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broomsick · 1 year

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What daily things do you find your gods in? For example, finding Freyr in the sound of a bird's song or Loki in the flames of a fire. It'd be cool to see a list of your associations for them. c:

Personal day-to-day associations with the Gods

Óðinn: the traditional Scandinavian music I listen to, reading books, hearing or telling stories, darkness in general (like after having closed all the lights in the house), red wine and strong alcohols such as spirits, local woodland berries such as currants, gooseberries, blackcurrant (etc).

Yngvi-Freyr: cooking/baking (especially traditional food), windy days, hikes in the woods, fall colors, sunsets, road trips, picking flowers, light rain, gardening, the countryside, cold tea, the moment when spring becomes summer.

Thórr: doing manual work, beer, dusk, taking well deserved breaks from work, cloudy days, evergreen trees, disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with the open air, eating or cooking red meats, weather events ranging from light snow to strong rains, singing at the top of my lungs, joking around with friends, going to the bar after a hard week’s work, celebrations in general.

Freyja: showering and taking baths, perfumes and anything fragrant, eating fruit, doing a skincare routine or buying a new skincare product, collecting fallen tree leaves, visiting a pagan shop, practicing magic, warm colors and especially red, petting cats, having funny exchanges with friends and sharing current concerns with them.

Frigg: learning traditional crafts, attending local events, speaking with elders, enjoying a moment of harmony with family, feeling at home, cooking or baking, browsing through farmers’ markets, telling a loved one I love them, doing nostalgic stuff to reconnect with my childhood (such as watching children’s movies!) and doing divination, especially tarot.

Baldr: the color blue, cloudless skies, very cold days, whenever I see springs or waterfalls (which doesn’t happen that often but still!), seeing children play, birds’ song, listening to soft music such as flute, harp or lyre, whenever I willfully build up self confidence (I always feel like He’s the one encouraging me).

Loki: listening to classic rock or power metal, starting bonfires or woodstoves, fire in general like playing around with a lighter or matches, playing pranks, making spontaneous decisions, puzzles and riddles, masks though I’m not certain why.

Týr: seeing fur garments such as fur coats or winter clothing, traveling by boat, camping in thick and isolated woods, browsing through medieval shops, wolf imagery, cuddling up by a fire after a cold day spent outside, whenever a battle scene comes up in a movie or show, celtic music but I’m not sure why I make that association honestly!

Hel: gothic-style clothes, incense, skull imagery, practicing magic and divination, spirit work, ancestor work, visiting loved one’s graves and leaving flowers, graveyards in general (especially those in small villages), learning about different spiritualities and the way they each envision the afterlife.

Heimdallr: caring for animals, spending alone time outside, climbing trees or rocks, high places in general, reading through the Völuspá, making the effort to listen instead of speak, making a kind gesture randomly, helping people in general.

Skaði: hiking in the mountains, stays at cabins, exploring woods, staying at very unpopulated areas, evergreen trees and especially spruce, watching snowstorms, meditation, hearing/reading mythological stories, winter comfort foods such as soups and meats, stargazing.

Eir: herbalism, learning about local plants and trees, brewing potions, caring for a sick loved one, kitchen witchcraft, and something we call “grandma recipes” over here, that consist of dubiously scientific medicine (lying on your left side to heal an upset stomach quicker, using potato peels against warts, etc). I’d have to make a whole post to list those out. These types of medicine tricks that seem mysteriously effective ahaha!

These are only a few of my deities, but they’re the ones I feel closest to these days.

#ask #asks #norse paganism #norse gods #deities #deity work #heathenry #spirituality #polytheism #norse polytheism #witchcraft #upg #personal #paganism

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giantsnweretigersnbugbearsohmy · 2 years

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Thoughts on Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel

Guys. GUYS. This book is GREAT!

As someone currently in the process of building a homebrew world, this book is a godsend. Not only are the adventures fun, easy to navigate from a DM perspective, and designed with collaborative gameplay in mind (not heavy on narrative proscriptions), but the clear and explicit directions of where each location might exist in existing official settings, plus a gazetteer for each locale, a legend, a regional language, pronunciation guides, and beautiful art really do help you to envision where and how you can fit these rich locations into your world.

There’s so much love and care that’s gone into crafting these locations and the adventures, and there are especially beautiful moments throughout. In addition, the gender diversity is beautifully done, with nonbinary characters interwoven in (from what I can tell so far) all the adventures, including gender-neutral names for each location. The approach is straightforward and clear without any fanfare or hype, making everything feel very authentic and natural.

Conceptually the importance of oral traditions (stories and songs), ancestors and family, spirits and gods, is really cool, adds a ton to the narratives, builds texture and nuance, and in my opinion, presents such a fantastic flipside to the usual distant gods + mostly mundane natural world of standard dnd. In almost every location, spirits of place (be they ancestors, land or river spirits, dragons, or angels) are immanent and integrated - they are living and breathing, and as a pagan, it’s really lovely to see that more animistic view woven throughout the book.

In so many ways, this book has inspired me - I’ve been tweaking my world maps, envisioning different places, areas of the world where different locations and adventures could exist, strengthening initial ideas and concepts, and absolutely loving how the region I’ve been most invested in building (the start of any new campaign at this point in my world) is even *more* out of balance due to it’s adoption of capitalist, anti-religious views meant to fuel market and trade, it’s a powerful contrast! (As a note, the imbalanced region is *meant* to be there to provide opportunities for players to dismantle capitalism, bring balance, be heroes and rebels, etc!)

As a worldbuilder actively building a world, this book gives me such a wider perspective, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to build their own world. For DMs not building new worlds, it’s still an incredibly valuable resource in building in cultural variety and refreshing your settings with some beautiful and intriguing adventures, locales, and stories, and anything you take from it is sure to be a bright spot in any campaign you run. Honestly, I cannot recommend it enough!

As a player, I am so stoked to get the opportunity to play in these places that are so vibrant and fresh, familiar and new at the same time. If your DM doesn’t have this book yet, as a favour to them and yourself, get everyone at your table to pitch in and get it for them as a gift! You won’t regret it!

#critical role #dnd 5e #dimension 20 #critrole #cr #dnd #journeys through the radiant citadel #radiant citadel #fucking good adventures and settings y’all

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will-o-the-witch · 2 years

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Hi, I hope you don't mind but I thought I'd come to you to ask a couple questions. It might be long. Also, brief conversion therapy mention tw.

I've been having some personal issues with my spirituality lately and I can't seem to get my head around something. For context, I've been raised pretty much predominantly by my Jewish grandmother but I'm technically not considered "officially Jewish" (no official Conversion, mother doesn't consider herself Jewish) and I don't call myself Jewish, obviously out of respect. I've been a Demonolatrist for many years and consider myself a witch, and I've been interested in Jewish Demonolatry, folklore, spirit work etc. on and off. I've just always been hesitant about it because I'm not sure if I'm overstepping any boundaries here considering Judaism is a closed religion and I'm not sure if I can go through the process of becoming Jewish to follow this path. (I don't think it's possible, but it's doing my head in. Would it be offensive/wrong?).

I believe in God 100%, but I don't necessarily worship Him either. I've a very odd relationship with God because I was a victim of gay conversion therapy at our local temple during my childhood and it's kinda dulled my views on Him. It's a kind of "I love you, but you hurt me really bad" relationship. Regardless, I still pray. I would feel comfortable following Jewish culture, customs, holidays, and I've thought it through a lot, but I just can't bring myself to fully worship God and only God. It'd be more like "yeah, God exists and we're cool these days but we have an iffy history".

I'm just curious. How can I approach Jewish witchcraft from the perspective of not wanting God to be at the centre of my practice? Or, more specifically, is it possible? Because Judaism is supposed to be monotheistic...

Ooh, this ended up being way longer than I thought it would. Thank you very much in advance if you decide to take time out of your day to answer this, and I genuinely hope I don't offend. I would love to hear what you have to share on this. It's been on my mind for a fair while now.

This is a really really interesting question! Thank you for asking it.

To start, your relationship with Gd to me feels like a distinctly Jewish one, so I wouldn't worry too much about that aspect. It's very normal if not expected to wrestle with Gd and want to fight Them in the yard sometimes. Obviously anything shared willingly with you by your family/community is fair game, but if you don't consider yourself Jewish you may still need to convert to get into the Deep Stuff. That said, there are totally Rabbis out there who would be willing to work with you. (When I told my Rabbi I considered myself a polytheist, he just replied, "Actually there's a decent argument for that if you look at X, Y, Z...") At the end of the day, your relationship with the Divine is your own, and it's okay to wrestle with the texts, disagree with some of them, and cobble together what feels the most Right for you. What helped me personally wrestle with the monotheism was pouring over religious texts and realizing Jews often define and relate to Gd in a way that is actually quite different from how we envision Pagan deities. HaShem is much more synonymous with how we describe the Universe or the All, and by definition there is only one All. Pagan deities can still exist within that framework. What works for me may be different than what works for you! As for witchcraft, it is 100% okay to not have your craft, even the Jewish elements, center around HaShem. Even many devout religious people are secular witches! It's all about where you believe your "power" is coming from and whatever you bring into your work.

All that said, if you do choose to become a Jew I would hope it is for more than just being able to access closed mysticism! You're already connected to the culture so you've likely already taken on some of that Peoplehood and generational trauma, but you also become a target of antisemitism rather than an observer which can be difficult.

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devoutpriest · 2 months

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whereherloyaltieslie:

Knelt beside the former priest, the Goddess’s stoic expression had softened. Her gaze was steady, eyes piercing as she looked into him. His spirit was shaken by this, his very being seem to be in a trembling state between the gods and the one he knew. “ I am the Goddess of constancy and loyalty. For all other occasions, I would insist you address me as Goddess, but considering your state, you my call me Sigyn.” At his explanation, she sighed , the air in the room seeming to shift as the weight of his issue set in. “ I am not a creature of chance, Athelstan. I am as rooted to my core beliefs as the tree’s to the ground…Yggdrasil, but with age comes wisdom, and even I acknowledge that, sometimes, change is much take place." There were many plants and animals, like the squirrel Ratatosk, living in this tree, as she enjoyed sitting under there and reading a book and having a picnic, sometimes with her friend Idunn. Its branches were large, their trunk thick, so they could sit under there without fear of rain. "I can assure you of out existence because I am here, but just as quickly as I appeared I will take my leave, and you will be left with your thoughts, so I ask you consider this.”

Lifting ivory hands into the air, she gently took his face in her hands. “ If your god is as loving as you claim in your prayers, why must you choose a side? Show loyalty to those who are deserving. Both we and your god have given you comfort in life, why must the existence of one negate the other? Your Christ speaks of love, show love and loyalty to those in your life that would return it, be they gods of people.”

The name sounded vaguely familiar to him, but he had only heard very little about this Goddess, amongst the much more highly lauded Thor, Freyr, and Odin.

Constancy and loyalty… Perhaps, she could truly help him. There is a part of him that wished to address her of her High status. He yearned to respect a Goddess that took time to bless him with her presence, even in his troubled state.

“It is an honour to meet you, O Sigyn, Goddess of Constancy. You are the wife of Loki, correct?”

He is still in awe, when she takes his face into her hands, illuminated she seemed by her ethereal beauty. She looked an angel of the lord, even though knowing she was a norse goddess. Athelstan considers Sigyn’s words carefully.

“God is loving and merciful, yes, for a LONG time He has been.” Until He seemed to close himself off to him & the other monks when the raid of Lindisfarne had happened. There had been no response from him, during the fervent feverish prayers of the monks, including him.

“I do. I am loyal to Ragnar, above all, and my friends.”

“I envisioned Mother Mary, finally a sign from God surely and of REDEMPTION—but later on at night, I saw images of the Pagan sacrifice bleeding, BLURRING, into the Christian rites at High Mass. It has brought me much confusion, and so, my spirit continues to be torn.” The images did however play a huge factor in making him change his mind about eating the bread of Christ. The bread was tasteless, a thin cracker, a slice of the bread Christ and his disciples ate during the last supper.

He had thought that God could guide him back to the rightful path; set him back to his true mission in life and help erase any doubt of which Religion he BELONGED, when he prayed to God to ravish him, breathing harshly, for the Lord to come into his body, as he prayed to the cross. However, His revert back to silence, was becoming difficult to bear once again. Sigyn’s real presence, of flesh and blood, well, her advice spoken to him seemed wise.

“I do not want the existence of one to completely eradicate the other, no. It’s just, the more disturbing VISIONS also keep haunting me, wrecking my peace.”

There had been an especially scary vision of a shapeless monster baring elongated sharp teeth; he peering through the darkness with his candle, it looked truly like some horrific DEVIL. It had frightened him beyond imagining, the fright coursing into the very recesses of his soul.

#rp partner | whereherloyaltieslie #ic

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graciousheaven · 1 year

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Deliverance from the Sting of Death

God has set eternity in the heart of man. Hence, although some skeptics reject the everlasting nature of the human soul – a fact affirmed and evidenced by the Holy Scriptures – the manner of life of people of all nations, ethnicities and languages, even when they are pagans, reveals a keen interest in the afterlife. However, although many unbelievers admit that life after death is a reality, they fully miss the point. Their perspective on the matter is totally deceptive; for what they envision is nothing but a fantasy utterly disconnected from biblical truths. This fallacy is rooted in their rejection of the One True and Living God and his revealed truth. They refuse to admit the sinfulness of sin and its deadly consequences, they do not acknowledge man’s total depravity. This is a blatant scorn of the person of God, an utter blasphemy of his holy name, since God clearly affirms that all people are sinful (cf. Rom. 3:10-19,23; Is. 53:6).

These heretics deny man’s alienation from God by sin, refuse to acknowledge man’s inability to find peace with God by human design, and thus reject the means ordained by God to reconcile all things to Himself. Since they have a high view of man and hold God in low esteem, they do not understand the holiness of God, nor consider his righteousness and sovereignty over all creation; because they are blinded by the spirit of the age, the devil. Therefore, they deny the existence of hell. For they do not see the judgments of the Lord of hosts, nor do they consider his righteous wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man. They deny any possibility of an afterlife in eternal, conscious torment for the ungodly, and view the afterlife as ‘a rest in peace’ opportunity for all who die, good and evil alike. In fact, they fantasize about a heaven where there is no God.

There is no such thing as heaven without God – heaven is the abode of God. Ps. 103:19 says, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his Kingdom rules over all.” “Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool” (Is. 66:1). And “There is no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked” (Is. 57:21). Therefore, since no one is righteous, there is a need for all to be reconciled to God; for our iniquities have alienated us all from his glorious presence. To borrow the words of Isaiah the prophet, our iniquities have made a separation between us and our God, and our sins have hidden his face from us. We are all dead in trespasses and sin from the moment of our conception, thus candidates for hell. All the world stands guilty before the holy God, and He “does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex. 34:7). On the other hand, no one can be justified before Him by the deeds of the flesh. For all our righteousnesses are filthy rags before the Lord (cf. Is. 64:6).

Therefore, no one can overcome the grim reality of the second death by his own design. Ps. 49:7-9 says this about those who put their trust in what they possess, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.” That is to say, our works can never save us from the pit of hell. No matter how hard we labour, we can never achieve enough to redeem our souls. For we do not possess a righteousness of our own; rather we are inherently evil. We can only be justified by the righteousness of God. For it is God who graciously provides us a righteousness on the basis of our faith in his Son Jesus Christ, not according to our works – “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20) – and from that moment we are declared righteous by God. Eph. 2:8-9 reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

God is sovereign, He has a supreme rule over death. He alone can save sinners from destruction. No one is able to save himself from the sting of death. Ps. 89:49 asks the following questions, “What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” God alone can deliver our souls from the power death; for He is the source of our righteousness. God is the only just and the justifier of repentant sinners who put their trust in his Son. “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:3-4). God sent his Son into the world to be its Saviour. Christ came and obeyed the precepts of God’s law. He kept all the requirements, i.e., the righteous deeds, the righteous thoughts and the righteous words required by God’s moral law, thus fulfilling God’s demand for absolute righteousness on behalf of those who would put their trust in Him. Christ also sacrificed his life for sinners to be justified – to use the words of 1 John 2:2, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” I.e., on the basis of Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, the sins of those who believe in Him are forgiven, and they are declared just by God.

Through Christ’s incarnation, perfect obedience and substitutionary death on the cross, God satisfied his demand for justice without compromising his righteous character. On the basis of Christ’s merits, God graciously justifies repentant sinners who have faith in his Son. So no man can be justified by his own doings. Rom. 3:21-26 reads, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

After the fall, God promised the redemption of sinful humanity through the Seed of the woman (cf. Gen. 3:15). Generations after, He reiterated this promise multiple times through his prophets to the people of Israel, through whom salvation would eventually be available to all flesh. For instance, Is. 25:6-8 reads, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” Ps. 98:2-3, “The Lord has made known his salvation; his righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his mercy and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

This promise has been fulfilled in God’s own Son, the Lord and saviour Jesus Christ; for in Him grace was given to us before time began (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9). I.e., in eternity past God predetermined the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross in order to redeem humanity from the bondage of corruption and death. And when the appointed time, as ordained by the sovereign Lord, had come, Christ the Lamb of God willingly “gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Tit. 2:14). God sent Him to bless us by turning away every one of us from our iniquities. “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19-20).

Christ is the only One who can save sinners from spiritual deadness and help them escape eternal destruction. He is the means designated by God to reconcile all things to Himself. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die”, declares the Lord in John 11:25-26. Christ is the source of both physical and spiritual life. It is He who created all things, for “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:2-4). Christ is the Prince of life, the Author of life, the Supreme Being in Whom all things dwell; nothing came into being apart from Him. He gives us the breath of life, and He alone saves us from spiritual corruption by cleansing us from our sins. Christ raises us from spiritual deadness. He will also raise the dead bodies of all people on the last day; and to those who died believing in Him, as well as to believing Christians who will see his return, He will give eternal life, thus saving them from eternal destruction. But those who reject Christ in this life remain spiritually dead, and at the second coming of our Lord, they will face the second death, the eternal torment in hell. All the ungodly who have died will be raised for judgement and cast into hell with their fellow unbelievers who will still be alive when the Lord returns to judge the world.

God sent his Son into this world to ransom us from the evil ways we inherited from our forefathers. He came to fulfill the law of God on our behalf, and He died for the sins of all those who would ever believe in Him, that they might be set free from the bondage of corruption and escape eternal destruction. As Paul writes in Gal. 1:4, Christ “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). Therefore, “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). Col. 1:13-14, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in Whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Christ is the greatest revelation of God’s grace and love to mankind. As the Apostle Paul writes in Gal. 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” “God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that one can be restored to life and overcome the grim reality of the second death. Ps. 68:20-21 reads, “Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.” Christ is the means by which sins are forgiven and reconciliation with God possible. He is the life and the light of men (cf. John 1:4); He came to rescue those who sit in darkness, to help them pass from death to life. 1 John 5:11-12 reads, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

In Christ we no longer bear the guilt of sin and we no longer incur the penalties for violating God's law. This does not mean, however, that Christians have the right to sin against God. Rather, it means that what was once held against us has been atoned for. For the full penalties for the sins of all who would put their trust in Christ were paid for by Him through his death on the cross, and his righteousness was imputed to them. Being cleansed and justified before God by his precious blood, we pass from death to life. Christ graciously imputes to those who have faith in Him his own righteousness, and they are no longer guilty before God. As Paul writes in Rom. 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” But all unbelievers are held captive by spiritual death; there is no life in them. Therefore, they will end up in the fire of hell, where they will feed on the wrath of God forever, because they have rejected his Son. John 3:18 reads, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

If you have not yet repented of your sins, I urge you to do so right now and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be caught up in lies and deceptions. Hell is real, judgement is coming. Do not be fooled by those who think that man can earn access to heaven by his good works. Also, don't be seduced by those who claim that because God is love, He cannot send people to hell. It is true that God is love, but God is also holy and righteous. As a holy God, He has established a standard of absolute holiness to which all men must conform. And to escape divine condemnation, you must conform to this standard of absolute holiness. For any violation, any sin brings about judgement in time and eternity.

Furthermore, God’s holiness and perfect love justify his hatred toward sins and unrepentant sinners. Thus, God punishes anyone who refuses to abandon their evil ways. Nah. 1:1-2 reads, “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.” V.6-8, “Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.” In Ps. 5:4-6 we read this testimony concerning God, “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

Anyone who spurns the incarnate Word of God, anyone who despises the Gospel of Christ, condemns himself to eternal destruction. Christ came and fulfilled all righteousness by his perfect life, He satisfied God’s holy justice by his substitutionary death on the cross, that sinners through faith in Him might be forgiven and reconciled to God. This was ordained in eternity past by the Father (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2; 1 Cor. 2:7). Whoever wants to escape judgement, whoever seeks life, whoever desires to overcome the grim reality of the second death, must embrace the way of righteousness designed by God, i.e., repentance and faith in his Son. For sinners are saved by the work and merit of Christ the Lord alone.

If you are an unrepentant sinner, you stand guilty before God, the King of the universe against Whom you have sinned. And the price for your sins is too high for you to afford. I urge you to humble yourself before God, seek forgiveness in the name of his Son, and He will give you life. Stop shaking your fists in the face of God, stop clinging to your good works, lest you wake up one day in hell. There is no hope for those who dishonour or deny the existence of God. Anyone who rejects God’s Son and reviles his Spirit is without excuse. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18). What awaits those who reject the Son of God is the second death, an everlasting, conscious torment in the pit of hell. Christ is the only way to salvation. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Call upon the name of the Lord today, acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. Cast yourself on the mercies of Christ. Do not hold onto your pride. Do not cherish the sinful desires and lustful passions of your flesh, lest you be held by the sting of death forever. For to live, one must die to sin and embrace Christ as Lord and Saviour. “For (as Paul writes in Rom. 8:6-8) to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

It is only in Christ that one can be justified before God and escape hell. I urge you not to despise the grace of God and his love revealed to us in his Son Jesus Christ, lest God’s curse remain on you forever. There is no forgiveness for those who trample underfoot the precious blood of God’s Son. God sent his Son to redeem sinners from all lawlessness, to save them from judgement, divine wrath and hell. Anyone who despises Him will perish. There is no escape for those who rebel against God and despise his Son, those whose god is their natural desires. Borrowing the language of Acts 13:40-41, I declare to you today, if you have not yet embraced Christ as Lord and Saviour, “Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.’”

https://www.faithintheoneaboveall.com/post/to-live-one-must-die

#deliverance from death #delivered from death #freedom from curse #freedom in Christ #free from the curse #free from sin #free from judgment #life eternal #graciousheaven #to live one must die

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a-god-in-ruins-rises · 3 years

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The God of America is Nature's God and the God of Nature is Satan.

yes

#i know you're probably a christian #and in your mind this is supposed to be a proof of america's evil or whatever #but no #satan is just a christian fiction #a representation of everything pagan and other #pre-christian paganism was naturalistic #then christians came and plopped their jewish quote unquote revelations on top #so they were happy to use naturalistic greek philosophy #as a framework for their theology #but they had to have a scapegoat for everything quote unquote evil #so they just blamed paganism for everything bad #and envisioned the pagan gods and spirits #as evil devils and demons #but anyway #nature's god is our god #and his name has been smeared by christians who hate the world #so thank you for affirming the case i've been trying to make #that america's god is a return to a more naturalistic religion #one of america's many tasks is rejecting abrahamism

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windvexer · 2 years

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Ok, so you want to practice every day?

You know what, valid. So do I. I'm going to make this as short as I can because we have a lot to get through.

You don't have to practice every day to be a "good," valid, powerful, or whatever-you-want witch.

Generic "ground and center every morning, then enchant your tea" practice routines aren't going to be helpful for 90% of us out here. (yes, I wrote similar in the past!)

"Practice" does not equal repeating exercises and casting spells.

When witches say "in my practice," IMO they are using this word interchangeably with "in my path," or "when I actively engage in my path."

Eschew the idea that your "daily practice" is supposed to be a workout routine that is training you for something better.

Embrace the idea that we're actually talking about "practicing daily," aka "engaging with my path on a daily basis." You aren't training for the next thing - you're at the thing already :)

Your daily practice needs to start with what you want out of your faith and practice.

Not everyone wants to be an energy worker.

Not everyone wants to venerate nature.

Not everyone wants to be a spirit-worker.

Not everyone wants to learn herbalism or kitchen witchery

Brainstorm your idealized path. I mean envision yourself in the cutest little cottagecore village, living your total fantasy witch life. What are you doing?

Do you want to...

Be a diviner?

Learn sorcery?

Be a licensed herbalist?

Talk to spirits and make friends with the forest and the flowers?

Help and heal the villagers?

Be a spiritual warrior who battles with evil spirits and aberrations?

Be a world-walker, who goes to unseen realms?

Learn to slip into new skins?

(The list goes on)

Also ask yourself what you don't want. Gods freak you out? Ok, don't interact with them. You want to do pure energy work with very little ritual ingredients? Beautiful. Stand your ground, flip off people who tell you "but witches worship pagan gods and burn candles to their familiars 🥺"

Find ways to start including what is the most important to you in your daily life.

It might be helpful to make a list of the 1-3 things you really want to focus on right now. If it helps, choose a time frame of weeks to try out these practices and see if you like them.

But before you get too far into that:

[Picture ID: A tweet from @rmccarthyjames which reads, "all of my plans for the future involve me waking up tomorrow with a sudden sense of discipline and adherence to routine that i have never displayed even once in my life"]

This, right here, is what we want to avoid.

Please, for the love of God, do not sit down and say, "okay, I'm going to wake up 30 minutes early and do a 15 minute meditation each morning, then 5-10 minutes of energy exercises. Then, I'm going to ground and center (energy work goals). Then during breakfast I'll enchant my food and read about herbalism while I eat (kitchen witch goals). Then, in the evening ---"

I can pretty much guarantee you that almost any activity you have access to right now will be actively draining.

Magical techniques, exercises, and spellwork take energy - just like working out at the gym.

You can work out at the gym and feel energized for the next couple of hours, but then become fatigued in the evening/next day.

You can work out at the gym every day for 5 days, but then suddenly you feel too weak or sore to even get out of bed the next day.

Meditation, grounding, and centering can restore metaphysical energy to your body, and increase your access to it. But it's like eating a protein bar after a workout - you still have to rest and recover.

So if you've tried to stick to "do X, Y, Z" activities every day and failed, ask yourself if you were actually engaging in a strenuous magical workout routine that wore you into the ground.

Instead of choosing "X activity for Y minutes at Z time every day, consider this:

One of the most available ways you can engage in your path is by dwelling within your magical and spiritual worldviews.

Are you an animist? Look for a plant. Think about how it's got a soul. You just engaged with your path :)

Are you interested in energy work? Look for a conversation between two people. Consider the energy flow between them. You just engaged with your path :)

Are you into Traditional Witchcraft? Watch a TV show. Ask yourself how you'd solve a problem on the screen (not necessarily using magic to solve it, just in general). Then, ask yourself how your hag, fetch-beast, or familiar (hypothetical or otherwise) would solve it. You just engaged with your path :)

Are you into religious magic? Look around you. Feel the vibes, feel your feelings, feel your mood. What would your god(s) have to say about it? You just engaged with your path :)

Do you play a lot of video games? Overlay your beliefs onto the game and use events, interactions, and developments as an opportunity to consider your own beliefs (or, with Minecraft, build your own astral temples).

The more you dwell within your magical and spiritual worldviews, the more you "phase in" to the reality that you're a witch and magic is within you and around you.

Over time, constantly engaging with your path in these small ways - through choosing to see the world through the lens of your practice - makes choosing and employing "techniques," exercises, and spells soooo much more relevant and practical.

With that tangent is out of the way, practical tips for how to interact with your path on a daily basis:

Avoid "daily" activities with a high barrier to entry. If you make all these rules and regulations for your own practice, like you have to make a journal entry for every spell and magical activity, and it has to include the moon phase and planetary hour, you're going to be engaging probably a lot less than you think you will.

Choose activities which directly help and support your day to day life.

Tough work environment? Try picking up energy shielding or amulet-making.

Art commissions down? Try learning prosperity or money magic.

Feeling confused or directionless? Experiment with forms of divination.

Lonely? Learn to talk to spirits.

You do not need to create barriers to these things. You DO NOT need to meditate, ground, or center before you make an energy shield. You can just make one right now, actually.

You don't need to learn protection and warding before you practice talking to the nature spirits around you, or bringing protective presences into your sphere.

You don't need to copy down a two-page spell and then write grimoire entries for each correspondence before you can do effective spells and charms.

One of the easiest ways to perform casual, daily magic is to extend regular daily actions into the spirit world.

(For me, the "spirit world" is where all magic happens. Maybe you might call it the etheric, or the energy-double of the world).

Shower to clean yourself - just expend energy to extend the cleaning to your spiritual bodies.

Eat food to gain energy - just expend energy to also feed your spiritual bodies.

Exhale to send old breath away - and at the same time, send away an unwanted thought, energy, or presence.

("Expend energy" can be done in many ways; most often we say "visualization" but you can also dedicate your power to the task through words of intent ["I apply my power to nourish myself thrice over"], mindfulness [staying present in the moment and maintaining focus on your spiritual goal], physical gestures [stirring food clockwise with the knowledge that you are stirring power into it], etc.)

So you've found some free time. What do you want to do with it?

Maybe you started energy shielding earlier this week, and now you're feeling worn out and just want to take a day off.

Hot take: "Hey, I'm too tired to do this magical thing, I'm going to choose something else instead" is engaging with your path :) You didn't forget or ignore your path. You checked in with your magical self, took stock of the situation, and choose the activity of rest.

Be flexible!

I personally say, give all techniques and methods a chance. I myself am not a person where I start out good at things. I'm one of the people where I start out bad at things and get a little better each time I practice.

But if a technique is not vibing with you, or if new concerns arise in your life, there's no need to dedicate yourself to doing something you don't like and don't need for the sake of reaching an arbitrary goal of completion.

Remember, it's not a daily workout until you're good enough to improve your life.

It's improving your life, right now, and each time you do it you get a lil better at it :)

Your path is not subject to object impermanence*.

(*The following is primarily poetic; take it or leave it as you please)

You are what you are and wherever you stand, there your path is around you. To try and curse your path into a quasi-existence where it only appears when you're making energy balls is a terrible fate for a path to be bound to.

It's your friend. It wants to be with you. It doesn't want to be told it's invisible and un-present unless you're staring it in the eye.

A great deal of my early path was taking huge breaks from magical practice - I mean, for months and months at a time. It's called the Crooked Path, not the Straightforward Linear Path Where Expected Things Occur.

Sure, if you're done with witchcraft for a while (or forever), set it aside. Tell your path it's done, closed down, and you'll be back when you're back.

But while you're in, you're walking it. Is your path one where you accidentally forget witchcraft exists and take breaks for months at a time without meaning to? So that's your path. It matches you step for step, no matter where you go.

It doesn't go hungry - you eat and you sleep, and it eats and rests with you. It doesn't feel rejected - it's right there with you. When you touch the doorknob, your path reaches through and holds your hand. When you write a school exam, it traces the pencil lead from the other side. It doesn't matter if you know it or see it - it's there, patient and waiting, watching you with love. All you need to do is fail to believe that your path is gone when you stop paying attention to it.

#witchblr #witchcraft #just starting #daily practice #witchcraft 101 #grimoire #book of shadows #spellbook #theory

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scotianostra · 3 years

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December 21st marks the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.

The date marks the turning point of the season, the shortest day and the longest night. Nowadays at this time of year it is normal that people’s attention turns to celebrating Christmas, however, the ritual and history surrounding the solstice in this country and all over Europe, predate the arrival of Christianity by thousands of years and many festive celebrations have been adapted from much earlier traditions.

The ancient people of northern Europe were hunter gatherers, many of whom worshipped the sun. In Norse mythology the sun is a wheel that changes the seasons and it was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule comes from. At the mid-winter solstice they would light bonfires, tell stories and drink ale, in addition to making sacrifices to the gods to earn blessing on the forthcoming crops.

This winter solstice was immensely important to them because they were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. Food shortages were common during the first months of the winter, so this festival was the last celebration before deep winter began. Most cattle would be slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, so a plentiful supply of fresh meat was available. The majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

The only megalith monument in Scotland (that we know about) is at Maeshowe situated on Mainland, Orkney, if faces face the winter solstice sunrise. The people of Orkney usually gather to celebrate the day, but as I have said so often this year it was cancelled.

Maeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave on Orkney. It was built at around the same time and its architecture clearly links it to the solstice tradition. It is here at the winter solstice, when the last rays of the setting sun shine through Maeshowe’s entrance passage to pierce the darkness of the chambered cairn. This precise alignment allows the light at the darkest point of the year to illuminate this spectacular house of the dead. It is the source of many theories; does this shaft of sunlight carry away the souls of the dead? Did the entry of the sun represent rebirth, or a fertility rite of some sort? Or was it simply a calendar to remind the islands ancient inhabitants that the darkest time of the year had passed and that the light was once again returning? Thanks to modern technology it is possible to experience a small part of what the original solstice celebrants must have envisioned.

In Scotland, before the arrival of Christianity, on the solstice, Celtic priests would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.

It was also the Druidic priests who maintained the tradition of the yule log. The ancient Celtic people believed that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit, using the remains of the previous year’s fire. It was believed it would conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year.

Much of our current festive tradition actually originates with pagan solstice customs, such as decorating the Yule tree. Brightly coloured decorations would be hung on a pine tree to symbolise the various stellar objects, which were of tremendous significance to the Celtic people – the sun, moon, and stars – and also to represent the souls of those who had died in the previous year. The modern practice of gift giving evolved from the tradition of hanging gifts on the tree as offerings to various Gods and Goddesses.

The ancient Romans also held a solstice festival at this time, called Saturnalia, to celebrate the rebirth of the year. This was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Grudges and quarrels were forgotten while businesses, courts and schools were closed. Wars were interrupted or postponed and slaves were served by their masters.

It was traditional to offer gifts of imitation fruit (a symbol of fertility), dolls (symbolic of the custom of human sacrifice), and candles (reminiscent of the bonfires traditionally associated with pagan solstice celebrations). A mock king was chosen, usually from a group of slaves or criminals, and although he was permitted to behave in an unrestrained manner for seven days of the festival, he was usually killed at the end. The Saturnalia eventually degenerated into a week-long spree of debauchery and crime which was ultimately unsustainable.

Sol Invictus (“The Unconquered Sun”) was originally a Syrian deity, who was adopted as the chief of the Roman gods. In the later Roman Empire his birthday was celebrated on December 25. As celebrations of saturnalia died away this evolved to become the pre-eminent winter festival, the date was eventually co-opted by Christians as the faith spread.

As a contrast, the Talmud ascribes the origins of this festival to Adam, who saw that the days were getting shorter and thought it was punishment for his sin. He was afraid that the world was returning to the chaos and emptiness that existed before creation, so he fasted. Once he saw that the days were getting longer again he realised that this was the natural cycle of the world, so celebrated.

Whatever the exact origins of the rituals we practice this festive season, it does seem that there has been a growth of interest in traditional religions and practices. People who describe themselves as new-age or spiritual seekers have rediscovered the rituals of the ancients and have attempted to celebrate in a way that connects them to the past. One of the centres for this pre Christian worship this solstice will be at Callanish on the Isle of Lewis. These standing stones date from about 3,000 years BC and, although academics still argue about their precise purpose, there is no questioning the powerful pull they have.

What is common in most solstice tradition is that this time of year is about coming together and remembering the past. Celebrations have evolved and changed, but the date of the solstice remains fixed. A convenient reminder that, despite the vast changes taking place in our world today, some things will always endure, always link back to the past.

The4 pic is the sun beginning to light up Maeshowe.

#Scotland #scottish #winter solstice #history #Orkney #Lewis #pagan #celebration

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broomsick · 3 months

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hey, broom! i come to ask for your advice/your suggestions: i'll soon start to work in a new team. it's the same workplace but a totally different branch where i'll still have to find my place both socially and professionally (i'm kind of a newbie, only graduated last year).

i'm really nervous about what lies ahead and it makes my anxiety act up again. do you have any suggestion to which norse god i could turn to for help/reassurance?

it's a position which requires confidence in your knowledge (tax law, mostly), keeping up with new developments in law-speaking and dealing with (sometimes difficult) subordinates and citizens. i have very little experience with leading people, so the latter is what concerns me the most...

i'm definitely striving for a good and harmonic workplace environment but also don't want to be stepped on by the more nasty-tempered coworkers.

i thought that maybe Odin would be a good pick to turn to but maybe you have someone else in mind as well!

thank you and have a wonderful day! 🤗

Hi there, have a good day as well! Thank you so much for the ask. I love questions like these because they leave so much space for discussion. If you asked ten other norse pagans, you would get ten different replies!

First of all, however, I want to congratulate you! Good luck in your new team, I'm sure it will be a great opportunity for you to meet new people, learn, and fulfill yourself.

Now, turning to Óðinn is indeed a great option! I find him to be wonderfully versatile as a deity (he IS a shapeshifter in the myths after all!) that I tend to call for his help in a number of vastly different circumstances. In your situation, for example, he might help you to put the different skills you've acquired to good use. You may call upon him if you feel unsure of what step to take, or if you have trouble focusing. All in all, he's a great help when it comes to all things mental health and stress. Praying to him, you could ask for him to bless you with his celebrated skills as a leader! He is also a deity who encourages us to understand each other, to put ourselves in other people's shoes and to try to see from their perspective. In the workplace, this can greatly help with seeking middle ground!

Still, if I were in your situation, I believe I would call upon Týr! I've read and re-read your situation well, and it appears to me that you might need the most reassurance when it comes to dealing with people you might meet in the workplace, some of whom you might be required to lead, and others you might disagree with. To me and to so many other heathens, Týr embodies the spirit of compromise, patience and settlement. I envision him as a deity who is extremely wise, especially when it comes to interacting with others. He is cool-headed but warm-hearted, the very embodiment of a good leader, willing to talk things out when there are conflicts. If my own experiences may be brought to bear, he seeks to help us navigate conflicts in a manner that allows us to stay true to ourselves, all the while nurturing good relationships with others. I believe he might help you not only to develop your skill as a leader, but also to understand your boundaries and to share your opinions confidently, while seeking compromise in a peaceful manner. One of my closest friends is a devoted Týr worshipper, and I know he has helped her so much with her confidence.

As always, however, there are so many kind and great Gods for us norse pagans to call upon! For example, if I were in your situation, I would most probably ask Baldr to soothe and reassure me! In so many ways, he is a God who seeks to help! And in my life, he has always been a caring, grounding presence who always seems to know how to calm my heart. I envision his presence as a light before me, like the flickering of a lantern, guiding me in the dark to find my path.

It would also be possible for you to pray to Freyja for confidence, and/or Thórr for courage. And now that I've mentioned Freyja, I also feel compelled to bring up Lord Frey! He is strongly associated with the concept of peace, which could be very useful to you, who wants to nurture a harmonious work environment. What's more, he's generally associated with prosperity and financial matters as well, which makes him a popular deity to pray to when it comes to matters of work and career. It's quite common for worshippers to work with both Freyja and Freyr, as a duo. In your situation, one could bring you the strength and confidence to defend yourself against any "nasty-tempered coworkers," while the other helps you to preserve a peaceful mindset, and to stay happy in your workplace.

There really is no need for us to only worship one deity at a time, and it is not disrespectful to pray to multiple deities for help in a certain situation. On the contrary, doing so is really is quite logical! After all, as they are found in myth to be part of a pantheon, it's completely normal that we would worship them as such, although some prefer to devote themselves to one deity at a time. As for me, I sometimes pray to the Gods in general, as a group! It's always interesting to wonder which of them will answer!

I wish you the best of luck in this new team, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you want any more of my advice!

#ask #asks #heathenry #norse paganism #polytheism #spirituality #paganism #norse gods #deity work #pagan #deities #norse pagan #heathen

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samwisethewitch · 3 years

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Neopagans, reconstructionists, and revivalists, oh my!

As we’ve discussed before, “pagan” is an umbrella term that actually encompasses a wide range of traditions. Not all pagans believe the same things, worship the same gods, or conceptualize those gods the same way.

Within the bigger pagan umbrella, there are three smaller umbrellas that can be useful for classifying pagan worship: neopagan, reconstructionist, and revivalist. These labels describe different approaches to ancient pagan religion and different ways of incorporating paganism into daily life. It’s important to remember that words like “neopagan” or “reconstructionist” refer to someone’s practice and not necessarily to their beliefs.

A neopagan is someone who takes inspiration from ancient pagan religions, but does not try to recreate those religions in their practice. For example, a neopagan might feel a strong connection to the Roman gods, but they don’t necessarily observe all the intricacies of Roman ritual (and believe me, there’s a lot — Roman polytheism is where Catholicism gets a lot of its formal structure) in their practice. They’re comfortable making things up as they go along, combining concepts from different historical sources, and practicing a thoroughly modern type of paganism. You could say that neopagans strive to capture the spirit of ancient paganism, but do so in a very 21st-century way.

Neopagans are more likely to be monists than hard polytheists, and may even use pagan-style ritual as a means to connect to a single divine Source rather than a specific deity. Neopagan groups often place a great emphasis on reverence for nature and strive to live in harmony with the natural world. Neopagans are sometimes described as practicing “Earth-centered religion.”

The most famous neopagan faith is Wicca. Rather than being a recreation of an ancient religion, Wicca combines concepts from these religions (particularly Celtic and Germanic paganism) with elements of ceremonial magic and Western occultism. Wiccans worship the God and Goddess, personifications of the masculine and feminine sides of the divine Source, and many covens have their own unique mythology to describe the interactions between the God and Goddess through the cycle of the seasons. Wiccans tend to play fast and loose with historical sources, or may not include any historical elements in their practice at all. This is a good example of what a neopagan practice might look like.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum are reconstructionists, who strive to recreate or “reconstruct” ancient religion. If you can’t do anything without reading three books about it first, you might be a reconstructionist. Jokes aside, reconstructionists seek to emulate a historical religion as closely as possible. Reconstructive practice is very research-heavy, and revolves around recreations of ancient rituals based on historical sources. There is a great emphasis on connecting to and honoring the ancient culture being reconstructed. Some reconstructionists may even learn ancient languages for use in ritual.

Reconstructionists may be monists, hard polytheists, or somewhere in between depending on the religion they are reconstructing. Their values, beliefs, and practices also depend on the culture being reconstructed. A Hellenic reconstructionist will have very different beliefs and practices from an Irish reconstructionist, for example.

Nova Roma is an example of a reconstructionist faith. According to their website, “Founded 2,750 years after the Eternal City itself, Nova Roma seeks to bring back those golden times, not through the sword and the legions, however, but through the spread of knowledge and through our own virtuous example… The modern practice of the Roman religion, the Cultus Deorum Romanorum is our attempt to reconstruct the religion of the ancient Romans as closely as possible.” Members of Nova Roma choose a Roman name for use in ritual — and those rituals are as close as possible to the rites of Imperial Rome. They even have communal religious spaces built to resemble Roman temples!

One important note about reconstruction: it’s impossible to do it perfectly. No matter which historical culture you’re reconstructing, there will likely be some gaps (possibly very large gaps) in our knowledge of their religion. No matter how much research you do, you will sometimes have to use your best guess.

While reconstruction seeks to recreate ancient religion, it is not all about looking backwards. No matter how closely you recreate Egyptian religion, you can never have the same thoughts, experiences, or worldview as an ancient Egyptian peasant. Even the most hardcore reconstructionist has to adapt their religion to fit a modern lifestyle. As author Morgan Daimler points out, “reconstruction is understanding the old pagan religion so that we can envision what it would have been like if it had never been interrupted by foreign influences and had continued to exist until today.”

I like to think of revivalists as the halfway point between neopagans and reconstructionists. Revivalists seek to recreate the spirit of a specific ancient religion, but they may not necessarily reconstruct all of the practices associated with that religion. Revivalists are much more concerned with theology and upholding ancient cultural/religious values than they are with dogma or practice.

Like reconstructionists, revivalists’ beliefs depend on the ancient culture they are seeking to revive. Also like reconstructionists, revivalists do a lot of research — however, their research acts more as inspiration or general guidelines than as something that has to be followed to the letter. Like neopagans, revivalists are very much practicing a modern religion.

Going back to our example of Roman paganism, a Roman revivalist will strive to uphold Roman values in their daily life, like xenia (roughly translated as “hospitality,” though that is an oversimplification). They likely worship the Roman gods, but may do so in a more informal way than Nova Roma or other reconstructionists. They may include some historic elements in their rituals, like wearing a head covering and making burnt offerings — but the ritual will likely be performed in their native language. Revivalists are all about taking the big ideas of ancient religion and adapting them for modern life.

The line between revival and reconstruction is not always clearly defined. Many revivalists use reconstruction in some areas of their faith, and every reconstructionist is a revivalist when they have to fill in gaps in historical knowledge of their religion. The distinction really lies in how closely you want to follow ancient traditions.

Each of these approaches to paganism has its benefits and its drawbacks. Different approaches work better for different people — a lot of it comes down to personality and preference. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the obvious pros and cons of each approach.

PROS of neopaganism:

Because this is by far the most widely practiced type of paganism, there is an abundance of beginner-friendly literature available for new neopagans.

Because of its popularity and flexibility, it’s usually fairly easy to find a neopagan group to worship with, either in person or online.

Neopaganism allows for a lot of experimentation and personal exploration. You are free to incorporate whatever elements work for you.

CONS of neopaganism

Ironically, an abundance of literature also means there are a lot of bad neopagan resources floating around. Newcomers should take care in choosing the books they read on the subject.

Some people become frustrated with the lack of structure in many neopagan traditions.

It can sometimes feel like there are no “real” right answers, since neopaganism relies heavily on personal truth.

PROS of reconstruction

Reconstructing an ancient religion provides a sense of structure.

Choosing to focus on a specific religion/culture can lead to a deep feeling of connection to that culture. This can be especially powerful for pagans who feel disconnected from their cultural heritage.

Because reconstruction seeks to recreate ancient religion, it’s easy to find other people who practice the same way you do, at least online.

CONS of reconstruction

Reconstruction is largely based on primary sources, so reconstructionists will likely have to read dense, academic, and/or archaic literature at some point.

Unless you live in a big city, it may be hard to find an in-person community that shares your beliefs and practices.

Focus on a single culture means there is less room for experimentation. You can still incorporate elements from other traditions, but only if they don’t contradict your existing beliefs.

PROS of revival

Revival allows pagans to feel a close connection to an ancient culture, while also allowing them freedom to customize their path.

Allows practitioners to be their own priest/priestess and make their own decisions regarding their practice.

Provides a middle ground between the fluidity of neopaganism and the stricture of reconstruction.

CONS of revival

Because every revivalist practices differently, it can be very hard to find a group to worship with, online or in person, without having to make compromises.

Like reconstructionists, revivalists will occasionally have to do some difficult reading.

Because this path is so often solitary, it can be hard to stick with it if you aren’t good at keeping yourself motivated.

If you are considering becoming pagan, take a moment to think about which of these approaches appeals most to you. Are you most attracted to neopaganism, reconstruction, or revival?

Don’t just think about which approach sounds the best, but think about which one is most practical for you. Do you need the external motivation of a group to keep you on the right track, or are you very internally motivated? Do you like following instructions, or do you prefer to make things up as you go? Do you feel a strong connection to a specific ancient culture, or do you feel more connected to nature itself? All of these questions can help guide you towards the right approach for your practice.

Resources:

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

Nova Roma’s website, novaroma.org

Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism by Morgan Daimler

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith

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cardest · 3 years

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Norway playlist

The trolls have gathered around to see the Mother North dance at midnight in the Trollheimen fjellområde as they listen to this epic NORWAY pllaylist I put together! Takk!

Are you ready? Have you your wits? This is the it.... NORWAY PLAYLIST songs are right here to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1_gH0U66TKasbEjdbkPxeW7 001 Folket Bortafor Nordavinden - Ur Is Ka Ha So 002 Satyricon - Commando 003 Arcturus - Fall of Man 004 Dimmu Borgir The Serpentine Offering 005 Borknagar - The Eye Of Oden 006 NORDJEVEL - Sunset Glow 007 WArduna - Fehu 008 Z-off - Hurra For Norge Norsk punkrock 009 Shakma - Night of the coven 010 Duivelspack - Yggdrasill 011 Enslaved - Path To Vanir 012 Kalenda Maya- Villemann Magnhild 013 Mental As Anything - Beserk Warriors 014 Chontaraz - Rondamauh 015 Manes - Menn På Helveg Hastar 016 Norske Gutter - Hvem Faen Tror Du Du Er 017 Iron Maiden - Invasion 018 Solefald - Oslo Melancholy 019 Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness 020 Slegest - Blodets Varme Gjennom Meg 021 Old Man's Child - The Millenium King 022 Covenant - Bizarre cosmic industries 023 In The Woods - I Am Your Flesh 024 Satyricon - Ageless Northern Spirit 025 Golden Core - Rúnir Skal Rísta 026 Inferno - Metal Attack 027 Nordvegen - Ullensvang 028 Arcturus - Ad absurdum 029 Ánne Máddji Heatta - Madji at Dawn Light 030 Eldrim - Heimkomst 031 Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Approaching / On Arrival 032 Sirenia - The End Of It All 033 Byrdi - Solsnu (feat. Kjell Braaten) 034 Bard Spec - Fire Tongue 035 Eirik Jarl - Norse song 036 The Open Mind - Thor, The Thunder God 037 Seidrblot - Skeggöld 038 Black Moon Circle - The Machine On The Hill 039 Sigmund Eiks - Knepphallingen (Hardingfele) 040 Satyricon - Now, diabolical 041 Amberian Dawn - Valkyries 042 Gåte - Huldra 043 Enslaved - Waruun 044 An Danzza - Rúnatal (Canción Rúnica de Odín) 045 Burzum - Belus' Død 046 Abbath - Harvest Pyre 047 Aura Noir - Abbadon 048 Beatles - Norwegian Wood 049 INCULTER - COMMANDER 050 KAUNAN - Halteguten 051 Mortiis - Across The World Of Wonders 052 Skuggsa - Kvervandi 053 Covenant - Planetarium 054 Kampfar - Daimon 055 Adrian von Ziegler - Vinterns Drm 056 Blind Guardian - Valkyries 057 Ulver - The Argument, Plate 2 058 BigBang - Girl In Oslo 059 Gorgoroth - Bergtrollets Hevn 060 Emperor - Curse You All Men! 061 Tom Trussel - Oslo City Blues 062 Vazelina Bilopphøggers - Borghild 063 Dosdfall - Hemlig Vrede 064 Dimmu Borgir - Progenies of the Great Apocalypse 065 Kryst The Conqueror - Valhalla 066 The Dogs - Oslo 067 Enslaved - Eld 068 Solefald - Loki Trickster God 069 Dunbarrow - You Knew I Was a Snake 070 A-ha - Take On Me 071 Ulver - Høyfjeldsbilde 072 Mayhem - Freezing Moon 073 Skambankt - Balladen Om Deg 074 Djerv - Headstone 075 Arcturus - Raudt og svart 076 Øystein Sunde - Bleieskiftarbeider 077 Wardruna - Helvegen (The Way To Hel) 078 Ihsahn - Unhealer 079 Kampfar - Dominans 080 TNT - Seven Seas 081 NRK Til Dovre faller - 1814 082 skuggsa - Rop Fra Rynda - Mlt Fra Minne 083 Iskald - Innhøstinga 084 Kvelertak - Rogaland 085 Svarttjern - Hellig Jord 086 Renaissance - Northern Lights 087 Fred Åkerström - Oslo 088 Concrete Steps - Big Fish 089 Trevor Morris - Northern Lights / Entry to Kattegat 090 KaadaPatton - L'absent 091 Adrian von Ziegler - Einherjer 092 Enthroned - Skjeldenland 093 Jokke og valentinerne - her kommer vintern 094 Styx - Man Of Miracles 095 Residents - Arctic Hysteria 096 Martine Kraft - Himmelfot 097 Red Harvest - Anatomy of the Unknown 098 Audrey Horne - Out of the City 099 Darkthrone - Arctic Thunder 100 Trevor Morris - If I Had A Heart 101 Immortal - The Rise of Darkness 102 Sepulcher - Corporeal 103 Mysticum - LSD (from Planet Satan) 104 Empyrium - Under Dreamskies 105 Slagmaur - Norwegian Giant 106 Aeternus - Fyrndeheimen 107 Thorns - Existence 108 Solefald - Crater of the Valkyries 109 Tristania - Libre 110 Trevor Morris - North Sea Storm 111 Arcturus - The Chaos Path 112 MAYHEM - A Grand Declaration Of War 113 Manegarm - Odin Owns Ye All 114 Kampfar - Hymn 115 Dimmu Borgir - Gateways 116 Dødheimsgard - The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of 117 Satyricon - The pentagram burns 118 Enslaved - Midgards Eldar 119 Folque - No har Jonsoknatta kome 120 Nekromantheon - Rise Vulcan Spectre 121 Iron Maiden - Invaders 122 Tsjuder - Throne of the Goat 123 Einherjer - Naar aftensolen rinner 124 Mork - Holdere Av Fortet 125 Nidinger - Baldrs Draumar 126 Arcturus - Du Nordavind 127 Green Carnation - Into Deep 128 Darkthrone - Too Old Too Cold 129 Pagans Mind - Through Osiris Eyes 130 Kvelertak - Blodtørst 131 Tristania - Year Of The Rat 132 Ulver - I Troldskog Faren Vild 133 Cirith Ungol - The troll 134 Eliwagar - Huldresagn 135 Vårsøg - Fram kom ein skreddar 136 Amethystium - Solace 137 Audrey Horne - Bridges and Anchors 138 Gayte - Til Deg 139 Nanci Griffith - St. Olavs Gate 140 Folque - Liti Kari 141 Hin Onde - 24th of September 1155 142 Trevor Morris - Ragnar's Sail 143 Enslaved - Ruun 144 Purple Hill Witch - Astral Booze 145 Thulsa Doom - Machine of Oslo 146 Svarttjern - Code Human 147 Leaves' Eyes - Vinland Saga 148 Darvaza - A New Sun 149 LUMSK - DUNKER 150 Solefald - Tittentattenteksti 151 Raga Rockers - Fritt liv 152 Isengard - Landet og Havet 153 In The Woods... - Pure 154 Communic - Conspiracy 155 Dimmu Borgir - Vredesbyrd 156 Arcturus - The Arcturian Sign 157 Gorgoroth - Carving A Giant 158 Panopticon - Norwegian Nights 159 Asmegin - Blodhevn 160 DumDum Boys - Lunch I Det Grønne 161 Taake - Nordbundet 162 Gehennah - Deadlights 163 Trønder Thunder - Tordenskjold 164 Årabrot - Maldorors Love 165 Misotheist - Blood Of Rats 166 Windir - 1184 167 BLOOD RED THRONE - InStructed InSanity 168 Deathhammer - Chained to Hell 169 Satyricon - Die By My Hand 170 Myrkskog - Bleeding Wrists 171 Ring Van Mobius - End of Greatness 172 Valkyrja - Crowned Serpent 173 Kjøtt - Hvit Hud / Svart Skinn 174 The 3rd And The Mortal - Why So Lonely 175 Voluspaa - Ferden Går Videre 176 Abyssic - Transition Consent 177 Myrkraverk - Nær Døden 178 Romantic Noise - Sagitario 179 Shining - The One Inside 180 The Devil and the Almighty Blues - Distance 181 Manowar - Thor (The Powerhead) 182 Djevel - Det Svartner Paa Likbleik Hud 183 Øresus - Angst 184 Turbonegro - City Of Satan 185 Gåte - Sjå Attende 186 Immortal - Where Mountains Rise 187 Cor Scorpii - Fotefar 188 Cadaver - Hypertrophyan 189 Hugsjá - Ni Døtre av Hav 190 Kalandra - Brave New World 191 Borknagar - Up North 192 Ved Buens Ende - You That May Wither 193 Alestorm - The Sunkn Norwegian 194 Brød & Sirkus - Frykt 195 Burzum - Jeg Faller 196 Djevel - Et Menniskes Hele Korpus Og Legeme 197 Helheim - Ymr 198 Leaves' Eyes - Farewell Proud Men 199 Sylvaine - Mørklagt 200 Enslaved - Convoys To Nothingness 201 Gaahls Wyrd - Ghosts Invited 202 Hagalaz' Runedance - When The Trees Were Silenced 203 Dismal Euphony - Et Vintereventyr 204 In Vain - Image of Time 205 Khonsu - The Malady 206 Arctic Sleep - Pine Mountain 207 Flametal - I Am A Viking 208 Dimmu Borgir - The Sacrilegious Scorn 209 Trevor Morris - Vikings Attack 210 Wongraven - Tiden Er En Stenlagt Grav 211 Endstille - World Aflame 212 TYR - Eric the Red 213 Synthetic Gentlemen - Kick 214 OBLITERATION - Detestation Rite 215 Judas Priest - Halls Of Valhalla 216 Urarv - Red Circle 217 Old Man's Child - Doommaker 218 Abbath - Winter Bane 219 A-ha - The Sun Always Shines On TV 220 Eldrim - Attergangar 221 Nan Madol - Tidal Waves 222 Vreid - Lifehunger 223 Acârash - Cadaver Dei 224 Triosphere - The Sentinel 225 Vargvrede - Song of Betrayal 226 Vemod - Å Stige Blant Stjerner 227 Emperor - Inno A Satana 228 Eivør - Í Tokuni 229 Arcturus - For to end yet again 230 Enslaved - The River's Mouth 231 Nidinger - Ash Yggdrasil 232 Covenant - Planetary black elements 233 Khold - Forrykt 234 The Wretched End - Tyrant Of The Mountain 235 Voluspaa - Av Sin Klokskap 236 Solefald - Jernlov 237 Vredehammer - Viperous 238 Hellish Outcast - Partition of Lust 239 An Danzza - Rnatalins Rune Song 240 Green Carnation - The Quiet Offspring 241 1349 - Nathicana 242 Sirenia - Spor 2 243 TAAKE - Nattestid Ser Porten Vid 1 244 Virus - Black Flux 245 Blood Red Throne - Requiem Mass 246 Edvard Grieg - March of the Trolls (Orchestral Version) 247 Tidfall - Prophecy Horizon 248 Limbonic Art - A Void Of Lifeless Dreams 249 Lindy-Fay Hella - Three Standing Stones 250 Borknagar - Winter Thrice 251 Panopticon - Håkans Song 252 ULVER - Nowhere (Sweet Sixteen) 253 Vondur - Panzer Legions Of Vondur 254 JORN - Traveller 255 Disiplin - Liberation 256 Beyond Dawn - When Beauty Dies 257 Ruphus - Inner Voice 258 Leaves' Eyes - Norwegian Lovesong 259 The 3rd & the Mortal - Death-Hymn 260 STORM - Noregsgard 261 Satyricon - Hvite Krists Død 262 R. Stevie Moore – Norway 263 Lucifer Was - In Anadi's Bower 264 Susane Sundfor - White Foxes 265 Kjeld - Betsjoend 266 Kari Rueslåtten - Sørgekåpe 267 Green Carnation - Sentinels 268 Agenda - Suffer 269 Mortiis - Tribute to Euronymous Unreleased Outro 270 Sirius - Sidereal Mirror 271 Insidious Disease - Betrayer 272 Gehenna - Through The Veils Of Darkness 273 The Deviant - Atomic Revolt 274 Varde - Halvdan Svarte 275 Carpathian Forest - He's Turning Blue 276 Ragnarok TV show - Outro 277 Sâver - How They Envisioned Life 278 Dold Vorde Ens Navn - Drukkenskapens Kirkegard 279 MANES - Young Skeleton 280 Nattefrost - Nekronaut 281 Cadaver Inc. - Primal 282 Ida Maria - I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast 283 ragnarok - En Verden Av Stein 284 Mari Boine - Chasing Myself Into Reality 285 Death By Unga Bunga - Don't Go Looking For My Heart 286 Hexvessel - The Tunnel At The End Of The Light 287 Urgehal - The Iron Children 288 Darkthrone - Soulside Journey 289 Theatre of Tragedy - Der Tanz der Schatten 290 Wardruna - Kvitravn 291 Einherjer - Dragons of the North 292 Thale OST - Thale theme 293 Hedvig Mollestad Trio -Bewitched, Dwarfed and Defeathered 294 Motorpsycho - Spin, Spin, Spin 295 Susperia - Vainglory 296 MYRKUR - Jeg er Guden, I er Tjenerne (Live at the Mausoleum) 297 ICS Vortex - Odin's Tree 298 1349 - Beyond The Apocalypse 299 PRISTINE - You Are The One 300 Tristania - Beyond the Veil 333 Immortal - Where Dark And Light Don't Differ 444 Folket Bortafor Nordavinden - Odin 666 Satyricon - Mother North Songs are right here at this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1_gH0U66TKasbEjdbkPxeW7 Have I missed a song or band? Let me know. Takk!

#norway #norway playlist #norwegian black metal #norwegian #tristania #trolls #oslo songs #bands from Norway #arcturus #darkthrone #thale movie #einherjer #abbath #hedvig mollestad trio #manes #dimmu borgir #thor songs

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dharc16 · 4 years

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Hello fellow witches! I just thought of dropping something historical today about us witches around the world! 😇 I hope you read it till the end and perhaps share it if you like! But please don’t feel offended! These are the words of a Christian Witch!

THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN WITCH

A fearsome being of fairytale and myth, the witch has carved out a home in nearly every culture across the world and time. Indeed, the witch represents the dark side of the female presence: she has power that cannot be controlled.

While most people envision witches aging, ugly, hook-nosed women surrounding their cauldrons and inflicting toil and trouble on the masses, history tells us that the witch’s origins are far less sinister. In fact, those whom we consider to be witches have often been healers.

Carole Fontaine, an internationally recognized American biblical scholar, argues in an interview that the idea of the witch has been around as long as humanity has tried to deal with disease and avert disaster.

In the earliest centuries of human civilization, the women doctors, midwives, wise women, and priestesses were revered throughout their communities.

These wise women made house calls, delivered babies, dealt with infertility, and cured impotence. According to Fontaine:

"What’s interesting about them is that they are so clearly understood to be positive figures in their society. No king could be without their counsel, no army could recover from a defeat without their activity, no baby could be born without their presence."

So how did the benevolent image of a wise woman transform into the evil figure of the witch we know today?

Some scholars maintain that the answer may be linked to events long before the birth of Christ, when Indo-Europeans expanded westward, bringing with them a warrior culture that valued aggression and male gods of war, which dominated the once-revered female deities.

The Holy Spirit that we worship was changed from the Hebrew feminine to the Greek neuter to the Roman Latin male.

In the 1300s, when the plague decimated Europe and killed one in three people, it also brought with it hysteria. Amid the panic, many attributed their misfortune to the Devil himself — and his supposed worshipers. At this point the Catholic Church’s Inquisition, which had already been established for decades, expanded its efforts to seek out and punish the non-Catholic causes of the mass deaths, including Devil-doting witches. These women were believed to worship in large nocturnal assemblies, where various social ills were performed, such as promiscuous sex, naked dancing, and gluttonous feasting on the flesh of human infants. At the climax of this festival, people at the time believed that the Devil himself would appear and participate in an unbridled orgy with all attendants.

In order to save the Church and its followers from the Devil, then, these women had to be tamed. It is with that in mind that Catholic Church inquisitors Jacob Springer and Henrik Kramer wrote the Malleus Maleficarum, a book which assisted witch hunters in the gruesome task of diagnosing and punishing so-called witches, who as women were sexually vulnerable and therefore easy prey for the Devil.

“What else is a woman but a foe to friendship?” wrote the monks. “They are evil, lecherous, vein, and lustful. All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is, in women, insatiable.”

The manual’s vivid descriptions would serve as a platform for zealous witch hunters to act on their prejudices for over 200 years. At the time, Malleus Maleficarum was second to the Bible in terms of popularity.

Fontaine notes that while there had been witch hunting manuals prior to the publication of the Malleus Malificarum, these two monks were the first to associate a specific gender with witchcraft.

By the end of the 1600s, the witch hunting hysteria in Europe reached its peak. Witch hunts spread like wildfire across Europe, the worst of which occurred in France and Germany. Würzburg, Germany was home to the worst instance of witch hunting: the magistrates of the time determined that most of the town was possessed by the Devil, and condemned hundreds to death.

Religion professor Barbara McGraw notes in a 1996 interview that there were some towns in Germany where there were no women left.

Thousands were arrested and brought to inquisitors for examination. Under an inquisitor’s brutal scrutiny, the accused were strippped and searched. Any “suspicious” wart, mole, or birthmark could be enough to receive a death sentence.

In order to execute the accused, however, they first needed to confess. Torture seemed to be the best way of inciting confession, and the Church would use instruments such as thumb and leg screws, head clamps, and the iron maiden to generate the “truth” needed to enact death.

While torturing women under examination, the Malleus Maleficarum warned the torturer not to make eye contact with her, as her “evil powers” might cause the torturer to develop feelings of compassion.

When this period ended at approximately the beginning of the 18th century, an estimated 60,000 people in Europe had been killed as witches.

Overseas, the most anthologized witch hunt took place in Salem, Massachusetts. The 17th century settlement had a rough beginning: decades of Indian Wars, land disputes, deep religious divisions and a tendency to look to the supernatural to explain the unknown helped set the grounds for this particularly “New World” brand of hysteria.

The witch hysteria in Salem began in 1692, in the home of a Puritan minister named Samuel Parris. Parris was deeply concerned about a game his daughter Elizabeth and niece Abigail had played, in which the two girls looked into a primitive crystal ball and saw a coffin. This vision sent them into convulsions, and within a few days nine other girls throughout the community were stricken with the same ailment.

Under the pressure of Parris, the girls then named three witches who may have cursed them: Tituba, their household slave, Sarah Good, a beggar woman, and Sarah Osborne, a widow rumored to have had an illicit affair with one of her servants. All three women were social outcasts, and thus easy targets for suspicion.

The 1692 Salem witch trials spread witch hunting hysteria to 24 outlying villages. That year, jails were crowded with more than 200 accused witches, 27 of whom were found guilty. 19 were killed.

The trials met a swift end, however, in part because supposed victims began pointing their fingers at high-ranking figures within the community. When the wife of the governor of Massachusetts was accused of witchcraft, leaders saw to it that the trials ceased immediately.

As to what spurred the girls’ confessions, Fontaine attributes them to a form of social release. The girls had been so tightly controlled in Salem, Fontaine argues, that this confession allowed the girls to receive some kind of attention.

Hundreds of years later, the fearsome image of the witch faded, and was absorbed by a popular culture who used the witch’s violent history as costume inspiration. Others, however, used it as a means to found a new spiritual movement.

In 1921, British archaeologist Margaret Murray penned a book called The Witch Cult in Western Europe, in which she argued that witchcraft had not been an obscure occult, but a dominant religious force. Though Murray’s theories have been widely discredited (proven to be untrue) since the book’s publishing, her work sparked a fascination with witches that had been dormant for three hundred years, eventually helping spawn the pagan Wicca religion.

The religion, which is named after an Anglo Saxon term for “craft of the wise,” circles back to ancient practices that use herbs and other natural elements to promote healing, harmony, love, and wisdom, all following the tenet of “harm none," while rejecting the more violent aspects of the same ancient practices.

However, just like hundreds of thousands of people who have come before us, these same practices of healing and working with nature can also be practiced with the worship of the one true Creator God, who gave us these gifts to begin with.

#christian magic #witches #magic #christian witch #male witch #wichcraft

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