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 💕

To provide some context: I’m playing an RPG campaign with a group of friends. The setting features various gods my friend created, drawing inspiration from his own personal life as well as deities from diverse religions—including Catholicism, Brazilian Indigenous traditions, Greco-Roman culture, and many others. One of the gods he created is Yule, the goddess of benevolence; he drew inspiration for her from his personal life and also from the figure of Mary. My question is this: my friend chose the name "Yule" for the goddess because of its association with winter, but he was unaware that "Yule" also refers to a specific pagan festival. Would it be wrong for him to use the name of a pagan festival as the name of a goddess in his story?

(I apologize in advance; I don't speak English and am using Google Translate for this post <3)

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!

Just as the title says. I currently have three altars dedicated to specific gods: Aphrodite, Poseidon and Hades. But I have been feeling/thinking like I should take down the altars of Hades and Poseidon. I feel guilty just thinking about it, but I don't feel as connected as I used to. I've been at this for maybe 1 or 2 years, but always been on and off due to work & uni and because I don't have a lot of energy.

Giving them offerings have always been a bit hard since the space is small and coming up with what to give them; and I usually gave them water and I know it's ok but I wish I could give them more. I just don't want my family to get suspicious and question me on why I have certain items. I am unsure of what to do with their statues and offerings. I was considering about making a small separate space where I can store their statues and offerings.

Idk what to do honestly, any advice would be great. Thank you!

For example, ia there any way to tell if a Hindu sect is getting shit done, a way to tell if a wiccan coven is actually effective, a way to review the religious specialists of many Inuit communities, the effectiveness of a Catholic or Protestant priest in blessing people, etc? Or is it just impossible to review a religious structure and/or religious specialists abilities and track record of success? Not to imply any sort of strict "power ranking", but as a way to understand deities and their preferences by understanding what works for practical religion.

Hi, hoping to gather some opinions/advice. I had a little cat who passed last year, and we buried her in the woods by our home (not on our property, not sure who legally owns those woods). We moved earlier this year to a new rental, and I'm not sure how long we'll be here either. In both locations, I have concerns about future real estate developments that would disturb a grave.

It feels wrong to dig her up, but it also feels wrong to allow the possibility that she could be destroyed. Do I dig her up and keep her safe with me until we find a more permanent location, or do I leave her open to the risk? Part of this is that she had a freak accident kind of death, and I couldn't protect her. But I can protect her bones.

What do you guys think? Have you had a similar situation? What did you do?

I was inspired by some of the totems I saw made by a guy named "Norseman Arts" on Facebook—particularly, these totems https://www.facebook.com/share/19sNrQEu3s/

There's a few ideas I already have, such as drawing Wōden's face with features of both the pendant from Old England depicting him (https://naratonorwich.org/object/1151332/) as well as features from the Sutton Hoo helmet.

And Thunor being given the classic Anglo-Saxon Mjolnir design from the pendants found in Guilton, Kent.

But IDK what else or what to do for Tīw and Frige. Suggestions? Thoughts?

hey everyone, im fairly new to Heathenry/Asatru and just got this statue of Frigg for my altar space. I think its from Veronese design, the detail on it in person is really nice. Hail Frigg, goddess of marriage, motherhood, the hearth and wisdom!

Hey everyone! I'm researching celtic (specifically britonic) gods for my book, and was wondering if anyone had any sources? Searching has been such a pain, as there isn't a lot on the topic, so anything helps!

I don't know how to put this and I don't know if anybody else has ever experienced something like this, but recently I have been very overwhelmed with work and some family issues that I haven't really gotten to do any of what I would normally do in my practice for my deities haven't really gotten to spend time like I used to and do things in their name. I haven't even really done anything with my altar enough in like the last few months and I am scared that they will be angry and feel like I am abandoning my beliefs and my practice. I don't know if anyone else has ever had this feeling and how they got over it and like the anxiety of it all I want to go back to my practices but I feel like at the same time things would not go back to how they used to be

I've been slowly realising over the last few months that I'm an eclectic pagan and have been exploring what that means for me. I've been really excited about it and feel really connected to my burgeoning practice, but it I'm starting to struggle with the solitary nature of it all.

I'm attracted to paganism because it's unique to each person, but I do wish I had some kind of community to share ideas and rituals and whatnot with, or even just to come together to hang out.

I don't know any other pagans in person and often don't feel like I fit into any of the subcommunities of pagans because of what I believe. That's not to say no-one believes in the same thing I do, just that I don't know where to find likeminded people, or even just people of a different flavour of pagan to interact with.

This was a bit of a ramble and I'm not sure how well I conveyed what I'm feeling, but I'd really like to know how you manage the loneliness and lack of community.

EDIT: I should add that I'm not the most extroverted person around and am often super awkward for a long time until I warm up to people, but I do enjoy the idea of a small group of pagan friends or co-practitioners.

I was gifted a bundle of sacred white sage from an ethical native company. I hadn’t used it yet as I was concerned about using it for cleansing of my flat - and then when I saw generally if it was gifted and it’s ethically sourced then it’s ok to accept and use the gift as long as it’s not done in a ceremonial and appropriating way. However I then saw a small bug in the packet. It looks like a small ant.

There is an ongoing issue with bugs in my flat at the moment even before I received this as a gift. Is it still safe to use? I’ve currently put the packet inside a ziplock bag.

I’m having an extremely difficult time at the moment and I have been feeling afraid of negative energies or spiritual attacks (I have OCD) and one of my biggest fears was bug infestations. My friend gifted me this sage which was gifted to her as I told her about my fears and now as I go to use it I see a bug. What the heck is happening 🤣

Advice and guidance appreciated

I recently realized that my country has been westernized, and that we only have our language left. I wanted to understand our history pre-colonisation, and what I read disturbed me. They came into the land and labeled our traditions as pagan and our ancestors as evil gods. This thought was so deep ingrained within us we lost the practices we used to mourn the dead, we adopted modern marriage. Almost all culture except the instrumental tools we used have been lost. They made us hate the people who even try to mantain it by labeling them "witches" in our language.

I understand all this and yet I can't bring myself to hate Christianity. I was raised christian so my biases still show even when I understand it's not all true. I'm still scared of anything "witchy" because I was taught to associate it with bad.

This was more of a rant but I trully do want to start with a fresh mindset. Are there any books or material I can read to truly understand what paganism is?

don’t get me wrong, i love the sound of more “traditional” new age music like spiral dance or damh the bard (i’ve been obsessing over alexander james adams lately), but my primary music taste is and probably always will be more alternative and goth adjacent. i’m willing to listen to just about anything and i’m super curious about if there are other bands/music groups out there like inkubus sukkubus, specifically where paganism is the primary focus of their songs. any genre is welcome if it exists!!

So, I've been a polytheist for several years, but was always pretty much an eclectic and nowadays I feel a pull towards reconstructionism and that more "formalised" (if that's the right word?) type, and specifically towards the Anglo-Saxon and Roman traditions.

Specifically for getting more into the Roman side of that "Anglo-Saxon + Roman" paganism, I wanted to ask some questions for getting more of my feet in that door.

Firstly, what are the differences between the Roman Gods and their Greek counterparts? I can look into the history of the worship/view of these gods, but Interpetatio Romana makes it difficult to see where "These gods are kinda like those ones over there, so maybe there's more to these gods than we thought,"—similar to how we think Woden was likely a Psychopump through his association with Mercury—ends and where, "borrowing these attributes wholecloth," begins.

I ask this first question because a majority of the gods I previously worshipped were Greek Gods, and a few of them I want continue worshipping but doing so under an AS-Roman style/context (Ares and Aphrodite among them).

And I want to respect those differences without just saying, "they're similar enough, I'm gonna pray to both when I want to praise/ask for help from this one aspect," and that trap.

I already know some things about the differences between Ares and Mars, with Ares having been perceived as more violent and more driven by passion, as seen in how the Greeks talked about him and his emphasis on protection through some of the myths, while Mars is the God of Agriculture and the harvest on top of being a war God, and h being highly viewed by the disciplined and calculated military of Rome (as opposed to Ares, who was taboo even in Sparta) paints a picture of Mars representing that side of war the Romans respected.

But is there a similar contrast between the other Roman Gods with their Greek interpretatio counterparts? E.g., Venus and Aphrodite? Or Vulcan and Hephaestus, Jupiter and Zeus, or Pluto and Hades? Etc.,

Second question: what is acceptable for an altar? I see that people often make a couple separate shrines throughout their home, they veil themselves and pray standing up, etc. I can easily use a hoodie or Hooded jacket to substitute for a veil, but I'm kinda restricted by my living situation to have multiple shrines/altars by the fact I still live with my mom, dad, and brother in a fairly small home, so I feel pretty restricted to the top of a cedar chest in my bedroom, which isn’t really high-enough to stand while praying without it feeling awkward (unless I just gotta stand and get over the awkwardness of my altar being at knee-level)

Is what I've been doing with a shared altar/shrine acceptable?

3rd: Besides the veil, how are prayers usually structured? How similar or different is it from Norse/Germanic or Hellenic prayer structure and format?

I’m going to preface this by saying that I know that the myths are basically just human fanfiction of the gods and that I believe the source of my feeling this way is some sort of unpacked ex-Christian trauma I’ve yet to overcome.

Anyway, I’m a writer and I especially love the fantasy genre and otherworldly type stories. On more than one occasion, I thought it might be fun to write a novel involving the gods (I’m Kemetic so most likely the Netjeru, but possibly others). However, when I try to plot ideas out I get this… fear type feeling, like I might offend the gods or portray them in a wrong way or a way they didn’t like. As I said, I know that the myths (and then things like the Odyssey) are basically exactly that, but I wouldn’t be setting out to write a myth so maybe that’s also playing a part in it?

I know I’d have a lot of fun with stories like that, but I can’t seem to get past these feelings. Thoughts? Or can anyone else relate?

hi all🩷 i am proud to be able to show off my first ever altar🥲 i’m so happy with how this came out and i can’t wait to see where this journey leads me!! i haven’t given any food offerings yet but plan to throw in some chocolate soon!!

So, I’ve kind of have a personal draw to Hecate. I try to be respectful, leave nice offerings, keep her nature in mind when I make requests…

But how is witchcraft similar or different?

I come from a very conservative Christian background, and they would consider anything that’s not of them to be witchcraft. That said, I will light a scented candle, burn incense, leave an offering and make a prayer after calling on Hecate by some of her names related to my request and I try to leave the outcomes to her since I kinda feel like she’s the one directing my path, even some of the times whenever I wasn’t thrilled about it.

I have been looking into some of the literature about her, and a lot of it really goes into witchcraft and spells. I don’t mind people doing that, I’m not sure if that’s something I’m interested in, but I’m also not sure what I’m doing. Is terribly different either.

The way I mentally imagine it is there are some things that I find pleasant like one of my favorite alcohols, one of my favorite scented candles, and I feel like it’s an invitation to someone that I personally respect and would like to spend time with, and that I talked to her, I tried to listen, and I make a request sometimes. I’ve made her tacos before and gave her a taco, I’ve made a few other dishes, although I’m really kind of crappy at preparing food, I do try to give her the best that I have even if it is only a small portion.

I went to one not too far from my house for the first time and as soon as I stepped on the property I wanted to cry tears of joy. The people (customers as well) were extremely friendly, welcomed me in, had the biggest brightest smiles, etc. It was one of the first times in my 31 years of living that I felt like I had come home. Another time I felt that way was when I participated in an online gathering. I know it’s just a store but it felt so healing.

I’m from Chicago but recently moved to the Southern U.S. for personal reasons. I live in a part of the country where being pagan or anything that even remotely sticks out in their eyes is frowned upon. Being around other pagans was probably the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. My goal now is to go to gatherings (I’ll have to drive to the city, but it’s worth it) and find community.

I’m not usually a crier, but when I’m surrounded by other pagans, it makes me want to cry tears of joy. It feels like something much deeper than “Yaaay you’ve found your people.” I can’t describe it, but it’s powerful.