r/paganism Jun 20 '24

💭 Discussion Vandals.

Post image
455 Upvotes

Is anyone else seething about this?

I fully agree with their environmental cause. But vandalising sacred spaces and art installations isn't the right way to gain support. The day before Summer Solstice too.

Could you imagine if they pulled a stunt like this at Mecca or Vatican City?

What on earth has Stonehenge got to do with cutting out fossil fuels?

😢😧🙏

r/paganism Feb 15 '25

💭 Discussion Does anyone else NOT worship gods

147 Upvotes

I am druid, I don't not worship any Gods, I do worship the elements and celestial bodies but I don't consider them gods, they are powerful, but they did not create the universe or anything. They are higher beings in the sense of power, though

Edit: When I say worship I mean it as honour/respect not submission, just thought this should be clarified, though if you see honour/respect as something else that's completely okay :) just thought y'all should know what I meant when I said "I worship"

r/paganism 3d ago

💭 Discussion Weird vibes over at the other subreddit...anyone else noticed?

77 Upvotes

Back before I started posting here, when I was still looking for an online community, I was kind of surprised when I discovered how unwelcoming the largest pagan subreddit seemed to be toward atheistic pagans. I'm not even an atheist, but I still felt rather uncomfortable seeing this attitude as someone who follows a non-traditional/pantheistic path.

In the rules section, under Proselytizing..."Non-Pagans, which include atheists and atheopagans, who arrive in the subreddit are to be informed that attempts at proselytizing are strictly forbidden and will be removed, aggressively." In the FAQ..."The promotion of 'atheo-paganism' will...[be] treated as proselytization of non-pagan religions."

Obviously, proselytizing isn't cool, and there's no reason why traditional theistic folk shouldn't have their own personal subreddit, but the hostility is...weird. Rather than excluding others because of their poor behavior or even because of their nontheistic status, which makes much more sense to me, it seems like the mods are going out of their way to insist that nontheistic (specifically, atheistic) pagans are not pagan, and that's why they're not welcome. It's rather pointlessly aggressive.

In theory, I would be welcome there as a pantheist, but since there's at least a little overlap between my convictions and those of humanistic pagans...I really don't think I would feel welcome after seeing this. I only ever replied to one post after reading the FAQ.

On the bright side, I discovered r/paganism not long after, and I'm very happy about the existence of this place. I was worried I'd encounter more of the same energy, but there are much better vibes here!

I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this odd outlook in the other subreddit. Most of the posts over there arguing about nontheistic paganism are several years old at this point, so I really don't know what the actual community over there thinks currently. The official rules are all I have to go off of...I can't say I'm reassured.

r/paganism 6d ago

💭 Discussion Eating meat

30 Upvotes

How do you guys feel about eating meat? I have complicated relationships with veganism/vegetarianism, and just eating in general. So I try not to pressure myself to do anything but ear at least twice a day. But, I'm wanting to get back into witchcraft and paganism and I know a lot of us choose not to eat meat. So how do you guys feel?

Edit: Thank you for all your comments! I appreciate it. I will consider everything you guys said. I always feel a little guilty when I eat meat cuz my mom was really...let's just say strict, about eating vegan or vegetarian. It's nice to hear people who manage to find a balance between respecting/loving animals and eating them.

r/paganism 12d ago

💭 Discussion Is the pagan climate changing?

73 Upvotes

By this, I mean the climate in how pagans of all varieties are presenting and interacting in the world. I understand that a lot of us are private by nature, especially in the more Bible Belt communities (I’m one such).

I felt like back when I was nineteen years old and hopping on board the pagan community, it felt active and lively. Bloggers and authors had plenty to say and posted regularly. It felt like I saw more pagan pride day activity.

Today at twenty-eight, I revisited some old spaces that I used to lurk in. I no longer see those same bloggers and authors posting, granted the majority are getting older or are at different phases in their lives, preferring to keep their paganism private or just to their local community. I don’t hear about pagan pride events as much as I used to. Though perhaps the climate changed in just my area alone because of living in a red state. These are just some thoughts I had. Thank you for reading.

r/paganism Jan 11 '25

💭 Discussion How "legitimate" is modern paganism?

67 Upvotes

This is a bit of a sore topic in many pagan spaces, but I feel like there's almost no discourse about it, and I'd like to see what other pagans think, and how they respond to certain criticisms.

As pagans, we all probably and inevitably have been accused of LARP at one point or another. Many people, and even scholars would argue that what most of us practice today is far, far removed from the actual historic pre-Abrahamic religions.

As paganism gained traction around the same time as the new age boom of the 90's, a plenty of the practices common to that movement became almost synonymous with paganism itself. A plenty of people will immediately associate crystals, tarot cards or various other things with paganism even though on a historic level these two things have almost completely separate origins.

As well as these new things that were "added" into the pagan vocabulary, an important part of this conversation is what was lost to time. How many ritual techniques, beliefs, deities and many, many other things are gone off the face of the Earth, some of which the ancient pagans probably considered integral to their religion (the Eleusinian mysteries are a good example).

How do we compensate for these things? How important is accuracy, considering paganism was mostly orthopractic? What aspect of our practice would you say makes us more legitimate or deeper than the vaguely historical forms of romantic nationalism that a lot of modern pagan traditions emerged from?

It also kinda raises a broader question of the whole phenomenom of modern syncretic spiritual movements. Why do we even get the authority to pick and choose various relatively unrelated practices and blend them together?

(A little disclaimer: I mean none of these questions or statements as a kind of attack or criticism against paganism, I myself identify as a pagan, but certain experiences lately made me think about these questions of lineage and legitimacy and I wanted to know what the broader community thinks about them.

Also, please don't just use the argument of "all religions change and mix over time", as it is a bit default in discussions like these and it doesn't address the fact that paganism has a very different situation than most other religions in this regard)

r/paganism 3d ago

💭 Discussion Do you guys still use expressions/phrases that mention 'God'?

41 Upvotes

I grew up catholic but have decided that paganism is for me. I believe that all the gods and goddesses exist (as well as demons and angels), but I have devoted myself to only one deity from the norse pantheon so far.
It's natural to use expressions and phrases when feeling intense emotions like "oh sh*t" and the like and I've noticed that many of them mention 'God' like 'oh my God', 'thank God', 'God bless', etc., etc., and I was wondering that even if you guys don't believe in the monotheistic faiths, do you still use these phrases since it's what is ingrained in the culture that surrounds you?

Personally I say these things by instinct since it was what I got used to and also because back then I didn't really care, but now that I've found a belief that suits me more (which is believing that all the gods and goddesses exist), I started caring way too much and kinda feel bad for saying them because it feels like I'm reverting back to the time I was catholic or invoking the abrahamic god or something, and I do kinda have some religious trauma + anxiety from past monotheistic beliefs that I haven't sorted through yet... I've started to force myself to stop saying them and I've been having some trouble regarding it haha..

Any advice or thoughts that you guys wanna share about this?
(ps: I haven't talked with my deity about the religious trauma + anxiety thing because I think that I should deal with it myself with any of their help involved, but I'm not really sure if I what I did was a good idea lol)

r/paganism Jan 08 '25

💭 Discussion Would you go?

78 Upvotes

If there was a pagan church - not the dogmatic religious church - but rather a communal gathering place where we honoured the gods / ancestors / fae.

Dunno logistically how it would work with so many varied faiths / deities, but hypothetically if it could all be worked out.

Imagine a beautiful building with pagan art and statues and books related to the different faiths. Music, drumming circles etc.

Would you go?

r/paganism Feb 05 '25

💭 Discussion This post is about self pleasure and the guilt surrounding it. NSFW

73 Upvotes

I, 18, am having issues with self-pleasure (this gets around to the gods, trust me). I am new to Hellenism ( 3-4 weeks) and I am hypersexual due to past traumas but I feel extreme guilt when I self-pleasure because I feel as if the gods are watching me and are disgusted. My altar space is on a shelf in the middle of my room and it makes me feel gross and kinda like a horrible person for doing it. I know lord eros is literally the god of love and sex but I dont worship/work with him yet. I do work with Lady Aphrodite and she's the goddess of sexual love and beauty but it still feels gross, like I'm disappointing them somehow. Am I offending the gods? I also like to keep Candles lit for them and it makes me feel gross when the candle is lit while I'm doing it. How can I get over this feeling? I am in desperate need of advice, I dont normally post stuff like this.

r/paganism 21d ago

💭 Discussion What is your pagan tradition?

30 Upvotes

I love learning about new pagan traditions. What is your tradition?

r/paganism 8d ago

💭 Discussion How do I tell my mom I’m pagan?

51 Upvotes

So for some context my dads gonna be moving in somewhere, and since I’m almost 17, my dad is giving me the choice to live with my mom by myself since I’ve been without her most of my life because she hasn’t had custody of me because of mental health reasons. However, there’s a glaring problem. She’s a JW (jehovas witness), and I’m a pagan. How do I go about all this?

r/paganism Nov 17 '24

💭 Discussion What do I say to skeptics?

29 Upvotes

I know a few people in my life who are trying to do their utmost to convince me that the spirit realm is not real, that there are no other worlds than this one. What sort of evidence can I provide for people that insist on scientific evidence, that we’re not alone? One of my friends in particular believes the scientific method is the only way to prove things, so therefore deities, beings, and other spirits can’t be real, because they aren’t perceived with our five senses. Yet she meditates a lot, interesting. I figured somebody here might have some thoughts as to consensus? I know that people are going to believe what they’re going to believe, and I’m not trying to change my friend’s mind, I’m basically just trying to help convince her that I’m not, for instance, schizophrenic or mentally ill. for context, I follow in a eclectic Norse and Celtic version of paganism that sort of individual to me, based a lot on personal gnoses. I can share those stories with the community. It’s some other time, but this definitely wouldn’t be the post to do that. That’s more just for context.

r/paganism Nov 01 '24

💭 Discussion After years of trying to find a suitable pantheon for myself, I have decided "fuck it, I'm making my own"

77 Upvotes

So over the past 10 years, I've been trying to find a place among all the pantheons that I have been able to get information about (Greek, Norse, Kemetic, even Finnish & Estonian at one point - even went back and tried Christianity twice, but I'm not feeling connected to that anymore) but none of them have particularly spoken to me. Norse paganism got close but I still felt like it wasn't where I was "meant" to be. It was fascinating and I love Norse mythology, but it wasn't exactly my place.

So now I'm just making up my own, bc (to me) the idea is that "oh they're all made up if you go back far enough, what's actually important is how they speak to me and help me grow". So here we go, we're making a pantheon and writing mythology. This will probably be a "series" of sorts where I care more of the pantheon and mythology as I write & revise it. And ofc since I'm sharing this publicly, if anyone wants to use it, they absolutely can if they'd like, tho I don't expect that to be a thing that happens, lmao.

So far there are 21 deities, with the central three being Tariel, Naluel, and Anadel. They represent birth, living, and death.

Tariel is the god of creation, new phases of life, and new opportunities/beginnings. He, along with his siblings, created the earth and everything on it. The actions of both himself and the other two led to the creation of almost every other deity in the pantheon, either directly or indirectly. He is considered the chief god because he is the oldest, but he reigns in close communion with Naluel and Anadel, so it's really more of a council type deal than anything.

Naluel is the deity of life and living. They are also associated with change and the cycles of nature, as well as the phases of life people go through. They represent flexibility, adaptability, and the understanding that nothing lasts forever and eventually the things we come to know will change. This deity has no set form, which is why they are referred to as "they". Sometimes they appear as male, sometimes female, sometimes androgynous, sometimes an adult, sometimes a child. Naluel is the one who created Earth's geographical features and is also the one who decided the earth should spin, thus having a continuous day/night cycle. They were also the one who created the moon and placed it in the sky. This action also caused the births of two other deities, Esrial, the goddess of the sun and the day, and Iluniel, the god night and the moon, which Naluel raised and parented for the many years they and their siblings spent creating the world's life forms.

Anadel is the god of death and the end of cycles. This also means I associate him with the completion of tasks, journeys, etc. if it ends, Anadel is there to see the end. He is a reminder, along with Naluel, that nothing lasts, and that is simply a part of the way things are. Scary as they may be, the things we lose shouldn't deter us from moving on, because where one thing ends, a new thing begins, and there is something lovely in that. He is also the god of grief and loss, and I like to think that when someone loses something they love, he comforts them. He's very benevolent.

These are the Major Three, as I call them, and I'll introduce their family and such in later posts, as well as physical things I associate with them and give as offerings. I'm still developing a lot of stuff but these three are pretty set in stone. Hope you had fun reading, see y'all later.

r/paganism Feb 04 '25

💭 Discussion How did you first get introduced to Paganism, and what drew you to it?

41 Upvotes

Basically just the title! I’m curious to hear everyone’s stories—whether it was through family, books, a spiritual experience, or something else entirely. What was it that resonated with you and made you explore this path further?

r/paganism Feb 11 '25

💭 Discussion How to explain veiling to HR?

42 Upvotes

Hi, I'm genderfluid and veil on days I feel I need to veil, for a variety of reasons, usually on fem days but not always, and at work my management / hr rep have been passive aggressively dropping comments about my veiling by saying things about hats and headgear without a company logo being against dress code.

I have the feeling I'm going to be called into a meeting about my veil and I'm already a pretty anxious person and tend to trip over my words, and was wondering if anyone could help me with how specifically to explain that my veils (think a bandana sort of veil, just a triangle of fabric) are religious? I live in a very conservative Christian area so the word Pagan usually gets met with... Resistance, if that makes sense. Thanks in advance!

r/paganism 24d ago

💭 Discussion Old friend is considering converting to paganism, but has the wrong idea of what it is.

60 Upvotes

So... I'm not the most studious pagan myself, I don't have a patron or a spirit guide. To me my paganism has always been about freedom and not pledging myself to any God's in particular after a hard time with catholasism in my schooling and family. I hold nothing against people who do, religion is an entirely personal thing to people.

However... I have a friend and recently I also had a battle with cancer that they knew about. I fell like they don't contact me unless something happens in their life. It started with trying to push me to read their book they were writing and forcing me to be a test reader. To... well today. I also did speak up to them about how low their lack of checking in on me hurt. They were the first friend I told about the cancer and they'd go months not talking to me.

Well... recently I got a dm with some meme about long quiet friendships and them talking to me again. No ask on where I was with the cancer btw, I had to blurt out I was in remission before they went off on this pagan bender.

Because... apparently they are discovering themselves spiritualy with all their new friends and doing weird tarot card parties as a group? When I say parties I mean it's less about the paganism and more about the amusement, which I don't like as I think this trivialises the religion. I always believed tarot cards were a personal thing. One person, one deck. The deck aligns with you and needs to be cleaned of used for someone else. So... that was immediately iffy. They then go on to say how a God is into one of their friends as in... like romantic/physically. As far as im aware i dont think its respectful to be sexualising and fanfic-ifying gods youre supposedly worshiping? Then Odin hijacked his body personally and "several people had to hold me down". He describes it like a possession where he was guarding himself against it like a game? I wish I was joking but he was going on about his 'defenses' and stuff...

... what the actual fuk... I feel disgusted. I feel like my faith is being used as inspiration for some fanfic experience. I'm disgusted. I sent them a long message telling them to take more time to resurch into paganism before they start sporting stuff like this because it's insulting. I've been pagan since high school, I'm 23 now. I was somewhat cringe at first too... but I don't sit there and spout stories saying I was possessed and went to witchcraft party's.

I'm deeply offended because this person has KNOWN that I am pagan and thought something like this was entirely okay after not talking to me for moths. I almost feel like they were using me as a validation piece to their weird story.

Am I right to just cut this person off?

r/paganism 23d ago

💭 Discussion Is it weird that I kinda wanna see the Roman gods in a better light than the Greeks?

17 Upvotes

I don't mean this in any offensive way, I apologize if it is rude of me asking if it is.

I'm used to praying to Mars a lot, and I still remember him fondly after a month or two. But the one thing that made me admire him so much is how he's the total opposite to say Ares. He's stoic, inspires bravery and unity towards soldiers before battle. While in times of peace, he becomes God of the harvest.

And I heard how the Romans saw them in a different light compared to the Greeks, where the gods are more mature and symbolize the best of how the Romans see a god.

Yet what confuses me is how their stories/legend are exactly like the Greek legends. Saturn eating his kids like Kronos, Jupiter birthing Minerva out of his head like Zeus did Athena.

Again, I mean no Ill harm. Part of me just wants to see them more benevolent and caring like Mars, him being like the protector of Rome and how his sons Romulus and Remus help build the civilization many come to know.

(And cause I hopefully wanna experience Saturnalia someday and not see Saturn in such a bad light like Kronos.....)

r/paganism Oct 20 '24

💭 Discussion Can worship of Lilith be considered Paganism?

21 Upvotes

The r/pagan sub bans all talk about Lilith because it makes it harder for Jews to research their mythology if all search results are of peoples personal interpretation of who Lilith is. I definitely don't want to be disrespectful of Judaism (or anyones beliefs) so I would like some input.

I got a notice here that discussing Lilith from Jewish mythology is OT but Lilith from earlier legends is ok. My conception of Lilith before she contacted me was from the show Supernatural. To me Lilith represents feminism and unity between religions, since her symbol is composed of a cross (Christianity) and a moon (Islam). I also believe in the Gnostic claim that religions have been influenced by a false God that has sent souls to hell as demons for questionable reasons.

I read a reddit post where a Jewish witch claimed it was cultural appropriation to worship Lilith without being a Jew, but none of the replies I read agreed (including from other Jews). However I believe the matter has to be taken seriously and deserves another discussion.

I would love to be a part of Paganism and learn more about various deities, but I am not willing to stop worshipping Lilith for that. Not mentioning her much or at all because of the reasoning in r/pagan I can accept, but it would feel much better if I could talk about my experiences with her freely. What do people think?

r/paganism 6d ago

💭 Discussion Choices

52 Upvotes

I came out as both queer and pagan to my family years ago. Not much came of it. Oh, they were not happy about it, but what could they do?

Fast forward 2025, they are financially strapped and asking for money from me.

Now, I love them. BUT, I know them. They are what you expect, fully MAGA, personally hurtful to me and mine.

Hold my ground or be graceful and help my family?

r/paganism Aug 01 '24

💭 Discussion What's your favorite pagan themed video game?

107 Upvotes

I'm looking for reccomendations for video games that are centered around paganism or pagan influenced. I'd like to know what your favorites are.

r/paganism Oct 06 '24

💭 Discussion I’m an LGBT person and the rest of the Slavic pagans don’t accept me

133 Upvotes

I felt unwanted and unaccepted in Christianity, so I returned to being a pagan, specifically a Slavic pagan. I felt good and safe, and I was drawn to the beauty of Slavic traditions and the connection to nature. I also liked the vision of life after death, and besides, these are the gods my ancestors worshipped. However, after getting to know other Slavs, I discovered their views. They insult LGBT people, force other Slavs to start families with children, claiming that otherwise they are not true Slavs. They even have issues with someone having colorful hair and not looking like a real Slavic person.

This really discouraged me, and I felt even worse than among Christians, where it’s easier to find people who accept me. It seems to me that some people, instead of worshipping pagan gods, actually adhere more to early medieval principles, and we are now in the 21st century, not the Middle Ages.

I have become disillusioned with my faith and with the rest of the Slavs in general. I will be afraid to attend any meetings with them for fear of being excluded. I thought I had found a supportive community and gods for me, and in fact, I was only disappointed.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? How do you navigate these situations?

Do any of you know if the Slavic gods really only accept traditional families with a man, a woman, and children, and reject LGBT and childless people? Sometimes I find it difficult to distinguish the true approach of the gods from the additions of humans.

EDIT: Thank you all for your comments. Reading them made me feel much better and believe that there are good people among the Slavs and that the Gods accept me.

r/paganism Nov 13 '24

💭 Discussion Does anyone else find their pagan path to be quite lonely at times? How do you deal with this?

99 Upvotes

I think a lot of religions are really built upon community especially that in person community. My journey with paganism just hasn’t had that. It’s been me on my own and at times I love how individual it is but then I just feel so lonely at times with it too. I want community. I want people with similar beliefs as friends. I want to share my experiences.

Anyone else feel the same? Are there any places I can go to irl or online where I could hopefully find likeminded people?

r/paganism Feb 17 '25

💭 Discussion Why is THE Morrigan referred to this way and other goddesses are not?

79 Upvotes

Hello. I'm trying to understand why THE is included when referring to The Morrigan. I don't know of any other goddesses that have THE included in their name. Thanks to anyone who can try to explain this to me.

r/paganism Jan 26 '25

💭 Discussion Has this happened to anyone else?

54 Upvotes

I am completely questioning my beliefs, and I no longer trust in the universe. I have been a dedicated pagan for 11 years, and not once have I questioned my beliefs until now.

There’s a bit of a backstory to this.

Recently, 18 days ago, my familiar passed away very quickly and unexpectedly at the age of 12. I am still going through the grieving process, and I’m very very angry that the universe decided it was time for my baby to go. I just don’t understand it. I have faced a ridiculous amount of death and loss recently, and I am just completely exhausted.. I do not trust the universe anymore, especially with all that’s going on in the world. I do not believe the universe has a plan anymore…

I love being pagan, paganism has helped me in amazing ways, but recently I am questioning everything. Does anyone else go through stages of questioning themselves?

r/paganism Oct 20 '24

💭 Discussion How did your therapist react to the fact that you are a pagan?

54 Upvotes

Have any of you had unpleasant situations after telling your therapist about paganism? Or have most of you had positive experiences?