♡ 　　isa 　　ˬ

Shout out to pagans who have a romantic relationship with their deities and others don't believe them.

Shout out to pagans who have sexual relationships with their deities and are judged or attacked for it.

Shout out to pagans who have a parental relationship with their deities and don't feel taken seriously or belittled by others.

Shout out to pagans that are aro-/ ace- spec and feel uncomfortable with the idea of bringing romance or intimacy into relationships with their deities.

Shout out to pagans who see/hear/feel their deities and are called crazy or mentally ill for it.

Shout out to pagans who cannot sense or feel their deities at all and feel left out or disconnected from the community.

Shout out to pagans who are mentally ill and have a hard time knowing if something is real or not and aren't sure how exactly their relationship with their deities is.

Shout out to pagans who are chronically ill or disabled and feel like they can't do as much for their deities as they'd like to/as other pagans.

Shout out to young and new pagans who have no idea where they're at with their deities.

Your relationship with your deity is uniquely your's. It's beautiful and it's valid. You're a pagan, and the pagan community is your community, no matter what part of the spectrum you fall onto.

as a mormon child i never got why people loved religion so much, until i converted to hellenism- i've never been so happy about belief and my place on the planet, ive never felt so loved

NO EXACTLY LIKE

i used to be like "why do people talk so much about their religion, how do they feel so much for god" as a muslim but now that i'm a hellenist DUDE

i can't even begin to describe the amount of devotion i feel

Trans

I know we’ve just started this, but I noticed that Apollon is viewed as a god of boys, and I can’t help but wonder as a system that collectively identifies as trans man, if Apollon’s god-of-boys reaches over to trans boys, too. I wonder if he’d mind a trans guy worshiping him or if somewhere, within him, he’d view us as a girl and would reject us.

I know it’s kinda silly to think such things, but we’re surrounded by enough transphobia as is -- Within our family, our temple, and the Hebrew God they pray to and use as an excuse to not respect our trans identity. I hope the Hellenic gods are different than what we grew up with. I hope Apollon is different than what we grew up with.

i struggled with this but for a different reason . i identify as bigender , specifically male and female so i am a boygirl . i remember panicking because i didn't know whether to reach out to apollo or artemis for protection , since technically i fall under both of them according to my gender label .

but it was solved pretty quick thanks to a “but what would you call yourself? not as a gender label, but as a person” from apollo. the answer was , a boy.

tldr; the gods are not transphobic ( hell , dionysos is a genderfluid icon !! )

A sentiment I don't quite understand sometimes in polytheism circles is the rejection of the idea that the gods are, in fact, above us (more than literally). They are nature. How is nature not above us in totality, and is not better to interact with nature as a natural being, part of a whole, than claiming to be on par with the seasons and tides? How can man claim to be greater than the forests and swamps?

I like that nature is greater, for it allows my actions towards them to shine all the more. They are no boss, no shitty CEO--they are the wonders of the world, and for that, I am happy to be who I am. If it's a trauma thing, that is fine, but such an attitude is...strange, to me.

please people stop seeing retellings as an substitute of the original material. thanks.

this!

this is a very personal thing but i prefer not to call it “working with” because i'm VERY big on words ( literary analysis fanatic so i love analysing why certain words are used in specific contexts ) and saying “i'm working with xyz” makes me feel like i'm a colleague of some sort ?

and for some people that's their thing , they prefer that! for me , i prefer to acknowledge that the gods are above me so instead of saying “i'm working with xyz” i usually just say “i'm building a bond with xyz”

the point of this post is not to put down or demonise anyone that says they are working with a deity , rather just to let newer / unaware pagans know that you can call it different things if you're not comfortable with the term! it's your practice , and whether you say you're working with a deity , building a bond with a deity , or a completely different term that you prefer , go crazy!

am i the only one who thinks about the fact gods are in their home? like, what do you mean gods visit me? they look at my room, my bed, my clothes, the mess that i make on my couch with all my plushies and clothes, random bras and socks that i didn’t like thrown around…and my parent’s bedroom and all their shiny jewels and cute sculptures, the living room and its coziness, the kitchen and its persistent smell of homecooked food? do they like it? what do they think? in the end, it’s just like when a important person visits you. you can’t do anything but hope it is cosy for them.

it motivates me to clean my room , actually ! “wait no i can't pray yet , my bed isn't made what will apollo think :(”

General reminder that most people do not have miasma. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

this! what most people tend to think is miasma is typically described as lyma, which can … easily be washed away simply by taking a shower!

the concept of khernips always confused me mostly because, i've never quite found a proper source for khernips despite deep research and asking others for sources (which are usually just links to other tumblr posts).

this doesn't mean you should show up at the altar all stinky and sweaty though! just a shower and washing your face and hands before prayer can go a long way.

while i’m sure it’s certainly cool to be chosen by a deity for worship/devotion, i think there’s something beautiful about choosing them instead. having little to no signs from a deity, but seeing them and saying “yes. yes. yes. you are the one i want to devote myself to. work on myself for. be a part of your life as you are mine.” as a practitioner and then setting forth. i personally feel like we don’t have many options in life, so it’s nice to be the one to decide.

one thing I'd like to add — being chosen by a deity for worship / devotion is not always sunshine and rainbows . i've had the same god approach me multiple times , despite my refusal with a reason included . this specific god is not from the hellenic pantheon which is primarily why i refused — i don't really plan to worship gods from other pantheons for now — but the insistence continues to this day . as a last resort i've just begun ignoring the signs because no is a complete sentence .

tldr ; being chosen by a deity isn't everything . stick to your practices and boundaries !

Here’s a reminder that you don’t have to talk to the Gods everyday in order to have a relationship with them. It’s totally okay to take breaks if you need to. 💜

something i saw someone say , don't remember where , but i remember someone said to observe how other religions practice . a majority of christians i know are just ... people , really . they go to church and read the bible on sundays , give thanks before a hearty meal , and ... that's about it ? and yet they aren't any distant from the god that they believe in ! they aren't any less of a christian solely because they don't practice every day .

i know not every practice is the same , that's not what i'm saying here . what i'm saying is , you don't have to light their candles or give an offering or pray every single day , that's just not realistic . you should strive to be consistent , yes ! but consistency does not mean daily ! we are human , we get tired , a majority of younger and newer pagans are neurodivergent . the gods understand .