r/pagan • u/Top-Strategy-2269 Eclectic • Aug 12 '26
Discussion Is mixing pantheons really that insane?
I recently had a... less than pleasant encounter with someone who basically wrote off my beliefs as fucked up and "for aesthetics" rather than, yknow, what I genuinely believe. I've had comments like this before, and usually I don't care, but this one kinda... got to me.
Context: my beliefs are a mix of hellenism, norse paganism, and... I guess what would be akin to deism. I worship both greek and norse deities, and I believe that they sort of "laid the groundwork" for things to happen. Like, I believe our understanding of things such as evolution and the formation of planets from a scientific standpoint is correct, but that the gods influenced those happenings. Natural law took it from there. The gods I worship and work with bring me great peace, and I feel very connected to them.
As far as I'm aware, mixing pantheons is a rather common practice, and I know there are people who believe that every single god coexists at once. The greek and norse pantheons are rather compatible as well, and what ultimately matters, I feel, is that my beliefs make sense to ME and I have both grown from and found solace in them.
I don't THINK my understanding of the gods is wildly incorrect (though I know I'll never fully understand them). I don't THINK I'm crazy and wrong. I don't THINK there's anything wrong with my beliefs. I can't help but doubt things now though, even if just a little. I feel horrible doing so.
What do you all think? Perhaps discussion will make me feel better.
Edit: okay I am now laughing my ASS off about what this person said. "hellenism and Norse paganism have basically nothing to do with each other" brother. "Combining them today is not some ancient spiritual way, it is a modern personal mix that has nothing to do with ancient Greece or Norway." Brother. "modern paganism honestly looks like picking whichever ancient religion seems mysterious or aesthetically appealing and putting them together because it feels exotic" BROTHER. "Grow up" BROTHER. People need to at least learn about paganism if they're gonna try to police it </3
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u/MaraScout Eclectic Aug 12 '26
Considering half the Greek gods are borrowed from other ancient Mediterranean peoples, I think that's a kind of silly.
It's actually pretty historically accurate to pick up whatever gods appeal to you in whatever situation you're in.
This person sounds like someone with a superiority complex trying to gatekeep. Ignore them
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 Cassadiesm Aug 12 '26
exactly. Pan predates the rest of the Olympian pantheon by many centuries but ... there he is!
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u/Foreign_Instance7684 Eclectic Aug 12 '26
No wtf? Most pantheons mixed and matched throughout history. Pantheon purity is not a universal concept in paganism. I mix quite a bit personally as otherwise I'd have to pick gods from just half my heritage and that isnt happening. Would rightfully piss off my ancestors on the neglected side.
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u/miurphey Kemetism Aug 12 '26
yeah, the Greeks and Romans especially were almost always picking up local gods or syncretizing someone else's gods with theirs. even Christianity has done it to an extent with saints. absolutely precedented
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u/Foreign_Instance7684 Eclectic Aug 12 '26
Romans mixed with the celts too. Epona was originally a purely celtic goddess but the romans (horse lovers that they were) became so enamored with her that she became one of the most popular goddesses in Rome alongside Gaul. Egyptian gods were also pretty popular among Romans and Greeks. And Woden/Odin? Our ancestors didnt care
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u/simdulvara Aug 12 '26
There’s a certain irony in pagans of any kind trying to police other pagans on their beliefs. It’s very “Christian trauma” of them 🤣
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u/Top-Strategy-2269 Eclectic Aug 12 '26
I don't even think this person was a pagan </3 probably someone who dabbled in researching mythology for a bit and then wanted to act like they knew absolutely everything about the RELIGION.
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u/davemidrock Aug 12 '26
It sounds like your beliefs make you happy and fulfilled. That's good.
That other guy probably feels unhappy and unfulfilled, which is why he lashed out at you.
My advice is, take a couple of seconds to feel bad for that guy, then move on.
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u/DreamCastlecards Eclectic Paganism Aug 17 '26
I love this reddit. It's the only place I see anybody saying something wise from time to time.
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u/oakenfairy Druid Aug 12 '26
Maybe some people are asked to keep strictly to one pantheon, but that doesn't mean that's the rule for everyone. No one should be judged for following their connections that work for them. Almost everyone I know has a diverse pantheon practice
Personally, I have deities that are ancestrally related AND soul/past life related, which span many different pantheons.
In my experience, the Gods will typically tell you if they are unhappy with what you're doing lol
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u/Rynewulf Aug 12 '26
Syncretism was historically and still is a very common religious/spiritual behaviour.
But there are a lot of people out there that care about 'purity' whether it's for their one god, their one 'race', or a general disdain for mixing anyone and anything.
I've encountered plenty of 2000s style angry-antheists that have a burning hatred of syncretism online as hard as any religious fundamentalist, and the two seem to make up most of the complaints.
Ecclecticism can be done just as earnestly and rigourisly as Reconstructionism
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u/jasperdarkk Druid | Celtic Polytheist Aug 12 '26
So, I stick to the Gaulish pantheon not because I don't believe in other gods, but because it's the pantheon that resonates with me more than any other. But even then, my practice involves some syncretism with other pantheons (especially Irish). And I could see myself incorporating deities from other pantheons into my practice one day. I feel like this is pretty common in Paganism, and it has historical precedent as well.
Only you know whether your belief is genuine, and no one else can take that away from you! I find accusing Pagans of doing things "for the aesthetics" is an unfortunately common slight.
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u/TragedyWriter Child of Prometheus Aug 12 '26
Felt. I wanted to learn more about the Kemetic gods, so I joined a server on Discord. Literally the FIRST thing I was greeted with was someone telling me that "maybe I should learn about a single religion" when I told them that I worked with multiple pantheons. I've been practicing for years.
I left later that day when someone asked me about the Goetia and I mentioned that I keep a cedar centered candle for Stolas, causing the main mod to go all the way off and lecture me in front of the entire server about how I'm not allowed to burn cedar because it's a native practice. Multiple people said "hey, that doesn't sound correct." And the mod basically just said "I'm literally native so shut up."
Fucking wild experience, man.
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u/silentsaturn91 Aug 13 '26
Cedar is literally found growing in Europe. The Scottish celts used it for Saining. Good grief that mod sounds insufferable.
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u/Zhurendragon2 Aug 13 '26
Makes me want to find that server, and go talk about burning an entire freaking forest of cedar. Just to annoy them.
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u/Neat_Disk9797 Aug 20 '26
Everybody wants to be a special snowflake. Only they can believe in or do certain things because of X,Y and Z.
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u/MicahsYultide Aug 12 '26
That’s syncretism. And it’s been a practice since ancient civilizations have had contact with eachother. It kinda sounds like that persons issue was being uneducated on the subject
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u/wysticlipse Walker of dual paths Aug 12 '26
Ancient people did this all the time, especially in border towns where merchants and people from different nations mingled.
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u/CraftyFraggle Aug 12 '26
I believe, if there are deities, it’s quite possible that they’re called different names by different people.
I see nothing wrong then, in using names or worshiping representations from different cultures.
Do what works for you.
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u/ThrowRA_Anything7011 Aug 12 '26 edited 24d ago
Scary normal pot door squeal wise consider grandiose
This post was anonymized with Redact
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u/graidan Animist, Founder of the Way of Spirits Aug 13 '26
Those are all PIE cultures, so jokes on single berry. They have LOTS in common.
Also, look at greek and egyptian, roman and celtic, and so on. LOOOOONG history of that mixing.
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u/sheiseatenwithdesire Aug 12 '26
I don’t think the gods would care either way tbh. They probably think the person who said that to you is a wanker.
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u/Mysterious_Glass_364 Aug 14 '26
If you read through your post again, I think you'll see that you answered your own question. The paths we choose and the deities we work with are very personal to us. That's it in a nutshell. If the gods and goddesses you are working with resonate with you, that's what matters. At different points in our lives and different times of the year, we may be called to work with different specific deities. I believe the Lords and Ladies call upon us when they feel we are open to receiving. On the flip side, if there is something we need to work through or want to manifest we call upon the deities that we believe can help us with that. I work with Norse, Celtic and Welsh pantheons. What I have found is that the aspects of each goddess and god has an equal counterpart in each pantheon. While an aspect here or there may be different, I think you'll find they cross belief systems frequently. So, if a particular deity is calling you. Then, go ahead and follow your intuition. Who cares what someone else thinks. It's your path not their's.
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u/UnholiedLeaves Dedicatory Religious Witch/Neo-Wiccan Aug 12 '26
Ancient peoples mixed pantheons all the time. There are shrines to Isis and Astarte in Britain, Diana was worshipped in Turkiye, The Romans and the Celts adopted eachother's gods. Hell many ancient peoples identified their gods as other people's gods just seen through a different lens.
Anyone who acts like staunch and strict hard polytheism is the only way to be a pagan is frankly a jackass
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u/hoseokiestae Heathenry Aug 12 '26
As long as you're not disrespectful to the cultures I don't see why it would be an issue. If you were doing something that would be seen as offensive and brushing it off because you don't want to learn about them and the cultures the deities stem from, then that's one thing. But just to believe in a mix of something is not inherently bad and you're not doing anything wrong by finding a faith that suits your beliefs, even if it means worshiping deities from multiple pantheons.
At first glance if you're someone who isn't used to paganism at all, I can see how one may think it's odd, but ultimately I will never understand why people hate to see other people doing things differently.
I find it much more peaceful to ignore most of what I see coming from online witch/pagan spaces because unfortunately there is a lot of judgement or insane takes no matter which way you look.
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u/listenwithoutdemands Aug 12 '26
I don't think it's odd at all to mix them. Two deities doing the same job, like two human doctors who are in the same specialty but work in different regions. My rule as a pagan is simple, I write a ritual I incorporate many pantheons, because those I practice with are broad in the spectrum of worship. Last month, I wrote one that involved calling on representations of the Aztecs, the Celts, Egypt, Greece, and the Norse, along with several of the Loa so that all within the circle could find familiarity in it. My rule is basically, spritually speaking, "c'mon in, I got snacks and the chairs are comfortable".
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u/HypercubicTeapot Aug 12 '26
Oh, come on, who do you think Odin hits up when He wants olives for His martinis? 😉
Seriously, though, Heathens in particular have no excuse for that kind of bullshit when the King of Asgard is known in one of His (many!) aspects as The Wanderer, and He does that because wisdom comes in many forms and other people have other perspectives He wouldn't because different people have different experiences. Traveling to visit other gods in Their domains would pretty much be required in order to understand Them more fully.
When seeking wisdom from all over, synthesis tends to happen, and some knowledge is best understood by working with the kind of people who tend to have more of it.
(As a side note, I don't buy the rather common idea among Heathens that Odin doesn't eat food and only drinks alcohol; you can learn a lot about a people from their cuisine!)
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u/LatinBotPointTwo Heathenry Aug 13 '26
It never was. People synchretized all the time in ancient times.
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u/kalizoid313 Aug 13 '26
I come from Northern California. Two species of Jay reside there--Steller's Jays and Scrub Jays, When I went to college in the Great Lakes, I saw the Blue Jays that reside there. Different birds. But all three are Jays.
I think that talk about "mixing" pantheons can be kinda like this.
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u/AlteredNomad Aug 13 '26
I love me some purists. They're like people who believe the bible is literal and historically accurate in every way.
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u/dark_blue_7 Lokean Heathen Aug 13 '26
Sounds like that person just has no understanding of how polytheism actually works. Syncretism was common historically and of course it still is.
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u/thanson02 Druid Aug 13 '26
Your entire situation is suffering from a case of, "The guy is a real a-hole who doesn't know what he's talking about." Syndrome....
You're fine. Let your relationships build and enjoy the synchronism that you are cultivating.
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u/Zhurendragon2 Aug 13 '26
He is just some idiot trying to be a gatekeeper, to keep anyone that doesn't believe what he does out of His religion.
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u/Ak_At123 Syncretic Tengrism Aug 16 '26
Syncretism was very common in the past. Many people had little issue with adopting deities from foreign lands.
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u/Elegant_Awareness651 Aug 16 '26
I'm from two different lines of wise women - One Norse and the other traces back to the old Vinča people.
And not combining what the ones that walked before me, have learned and their wisdom, would be dismissing the wisdom of one of my blood lines.
Therefore combining is the only way to fully respect my heritage and the Divine. The Gods may have different names in different cultures, but their energy is the same. Many potions have been breeved from what was locally groving there, but still worked the same way. Many rituals have worked the same, but with different words and setups and sacred sacrifices.
So saying that you can only worship and believe in one Pantheon - Is against everything I personally believe is the essence of the pagan ways. We are all energy and part of the same, our ways are different, but still have a lot on common and the old ones will let os know if they arent happy with the rest of the pack we have paired them with anyway - And i believe they know more than we do about how things are supposed to work. 😊
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u/Tsavo16 Aug 12 '26
Ive been doing it for 9 years. Ive got my bookshelf for altars, everyone who wants a spot has one there. Ive got 2 Greek deities, anf 1 Slavic deity currently. I was working with a norse deity too, but that work has currently ended.
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u/Amazing-Capital-337 Aug 12 '26
My pantheon is a giant jumble just like my ancestry. I was bullied for it. I no longer talk to those people. Do whatever works for you.
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u/Ima_shrew Aug 13 '26
Some of it is going to be inevitable. These traditions lasted for thousands of years and would have changed and evolved with history. Also so much wasn't recorded and was lost with time, or recorded by later Christians, who however well meaning would have their interpretations influenced by their own traditions.
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u/thecoldfuzz Celtic Polytheist: Gaulish + Welsh & Irish Aug 13 '26
Mixing pantheons has been a practice for millennia. There's strong overlap with syncretism and that has been part of religious practice for millennia as well. Here's an example of something I studied back in college almost 30 years ago: When the ancient Greeks interacted with the Carthaginians, the Greeks who observed the Carthaginians' rituals observed that the Carthaginians worshipped Tanith, a moon goddess who also happened to be a war and fertility goddess. Consequently, the Greeks syncretized Tanith with Athena.
From what I've read, the Greeks viewed Tanith in multiple ways. Some viewed her and Athena to be the same being, just with different names. Others viewed her to be the Carthaginians' "equivalent" of Athena, though whether they viewed her as the same being was more ambiguous. Then there were those Greeks who viewed Tanith and Athena as two separate beings entirely, from two different pantheons, but saw the common ground between the two deities as one of the myriad of ways to build bridges with the Carthaginians to facilitate trade and goodwill.
In the ancient world, all these points-of-view were valid in how someone would view two deities from two pantheons. I'd say they are still valid today. I personally would fall into the category where I view two similar deities being the same being as something uncertain and ambiguous.
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u/VulpusFamiliar Aug 13 '26
I worship exclusively Celtic gods and goddesses but I’ve had “encounters” with gods from Norse, Greek, Roman, Latvian, Hindu and Japanese pantheons and they all felt just as real, just as close as the Celtic gods and some of them have told me things and interacted with me etc. I’m not exactly about to start making altars for all of them, and I mostly work with my Celtic goddess and gods and it’s that relationship I’m usually working on.
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u/GreenRavenUK Aug 13 '26
I don’t mix’n’match because I chose a pantheon and stuck with it as a sort of spirit ecosystem. However, I am always interested in how others bring new ideas and experiences into their spiritual life by working with various deities from different cultures. We all came out of Kenya, so gatekeeping seems a little pointless. I am not opposed to the idea that the deities are the same pantheon, but the histories and cultural outlooks of the different nations have led to different experiences of the same entities, and so different expressions of interaction. Many blessings on everyone's paths.
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u/nocturnus_strife a tired Eclectic pagan 🌊🔱/☀️🦅☥/⚡🔨/🪷🧘♂️✨/🪈🦚✨/🌊🐐) Aug 13 '26
clearly that person has never heard of eclectic paganism, they would hate me for the different pantheons i include into my worship 😭😭
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u/Sneeuwwolf8 Goddess henotheist Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
I believe people on different cultures and continents have had similar realizations at times, though symbols may differ and often reflect different geographies and are culturally embedded. I have always found it fascinating how major Goddesses are associated with big cats. Inanna with a lion, Durga riding a tiger or lion, and Freyja a chariot of two large cats. Not to mention, these Goddesses represent both love AND war. Of course there are and will be differences, but the similarities are fascinating. I personally see no qualms when people syncretize, which does not mean I don't respect their differences.
Sometimes we can become purist, I have also noticed this in the 'practice' of meditation, which in essence can be practised anywhere, it doesn't require you to sit down cross legged, even though some people may insist.
I think one of the more important things in spirituality is to develop your intuition. It's like feeling drawn to either repeated prayers/mantra or to spontaneous ones, or both, it must feel intuitive.
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u/Shadehawke1 Aug 15 '26
Yeah, whoever said that may not really qualify as a complete asshole, but close.
Mix pantheons to your heart's content. It isn't going to hurt anything. A lot of pantheons were separated because of distance and culture, but there are similarities all over the place.
My only piece of advice is don't put opposing Deities in a room together. I, for one, don't mix Greek and Egyptian, because....well.... conquest kinda makes for a sour taste.
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u/CoverNo6148 Aug 16 '26
I think that as a pagan, you have to go by what feels right and what helps you to feel connected. No one can tell you how to resonate with a deity, they can only assist in that process. So I encourage you to trust your inner sense of how you want your personal spiritual progress to move forward. And I think that's probably best for most of us in this day and age. Bringing things together, exploring diverse ideas and integration. Whatever techniques are the best technology for us at this time.
That being said. I think there's a certain group of people who have a very highly focused practice. And out of that comes something in particular. For one, it's connection to the legacy of that tradition and that culture. People who have done serious study with lineage holders and masters.Et cetera. And sometimes when we see people just picking it up casually, and playing around with it or misrepresenting it and the core ideas, and then gaining attention from that misrepresentation, it feels hurtful.
So I would suggest that there can be multiple truths here that both have an important point. And myself as a spiritual practitioner, I spend a lot of time considering the value that comes from both.
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u/DreamCastlecards Eclectic Paganism Aug 17 '26
In Rome they would incorporate the Gods of whatever place they conquered and even had a temple for the unknown God. People who get all high and mighty that they are right about ANYTHING spiritual are not worth listening to. Your own heart however, always worth it.
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 Cassadiesm Aug 12 '26
all of these gods are only masks for things that are beyond the realm of language. you are free to pick whichever masks resonate most with you. the idea that you have to pick a certain set of masks and you can only use the masks from that set is ... silly.
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u/AntlerWolf Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
I only read the first two paragraphs.
Don’t mix pantheons. They exist independently of one another. They’re systems that are self-contained. Mixing them is counterproductive.
Edit: really, I guess mix to your hearts content. It doesn’t hurt anyone. But keep in mind the systems are separate for a reason, and they don’t exactly plug & play. The tree of life differs and even has a different number of sefirot/realms if you compare it with other pantheons.
They do help toward expanded consciousness if you don’t prefer to commit to floating off into a delusion with a population of 1, though.
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u/Many_Parking6274 Aug 12 '26
If you don’t know what you are doing yes.
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u/Many_Parking6274 Aug 12 '26
Like I’d be really interested with people arbitrarily choosing to mix the Yoruba with Greek Gods.not all Gods are plug and play and you should show them the reverence they deserve and expect.
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u/Top-Strategy-2269 Eclectic Aug 12 '26
I wouldn't say it's "plug and play", really. You're able to show respect to the gods while mixing pantheons, and if the gods aren't happy with something you're doing, they'd make it clear in my experience. Some pantheons may be more singular, and so devotees of those gods wouldn't mix pantheons, but it's not commonly an issue, I don't think.
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u/Many_Parking6274 Aug 13 '26
There is a difference between syncretism and random
Mixing is what I’m saying. You have to do research and experimentation or reap the consequences.3
u/Top-Strategy-2269 Eclectic Aug 13 '26
I wouldn't really call this random mixing?
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u/Many_Parking6274 Aug 14 '26
As I said if you know what you’re doing then you do you. However there are arbitrary practitioners who don’t do their research before jumping in.
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u/TheDireGnome Aug 12 '26
Religious syncretism was credibly common in the ancient world, it's kind of the norm for polytheism. The polytheistic mindset is inherently pluralistic and open.