I was raised catholic, taken to a Catholic school for my whole childhood/teen years. I recently have been getting into paganism (I've asked alot of questions on here). Recently I've been feeling really doubtful of my beliefs as I usually get minimal signs and it's harder for me to meditate, pray, and do shadow work. I have wanted to work with my deity's (dionysus, Aphrodite, and heista) but none of them have given me any signs since I started leaving offerings and making altars. Based on previous events in my life I need constant reassurance and I'm just not getting that at all these days, so is it normal to be this concerned? How did it feel for you getting back into prayer?

I mainly feel connected to deities of Europe specifically Njord, The Dagda and The Morrigan (I have an affinity for crows and ravens but have never been pulled to Odin). I've never really been pulled to the Greek or Roman pantheon for some reason.

Out of curiosity who are your Deities and what drew you to them?

I've been practicing alone for too long and I feel maybe I should at least ask here.
Is it normal to practice all alone and to tell noone and to keep it just between you ad your gods/spirits?
can you plaese share stories of your practice - how much other people are included into it?

I just feel horribly lonely and I'd like to be able to share what I see and do and think and what happens

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Does anybody else feel like the first steps of building their altar was enormous? I feel like the effort it took to create was important. It felt like I was exploring my feelings in every choice. I have decided to add only things that feel right in the moment. Especially things I’ve done myself that I’m proud of. How do you feel about your altars and sacred spaces? How have you achieved that calm feeling in yours?

Would the far southern area of Germany have been Norse pagan or Celtic/Gaulish pagan? The vast majority of my ancestors come from the Bavaria region of Germany and Switzerland... And I'm not sure what their practice would more likely have lined up with? It feels like that area of the continent is at a crossroads. Anyone who can weigh in?

Hi! I was wondering what does devotee mean somebody said it means to only worship one of the gods and another said they are an Apollo, Dionysus and Athena devotee so I’m not sure what the word means? Help is appreciated! :)

I should start saying I'm not personally a pagan so I don't know much about practices but I.. I had a friend who recently passed who was a worshipper of Isis.. we talked about it and they told me we could talk about it more once they were doing a bit better since they were in a downswing which would happen.. but.. they.. they didn't.. get better before we could talk.. it wasn't a shock.. since when we met she was terminally ill and had been for a long while but.. I miss her. She was a good person who had a positive effect on me and everyone I know that knew her's life to my knowledge. I want to know the proper way to attempt to honor her. She deserves that at minimum.

Sorry that this post is morbid but I couldn't find funeral rites for worshippers of Isis in specific, just general Egyptian funeral rites and I.. I don't want to get this wrong. She deserves better than that. If I find anything specific that I can verify as true I'll edit the post with the rites and link to the source so others can find them.

Sorry if this post doesn't follow guidelines, I tried my best to follow them but to be honest I'm crying my eyes out currently so it was hard to read them.

EDIT: Thankfully the user butwhyyy2112 was able to provide a link to a resource request form and more information about the worship of Isis in the comments, if you have an interest or need to know more I'd check it, the link to the resource they provided is here by Laurent Bricault

Those who meditate in order to interact with deities, how do you do it? How long do you meditate for? What kind of meditation?

Good evening! I see a lot of questions/posts here that could benefit from an older/mature/experienced perspective, I hope this doesn't come off as arrogant, I genuinely want to alleviate some of the "worries" that newer practitioners have, give some general community advice, and offer a perspective some folks might be missing.

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Background: I've been pagan or pagan-adjacent since I was in middle school and I'm staring down the pointy end of 40 this year. I've been happily married for 15 years, we have two children. If I had to label my family, I would say Germanic/Mainland European Heathen, but we incorporate elements of green witchcraft and other Indo-European derived beliefs into our practice. We are raising our children pagan, openly. I am currently a senior enlisted member of the U.S. Military, my wife works in the physical fitness field. If you saw us at the grocery store you'd probably assume we were any other middle class outdoorsy, but otherwise cookie cutter, family.

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1.) You're not doing it wrong. Seriously. Paganism at its root is a deeply personal practice. Due to largely being an oral tradition and the erasure suffered during the Christianization of the world, none of us know what the correct practice is. Anyone that claims to know, or asks you to pay to know, is wrong. Full stop. We have some pretty good ideas what the practices of our spiritual ancestors looked like, but we don't begin to have the wealth of source material that some other faiths have. If what you're doing is working for you, keep doing it. If it's deepening your connection with the natural world, keep doing it. If it's deepening your relationship with your ancestors, keep doing it. If it's deepening your connection with your Gods, keep doing it. The scientific method is insanely useful to Paganism. Experiment, document, repeat/revise, and then move to the next hypothesis. Share what works for you with others, but don't assume that what works for others will work for you.

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2.) Live your faith through your actions, don't scream it out into the world. You don't need to constantly advertise your faith. But, you should talk about your faith openly if/when the subject comes up. I see this come up in military Pagan spaces CONSTANTLY. The military is a politically DEEPLY RED career field, most of my co-workers are conservative or worse. I have had zero problems professionally or socially serving in the military over the last 18 years because I don't talk about my faith constantly at work. I have a couple tattoos that identify me as a pagan, to those in the know. I wear a Mjolnir pendant under my uniform. There is a small and tasteful statue of Tyr on my desk. We don't like it when Christians shout about their faith in public or the workplace, why should we act any different? That feeling that you get when someone has a large cross around their neck, talks about Jesus all the time, and has a bumper sticker implying that Hell is real is the same feeling that 98% of people get when you do the same thing from a Pagan perspective. I'm not telling anyone to "hide" their faith, I'm just saying to behave the same way that we expect from our Abrahamic brothers and sisters. Don't preach, don't proselytize, don't try to debunk their faith, or convert them to your faith. State who you are, what you believe, answer any questions, and move on with your day. If someone does try to preach at you, just walk away. If it's at work, make a complaint. We're not in the business of conversion or debate. Living your faith quietly through deeds, not words, is the best way to honor it.

​

3.) You are welcome here. Read that again. Our Gods do not care what color you are, what's between your legs, or who you care to share your bed with. Paganism is for everyone. With some very small exceptions, every society on the planet was at one point polytheist and/or Pagan. The Gods and spirits you are praying to have seen everything, and they still answer. Every culture has had problematic practices in the past, but the overwhelming majority of modern pagans are using the past to inform the practices of today, not trying to enforce archaic and harmful traditions of the past.

​

4.) Tell others what you are, not what you aren't. I think John Beckett touches on this in one his books or his blog. When you talk/write/post about your faith, always use positive language. Don't say "I'm not a Christian because XYZ", say "I'm a Pagan because of XYZ". Words have power. The words you choose are important, when spoken aloud or transmitted to others they become real. If you're starting down your journey by constantly saying what you aren't, it's going to be hard to become what you are.

​

5.) How do I know which (God/pantheon/denomination/tradition) to follow? Lucky for you, there's no baptism rite, conversion ritual, or penance you have to pay to become a Pagan. You wake up one day, decide to become a Pagan, and we welcome you with open arms. Artwork, myths/stories, practices, geographic/cultural origins, and many other factors can influence where your practice leads you. But, ultimately it's 100% up to you. Eventually something will feel right, point your ship that direction until the feeling changes and then make course corrections as you go. Also, see #3.

​

6.) Develop a broad community. My family is Heathen. One of my best friends is a Wiccan. My sister in law is an astrologer and tarot reader neither of which are practices in my home. My parents are conservative Christian and many of my dearest friends are militantly atheist. I've learned something from all of them, in matters both sacred and mundane. Excluding people from your life because of their, or your, beliefs is only going to cut off a source of possible growth, knowledge, and wisdom. I'm not saying you shouldn't punch the nazi down the road, but I am saying that you shouldn't exclude folks from your life because of their beliefs in just the same way that we expect to not be excluded because of our beliefs.

​

7.) Everyone likes book recommendations right? Here's my top five "general" Paganism books:

- The Path of Paganism - John Beckett (And his follow-up, Paganism in Depth)

- Paganism: An Introduction to Earth Centered Religions - Joyce & River Higginbottom

- A World Full of Gods - John Michael Greer

- Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion - Michael York

- Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe - H.R. Ellis Davidson

7.a) I made this list to make this point: Books are good. Blogs are good. Talking to others is good. Doing things is great. Paganism is an experiential faith. Go for a walk in the forest, go camping in the desert, kayak around your local pond/lake/coast. Do a ritual, cast a spell, read your runes, meditate and pray often. We are not a scripture based faith. Eventually you have to stop reading/researching and start doing. It's called religious "practice" not religious "research".

​

If this advice benefits at least one person, I'll be happy to have made it. Summer is just around the corner, I wish all of you the brightest of days ahead.

In the time I've been in the Pagan community, one question has popped up more than any other -- "How do I tell what's a message from a deity versus what's in my head?"

Many of us are called to build relationships with gods in a way that involves active communication. Be that prayer and answer, requests for guidance, a relationship of service and priesthood, or even oracular work, hearing and understanding the voices of our gods is a big part of many pagans' practice.

Gods communicate with us in many ways: through divination, by the tarot cards and the pendulum movements they reveal. Through signs, by sending deer and ravens and lightning bolts at times and in ways that are profoundly meaningful to us. Through feelings and nudges, such as a feeling of "rightness" when giving an offering or feeling pushed or called to do something. And, occasionally, through ecstatic experience: intensely feeling them around us in nature, or meeting them in Otherworlds through meditation and journeying, or even inviting them within us in ritual possession.

It's important to be able to tell: was it really them? was I imagining it? are they really telling me to do this thing? Being able to accurately identify and interpret our experiences is called discernment; it is a process and a skill that can only be developed through consistent practice.

Discernment is a huge topic and a lifelong journey, but I want to focus on some common situations:

• "I just left an offering for Aphrodite, and now I'm worried I did it wrong. I sense anger. Is she upset with me?"
• "I had a sudden thought in my head, claiming to be Odin. Are they really who they're claiming to be? Is it an impostor? Or is it my own inner thoughts?"
• "I received a message from Hekate saying I should do something for her. I'm unsure, and I want to double-check."
• "I had an intense meditation experience; I met the Morrigan and she told me something that was deeply meaningful and transformative. But now I'm doubting myself. Was it really her?"

These forms of communication are all direct. Unlike signs, or tarot cards, or candle flickering, these are all examples of communication where we connect with deity directly. We perceive them with our inner selves, through our thoughts or feelings or our mind's eyes and ears (but not literal sight or sound). While direct communication can be extremely intense, discernment itself is a very grounded practice.

It's important to be cautious about this type of communication if you're experiencing schizophrenia, psychosis, paranoia, or any other mental health concern that interferes with your perception of reality. If you are plural, it significantly complicates matters. I'm not a doctor; consult a spiritually-informed and pagan-friendly mental health professional. Moving on, I'm gonna assume you don't have any of these.

Direct communication has one thing in common: it is mediated through our own thoughts and experiences. How many times have you had a stray thought or feeling enter your mind? How many times have you had an imaginary conversation with a friend, or given yourself a pep talk? Given the extraordinary power of our minds to experience and to create, how can we know whether what we're experiencing is ours or coming from the gods?

Techniques

These are remastered from my previous guide on discernment.

One note: Don't overthink or derail your experiences in the moment. Let them happen. You have all the time in the world afterwards to reflect on them.

Second note: these are general patterns, not absolutes; think of them less as rules and more as ways to consider and contextualize your experience.

Considering context

When and where did the experience happen? While you were in a deep meditative or trance-like state? In the middle of a ritual? In a particularly weird area of the woods? While you were out and about?

Is the message you're receiving related to the situation that you're in, or what's going on in your life in general?

Some places and times are more conducive to connecting with gods. I'm devoted to a Storm Goddess, and the energy of a storm makes it significantly easier for me to hear her voice.

Meditation and trance, rituals, journeying into the Otherworlds, being in spaces and times associated with that deity (forests, crossroads, moonlit sky), these are all states in which we can put ourselves to more loudly and clearly hear from our deities.

Just how a lightning strike can happen on a clear sky, so can deity communication be surprising and sudden. I've known people who've received deep insights during mundane activities (such as while driving, or during a short break at work), so don't discount it just because it didn't happen during a "special moment".

Sometimes deities speak to us in dreams. But most of the time dreams are just dreams, and they happen if we think a lot about a subject, such as if we're deeply devoted to someone. If it was a dream, did the texture and characteristics of the dream suddenly change? Was the moment of communication profoundly different from the rest of the dream? In what way?

Understanding your relationship with the message

Do you have certain hopes and fears? Are you particularly invested in hearing or not hearing something? Are you primed by recent or past experiences to expect something in particular? Were you surprised by what you heard or did it sound like exactly what you wanted to hear?

If the message is in answer to a question, how did you phrase the question? Was it loaded? Do you have an intense hope or expectation for a particular answer?

If it's exactly what you wanted to hear (or what you most feared), it could be just your mind playing tricks on you. On the other hand, if a message is surprising, unexpected, or deeply insightful, perhaps there's more to it.

Sometimes gods (especially ones like the Morrigan) hold up a mirror to ourselves. They cut through our self-denial and avoidance, down to the truths we don't want to acknowledge. Are they telling you to do something that, deep down, you know you should be doing? Are they peeling back layers of denial and rationalization to reveal the core of a situation?

How do you relate to the message? What's your reaction to what you heard? I was once in a meditation with the Storm Goddess I'm devoted to, and she said something that cut so intensely and deeply to the core of my being; she saw right through me better than I did myself. The content of the message isn't relevant to this post. What matters is that it hit like a bolt of lightning, and I knew for sure it came from her.

Taking an emotional inventory

Take an emotional inventory of yourself. What were you feeling right before you had the experience: stressed, hungry, aroused, relaxed, guilty?

Particularly:

• Some emotional states make it very hard to discern. For example, if you're really stressed, anxious, or needy, it's hard to clearly hear the voice of your deity. Take a step back and respectfully ask to postpone communication for when you're better able to receive it. A message can wait; prioritize self-care.
• Christian baggage (fear of punishment, "you're going to hell" etc.) can seep into your relationships. If it's a message related to hell, eternal punishment, damnation, or something like that, ignore it. It's not your deity.
• Trauma can really affect your ability to discern properly. I've seen many Pagans who are sure they've angered the gods. When I go deeper into the source of those feelings, it turns out that they've had traumatic experiences in the past that have primed them to expect sudden angry outbursts or intensely domineering behavior. If it sounds just like the voice of your abuser, don't overthink it: just ignore it.
• With intensely emotional and vulnerable work, emotions can run high and sometimes that manifests as sadness, guilt, and other paradoxical feelings. I would treat that as "my emotions are out of whack right now" and not something sent by a deity.

Negative feelings and messages from deities do occasionally occur, but they are pretty rare compared to instances of intrusive thoughts and internalized abuse.

It's good to work with a trusted therapist through your traumas. Shadow work is also very useful. Deconstruct your latent christianity. The more resilience you build, the more you'll be able to safely enter intense or ecstatic forms of communication, and the better your discernment will be. It's a long and bumpy road, so be kind to yourself.

Knowing the gods

Get to know your gods. Research and learn about them. Is what they're saying in line with who they are? Does it make sense from a lore perspective? Does it align with others' experiences of them? Did it "seem" like them?

Identifying the voice

If you're feeling a "voice" communicating to you (again, not literal sound), how does it feel? Is there a sense of connection or presence? Does the voice carry a certain energy or feeling (maybe warm and calming, or perhaps intimidating and tempestuous)? What is the tone?

Does it feel like your own inner thoughts, or is it external? Where is the voice placed? Is it in your head, behind your head? Does the air feel different? Are you hyperaware? Are you in a meditative or trance-like state?

Is the voice easy to consciously control, or does it defy attempts to change what it says?

Journaling

Write down/journal your experiences so you can refer back to them later. In particular, make sure to separate the raw experience from your interpretation, so you can refer to either at a later date. Pick a few questions from the previous techniques that you find most useful and make it a habit to write down the answers.

Use your journal to cross-reference different messages at different times. Identify patterns and contradictions. Use them to improve your discernment in the future.

Confirming

If you're unsure, you can ask for a more direct sign, or double-check with divination methods such as tarot or pendulums. You can ask for the same message on separate occasions. The more "out there" a request is, the more confirmation is warranted.

Sometimes we receive information that we couldn't possibly have known about in advance. That's happened to me and others I know, and it's one of the more bulletproof ways to confirm a message. Don't expect it to happen too often, but when it does, let it reinforce your connection, your trust, and your confidence.

Getting comfortable with not knowing

Do you need to be 100% sure to take meaningful action?

I once had an experience with the Morrigan where she told me something. I wasn't sure, at all, whether it was actually a message or not. I had lots of doubts. When I went to confirm, the message I got was, in broad strokes, "I don't care whether you're sure or not, you better heed what I said."

Oftentimes, you don't need to know with 100% certainty in order to have a way forward. If the message is positive, encouraging you to do something you know is important for your growth and practice, or revealing a truth that you need to confront to better yourself, does it matter whether it came from a deity, or whether it was an insight you had on your own?

Maintaining boundaries

Know and keep your boundaries, especially if your relationship with your deities includes service or other work you're signing yourself up for.

Have a moral and personal baseline you won't cross. Things you won't do if you feel like you're being asked to. Check in with yourself. Does something feel off? Do you feel asked to put yourself down? Do you feel asked to do something unethical? Take a step back.

If the voice and message are causing you distress, making you feel less than, forcing you into a subservient role, or otherwise put you down and diminish you rather than help you grow, it's likely trauma or intrusive thoughts. See above, Taking an emotional inventory.

• If an experience is causing you distress in the moment, stop and take care of yourself.
• If you can't get away from distressing messages, take a break from deity communication and focus on working through your mental health. I wrote a while ago about connecting with deities after trauma.

Even if a message is 100% confirmed, you still have sovereignty over your life. You have the right to say no, or to revoke consent. It is ultimately your decision when and how to act on the information received.

The importance of honesty

All these techniques are useless if we aren't honest with ourselves. I imagine that most people reading this, like myself, want to have an authentic and meaningful practice. That means being honest about when we're receiving messages from our deities, and when we're not.

How grounded is your practice?

Are you experiencing constant and continuous casual conversations with your deities as if it were an inner dialogue? If so, do you practice discernment? Or do you take every thought at face value and treat it as if it's for sure your god?

The risks of an ungrounded, undiscerning practice go beyond not being honest with ourselves. We could lose touch with reality, and start acting on random thoughts and impulses. We are disempowering ourselves, because we're treating unconfirmed messages as certain and definitive, taking away our agency in the relationship. When troubling thoughts come up, if we accept them undiscerningly as the voice of our gods, it's easy to get into a spiral of negativity and mental crisis.

And, ironically, an ungrounded practice could drive us further away from our gods, by letting our own inner dialogue drown them out.

Some of us have the opposite problem though, and we have trouble trusting ourselves and the voice of our deities. We become paralyzed with doubt rather than moving forward with necessary action. Sometimes honesty means accepting that, yes, it's real, and we have no excuses but to do the work.

It's important to be honest about our experiences when we talk to other people, too. If we serve as priests to our deities, in whatever way that means to each of us, this is particularly important. We represent our deities and our practices, and others look to us as examples of how to interact and build relationships with the gods we serve. Oracular work is outside the scope of this post, but if we're interpreting messages meant for someone else, discernment is 1000 times more important and getting it wrong is 1000 times worse.

Priest or no, if we are too quick to share on reddit what our deities told us, we don't give ourselves time to grow and reflect. We're too busy packaging our experiences for social media to allow them to deeply impact us. And it makes others, especially beginners, feel discouraged, by making them feel like their infrequent, vague, or uncertain interactions with deities are "less than". It creates a culture where we share messages from deities glibly rather than thoughtfully. It muddies the waters if we share messages as factual without having done the discernment work first. It does us, our deities, and our fellow pagans no favors if we embellish our experiences or gloss over the challenging and uncertain parts of our practice.

Closing thoughts

Communicating with our gods, hearing back from them, and building a deep and intimate relationship with them is one of the most awe-inspiring parts of our practice. It's important to be grounded and discerning, but not so grounded as to deny ourselves our own experiences. Discernment doesn't just mean knowing when a message doesn't come from a god, but also knowing when it does, and acting accordingly.

It's a skill that's trained with patience and repetition, and something we can infuse within our practice until it becomes second-nature.

Discernment gives our relationships and experiences depth and meaning that they wouldn't otherwise have had. It's at the foundation of my own path. Without discernment, I wouldn't have had a good way to process and understand my own intense and transformative experiences.

I hope this knowledge helps you as much as it has helped me. May it deepen your devotional practice and allow your meaningful experiences to shine all the brighter.

i was wandering if i could kind of mix ostara celebrations and do them on easter day? during the actual ostara i was really tired and i didnt really didnt do much. i had college that day and course work i had to catch up on. i would be celebrating ostara with the intention of celebrating the rebirth of nnature rather than the christain celebration.

I am relatively new to paganism and Hekate was the first deity to reach out to me. I really want to dedicate my time to her, make an altar, and give offerings. However, I am unable to because my family are huge Christians, and I am scared they will get mad.

I was curious to hear different people’s interpretations and experiences with gods from one pantheon that are sometimes listed as being associated with/equivalent to/versions of a god from another pantheon?

For example, I’m beginning to get more involved in Celtic paganism and was trying to read and learn more about Lugh/Lugus. Some articles I’ve read say he was associated with or equivalent to the Roman god Mercury, but I’m not sure how to interpret this exactly. Do folks who practice tend to see this as perhaps Lugus being a different cultural form of Mercury, like Hermes being a direct counterpart to Greeks, i.e. the same god going by a different name? Or two distinct gods who in ancient times were just equated together to serve cultural/political assimilation?

The other example that’s slightly different was Apollo and Belenus. I see that the Gaulish god Belenus was often identified with Apollo in Roman times, so similar to the previous example, I’m wondering if I should consider them distinct or different versions/“faces” of the same entity. What complicates this particular example is the existence of Apollo-Belenus as a god worshiped by Gallo-Romans. Do others consider Apollo and Belenus as synonymous, as different aspects of the same, as two distinct deities, or Apollo, Belenus, and Apollo-Belenus as three distinct deities?

I have been in contact with Athena and Loki. They usually speak to me in my head, as my inner voice. Earlier, I heard a male voice say, “can I come in?” And claimed to be Loki. Obviously I already had him there, and I asked who it really was. All I heard was a terrible laugh, and I banished the voice from my headspace and cleansed myself. I didn’t hear it again after that.

What are the chances that a negative entity can communicate with you this way? Is this something I have to prepare for?

Should pagans keep their hair long or is it more just personal choice?

I’m new to paganism and have found few answers about this that I connect with. Looking for some guidance. Thanks

How do pagans, heathens, Wiccans, etc, in the southern hemisphere deal with the celtocentric wheel of the year? Since most ancient cultures built their calendars and holy days around their unique harvest cycles how do modern practitioners in other parts of the world handle seasonal holidays? In the southern hemisphere, for example, is the wheel of the year switched to match the progression of the local solstice/equinox cycle or is yule/winter solstice celebrated in December regardless of location? Followup if it is the latter, how do you reconcile celebrations about winter in the heat of summer and vice versa?

I'm asking for scholastic reasons and would really like perspectives from those specifically from regions outside the northern hemisphere.

Hi! First time poster!

Was just curious what people are gonna do during the big solar eclipse that's approaching. Read its a big one this time like total black out of the sun.

Looking for inspiration

Bless Tor's day!

Hello there. I have been a baby pagan for about a month or so now and I feel like I'm drifting away from my worshiping and practice and I feel guilty(mainly because I don't want to offend my main god). Is this normal to some of you that have been in the craft for awhile? How did you get back to your practice?

So I’ve been doing lots of reading on mythical literalism and I can appreciate the fact that they may have been written to allow us to understand the world around us better, and that they can convey knowledge. But I get tripped up on the creation myth, what should I think of it? Did Odin and his brothers not make us? Should I look more for a scientific understanding of how we came to be? I can see a parallel between the first two primordial realms and the Big Bang but I struggle with creation and where time draw the literalism line. Any comments are helpful thank you all in advance.

hi, I’ve (20,MTF) posted a bit before on an alt account. I’m a devotee, and I’d like to post my thoughts on the goddess!

for starters, I’ve worshipped her for about 4-5 years at this stage. I’ve been devoted for about a year and a half. she’s ALWAYS intrigued me in every sort of media I’ve interacted with her in, so I began to worship her upon seeing weekly signs turn into daily ones. my music changed into love ballads. i very vividly remember lighting her candle and listening to high school sweethearts by Melanie Martinez for the first time. my altar was a tiny spot on my desk and it had a couple rose quartz stones, plastic shells and a rose vanilla bath and body works candle.

as my music taste changed, my worship (obviously lmao) expanded. I began to see her in everything, and just have conversations with her like an old friend. I feel so close to her, she’s like almost a maternal/older sisterly figure at this point. I can walk up to my altar now and understand precisely how she’s feeling and what I need to be doing, (although she is flighty at times and loves to give me “maybes” instead of any sort of solid answer!!)

about a year ago, after I started devoting myself deeper into her worship, I began researching her history and her origins. I dedicated my self care, all of my perfumes (though this was a couple years earlier!) and started performing glamour magic. I started to set out candles for Inanna, Ishtar, Asherah and Astarte as my worship deepened into her more complex epithets.

I began to incorporate her into my diet, almost. I cook with a lot of herbs like dill, rosemary and thyme which was found on the island she sprouted from. I make date caramel and rose-honey syrup for my iced coffees, and use almond milk in practically everything. my body care is devoted as well - almond oil, almond milk and rose water baths are a must. I lather myself up with almond oil and extra virgin olive oil as moisturizers and try to use rose water as toners. Eventually, I want to plant my own rose garden.

She became this massive aspect of my life so fast, to where I don’t even realize how devout I’ve gotten sometimes. I’ll find myself just watching videos on her absentmindedly, painstakingly making MINECRAFT alters to her when im bored, and shopping for rose quartz and carnelian, or planning my next beach trip. ive found myself asking her to enchant and bless my estrogen injections and spironolactone (t-blockers).

• how I view her now -

to me, this goddess is everything and so deeply complex. she’s the goddess of love, war, fertility, sex, violence, transformation, rebirth, and the sea. she’s the queen of heaven - a mother goddess that breaks all the rules assigned to her by what men think womanhood and motherhood should be. she’s raw femininity straight from the source, unfiltered, confident, and stern on her stances. she’s primordial and as ancient as the ocean itself. she was one of the first and she will be one of the last.

i think she’ll be with me for the rest of my life in all honesty. I don’t think i will ever not be worshipping her in some fashion.

I'm not judging or giving an opinion, I'm just looking for a word.

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I remember hearing this point of view somewhere and I forget the word for it but here's a basic explanation.

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If enough people believe in something(a god usually), it becomes real and has power. This extends down to the idea of someone. For example a high profile political figure could be seen a specific way and then if enough people believe in this version then a [thoughtform? tulpa? neither of those but close] of that person develops.

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usually this thing is believed to exist in the astral realm or some other adjacent realm. I really just can't remember the word and it's driving me crazy.

Hi all! I’m reaching out specifically to hopefully chat with people who have experience with Hermes, but any advice on deity work and connection in general would be lovely.

I’ve been a lazy pagan for years, by which i mean i’ve been interested but never bothered with rituals or offerings and so never really used the label for myself. However, I always said if I did god work it would be Odin and Thoth (i’ve just always felt connected to them?). Later I also was drawn to Dionysus and Loki, but that’s not directly relevant.

I decided I wanted to actually start being serious about worship a few months ago, and on the way home from work one day found a golden caduceus lapel pin in the parking lot by my car. I‘d never so much as considered Hermes to be honest, but was willing to take it as a sign and took it with me. Did some research, but life and procrastination kept me from setting up an altar or anything other than an occasional conversation to myself. A couple weeks later at a thrift market I turned a corner and came face to proverbial face with a literal seven foot golden caduceus. So. I started taking the hint that he was maybe definitely trying to talk.

At the time I’d just been laid off and was looking for new work, as well as trying to start an etsy store with some friends, so i took it as a mercantile boon of sorts that he was reaching out to me. Unexpectedly I got a call back from a potential job at a place I’d always thought about working for, but the hours and conditions were shady as hell, and I wound up turning it down. This was maybe a month ago, and no signs since, so I worry somewhat that I turned away a gift and upset him? I’m very new to all this and am not yet sure how to judge where I stand with deities.

Later research made me realize that Odin and Thoth, who i’d always felt connected to, were often said by Greeks to be other culture’s versions of Hermes; that and, since a child i’d always see hawks flying overhead while traveling long road trips and take it as a protective spirit (came to realize hawks are to some sources a holy animal for Hermes).

All this information to say, I think i’ve pretty clearly been reached out to, but would love to hear thoughts from others with more experience.
Im worried i’ve been lazy at best and disrespectful at worst. I want to set up a proper shrine and start taking things seriously, I’m just not sure where to start (like i said, id never considered or felt particularly attached to Hermes until he reached out).

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I really liked the games, but sometimes I feel like it was an antipagan/atheist/abrahamic power fantasy because you kill Deities.

So, basically my (and others) hours at work have been cut as directed by our DM.

Anyone have any advice on asking a God of work/labour to help with getting more work.

Why do some people consider it probably and toxic? I don't wanna cause a stir here, but I've seen some videos saying that it was toxic, and that. I also saw someone saying it was basically Christianity ( you probably know what's I'm talking). Why's that?

Edit 2: in case of someone seeing this post, I saw someone commenting is watered down whichcraft with Christian points of view. What could it be? edit:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe5s53MH/ (doenst seem too reliable since she critiques wicca but doenst explain it. commented asking for one, still waiting. ill update if she responds)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdUGmgVfNIQ&t=1176s&ab_channel=ShadowoodConjure (she discusses the controversial origins of Wicca and the influence of its founder, Gerald Gardner. Gardner, who claimed to be the most anti-Christian, had significant Christian influences and disturbing behavior, including abuse of women and discriminatory beliefs. Wicca's fundamental concept, the threefold law, is criticized for being a fear-inducing and racist belief system that labels certain practices as evil. The speaker also accuses Wicca of appropriating deities and practices from various cultures without proper understanding or respect. Instead, the speaker encourages listeners to honor their ancestors and traditional religions, emphasizing the importance of ancestral veneration and the spiritual benefits of practicing a religion that is a part of one's culture and heritage.(sorry i used ai for this because im not good at summarizing things))

Hey! Newbie here, I'm only recently starting to learn about Paganism and am actually really interested in learning about the different things people do or the different things people believe in! I was just wondering, what would you guys wish you knew when you first started practicing or even just researching Paganism? Be it a part of your current routine / practice that you find essential or even just basics that you wish were more talked about! It'd be great to know what to research and find reliable resources for some of these things too if you have any books or websites you recommend?

I missed ostara on the 19 / 20th and was wondering if i could still do a little ritual for spring! could i still decorate my altar today?

I’m still learning so any advice is appreciated 🌸

Having since just missed ostara as being Pretty new to paganism, I decided to do my first spring planting of a set of peas! I hope I’m doing it right. I’m gonna do some chaos magick sigil activation later on in order to make the desire of fruitful spring peas to come to life. I really hope I’m doing it right. Well hope you all have a nice day! May the green man be with you!