#rompol

[cursecuelebre]

Etruscan statues of Apulu (Apollo) and Leto holding infant Apulu discovered in a temple in Veii in Italy made maybe around 510 BC

Photo by: Carole Raddato

[lotusnymphe]

No, the Roman deities aren't just the Hellenic ones in a new wrapper, they're distinct from each other.

In fact, many Roman gods had different functions before they syncretised (got infused) with the Hellenic pantheon! For example, Mars used to be a protector of Rome and it's agriculture before he became associated with war due to his syncretism with Ares.

Plus, many deities have existed long before the city of Rome was even founded. For example Juno and Minerva: they're originally etruscan deities going by the names Uni (Juno) and Menrva (Minerva).

And also, some deities do not have an "equivalent" in the Hellenic pantheon. For example Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. Yes, he may be similar to Khronos, but no, he's not his "equivalent" (also since he exists since etruscan times).

— PSA from a greco-roman polytheist

[paganblronlinefair]

Hello everyone! Welcome to the brand new Paganblr Online Fair! Hosted by @jezzzebel and our awesome team:

@bakxeia

@witchescollection

@travels-and-journals

@blessedbethelovelygods

@wayfind-er

@r4iny-m00nlight

@hats-off-to-hermes

@grayladyofthewell

Starting from September 1st, and lasting until 20th September, this fair is here to help strengthen our community and bring together pagans from all across the world with mini challenges and events!

Here are the challenges this online fair offers:

🏷️PAGAN SHOP SHOWCASE

#paganblrshopshowcase

This one is for our fellow pagan small business owners! For this challenge you will share your small businesses and tell us about them! What do you sell? How long have you ran this business for? Why did you start it? Share whatever you wish to share!

🔄SWAP IT UP CHALLENGE

#paganblrswapitup

For this mini challenge you are to swap your practice, rituals, or routine, with one of your friends or mutuals for a day (or more) and then you both share how your day went! Whether you learned something new, did something cool, etc!

🕯️PATRON DEITY SHOW AND TELL

#paganblrpatrondeity

Do you have a patron deity? Or a deity that you worship the most? Then for the patron deity show and tell challenge, you can share something cool about them! Anything you find interesting about your worship and them!

🌿 PATH SHOWCASE

#paganblrpathshowcase

Whether you are a hellenic polytheist, a celtic pagan, or into multiple paths... The path showcase challenge is the one for people who like to share random things about their practices! For this challenge, you can make a post sharing things that make your path yours!

📋PANEL DISCUSSION

#paganblrpaneldiscussion

This event will happen in our official discord server (link at the end of the post) on September 14 (Sunday). Where we will discuss many things related to paganism! (Note that the server is 18+ only)

💌 POETRY EVENT

#paganblrpoetryevent

Are you someone who loves poetry? Do you love writing poems for your deities? Then this is definitely for you! Share your favorite poem you wrote for your deity/deities! (Or write a new one)

🛐 PRAYER WRITING EVENT

#paganblrprayerwriting

Prayers are a crucial part of most pagans' practices! Write a poem for your gods and share it!

📚 BOOK CLUB

#paganblrbookclub

It's not an exaggeration to say that pagans like books. Whether it's informational books about history, religion, and mythology, or mythology-inspired fantasy books. In our server, you can discuss those in special channels!

♠️ READING TRADE CHALLENGE

#paganblrtrades

As the name implies... You can exchange readings for this challenge with your mutuals and share what you learned about yourself, your situation and how they helped you! (Feel free to share what you are comfortable with)

Tip: do this with mutuals you want to interact with more! To get to know them! And you don't have to stick to tarot!

🃏 CREATIVE TAROT SPREAD

#paganblrtarotspread

For this challenge, you can make many different creative tarot spreads! Maybe a spread for a specific deity? For spirit communication? Or a spread inspired by something from your path?

🦄 MYTH EVENT

#paganblrmythevent

As the name suggests! Share your favorite myth! Doesn't have to be from your own pagan path either. Just a myth you love that stuck to you.

🖼️ COLLAGE EVENT

#paganblrcollageevent

Make a collage for your gods, spirits, or the gods you wish to reach out to! Add images, your art, stickers... Digital or traditional!

How to participate in the fair?

Simply by making blog posts with the hashtags corresponding to the challenge / event you are making a blog for and the #paganblronlinefair hashtag. You can make multiple entries for one challenge or one!

We hope to see you all participate ☺️ and feel free to join our Discord server, discuss, and chat!

PAGANBLR ONLINE FAIR (18+):

https://discord.gg/GcVKmPaVYr

[applefoam]

Do you ever feel so brainfogged that your prayer to a deity is literally just... "help"

Because that's how I've been doing recently, LOL.

[aether-nereide]

I would like to thank Vesta, during the colder months with Her presence in our homes ♡

© ᴀᴇᴛʜᴇʀ-ɴᴇʀᴇɨɖɛ. ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛֆ ʀᴇֆᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ.

[butterflytarot]

Ways to Work With the Greek Gods That You Don't Often Realize

A lot of us reach out to various deities because we humbly request their support in various aspects of our lives.

You might go to Aphrodite for self-love, to Poseidon if you love the beach, or to Artemis for hunting. You might reach out to Hestia if you're a domestic person, or Hephaestus if you're a metal-worker.

However, the deities -- and practices involving them -- are not restricted to just the surface-level definition of their domains. In this post, I am to explore just a handful of deities, and unpopular but valid ways you can attempt to work with them! I've also taken the time to highlight both ancient and modern approaches, going deeper than just your average blog-post. You might find yourself surprised, and working with a new Greek deity after this! :D

Inspired by this post I made recently!

Please note: I am not guaranteeing that any deity will work with you on these things, or that they're perfect for support, especially as every deity is an individual and your relationship with them will not look the same as somebody else's; these are simply ideas or things I've seen people mention, with a handful being things I've gone to some of these specific deities for, that you can ask the deities you work with about or research further on your own. Thank you, and I hope this helps your practice or that you enjoy the read!

Open to read:

Thanatos: Zest for Life

A lot of people think of death-related deities (especially psychopomps) and picture hungry-for-tragedy, blood-thirsty, or spooky beings. Even Thanatos, peaceful death, is often depicted as a sorrowful soul, one who only comes at the worst moments of our lives, one who mortals try to avoid at all costs.

Working with a death deity to begin with is a closer connection to the Underworld and the spiritual world than working with other deities, but it can also be a profound way to learn how to properly appreciate and balance life and all of the funky experiences we have as humans.

The thing about deities like Thanatos is that they don't want you to die, especially prematurely. It is hard work that they do, and they have emotions and feelings about it too. It is honorable work, there's reasons Greeks have traditional rituals when it comes to funerals that reflect the pain and intensity of emotions like grief.

Thanatos is someone who can help you learn the importance of life through the importance of death. To die is to have lived. Unless you're stagnant in your life, in which case you died twice instead. When it is your time, he or another psychopomp will be there to safely walk you to where you belong, but until then, collect stories he can listen to when you make that walk, alright? /soft

On an unrelated note, if you're interested in Roman Polytheism, Mors is a great deity to speak to about things relating to this topic!

Ares: Chaos

Ares is a God of War, undoubtedly. He is also often noted as a god of protection, specifically of women and girls. Now, I could go on and on about the values of war and connection, but instead, I'd like to highlight the nature of chaos as relevant to Ares and working with him.

Something important to note in traditional Greek religion / culture is that there were two distinct gods often prayed to and worked with in times of war (amongst so many others that were gone to for various reasons when it came to war): Ares and Athena.

Athena is the strategist. In modern pop culture stories even, she is the goddess who trains "warriors of the mind." She was seen as the organization of war, the goddess who looked over things like plans, working together, communication on the battlefield, the use of tools for their intended purposes (like shields and spears - there's only so many things you can do with either weapon), and so on.

Ares, on the other hand, was the chaos of the battlefield. The brute force, the aristeia in epic stories, the rage and the pain and the destruction that usually had a reason but didn't always have a rhyme. He often represents the ugly side of war in modern depictions.

A lot of people hesitate to work with Ares in regards to things like this though because many of us are not war-torn or on a physical battlefield. For those without experience with war or battles based in physicality or violence, I recommend:

Support recovering from abuse or entrapment (these are often battlefields in their own right, and sometimes you just need to feel what it's like to be free and break out of the mental cages you were put in -- it isn't always pretty, and it isn't always organized)

Disorganized note-taking (some people just don't function with three pretty highlighters and words written in the margins lol)

Defending your loved ones without cordiality (some people deserve a good yelling at and consequences for their actions)

Turning your explosive rage into fuel

Of course, I can't help myself from leaving this comment, even though I tried lol: Anger is just love that knows something needs protecting. So whether you're motivating yourself, trying to do better as a person, finally taking a stand for yourself or someone you care about, or something else - consider asking Ares if he can help you with it!

Hekate: Self-Respect

Everyone goes to Hekate for magical purposes, like witchcraft, or guidance, like crossroads and divination. However, she is someone you can go to for self-respect as well. Before reading this section, do take the time to learn about her more intricately here (she has her own section in this info-post).

Some sacred symbols and associations of Hekate are dogs, locks, and keys. Dogs, as we all know, are loyal and loving creatures, who will defend those they care about. This is the aspect of communal care and work, and mutuality, within her domains and what she stands for. Locks are protective, they can something sealed and secure, or they keep something permanent and still. This is one faucet of the human life - some things don't change, some things we want to hold onto. But then, there are the keys - that change the nature of the locks, releasing whatever is inside or revealing it. This emphasizes the highlight of change, and the courage to do something that feels dangerous or scary.

Your fate is your destination, but your choices choose that destination and the path you take to get to it.

There's simple ways to approach this - sure, you can do the whole career-change, lifestyle-change, divorce or asking someone out . . . but there's some simpler ways to do this too, as equally as important in my opinion. One of the main ways is setting boundaries. Hekate often goes for independent practitioners who take the initiative to grow and do what they need to do; asking for her support in being able to say no, to change your mind without guilt while still respect others and your commitments, and so on, might be something she is willing to help you with! This kind of self-improvement can be done magically or mundane, too ^^ When a door is locked, it becomes a barrier. Most people don't break that lock off unless they need to - and fortunately, often times, you get to choose who carries the key. Working with deities and performing spells / witchcraft -- even in just living as a regular person, human nature -- amplifies your will, but it comes from you and your self-advocacy and actions that you take to work on your goals.

Poseidon: Live Entertainment

Poseidon is a deity of the sea, earthquakes, and horses. A lot of people know the myth and lore, but not many people ask why he is associated with those things to create the stories to begin with.

The reason why these three things were bundled up together and associated with the same deity, at the time of origins, is due to the shared sound that each of these three natural phenomena have. The rumbling of horse trampling, the rumbling of the earth shaking, the rumbling of waves crashing and thrashing.

In the ancient world, music was the passion of truth, an art made with strings and singing. Nowadays, we have a variety of more opportunities to achieve this rumbling noise, that might remind the deity you're working with of home or the ancient times in a pleasant, nostalgic way.

For example, raves and live concerts (especially genres like rock or drum-heavy arts). Lots of people jumping to the beat of the noise, lots of theatres shaking below their feet, lots of outdoor lively experiences next to the sea, etc . . .

You can also look for festivals, rituals, spells, and other fun solitary or communal practices, get-togethers and activities, that incorporate that of water or prominent noise. Firework shows, dance performances, anywhere where people may bustle together and create that shocking sound and rumble or force that harsh movement is something Poseidon might appreciate being invited to witness / experience with you!

Besides, a great offering to almost any deity is good company!

Hermaphroditus: Self-Exploration & Attraction

Most people go to Aphrodite for things like self-discovery, love and relationships, and self-confidence (which, albeit, is a great person to go to for these things)! However, Hermaphroditus - in myth, child of Hermes and Aphrodite - is also someone you can go to for similar support! And, fewer people work with him, so you might find yourself discovering more about your practice and beliefs in a closer relationship with this deity, too!

Hermaphroditus is considered a love god, with close domain in working with intersex people ("hermaphrodites," though this is an outdated term now) and feminine men ("effeminates"). Traits and characteristics of his domains involve gender, sexuality, self-love, love of others, acceptance, unity of men and women, and so on.

I usually recommend Hermaphroditus as a great alternative for men, especially gay men, twinks and femboys (as well as intersex people, of course), who may feel insecure working with Aphrodite or who may feel like she isn't the perfect fit for them, but truly anyone can work with him! Aphrodite is so popular, and a great individual, but Hermaphroditus is grossly overlooked and in her shadow. Aphrodite is the "big boss" of love gods (and even considered a war goddess), and other deities like Hermaphroditus can help more intricately with more specific or detailed situations or people. You may find you vibe more with him!

Now, he isn't just for intersex people and feminine males, as I just mentioned. He isn't just a god associated with loving thyself and others. He is someone you can ask for support with when it comes to self-exploration and attraction.

Hermaphroditus might be able and willing to help you with:

Self-discovery (in general, in terms of gender, in sex and relationships, and so on)

Attraction (to oneself, self-confidence; attracting others, glamour work / witchcraft)

Relationships (the journey of exploring each other and yourself together, and understanding the pillars of your life and dynamics)

Values (inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance)

Final Remarks

We often forget that Greek deities, though gods, are autonomous and complex just like each of us. It's important to remember where their stories, domains, and lore come from and why they were important, to understand how to innovate them respectfully today.

I have a variety of recent related Greek posts if you'd like to check them out below! Don't forget to check out the rest and my previous posts at my Table of Contents.

Greek Baby Names (naming your child after a deity?)

Hellenist Protections (witchcraft and religion)

Xenia (an intro for beginners)

The Influences of Christianity (reaction post)

You can also check out this post I made about conducting proper research on relevant topics! My advice: Don't forget to keep asking Why?

I might make a part two of this post, so feel free to look out for that if I do lol!

Thank you! :D

And I hope this post helped somehow / that you enjoyed it! <3

[mint-in-the-moonlight]

This is definitely going to be a hot take in pagan/polytheist spaces, but I actually think it's okay for us to emulate some aspects of modern religions. Our world has changed and evolved, and many of the ancient ways of worship simply aren't feasible anymore.

What I'm mainly talking about here is the community aspect. Ancient religions used to be part of the culture, and as I understand it, there wasn't really a concept of "personal religion" (maybe outside of mystery cults) as everyone in the community participated in the same rites together.

But now, it's simply not possible to do things that way. Religion became a personal belief and practice rather than a societal custom, and because we're a minority religion with almost no real-world spaces dedicated to us, most of us are solitary practitioners with very little sense of community outside of the internet.

Of course, historically, people didn't worship at temples the way modern people go to church, but I think it's okay to want to rebuild a religion that does have this aspect. Religions influence each other all the time, and while we should make sure to maintain the core of our religions, we should also allow for a modernisation of our practices so that we can build a thriving religious community.

I know some people prefer being solitary practitioners, and so I don't think this needs to be the approach for everyone, but I personally crave a community and a regular spiritual practice outside of my household worship.

[jezzzebel]

Is it just me or did the pagan community just become so much more hateful in the past few days???

Dare i give a small shout out to @pagan-kind-takes and encourage y'all to send them some kind asks about the community and JUST MAKE POSITIVE POSTS IN GENERAL...

Cuz this is crazyy how hateful these past few days have been...