r/pagan

(chose flair for lack of a better one)

The question is fairly self explanatory. However I'll expand on it a bit. I'm particularly curious about these things:

1. Do you believe in a higher God or "One" (if so elaborate on that)
2. What is the nature of deity in your belief (are they persons, what's their moral nature, are they aspects of reality itself, etc)
3. What is the ontology of your gods
4. Do you distinguish between gods and spirits? If so, how? Does this question even apply to you?
5. Stance on the "supernatural"
6. Opinion on the place and function of religion

And really anything else you have to say. Thanks in advance!

I have limited space and I follow Apollo, Hecate, Hestia, Gaia, and Aphrodite. Due to my limited space I have Gaia and Apollo sharing an altar and Hecate and Hestia sharing an altar. I'm not sure if these gods/goddesses are compatible and can share am altar. The best I could do is switch who they are sharing with due to my lack of space.

Hi, it's my very first deipnon, and I messed it up really bad I think.

I don't have much to offer, so I left her some: honey, dried figs, rosemary, dried dandelion, and a biscoff biscuit.

I also didn't clean or cleanse my apartment, I have no idea how to do intentional wards, I have a protection spell I used from a dried bay leaf a bit ago.

I also did a tarot reading at my altar, and got the strong urge in my gut to leave. Leave right then and don't return to it. I said, "okay I'll leave you alone now." The tarot reading was very interesting. I don't remember it but it said that I'm broke and I've been making bad financial decisions lately (I have) and i need to fix it.

That night I didn't do anything spiritual. I just went on my phone, but something felt off about it. I had this thought that I should be doing spiritual work, but I'm in a lot of pain (i have fibromyalgia and its been hitting really bad lately) and i couldn't really get up. I had tea and some biscoff and nodded off because of how much pain I've been in. I never do that.

I woke up several times last night from weird lucid dreams. The first one was weird and all I remember is it gave me a sense of danger. The second time was the same, but near the end this woman had this jar she was whipping something up in. I asked her what it was, and she said it was a protection spell. She didn't say if it was for me or not, but after that, I had a third weird lucid dream, but it was a lessened sense of danger.

I don't know what to make of it, but I've definitely learned my lesson: put up some fkin wards, more protections, and learn the craft before doing anything with the spiritual world.

I put a post in here last night actually about my cat actually. It was weird how she was reacting to it. At a certain point, she intentionally sat right in front of it with her back turned, and she was irritated for the rest of the night. I thought she was being silly, now I'm not so sure.

I need some advice.

I am not sure why exactly, but I have always found In Anna fascinating and have been drawn to her - but I don't know much of anything about her besides being a goddess in Sumerian times. Since I was younger, I adored photos of her statues, occasionally would read about Sumerians - yet something would always give me pause for some reason. Maybe I wasn't mature enough for her? I'm not sure. As an adult woman now in my 30s I find myself thinking about her again.

Does anyone work with her? What are your experiences? Where is a good place to start my research? Any stories to tell?

Hello, good wishes to everyone here; I have believed in the Gods since June of last year, basically right before the Summer solstice. The thing is, I haven't really been doing worship or anything significant for the Deities I feel connected with since approximately March, to the point where I haven't washed my two altars, not only not cleansed or anything more spiritual, but actual physical washing, with water and soap and all, in spite of having lowkey promised to do it on Kallynteria-Plynteria or Noumenia, but that was half a year ago, and now the Dyonisiacas and the Panathenaia and the Equinox and Solstice have gone by and I haven't done anything; I barely have lit my candles because I feel it's disrespectful to do it without having cleasnsed and washed everything properly.

I know I might sound exaggerated, I've always suspected I have some sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but anyways. What advice could you offer me, fellow pagans? How do you wash your altars? Do you wash them monthly, weekly, only right before a ritual or celebration?

I might add that one of the altars, consecrated to Hellenic deities, is on top of a bookwardrobe, and the other is inside an in-wall closet.

I'll still probably do it tomorrow now that I finally let it all out, since this is the only problem I consider too private to even disclose it to my best friends or my psychologist, and the only other pagan I know IRL (Bogotá, Colombia) is very reserved and private too and I lowkey ruined my friendship with her for unrelated (I think) reasons. And what could I do to show Lady Athena and Lady Hecate and Lord Hermes and the ancestral deities of my country that I'm sorry for neglecting their worship? Thank you in advance.

So this afternoon I came across a DVD of a History Channel program (from about 25 years ago) about the Greek pantheon. Which got me wondering if there were any good documentaries on paganism in general or particular pantheons, practices, etc.

Eclectic pagan here who works with an unnamed deity.

Been looking for different jobs. Fingers crossed I get an interview. I’m grateful for working but my work environment has gotten much more hard to bear. Idk if I mentioned how at my job the rules are no politics and no religion however, no one follows that rule and will push their politics and/or religion onto me and it makes me extremely uncomfortable.

My boss will ask me “You pray to Jesus right? You thank God right?” And will stare at me waiting for my answer. Being here is driving me insane. I hope I find something soon. I almost walked out yesterday but I thought of my monthly payments and a Halloween trip I have coming up. It’s been so hard. I really don’t want to be here anymore you guys.

How would you handle this situation? (Of course look for a different job, that’s a given) I more so mean how would you respond when this happens? At the moment I’ve just been silent. I’m outnumbered.

Hi all! As a lifelong Tennessee resident, and a pagan of about 16 years, I’ve often found it pretty sad living in the Bible Belt; difficult to find other pagans ‘round these parts, let alone anything other than hardcore evangelicals. I’ve attended NPPD every year/other year for a good chunk of my adult life but never thought to see if any other redditors were going. Sadly my fiancée and I won’t be able to attend this year, but I thought I’d still ask and see if anyone else was going! Hope you have a great time if you do!

(Totally not trying to attend vicariously through anyone… definitely not)

I am having a real problem

I have a logical mind and comes into my spiritual thoughts and practices. Even just reading about the gods my logical mind can to play.

Its not a "the gods aren't real because abc". Its more of...

For example

"Ancient people believed in hard polytheism, so obviously its true. BUT how in the world can there be so many goddesses of love, war, etc?"

My logical mind thinks that the gods are powerful and there is no need, nor is it logical, for there to be a lot of gods with the same aspect.

My mind literally cannot comprehend hard polytheism. It trying to understand hard polytheism and coming up with reason and logic for them, is like a warzone

Logic and reason is just how my mind works

So its like a battle with spiritual practices and thoughts against my logical mind

Hey all! I had a grandparent who passed recently, and I'm trying to get the courage to try ancestor worship with him. He was a Christian, though. Basically, I have some questions. Also, I am mainly a Hellenic pagan, but I have interests in a lot of other traditions.

1. Do y'all engage in ancestor worship?

2. Is there a Hellenic way to do this? I'd love to hear about Heathen, Canaanite, or Mesopotamian oractices too if any if you practice those traditions.

3. In your experience, does a family member being Christian impact your worship in any way?

Also, I'm still a closeted pagan (I'm closeted in a bunch of different ways, not just with Hellenism). For other closeted folks, does this impact your ancestor worship?

Also also, are there any good resources for this? It doesn't have to be Hellenic. I have been wanting to get "Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece" for some time now, and I think I might finally get it.

Thank you all for your hospitality, and may the gods and spirits bless you!