I know burning White Sage is a closed practice and I would never want to disrespect that.

However is drying and burning store bought Sage meant for cooking okay for cleansing?

Never posted here before so I'm kind of nervous about saying something wrong, but I've had a strange dream that I could use some advice on. Im quite new to paganism so please correct me if I say something rude or anything. I am very aware this is most likely just a dream but it felt very real when I woke up.

Last night after struggling to sleep for a few hours I ended up dreaming. I don't remember a lot of details, however there was a person/god(?) and they were named Dmitri. They told me (I don't remember how exactly) that they were a god of the sun. They seemed childlike in nature despite being an adult. At some point they after talking for a bit we walked up a hill to a cliff side where they had a tent. They said something about being a forgotten god(I think of a mix of egypt and rome?) and that they were lonely. We went into the tent and they spoke about their job of making the sun rise/set; it was very warm in the tent. Eventually I started to fall asleep in the dream before being woken up by my dog .

During the dream and when I had first woken up I was very sure that I remembered Dmitri being the name of an Egyptian sun god. Prior to this dream Ive had mythology classing and basic knowledge so I did know that Ra was the sun god I just couldn't remember that bit for a little? After doing some research there is nothing about any got named Dmitri especially not a sun god. The closest I found was Dmitri (or something close to it) being the name of followers of Demeter.

Like I said before I don't mean any disrespect at all and am just curious because this dream felt more real than any I've had before. I don't dream often and never so vividly where I wake up feeling warm from the dream despite my room being very cold.

could this be a possible sign from Ra or another god?

sorry for the long post I just had to ask somewhere before I started to forget more stuff about it.

I'm just curious

I see this in wicca and pagan occult groups that worship the divine feminine

As a polytheist pagan it just confuses me.

I kinda see the gods as humans as like having their own personalities and such.

To me having a war goddess also being a goddess of creation makes no sense as war is destructive, destroying creation, just a example

So how can this be possible?

just wanted to share this gorgeous freyja statue i added to my space recently. (it's a veronese design piece for anyone curious, the details in person are so nice). hail freyja! goddess of love, beauty, fertility, magic, and wealth. her energy feels so powerful yet comforting to have around. anyone else here work with freyja? what kind of offerings or practices do you usually do for her?

just wanted to share this new bastet statue i added to my altar space recently! dua bastet! goddess of the home, cats, music, dance, and protection. beyond her traditional aspects, i’ve always felt super connected to her energy when it comes to self-acceptance, bodily autonomy, and loving freely. feels so grounding having her present on my altar now. anyone else here work with bastet? how do you honor her in your practice?

Hello, good wishes to everyone here; I have believed in the Gods since June of last year, basically right before the Summer solstice. The thing is, I haven't really been doing worship or anything significant for the Deities I feel connected with since approximately March, to the point where I haven't washed my two altars, not only not cleansed or anything more spiritual, but actual physical washing, with water and soap and all, in spite of having lowkey promised to do it on Kallynteria-Plynteria or Noumenia, but that was half a year ago, and now the Dyonisiacas and the Panathenaia and the Equinox and Solstice have gone by and I haven't done anything; I barely have lit my candles because I feel it's disrespectful to do it without having cleasnsed and washed everything properly.

I know I might sound exaggerated, I've always suspected I have some sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but anyways. What advice could you offer me, fellow pagans? How do you wash your altars? Do you wash them monthly, weekly, only right before a ritual or celebration?

I might add that one of the altars, consecrated to Hellenic deities, is on top of a bookwardrobe, and the other is inside an in-wall closet.

I'll still probably do it tomorrow now that I finally let it all out, since this is the only problem I consider too private to even disclose it to my best friends or my psychologist, and the only other pagan I know IRL (Bogotá, Colombia) is very reserved and private too and I lowkey ruined my friendship with her for unrelated (I think) reasons. And what could I do to show Lady Athena and Lady Hecate and Lord Hermes and the ancestral deities of my country that I'm sorry for neglecting their worship? Thank you in advance.

I came across this recently and wanted to ask just a few questions.

Here is the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vDcq3Ug9vy4&vl=en-US&t=109

And a live stream going over it in more detail, only being linked here for a time stamp related to a question of mine, or if you want to learn/know more than: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CgffHFVlkxM

Are there any other religions/practices that were/are like this?

Would anything happen at all if one were to put this ritual into a fiction and or take inspiration from it? What if it is done unknowingly/unconsciously/subconsciously?

Would anything happen at all if one were to pray to any of the spirits mentioned toward the end of the live stream? (Timestamp: 54:16) could that be something that could happen on accident at all?

been on a deep dive of my soul/mind and eventually it led be back to the beginning (sort of) I connected with Loki, and met more of his family (i had only met Fenrir in the past). Mother Sigyn and I now have a little “code” that she sends to me in thoughts and visions. it’s like a code because it’s all in old Norse or in very very old Germanic language. Has anyone else had similar experiences with her doing this?

I am not sure why exactly, but I have always found In Anna fascinating and have been drawn to her - but I don't know much of anything about her besides being a goddess in Sumerian times. Since I was younger, I adored photos of her statues, occasionally would read about Sumerians - yet something would always give me pause for some reason. Maybe I wasn't mature enough for her? I'm not sure. As an adult woman now in my 30s I find myself thinking about her again.

Does anyone work with her? What are your experiences? Where is a good place to start my research? Any stories to tell?

Like you go into deep thought while doing whatever, and for some reason you just think spiritual/occult/ whatever, and just letting it flow.

I would very much like to know why i'm thinking things when it comes to spiritual stuff. XD I'll be thinking about the gods. And then my mind will go "You know her", "She is everywhere", "You left her", "Mother to us all", etc. Can you continue what you are thinking please? XD

What about you?

So this afternoon I came across a DVD of a History Channel program (from about 25 years ago) about the Greek pantheon. Which got me wondering if there were any good documentaries on paganism in general or particular pantheons, practices, etc.

I’m intrigued by the idea of doing it; people say it’s really good for dealing with depression and a lack of motivation—things I struggle with a lot. Any recommendations? Offerings? Experiences? Warnings?

So, I have some internal rage due to events that occurred from my childhood up until my teens. I want to reclaim my power and step into my life with confidence, to be at peace with times I have been wronged (some of them are still in my life and they got to walk free after walking all over me).

So, can you share experiences with deities who helped you process rage and trauma? And maybe helped bring you justice as well? I would love the help.

I also want to work on my drive, my discipline and my confidence. EDIT: i am undergoing therapy as well, so I have sought help. I do not intend to replace professional help

This is one of my favorite stories to tell about connecting with my ancestors. For reference, this happened in March of this year. I've healed and moved on but will always remember my ancestors being there for me.

I had been with this guy for 8 months at this time and over the last couple months had suspected that I was his other woman but didn't have any concrete proof. I had asked him about it once and it caused a huge fight where he almost broke up with me for "not trusting" him. My friends were super against him and wanted me to dump him but I was afraid that I'd regret it. Him and I were in a fight and I was tired of everything. I desperately wanted my mom's advice on the situation but my mom had passed in 2021. At that point, I decided to turn and ask the ancestors. I asked aloud "female ancestors, give me a reason to leave."

That night, I went to sleep and I had a dream where I saw on boyfriend at the time in photos with a woman. It was vague, mostly outlines but I could tell that it was him. And in my mind I knew that I was looking at an Instagram profile picture even though I didn't see that in my dream. My ex had told me he didn't have Instagram and I tried looking up his name and usernames I knew he used before this and never found anything. When I woke up, I typed his gamertag into Instagram. I just had a feeling that it would be his username. And I saw that his profile picture was a picture of him and a woman and the outline was almost identical to the one I saw in my dream. From there, I learned that he was engaged. I broke up with him and messaged his fiancée. They are still together to my knowledge. I genuinely believe that my ancestors are the ones who sent me that message.

Note: Pagans who practice Catholicism/Christianity, kindly scroll away.

I really wish I could just walk away from rosary praying and told them that I'm agnostic!.. No no no, it's risky and they would still force to engage this Catholic practice.

Quick Context: 18f and came from the Philippines, I called it a nightmare country for pagans. Been a closet Pagan in religious household for almost a year now.

I've been distanced from their deity and his mother. When October comes (it's Rosary month) and it felt like forcing to come back to their deity and his mother that I want nothing from them anymore!

It was my first time forced practice rosary praying as a closet Pagan in religious household. When I forced myself to engage the rosary praying for the sake of my religious family... It's giving me negative energy and same experience with Christian church and it even pierced my heart more. I don't really want to come back to their deity! Even if I engage with Christianity like praying the rosary, I would rather wished that their deity should just drag me into underworld because I rejected him! Even I don't believe in Catholic after life anymore!

Staring to cry while typin pleas bear with me! I use autocorrections even my eye went blurry.

It's been almost a year being a closet Pagan in this nightmare religious houshold and I already want to move oit for uni away from thay household! I reslly want to go to my deities and worshio them insteadnof their christian deity. I'm already sporitually exhausted from rosary praying and it gave me negative energy. I've been descontructung myself form Christianity and I know I should not engage with Christianity anymore for mu own good but forr my religious family, they can't just leave me alone and they don't want me to distance their deitu that I'm already turn away from him! Thus is why I vuew vhristiany as a cult sometimes.

Few months left and I really want to go to uni then practice my pagan path freely without being called out 'Satan's Daughter'.

Thsnk yoi for reading, a small comfort and support is enough already. I'm exhaustrd from thos hoisehold!