#pagan things

[actiwitch]

Ppl: what about you?

Me: oh, I'm pagan- norse, mainly.

Ppl: oh OK. What does that mean exactly? Like who is your god?

Me: I worship the pantheon at large, but currently have a space on my altar for Odin and Freyja.

Ppl:

It feels like in CONCEPT most people are alright enough with paganism, even if they think it's strange, but I've found (frustratingly) that the second I ACTUALLY MENTION the Gods or my practice people just shut off, often into assumptions of the Gods as pop culture figures.

MY GODS ARE NOT NEW. THEY ARE NOT A JOKE OR SOMETHING CREATED FROM TIKTOK TEENAGERS OR MARVEL MOVIES OR BOOKS OR WEBCOMICS.

#heathenry #heathen #pagan #norse pagan #paganism #paganblr #norse paganism #heathenblr #thor worship #loki worship #freyja worship #odin worship #odin god #freyja goddess #freya goddess #the allfather #pagan things #altar #pagan altar

[misspjsuperior]

Would you let her in?

Mari Lwyd shirt by Miss PJ Superior

#mari lwyd #witch memes #weird art #spooky season #goth christmas #welsh seduction machine #folk magic #old ways #pagan things #folklore #folk customs #metalhead

[lotusfeather-and-bone]

Hey Kemetic fam, I am leading a Wep Ronpet celebration later this year (August 2023) with my local witch/pagan group. I know what I usually do on my own to celebrate, but I'm not sure what rituals could be used in a group setting besides smashing pots and snake-cakes.

Anyone have any suggestions?

**The only reason I'm asking now is the shop owner hosting my event wants to advertise in April so people are aware of it.**

#Kemetic #kemetic paganism #kemetic pagan #kemeticism #wep ronpet 2023 #pagan things #morgan's musings #paganism

[thehazeldruid]

Yue's Empowerment

A Full Moon Spell to find balance both internally and externally

What You Need

Full moon preferred but not necessary. As long as you can see the moon, it works just as well.

Yourself

Dissolvable paper, Pen or Pencil

Water in a small bowl

White candle (cleansing, balance, clarity)

Incense- (Bergamot, Benzoin, Cedar) for balance

A bottle or jar for the water

What To Do

Prepare both yourself and your workspace as necessary. Meditate, ground, center, call on the powers you invoke, cast a circle and so on.

This is important. Acknowledge the moon. Invite it to be a part of your working. Embrace and Meditate on the moon in all of its forms. The light, the gravity, the phases and its effect on the tides, the fact that it reflects the sun’s light.

Light the candle and incense. Apply those aspects of the moon you meditated on to yourself and your life. What kind of light do you reflect? What kind of ‘gravity’ do you have? What things/ people does your gravity effect? What phases do you go through?

For the next two steps think of the writing in terms of “I am usually late; but I try to make up for being late.” Find the positives and their negative reverse aspects in yourself. Do this on a one to one scale. Every positive should have a negative.

Write them down on the paper, balancing the scales of yourself. Find the tides both high and low in yourself. Find the internal balance. Do this likewise outside of yourself. How do you bring balance or imbalance to the world around you? How do you effect other people? What kind of waves and tides do you create in the world? Write these out as well.

Once you’ve gotten these two bits written out, place the paper into the water and allow it to dissolve as you hold the bowl of water up in the moonlight. Say “O great moon, shining brilliantly, Teach me the balance I seek, As you move the tides, move within me, Let your many phases guide my soul, So that your balance I may know, I offer up my best and my worst, Tied together on the scales, Silver lady, shining bright, Show me the power in your light.” *Light more incense and another candle if need be.*

As the paper dissolves, visualize yourself achieving the balance you seek. Visualize yourself being on time more often, or cleaning more often, or being less angry or whatever it is you’re seeking to bring into balance. Envision if happening step by step, every action it will take to achieve it.

Acknowledge and adjust the negative, work towards the positive. When the spell is done, you must ACTIVELY work toward these goals.

Take the bowl of water and pour it into the jar, label it as you see fit and let it sit out in the moonlight.

Thank the moon, acknowledge it every time you see it as a reminder that you’re working to find the same balance it has. Blow out the candle and incense.

Good luck and happy casting witches!

M.G.

/|\

The Hazel Druid

#pagan #paganism #pagan things #druid #druidry #witch #witchcraft #witchy #witches of tumblr #magic #magick #spell #spells #spellwork #ritual #pagans of tumblr #avatar spell series #my content #my original content #original content

[cordeliahrose]

How To: Devotional Acts

Devotional acts are a very common way of honoring a deity. They fit in well with busy schedules, and low energy. I question I see a lot though is "How do dedicate an action to a deity?"

What are devotional acts?

Devotional acts are activities or actions you do to honor a deity. But, they don't have to be elaborate things you only do for a deity. They can be things you already do that you've decided to dedicate to a deity.

The way I view devotional acts is that the point is to offer some of your time to a deity. It goes a bit deeper than that, I wouldn't dedicate an action to a deity if it doesn't fall under their association at all, but the main point is the time given. That is also why I try to keep the deity in my mind while I'm doing the activity.

So how to? There's no one solid answer to this question. Everyone does it differently. And some people, like me, use different methods with different deities.

Visualization

Visualize the deity you are dedication the action to while you are doing it. An example:

You work with Aphrodite. You decide you want to dedicate your morning routine to her. So, you visualize Aphrodite in your mind while you go about your routine.

You may visualize her being there with you, or you may just visualize her generally. This can also depend on what your intention is. If you want to invite a deity to be present with you while you go about your activity, you might decide to visualize them there with you. But, if you just want to dedicate that time to them, you might just visualize them.

Statements

State aloud or in your head that you are dedicating this action to a deity. An example:

You work with Aphrodite. You decide you want to start a conversation with a stranger, and dedicate this to her. So, you say "I dedicate this conversation to you, Aphrodite."

There are many different statements you can chose to use. It's about saying that this time is dedicated to them, not about how you say it. I have a few different statements I usually use. The above sentence, "In honor of Aphrodite", "I invite you [deity] to be here with me if you wish to]"

What you say is up to you, and what feels right.

Playlists

Listen to a playlist created for a deity while you do the action. An example:

You work with Aphrodite. You want to make time to honor her today, but it's a busy day. You decide that you'll listen to music that reminds you of her on your drive to work.

#paganism #pagans of tumblr #paganblr #pagan things #deity work

[yves-and-scessernee]

the true end of summer. happy new year, friends.

#pagan things #pagan

[mewtatedbunnies]

Happy Samhain everyone!!!

Today is the day that An Mórrígan offered Her help to An Dagda for the Second Battle of Moytura. He accepted and They laid together. Samhain is often referred to as Their wedding night, and I think of An Mórrígan bringing back two handfuls of their enemy’s king’s blood as Her wedding present to Him

I hope you all enjoy any festivities you’re participating in today!

And Happy Halloween for those who don’t celebrate Samhain 🎃🎃🎃

#bunny bites #pagan things

[biohazard-inevitable]

That moment when you have a weird dream that gives you a werid feeling so you tell your friend and they’re just like, “oh yeah thats the prehistoric god ive been trying to contact” and you’re just sitting there like

W h a t.

#pagan #paganism #pagan things #old gods #dhshhshshshsjssh anyways here i am trying to get on this guys good side cause hes SCARY #gave me a real spook last night

[emluvsevermore]

in need of more mutuals >:)

i post about exmo stuff, witchy/pagan things, stucky, pjo (specifically nico and will), trans and gay experience, and other random shit

#exmo #witch community #pagan things #pjo #solangelo #stucky #marvel ships #trans ftm #trans gay #looking for mutuals #need more mutuals #looking for moots #moots

[pranolagunk]

Do u think they have Moon Mist Blue in Valhalla?

#pagan things #pagan memes #juggalo #juggalx #faygo #Valhalla #personal

[misspjsuperior]

Sending out rune casting cloths across the ocean.

Featuring the great world tree Yggdrasil.

Screen printed by hand by Miss PJ Superior at Kapitaal in Utrecht.

#norse paganism #norse runes #yggdrasil #runic magic #divination #rune casting #divination tools #pagan things #rune magic #screenprinting #white ink #dog bandana

[lotusfeather-and-bone]

There's something I've been coming to realize in my personal practice and worship of my gods lately, and that is it's just as respectful to take a relaxed approach to your worship. Deity work doesn't have to be difficult all the time. It certainly can be, and at times should be. But the simple things are just as meaningful to the gods.

What I mean by that is not everything you do in praise of your gods has to be this specific ritual or offering. In my experience, the gods are just as happy knowing that you're thinking of them and aware of the hand they play in your life.

It's a beautiful sunny day and I have a few minutes outside during my shift? I'll say a quick thank you to Re, or maybe I'll thank Shu for the breeze.

I pass some really lovely red-leafed trees on my drive? I'll point them out to Set or Morrigan because they like red and it made me think of them.

Hawks and vultures flying by or hanging out in the trees? Auset gets a smile and a small hello.

There's a time and place for the big offerings and the multi-step rituals, but for me that's just as big a part of my practice as it is to simply involve my deities in my life. The effort is appreciated just as much when it's something small and seemingly unimportant because it was important enough for you to think about them in that moment and share it with your gods.

So the next time you make friends with the neighborhood cat, spare a thought for Bast or Freyja or Artemis (I think?). Share the beautiful weather with Apollo or Re.

Share your day with the gods.

#morgan's musings #pagan things #paganism #deity work

[little-sebastophant]

Are the Sebastoi gods?

Good question.

Yes and no, which is an honest but unhelpful reply.

In Ancient Rome the question was largely an academic/philosophical one (divine honours were accorded and temples were built with heedless disregard for such pedantic specifics) but was also, it seems, a question that no-one sat down to answer. As far as I am aware there is no ancient philosopher or Late Classical theurgist who addressed the nuts and bolts of the Emperors’ divinity in private letters, public rumination, or any other kind of surviving text — although I would be thrilled to be found wrong.

This is not to say that it was never addressed at all: imperial deification was a trope often mocked and maligned by Roman satirists (Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis included a harsh indictment of the Emperor Claudius’ deification, with Divus Augustus cuttingly asking the divine Senate of the Gods “who will worship such a god? Who will believe in him? While you create gods of this sort nobody will believe that you are gods.”) and sometimes the Emperors themselves, such as Vespasian’s dying proclamation that “I think I am becoming a god!”

This still isn’t all that useful, however.

A starting place that is useful would be the Declaration of the Roman Imperial Cult, which forms the doctrinal (as it were) and religious basis of the Imperial Cult’s revival within Byzantium Novum and the Classical Church. The Declaration is a very interesting document and I’ll discuss it further later, but for this post Art. II is most relevant:

“We affirm the Divi Imperii (Divine Emperors) to be Divine Beings who have transcended Earthly existence to dwell with the Dii Immortales, the ancient Goddesses and Gods. They are not the Gods themselves yet are spiritual beings with ability to intercede with the Gods on behalf of human civilization. They are akin to the demigods and Divine Heroes of the Classical world.”

That would seem to settle the matter fairly conclusively, at least in a Byzantine Pagan context. In this reading the difference between the Divine Emperors and the Roman Catholic communion of saints is arguably pretty slim, and the Emperors are “not the Gods themselves” — and notably the term used for the Gods here is Dii Immortales, not Dii Consentes, which indicates that the statement is applicable to all the Gods as opposed to the Emperors being outranked by ‘just’ the Twelve Olympians; a situation which would be only natural. Perhaps we are being too parsimonious with godhood, however. The Declaration holds that the Emperors are not the Gods, but what about being ‘simply’ gods, uncapitalised? Steven Dillon’s excellent work of natural theology, The Case for Polytheism, posits a fair definition of polytheistic divinity which the Emperors easily meet:

By using a selection of our paradigmatic examples of gods, I propose the following three conditions as sufficient for godhood:

(i): Disembodied consciousness

(ii):  Immensely more powerful than evolved minds

(iii): Remarkable greatness

The Divine Emperors (all 101 of them recognised by Byzantium Novum) have in my own personal experience hit all three points: disembodied consciousnesses who are immensely more powerful than mortal minds — as indeed they must be, given the works they have wrought before me. “Remarkable greatness” is somewhat more difficult to define, however, and so we turn back to Dillon:

…it seems to be that which is deserving of our awe. When you stand before a truly magnificent accomplishment, dwarfed in the shadow of a great pyramid for example, you might be struck by a sense of awe. It is reverence we feel, and we’re impressed by it. […]

It is important to describe greatness as that which deserves our awe instead of as that which happens to elicit our awe, because our awe may be elicited by something that is not great. For example, your sensus magnae (sense of greatness) would be malfunctioning if a team of wayward neuroscientists manipulated you to feel awe whenever you had to use the restroom. To deserve our awe is to be worthy of it.

This applies to the Emperors quite well — in life they were responsible for stunning and near-superhuman accomplishments: pacifying savage and barbarian lands to establish peace, order, and civilisation; building some of the most tremendous monuments and architectural achievements of the West; and shepherding Father Jupiter’s covenant people for well over a thousand years. What is remarkable, if not the legacy of Roman civilisation which they have bequeathed to us? By Dillon’s metric the Divine Emperors are, then, certainly gods; but having reached this conclusion there are important questions which still remain, namely what is the ontological difference between the Emperors as gods and The Gods™️, and what exactly turned a dead Emperor into a Divine Emperor? This is where I dip into the realm of speculative theology.

First and most obviously the Emperors are created beings — once mortal men — whereas the Gods have eternally existed and were never created per se by any greater Intelligence. Just as important a distinction is that the Divine Emperors are still subject to a range of emotions, whereas The Gods™️ do not experience emotions as-such; or at any rate not more than one of them. Heliokles, a contemporary polytheist philosopher aligned with the school of Julian Hellenism, discusses in his article The divine are happy: appropriate attitudes to worshipping divinity the fact that “[t]he Gods were frequently understood as being in an eternal state of blessedness, a feature of divinity which distinguished the Gods from mortal-kind” and references Cicero’s De natura Deorum, wherein Gaius Velleius asserts that “the Gods are supremely happy, and no-one can be happy without virtue”. The use of the word ‘supremely’ is important here: the Gods are not only happy, they are as happy as it is possible to be, and if like Velleius we grant that happiness is intrinsically connected to virtue then it logically follows that the Gods also possess the complete fullness of virtue.

But what is this virtue which the Gods possess?

The Romans conceived of virtus as a complex thing, overlapping many different kinds of behaviour according to one’s station and situation, all working together to order, promote, and preserve the social contract; that the Gods possess the fullness of virtue is an important point when considering the question of mechanics. It is a frequent stumbling block for modern Roman polytheists that Imperial divinity was not the result of some spiritual process per se, but rather was something conferred by a legislative vote postmortem. This is seen as somehow dubious and insincere; some political machination which is no longer worthy of credence or respect in the revitalised Roman nation. Such opinions are resolutely ill-founded.

The simple truth is that in the traditional Cultus Deorum the Gods are in a sense Roman citizens as well — and it is only natural that, should the Senate properly decree divine honours, the Gods as good citizens would facilitate this process and honour the social contract. It would after all be requisitely virtuous of a Roman citizen to obey the laws and execute them where necessary; as the Gods possess supreme virtue, and are regarded in Roman religion as basically citizens, they must therefore be the most perfect of citizens and reflect this unblemished reputation in their respect of institutions… such as by welcoming deified Emperors into the fold by dint of the Senate’s vote.

John Scheid’s wonderful and authoritative An Introduction to Roman Religion speaks at length to the conception and conceptual framework of “citizen gods” in the ancient Cultus Deorum; and an important part of that framework was the idea that the Gods respected (were in a sense ‘bound’ by in the same way as a citizen) the authorities of the Roman state and their actions. Scheid provides an excellent example of this which was “handed down to posterity by a judicial opinion of the pontifex maximus Quintus Mucius Scaevola,” wherein “the city … obliged (so to speak) [an] offended deity to adopt a course of action founded upon reason.” The cultural/theological foundation which provided to State authorities the ability to ‘oblige’ deities to their decisions is one which the author handily describes:

…the correct approach to religion involved believing that the gods were good and respected the social code of the city: so long as they were not gravely offended and the city institutions continued to function, the gods were not expected to take direct revenge or to heap disasters upon weak human beings. That was the gods' way of honouring the contract of respect and assistance that they were commonly believed to have made with Rome…

The civic image of ‘citizen gods’ was confirmed by numerous rituals and rules, and may be regarded as one of the major interpretations of traditional Roman religion. The determination, affirmed ever since at least the fifth century BC, to diminish the power of the priests and submit religion to the will and control of the people, expressed, for example, in laws relating to priesthoods, underlines the public and communal nature of the relationship between gods and men. It is reasonable to assume that this tendency was also linked with … the kind of religion worthy of a citizen…

..the deities owed their place at the heart of cities not to any epiphany - not, that is, to any personal manifestation on their part - but above all to a human decision, the will of the people, the senate, a magistrate or a mythical king.

Likewise he remarks upon the involvement of the Senate in adjudicating divinity; a practice which had been represented in Roman religion not only in the Imperial era, but from the time of the Republic as well:

When an unknown deity unexpectedly manifested himself or herself, even with the purpose of coming to the Romans' aid, like the famous Aius Locutius in the fourth century BC, his epiphany had first to be accepted by the public institutions; it had to receive, as it were, the approval of a majority vote in the Senate. One Christian writer could write with irony: `Among you (pagans) a god's divinity depends on man's decision. Unless a god please man, he shall not be a god at all; in fact, man must look kindly on god' (Tertullian, Apologeticus 5.1).

We have established that the Divine Emperors are gods but are not among the Gods. That they are gods I have learnt from experience; these experiences have likewise supplied proof of their distinction from Dii Immortales. It could be fair to say that we have also established that the Roman government, and the Senate specifically, long had every right and expectation in Roman religion to make concrete determinations on divinity and divine conduct; as well as to ‘oblige’ the Gods to acknowledge and subsequently act upon such determinations. Examining the qualities of the Gods leads one to believe that that is something they would do anyway given that they possess supreme and perfect virtue — a condition which naturally entails the kind of respect for the social contract which would lead them to recognise and facilitate the results of a Senatorial vote on apotheosis.

Let’s now take just a moment to focus on the actual transcendental mechanics of how the Emperors went from mortals to gods. The precise nature of their existence “dwell[ing] with the Dii Immortales” is probably beyond the ken of mortal reasoning — or at least beyond mine right now — but the basics also touch upon a concept I consider very important. We are all children of the Gods, intrinsic partakers in the very same divine nature as the Immortals, and the Gods’ eternal experience of bliss is expressed in their love and concern for our welfare just as much as their civic propriety. Kleanthes’ ancient Hymn to Zeus speaks of this beautifully:

For we all descend from you, bearing our share of your likeness

We alone, of all mortal creatures that live and move on earth …

But you know how to make the crooked straight

And to bring order to the disorderly; even the unloved is loved by you.

The nuts and bolts of the Emperors’ apotheosis can, I feel, best be described in light of this understanding: their mortal bodies and limitations are transcended in death (as is the case for us all) but the inherent limited nature of their created state, which continues to define our typical existence in the afterlife as manes in relation to Gods, gods, heroes, etc. — and sometimes even sours to the state of the lemures — is transcended as well to leave only their innermost states as partakers in the Divine. Unlike the Gods the Emperors do experience emotions, certain personalities, etc. but they are not bound or limited by them, and like the Gods they are unable to work against virtue or the Good; the cleansing (as it were) of their created human nature has left them with some measure of the Dii Immortales’ characteristics of bliss as well as Steven Dillon’s qualities of godhood.

Okay. I think that’s enough. I think this adequately maps the theological position of the Divine Emperors in my sacerdotal capacity as well as my sacra privata — or at least the foundation and basic beats thereof. This is good; for awhile I never really hashed any of this out, generally contented to not poke too much at it… but that was also kind’ve stressful because I’m a big fan of doctrinal precision and suchlike. I’ll pin this, which means I’ll probably edit it over time, and hopefully it will prove useful to those interested in my gods!

#paganism #polytheism #devotional polytheism #greek polytheism #roman paganism #religio romana #cultus deorum #deity devotion #hellenic devotion #deity work #kemetic polytheism #greek pagan #hellenic paganism #paganblr #pagan things #polytheist #hellenic worship #theology #pagan #hellenism #roman polytheism

[yves-and-scessernee]

Pagans and Heathens, I hope we all have to face as little hostility, anger, and aggression as possible over these next few weeks in the lead-up to December 25th. If you honor the solstice or celebrate one of our winter holidays, I hope you can celebrate in peace. I hope your rituals are uninterrupted and your prayers are said from a place of safety. I hope none of us are scared, especially our young members in our community.

Each of us is a spark in a great hearth. Together, we bring warmth to the winter.

#pagan things #thinking about the past and all it has to say

[vinyl-static]

#tarot #tarot reading #tarot readings #witch #witchcraft #pagan #baby pagan #baby witch #tarot tips #witch tips #witchcraft tips #pagan tips #paganblr #witchblr #witch community #witch stuff #pagan stuff #pagansofinstagram #pagan things #witch things #tarot stuff #tarot things #pagan community #magick #magic #magick tips #magic tips #baby witch tips

[potion-brew]

I can’t wait for the influx of people to say “happy this or happy that!!” And then have explain another time that I Don’t celebrate that Holliday

#pagan things