The bad part of being in a small, or not-well-known religion like Hellenic Wicca..:
The worst part about being Hellenic Wiccan or even just part of a small, not-well-known religion isn't that people ask questions I can't answer...
It's how they treat my religion like something scientific, to explain to me why I shouldn't worship it, 'they' being everyone - the atheistic and the theistic.
I will admit, I don't know everything about my religion. I don't know all the Greek Gods (who could memorize every single one? There are hundreds), and I don't know every small fact about Wicca off by heart. I won't excuse it, and I don't. When people ask questions about stuff I don't know, I feel embarassed but I go look over what they asked about and when someone asks it a second time, I'm more likely to know it.
However, more and more recently thanks to me outing myself as a witch and as wiccan, I get people coming up to me saying ' you aren't a witch' or that 'the Greek gods are just a story to make you behave' or that 'wicca is satanic' and then going on to say Satanism is bad because it worships Satan.
'Can you make that move?'
'No, that's not how it works-'
'Then you aren't a witch'
' And I believe I'm a unicorn shooting lasers from my eye. Neither are true.'
Being a Witch isn't just about moving things or cursing people. It's about being one with the world and it's energy and using said energy to enforce your will (more often positive things like luck, happiness, fortune, love)
I can believe I am a witch, and you don't have to have the same beliefs. Don't they teach us we can believe whatever we want during primary school?
'The Greek Gods are just stories created to make you behave'
'Hellenic means I believe in the greek gods'
'You do know they are just stories, right?'
'Not for me. I clearly remember meeting two of the Olympians.'
'That's just your subconcious. The Greek myths are just there to make you behave and to scare kids'
The Greek Gods are Gods just like the Hindu gods, just like the Christian God, just like Allah. Why is it any different? You trying to tell me it's but a story is like saying the other religions are just stories. Some people who have had this conversation with me are Christian and Muslim themselves. Belief is different for everyone else. I might not believe in Islam and their practices, but someone else might. The reverse is also true.
And, If I say I've experienced something, then I have. No one questioned the people who said they saw visions of God beyond what happened in those visions. If I say I've talked to Hephaestus and Athena, then why do you doubt me?
'No it isn't. You have to worship satan/Lucifer to be satanic'
'Its still satanic. You have the pentagram'
'The pentagram upright is a symbol of protection and of feminine energy. The reversed version looks like the satanic goat head, but is a symbol of the horned god and his connotations like masculine energy, death and nature.'
Wicca is a nature based religion with literally one rule (that I still can't follow 😂) And nowhere does it have ritual sacrifices unless you sacrifice like water, self-made things, or food to them. They are more like offerings than anything.
So defidently not satanic.
'Satanism is bad because you worship satan'
'Why is worshipping Satan bad?'
'Yeah, but why is Satan bad?'
Some people take Satanism too far. I'll admit that. But a small group of people shouldn't define a whole collective. Satanism has two different paths, if you will. Atheistic - where they have different morals like ' an eye for an eye'. It's not like they're telling you to go kill everyone you know. And thetistic Satanism where you worship Satan himself.
Satan and Lucifer are the same person, correct?
Well, in Luciferism, they treat Lucifer as the first person who demanded equality and an explanation from God, He is the giver of knowledge, something we hold highly in this world, and someone wronged by God for asking questions.
So, Satanism/Luciferism isn't a bad thing.
But, no matter how much I try and explain these, no one listens. If I were to say one of the bigger religions was but a story (like Christianity for example) I would be shouted at by multiple Christians and shunned by others for saying something so blatantly rude.
However, telling me with a smaller religion that it's insignifigant and all the facts I - someone who does regular research for fun into my religion - have are wrong is fine? Everyone joins in the argument against me and my religion and I find myself overwhelmed, unable to reply and therefore the people dissing my religion think they have 'won'
People can believe whatever they want, but when it comes to expressing your belief, you need to be able to see other people's belief and respect it.
My religion has given me something to put my trust in, has saved me from killing myself and comforts me when I feel low, and it's being torn apart at the seems by my terrible explanation and some people who don't like New things.
My conclusion: implement smaller religions into the general highschool curriculum for atleast one topic's worth of lessons a year.
And slap the people who diss wicca
