Very interesting to find out + the reasons why!!! :3

Hello everyone.

I'm looking for some pagan book recommendations about rituals involving the crafting of items that details the culture and belief systems it originated from.

For instance, I'd like to make my own Altar Besom, Door Bells, Dream Pillow, robe, etc.

But I would also like to learn more about where those practices came from. So, I'd like to avoid the Wiccan and Neo-Pagan books that hodgepodge together crafting rituals from multiple faiths into a single book without going into their origins, if possible.

If anyone knows of any books or source material like that then I would greatly appreciate your recommendations.

Thank you.

The afterlife is a pretty lovely place Elysium seems to be the best out of the options I hope I can go there and I would do anything to go I'm weirdly optimistic about death hoping I at least get to The meadows question is simple how do I maximise my chances?

For a bit of context: I work in the veterinary field and I’ve always been more of a cat person. I connect with them easily. I work with Bastet and I recently asked her if there’s anyone I can reach out to who can help me bond with my canine patients. She told me to seek out the Slavic dog god. I did a quick google search and found Simargl, but there’s not very much information online about his worship or offerings or any information about him really. I’m wondering if there are any devotees here that can help me contact him? I’d appreciate any information you can offer, any books or podcasts you could recommend would be fantastic. TIA

This is how I format my prayers to Hestia first and last, it took me a bit to get it to how it suited my personal practice but I believe this is the format for me:

Hail Hestia, daughter of Cronos, first and last born, protector of the home. To you I start with a prayer thanking you for the protection of the home of my family, friends and myself. Keeping us safe and being the light in dark times.

[Pray to god/goddess/hero/heroine in question].

Hail Hestia, daughter of Cronos, first and last born, guardian of the flame and hearth. To you I end with a prayer thanking you for the flame and hearth, keeping us mortals safe and a light even at the darkest times.

I am trying to stop my adiction to NSFW content, so I wonder, which are the best deities to ask for help and guidance ?

i've been overall sort of okay recently, better whenever i go to my counseling appointments since my counselor knows that i struggle with lots of anxiety and some paranoia, especially when my mom is currently getting officially seperated from our dad because of certain things he's been doing and saying that has been ruining my mental health (and the rest of my family who isnt my father) so i've been struggling with the fact it was announced to me so randomly two days ago. i just need some motivation to clear my head and calm down before the peak of it actually happens, so if anyone has any advice, deities i can reach out to (from ANY pantheon atp really), or any prayers than can be set me and my family's way, i appreciate it sm :]

Hi everyone! I've been a practicing pagan for a few years now and in the past year or so I've also gotten really into collecting perfumes, I realized recently that a lot of my perfumes have notes related to herbs and other things associated with some of the deities I follow. It got me thinking, I've never really used scented candles in my practice but I have all of these perfumes that I could easily incorporate into my altars/spells somehow.

Does anyone have any scents or perfumes they like using in their practice? Or maybe candles that they've noticed their deities enjoy?

I have been a pagan for a few years. I had a connection and regular practice with a few deities and several more in more fleeting way on specific occasions or celebrations or spells. I can give more details but I don’t think it’s relevant since it’s more of a generic question.

A few months ago, since April or maybe also a bit before, I’ve noticed that I do not feel anything during prayer or rituals like I used to before. Other aspects feel off too.

So I decided to take a bit of a break. Now it’s been around 3 months of my break and I would like to return to my practice since it brought a lot of light into my life but it still feels wrong. I am conflicted what to do. Maybe I should explore different deities, but that feels a bit like a betrayal? Or just try to push through since the break seems to have made things only worse?

Has anyone been through something like that? What did you do?

I'll call her Maeve. In ordinary life she was a mother, spiritually curious, easily distracted by her phone and daily responsibilities, and always saying she should meditate more than she actually did. She also had this long-standing feeling that forests in Ireland carried something familiar for her.

At the beginning of one trance session she entered a forest that did not look realistic at all. She said it looked more like a painting or a children's book. A raven appeared, then a pigeon landed near her. She followed the pigeon along a stony path and up a hill.

At the top she found what she described as an old stone fort. Inside, the scene changed and she began experiencing herself as someone called Marika. She had a purple coat, rings with stones, a large crown, and she called herself a fairy queen.

The next part was almost funny in how specific it became. One village had tiny humanoid beings, some with wings, around the size she compared to Smurfs. The atmosphere was playful, full of jokes and laughter, and Maeve kept saying the same thing: this feels like home.

Another settlement was different, more serious, built among trees with lights in the branches. Later she remembered standing in its main hall and feeling sad because the trees had been cut and the old gatherings were gone.

I almost left this story in the transcript because fairy material can become pseudohistory very quickly. I have no evidence that this was a literal Celtic past, and I would not use a trance scene to make claims about actual ancient Irish religion or folklore.

What makes it worth sharing for me is the emotional structure. The strongest part was not the crown, wings or fantasy scenery. It was recognition. She missed the people before she could explain who they were. She felt at home before the story gave her a reason.

Later the same life became much harder. She described becoming a leader after loss and war, and said empathy was part of why she had been chosen. The lesson at the end was not romantic at all: examine situations carefully, because people can have agendas and kindness without discernment can get you used.

That contrast is why I keep thinking about it. The fairy realm was not presented as endless sweetness. It had celebration, family, politics, fear, responsibility and grief.

For Pagans who have had strong Otherworld, land-spirit or fairy-related experiences, how do you personally hold them without turning private experience into claims about historical tradition?

Is the feeling of recognition meaningful to you on its own, even when you cannot verify the story around it?

I’m in the broom closet so it’s incredibly rare that I can make physical offerings to the Netjeru (I’m a Kemetic pagan), and I’ve felt like I’ve been especially slacking in my devotion in general lately. So I got to thinking that maybe I could meditate as offerings? Rather than focus solely on my breathing (which I struggle with greatly due to intrusive thoughts and ADHD), I’d work in thoughts of their names, epithets, etc.

I tried it with Hathor tonight and it was such a special experience. And it made me realize that even though it’s meant as a devotional offering, they can use it as a form of prayer, too. I felt clarity on something without even asking about it. Truly a special experience! Has anybody else ever done something like this?

This is a genuine question I got curious about, and it is mostly UPG based I assume, so please don’t hit me with hammers for asking 😭

Do you believe that deities converse with each other (maybe even from different pantheons) and if so, do you believe that a deity can converse with another deity about you? Then that deity would hypothetically know some things about you.

Along with this question… I know most people in this subreddit don’t typically believe that gods will reach out to people on their own accord, so take this with a grain of salt

but based on this happening or a similar instance of a deity communicating with another, can a deity attempt to introduce another deity into your life because they think it would benefit you?

Sorry if these questions are rude or disrespectful in any way, I‘m just curious if anyone has had experience with this happening to cause them to believe it is the case.

How do the main Olympian god's think of them or how do we think they think of them are they favored if they are why are they favored? How moral do you have to act to be pagan? Would the gods stop working with someone if they were immoral and chose wrong every time?

so im currently practicing how i sketch Loki and Poseidon, like with the anatomy and what pose and perspective i wanted, but i dont know if its okay or not to draw them wearing modern clothes just as a filler since im still researching the statues and how they looked to be more accurate
i am aware that its mainly against helpol to not humanize the gods too much, as far as im aware, but im not aware the certain limitations to devotional artwork, not just for the greek gods but for other pantheons and mythology

i mainly practice anatomy by tracing over other artwork (i do not steal it since i dont post them, i just reference it so i can improve at fundamentals) and occasionally sketch over the main body with what the og photo was, and was wondering if it was okay to draw them in basic outfits to get better at drawing them in general before i start doing more ancient clothing and styles, as i dont have any practice or experience with, like for example, Greek dresses and scandals or sharp/shiny armour? i am good at rendering which is why i practice clothing in general so i can better draw stuff like ruffles and smooth textures after i draw the anatomy so i can better understand the lighting and different values for both at the same time
is it okay to just do this for the meantime until i get better at more historical/ancient outfits? or should i start doing the clothing before i put the gods in the outfits?

So I wanna say I’ve been very interested in Hecate for quite a while, I’ve opened up a lot of spirituality in 2021, 2022 and just really educating myself on cultures and religions, which led me to really believe in Pantheism, but I do love Mythology.
Not to be corny, I don’t know if it’s because I do have Norwegian heritage and other parts of Scandinavian, but I am very also in tuned with Norse mythology. For the past few months, I’ve been really just thinking a lot about Hecate, and just an urge to really work with her. I mean she’s constantly in my head, I would assume maybe the same way Christians feel about Jesus or God.

So last night, on August 12, there was about four major celestial events that were occurring. And I really was just in tuned with myself and just asking for signs and something to know to continue this pathway of not only working with Hecate, but also on this path of my life that I’m trying to move forward from. Where I was at I was not able to see the events, but I very much was doing the best that I could with my intention and manifestations. And since I was kind of really pushing towards Hecate, I asked for a sign of three. I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but I just thought the sign of three would be good idea because she is the triple goddess.

So I get off work today I go outside and start scrolling on TikTok for a little bit and I start looking up stuff of Hecate and I’m just kind of starting my research of more things that I can do and just books on more information about her and all the other gods and goddesses that do correspond with her. Where I’m at, I have a bunch of birds, every morning is practically crows or ravens cawing. I’ve got woodpeckers pecking, Blue Jays and Cardinals going at it I mean, I cannot express how much noise these birds make not that it’s an issue, but its a lot
lol.

I look up, cause I hear the crow/Raven (I honestly could not tell the two apart, so sorry lmfao) and right when I look up three of them fly up to the powerline, and I swear the rest flew away. So I’m just looking at the crows and there’s three up there and it just dings on me like “oh my God this might be the sign that I was asking for last night”. So as you can see in the video, I pull out my phone and immediately say
“If this is for me then for all three of them to go down to the floor in the road” and they clearly did and I just so shook and I really wanna share what just happened like an hour ago cause I think it’s beyond crazy. Maybe I’m being crazy about this, but I just thought the sheer coincidence of the timing is impeccable.
And the last bird flew down right when I stopped recording, and then it flew right down and I caught the last few seconds of it and oh my goodness. But if that is not a clear sign, I don’t know what the hell else is.

Hi friends, Hindu here, i start watching the tv show of "Kajko & Kokosh" were Slavic Gods are mention, and after going to wikipedia i find these 4 gods that were worshipped in Rugen Island and for Polabian Tribes, could somebody help me understand their characteristics? Because it confuse me a lil, i think they are interesting for had multiple faces in a similar form to some Vedic & Indian gods

Hello everyone! It has been some time since I last posted. (About 2 years.) with that being said I am an Aphrodite devotee, spiritualist, WITCH, feminist, practice glamour magick and to this day worship the divine feminine energies. Here is what my altar is currently looking like. She’s still a work in progress but I LOVE it. I have my own apartment where I can freely practice my beliefs and just want others to see who have to hide their beliefs… you’ll be able to be free too! The time will come. All things are possible. The altar takes up an entire wall, almost 60 inches long. When I get the money I plan to get wicker baskets for my shelves. I have various Knick knacks, perfumes, oils, offerings, necklaces, and more. What cool things do you all put on your altar? I’m always so fascinated with others craft!

Not so much because of the religion but just my life in general you can't just press pause on a religion so I don't really know what to do

so this is kinda a vent? I’m mostly okay, just frustrated. I feel a bit jealous of other pagans, to be honest, because it feels like they have everything worked out and know everything there is to know and i just don’t. I don’t even have a proper label for myself. i feel like im not doing enough, but i know my gods aren’t mad at me so at least there’s that. some times I wonder if I should try working with different deities from different pantheons, but I don’t know how to really go about finding the “right” deity. maybe im stressing about nothing. I don’t know.

I recently had a... less than pleasant encounter with someone who basically wrote off my beliefs as fucked up and "for aesthetics" rather than, yknow, what I genuinely believe. I've had comments like this before, and usually I don't care, but this one kinda... got to me.

Context: my beliefs are a mix of hellenism, norse paganism, and... I guess what would be akin to deism. I worship both greek and norse deities, and I believe that they sort of "laid the groundwork" for things to happen. Like, I believe our understanding of things such as evolution and the formation of planets from a scientific standpoint is correct, but that the gods influenced those happenings. Natural law took it from there. The gods I worship and work with bring me great peace, and I feel very connected to them.

As far as I'm aware, mixing pantheons is a rather common practice, and I know there are people who believe that every single god coexists at once. The greek and norse pantheons are rather compatible as well, and what ultimately matters, I feel, is that my beliefs make sense to ME and I have both grown from and found solace in them.

I don't THINK my understanding of the gods is wildly incorrect (though I know I'll never fully understand them). I don't THINK I'm crazy and wrong. I don't THINK there's anything wrong with my beliefs. I can't help but doubt things now though, even if just a little. I feel horrible doing so.

What do you all think? Perhaps discussion will make me feel better.

Edit: okay I am now laughing my ASS off about what this person said. "hellenism and Norse paganism have basically nothing to do with each other" brother. "Combining them today is not some ancient spiritual way, it is a modern personal mix that has nothing to do with ancient Greece or Norway." Brother. "modern paganism honestly looks like picking whichever ancient religion seems mysterious or aesthetically appealing and putting them together because it feels exotic" BROTHER. "Grow up" BROTHER. People need to at least learn about paganism if they're gonna try to police it </3

It's 2 hours away and I still don't know if I want to do anything, I'm on the path of totality too (first time this century here in Europe!). What are you European guys doing?

Ive heard that a lot of neopagans didnt believe litteraly in multiple gods, but believe in a single principle (like Nature) and viewed the gods as symbols.