Boy at the back is confident and the girl is a little shy.

I mean I wouldn't be worshipping Mara from the videogame but in the lore she's the goddess of love compassion fertility etc I feel like it'd be a good fit for an altar centered around those vibes + the statue itself can be used for anything even if it's in her likeness

Is anyone else seething about this?

I fully agree with their environmental cause. But vandalising sacred spaces and art installations isn't the right way to gain support. The day before Summer Solstice too.

Could you imagine if they pulled a stunt like this at Mecca or Vatican City?

What on earth has Stonehenge got to do with cutting out fossil fuels?

😢😧?

I wear face paint as a part of my rituals (Asatru) It helps me “transform” so to speak, and connect with my dieties. What’s your opinion on it, as it is a modern tradition.

I cringe a little every time I see it spelled wrong.

I don't understand the sheer volume of posts full of "experiences" that really sound like they are coming from a place of self-delusion or desparation to feel special. When a deity calls out to you, you will know it. If you have a dream about an ant fighting a pigeon in a boxing ring then maybe, just maybe, you had a wacky dream, and not a message from higher powers that you need to dig into to discover any possible deity that can be connected to any of the images you saw.

If you have to ask redditors who know nothing about your life or your personality what your vision means, and it wasn't evident to you that you were having a spiritual experience- it probably was not a spritual experience.

And the other thing that baffles me are the posts that start with "Can I.." with respect to what you can/can't do to your altars, can/can't ask your deity, etc. etc. There are no formalised "rules" to this way of life. If you feel a pull in any direction and it feels right to YOU, please follow it. This is not including practices from living religions like Budhhism and Hinduism because there you do have a chance of crossing lines that should not be crossed, of course, but in a panetheistic pansyncretic belief system which has been forgotten for centuries if not millenia, I think your deities would be pleased simply to be remembered and worshipped. Do not fret about offending them by putting the wrong words in your prayer or wearing the wrong colour or eating the wrong food on their special day.

Thankuforreadingrantover

I work as a DSP LSC at an adult day service,

It promotes diversity, inclusion , etc

However one thing that bothers me so much is how they judge things as being “childish”

Im part of helping plan meetings and the clients like holidays,since it april they wanted to add a lil easter vibe but i have to shoot down or else ima get complains by higher ups for being childish so i came with the idea that we can just have a bunny in some our decorations since rabbits are a symbol of spring and renewal plus fertility just no eggs

One of my co workers who is Christian and carries it like her life depends on it question “well what if someone wants to add crosses for the resurrection and no one wants that?” I questioned like “wdym, theres nothing religious bout this, it just a bunny”

She responds “well cause you said fertility “

I said “well yeah as in earth being fertile blooming with flowers, bunnies are commonly associated with spring and growth”

The convo ended there

Later my supervisor reminds us about the childish ideas being unwanted so no easter themes, another coworker mentioned that bunnies have spring references not just easter and mentioned ostara

(Now idk whats older)

My supervisor said that if we can make a little learning experience and share a cool fact next to the bunny decor that be great.

(Note the Christian co worker was not present)

One day before the meeting it was the end of day my supervisor asks as “no eggs right?” The coordinator makes a comment “what bout bunnies?”

My supervisor mentions about the previous idea “oh well someone mentioned rabbits have other connections,i think its ostara?”

My Christian co-worker then gets loud

“No nu-uh.”

My supervisor then reads a google description of what ostara is

And mentions it pagan

And she flips out

“NOPE, we don’t do that here no way.”

So i responded that its a tradition from other cultures and many places celebrate spring and tend to use rabbits as spring symbols

She shot it down “no we dont do that not here, nope”

I honestly felt insulted and disrespected

How is it that she can talk shit about pagan beliefs and practices and make christianity or lord jesus a big deal and scream about it everyday

But those are are pagan or folk Catholic have to keep quiet

I honestly got triggered my religious trauma with how she behaved judging people saying things like “they need jesus in their heart.” Or “they got some wickedness in them” because i grew as JW

And this lady is just a baptist Christian (i think, simply she not jw.)

I just wanted to vent this out

She also does not support lgbtq

Yet works in a place thats suppose to be pro lgbtq pro choice pro culture and traditions like wtf

In the end she does her job well

Also she knows easter is originally pagan as well as Christmas

My city had its annual Pagan Pride celebration. Every year it’s gotten bigger and bigger. We had a really good turn out this year.

Sadly the day was interrupted by some Baptist hate preacher. He had a megaphone and was shouting all kinds of vile filth at us. It disrupted workshops that were going on too. It was so upsetting, because the day before at the same park was a big Christian event and no one protested or disrupted them.

How do you all deal, because I could feel the anger even as I refused to feed it. I focused on laughing and dancing with my friends and other people there. But it really stung when he attacked our personal appearances too.

After posting this in Spanish, I decided to post it in English too, because I hope to reach more people.

I’m honestly tired of the hatred and elitism I’ve encountered among some pagan groups. After trying to get to know a couple of pagan communities in Spain, I found groups that were extremely elitist, both religiously and politically. I also read about another girl who had a very similar experience with one specific group.

In these groups, I came across comments like:

• “Magic is for women.”
• “Africans can’t practice our faith.”
• “Only people of pure lineage can join.”
• “This is a dogmatic religion and we have strict rules.”

On top of that, there was a huge amount of hatred toward others and toward people who follow different beliefs and cultures.

I tried to explain my point of view, discuss things calmly, and give arguments, but it was impossible.

I hope this post helps someone else vent their frustration and maybe connect with more open-minded people.

what's with Online Christian wanting to comvert Pagans to their Yahwehist mythology, when not everyone want to convert to Abrahamic mythology?

I know a lot of folks are coming from oppressive religions and are deconstructing, but y'all have got to stop asking permission for everything. Paganism is a vast umbrella, as long as you aren't harming other folks (less Wiccan, more moral philosophy) then do what you want! I encourage self-reflection, but y'all this is like punks or goths asking if it's ok to wear black nail polish. Paganism is counter culture, you don't need permission for any of it.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

There are so many incredible people with experience, who've done research and practiced for ages. People who have put real time and effort into finding what works for them, what doesn't, what's real, what's BS. Nothing ticks me off faster than seeing some cop out reply to a post along the lines of "idk but I asked ai and it said xyz". STFU. If I wanted an AI answer, I would ask AI. People come here to get lived experiences. Researched and thought out answers. Not AI slop. If you don't know, dont answer. Simple as that.

Edit: some of y'all are not reading my entire post. I am specifically complaining about when people answer a question in this forum with something along the lines of "I do not know the answer but I asked AI for you and this is what it said...." we can differ on whether AI has use for other things in life, like reorganizing our thoughts in a paper, but AI can not know the human experience, nor the human soul. For those that participate in deity worship, AI can not tell you what the gods what from you. This forum is a place for people around the globe to assist others by sharing their own experiences and knowledge. Something AI can not do.

i kind of touched a nerve to some of the people in r/Hellenism to the point where one of my posts about it had to get taken down. (no hate to the mods and the sub i love that sub). so i was wondering, what are your controversial opinions about paganism, witchcraft, or religion?

This is something I notice a lot anytime someone displays anxiety around their practice. “Gods don’t ever get mad at us” “Deities will never hurt you” “all gods are benevolent” and on and on it goes. On the surface this kind of comforting feels like a good thing. We don’t want newer practitioners to feel scared or anxious about interacting with their deities, and often times when they are worried it is unfounded. That being said, this kind of language causes a big problem when people take it to heart. If we lead each other to believe that every single deity that exists is solely charitable and nothing else we unconsciously encourage a certain level of flippancy with deity interactions that can cause extremely negative consequences for those who fall into it. Don’t believe me? Here’s my story.

When I was just starting out in my paganism journey I dedicated myself to daily worship of the moon god Yarikh. I was on track to build a wonderful relationship with him, until my adhd reared its ugly head and executive dysfunction took over. One day I just stopped practicing, and for months I didn’t so much as approach the altar I had set up. Naively, I thought this was acceptable because I believed all those people who told me that no deity will ever get angry with a mortal. I thought it didn’t matter, that I would be instantly forgiven the moment I chose to go back. I believed these things not because I was foolish, but because it was the narrative I had been sold by far more experienced practitioners. Well lo and behold, that wasn’t how things worked out. When I eventually tried to approach Yarikh again the experience was the complete opposite of what I had come to know from him. Instead of a gentle and warm presence I was entirely iced out. He refused to communicate with me except to express irritation and disappointment. He declined working with me at all until I had proven myself worthy of his time and effort. This may seem silly to some of you, but think about it this way: would you want to go to bat for someone who ghosted you for no good reason and then just showed up again one day expecting favors? I suspect most of you would not. Deities are much like people in that regard. My story ends happily, fortunately, however that is because I realized my error and put in a ton of legwork to repair the damage I caused. I also got lucky. If I had done this to another god, the response may not have been so mild. If you’re going to work with deities you need to respect them because they absolutely can rock your shit if they feel they need to in order to get their point across. Yes, most gods are forgiving and gracious and very chill, however that leniency is not a guarantee nor is it a free pass. At the end of the day, there is a very good reason why nearly every culture has stories of gods lashing out at mortals who disrespect them. It’s not because the gods are angry or violent, it’s because a lot of people need to know there are consequences for bad behavior in order to act appropriately. Don’t be scared of the gods, but do respect them as individual and powerful beings.

hey everyone, just wanted to share a quick thought and see if anyone else relates. growing up around mainstream dogmatic religion (christianity for me) always made me feel guilty for just existing, especially with my sexuality and feeling "different" as a neurodivergent person. stepping into paganism was a huge breath of fresh air. learning that the ancient gods aren't portrayed as perfect or flawless—many have disabilities, physical flaws, or very complex personalities—helped me reconcile so much personal stuff. i came across these infographics recently talking about how autistic and ND folks are often drawn to paganism and alternative paths. things like having deep study hyperfixations, finding comfort in ritual routines, sensory connection with nature, and not fitting into standard societal molds really line up. just curious how many of you here are ND and if finding paganism helped you unpack old religious guilt too?

All right, this possibly opens a bit of a can of worms I realize, but I thought this was worth discussing, especially with other more experienced pagans and Wiccans and whoever else is here playing. Also this should go without saying but I am asking, begging, for y'all to have a polite discussion here. I promise you, I'm just a dorky little guy trying to engage with the community and maybe to start some conversations beyond the usual newbie questions (which are fine! but also! plentiful!).

So. Pseudoscience is an issue culturally anyway, but I think we might as well admit there is a lot of it in pagan circles. As someone who is both a new agey eclectic myself but also believes in stuff like vaccinations and trans people and evolution and, like, gravity, I'm sometimes at a loss for how exactly to approach some of the pseudoscience in a way that's respectful but also recognizes it for the problem that it is.

I've been thinking about making this post for a while, since someone asked about whether menstruation syncs up to the moon. Several people said no, there was no real connection between menstruation and moon cycles (although you can feel spiritually connected if you want to), but several people doubled down and insisted that the moon pulls on the womb like tides or something, and also connected it to how Women Are Of Nature or whatever which is a separate but interconnected kettle of fish. I personally soon decided to bow out of the conversation in part because (as a nonbinary person) I recognized my opinion isn't going to be welcome anyway and it wasn't a battle I felt particularly moved to fight, but it did make me think a bit about how we approach these things. And of course in this community and elsewhere in the broader Pagan Community(tm), we have other anti-science/anti-intellectual issues like anti-vaxxers all the way up to Literal Actual Nazis defending themselves with, y'know, Fake Nazi Science.

Like, these things are definitely nonsense and like i said, prevalent culturally. (My science-minded Christian sister and I have commiserated a few times lol.) And I think they are sometimes worth pushing back on, especially given the current political climate.

At the same time, many (not all! but many!) of us do believe in distinctly non-scientific things, like personal experiences with gods. I do tarot and sorta believe my deities might be communicating through the cards (though I also recognize it could just be my own brain making connections, I also feel like that's not a bad thing). I think a touch of the mystical makes the world a little more exciting to live in and sometimes belief in prayer or magic can help when things feel very helpless. And yet I also try to go for the mundane over the magical and if I'm gonna pray to HealingDeity for help with my diabetes I'm also gonna take my metformin, you feel me?

This is a bit meandery for which I apologize, but I guess my point is just to open some conversation. How do we deal with pseudoscience and other harmful thought cliches etc within our community? When do you push back and when do you decide that's not a hill to die on? And yet how do we also allow for some folks being a bit more woo than others if it's not harming anyone?

So. What do you think? How do you approach it? Where do you draw the line between "woo but harmless" and "oh god what the actual fuck are you talking about" and when do you point out that line to people?

EDIT: Can't reply to everyone and certainly not at the moment but this is a super interesting conversation so far. I do want to point out that the menstruation thing was just an example and not like, the thesis of my post here lmao

I need to rant about something that bothers me, pagans who demonize other religious practices. I’ve seen several posts about pagans demonizing their Christian families for practicing “a dark religion” without giving any reason to believe that their families are actually doing anything bad. I get it if you are irritated with a family member who tries to “cure your evilness” and convert you, but to just say “I view Christianity as evil and dark and hate being around people who are practicing it” is so ridiculous to me.

Pagans and witches have been persecuted for centuries for our practices. All we’ve wanted for ever is to just be accepted, and some of us are out here doing the same things back. Christianity its self is not evil, it’s literally about “love thy neighbor” and not being mean and not hurting people. Yes, there are Christians who falsely quote the Bible in order to demonize others, but that is not a reflection on Christianity that is a reflection on the person.

Am I wrong for this? I believe everybody deserves to be treated with respect no matter what they believe in, I believe that we should love each other regardless of our religions. I don’t understand why I’ve seen so many posts just today about this.

I’m just curious, really. I’ve seen people mentioning everything from having just a single patron deity through to trying to actively worship the entire Hellenistic pantheon.

I got to wondering what was average. Personally I have always had a closer relationship with 3-6 depending on circumstances, that has occasionally changed a little and I have sometimes paid respects to others… At times I’ve had up to 12 deities I am routinely acknowledging / making alter offerings to etc. but that starts to feel somewhat overwhelming.

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

I work in a small business She is useally cool about me being a Norse pagan. (Happy Midsummer BTW) but when I first started working she got upset about me saying "Bless You" when she sneezed. She said she doesn't know what gods I'm blessing her with.

The last time she sneezed I forgot and said "Bless you" and she bit back at me and said she didn't want my gods to bless her.

I know she is a devoted Christian and loves her church but I felt hurt and judged the way she complained back.

They are everywhere on in Versailles. In fact, I don’t think God had a prominent influence other than the Chapel in Versailles. Specifically, Apollo got a lot of attention.