to shut the remaining open windows.

[wiredghosts]

I see a lot of posts talking about how some people see Hellenistic polytheism as a fandom. I have some opinions on this. I started being a major like s tier Percy Jackson fan. This introduced me to different religions that were not talked about or known about where I grew up (very small Bible thumping southern town) I agree that people who have committed themselves to their gods and/or their practice should not see this as a fandom. It's a religion and a practice for some. I do not just devote myself to my gods but I accept their help in other areas of my life. I feel like if you were introduced to this by a fandom you shouldn't be ashamed as long as you don't blend the two.

But at the same time, how can you determine how someone sees the religion? This is a genuine question. A lot of practices and offerings in our community are often seen in the fandom space. Making art as offerings is akin to fan art. Being emotionally connected to the gods in one way or another could be in line with certain fandoms. I would really like to open up a discussion on this topic bc I've seen it time and time again.

Anyways toodaloo⭐

Ps. This is not a very well drawn out post I just wanted to open up a discussion on it, I'm still getting used to typing my thoughts out in a coherent form.

[buriedpentacles]

Umwelt

I've been reading 'An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us' by Ed Yong - and he introduced a really interesting word/concept that I hadn't really read about in any of my other ethology studies:

Umwelt /ʊmvɛlt/ noun 1. (in ethology) the world as it is experienced by a particular organism. "the worlds they perceive, their Umwelten, are all different"

As written in An Immense World:

"Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal can only tap into a small fraction of reality's fullness. Each is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world. There is a wonderful word for this sensory bubble—Umwelt. It was defined and popularized by the Baltic-German zoologist Jakob von Uexküll in 1909. Umwelt comes from the German word for "environment," but Uexküll didn't use it simply to refer to an animal's surroundings. Instead, an Umwelt is specifically the part of those surroundings that an animal can sense and experience—its perceptual world... a multitude of creatures could be standing in the same physical space and have completely different Umwelten."

Obviously I've understood this concept previously, but now there's a nice, neat little word to explain it. It is fascinating for me to consider the different senses and experiences of other animals; all the things I cannot see, or hear, or feel. I am infinitely curious about the ocean's secret melodies, and the colours hidden among the wildflowers, and the strange sensation of a magnetic compass in your brain.

Umwelt goes beyond this: it isn't just "snakes can see heat and birds ultraviolet", Umwelt is also the semiotic world of an individual, it includes everything that is meaningful for the organism. Its flexible - it changes as you experience new things, shifting to adapt around you. In this model, the mind and the world are inseparable, because the mind is what interprets the world. Beyond this, your Umwelt is not just you passively experiencing the world, it's taking in the stimuli and building the world around you - we create our perception, and thus our reality.

Our umwelten is wildly different from a dog's or jellyfish's (different - not better, worst, more or less), we cannot comprehend what they may experience because we are bound by our Umwelten. There are things that we KNOW (or assume) are outside of our Umwelten (like ultraviolet or magnetic fields) but we cannot truly experience them. We may be able to understand them, but we will only be translating these other senses into something we can handle.

Then, I thought of how it might apply to my spirituality and to my magic.

Our Umwelt, our bubble of perception, includes how we perceive magic, and spirits or divinity (insert your preferred terminology), and we are bound by that. No matter whether we "see" or "hear" or just "sense" the magic, our understanding is always constrained by what we can perceive. (This fits neatly into my belief system, where Magic and the Universe appear to us in certain ways so that we can understand them, not because that is how they truly are.)

We each have our own bubble of perception, both for our physical and magical sense. But so must dogs, and jellyfish, and trees and mushrooms and the wind. Spirits and gods have their Umwelten too, though I'm sure they're far beyond my comprehension.

I'm not sure exactly where to take this post, as there's so many wild thoughts going through my mind about this!! But, I wanted to share and discuss the concept! Though I'm not certain how and to what level I will, I do want to integrate this concept into my practice, even if simply by recognising that I cannot understand everything, I am bound by my perception, I am bound by the way my brain builds my world around me.

Please comment, message, whatever - I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this!

[devout-of-the-elder-scrolls]

Positive Aspects of Daedric Princes and Things They Help With

This post is primarily UPG, and focuses exclusively on the positive aspects of these wonderful beings and what they can do for you, so while I acknowledge the negative aspects, it's not the point of the post. This is in no way an exhaustive list of everything. I use the term "follower" in here to refer to worshipers, deity workers, etc as a general catch-all. Sorry if it's not accurate to your relationship! /gen

Read more due to being a long post.

AZURA

A very calm, collected, loving individual who wants followers to love themselves the way She loves them.

Teaches divination and warns us mortals about upcoming events that may harm us. Focuses a lot on growth, healing, and progress within life. Blesses mortals with divinatory powers and prophetic dreams. She's really lenient and patient.

BOETHIAH

Generally protective and shares His wisdom to all who seek it. Is stated to be the patron of rebellious exiles in TES lore, and accepts those who have been exiled for one reason or another.

Teaches and preaches strength and personal power to a high degree. Getting vengeance and standing up against the cruel and those who wish to hurt you. Teaches a lot of baneful related magic.

CLAVICUS VILE

Very active in the lives of followers, and often works to help them achieve their goals and what they want. While deals with Clavicus tend to have you receive in a way you didn't quite expect, They usually work out in your highest good. Quite silly and goofy overall.

Doesn't sit by while followers are upset and enjoys cheering up followers into better moods. Spends time with followers when upset or hurting. Fulfills deals and grants wishes.

HERMAEUS MORA

Answers questions and delivers knowledge easily and quickly, and with just an offering in return. Calm, collected, and quite chatty when you get It going. Protects mortals from knowledge they're not meant to know that would genuinely harm them.

Teaches about pretty much anything. Generally calm and collected, making a good person to debate with, such as pros/cons on a situation, or anything else like that. Works hard to beat ignorance in all forms, and will educate followers in places their knowledge lacks even without being asked.

HIRCINE

Calm, collected, quiet, and acts as a pack leader. Cares a lot about followers, and is very clear about what They want. A very calm worship/working with/etc experience.

Brings in more people into a followers life that truly care for them and want their joy. Helps with achieving goals. Helps with anything life related, guiding to a better future.

JYGGALAG

Acts as a stern yet kind teacher. Will make it clear to a follower what they need to do for each thing.

A great god for the neurodivergent, especially ones stuck living in very neurotypical pushing lives. Puts things in your life in order, and makes sure you have a peaceful place to live within, or at least as close as They can get it.

MALACATH

Protective and strong-willed, and generally cares a lot about building people up in their circles and helping them regain themselves.

Regaining personal power, and establishing yourself within society. Helps with rebuilding from the worst of the worst, and with rebuilding your status/reputation after someone harmed it. Protects against abusers, and protects people who have been betrayed. Ensures followers keep their oaths and that those around them keep theirs to them. Helps with lying and deception for the sake of self-protection. Helps with curses and other baneful magic.

MEHRUNES DAGON

Has a lot of interest in making things better for people.

Helps with change and revolution. Aids with making plans for such changes. Helps with destruction of those who have wronged followers. Helps with big shows of power and greatness, helping a follower to assert themselves and their capabilities to others. Protection from natural disasters to followers.

MEPHALA

Watches over a followers life in every way, and often notices problems very quickly. Very sly and cunning, often using this to a followers benefit.

Teaches skills to avoid enemies and harm. Helps uncovering plots against followers, and rats out those who wish to harm them. Helps reveal secrets that are kept that don't help ones highest good. Helps with gender related things.

MERIDIA

Cares a lot about followers and their safety, wanting a better life for all of them.

Freeing followers from struggles and difficulties. Brings light onto situations that require of it. Helps re-find the joy in life and in living. Helps with surviving day to day and dealing with life matters.

MOLAG BAL

Very, very protective.

Protects against abuse and helps with vengeance. Fights back against bigotry and discrimination. Teaches to be strong and grand, and helps with facing fears. Provides guidance about how to be strong and with strength.

NAMIRA

Watches over a followers life, much like Mephala, to help notice when things go wrong.

Helps those in deep need, be it from poverty or anything else. Helps with that you can't discuss with everyone/anyone. Overcoming anxiety and fears. Finding beauty in things you didn't think you could before.

NOCTURNAL

Calm, collected, and generally kind to followers that listen to Them.

Revealing hidden things, and finding lost things. Being hidden from harm, cloaking during spells, and keeping cruel spirits from even noticing you. Uncovering mysteries and that which confuses you, bringing enlightenment.

PERYITE

Cares a lot about illness and healing in all sorts of ways.

Healing from illness, and managing chronic illness or physical disability. Accepting the above three things when they occur to you. Dealing with and finishing tasks, especially ones you don't want to be doing.

SANGUINE

Generally a kind and sweet person when in a good mood.

Succeeding in all forms of interpersonal endeavors. Managing addiction. Obtaining an lot of something you want.

SHEOGORATH

Very silly and goofy, doesn't take things too seriously unless it really calls for it.

Managing mental illness and neurodivergency, and accepting it too. Finding fun and having a good time. Cheering up during hard times.

VAERMINA

Rather friendly to followers, and enjoys helping them out.

Delivers messages through dreams and nightmares. Helps with dream/nightmare deciphering. Delivers omens and warnings to followers. Deals with corruption.

GENERIC THINGS TO NOTE

They all work to protect their followers in some way, in some way that relates to their sphere.

They'll all teach Daedric magic to those interested in it.

[kareenvorbarra]

...I must confront Apollo with his wrongs. To force a girl Against her will and and afterward betray! To leave a child to die which has been born In secret! No! Do not act thus. But since You have the power, seek the virtuous path. All evil men are punished by the gods. How then can it be just for you to stand Accused of breaking laws you have yourselves Laid down for men? But if--here I suppose What could not be--you gave account on earth For wrongs which you have done to women, you, Apollo and Poseidon and Zeus who rules In heaven, payment of your penalties Would see your temples empty, since you are Unjust to others in pursuing pleasure Without forethought. And justice now demands That we should not speak ill of men if they But imitate what the gods approve, but those Who teach men their examples.

Ion (from Ion by Euripides, translated by R. F. Willetts)

[jasper-pagan-witch]

A discussion question for those of us pop culture mages/pagans/witches who work with pop culture entities who are dead in their source material:

Does their status in their canon make their influence or presence different? Is it more or less difficult to interact with them? Does it even matter?

[lemondropdew]

I worship Lord Zeus more out of any other deity. With some very surface level research, Thursday is his day. So I want to make that like a holy day for me. Anyone do anything similar and have things they do?

[faeyramaeyra]

🌷 Witchy Rant 🌷

Can we start normalising and accepting that people have bad experiences in their craft/practice/path? I’m fed up of seeing practitioners getting shunned and straight up looked down on just because they had an experience that isn’t all love and light.

Explain to me as well why it’s always the Discord communities that are the problem too. Going to the extent of kicking/banning members because they tried to be open about something in their craft that affected them. Going to the extent of blaming the practitioner. Claiming they’ve spoken to *deity name* about the practitioner and accusing them of lying. Doing readings into the situation and on the practitioner without permission.

You all have a problem doing readings on someone without their consent UNTIL it comes to the people who are going through a rough patch in their path. Especially when it comes to the practitioners having bad experiences with certain entities/deities.

If someone has a bad experience, We should be congratulating them on feeling comfortable enough to share it with the rest of the community. We shouldn’t be putting their experiences down. Bad experiences are just as valid as good ones.

If anyone has anything they need to get off their chest when it comes to their path/craft, Feel free to pop me a message 💕

And if you disagree with anything I said.. You can leave my blog, unfollow me and even block me if you so desire.

[samwisethewitch]

What Non-Pagans Need to Know About Fiction Featuring Pagan Gods

In light of Marvel's Loki show dropping a second season and a new Percy Jackson series on the horizon, I want to say some things about how fandom spaces can be respectful of real-life pagan religion.

Let's get one thing out of the way: literally no one is saying you can't enjoy fiction that uses pagan gods and heroes as characters. No one is saying, "Stop writing stories about our gods." In fact, many ancient cultures wrote fiction about their gods -- look at Greek theater or the Norse Eddas. The act of writing fiction about the gods is not offensive in itself.

But please remember that this is someone's religion.

The gods are not "just archetypes." Their myths are not "just stories." Their personalities are not a matter of artistic interpretation. For many pagans, the gods are very much real in a literal sense. I don't think Thor is a metaphor or a symbol -- for me, Thor is a real, autonomous spiritual being who exists outside of human perceptions of him, and who I have chosen to build a relationship with. Even if you are a hardcore atheist, I would hope you could at least be respectful of the fact that, to many modern pagans, the gods are both very real and very important.

When authors are not respectful of this fact, they reduce the gods, these very real objects of worship, to fictional characters. And here's the thing about fictional characters: they are fundamentally tools for authors to use to draw a desired emotional response from an audience.

Dracula's personality and behavior is wildly different depending on who is writing him, because different authors use Dracula to create different reactions in their audiences. In the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi, he's equal parts alluring and disturbing, a symbol of America's mixed desire and disdain for foreigners. In Nosferatu, he's more strictly frightening and disgusting. In Francis Ford Coppola's movie, he's a tragic, romantic figure clinging to the last scraps of his humanity. In Netflix's Castlevania, he's an incredibly powerful being who has grown bitter and apathetic in his immortality. All of this is Dracula, and all of it is fine, because Dracula is not and never has been a central figure in anyone's religion.

Let's take a look at what happens when authors give this same treatment to real gods:

In Hellenic polytheism, Apollo is one of the most beloved gods, both historically and today. Apollo loves humanity, and humanity loves him back. He is the god of sunlight and of medicine, but also of poetry and song. He is one of humanity's most consistent defenders when one of the other gods gets wrathful. And while he does have dangerous or wrathful aspects of his own (he's also the god of disease, after all), he's also kind and soft with humanity in a way other gods often aren't, at least in some historic sources.

In the Lore Olympus comic series, Apollo is a villain. He's characterized as an abuser, a manipulator, and a violent man child. LO!Apollo is downright hateful, because the author wants us to hate him. Lore Olympus is a retelling of a myth about an abduction and forced marriage. Lore Olympus is also a romance. In order to get the audience to sympathize with Hades and root for his relationship with Persephone, Rachel Smythe needed to make someone else the villain. Apollo is the most obvious and extreme character assassination in Smythe's work, but several other gods (notably Demeter) also get the asshole makeover to tell the story Smythe wants to tell.

Here's where this becomes a problem: Hellenic polytheism is a fairly small religious community, while Lore Olympus is a massively popular webtoon with 1.3 billion views as of August 2023, print books available from major retailers, a TV adaptation in the works, and a very active online fandom. Rachel Smythe currently has a MUCH bigger platform than any Hellenic polytheism practitioner. Smythe and other authors are shaping how modern culture views the Hellenic gods, and that has a very real impact on their worshipers.

This means "Apollo is an abusive asshole" is becoming a popular take online, and is even creeping into pagan communities. I've personally seen people be harassed for worshiping Apollo because of it. I've seen new pagans and pagan-curious folks who totally misunderstand the roles Apollo, Hades, and Persephone play in the Hellenic pantheon because of Lore Olympus and other modern works of fiction.

There are tons of other examples of this in modern pop culture, but I'll just rattle off a few of the ones that annoy me most: Rick Riordan depicting Ares/Mars as a brutish asshole hyped up on toxic masculinity; Rick Riordan depicting Athena as a mother goddess; Marvel depicting Thor as a dumb jock; Marvel depicting Odin as a cold, uncaring father; DC depicting Ares as purely evil; whatever the fuck the Vikings TV show was trying to do with seidr; the list goes on.

All of these are examples of religious appropriation. Religious appropriation is when sacred symbols are taken out of their original religious context by outsiders, so that the original meaning is lost or changed. It requires a power imbalance -- the person taking the symbols is usually part of a dominant religious culture. In many cases, the person doing the appropriation has a much bigger platform than anyone who has the knowledge to correct them.

When Rick Rioridan or Rachel Smythe totally mischaracterizes a Greek god to tell a story, and then actual Hellenic pagans get harassed for worshiping that god, that's religious appropriation.

Religious appropriation is a real issue. This isn't just pagans being sensitive. To use an extreme example: Richard Wagner and other German Romantic authors in the 19th century used the Norse gods and other Germanic deities as symbols in their work, which was a major influence on Nazi philosophy. Without Wagner, the Nazis would not have latched onto the Norse gods as symbols of their white supremacist agenda. To this day, there are white supremacist groups who claim to worship our gods or who use our religious imagery in their hate movement. We are still reckoning with the misinterpretation of our gods popularized by Wagner and other German Romantics almost 200 years ago.

Again, no one is saying you can't enjoy fiction based on pagan mythology. But there are a few things you can do to help prevent religious appropriation in fandom spaces:

Above all else, be mindful that while this may just be a story to you, it is someone's religion.

Recognize that enjoying fiction based on our gods does not mean you know our gods. You know fictional characters with the same names as our gods, who may or may not be accurate to real-life worship.

Do not argue with or try to correct pagans when we talk about our experience of our gods.

Don't invalidate or belittle pagan worship. Again, this mostly comes down to recognizing that our religion is totally separate from your fandom. We aren't LARPing or playing pretend. Our sacred traditions are real and valid.

If you see other people in your fandom engaging in religious appropriation, point out what they are doing and why it isn't okay.

Please tag your fandom content appropriately on social media. Always tag the show, movie, book, etc. that a post is about in addition to other relevant tags. This allows pagans to block these fandom tags if we don't want to see them and prevents fandom content showing up in religious tags.

For example, if I'm posting about Athena from the Percy Jackson books, I would tag the post #athena #athenapjo #percyjackson #pjo. You get the idea.

And if fiction sparks your interest and you want to learn more about the actual worship of the gods, you can always ask! Most pagans love talking about our gods and trading book recs.

If you are writing fiction based on real mythology, talk to people who worship those gods. Ask them what a respectful portrayal would look like. If possible, include a note in your finished work reminding audiences that it is a work of fiction and not meant to accurately portray these gods.

[blossomingsouthernwitch]

What ways do you all like to honor your ancestors through your worship?

For me, I like to bring in lots of symbolism from the places my ancestors (both recent and distant) lived, as a way to connect to what their daily lives looked like. What about y’all?

[khaire-traveler]

I know many who believe the gods walk amongst us doing human things, experiencing human stuff and gadgets and even human romances. In that regard, what are your thoughts on modern day demi-gods?

Khaire! Now THIS is a question right here!

Let's start this off with a statement of sorts, since this is likely to be a sensitive topic for some and isn't often discussed within the wider community. Throughout my practice, I've been told by various people that they're demi-gods (or full gods). I've even been told that I am a demi-god - a statement I find no truth in. Having experience with these individuals, I can confidently say that not all of them have malicious intent. Some definitely do, don't get me wrong, but many of them aren't intentionally trying to cause harm. Some people believe these things due to factors outside of their control, while others simply believe it to believe it. I'm not going to sit here and say that someone's practice is wrong for believing such things about themselves or others, but in my own practice, they aren't true, and such beliefs can cause real harm. I have directly experienced it several times myself.

Someone must acknowledge the harm these beliefs can cause before openly sharing them. I consistently hear some of these people tell me how they feel ostracized when expressing these beliefs, but they often don't realize the actual harm it can cause and has caused (not an excuse to ostracize someone, though). There are good reasons these sorts of beliefs have a stigma around them, be it cult behaviors, manipulation, or abuse - all potential consequences of these beliefs. People will always be off-put by them, and those who hold these beliefs must understand that it has nothing to do with them personally and everything to do with what these beliefs have often led to for people in the past.

With that out of the way, I'll give my actual opinion on this lol. The short and sweet answer is no, I don't believe in modern demi-gods. Maybe people can be born with a piece of divinity in them from a divine parent, but in my opinion, I don't think it happens from a god having sex with a human. If it is something that happens, it's likely more complex than that.

Just as mythology explained natural phenomena in ways that made sense to people, I feel it explained divinity similarly at times. The only form of reproduction we really knew at the time was two creatures coming together to make another. If gods ever were to reproduce with mortals, there's probably some secret third thing added into the mix to actually make that happen.

But in all honesty, I don't think that will happen, and I don't believe it actually ever has. There are demi-gods in the myths, yes, but even within the community, there is an often shared sentiment not to take myths literally. "Don't take Zeus transforming into a swam and having sex with a woman literally" "Don't take Hera coming after Zeus' kids literally" "Don't take Hermes turning a woman into a statue literally". I've seen many angry and exhausted answered asks, shared posts, and comments about how this or that person is a fool for taking the myth literally, yet there are things we take literally inherently as worshippers. "Apollo is a god of oracles" "Artemis is a goddess of hunting" "Hermes has a caduceus" - these are all things taken from myth (and historical practices that are based on myth). So, when does the line get crossed for what should and shouldn't be literal? Where does the line blur completely? These are questions we need to answer, either as a community or as individuals, before we can truly address the topic of modern demi-gods in a palatable way.

The way that I've interpreted things, though, is that there aren't any modern demi-gods. Maybe there weren't even ancient ones. I think myths are stories, often with a moral related to the way the world works, a lesson to be learned, or a depiction of a god's characteristics. Heracles very well could've been a demi-god before becoming a god in real life, but that opens up a slew of other questions, such as "How is a demi-god made?" and "What defines someone as a demi-god?" To clarify, this doesn't mean I don't believe in the demi-gods who have become gods - hell, I believe in mortals who were said to have been deified - but I'm just not sure that gods and mortals can reproduce because at the end of the day, what even is a god? Does we even know the answer to that question? Gods are some kind of spiritual beings, sure, but what exactly does the entail? Do they even have the ability to reproduce at all? Can we even relate such terms as "reproduction" to a god in general? There's actually a lot of information we don't have to be able to answer questions such as "Do demi-gods exist now? Have they ever existed?"

Throughout ancient history, we see many leaders and notable people described as demi-gods. Were they really? I suppose I can't truthfully say, but historians believe it was for political gain (which was the case in ancient Rome) or in order to emphasize how good someone was at a particular thing ("this guy was such a great thief because he was a son of Hermes"). I choose to agree with historians here: maybe "demi-god" was more of a descriptor used for how talented someone was or to make people more inclined to follow their lead. I don't think "demi-god" is a state being so much as it is a description or title.

Also, forgot to mention this, but I wouldn't be surprised if gods do walk amongst us at times. I know I've had experiences where I've been like, "Wow, the timing of that person being there EXACTLY when I needed them was really weird". Unrelated to the whole essay I just wrote you lol, but I feel it's important that I clarify that I do still believe things like that. I think gods can manifest in a multitude of ways and even in endless forms. We can happen upon them at any time. Maybe the stranger who smiled at you on a hard day was Aphrodite in disguise or maybe the man who gave you directions was Hermes helping you out. I feel that gods sometimes speak through people as well, often unintentionally on the person's part. This is, of course, a whole topic in and of itself, so I won't get further into it.

Ok, this is all I can actively think of right now lol. I hope it was comprehensive and isn't a pain to read. I know I kind of jumped around with my explanations and opinions, but hopefully that doesn't detract from what I've said. Thank you for asking, Austin; I really appreciate it. Take care! :) <3

[thespiritpriestess]

PSA: Not All Familiars Are Animal Spirits!

Familiars are fascinating things, and exist in many practices. They can help with witchcraft, act as messengers, help with protection, keep company, and so much more! Familiar spirits, although often thought of to be animals, definitely don't have to be. It's not the vessel, it's what the vessel holds. If an animal is your familiar, that doesnt end when the animal's physical body dies. Human spirits that wish to help and be companions can be familiars, nature spirits can be familiars, Any Type of Spirit Can Act As A Familiar Spirit!!