#still gonna be lokean

[sparksinthenight]

“Dreyri, if you like the demiurge so much why don’t you just get inspired by normal Christianity?”

Listen. I like the demiurge precisely BECAUSE of the Gnostic lore surrounding him. The Christian God’s never gone through hardships. He got crucified once but that’s nothing compared to what the demiurge went through. It’s like comparing Odin sacrificing himself to himself to Loki sacrificing himself for future of the whole world. So anyways, the Demiurge went through hardship and suffering. His mom didn’t love him no one loved him he was locked away as a literal baby he grew up in isolation and abuse and without love and kindness and comfort and the leader of the land sought to destroy him since he was a baby. The leader of the land hated him because he posed a threat to his power. That is some horrific shit to have to go through. And it was precisely because of this hardship and suffering, and because of the love and the longing and the beauty he inherently had in his heart that he created a world so beautiful, so amazing, so sacred. And he created us to experience the beauty of the world and the beauty of each other and the beauty of love. In anti Gnosticism God literally IS the outcast, God literally IS the stranger, God literally IS the powerless, God literally IS the child. And I love that. I love that so much. I can think of no better person to create the universe than an abused child. Of course I’m still Lokean and I’m still going to be Lokean forever because it’s fucking awesome and I love monistic polytheism/polytheistic monism and I love the complete lack of rules in the religion. But I am very very inspired by the demiurge and I love him and I specifically love the version of him that was made by the gnostics.

[kevat]

Progress update on Norse goddess Hel sculpture.

[sarcastic-salem]

I feel like I need to apologize and like I will never stop apologizing because I often fail to take my own advice. Like I fully acknowledge that the Heathen community needs to learn to listen better.

Loki devotees need to learn to listen to Odin devotees and vice versa.

And by Odin devotees I do not mean Folkish Nazis.

More than that, though, we need to learn to listen with kindness and empathy. And I feel like I played this role in popularizing Lokeans being pissed 24/7 and fixating on our own trauma. That's not okay because we are never to going to heal individually or as a community if we are constantly at war with each other.

"Holding onto anger is like swallowing poison: Painful and the only person you're hurting is yourself." -The Dalai Lama

Lokean who staunchly hate all Odin devotees because of Nazi assholes and refuse to hear out the good guys, this is you -- right now, YOU are RAPHAEL HAMATO.

But like....I'm just really sorry for motivating such hatred.

Like Ragnarok is about revolution, but eventually the revolt ends and things change for the better. Loki and Odin are always brothers and friends afterwards.

And I know that there are some Heathens out there that are still hesitant about people worshipping Loki. Look, you don't have to worship Loki. No one is gonna force you, but you definitely have no right telling anyone else who they can or cannot worship. You have no right trying to police someone else's religion.

Heathenry is not an organized religion, okay, and as far as I can tell a lot of the trouble in the community stems from people wanting it to be an organized religion. Like does it not strike you as a red flag that the closest thing our community has to a church happens to be a white supremacist cult?🤨

This whole One True Heathen™️ mindset needs to be abandoned. We do not all need to be recons or pseudo-intellectuals. We do not all need to be viking LARPers that for some deranged reason think that we should be slaughtering goats every holiday instead of just going to a butcher or a farmer and asking for like chicken blood or whatever. In fact, we do not all need to be meat eaters. Like as long as they're not pretentious and annoying about it let the vegan Heathens exist.

The only thing we need to agree on is that Nazis don't belong in our community.

"But there's no evi--"

Yes, there is -- Loki has been worshipped for 20 years and from what historians have been turning up lately, he was worshipped way before then too.

More importantly than that, I exist. This blog exists. I have two FB accounts full of six years worth of momentos of my worship and an entire friends list full of people who worship Loki Laufeyjarson.

So you're fighting an uphill battle here. Lokeans are not going away cause even if it's recent or newly discovered evidence, the evidence still exists.

And Loki isn't someone to be afraid of.

Like I've been meditating on the myths a lot lately. Particularly the myth of Loki's battle with Logi, the God of fire. Which Loki lost. So why is Loki a fire God?

Because Loki embodies the spirit of the hearthfire or the fireplace or the kitchen or dining room table. The place where we all gather together as families to laugh and drink and tell jokes and stories to our children. That is Loki -- Loki is home and in ancient Scandinavia if you didn't have a fire of some sort in your home, you were dead. Plain and simple🤷🏻‍♀️

That is why Loki was seen as a protector of children and families because he kept them from freezing to death.

So what does Loki losing the battle to Logi symbolize? That's easy -- Logi is wildfire.

The story of Loki vs Logi is a story of what happens when drought arrives and the heat sets fire to a home. The home burns down because we have to be careful with fire -- it can be dangerous. But it's still life-giving. We still have furnaces and fireplaces, don't we?

And we still use fire to cook our food -- in fact if you eat meat you have to use fire to cook our food.

Loki losing that fight to Logi is a tragedy and yeah, fire can be dangerous, but that doesn't mean that Loki is dangerous. All of the Norse myths -- The Eddas anyway -- are a tragedy. Odin literally let his anxiety and OCD and perfectionism drive him insane. It drove him to betray his best friend and brother. How is that not tragic?

Ultimately, The Eddas are a message of how Heathens and humans in general need to be there to love and support each other. To guide each other away from making terrible, irrational decisions like the ones Odin made that had such a horrible impact on his brother and family's life. The Aesir are the original dysfunctional family dramedy.

Loki is the fire and the home that keeps us alive and safe. And he is not a God of chaos. He is a God of family because families are chaotic just like people in general are chaotic.

That is it.

This is my opinion and my interpretation of the Norse Eddas. If this, for any reason, vibes with you then please stop fighting with people. Like you don't have to forgive your abusers or whoever but....I don't know. Try to find peace so that this community can find peace.

[lokeanheart]

Hi! I’m not sure if you’ve answered something like this before but I was wondering how you first realised that Loki was there for you. I’m currently trying to connect with a deity (I’m not doing a great job at the moment because executive dysfunction) but I’ve been struggling quite a bit and I’ve only had one experience a while back that might be considered a brief interaction so I was wondering what your experience in this sort of area might have been like and how you managed to grow closer to Loki.

Omg hi hi hi my first Anonymous question 

This is so fun !

Well I started worshiping Loki maybe two and a half months ago and I’m still pretty new

Even being a a Lokean for years there’s still new stuff to learn

Never feel like a deity isn’t listening or isn’t there

They are ! I promise!

For me I found Loki when I was in a very low low spot in my life . I randomly one day started to love marvel loki (I didn’t like marvel at all had no intentions on ever liking it) then I sorta had that whole phase ..then I found out it was all based in norse mythology

So I read up on it and honestly I felt to drawn to loki and I just had to learn more . I began reading about people’s stories with him and realizing most of the symbols (animals ,food, sounds , elements) that he was associated with are all things that were in my life constantly.

So I then made a huge decision to break from my horrible religious trauma (my family strongly believes in god and hates gays and stuff like that’s soooo…being bisexual and genderfluid and lokean.. they didn’t like that)

and I can say that’s probably the best thing I’ve every done - like I feel like I can breathe and be my authentic self.

I realized he was there mostly because I keep fucking getting one fly that won’t fucking leave me alone (it’s actually bothering me rn and I have no fucking clue where it came from when this house is clean so I’m gonna say this is definitely Lokis silly ass)

Also I had such a huge love for red foxes out of nowhere like I just adore them and that’s also another animal associated with him

And sometimes I’ll just be drawn to things in stores or anywhere really and it almost always has something to do with his mischievous lil ass

But other then that I’ve downloaded an app for norse runes and stuff and I’ve started a journey there .

I try my best to be open to not only Loki but the ones that he surrounded himself with- like his children or odin thor etc..

Loki is a funny lil shit and really will be protective

I’ve found that out the hard way when

I came out to my family and told them I felt very misunderstood and depressed and unloveable talked out my abuser and stuff like that

And they all sorta called me crazy and yknow stupid shit like that

But I went out side to bawl my eyes out and my mom was texting me and it was sorta overwhelming and my phone was at 60% I chatted with my pal Roman and that thing shut down…literally turned off and I just sat there in the dark scared and anxious and then there was this bizzare calm like it was ok ..like a parents hug would fix whatever was going on and just as I thought about how I suddenly felt better the wind started to sort blow a cool breeze on my face and when I tell you that was like the best feeling after sobbing and ur eyes burn and face stings ..

But I look back and think ..yeah that was Loki

I try to get closer to him by learning about him more .

try traditional meals that they might like

Or listen to music that is associated with them or reminded u of them

Even a simple “hey thanks for always being there you’re really great !”

Or

“Good morning !” “Goodnight!”

Write poetry for them and draw for them

Wear something that reminds you of them

Or even a pendant or something of that sort

I just recently bought a bunch of lokean stuff

Candle

Necklace

Books

It’s all about patience and believing that they will be there

I can even leave some good Etsy shops I shop from that u might enjoy if u happen to worship loki they have good stuff

If you ever need a friend or anything I’m always open to dms

I have instagram it’s lokeanheart

Also I recommend this song

It’s a pretty good song

[orangepunkwitch-blog]

Reclaiming My Roots

My practice has definitely changed since I was last on here. I’ll be going into more detail on that in this post. But don’t worry! I’m still a Lokean! It’s just gonna be.. weird? I don’t have a better term to describe this, but yeah.

First off, Bastet, Thoth, and Vulkan have all left (though I wasn’t really following Vulkan in the first place, so.. yeah.. He’ll still be there if my dad tries some shit). Bastet and Thoth both left with the same vibe as if they patted my head, said I’m a good sport and all, but this isn’t gonna work out. And honestly? That’s fine!

So now, it’s just Loki and Veles, and that seems like that’s how it’ll always be!

But regarding my craft, I’ve noticed that there’s stuff I’ve unwittingly appropriated (such as smudging sage, which I’ve removed the string from the last sage bundle I’ve had and buried it in the back yard, apologizing to the spirits), and I didn’t want to do that again. What better way to do that than trying to reclaim my roots?

But not so fast! I’m of Serbian descent from my father’s side! It’s not gonna be that easy for me! And I can’t imagine how some other people must find it difficult to find any info on their own heritage! Especially if they have no idea what their heritage even is! As far as my case is concerned, it’s just a bit of a pain in the ass.

I still haven’t learned much in a way of Serbian (I did do a year of Russian on a couple of language apps, a library book, and a YouTube channel, and to be honest, the alphabet isn’t the hardest, it’s the cases; the syntax), so that makes that just a bit more harder. My sources are from some posts on the internet that can be translated to English, one YouTube channel whom the practitioner sadly passed away (I think 2018?), an author (Radomir Ristić) whom I have Balkan Traditional Witchcraft and Witchcraft and Sorcery of the Balkans (just found out recently he passed away in 2020), and Vladimir Zlatić book about the “demons” (the term is a catch-all term for spirits and monsters and such, and not used in a Christian context).  I hope to get the upcoming book Veštica Bašta by Ristić as well as a few other books by Zlatić as well (pertaining to magickal objects, places of power within nature, magickal uses for plants and herbs, and of the gods).

With all of this, I will be taking notes. Not only am I reclaiming my roots, but I will be reforming my practice. I’ll be avoiding things like animal sacrifice, as since I’m hoping to be an ecologist one day (and even if I don’t, I still wanna do better as a human to the planet), I want to do my best to save life on the planet, and I don’t feel I can do that through any form of sacrificing an animal.

And before anyone comes at me about this, keep in mind that religious and magickal practices have always changed throughout history, especially if they are not in the place of origin.

I’ll still work with the Elder Futhark as well as color/candle magick, but I’ll be omitting some of the other stuff lots of modern witches of the west use/practice (crystals being the big one, and I’ll have a separate post explaining that one).

As far as incantations are concerned, I definitely want to have them said in Serbian. So I’m still going to do my best with the language. For me, because of the origin of what my practice will be based off of will be said in its original tongue, I think whatever spell I do would be more effective. I also kinda believe that Modern English doesn’t exactly have the same... “recognition” (for lack of a better term) when it comes to the realm of magick, unlike other older languages, and that seems to be why those other tongues are usually respected. (Don’t take this as me bashing anybody for doing spells/incantations in English; if it works for you, keep on using it unless you feel otherwise!)

Because I’m reclaiming my roots and reforming such a practice to suit my needs, this is a great example as to why some keep a “Book of Shadows.” Although, I don’t think I'll call it that. I don’t know what I’ll call it, other than useful.

And I should bring up an exciting fact that it turns out Veles has been with my family this whole time through my dad’s side! The patron saint of my baba and deda’s was St. Nicholas, and that particular saint was said to be one of the aspects of Veles (back when they split the gods into a lot of saints, and Veles split into like.. a shit ton of them).

And now, a glaring question some of you might have: the politics of Serbia and my views on them...

I’m an anarchist, so... That should be pretty self-explanatory.

I won’t be sharing every little detail about my reformed practice, but I will be sharing just enough for anyone else who is of Balkan descent and are also having trouble finding info on such a practice. 

One of the reasons why such a practice isn’t widely shared is, according to one YouTuber (who has deleted her channel, I guess), because while all of the stuff you see on WitchTok is aesthetically pleasing, some witches of a particular practice are now reluctant to share some of what they practice for fear of being appropriated into another online fad. This stuff is sacred to a lot of people from different backgrounds of different practices. And even from those who aren’t part of closed practices fear that what is sacred to them could be turned into another fad. So I will only share some, and by some, I mean what could usually be available within books and online already. What I tailor to my own needs as far as details are concerned may not be shared for similar reasons.

With that being said, this is the end of the post. My mind’s all over the place trying to figure out how to organize these thoughts to update everybody on what’s going on. I’ll have another post up tomorrow about crystals, cuz I’ve got something to say about them that I’ve said in my newer account that I may just... reblog here.

[blessthehated]

Why IS my half-dead Lokean sideblog so alluring to all these half naked ladies with empty blogs!?!???

Btw you who followed me with Lokean url but empty blog, you wanna post something real quick cause you gonna get blocked and reported too!!

Also ayyyy! What up! We're all still here huh!!

[clouds-of-wings]

“Gothic is the daughter of punk” - a historically true statement and also a really old drawing of Loki and Hel that @strandedinmidgard wanted to see. The cityscape actually looks exactly like a certain place in Düsseldorf to me now. And the chicken wings in the background... are, uh, probably a reference to the second Harry Potter game.

[taltos-seidmadr]

Ódin and Loki: *complete the most Epic Blood Pact in the Universe to bind themselves  to one another in a convergence of mutual unending loyalty beyond the fabric of time and space*

me, the synesthetic shaman of finding the perfect soundtrack for every occasion, enraptured, with eyes rolling back into my skull: this is so fucking metal alexa play ritualist by dimmu borgir

[themodernvarangian]

WE’RE SETTING UP THE COMMUNAL ALTAR SOMETIME THIS WEEKEND

[breelandwalker]

Usually my adhd makes it super hard to listen to podcasts but I listened to like four episodes of hex positive yesterday. Your voice and delivery are so good and make it so easy to focus. - queerly-lokean (we’re gonna pretend I didn’t spell my own username wrong in my last ask)

(I didn't notice it, so it must not have been egregious!)

I'm glad you're enjoying the podcast! I have difficulty processing auditory information too, but somehow podcasts and audiobooks work for me, so long as the material is interesting and the speaker is engaging. I try to lean into that whenever I record, and to remember that even though I'm presenting information, it's still a performance and I have to make it interesting for my listeners.

Even when I'm presenting a bunch of historical information, I want it to sound like a chat with a friend, rather than a classroom lecture. And I use a little bit of my Customer Service / Choir Kid Voice so I don't sound too nasal on the recording.

In any case, I'm glad that listening to somebody who also has ADHD ramble on about witchy stuff is pleasing to your brain. 😊

[theheartroad]

Me: I'm worried about doing this thing because of emotional consequences...

Loki: Let us (gods) worry about the emotional consequences! :D

Me: well ok I guess... *does the thing*

Me: *IS BOMBARDED BY EMOTIONAL CONSEQUENCES*

My Gods: *ARE BOMBARDED BY MY EMOTIONAL CONSEQUENCES*

Loki: O_O ...... UH. Oops. I mean...

Me: *staggering* FKHGFGKFAJSKFJGDJDJvlslksldnskabhsmsnslshsljkfdsalakalahdlkahskslaja??!!!?!

Loki: O_O........uh...yeah.

[morningstarlucemon]

((So, this is a super personal thing that relates to my beliefs. So if you don’t wanna read cause you’re not interested, that’s totally cool. This is gonna be OOC and stuff. I just wanna post this here cause I don’t feel that I can openly say this anywhere else just yet. It’s not really safe for me in case bio family sees it. But I’m just... really excited and wanna talk about it. So if you’re interested, read more is below. There’s a TL;DR at the bottom if you want.))

So, anyone who knows me personally in any intimate manner might know that I’ve struggled with my beliefs for a really long time. I was raised super, super Christian, and even though my family was non-denominational, and we didn’t have a lot of religious “rules” like in mainstream Catholicism or anything similar, it was still really oppressive to me. Parts of my mental illnesses were blamed on demons and went untreated, and actually aggravated with the methods used to “help,” namely my OCD. To this day I have ticks that were programmed into my thought patters based in prayers I was taught that became compulsive habits rather than soothing mantras. And since I was very young I’ve been in a really precarious place with my faith.

I wanna say first and foremost, I don’t think Christianity is bad. I DO think the way people carry it out is harmful. But I don’t believe the faith as a whole is bad. I think that any religion practiced by someone for the want of peace and personal fulfillment without harming others is good so long as it makes them happy. I’m only saying that Christianity as I was taught it hurt me, and the people who taught it to me hurt me. And I now have a very uneasy relationship with the faith as a whole.

For probably around ten years or so, I’ve been a very... nihilistic person, not out of choice, but out of a compulsively logical mindset. If I didn’t have proof of it, my brain didn’t wanna believe it. It still doesn’t. I don’t claim to have ever experienced any proof of the supernatural. But I didn’t wanna call myself an atheist. I WANT to believe in something, anything. But any time I try, the logic part of my brain steps in and demands proof. And it’s been slowly killing me for several years, choking off my spirituality and adding to my depression. It didn’t help that, although I was too logical to believe in anything, I still had the fear and guilt that came with believing I was gonna be sent to hell. I had all of the guilt of religion, and none of the personal peace or fulfillment.

I have spent the last few years of my life talking to people of other faiths and lack there ofs-- atheists, agnostics, Lokean, Wiccan, Catholic, Voodoo practitioners, Heathens, Jews, Muslims, Hedonists, Multi-Theists, Hellenists, and a lot more, as well as several variations of Christians. But no matter what I tried, nothing seemed to fit. I couldn’t settle back into Christianity, no matter how much I tried to fit myself into more secular and relaxed sections of the faith, it never felt welcoming or comfortable. I could never get away from the guilt. But I also never felt attached to any other faith I dabbled in, either. Nothing clicked. I felt present and welcomed, but I didn’t feel at home.

I’ve been working in therapy to really explore myself, and doing a lot of self-reflecting. And part of that has been looking back on what I’ve identified with through the years. And something I have always gone back to was Dark Angels and things associated with Death. When I was very little and my Mom would watch Touched by an Angel, I’d ask her about the Angel of Death, and she would explain that he was not a bad person, but that he was someone who would come take us to Heaven when we died. And that stuck with me. I’ve always been drawn to characters who were outcasts, logical thinkers, people who thought of things with raw data and not pre-conceived ideas, and, of course, those associated with Darkness. Duo Maxwell, Treize Khushrenada, Lucemon, Violet Parr, Levi Ackerman, Rorschach, Raven Roth, Laura Kinney, Vaal Hazak, Sephiroth, Howl Jenkins Pendragon, Adrian Tepes, Black Shucks, Damien Bloodmarch... I never could put my finger on what they had in common until now. All of them are outcasts who think differently than society as a whole, many of them with dark or complex morality or emotionally injured themes about them. I have always been drawn to the darkness, even since I was a little kid. And I think, because of the fear I was taught, I denied and lied to myself something that I’m fairly sure I’ve known for years.

After really learning what other beliefs are, that they’re not all goat sacrifice and child rape, and learning the actual principals behind them, I think I might finally be ready to choose a title for myself and my belief set. After years of introspection, and debate, and self-exploration, I, for now, when it is safe to do so, will align myself with  Luciferian Satanism.

I have chosen this faith for many reasons. Lucifer expects nothing from me, not even for me to truly believe in them. Do no harm, and take no shit. This faith allows me to still be a kind human being, but also to not let myself be hurt and abused as I’ve been in the past. It is the first thing to slightly allay my fear of death in years. It recognizes that life is sometimes shit, but that we don’t have to live in existential dread all the time because of it. Sure, this life is piss sometimes-- but what the fuck is sulking about it gonna do? I might not be able to change the world, but I can make a few people feel better for a little while. I don’t need to search for the meaning in life-- it doesn’t matter if life is inherently meaningless, cause I am here, so I’m gonna have fun. And I’m gonna help others have fun, too. I’m gonna be kind to people because it makes me feel better to know I’ve made someone else feel better. Yeah, it’s a selfish motivation, but that’s what all acts are motivated by-- the want to feel better. And that’s very much okay. There’s nothing wrong with helping people because it makes you feel good, knowing that someone else’s day was improved by you. I don’t need an entity threatening me to make me do good things, and I don’t need praise from humans. I can worship myself, I can love and care for myself, and that’s not only okay but expected. Things aren’t good or bad just because society says they are. Things are good or bad because of the effect they put out into the world. It’s okay to be weird as long as you’re not hurting anyone else. I don’t have to always speak as others do or move like they do. It’s okay that I’m on the spectrum. I don’t have to pretend to be normal. Whatever comes for me, I’m gonna embrace it with open arms, and will take control and improve what I can, and ask for help when I need it, because I’m alive and I chose to try and be happy. I don’t need the promise of heaven or any afterlife to make me happy. If one comes, that’s wonderful. I hope I’m surrounded by people I love and who love me.

I’m not going to lie and say Lucemon didn’t have a part in me realizing I’m a Satanist, because they definitely did. I don’t think I would have ever been willing to even truly consider it if not for this angel. But I want to clarify one thing, as some of my friends seem to be a bit confused. I do believe I am kin with Lucemon. I do not believe myself to be kin with Lucifer, Satan, or the Devil. I may have a shard of them in me, but I lay no claim to their power except what I’ve been allotted in this life. I will absolutely claim myself and my power and title as Lucemon, Demon Lord of Pride in the Digital World. But I at no time want to claim to speak for Lucifer or have any right to his power.

On a similar note, I am not in this belief for the power. I don’t expect Satan to bestow me with a silver tongue or armies of demons. I do wish to become stronger in magic and charisma and use of my natural abilities to get what I want, but I intend to work for these things, not have them handed to me. I recognize that I have nothing Lucifer could ever potentially want, except possibly, maybe my understanding. I have nothing I could offer that would be of use to them. So I won’t try to barter for something I know damn well I’m not entitled to. I intend to work, study, practice, listen, and learn to grow my power. Lucifer expects nothing from me, I expect nothing from him. I only wish to devote to them my heart and respect because I feel a kindred spirit within them.

I believe Lucifer to be an enlightener, a symbol of progress, logic, exploration, love of knowledge and acceptance, and seeing things without bias. They may exist as a concept, or as an actual entity, or something in-between, or something totally outside my comprehension. Regardless of the nature of their existence, they bring me peace, and I find speaking of and to them to be soothing and helpful to me. I also do not feel that my devotion to them will interfere with my offerings to other gods. Lucifer is not tyrannical. Lucifer is not Jealous. They want only for me to be kind, and be myself. And that’s all I want.

I’m getting super tired, and I’m really rambling at this point. But I really wanted to state all this somewhere. I’m so grateful to finally begin to have something to take solace in. And I intend to accept this and further growth, regardless of where it takes me, openly and thankfully, as holding back has only hurt me. I intend to further research my stance, and potentially am looking into calling myself a Warlock. I understand that term is typically given to you by others as a derogatory term, and is used for those who have been expelled from their covens. But with that said, I HAVE been ejected from everything I knew before. I’ve thrown much of it out in favor of healthier beliefs and practices, and I seem myself as not fitting in with where I was and as something of an “other.” So I feel this term resonates with me and what I am and want to be.

So, yes. TL;DR: I consider myself a agnostic Luciferian Satanist, and am hoping to study and grow fully into a Warlock. This has given me peace I haven’t had in many years, and I am happier with this than I’ve been with anything else since I was a child.

Thank you all so much for listening to me. I love you.

[lokeanwelcomingcommittee]

Im... honestly stressed out rn. I've seen so many lokeans talking about how one day Loki will no longer be patient with you and he's gonna do something that'll make you not want to talk to him for months and you'll fear him, but tbh Loki is the exact opposite with me. He's very understanding and patient and kind, and I'm worried that one day he might "snap" or something along the lines of that

Hi Nonny,

The Heathen gods behave more like humans than the gods from some other religions. It might help if you looked at the issue more in terms of a human relationship and less in terms of whatever religious background(s) you’ve come from.

I’m sure you seen that in any longterm relationship, be it family, friends, or significant others, people are going to fight. Not often, and not in destructive or abusive ways, if the relationship is healthy. But even the most patient people don’t have endless patience, and even the kindest people have times when kindness isn’t their top priority. Some times you have a bad day and lash out. Sometimes the other person does something hurtful, and you react poorly to that. Sometimes both parties are justly upset and you have to hammer out a compromise. When circumstances change suddenly, sometimes the relationship has to change suddenly too to be sustainable.

Odds are high that you too have gotten into spats with someone you love, but you worked it out, and you still love them, and you’re both the same people afterwards.

Because we have gods that behave somewhat like humans, and who encourage us to push back rather than blindly obey, all of the above applies to them. They aren’t omniscient, so they aren’t always going to know the “right” thing to do or say. They may say something meaning to cheer you up that may end up hurting you instead, for example. And in turn, they may snap back if you push the wrong buttons, because they have emotions too. Sometimes they won’t agree with something you’re doing in their name and do whatever it is they have to do to get through to you and stop it. Sometimes you won’t like where they’re leading you, even though they truly believe it’s what’s best for you. Loving someone does not mean agreeing with them all the time or automatically condoning their actions, especially if they’re harming you or others.

So yes, you’re probably going to fight eventually. Virtually every devotee I know who’s been in this for more than a couple years, including myself, has gone through a period where they had a falling out and took their altar down and spent a period not practicing. Some more than once. But you’ll notice I’m back at it, as are most of the people I know who went through this. And Loki is still Loki. We just know each other better and have a better handle on what boundaries we need with each other. Having the space to work through things on our own can end up making the relationship stronger.

Personally, I like that the gods have emotions like ours and are therefore able to understand us. I find the concept that we’re allowed to disagree with the gods, to have mutual falling outs without being condemned for it, extremely comforting and freeing.

Maybe you find all of that stressful. If so, that’s totally valid and understandable. Do what you need to do to be healthy and happy. Maybe that’s working to accept the ebb and flow of relationships. Maybe that’s taking a step back from Loki so you aren’t completely devastated if you do fight. Maybe it’s finding another religion where the dynamic between humans and gods is different. Anyone who cares for you will understand, Loki included.

- Mod E

[orangepunkwitch-blog]

I’m not gonna do much to the blog itself at the moment. I’m just going through the Serbian witchcraft/paganism tags to reblog some stuff.

(Btw: I’m still a Lokean but as I’ve said earlier when I revived this account that I also want to get in touch with my roots, plus Veles has watched over my family for generations disguised as St. Nicholas.)

[thereluctanthedgewitch]

Mara Goes on a Late Night Rant

Started this last night. Finished it tonight.

Let me preface this by saying that I have been sick as all get out for the last week, I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should, and since the only other reliable employee is sicker than I am I have had to work. So, there will be some over the top ranting, more anger than is reasonable, and tangents that go nowhere. That said, strap in people, because I am pissed and I have a blog, so everyone is gonna hear about it. Okay. The five people that actually read what I have to say are gonna hear about it. So last week I stumbled across a cute little podcast about Greek Mythology that was absolutely lovely. But it was mythology, not religion. So that got me wanting. I want podcasts about religion. Specifically Greek and Norse. I found a wonderful YouTube channel that had some Norse myths and stories, but I wanted more. Besides, I didn't like the stories about Loki. This is where I get angry. Not because I can't find any, but because of what I found. Hate. Hate is what I found. I have become used to the hate and disrespect that Loki gets. I don't like it. I get frustrated. But the blinding anger has dissipated. When even fellow Lokeans show disrespect to their own God, who they are supposed to love and respect above all others, you finally lose your voice and sit in misery. I have begun to avoid most work that talks about Loki because I just don't want to see the hate and blatant disrespect anymore. So, I thought, let's check out the Greek podcasts. I need some love tonight. I did not find it. Let's start with Hades I found quite a few that told the story of how He gained His beloved Persephone. So. Many. Hateful. Words! Basically, what every single cast I found boiled down to was this: Hades was a poor, pitiful, lonely man who hated his position in the Underworld and wanted to drag someone down with him to keep as a possession. He saw poor, clueless Persephone and thought ''oh she is hot I want her." He went to Zeus who said sure you can take her but don't let anyone know, especially Demeter. So he pops out of the ground and scares away her guards and drags her away. Once he finds out that Demeter has found a way to save her daughter, he tricks said daughter into eating something so she has to stay. He is outsmarted because Persephone only ate 3 (or 4, or 6 depending on the translation) pomegranate seed, and so he has to let her go home for 1/3 (or 1/2) of the year. All is right with the world because evil Hades has been outsmarted and the defenseless flower child is free for part of the year. How fucked is that?! Hades isn't evil! Most of them justified this assumption by comparing him to Voldemort, saying no one would say His name even when giving Him offering. No. Just no. There were REASONS for not stating His name. And He has many names that He is called by. Just like everyone's favorite shiny God, Apollo. He has many different names, depending on His role at the time, and even depending on who is worshiping Him. So, that argument is invalid. Next. Another justification was (I quote here) "even when they gave Hades offerings, he was always given offering last, after all the other Gods". Um DUH. Idiots. He rules the realm of the DEAD! When you have nice fresh meat and veggies to give as offering, you give it to the Gods that want that! Do you give lemon to a God that wants sugar? No! Certain Gods want a freshly killed deer as sacrifice. Others want desiccated meat. You give the God what He wants or the offering is pointless. So, you wait. Hades wants super dead stuff because, you know, that's HIS DOMAIN! Morons! Utter morons!! (I quote again) "and when they would give him offerings, they would bury it in the ground and look to the ground and away. They couldn't even bring themselves to look at him for fear" Nooooooo...... out of RESPECT! UNDERworld, people! UNDER. THE. GROUND! Of course they buried offerings! You gonna look to the sky if you believe your God is under your feet?! Of course they looked down. And averting your eyes is common sense. *growls in frustration* Hades is the God of the realm of the dead (don't even get me started on the idiots that were calling Him the God of Death. Do your basic research, dumbasses. He rules the realm of the dead. Thanatos is the God of Death. *sigh*). There are basic rules when one honors Him. Death is the one constant. It is the END OF THINGS. So, He would get offering last. Not in disrespect. In acknowledgement that He is the one we all go to at the end of our lives. He is cold and distant to us, yes. Because He truly has no reason to interact with us while we live. "I will see you at the end of your days. Live your life, we have eternity later." He is cold because death is cold. Emotionally speaking. Cold is not evil. Respect is not fear. Now. My Lady Persephone. Someone please please PLEASE for the love of Olympus and Valhalla, tell me how the FUCK someone can call a GODDESS weak and clueless and easily tricked. HOW?! Persephone is a dual Goddess. She is the wildflowers in the fields. She is the death of winter. She is a Goddess in Her own right and a motherfucking QUEEN of the Underworld. If Hades had kidnapped and raped Her, if He was keeping Her there against Her will, do you honestly think She would be RULING by His side? Do some minimal research and you will find that SHE had more say, more rule, more POWER than Her husband when in the Underworld. How is this possible if She is a defenseless little meek thing like they were insinuating? In all honesty, I would rather face down Hades, Cerberus, and Thanatos before facing The Queen. (please don't make me! I beg you. I was only saying it to make a point, not to invite trouble. I would rather not face any of them tyvm.) She is scary when angered. She is in no way meek. She knew what She was doing when She ate those pomegranate seeds. She WANTED to be there. He didn't kidnap Her and hold Her against Her will. She got on that chariot because she WANTED to. And don't even think you can say, "but He raped Her!" No. No He did not. Rape did not mean the same thing then as it does now. These words are translated from ANCIENT GREEK into Latin and from Latin into English (and possibly a few other languages between them). Languages evolve. They change. Words are updated. Definitions are altered. Look up the history of awesome. Or terrible. Or any other number of words. The word rape, even now, does not mean "to force sexual acts on an unwilling person", or at least that isn't all that it means. Now, it also stands for many forms of violation. But "the rape of Persephone" didn't mean what people today think it means. The title of the story is literally "The Rape of Persephone" but does the content of the story have sex ANYWHERE? Not anywhere I have found. Please, if someone finds a version, a HISTORICALLY ACCURATE VERSION, that tells of Hades forcing Himself on Persephone, show me. On the topic of rape, let's go to Zeus now. If I hear one more podcast that calls Zeus ''rapey Zeus" I am going to scream and throw my phone! Again, I say, RAPE DID NOT MEAN WHAT IT DOES NOW!!! Yes, He was what many people today would call a horndog. But please, stop placing your mortal and societal views onto the Gods. And why place all that judgement on Zeus? The other Gods and Goddesses got around as well. Admittedly, not as much as Zeus, but please. Would you rather tell everyone that you got it on with the King of the Gods, or... I dunno, Hermes? And it doesn't really matter how many Gods, Goddesses, or mortals he slept with. Our morals are a social construct. They are mortal views. Not the morals of our Gods. Beyond that, they are GODS! Who are you to judge Them?! Who are you to scoff and shame a God for what He or She may or may not have done?! I may not be as close to Zeus as I am to Persephone and Loki, but it still pisses me off. And.... since I am here, and in a ranting mood. Can I just ask.... If you call yourself a Lokean. If you say you are devoted to Him. Why. Why do you disrespect Him so? You say you love Him and then in the same breath, call Him a "little bastard" and a "shit" or even a "fucker". Why? You flippantly post online how some people give great pomp and ceremony to one God while giving a grand offering that took hours to prepare and you just toss a donut on the altar and say "here you go I guess. whatever". No. No no no. How is this respect? How is this devotion? Yes, there are days where Loki wants a donut as offering. But shouldn't you give that as much ceremony as if you were pouring the finest wine? Beyond that, why announce your rudeness to the masses? Disrespect Him privately if you think that is the relationship you have. Fine. I am not one to judge your relationship with your Gods. But don't show people this! It isn't funny. It isn't bragging. I have had moments in my relationship with Him where I have said things that could be seen as disrespectful. But do I post them online? NO! The closest I have gotten was posting a glitter bomb situation when He was being especially playful. And I removed the one disrespectful comment I made in the screenshot of the text messages. It doesn't make me angry anymore. It makes me sad. We, as pagans, are faced with hate and disrespect from many outside our religion. We shouldn't encourage the same among our own. Our community, our religion, should spread love and respect, not hate.

[lokis-little-candle-flame]

Loki's Looks UPG

It's been a while since I posted anything in the Lokean tag so I thought I'd start sharing some of my experiences with Loki as of late.

This is just gonna be the first part, focusing on appearence.

This is just a little list of things that I personally have come to learn about Loki. Aka, some of my UPG. If something I list here isn't consistent with your own UPG, don't @ me. You're still valid.

Truthfully, I haven't fully seen Loki as a full figure real person yet. I've seen hand drawn art that looks very much like what I feel Loki looks like. So I know what He looks like as an illustration...

I do know that Loki has presented to me as a dude more often than not. Occasionally She will appear as a woman, but I think I feel most drawn to Him as a dude because I got daddy issues of shit from my childhood.

For me His hair appears long, a very dark, chocolate brown, with streaks of firey red near the crown of His head. And it looks rad as heck.

For some reason the dude is always shirtless?? I know from having felt His arm and shoulder that He is lean, yet strong and sturdy, yet just a little soft all at once.

He usually has facial hair, typically just scruff or a trimmed beard. His facial hair is brown, but slightly lighter than the brown in His head hair

His eyes are a gorgeous shade of golden brown, like sunlight through whiskey. also: eye crinkles.

The boi has freckles and lots of em, on His face and His arms and shoulders.

He's got the scars on His lips of course, though that's probably a common thing in many upgs

That's pretty much the gist of how I see Loki. I just get little bits and pieces as we chat and work together. Hope this was interesting or something.

I'm interested to know what everyone else sees when Loki appears to them. Or whether most people get a complete, clear picture of Loki, or if they just see some bits like I do, or if they hardly see anything at all.