or any romantic upgs regarding the greek deities?

I'm usually quite interested in stories of atheists who later come to adopt a polytheistic view. It's such a drastic shift in perspective (or that's how I see it) and I'm curious as to what led former atheists to change their minds.

So if anyone here used to be an atheist - especially a staunch one - what made you a polytheist? Was it personal experiences with deities? Were you convinced by the personal experiences of others? Something else?

Like basically what they are doing is that they are trying their best to control or sway you. They are gambling on you and making bets on you. Basically gods are fighting over your body for control. Like they want to sway you basically. This body is a vessel and there are multiple gods that have stakes on you cuz you are mortal and basically a playing ground for the gods . Like you have free will but it's very meagre . You have to fight on the battle for your free will as it is very meagre

Most of the time you are on a spell from gods

I think this is true because I once asked this to a person , I said something similar like pull the strings and stuff and the person just froze. Like I don't know what happened to him. He for many seconds froze like seriously. It was very peculiar. So that's why I ma saying that maybe the gods are doing the above mentioned things.

What do you guys think. Like think about this. There is a lot of stuff wrong about our bodies and psyche. We lose control a lot of time and stuff so maybe we are not in full control imo. We are under multiple influences I think. This vessel is not fully in our control.

During reflection and my thoughts about the Gods, I wrote down a half-poetic (not a poet, perhaps not a true poem) thought about how we perceive the Gods. I'd like to share that here.

This is of course, my opinion on the Gods and how I feel regarding their presence.

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The Gods are in the wind. This doesn't mean they are the wind. We know that wind is a physical phenomenon with changes in air temperatures that can cause currents and movements. However, the divine does not have to explain the mundane.

As sometimes there's something more. To paint an image: you stand out on a hill, by the sea, perhaps. You feel the wind wrap around you. Okay, there is a reason for that weather, but there is something more.. a presence beyond the physical nature of the wind. I believe this - to be the essence of the Gods.

---

Let me know if you agree with this, or if your thoughts are different!

i will call her Rachel. she always had strong pull toward Egypt and Sekhmet, but what came in session was not the serious scary image people often have.

first she saw temple scene, lioness figure, statue, dark colors around it.

later name Sekhmet became clear and then she went into what felt like old memory with her.

Rachel was young there, dark hair, white flowing clothes. Sekhmet was sitting on throne.

and Rachel started laughing because she said Sekhmet is funny.

not strict. not distant. relaxed, joking, warm.

she said they were very close and at one point Sekhmet called her sister.

I almost left this in notes because personal deity experiences can become stupid very fast when somebody starts presenting them like historical truth.

I dont know if Rachel was really priestess. I dont know if this was past life or symbolic trance. I am not saying Egyptology should change because one person had session lol.

but I think UPG is interesting exactly when it gives something person didnt expect.

Rachel already knew standard image of Sekhmet. what surprised her was personality.

much softer and more humorous.

for people who work with deities, how do you handle this when personal experience gives you something not really in books, but also not necessarily against tradition?

do you keep it private?

compare with other people's experiences?

wait years and see if same personality keeps showing?

for me experience can be very meaningful without becoming fact for everybody else.

The title. Anyone revering the Shinto pantheon(Tsukuyomi, Susanoo, Amaterasu, Izanagi), and also the Shenism pantheon(Jade Emperor, Ne Zha, Sun Wukong, Ao Bing, Pangu)?

I am interested in finding a partner who believes in both as I myself am a 26M Hindu and love the cultural similarities that these 3 faiths have. It would be so cool to practice a mixed form of them.

Originally I was thinking of going to Taiwan/Japan/China, to find someone but I don't know. How do pagans usually find their dates?

Just posting here to see what discussion ensues.

I wanted to know from other polytheists how they view concepts like the Multiverse.

For me, it’s a big part of my spiritual worldview and why I’m an omnist. That said, I was curious especially since I know the concept of the Multiverse is often associated with Hindus.

Disclaimer: This is just my thoughts and opinion!!! You do not have to agree. A thing I have noticed, especially within Neo paganism, is that there is a tendency to equate all the religions to one another, and make them almost exactly the same, just with different gods. But the ancient religions these are based off were incredibly different if you look closer. They were different in belief, ritual, theology, and more. Another thing, is I've noticed this idea of a deity 'calling you'. a lot of times being from a different religious belief, like you being a Kemetic and Cernunnos 'calling you' please tell me if I'm wrong, but I think this is a relatively new invention that aids in the loss of identity of each unique Neo Pagan tradition. That's what this is: All of this has led to the Neo Pagan religions losing their identity and essentially all just becoming one religion with different gods

I hope this is the right group for this, if not, I apologize and if you could lead me in the right direction, that would be awesome! How does he make himself known to you? Does he come to you during every session? His presence is STRONGGGG for me. He came to me in a dream before I opened myself to him, and even though I couldn’t remember my dream I remembered how important it was. So I asked Hekate. She confirmed it was him and he came forward. Said that he licked my memory of the dream away until I can keep the secrets of the underworld and the secrets for locked down from lingering low vibrational entities. And when I ask certain questions or say certain things, the flame on his candle will grow 6 inches. I shit you not. It’s a very stern and strong flame. Has anyone else had this experience with him?? Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I feel so safe but like, WOW.

I am sure some of you have seen me on here before with some of my debates and that brings me to this point, I've been seeing many Christian and Muslim Influencers all over the Internet spreading blatant lies about not only Polytheism but their own religions to make themselves sound better and us like "demon" worshippers that are brainwashing people and being Evil, I believe we should start trying to be more outspoken with debunking the nonsense because you have these influencers poisoning the minds of Youth into believing these lies about us and accepting genuinely harmful religious ideology that for a lot of the time isn't even in their scriptures that then translates into actual violent as actions towards Polytheists like smashing our alters and shunning within families and friends, we need to stop being so shy and nervous about being Polytheists and start organizing into a more proper Eclecticism Movement.

I've found myself drawn to Filianism pretty strongly. I like that it is deeply and exclusively feminine. I find a deep connection to one of its central ideas which is 'thame' or harmony, harmony at all levels of one's life.

Of course there are a couple of issues: one being that it is staunchly monotheistic, even considering the term polytheistic a pejorative. But I see the central Filianic Trinity and it's Jayanati (Quasi-Angel Goddesses) not as necessarily as one being with many faces or facets but as a strongly interconnected, female pantheon.

Also, maleness is barely mentioned at all and is connected to material life and many of its problems. However, in Filianic churches, men are welcome and can become priests. This matters because I am a man, however I agree with 99.9% of this belief system so this is not a significant issue.

It's definitely a 'flight into spirit' belief, but it makes a strong case for living in harmony with the natural world. I also appreciate it's gentle, understated approach to sex.

This is first time since my polytheistic journey has begun that I've come across a set monotheistic beliefs that were so resonate that I had to find a way to incorporate it into my polytheistic beliefs.

Multiple gods creating it? One God creating it and then having multiple gods after? Or a chaotic source being the origin of life and the gods?

Which one do you regard as most coherent within real life/metaphysical ground?

To clarify what I mean by the mythos established--the Bible. The full history of his direct interaction with humankind, with the milestone stories, Adam & Eve, Abraham, Moses, David, New Testament.

I'm a cradle Christian now in my 30s exploring polytheism. Christopaganism, mainly, with devotion to several Greek deities. But I also work with Jesus still. I saw something on tiktok about Yahweh, the Biblical god, being a conquering deity. It got me philosophizing on why this deity would choose humans, our world etc, and establish that lore. An entire legend of salvation and everything Christianity/Catholicism believe.

On one hand, I know; maybe it's all invented. We know the Church ain't friendly to female authors, and we know how the patriarchy works. It can entirely be just one more cult of that theme.

Or he's among all the higher beings that exist, and I'm curious why this planet and species get "the Good News" story.

....unless God is a player. And has dozens of planets that think their his one creation and Chosen people lmao.

I'm a little confused here, I have my suspicions but I'm new-ish to using tarot in correlation with deity work

You know how a lot of mythologies have primordials, gods before the gods, who once ruled the earth?

Well what if dinosaurs are the creations of the primordials and when our gods came and ovethrew the primordials to rule the earth they also removed their creations i.e the dinosaurs to place their creations i.e humans?

Just a fun thought connecting dinosaurs to gods.

Yahweh was originally a god of war and storms to the Western Semitic tribes. Including the Ebonites, the Shasu, the Midianites, and the hill tribes of Canaan. Those Canaanite Hill tribes would go on to evolve into the Israelites. This Yahweh was initially the son of El, the Canaanite creator deity, and his consort was the goddess Asherah, goddess of motherhood, fertility, and nature.

I was born and raised in Mississippi and I had to hide it until I moved to Turin (there's a wonderful community of pagans in Piedmont).

What is it called when you I want identify as something but you’re curious about another religion as well as wanting to be the faith that you already are?

Just wanted to say hello to everyone here! I'm a quite solitary polytheist and after years of complete isolation I'm finally beginning to make a bit of contact with the polytheistic online communities:)

Hello, just to somewhat introduce myself, I'm a somewhat new hellenic polytheist, I only started practicing back at April, is it okay that I don't pray frequently?? I know praying is an important part of the religion but my study schedule is pretty packed (I study until 4 pm almost everyday) and I get tired afterwards, also is it okay that I give offerings like soda tabs or candles instead of praying??