Aeris
New Member
Posts: 45
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Post by Aeris on Jun 22, 2016 20:46:41 GMT
Are there any specific deities or Gods/Goddesses that you worship/invoke/evoke within your craft?
I personally look up to Ganesh/Ganesha, the Hindu god who represents intellect and wisdom and is known as the remover of obstacles. I also look to Ma'at here and there, she's the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice.
I also turn to Buddha when in need of some aid with money or success.
I also have a God/Goddess for each of the four elements: - Air: Hathor, Egyptian goddess of the sky - Fire: Sekhmet, Egyptian goddess of fire - Earth: Veles, Slavic god of the earth - Water: Neptune, Roman god of water
I haven't done it too frequently, but I also call upon angels to help me when needed. I call upon the four Archangels: - Michael - Raphael - Gabriel - Uriel
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Post by Kayla Maria on Jun 22, 2016 21:42:04 GMT
Angels are so interesting to me, because for all the magical things I believe in, I just... don't feel their presence at all? Maybe it's because they've been so christianized for me, which has turned me off personally. So how do you view angels?
I've been doing a lot of research, trying to dig into my Germanic and French roots. I'm thinking of courting Brigid and Freyja, and Artemis, Persephone, and Athena. I'm a devotee for the Divine Feminine, but I have yet to venture to particular goddesses themselves.
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Aeris
New Member
Posts: 45
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Post by Aeris on Jun 22, 2016 21:49:55 GMT
Angels are so interesting to me, because for all the magical things I believe in, I just... don't feel their presence at all? Maybe it's because they've been so christianized for me, which has turned me off personally. So how do you view angels? I've been doing a lot of research, trying to dig into my Germanic and French roots. I'm thinking of courting Brigid and Freyja, and Artemis, Persephone, and Athena. I'm a devotee for the Divine Feminine, but I have yet to venture to particular goddesses themselves. I was born and raised catholic and even though I'm starting to practice witchcraft and becoming somewhat polytheistic, I've just always felt drawn to angels. I always thought they were so beautiful and protective and safe and how sometimes in the worst situations I felt that my guardian angel was looking over me and protecting/guiding me. So even though I'm not as firmly catholic as I was raised, I just can't see angels not being part of my life, if that makes sense?
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Post by elementallycharmed on Jun 22, 2016 22:11:47 GMT
I was raised Christian, but I am not a practitioner of it. I don't really have a god or goddess that I really worship. I have a very close connection to the moon, and cycles in general, but no one in particular. I have a very interesting statue that I think comes from the Hindi culture. It was a gift from our CPA to the office, and it was gifted to me. I am more or less drawn to the energy inside myself. I feel that the expression "The Universe is within me" is true. It also comes back to the cycles, if the universe is inside me and I am inside the universe...etc. I feel like we come full circle. And where else could more power be found than inside ourselves, and in the universe.
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Post by Kayla Maria on Jun 22, 2016 22:28:11 GMT
I was born and raised catholic and even though I'm starting to practice witchcraft and becoming somewhat polytheistic, I've just always felt drawn to angels. I always thought they were so beautiful and protective and safe and how sometimes in the worst situations I felt that my guardian angel was looking over me and protecting/guiding me. So even though I'm not as firmly catholic as I was raised, I just can't see angels not being part of my life, if that makes sense? That totally makes sense! I love the idea of them, I love the imagery. There's something special there. Just not for me, I guess ^^ I am more or less drawn to the energy inside myself. I feel that the expression "The Universe is within me" is true. It also comes back to the cycles, if the universe is inside me and I am inside the universe...etc. I feel like we come full circle. And where else could more power be found than inside ourselves, and in the universe. I feel this so hard. Also the moon. It was my connection to the moon, and my regarding her as a Lady, as something bigger than me in the universe with her own unique voice, is what made me start exploring the idea of the Divine Feminine to be sure.
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Post by elementallycharmed on Jun 22, 2016 22:32:00 GMT
I really need to do some more research about Divine Feminine, I have a goddess oracle deck that I love. I feel like I can relate to each goddess in some way. Or that I would like to.
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Post by Kayla Maria on Jun 22, 2016 22:39:13 GMT
The only thing to keep in mind is to respect boundaries, stick to your roots. I may admire Lakshmi, the Indian goddess, very much, but worship to her for my own spiritual gain is not really respecting South Asian culture and practitioners, you know?
Hence all my research ^^
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Aeris
New Member
Posts: 45
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Post by Aeris on Jun 22, 2016 23:14:52 GMT
The only thing to keep in mind is to respect boundaries, stick to your roots. I may admire Lakshmi, the Indian goddess, very much, but worship to her for my own spiritual gain is not really respecting South Asian culture and practitioners, you know? Hence all my research ^^ Wait can you elaborate on that a little for me? I really love Hindu culture and always felt a slight connection to Ganesh the past year or so, but does worshipping him count as cultural appropriation even though I'm somewhat polytheistic? I try to remain as politically correct and non-culturally appropriative as possible, but I'm a little confused as how worshipping a deity from another religion/culture disrespects the actual culture and it's people?
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Post by Kayla Maria on Jun 22, 2016 23:59:18 GMT
Wait can you elaborate on that a little for me? I really love Hindu culture and always felt a slight connection to Ganesh the past year or so, but does worshipping him count as cultural appropriation even though I'm somewhat polytheistic? I try to remain as politically correct and non-culturally appropriative as possible, but I'm a little confused as how worshipping a deity from another religion/culture disrespects the actual culture and it's people? Yeah, totally! I actually asked a question about this on a different forum, and a South Asian pagan practitioner responded, so I'll give you her words: "this conversations -NEEDS- to prioritize South Asians Personally, I think its cool that you can identify with aspects of deities from different faiths - but I feel like leaving offerings for Lakshmi is getting really close to working with her, worshiping her and inevitably claiming her as your own / part of your work and thus your identity... which makes me uncomfortable. Outside of racial inequalities and power structures - yes it would be nice if there were no ethical implications to non SA / SA associated (via migration etc) peoples worshiping and working with our deities HOWEVER these power structures and present inequalities DO exist so you need to be mindful of the larger implications of your actions. Stick to the cards. [My question was about my tarot cards.] Recognize that these deities which are so neatly packaged for your consumption have long standing traditions and importance to people who are actively disenfranchised and marginalized by white people. Instead of thinking about how you can benefit spiritually from these deities, maybe work on how you can better support the people of these cultures." Our ability to pick and choose deities from different cultures without cultural repercussions or persecution is something that if we're unaware of, steamrolls over minorities who are still grappling to hold onto their cultures in the wake of the grip of imperialism and the political strife surrounding Westernization. Even aware of it, our interactions and accessibility to it is different than SA. So the best way we can support and respect the religion, the deities, the culture, the people, is to work on protecting their right to practice and preserve all of that. Does that make sense?
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Post by elementallycharmed on Jun 23, 2016 14:26:11 GMT
MMM...I can feel what they were trying to express...kind of, but it is a bit convoluted.
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Post by Kayla Maria on Jun 24, 2016 0:08:28 GMT
I mean in the end there's nothing anyone can do about someone's private practice. But I asked, and she answered, so I made my personal decision to take a step back -shrug- it means more adventure, though trying to trace paganism through central europe is a nightmare if all you have to go on is "eh, my dad's last name is french and my mom's is german". the nice lines on maps we have today are meaningless squiggles to thousands of years ago, and every invader's religion took and left some of their own behind. I guess it's made me realize, the same wonderful deities pop up everywhere, though they are different each time, for different cultures of food, weather, climate, etc. A connection to Ganesh, for example, could be a tug in the direction of someone or something closer to the cultures of our ancestors. A connection to Ganesh can also make you dive into your genealogy, and maybe find surprising links to Hindu culture that you hadn't known about. Idk
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Post by elementallycharmed on Jun 24, 2016 2:55:33 GMT
I think cutiosity is healthy. And learning and knowing about different religions and cultures should be encouraged. I think in that research you'll find some things that are considered closed (Native American for example) and special to a specific culture. You'll know to be respectful of that culture. But I don't think people should be discouraged of learning.
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Post by Kayla Maria on Jun 24, 2016 15:13:20 GMT
Oh I agree 100%. Curiosity and active learning is one of the best parts of witchcraft and its community, I feel. Nothing should stop you from learning!! But learning includes active listening of prime sources, and learning and being a guest to an experience is not the same as worshipping, yeah?
But I love research I love religion research I love history I've been reading some fantastic books lately and reading that pushes the boundaries of knowladge is always always super encouraged by me and the community as a whole, methinks
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Post by elementallycharmed on Jun 24, 2016 16:27:36 GMT
Seriously I agree completely.
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sykax
Junior Member
Posts: 60
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Post by sykax on Jun 25, 2016 15:55:03 GMT
So random question: what are the signs that a deity/god is reaching out to you? Lately I've been able to notice people's lustful emotions more than usual and I'm just curious if it's a blessing(?) from someone I'm unaware of.
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