#helpol ♡ 𓈒 𓈒 𓈒

[edensvessel]

Sick and tired of this being constantly thrown around to shame people but say it with me now

MIASMA 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 THE 👏 HELPOL 👏 EQUIVALENT 👏 OF 👏 SIN 👏

Miasma is a word used to describe rape, murder, evil things we should not do.

Sin is a violation of the Christian god's will.

Lyma is the inherent spiritual uncleanliness that comes with being human, NOT miasma. These two concepts have been falsely conflated. Lyma is what you use khernips for, not miasma. On that note, khernips is not necessary to get rid of lyma, just a shower or washing your hands is enough in today's modern age of cleanliness. Lyma is not evil either. Miasma is the spiritual equivalent of committing a crime, because you only get miasma upon committing something like murder or rape or what-have-you. Miasma is inherently evil.

Sin is not inherently evil because you are born with it and you can be saved. Miasma is inherently evil because it is the religious equivalent of crimes.

I say inherently because yes, some sin is evil, but not all sin is. To say “all” of something, whether in theology or history, is a big big BIG error unless it is quite literally 100%. People seem to have forgotten that too.

Most importantly, a lot of the religious historians we have are Christian and they put their Christian viewpoint on everything. That is why it's so important not to take everything in a resource super literally and to cross reference your sources.

Miasma is not "sin" because you can't compare two concepts that existed centuries apart from each other that may, to your modern eye in a world where christianity is the norm, look similar.

Stop spreading misinformation under the guise of miasma. Most importantly, stop sending asks to tumblr blogs to do your research for you. Google scholar is free. Internet archive is free. Got a question? Research it! Having trouble? Ask people for help! There's nothing wrong with asking someone's opinion on something but to take that person's opinion as law thereafter? Are we forgetting that we're sharing opinions and not facts and that facts need to have sources listed at the end?

The decline of research in pagan spaces and the steady rise of blindly believing what your favourite tumblr blog says is a dangerous fuel to the anti-intellectualism fire that's been burning for a few years now. I'll end this by saying that this post is not targeted, but if you feel targeted, then I think you have a bit of self reflection to do.

[edensvessel]

Me getting side eyed for calling Dionysos a They or a She occasionally as if They're not everything that the binary hates anyway

It's not even just about Dionysos; divinity is not limited by biological things like sex or societal/cultural concepts like gender. Who cares if someone calls Apollon a She? Who cares if someone draws Aphrodite with a beard? They're gods.

I've said this before, but I don't personally believe that divinity abides by the human societal concepts of gender. I've gotten hate asks for this opinion in the past, and it's honestly just sad to see that some people are so intolerant of the fact that other opinions about divinity exist outside of their own, but I digress. I don't feel gender is a thing that gods are probably all that concerned about. I can't speak for them, obviously, but based on my own experiences, I firmly believe that the gods present themselves in a multitude of ways to worshippers all over the world. Sometimes a deity can be one gender, the next day they can be another. It's ultimately up to the gods how they choose to present themselves, and if that opinion bothers you, I encourage you to dig deeper into yourself to discover why.

[edensvessel]

Why's there so much arrogance in Hellenic polytheists nowadays 💀 guys you do realise arrogance is a stepping stone to hubris right?

[xlamby]

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ི ⊹ㅤㅤ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀narcisse ⠀⠀⠀ou⠀⠀⠀camilo

⠀⠀ 𓏲𝄢 ⠀⠀ 𓂅 ⠀⠀it ⠀he ⠀she ⠀they ⠀doll ⠀puppet ⠀hx ⠀⠀⠀ ͏𓈒 ⠀⠀⠀girlboy ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀ 𓏏𓏏 ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀bodily fifteen ⠀⠀⠀ ͏𓈒 ⠀⠀⠀taken ⠀⠀ ♡

⠀⠀⠀did ⠀⠀system ⠀⠀⠀ ╱ ⠀⠀⠀av/bpd ⠀asd ⠀unlisted

i can be very very paranoid and would like it if you used tonetags to talk to me unless stated otherwise! don’t try to fakeclaim me, it really doesn’t do anything lmao. i might block people, it’s not a personal thing, most of the time. if i don’t like you then i’ll just block you 😓 i might have periods of ghosting, it’s just who i am, if you can’t handle it then don’t interact /lh.

i am a huge huge huge fan of the outsiders, marvel, gigi perez, the crowded room, twttin, twisters (2024), greek mythology, topgun, cobra kai/karate kid, and other things ^_^. collectively, we switch in between i and we terms, and go by the system name of the seaborn fleet. when referring to us you may use parts, alters, or headmates terminology. im quite anxious and may find it a bit hard to trust people. most of the time, i talk with my closest friends, one of which is (shoutout) emil :3 anyways if you want to dm then feel free but say why in the original message! i am helpol and won’t change my beliefs, don’t send me the “god will save you” messages.

do not mention these things with us :

brainwashing

hypnosis

heavy mentions of manipulation

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[edensvessel]

by the way, everything is going to be ok

[edensvessel]

I get so many people that glance most askance at me when I talk about "oh I need to ask King Asmodeus" or "no I can't work with or worship Archangel Raphael because King Asmodeus doesn't take kindly to that possibility" and some of them try saying "you know you can just do it, right?"

These are the same people that preach about everyone's relationship with their deities being different. But the moment someone's is slightly out of the norm, suddenly they're quick to judge. Makes no sense.

I could go on about how I'm fine with needing to ask for His permission for some spiritual things and how I'm fine with being limited from certain entities. I could go on about how our bond goes deeper than Him being my patron and that being the reason I'm so okay with following what He tells me. I could go on about how deities have boundaries too. But I'd rather not waste my time. The ones who will judge will judge.

idk why this site is so… anti gods being gods.

like yeah, ofc some gods are demanding/jelaous/etc. not every god is a therapist focused on self-love. gods are domains of energies - some gods will kick your ass, usually for you to improve. some gods don’t want you to worship other gods or don’t work well with them. some gods set their demands and boundaries and instead of comforting you tell you to pull your shit together and fight.

like, gods can care about us and be empathetic, but they aren’t human and could never understand the anxiety and pain and beauty being a mortal brings.

[edensvessel]

The Impact of Islam on Paganism (and Why That Still Matters Today)

So as a lot of my followers may or may not know, I am ex-Muslim. I was raised in a comparatively lax (though still extremely conservative) Muslim family and was made to start reading the Qur’an as early as I started reading English, and made to start memorizing the prayers just as early.

One thing that’s prevalent in Islam is the stories of Muhammad’s life. And during his life, specifically his youth, he grew up during a time when Paganism was very prevalent in Arabia. I always see posts about Christianity's influence on paganism, so I figured it would be a nice change of pace to hear from someone that has a different experience. Especially considering Islam historically has done a lot more damage to paganism than any other of the "Big Three" in my opinion, for reasons we'll see later.

NOTE: Most things we know about this specific patch of history come from Islamic sources, some directly from the Qur'an itself, so take everything with a river of salt.

NOTE 2: THIS IS NOT AN ANTI ISLAM POST. THIS IS PURELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ISLAMOPHOBES ARE NOT WELCOME HERE.

Before Islam, much of the Arabian Peninsula was polytheistic. People worshipped a variety of gods and goddesses tied to tribes, natural elements, and celestial bodies. The Kaaba itself, now the holiest site in Islam, was once a shrine that held numerous idols representing different deities. This pre-Islamic era is often referred to in Islamic texts as Jahiliyyah, meaning the "age of ignorance."

In Islam, there is only one sin that is genuinely irredeemable in the eyes of Allah. It's called shirk, and it refers to "associating partners with Allah". Many in the modern day take this to mean worshipping a god that is not Allah, but when we look at the historical context, things change. See, in the Kaaba, one of the gods worshipped was Al-Lat, who was a goddess worshipped by the Quraish tribe (a tribe who basically served as the villains of Muhammad's life). It's believed that Al-Lat and Her sisters were daughters of Allah, and thus, worshipped alongside him. This is where that particular phrasing comes from; others quite literally worshipping Allah alongside other gods.

Islamic teachings later framed these polytheistic practices as misguided or demonic, and many of those practices were systematically dismantled as Islam spread. This erasure wasn’t just spiritual, it was political and cultural. Many polytheist traditions were destroyed, and over time, the idea that polytheism was inherently evil became deeply ingrained in many Islamic teachings.

In fact, the Qur'an directly calls the polytheists of pre-Islamic Arabia pagan, as an insult. It is still used as an insult today in many Islamic countries, though I can only really speak for the one I used to live in so take that with a grain of salt.

That anti-pagan sentiment didn’t stay in the past. It’s alive and well today, not just in Muslim-majority societies, but even in ex-Muslim and secular communities where Islam's historical influence still lingers. For many Muslims and ex-Muslims alike, the word “pagan” is still deeply stigmatized. It’s associated with devil-worship (in the stigmatized way, my demonolatry friends), chaos, and moral depravity. Not because of anything inherently wrong with paganism, but because that’s how it was framed for centuries.

Even when people leave Islam, those inherited fears and associations don’t just vanish. If you were taught from early childhood that polytheism is evil, it’s not easy to deconstruct that belief, even if you stop identifying as Muslim. This contributes to internalized stigma for those who explore or convert to Paganism later in life.

It’s also worth noting that Islam isn’t the only "Big Three" religion that demonized Paganism, Christianity and Judaism have their own long histories of doing the same. But Islam’s specific influence on North African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian cultures means that in many parts of the world, “pagan” is still a dirty word.

In some countries, even being accused of “witchcraft” (a concept that overlaps heavily with modern pagan practice) can be grounds for legal punishment or even violence. This isn't just about faith. It's about state power, colonial legacy, and institutional control over spirituality.

And yet. They survive.

Interestingly, not all of those ancient beliefs were wiped out. In places like Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey, you can still find folk practices that trace back to pre-Islamic spirituality. Sometimes these practices are “Islamicized” (e.g., calling a spirit a jinn instead of a god), and sometimes they’re practiced quietly, under the radar.

Examples include:

Zār spirit possession rituals in East Africa and parts of the Middle East

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which has Zoroastrian roots but is still celebrated widely

Sufi mysticism, which often incorporates music, poetry, and ecstatic rituals that feel more aligned with animist and shamanic traditions than orthodox Islam

For modern Pagans (especially those coming from Muslim backgrounds) it can be hard to fully embrace Paganism without guilt, fear, or social consequences. But understanding why that stigma exists is part of the healing process.

Islam, like all religions, is shaped by its context. It developed in a time of rapid cultural change, political consolidation, and theological urgency. Its opposition to Paganism was part of a larger project of unification. One that worked for many people, but also suppressed other spiritual paths.

If you’re a modern Pagan, especially one from a Muslim background, you are not regressing. You’re not betraying your roots. You are choosing a spiritual path that makes sense for you, and you are also part of a much longer tradition than many people realize. One that predates Islam and Christianity, and that has always, in some form, resisted erasure.

Sources & Further Reading:

Hawting, G. R. (1999). The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History. Cambridge University Press.

Shahid, Irfan. “Pre-Islamic Arabia.” In The Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 1.

Amira El-Zein (2009). Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn. Syracuse University Press.

Sa'diyya Shaikh (2012). Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn 'Arabi, Gender, and Sexuality. University of North Carolina Press.

Sabrina Peric (2015). “From Spirits to Science: Exploring the Jinn in Contemporary Muslim Contexts.” Comparative Islamic Studies.

[edensvessel]

"Your opinions and views and gnosis keep changing because of what you research, you can't stick to one viewpoint and that makes you an unreliable fraud."

[edensvessel]

By the way, lessons from the gods aren't always big borderline traumatic lifechanging events that alter your brain chemistry. Sometimes a lesson can be a small bad feeling in your gut after you said something you later realise you don't agree with. Sometimes a lesson can be a small energy surge, enough to get you out of bed for the day. Sometimes a lesson can be a dip in energy, making you unable to do anything but sleep. It's not always something big, and in thinking that, you run the risk of missing some things.

[edensvessel]

low / no empathy polytheists i love you

[edensvessel]

"Working with Kronos must be so scary..."

Kronos, after asking me why I have not called Him 'Father Kronos' in a while and while we are listening to a sea shanty at His suggestion: "You will always be okay in the end. Do not forget that."

[edensvessel]

i love and adore lord ares

[edensvessel]

Coincidence isn't Control

People are not math equations. Just because two things happen around the same time doesn’t mean one caused the other. Someone changing their style isn’t because of a new friend. Someone’s bad mood isn’t because of something you said days ago.

Let people have their own autonomy. Their choices, feelings, and growth aren’t always about you—or about any single outside factor. Correlation is not causation. Life is more complex than that. Think for yourself. 💫

[edensvessel]

　　﹒　external signs vs internal signs . . .

note: this is all my own upg !!! whether or not you decide to follow this is up to you !!! if it makes your worship easier and makes sense with your beliefs, then by all means, feel free to adopt it.

in my practice, what makes most sense to me is the concept of internal signs and external signs. most deities have their own style of signs, and it usually falls into either of them. sometimes even both.

　౨ৎ　external signs

these are the more difficult ones to discern, for me at least. these are signs exhibited in the external world. for example, seeing a number associated with your deity or seeing your deity's domain more often if it's uncommon, or seeing your deity's associations more often. usually, i find these somewhat unreliable unless they're super obvious, mainly because as humans, we have a tendency for pattern recognition and confirmation bias. for these kinds of signs, it's very important to consider the mundane before the magical. a rule of thumb many like to apply when it comes to external signs is: if it happens three times or more, it's more likely that it's a sign. otherwise, don't bother.

　౨ৎ　internal signs

these are much easier for me to personally discern! these are signs exhibited within yourself. for example, dreams, meditations, information obtained through clairs, channelling, etc. for these kinds of signs, it is CRUCIAL to recognise your own thought patterns beforehand. for example, i tend to think in words. one word after the other. when i get an internal message from a deity, depending on the deity, it's either a full message that i have to translate to words or a full message in words that's not a consistent stream of words rather like a whole paragraph dropped in my brain. i also observe the speech patterns and vocabulary used, both my own and any potential messages. as far as dreams go, i confirm if a dream is from a deity through divination.

　౨ৎ　extra

there is a third kind, which combines both of them, but i find the only thing that falls under that intersection is divination. it relies both on an external component (a physical tool) and an internal component (the reader's interpretation).

　౨ৎ　how do i know which one xyz deity falls under?

usually, that would correspond with the deity's particular domains. for example, hermes usually uses external signs while apollon primarily uses internal signs or a mixture. it may differ based on your experiences, but i find that's usually how it works.

i hope this helps!

[edensvessel]

I fricking love Kronos did you know that

[edensvessel]

I feel like Nelly has taken a break from her Negativity and passed the mantle onto me lately so let this be a positive post

Hermes is genuinely great? Haven't talked to the guy since...maybe November for personal reasons, but despite it all, He's here for me when I'm at rock bottom. I've noticed it's always been Him, Kronos, and Erebos that are there for me at rock bottom. Something something I used to refer to them all as my Fathers before Things Happened, something something Kronos asked me recently why I stopped calling Him that, something something I'm on the rocky road to feeling secure in things again, something something they will be waiting for me on the other side and every step of the way regardless.

Something something, the gods care.