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Genuinely, I think pagans would benefit from researching the religion & culture their deities come from. Only reading books about Aphrodite is a good start, but you need that sweet, sweet cultural context.

I have such a problem with those witchcraft books who use a "deity soup" approach--they just list a bunch of deities for you to work with in spellwork, instead of encouraging you to foster connections with a handful. A blót for Thor is not going to be the same as a libation for Zeus. Sure your spell may fall under that god's domain, but does it follow Their cultural values?

Do your research and find out.

visardistofelphame

I was reading through some books, and recently learned that in certain folklore the migrations of birds can act as spirit trails - act like leylines of power.

It has me thinking about what goes on in my own area. Of course there are the Canada Geese, fleeing from the winter as they follow their migration. But, it really makes me think about the fact that one of the bigget murder of crows is right in my area. I live under their daily flight path.

When you connect with the local land and get to know it, you start noticing those sort of things. Those special things that have real effects on the spiritual, but you hadn't quite noticed it before. I love that sort of revelation.

fornasedensgudar

Njärd/Nerthus.

crazycatsiren

You don't need to get fancy expensive sound bowls or musical instruments for sound cleansing/grounding/centering.

You can simply play music that you love. From phones, speakers, CDs, records, TV, whichever you have available to you.

Music moves through the air no matter its source. Sound waves exist no matter what or who is making them.

child-of-earth-and-starry-heaven

“Foreign to Olympus, a stranger coming to the city from the mysterious landscapes of the sea, the mountains, or the east, Dionysus, the god who subverted the traditional structures of the sacrifice, was at the same time the privileged son of Zeus, the first cousin of the king of Thebes — his native city — and the god who offered to man the possibility of establishing the most intimate communication with the sacred by means of enthusiasm and possession. The very being of Dionysus is the focal point of all of the important contradictions which human reason is unable to bear alone: between identity and otherness, presence and absence, imagination and reality, the absolute and nothingness, power and fragility, life and death, eternity and transition. An irruption of the sacred into the world, of the miracle at the heart of day-to-day life, of the irrational in the center of the city, he is the very paroxysm of tragic tension.”

—Jean-Pierre Darmon, from Mythologies by Yves Bonnefoy (translated by Wendy Doniger)

dionysianivy

𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐱 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞

"In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago."

broomsick

Another set of deities I think pair well in the context of worship is Víðarr and Fenrir. Yes, one is fated to kill the other according to myth, but then again, that’s how the end of times goes in the nordic tradition: opposite forces will meet and the knots of fate will finally unravel. It’s rather interesting to examine the ties that bind Fenrir and Víðarr, and to see how they resonate in each of us. Both have a strong connection to the concept of vengeance, and in this way, despite their difference, they reflect one another.

My own experiences naturally led me to associate these two deities, despite how bizarre this pairing might seem. Fenrir to me is the embodiment of divine anger, rightful fury, and justice served. He is the figure who was wronged, and understands our baser human emotions. He isn’t an “angry” figure per say, but one who understands, and teaches us to channel our anger into personal progress. He was bound, but knew that his time would come, so he bid his time. Much like Víðarr, a God of quiet contemplation, who patiently awaits the moment when he’ll be able to exact retribution. I see these two mythological figures as representing two aspects of our human anger: the feeling of having been wronged, and the will to do something about it. In paganism, no emotion is considered “wrong”. And sometimes, mythology puts us face to face with aspects of ourselves we’ve been taught to ignore altogether. In this manner, Víðarr and Fenrir have both helped me to better understand myself, at times when I felt powerless against overwhelming emotions.

People will often act like mythology is black and white: the good guys against the villains, or the underdogs against some kind of oppressor. But in reality, the myths are the perfect opportunity to consider both sides of the line. What do these metaphorical conflicts teach us? What concepts does each deity or divine clan represent? From a believer’s perspective, mythological conflicts are just another facet of the Gods, one which enables us to draw parallels between the different objects of our worship.

rain--goblin

Viewing Tyr's missing hand as symbolism for losing a piece of yourself via self-sacrifice while trying to protect others (maybe even in the form of taking their hit for them) goes hard

(Oh and there's also emotional sacrifice involved due to betraying Fenrir I'm sure, but I'll dig into that later)

grendel-menz

Minotaur cmmission

floralprintsharks

[ID: digital art of Pasiphae and the Minotaur from Greek Mythology. The Minotaur is drawn curled up in a fetal position in the center of a black and gold labyrinth pattern. A red string connects him to Pasiphae who's drawn in the bottom right corner in the same position as the Minotaur. Both of them are crying while holding the red string close. End ID]

theoxenia

maybe it's the aromanticism but i'm so in love with aphrodite's roles outside of just interpersonal love. like the notion of her being the one who unites a community, her being the goddess of persuasion including in political contexts. obviously interpersonal love of all kinds is still important and part of her domain, but to me that's like. that comes from a wider, more existential understanding of love, as a force which brings together and mixes things into one shared being.

theoxenia

also this is not to be dismissive or look down on the interpersonal & especially sexual aspects of Her. if anything it feels me with more awe when i consider the dichotomy of aphrodite ourania & aphrodite pandemos. like She is what brings the world together, what keeps us bound to one another as a community, and she is also the goddess of lust and crushes and sex work. aphrodite is both the goddess of undeniably grand cosmic union AND the very human, very small, often derided parts of mundane life. which is true of all the gods imo but it's more special to me here because of how much Her realm is looked down on as shallow and dirty... there is no Aphrodite Ourania without Aphrodite Pandemos and vice versa. she is both of the heavens and of the masses. because love/mixis are present everywhere.