The first time I heard about Lucifer was in the Bible. But I didn't know he was a roman god. In the Bible he is associated with the king of Babylon and with the devil. Luciferians sees him as an actual divine being. But that he is not the same as Satan, which is an description, not a name. But I can't find enough information about him from a pagan perspective. Most of the information about him is from an abrahamic point of view. Are they any ancient texts or other sources about him? I knew that to theoi project that he was two star gods which were later combined. The rest of the information about him is from a abrahamic perspective.

Anybody else find themselves at an intersection between Christopaganism & Naturalistic (or Atheo)paganism by actively interpreting & engaging with biblically inspired ritual & mythology while primarily, if not entirely, understanding it through symbolism, metaphor, & allegory?

I try to spend time in my yard or in parks, but with the demands of modern jobs that becomes difficult. Sometimes I desire to be off the grid or in a cabin somewhere but that basically trades one set of issues for another. Even a house on a beach or a lake would be interesting for me. What do you guys think?

* If this link is not allowed, I apologize. Please feel free to delete it*

Hi all, my name is Lindsey. I have been practicing Paganism for about five years now. I am also a psychology doctoral student. My doctoral research is on our community and our experiences as Pagans. Below is a link to my survey. It takes about 20 minutes and is completely anonymous. If you could please take it, I would greatly appreciate it. You are welcome to participate if outside the US, but will need to put your country instead of state.

https://marshall.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1CaWYyRUIbgGLWu

My traditional religion as a Puerto Rican diaspora person (Zemiism/ Taino Pantheon) is extremely difficult to research because of colonialism destroying it so thoroughly. There is a movie on Netflix about a shaman who has to leave his tribe because they were evangelized (Ex-Shaman it's called) and missionaries in Africa convert the population to Christianity which causes them to vilify their ancestral traditions, religions, and therefore destroys the root of their traditions and cultures. Keeping this in mind, can we even look at evangelism or missionary work as anything other than an extension of colonialism and imperialism?

As pagans this thought has most likely crossed your mind as even Europeans were the first victims of mass conversion which caused them to take on middle eastern religious beliefs and lose their traditional ancestral beliefs that went back for centuries.

As a person who is animistic, I cannot think of a good reason for trying to convert anyone to a religion or proselytize. And I say that as the leader of a new religious movement. Besides the whole idea seeming disrespectful and inherently dismissive of the person's beliefs, I think that if a belief system is so amazing and is just going to save the world, people would make the personal choice to follow it.

A folk practice is basically a practice of a religion specific to a region/family/country/person that are not officially a part of the established doctrine or beliefs of the religion. I used to practice Haitian Vodou, and that itself a huge folk practice with oftentimes conflicting info, conflicting attitudes, syncretism with Christian beliefs, it's a lot. Since it's all folk practices mixed from Africa it's difficult to define it or pin it to a specific thing outside of its ancestral deities.

What I am in now only has three official requirements in its doctrine (The gods, the ancestors, the chakras) and the rest being entirely folk practice. To be honest I like it this way so everyone can believe and do whatever they want.

Are there a lot of folk practices, beliefs in paganism? What are some interesting ones you would be comfortable sharing?

So obviously as pagans we know the gods never left, people were just forced to worship as the bible says. Saying this, what is likely to happen in the future regarding paganism? I expect a revival and possibly the US becoming a majority pagan empire like the Roman Empire. I think in Europe paganism is more conservative and traditional while in North America it's new, authentic, and witchy so it attracts inclusive and fun-loving people. In the rest of the world it's both of these but also viewed with danger and respect. These conditions make a revival plausible and I think it's likely we'll start seeing anti-pagan propaganda by the mainstream faiths. They might try to christian guilt us about the false gods thing from the bible.

Let's suppose this person with a strong recon bent wants to worship at least most, or all, these Deities, traditionally associated with these religious traditions:

• Priapos: Northwest Anatolian(?) and Greek; or Priapus: Roman;
• Freyr: mainly Eastern Scandinavia;
• Dionysos: Greek;
• Pan: Greek;
• Cernunnos: Gaulish and Gallo-Roman (and maybe also pre-Gaulish)?
• Min: Egyptian; and/or Pan [Enodos, among other Pan epithet(s)?]: Greek-speaking people by eastern Egypt(?);
• Hermes: Greek;
• Heracles: Greek;
• Heracles Ogmios: (Gallo-)Greek(?);
• Hecate: Carian and Greek; or Trivia: Roman;
• Atargatis: Syrian;
• Astarte: Phoenician and Ugaritic;
• Asherah: Hebrew and/or Judean(?), and Ugaritic;
• Lugos: Gaulish;
• Belenos: Gaulish;
• Sirona: Gaulish and Gallo-Roman;
• Wadd: (South) Arabic;
• Baal{[-Hadad(?)] and/or [-Samaim(?)]}: generally Western Semitic and Ugaritic;
• Hathor: Egyptian:
• Thoueris: Egyptian;
• Bes: Egyptian;
• Isis(-Thermoutis): Egyptian;
• Tefnut: Egyptian;
• Atum: Egyptian;
• Svantevid: Western Slavic (Lechitic);
• Triglav: Slavic;
• Veles: Slavic;
• Odin: Scandinavian;
• Pekko: generally Baltic Finnic but maybe mainly Estonian, Karelian and Seto;
• Demeter: Greek.

Let's suppose that, inspired by Imperial (Roman) period lararia and their religious diversity (mainly in provinces like Augusta Raurica), said person wants to worship these Deities on the same (domestic) shrine (in his/her bedroom).

Do you think said person should learn and observe the details of every single one religious tradition primarily associated with every single Deity (like talking to said Deity in one of said religious tradition's language, using traditionally prescribed clothes or clothes made of traditionally prescribed materials, observing all the known purity requirements of all religious traditions, sacrificing the traditional way and only traditional goods, etc.)?

Does anybody have experience with Norse-Slavic Syncretism? If so how do you worship, what are your beliefs, how do you perform rituals and invocations

Edit: Spelling

For those who don't know SMITE is a game where various gods from many belief systems are put into a field where they have to fight. I read some responses that they don't really care if their gods are in the game, but personally I just find it kind of inappropriate. I think it's harmful to do these kinds of things because they give the impression that all of these pantheons are dead when there are still people practicing them. There are also issues with all the females being sexualized, and the deities portrayed looking more European/White than they would logically be. For example the Greek gods and goddesses do not have Mediterranean features such as dark hair and the Chinese deities have faces that look Caucasian.

When you lose the game, you also tend to see the gods "Defeated" in some way. They might be exhausted or I've heard that a certain ocean deity is portrayed unable to attract spirits to her. This seems to be where it goes from inappropriate to offensive.

I'm curious in how it also differs from eclecticism.

I'm trying to figure out my beliefs right now, and they correspond with a lot of different practices, but none quite fully. I'm never fully satisfied and always feel like I'm practicing something someone else made for themself and not something I've created for myself.

I've been taking notes on my beliefs. I haven't done much reading yet but am buying some books, on all different kinds of practices I'm intrigued by, and I'll see how my practice and belief is shaped then.

The notes I've taken though doesn't seem to fully fit anything. It's something I want to further develop. I see it more as like a "personal religion", but I also think my fundamental opinions on religion probably differ from what most people think anyway.

I'm curious how my way of belief and practice right now compares to this community. How is pagan syncretism generally practiced?

I once knew a boy who was pagan. He had just gotten out of jail, had strong opinions about Jewish people, and he didn't seem very friendly. There are many other pagans in my town as I can see on a dating app, but none that I know personally.

Does anyone else know pagans in person? I imagine it's easier to relate to someone with similar beliefs.

I am going to write a newsletter about how the vibrations of Native American spiritual practices affects those who spend a long time in the continental United States, and was wondering if anybody else know of any similar ideas or things like that?

So since most of us are syncretists what do your calendars look like and how did you make your choices?

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1. Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-centered Religions by: River Higginbotham & Joyce Higginbotham
2. Paganism for Beginners: The Complete Guide to Nature-Based Spirituality for Every New Seeker by: Althaea Sebastiani
3. The Path of Paganism: An Experience-Based Guide to Modern Pagan Practices by: John D. Beckett
4. Pagan Portal - Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism by: Morgan Daimler
5. Paganism: A Beginners Guide to Paganism by: Sarah Owen
6. A History of Pagan Europe by: Prudence Jones
7. Honoring Your Ancestors: A Guide to Ancestral Veneration by: Mallorie Vaudoise
8. Miracles of Our Own Making: A History of Paganism by: Liz Williams
9. To Walk A Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day by: Alaric Albertsson
10. Paganism: Pagan Holidays, Beliefs, Gods and Goddesses, Symbols, Rituals, Practices, and Much More! An Introductory Guide by: Riley Star
11. Paganism In Depth: A Polytheist Approach by: John Beckett
12. Paganism A Very Short Introduction by: Owen Davies

The List will update. If you have suggestions for the list please post them below and I will add them as well.

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I hope everyone has a beautiful day/night! :)