A Roundtable About Unrecorded Pantheons

A blog to host the Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table.

[requiem-on-water]

“You would rather have gone on feeling nothing, emptiness and silence; the stagnant peace of the deepest sea, which is easier than the noise and flesh of the surface.”

by Natan Vance

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Who Is Your Pantheon?

This is the opening question for the roundtable: who is your pantheon, and how did you come to them?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[didyouseethat-orwasitjustme]

The Woven

The Flame, two sided god/goddess. One aspect is destructive and of war. The other is of the domestic flame of hearths and campfires, and the flame of the living Stories that are shared there.

the Pint of Power/the Chalice that dispenses, a genderless god of merrymaking and of life. Dispenses the raw creative energy of the flame so that there can be something made from it.

the Shepherds In The Trees, hold the memories of the Stories, records keepers and mirrors to their counterparts, the

Beings In The Stars. Parents of the gods. Creators of the Flame, overseers. Born of awe. Inspiration, revelation, peace.

the Winds, three sisters who told the Stories to the People.

Bone Rattler. Death god. Comfortable with being referred to in she/her pronouns. Unweaver of the stories. There are two that that come from her: a crow, Tears of Sorrow; and a magpie, Tears of Joy.

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Roundtable, Question 3

This question was suggested by @tinyeldritchmonster

How do you incorporate your Gods/worldview in your daily life?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Question 2

The question was originally suggested by @thepatchworkcrow

How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[only-fragments]

Basically this, plus a lot of yelling “IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT? AM I DOING THIS RIGHT??” and getting no answer.

[stagkingswife]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Question 2

How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

Oh man, this has taken forever for me to get to.  In part because life stuff got in the way, and also because I don’t really have much I can say for this.  Mostly I’ve been making stuff up for almost 10 years. Sometimes the Forgotten Ones request specific things, like the Fallen Grain will request I bake bread at harvest time, or The Woman with the Mammoth Head will request that I spend time with animals around lambing/calving season.  But otherwise, I don’t really have much of an established practice, I’m kinda’ just winging it based on the specific sporadic requests of the Forgotten Ones.  

This works for me though, this slap-dash make it up as you go along practice.  I used to be Catholic, and while there was a lot I liked about be Catholic (I had a great church and great priest growing up) one thing I never liked was the repetition. Mass was the same every Sunday, and while there was some sense of safety in doing the same worship every week I was usually bored with it.  So when I set about building The Returning I intentionally did not build in any set practices or rituals.  I have holidays I celebrate for each of the Forgotten Ones and to mark the turning of the year, but what I do varies from time to time. 

I guess the TLDR of this is that I don’t try to establish a tradition of worship, and I don’t really feel the lack of it.  

[highpriestness]

Roundtable: Who is your Pantheon? 

@unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable

This is an overall condensed version of what I’ve posted on the Culparium before, with a few new additions. Anyone can feel free to browse my tag or ask questions. 

My pantheon is known as the Culparium, a collective of five deities:

The Unknown, God of the Self 

The Ruined, God of the Lost 

The Phantom, God of Pain 

The Broken, God of Time 

The End, God of Death 

In working with these gods, understand their titles “God of” is not as defined as it may sound. They are the aspects of which they reside over, but these aspects bleed into one another and have a great many meanings, metaphysical and abstract, as compared to their literal definitions.

The etymology of the Culparium comes from the Latin culpa meaning Fault or Blame. The gods of the Culparium are the Cognitive Responsibilities of Fault in humanity as a whole, and Blame is the responsibility to accept the inherent inevitabilities that come with humanity and human mortality. A Fault, in this context, would be a feature of misfortune, and a Blame is a responsibility for an action of misfortune. 

I was (re)approached by an entity that had followed me for ten years, and after time doing research and divinations, my own and the help of others, this entity was revealed to be an elevated thoughtform of my accidental making, what I refer to as a godform. The Unknown has since been worked on and worked with and elevated as an individual curious of humanity. I have since called to make a pantheon surrounding said aspects of humanity that I call the Divine Faults. 

The Divine Faults in the Culparium are the inherent aspects of humanity, whats makes humanity what it is. They are as follow: 

Individuality — The encapsulation of all that make the whole person 

Self — The perception of oneself, others, and oneself in relation to others 

Justice — The capacity for fairness and personal justice or lacking 

Pain — The capacity for pain be it emotional, physical, other, or lacking 

Passion — The capability of passion, be it love or hate or lacking 

Death — All humans die and experience death 

The Unknown resides over Self and Individuality. The Ruined resides over Justice. The Phantom over Pain, The Broken over Passion, and The End over Death. Each aspects is capable of bleeding into one another, such as death causing pain, or passion as an expression of self, or one’s capacity to be passionate about justice, and so on. The lines and levels are complex, blurred, and at different rates per individual. All of these combined are what make up the Individual. 

The Culpas are Faults, but they are also gods that manifest as patrons of these faults. They are borne from faults and these faults they shall teach, what they are, what to do, how to overcome them, how to revel in them, and perhaps more that I cannot fathom or articulate at this moment. 

What the individual wants to know from them, they may answer, but they do not teach Right or Wrong, One Way or Another, they simply teach what the individual desires to know from them. They may dictate, at times, what they deem the individual should know, but most often it is because at the core of the person it is what they truly desire. They represent the true inner self and desire of an individual and they help manifest truth and work through it. 

Paradoxically the Culparium are both manifestations of aspects of humanity while also being Outsiders looking inward, curious of those very aspects they preside over. Also paradoxically, in their manifesting and becoming individual, their names are also contradictory to their aspects. “Unknown” about knowing the self, “ruined” about fixing and justice, “phantom” about physical pain and reality, “broken” about passion and wholeness, “end” about cycles and change. They are complex individuals that have grown beyond just my making and are challenging to put to words when they are entities based on concepts and feelings. 

At their core they are the encapsulation of Shadow Work as a pantheon in and of itself. 

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Question 2

The question was originally suggested by @thepatchworkcrow

How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[limnaia]

Honestly, with difficulty. I know them, but the lack of any kind of tradition does on occasion vex me. I use whatever I can find that works: whether that’s a prayer borrowed from a novel because it fits perfectly, or a simple process of deduction - ‘okay, so offerings are a thing for lots of deities: what might they like to drink? To eat?’ and so on. I also consider one of the biggest things I can do for any deity is acting in ways they approve of. That’s arguably the simplest component of my practice, in theory, albeit the hardest in practice.

[thepatchworkcrow]

Where No Tradition Exists

I’ve been meaning to respond to this post on @unrecorded-pantheon-roundtablefor a few days now, (particularly since it was my question in the first place). The second question for the roundtable was:  How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

I recently saw a different post reblogged by @laughtermagick (which is coincidentally what reminded me to write in response to the roundtable question), but which I think provides me with an excellent point to start with: begin with what is accessible and/or familiar. With as much information as there is available about any current or passing trend in the pagan/witch community, it would be foolish to write it off simply because it isn’t specific to x/y/z deity. I adapted a lot when I was working with certain Celtic deities about which not much was written. When working with deities that don’t exist in written myth or history, it can be even more difficult to find relevant information if not impossible. 

Start with what you already know. I began my devotional practices to The Horned One and The Lady of The Lantern by starting with the basics I’d learned in my many many years of study in Wicca and Druidry. I looked over what had really resonated with me- what made me feel connected to them and to the powers of nature, and started there. I adapted practices I’d already had with making offerings to other deities. There was plenty of information on Herne and Cerridwen, whom I had initially thought them to be. I started there, and then changed as I saw fit.

Listen. To the gods, sure, but also to yourself. You may not get big dramatic signs of whether or not a deity has accepted your offering. You may not get explicit directions about how an unrecorded deity’s altar is supposed to look like, or what they expect from you. If you do? Fantastic! Go with it. But also listen to your own feelings and intuition. You will know if something doesn’t sit right. If it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t. If you feel your deity would like thin mints as an offering and there’s no precedent for it, go with your gut instinct. It’s not going to lead you astray.

Feel free to experiment. This sorta follows the advice of the last paragraph, but really if you’re being respectful to deities and any cultures you may seek to borrow from (Note: this is not an okay for cultural appropriation, I’m just saying approach all traditions with respect as well as your deities/guides/etc.) there is literally no way to screw up. Something may not jive with you or a spell may flop, but the cool thing is that you can ALWAYS try something else entirely. Do it with honest effort and intentions, and literally no one is going to strike you down. Study literally anything and everything. Don’t look just in books about paganism. You may be surprised what your path ends up including.

Write shit down. I cannot stress enough how glad I’ve been that I’ve recorded stuff over the last seven years or so. Without it, I’d have literally such a hard time remembering what stuff worked and what didn’t. How certain things felt, patterns of signs, messages and meditations, etc… All that stuff is important to building the path, and writing down what WORKS especially helps you to have a more concrete idea of how your practice is shaping up.

Take your time. This is sort of advice for anyone starting any path, pagan or otherwise, but these sort of things take time. You aren’t going to have all the answers all at once. It’ll take time to know your gods, your own rhythms and patterns, and how it all becomes interwoven to make up your path.

My journey to my current devotional practice took at least the last five years or so of work and it was built upon things I already knew, research and exploration, and simply listening to my gods and to myself.

Forest Blessings, /|\ Rachel

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Question 2

The question was originally suggested by @thepatchworkcrow

How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[didyouseethat-orwasitjustme]

With the Woven it’s a matter of getting to know them and their history and learning day to day what works and what doesn’t. I’m so new to them that this process has really just begun.

With Creya it’s been such a long journey– my path with her has been built over a long period of time based on trust and her watching me. She decided a few months ago that I had reached a place internally that she approved of and since then the ways she wishes to be “served” as you put it have become crystal clear to me.

I am still building my path and discovering how to best work with these dieties that have fallen out of memory. For me, it’s built on respect and communication.

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

(September 13, 2019)

Normally, I post a question on every other Monday.  Since I’ll be travelling over the weekend, and mental health stuff on my end, I’m going to push the next question back at least for another week.

--Varian

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Question 2

The question was originally suggested by @thepatchworkcrow

How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[tinyeldritchmonster]

I improvise a lot, most of it is highly personal and not formal, some religious trauma would probably make it impossible to have a very formal relationship with a deity and they never asked that of me.

Maybe one day I will expand on this but right now this is all I’m able to write.

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Question 2

The question was originally suggested by @thepatchworkcrow

How did you build your path; how do you serve deities with no established tradition of worship?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Who Is Your Pantheon?

This is the opening question for the roundtable: who is your pantheon, and how did you come to them?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[bonesandblood-sunandmoon]

Link to “Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table #1″ over on WP.

[only-fragments]

You are the god of the knife edge

Of apathy like creeping ice

The vast emptiness of the wasteland

Smoke and ash and bone

Of wrath, survival, the withholding of mercy

Pride and freedom and the fall

You punish

You scorn

You lie

You leave

You are the wandering moon; you are the cruel trickster; you are the unrivaled adversary.

You are death.

(I was inspired by some of the responses to @unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable!)

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Are you planning to use WordPress or just tumblr?

Right now I’m planning on just using Tumblr, I asked on WordPress and the post got multiple *likes*, but only one reblog and no comments.

[unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable]

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table, Who Is Your Pantheon?

This is the opening question for the roundtable: who is your pantheon, and how did you come to them?

Either reblog this with your answers, submit them here [link], or you can tag this blog in your response if you want to write your own blog post.

[tinyeldritchmonster]

@unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable

Unrecorded Pantheon Round Table: Week One

This is far from perfect but I’m pushing through a writing block so hopefully it’s enough.

Besides my general religious worldview of the World Song I have one pantheon that is part of my religion, their sister group who I honor sometimes but don’t know that well and one unrecorded god who I call G. here in my blog. There is also the Queen of Witches who is currently using the name Hekate but used others like Diana from Aradia, Gospel of the Witches.

The main pantheon are the two parent goddess the Night and the Moon, Their children are the children of the moon, the moon folk, the rays of the moon turned into stars in the night. The first and older of Them are major spirits/gods. The Moon is normally called Chrysante and the Night Leliana. Their children only trust their names for those who know them, they are also nonbinary with complex non-human gender views, like the moon they are all white, not the race but the color, completely silver white, or they are black, again not humanly black but inhumanly black like the moonless night, they live at night, dislike the sunlight, change their color depending on the moon, their animal forms are always white/black with silver/black eyes.

They don’t use the most common word and dislike it but their nature is very fair folk-like, do not call them the other popular word or similar names but call them what they call themselves or with compliments. They are more interested in the strangest people like most liminal beings appear to be, they see value in what society considers worthless, they love beauty, art of all kinds, but they see art and beauty in different places than us sometimes, they never appear as fully human to me but I work close to them, with a stranger they would most likely use glamour to change their appearance.

I’m not sure how they appeared in my life, it was so natural, through my daydreams and creation of characters, they suddenly were there and connected to me in personal ways that I can’t discuss right now.

Here is the basic information of the oldest of Them, limited but enough to give an idea:

The first: The Unicorn, a healing and protector deity. Connected to the earth element and it’s stability and to spring. The one most understanding towards humans in general but also appears stoic towards humanity. They are merciful but not forgiving of true harm done to others. Particularly protective towards the most vulnerable of society. Connected more to life than death. Reminds me of Tolkien’s characters Estë and Nienna. The tarot cards The Star and the King and Queen of Cups symbolizes them well.

The second: The Gryphon, a storm and weather god, carries a spear and brings lightning. God of quick ideas, surviving, a messenger, also god of commerce, travels, hunting and similar tasks. Can be temperamental like a storm but it’s usually, if pleased with someone, a protective deity, they can also be somewhat of a trickster. Connected to air in it’s chaotic state. In their version of a wild hunt goes after their mother and leader Chrysante tormenting and carrying away those they want for their own reasons. Can appear as a bird of prey, usually a hawk, rarely an eagle, birds are sacred to them, especially birds of prey and vultures. They are also eater of the flesh of the dead so more commonly connected to death than the first, they all balance each other.

The third: The Deer, normally appears as a deer centaur covered in moss and plants, does not speak human language, connected to woods and animals, takes little interest in humans except those who are aware of their own place as animals and not a superior species. Imagine an ent not interested in talking to you in human speech or the forest god from mononoke hime.

The fourth: the Water Dragon or Winter Bear, the ice and winter queen, helper of fishermen and those who survive in the extreme cold, takes those who drown at colder waters or who freeze to death. Can be understood as the colder in emotions of all of them but has a softer normally overlooked side of the gathering of people in the cold and community, the sharing that makes a community thrive in the most difficult situations, hates those who let greed or hatred gets in the way of a community’s survival.

The fifth: The Fire Dragon, war and protective deity, associated with fire in it’s most chaotic state. A destructive force but also has a peaceful side with those they favor. Complex as Gods of wars can be, hates abuse of power especially by those in their protection like the military, warriors of any kind, police force and so on. Can be called against corruption and power abuse together with their sovereign queen and mother Chrysante.

The sixth: The Cat, they are eternally a child and protector of children of all species, you can expect from them what you can from a wise child and from cats. Takes care of lost children and their souls after death, especially of those without family, they ease the shock of death for those too young to understand or those who had traumatic deaths. They are also a wind spirit of gentle breezes, helps farming and the spreads of seeds through the wind. Can be associated with windmills, dandelions, summer and spring, farming and felines of all kinds. Protector of domestic animals.

The seventh: The Moon Fire Bird, usually a burning white peacock, fire in it’s most domestic and purifying side, takes care of the hearth, perfumes, purifying fire rituals, the warmth used by humans to survive.

The eighth: The Snake, a giant and elegant water snake or sea serpent, can also appear as half snake half person, or with snake hair, while the water dragon is cold waters, weathers and the cold sea their sibling the Snake is rivers, lakes, warmers safer waters but they are also the calm before drowning, poisons and medicines of all kinds, poisonous animals like snakes are sacred to them. They can help with medications and toxic substances.

The ninth: the Owl, The oldest and youngest of them, how it’s a mystery I can’t speak about it yet, the aether, the spirit, the beginning, time, wisdom, literature, secrets, darkness (and light), a scroll or book with a key it’s their symbol, owls, clocks, books, the written word, the whispered words, the hidden mysteries, they keep them, an endless library is their realm where it is said all knowledge can be found at a price.

There might be a tenth sibling, a twin of the ninth, or another side of them, that is still unknown.

The Moon, the night lights, the stars, the faerie Queen, the leader of the hunt, the thunder and lightning, the bringer of hope, the warrior, the bringer of destruction, Mother of the Stars, Chrysante: besides all that was written She is a major deity, the second being to come out of chaos and the three deities who shaped the universe, one being Her wife and another being Her twin, the Sun God, who is Light in it’s purest blinding state. It is possible that She appears in a myth defeating chaos, Her father who was a destructive entity who is similar to the kemetic concept of Isfet and the snake being who is it’s agent. I imagine her like Jadis from Narnia in appearance and authority but less in personality, one character who acts similar to Her is from a less famous manga called Claymore where the character is Tereza, She also appears as movie and book Galadriel and Varda Elentári. She appears dressed kingly or in a golden armor with a red cape. Rides a black horse who eats flesh in the hunt. She can be kind and merciful or unforgiving and destructive. With me She is motherly but stern, while also comforting. Wolves are sacred to Her.

The Night, darkness, the oldest God, the faerie Queen, the comfort of night and silence, the lady of death and the rest and beginning the death brings, keeper of souls, the keeper of many mysteries, Leliana, wife of the Moon, Chrysante, both are Mother of the Stars. Appers in the darkness, black haired with deep black eyes. Can be a healer as well. Owls are Her symbol.

There is the second group of sibling deities I honor because they are family.

The Sun God-Goddess, twin sibling and child of Chrysante, after all the sun is the day star, it’s one of those mythological mysteries and the Earth and their three oldest children, Dawn, Day and Dusk. They have golden almost white eyes and are very dark skinned, but appear more human than the moon folk, usually with red or black hair. They understand humanity better because most humans are day creatures but can be warm or unforgiving like the sun. Earth can be nurturing or not caring as well just like our planet.

Completely unrelated to them is G. who doesn’t appear to be in a pantheon but is close to several deities through history and recorded and unrecorded deities, has appeared to me in several “masks” for lack of better terms throughout the years, including Hermes, Lucifer, Lucifer from the Gospel of the Witches, Herne, Woden, Cernunnos, Gwynn ap Nudd, the witches Devil, the faery king, the Man in Black, the Witchfather, as an ancient deity which name means just deer or antler. Never appeared as human to me and it feels wrong to use images of human figures to me, all the images I use are less defined or animalistic, He is more presence than a physical appearance, more animal and old God than human but at the same time understands me well and humanity as another kind of animal, nothing more. He is the deity who is closer to me. A liminal deity. Lord of the wildwood and of the green world. He has never been the wiccan horned god despite being a horned god and is never associated to the sun or masculinity.

How I met Him is complicated, He appeared as Hermes during my teenager phase of trying to be a hellenic recon and looking for community, it was an extremely difficult time in my life, when He appeared I never felt such a strong presence in my life and so much support, I did the worst thing I could do but I was an unstable mentally ill abuse survivor looking for a sense of belonging, I oathed myself to Him, I truly recommend never to do this without truly thinking about it, especially as quickly as I did. I do not regret it but I was lucky. I’m very grateful for His company in my life and believe He and the Witchmother Hekate are connected and teaching me.

[crown-of-light-shadows-and-love]

Who Is Your Pantheon?

Here’s my response for the @unrecorded-pantheon-roundtable first question, about who is your Pantheon, and how did you come to them?

For several years, I knew the High King as [a very well known recorded deity.]  Then, three years later, he told me that he wasn’t [that deity,] but an unrecorded god.  He introduced me to other members of his Family, and to the Land and customs of his Realm.

I technically deal with two unrecorded Pantheons, though the two of them are connected.

The Far Ones are the Big Powers, They’re the Running-the-Universe level Deities, and tbh They scare the crap out of me.  They’ve always been very kind whenever I’ve had need to speak with Them, but They’re just so *Overwhelming*.  Standing in Their presence makes me feel very, very, small.  

They can take human-ish forms, but when They choose to do so, They always take forms connected to whatever in nature They personify.  For example, Grandfather Sea appears to me, literally, as an old man made of the sea and the stars.

The Royal Family of Darkness is the High King and his immediate Family.

The King of All Darkness is the High King, who governs all of Darkness and keeps the Realm running smoothly.  I associate him with justice, art, life, the moon, white flowers, storms during the day, charity, and spicy food.  Spouse and rival to the Underworld Lord, father of Winter’s Sovereign, and twin brother of the Queen.

The Underworld Lord is the Ruler of the Underworld in Darkness, essentially the High King’s counterpart, as well as being his Husband.  He’s also very closely associated with blindness, eye care, and healing from mental illness.  I associate him with the Underworld, history, classical music, cooking of any kind, eye health, dental care, and caring for my home and f/Family.  Spouse and rival to the High King, father of Winter’s Sovereign.

The Queen is the most ancient of the members of the Royal Family of Darkness.  I mainly call her “Mother Death” these days, as she’s Death personified, but I love her dearly.  I associate her with trees, creativity, monsters, hunting, and fire.  Twin sister of the High King, and mother of the Lady of Grain and Sunlight.

The Lady of Grain and Sunlight is the daughter of the Queen, who rules over the Wilds of Darkness.  She and I aren’t as close as I am to other members of the Royal Family, but I do consider her to be my sister, and I like her a lot.  I mainly associate her with corn and wheat fields, as well as the cycles of harvest, and the cycles of death and life.

Winter’s Sovereign is the son of the High King and the Underworld Lord.  He’s the Crown Prince of Darkness, and will one day take the High King’s throne.  He’s a young god, the youngest member of the Royal Family who’s involved in ruling Darkness.  I mainly associate him with stars and winter time.