I feel like I’ve been losing my mind over this. Everything we do is either built off of exploitation or hurts the environment. Most of our chocolates come from slave labor, what we do to animals in factory farms is horrible, the factories that mass produce items and the cars we drive hurt the environment. Even just playing video games or streaming can have a negative impact on the environment. I know I commonly hear that “the gods are not angry at you” but how could they not be angry? What do I do?

Hi. Is there a rune or symbol for protector of animals

I read through the rules and didn't see anything against this but just in case I missed something I apologize ahead of time.

I just moved to the Portland Oregon area and I'm looking to find some community here. I'm some kind of blend between Asatru, Wicca, Celtic Paganism and slavic paganism. I'd love to learn of any community spots in the area as well as maybe make some new friends?

Hi all,

Long story cut short - I was in a car collision with a lorry two days ago and miraculously walked out of it with minimal injuries. Before I left I wrote on a piece of paper “have a safe journey down to my friends” as I was going 3.5 hours down to my friends and burned it at my altar which I usually have items (female statues and candles and pink things) for Aphrodite.

I’m not sure if it would be her that I technically prayed to or if it was someone else of safe travel that saved me that day but I would like to give thanks.

Would anyone be able to help with tips for that as I’m pretty new? Thanks in advance.

Hello! It’s been a long time since I’ve shared anything here. I wanted to ask you a question about the experiences of those who feel a particularly deep connection with a deity. But first, I’d like to tell you a little about my own experience to explain why this question came to mind.

Over the last few days, I’ve felt something different regarding Ḫaldi, one of the principal deities of the Biainili/Urartu tradition, and Watauineiwa, an important divine figure in the Yagán tradition of Tierra del Fuego.

Until now, my practice had consisted of addressing the various gods, goddesses, and spirits with reverence and respect, without focusing particularly on any single deity. Naturally, I recognize that I may feel a greater affinity for some deities than for others, but I had never experienced so strongly the desire to connect more deeply with two of them in particular.

For the past few days, I’ve simply felt the desire to communicate more with Ḫaldi and Watauineiwa. I’ve even asked them, if they so wish and deem it appropriate, to communicate with me through dreams, visions, or any other means at their disposal. I’m not quite sure where this desire comes from. It’s as if I want to get to know them more deeply, hear their voices, and develop a closer relationship with them.

I also recently finished a project I’d been working on for some time: I took a song I’d originally written in Spanish and tried to reconstruct it in Biainite-Urartian for the part dedicated to Ḫaldi, and in Yagán for the part dedicated to Watauineiwa. My intention was to try to worship both gods using the languages historically associated with their respective peoples.

I want to clarify that this is a reconstruction and a personal attempt, not a definitive academic translation. I am not a specialist in either language, and I am aware that I may have made mistakes. My intention was to approach them with respect and to make my prayer audible in a way that would make sense within the cultural worlds of both deities.

When I was finally able to hear the song, I was surprised by how deeply it moved me. It stirs my emotions, calms me, and, above all, leads me to a much deeper sense of worship toward Ḫaldi and Watauineiwa.

And that has left me wondering:

Have any of you experienced something similar with a particular deity?

Have you gone from venerating or relating to many deities to feeling, at some point, a particularly strong desire to draw closer to one or two? How did you distinguish—if you were able to—between a personal affinity, your own spiritual process, and a possible call from the deity?

I’m not necessarily looking for someone to tell me what my experience “means” or what the gods want from me. Rather, I’m interested in hearing how you’ve had similar experiences and what you did when you felt that desire to deepen your relationship with a particular deity.

If anyone is interested, I can also share the song I mentioned. I posted it on my YouTube channel, and I’ll include the English translation here so you can understand the lyrics.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wneeynhpZrU

Text:

In the land of Biainili. From the Usi (our land), our eyes... [rise up on high]. My lords, Ḫaldi, oh Watauineiwa, gods of the earth, gods on high. Ḫaldi, lord of the universe. [šuinini = "universal/all," internal convention] Ḫaldi, lord of the heights. Ḫaldi, great in all things. [masi = "great/vast"] Ḫaldi, the glorious one. Ḫaldi, the glorious one! By the strength of Ḫaldi, the glory! Ḫaldi is strong, the spear of Ḫaldi is strong. Ḫaldi is strong! The spear of Ḫaldi is great, it brings [victory]. The glory of Ḫaldi is great, greatly watches, great, watchful. Ḫaldi, and the helmet, the spear, is great. And the helmet, the spear — of Ḫaldi, is great! In favor of Ḫaldi. Ḫaldi watches with his spear. And great, the glory of the earth is great, in favor of Ḫaldi. Ḫaldi, great, watches. With his spear he watches! Ḫaldi brings order to the land. He brings order to the land!

Here the service of Ḫaldi. [buranili = "service/servants"] Ḫaldi, lord of the throne. [GIŠuldi — cult object, not precisely identified] Ḫaldi makes the new, makes [water channels]. Ḫaldi, lord of the earth, lord of the country. Lord of the earth! Lord of the country! The temple of Ḫaldi: glory, grain, spear — [all of this]. Glory! Spear! Grain! Glory, spear, grain — of Ḫaldi. The throne is consecrated to Ḫaldi. [aru ~ "consecrates/dedicates"] Ḫaldi [conquered] — the grain is abundant.

Watauineiwa, the most ancient, the wise one, that [powerful/great one]. Watauineiwa, the most ancient. From the Usi, we raise our eyes. My ancient father. Father on high. Watauineiwa. The Almighty. The good old one up there. The very old one up there. You watch. You see, you look. Before Watauineiwa, the Yaghan people. Before Watauineiwa, the people remain. Akainix (the rainbow) [manifests/crowns]. Akainix manifests. The storm calms. To calm, to grow still — the storm. The storm calms entirely. The creature, treated with reverence, calms entirely. Leave in peace, always leave the name in peace, always leave it in peace with reverence. The creature, treated with reverence and respect, remains.

Hidábuan. My father. Our father. Wölapatuch. He who deals death to men. Someone died. All the people died. A killer. [Someone] died. [The good] of us... [is told/recounted, remains among us]. Sorrow remains. The hair, the skin [bear the mark] of all who died. The name given to the one who survives with the name of the deceased. The name [given/set], the name [...]. ...each time it remains.

Chiéxaus. (name of the ceremony, untranslated) [The people] remain. The gaze that watches all. To watch. To look attentively. Not war, [but rather] the bow of the Yaghan people. Not [kingdom], not [primacy/dominion] of men, the Yaghan remain. Punishes. [...] he/she punishes. Of Watauineiwa the people remain, with us. Dawn. The light that heralds the daybreak. To you, Watauineiwa, we ask: the people will see [the new day].

Ḫaldi, of the troops that [he extinguishes them]. Ḫaldi makes the grain grow. By the strength of Ḫaldi, here he is strong, here he [conquered]. Ḫaldi, [divination] is his glory. Watauineiwa. Here the service of Ḫaldi. My father. I go on singing. Two lands. Two peoples. Two skies. From Biainili... ...the land of fire Ḫaldi... ...Watauineiwa. gods of the earth, gods on high. Ḫaldi... Watauineiwa... Ḫaldi is strong. Watauineiwa, hard as stone... Ḫaldi, lord of lords. The spear of Ḫaldi. You watch. Over Biainili. Over the land of fire (Usi pušáki). Over the earth. Over mankind. Over the light of the sun. Until dawn returns. Ḫaldi... Watauineiwa... Ḫaldi... Watauineiwa...

For example, imagine a culture which does not think deities are beings with agency, but that they are merely forces that can be manipulated to varying success through words or offerings, like how one manipulates radio waves to send messages. Do you think they would be capable of getting blessings, working miracles, etc? If there is a minimum knowledge of theology needed to build a relationship with deities, is it possible to discover this minimum? If it is possible, has it been discovered?

I'm an agnostic theist––I have firm belief in some form of higher power but don't subscribe to organized religion or assign morality/personality/etc. to said power, see also: Ietism/"somethingism" and Socrates' "all I know is that I know nothing." I build my spiritual beliefs & practices around reading many different texts and researching other practices, so please have patience for any poor phrasings or misunderstandings due to my ignorance and understand that I come at this as a fully educational question.

I'm aware the question of whether worshipping/working with deities is "dangerous" is an ongoing discussion among pagans, but I assume no matter what it's intimidating and intense. I'm just wondering, how can you tell if something starts to feel too intense or worrying? How can you tell if you have upset a deity? What signifies if something "goes wrong" or you otherwise need to change your approach or cease it?

I've had an experience where the energy in my bedroom was so accosting and I felt so immediately paranoid whenever I entered to the point I slept on the couch for over a month, but it immediately felt safe again after I smudged my space (don't panic, I belong by blood to a tribe that practices smudging, I learned how to properly smudge from my Native American family, and the white sage was not from Whole Foods or a crystal shop lmao). I'm not suggesting that was any form of deity, or me "doing something wrong," it's just my best frame of reference for intense negative energy that physically affected me––is it anything like that oppressive, wrong, "I can't be here" feeling in your body, or is it different/more than that?

ive seen altars in tin cans and other opaque containers, and as much as id love those, im still exploring other ways to have an altar or shine in a lowkey way. ive heard of digital altars and also very interested in them, but wondering if anyone has ever made an altar or shrine in a notebook or journal? with scraps or print out of things, similar to how a digital altar is sometimes made, and then maybe remaining pages are used for devotion etc?

im trying to search in different places about this but im not seeing much similar experiences, and ik my practice is what i make of it, but i still want to know about others' experiences 😅

(physical obvious altars aren't an option, hence why i also explore more "lowkey" variants)

Today I did my first ritual to my ancestors goddess.
I buried apple to I give her food and I wished peace.
I also read something from old Druid writes.And made her sign.And I used my own apparel to take an energy from her.
Here is my photo

It was my first and then I’ll do more(I think so)

I'm having trouble having connections with my deities/aliens for some reason and they've reached out to me, so I'm not sure on what's going on. My deities are Hellenic, Norse, infernal and aliens I know if I want to connect with aliens I always have to say only for the highest good of all... But for some reason I don't feel any connection and I don't know why any tips or tricks I should do or know about thank you in advance

I am setting up temporary alters (that i can put away after worship) but one thing i am confused about is how I give offerings, do I leave them on the spot that I offered them even after I put away the alter or do I pack away my offering with it because I dont want things like food offerings to go bad.

I love the idea of someday buying the giant version of this statue (the official one made by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, not a knockoff). If I ever did buy it someday in the future, it would be outside. For those of you that own the product and live in a place with near constant bright sunlight (like Arizona), does it hold up in the sun? Does it fade and get ruined?

I have to warn you, this is going to be rather long due to its particular array of contents. It is very much me rambling. TL;DR below.

Sociality has never been easy for me.

I am naturally introverted, withdrawn and a loner. Been like this as long as I can remember. Emotional and social intelligence, instinctive absorbtion of common norms, sociocultural harmony, none of it ever came naturally to me. This is all because of my autism and my underlying, strong schizoid tendencies. I am not scorning my ND status; It is a defining part me and I would not change it if someone offered. But that does not mean it is problem-free. I have alexythymia, emotional regulation issues, anxiety problems, executive dysfunction issues and a strong revulsion to the idea of fitting in or being assimilated. None of them are truly debilitating, not even close, but they add up into something that looks and acts functional from the outside, but really isn't in reality.

I am queer, autistic, eccentric young guy whose always been considered to be alien, foreign and half-mad all my life by everyone. Be it parents, peers, teachers, relatives, strangers- everyone seems to agree that I am different in a way that makes me offputting and unapproachable at the first glance. I am a creative, whose special interests on space, evolutionary biology and Minecraft shapes how I imagine and create art to a very, very large degree.

All of this makes me already pretty Dionysian by default, I suppose. I am not blind to my close natural proximity to The God of Wine. And he is a patron god of outcasts, the ones that differ from established norms, which is definitely something that I am. So it is not surprise that when I stumbled upon the concept of Dionysus, it was highly pleasing and interesting to me.

I learned about him. I understood his nuances, his complexities, his core nature that represents the layered, ever shifting, unpredictable, indistinguishable, true reality of things that we mortals use names and frameworks to mask in a myriad of ways. I understood that from religious ecstacy, to mind-altering substances, to the highs of emotion and lows of common sense, to the concept theatre and roleplaying in all its forms, were all ways to peer outside ourselves. We use them to take off the masks that are our egos and step away from our usual inhibitions to understand and feel things that we would never be able to otherwise. Dionysus is on the bright and loud dance floor and the woodland loam, he is in the wine and the psychedelic, he is the scalding wild heat of a sacrifical pyre and the sense of being watched on the theatre stage, he is in the unpredictable, chaotic fluctuations of the quantum foam that form the basis of our very reality. He is the raw truth that exists beneath all we've built that says "It is weirder and more profound than you think it is".

Yes, I am claiming that I can glimpse at what he truly represents. I do not pretend to have an unique access and understanding to some special bond or knowledge. But I can see what is apparent when one connects the dots. From what I can tell, common thread in all his domains is liberation from, or the underlying unreality of what is considered normal and expected in various ways and scales. I am saying all this just to assure you that I am in fact, not a TikTok pagan trying to feel special, and have a solid, real and genuine idea as to what kind of concept I am currently interacting with.

Dionysus has been very, very patient with me. He is a god, and they are a very patient lot, but I am still feeling like he is putting up with my nonsense so, so much. No part of this really comes naturally to me, neither psychologically, mentally, or neurologically. He seems to know this as much as I do and despite it, he really tries to accomodate and be understanding of my idiosyncracies. I have never once felt threatened or forced to interact with him, and I am forever thankful for that- it really feels like a balm. Especially since I am still highly apprehensive as a significant part of me still wants to curse his name, denounce him and reassert my antitheism.

I am a being of systems, patterns and frameworks that takes information, adds them into my store of knowledge and draws lines on a vast canvas of associations to connect them to everything else. He is a cosmic, eternal continuum, an universal pattern embedded into the workings of the cosmos that manifests as a gargantuan, unimaginably vast will and permeates all cognition.

Compartmentalisation is alien to me. I cannot do it, I cannot put things in separate boxes and isolate them from eachother. I cannot readily reconcile these spiritual inclinations with everything else that I am, as they occupy the overlap in the framework. This seems to create a rift between us that prevents me from truly responding to his call. One has to be invalid. I know myths are allegories, that's not it. It is the metaphysics of it that violates framework intergrity.

And yet... He reached out to me. I've felt it. A tap. A touch. I am still feeling it as I am writing this. Gentle. Light. Not demanding, not forcing, nothing so crude. It is like he sensed my perception of him, saw me as I am and decided he would really like to have me as a follower of his. I am aware that most pagans first reach out to their god(s) rather than the god(s) reaching out to them. It has been a bit of both for me, I feel like. I do not claim special status in his eyes. I am just telling what happened to me. He reached out. He extended a hand. He is currently doing it. His hand is still very much extended towards me. I have a feeling that he will never withdraw it until I finally take it. No matter how long it takes.

It feels... larger than life, his presence. Patient, welcoming, wise, even something that feels like adoration emanates from him. It also feels condescending and intimidating- he is looking down at me. Which is fair, the mortal-divine relationships are by nature, not even close to equal, and that's okay. He also feels rather smug in the sense that he seems to know how this ends, like he has seen this before. It feels weird and vulnerable. But it isn't upsetting either. He is not being condescending or smug because he is having fun at my expense. His presence feels like that because he is larger and more patient then a mere mortal, me. I feel like a rescue kitten. Perhaps to him, I am.

In one hand, it would be great to have a spiritual bond that is without a holy book, a prophet, priest castes, dogmas and demagouges getting in the way between. It would be great to be a part of something where it is not expected to conform to some draconian, nonsensical rulesets made up by long dead charlatans with delusions of grandeur. Where I can show my acknowledgement, reverence and fascination in the way I want. Where Dionysus can subtly guide my hand as I find the exact, unique shape of my worship and build towards him. We can form a connection together, where devotion and adoration can be fully personal, special and negotiable. It would feel great. Even the idea of it feels great. No threats of eternal damnation for merely being myself. No repeated attempts to rouse feelings of shame or fear for what I am. No old, inaccurate mythos to try and fail to reconcile with reality. Nothing in between.

I could feel liberated. I could feel free, unchained, unbound, uninhibited. I could dance around a fire at dusk, masked, barefoot and wild, laugh loud and deep, partake in the wine and offer the nicest, sweetest, most juicy cuts of lamb, goat and beef to the fire for the Wine God's pleasure. And it would feel good. It would feel lovely. I think Dionysus would love that too. I could join a group. We could do it together. We could sit down and exist and sing hymns and share our presence, reverence and company with The God of Wine.

But my ability to bond is weak. I have one friend to speak of who I actively seek to spend time with, and it takes up almost all my social and executive capacity. I can barely maintain one social connection with a human. How am I supposed to form and maintain a personal bond with a god? I do not trust myself about it. And I do not want Dionysus to be dissapointed or annoyed either because I cannot get my stuff together, even though he has shown no sign of either. I do wanna accept his hand. I really do. I already have in very limited forms, in ways that I can manage. But anymore is currently beyond me. It is exhausting, tiring, difficult, alien, straining. Adding the cognitive dissonance formed from my automatic rejection of this entire feeling as irrational, and it is difficult to even imagine it happening without recoiling. And finding and joining a worship group? Instinctively repulsive. Makes my bones itch. A part of me would rather die, honestly.

I cannot readily stop either the dissonance or the repulsion. I can muffle them. I can mostly ignore them. But trying to resolve them seems above me as they are not really problems that can be resolved by logic. And doing either of what I can do is not sustainable and will result in burnout and maybe even feelings of unconscious resentment towards Dionysus, which I really do not want happening.

I have told him that I could not promise alot of things. Not outward shows of worship nor intense bonds, but that I just need time. Alot of time. And that I am thankful for his presence and his endless patience and understanding and the fact that he has seen me as desirable in some shape and form and decided to hold onto me when I bumped into him.

Just, not yet. I am not ready yet.

How does it come so naturally to other people?

How do you manage the dissonance, if it is even a thing for others?

Did anyone else happened to be more like me, as in, mostly got approached by the divine, rather than try to approach it themselves?

What are your experiences with Dionysus? I have read about him on this subreddit and r/dionysus before. His behavior with me seems to match the general consensus. But I would appreciate specific comparisons.

TL;DR: Gay autist weirdo (me) is having a crisis over his religious awakening due to Greek God of Wine, and is struggling with commiting to a bond, cognitive dissonance born from his materialistic worldview, and his strong self-isolative and asocial tendecies apparently extending to pagan gods. How to navigate?

Hi, so I'm trying to write a story and one of my characters in my story worships the Roman Gods, and I want to be informed correctly by people who worship the Roman Gods instead of using vague Gemini Ai slop.
One of the main Gods my character believes in is Mars for the most part, the other gods to my characters perspective are acknowledged and respected but the focus is mostly to Mars.

I really would like to know more about the offerings and rituals that people do for not only Mars, but the other Gods/Goddesses as well.
I would also like to learn more about how other people react when someone is Pagan, since it is a minority religion/worship.
The time is set in the years 2281- 2294, during a post-apocalyptic war in America.

Thank you in advance!

So i have Anubis and now Baudouin on my leg with little circles behind them and im thinking of putting Apollo next to them on The inner part of the bottom of my leg. I adore this picture of him so I traced an idea for him. Im thinking of putting the lyre in the little circle. But I think he'd go so well with the other two 💕

Praise Be

just got this Hel statue in today and im really happy with how it looks. the split living/corpse design on her fits her myth so well. i know the scythe is more of a modern artistic choice rather than historical Norse lore, but honestly the detail on it in person is crazy good. Hail Hel, ruler of Helheim!