luunare - Tumblr blog

[luunare]

i got really overwhelmed with tumblr immediately after creating my account, and so i took a long, long break. but i am returning now to ask a question, and i welcome anyone to answer (regardless of faith or belief system):

what does faith/belief mean to you?

please answer in any way you feel: reply, reblog, even send me anon asks!

[luunare]

Anyone who reblogs this post will have their user written on a poster saying "We Stand With Palestine" that I hope to put up somewhere in the village I live in, or the town that the village is next to.

[luunare]

hey hi hello can you reblog this if you’re a trans-inclusive witchcraft or paganism blog i am fighting for my LIFE out here

[luunare]

Can dreams about the future be a sign from the gods?

Hey there!~

Though you asked me, I want to make it very clear that this is my personal opinion. You, Anon, as well as anybody else reading this, are allowed to disagree with me. I'm not an expert in this field! Just a young person who found comfort in this faith

Dreams are interesting, and they've been the topic of a lot of religious, spiritual, and philosophical debate for what feels like forever.

The Oneiroi, daimones I think you may be interested in looking into, were spirits or personifications of dreams. Emerging each night from Erebos, they fly through one of two gates - one which is the source of prophetic, god-sent dreams, and one which is the source of false, meaningless dreams.

Theoi.com is such a good place to start your research into the Oneiroi, but from there alone we are given some ancient myths and sources referring to the Oneiroi as sending revealing or prophetic dreams to people. However literally you decide to take any of this, we can see that prophetic dreams are not unheard of as a concept in ancient times.

I'm only beginning my own research into the topic, as I begin my reading about Hypnos and Somnus as well, so I don't have much to say. Personally, I believe that the gods can communicate in many ways, dreams absolutely being one of them. However, I tend to consider that sometimes, things are just mundane. Dreams can just be dreams, and what we interpret as signs may just be things happening around us.

Ultimately, though, I think that this is really up to your own discernment. I'm not you, and I don't have the context in which this ask was sent. I don't know the dream or your perception of it, or even your relationship to the gods. I think this requires personal thought, and maybe even communication in some form with the gods whom you feel may be sending a sign.

I hope you find your answer x

feel free to chime in with any additional information or thoughts regarding the topic x

[luunare]

Can dreams about the future be a sign from the gods?

Hey there!~

Though you asked me, I want to make it very clear that this is my personal opinion. You, Anon, as well as anybody else reading this, are allowed to disagree with me. I'm not an expert in this field! Just a young person who found comfort in this faith

Dreams are interesting, and they've been the topic of a lot of religious, spiritual, and philosophical debate for what feels like forever.

The Oneiroi, daimones I think you may be interested in looking into, were spirits or personifications of dreams. Emerging each night from Erebos, they fly through one of two gates - one which is the source of prophetic, god-sent dreams, and one which is the source of false, meaningless dreams.

Theoi.com is such a good place to start your research into the Oneiroi, but from there alone we are given some ancient myths and sources referring to the Oneiroi as sending revealing or prophetic dreams to people. However literally you decide to take any of this, we can see that prophetic dreams are not unheard of as a concept in ancient times.

I'm only beginning my own research into the topic, as I begin my reading about Hypnos and Somnus as well, so I don't have much to say. Personally, I believe that the gods can communicate in many ways, dreams absolutely being one of them. However, I tend to consider that sometimes, things are just mundane. Dreams can just be dreams, and what we interpret as signs may just be things happening around us.

Ultimately, though, I think that this is really up to your own discernment. I'm not you, and I don't have the context in which this ask was sent. I don't know the dream or your perception of it, or even your relationship to the gods. I think this requires personal thought, and maybe even communication in some form with the gods whom you feel may be sending a sign.

I hope you find your answer x

feel free to chime in with any additional information or thoughts regarding the topic x

[luunare]

Prayers to the Gods for the Palestinian people.

Keep sharing, keeping protesting, keep b0ycotting, but your prayers also have power, not just for yourself, but for others too. The Gods weep as we do at this injustice. They are just as angry as we are. The Gods will always care about injustice. Remember Xenia.

Also ! Anyone can use these, feel free to change the prayers to fit any other gods!

—————————————————————

To Apollo and Artemis to protect the young in Palestine

To lovely Artemis and Apollo, protectors of children, please give your grace to the children of Palestine.

Please let them have as many joyful moments as possible— even if it's their last.

Watch over them and protect them all the way into to their final seconds

Avert evil and harm from them as much as possible

Grant them the peace of seeing their siblings and caretakers, even if it's the last time

Let them know the joys of being a child, even if it's fleeting Let them play, sing, dance

Grant them joy and grant them peace and then extend that joy, comfort, and beauty into their afterlives/ next lives, so that they won't know this fear and sorrow again.

Love and protect the children of Palestine as they are as precious as any other

—————————————————————

To Ares, most unbreakable

To Ares, most unbreakable, whose courage and strength are as unlimited as he is

Please extend that same fortitude and strength to the Palestinians

Οβριμος (strong, mighty) make it so that their strength and courage never runs out

Αδάμαστος (unconquerable, indestructible) make it so they wont die without a fight, that as much as the oppressors think they have complete power of them, they never will

Τειχεσιπλητης (stormer of cities, walls) make it so they break out of the hell they've been forced it

Λαοσσοος (he who rallies people), make it so the people unconditionally come to their support

Beloved Ares, you are as kind as you are destructive Save your grace for the Palestinians, for you weep as much as we do for them.

But unleash your wrath on the oppressors and murderers

Make it so they never have another day of peace

That the blood on their hands stains everything they touch, polluting their lives, and so it may never wash off

Δεινος (terrible, fearsome), show them no mercy.

Ares, saviour and protector of people, protect and love the Palestinians as you do.

—————————————————————

To Athena defender and savior of people

To Athene, defender of cities

She with the most wisdom, hold them with you under your unbreakable shield

Σωτειρα (savior) please save them from the unyielding bombs and rubble that many are buried in

Αλαλκομενηις (protector) protect them always, for they are as precious as any other. Protect them while alive and after they're gone, protect their legacy, their story

Παιωνια (healer), help them use their limited medical supplies to save as many as they can. Protect the doctors and any healthcare workers, so that they may help as many as they can

Protector, Saviour, defender, please save the Palestinian people, their home, and their legacy.

—————————————————————

To Zeus, savior and most merciful

To Zeus, most high, extend your endless kindness and grace to the Palestinian people.

Σωτηρ (savior) please save the Palestinian people, for their lives are as precious as any other.

For they have a culture, story and history as rich as any other.

Λαοιτης (of the people) make it so they are never forgotten and while some deem them unworthy of living, make that known to the people that that is untrue

Ελευθεριος (of freedom) make it so they will know freedom and will not be under siege any longer

Τροπαιος (turns to flight, defeats), instill in them the fighting spirit they need, and the spirit to live, so they can expel the oppressors from their land.

Παλαμναιος (punisher of murderers), make it so the oppressors can’t get away with their crime, that they never can escape from their own actions

Επιδωτης (giver of good), make it so they can find as many moments of peace and slight escape as they can, no matter how fleeting it is. Whether it be sitting with a loved one or getting a sip of fresh water, give it to them.

Θεος Αγαθος, (the good god) you as much as the other Gods teach us Xenia (hospitality, friendliness basically), to hold it close to our hearts, to hold people close to our hearts. We know you are as just as angry as we are, and we know you mourn with us. And just like you, we will let no injustice pass

No one should stay silent about this or any other injustices. Speak up, protest, share, and pray

(Also please excuse any spelling, grammar, and other errors,, I did read over it but yknow)

[luunare]

[luunare]

...you do know nobody is seriously going to use er/ihm/sein for you right? at this point you're just making a mockery of actual trans struggles.

er/ihm/sein is german for he/him/his dumbass

[luunare]

Stop trying to read the Iliad and the Odyssey.

You're struggling to understand them, to focus on them, because you're going about it all wrong.

They're not books . They're epic poems.

They're oraccular tales. They're meant to be told. They're meant to be performed. They always were. Stop trying to read them.

Listen to the audiobooks instead. Find them on your local library app, listen to them while you're walking, find the cds at your local library, listen to them while you're driving, download them, shove them on your phone and listen to them in the night, staring up at the stars.

They're meant to be heard, to be experienced, not read.

[luunare]

trying to sort out my own religious beliefs is difficult alone. i know it doesn't have to be alone, and that's why i came here in the first place, but i've been having trouble really even writing anything here. i'm not sure why exactly, either. i've dealt with criticism worse than random anons telling me i'm worshiping wrong, without them knowing anything, but maybe i'm just afraid of being vulnerable.

ignoring my doubt has been easier in the past, but i'm beginning to realize that it's not helpful. religious doubt is healthy, especially as a skeptic. to question divinity isn't bad, and it won't make the gods upset. in fact, i've found in the past few days, that it allows me to get to know the divine and the natural so much better.

i'm still sorting some stuff out, but what i do know is: i love the gods with my whole heart. and they will be there with me, no matter my journey.

[luunare]

I am having terrible memory and can't remember if I sent you these for the ask game. 📿🥂❤️

good morning! i'm sorry i didn't get to this last night! thank you for sending the ask 😊😊

📿 - What are three things you're grateful to your deity(ies) for?

i'm grateful for their presence; i'm not one to receive messages or communicate deity -> me. my communications with them and relations with them right now are solely me -> them, and i'm happy with that!

but despite not hearing or seeing anything from them, or attempting divination to speak to them, i definitely feel them around me. even if it's imagined, or comes from hope or faith or something, i'm grateful that i'm not so alone 💕

i'm grateful that they make my space feel more welcoming and more like a home, just by virtue of being here. that they brighten up my room and make me feel comfortable in my late/long nights and times of loneliness.

i'm also grateful for the routine and schedule that's come from worshiping lol. it helps me get out of depression funks and focus on something more positive when i'm low.

❤️ - What's one memory of your practice that you reflect the most fondly on?

like i said, i don't personally receive/look for messages, but rarely i do get feelings that i associate with the gods. my worship is very mundane though lol.

one day, i was just low and feeling very dysphoric and horrible about my body. it was so intense that it felt like a physical pain in my chest. i was crying in bed, wishing i could be something else, when all of a sudden i sort of... stopped? i just felt an overwhelming feeling of no, this is not all that it will be. everything will be okay, everything will be good. i felt a new appreciation for myself, my body, my present.

it was just so sudden that i don't think that feeling was naturally my own, if that makes sense. i associated that with aphroditos - her helping me to be strong and confident in my trans body 💕

🥂 - What is your favorite devotional act or offering to give?

it may be a little selfish, but my favorite offerings are things i can share. candles lit in my room, dedicating jewelry or items of clothing to specific deities, bits of meals or drinks. aside from that, i love creating and making art or silly sculptures for the gods. it feels more personal and more a part of me and my routine than something extravagant only for the gods - it feels like i'm inviting them to be part of my daily life.

[luunare]

Sorry people are being weird about your worship - you can do whatever you want forever lmao

literallyy. some people need to just take a step back and probably realize it's weird to care so much about what a teenager is saying on the internet if it's not hurting anyone and it doesn't involve them lol

[luunare]

🌞⭐️📖 for the ask game :)

hello! thank you for sending the ask x 😊

🌞 - Which deity(ies) are you closest to/do you worship the most often?

as a homebody, i feel so close to vesta and hestia, my heartflames 🔥💞. these two, as well as the agathos daimon and ianuspater, have small shrines in my room that i put small offerings on the most often!

aphroditos and venus have been guiding lights to me, though. especially in my gender journey, but just generally as well! the only deity statue i have is a small venus de milo i was lucky enough to have found at a thrift store, who is draped in all my jewelry and surrounded by pretty stones and candles 💕

⭐ - What is something you wish people outside your practice knew more about?

i don't know lol. i guess right now i wish some folks knew how to mind their own dasjhdajs

📖 - Do you like the way your pantheon is most often portrayed in media? Why or why not?

i've actually not engaged with most media portrayals of greek or roman deities. my sister is into percy jackson, but i never even watched the movies let alone read the books lol. i think the only piece of media i can think of involving either pantheon that i remember engaging with is disney's hercules, and honestly it's a comfort movie of mine lol.

but more generally, i don't like the pop culture 'feminist' retellings/girlbossification of so many myths and deities. i feel like it takes away a lot of the historical and cultural context and ignores real women of the time (like the grieving mother aspect of the homeric hymn to demeter, instead villianizing her and centering persephone). i think the gods are often portrayed as very one-dimensional and often like villains, (zeus is a rapist, demeter is a horrible mother, etc) and even people within our religious spaces seem to internalize these ideas which is sad.

but i don't think that's a very unpopular opinion lol, lots of people probably agree.

[luunare]

Hi !

🏛🎉 for the ask game !!

Have a great day !

hey there! thank you for sending the ask 💕😊

(and, i got your other one! i will be keeping it in my inbox so i can see it when i delete nasty or annoying messages lol)

🎉 - Do you celebrate any festivals? If so, which ones?

i would like to celebrate festivals more in the future, but i often have trouble fitting them into my schedule, sadly:(.

i know it's anthesteria now, but the most i can do is quiet and simple celebrations, offerings, and worship. and i can't offer much in terms of wine or alcohol, since i'm only 17, so i make do with what i've got. more quiet time with bacchus, less loud celebration and drinking lol

more broadly, i try to at least observe the lunar cycle and celebreate noumenia, agathodaemon, and the deipnon (though there's debate on if hekate's deipnon is historically attested, i enjoy it and having a quiet day with hekate). bigger festivities or holidays are more difficult for me right now, but i hope to do more in the future!

🏛️ - Do you have a favorite statue or temple to your deity(ies)? If yes, what is it?

i can't choose a favorite! i tend to lean towards statues of aphroditos, since they make me feel happy as a trans person but also protected in their apotropaic qualities, but Latona and Her Children by William Henry Rinehart is just so soft! i love the gentle look on leto's face, and how sweet baby apollo and diana look!

[luunare]

Polytheist & Pagan Asks

🙏 - Which pantheon(s) do you actively worship?

🌞 - Which deity(ies) are you closest to/do you worship the most often?

✨ - Do you believe in patron deities? If so, do you have any that you know of?

🌍 - Which pantheons do you believe exist?

📜 - Have you ever made an oath, vow, or contract with a deity? If yes, how did it go (you don't have to share)?

📿 - What are three things you're grateful to your deity(ies) for?

🖋️ - If you could say anything to your deity(ies) right now, what would you most want to say?

💌 - What is your favorite form of deity communication?

🎭 - What is an emotionally impactful or a silly worship-related experience you've had?

❤️ - What's one memory of your practice that you reflect the most fondly on?

🥂 - What is your favorite devotional act or offering to give?

🎉 - Do you celebrate any festivals? If so, which ones?

🫂 - Do you syncretize any pantheons with one another? If so, which ones?

🔮 - Do you delve into topics like the occult or the mysteries? Do you do anything esoteric?

⭐ - What is something you wish people outside your practice knew more about?

📖 - Do you like the way your pantheon is most often portrayed in media? Why or why not?

🏛️ - Do you have a favorite statue or temple to your deity(ies)? If yes, what is it?

🔥 - Do you have a favorite myth or tale from your pantheon or others?

🧭 - What led you to your practice?

🧿 - Did you have any other spiritual beliefs before discovering your current practice?

🪽 - Do you believe in angels and/or demons? If yes, do you worship or work with any?

🪄 - Do you practice witchcraft? If yes, do you keep it separate from your deity worship?

🪦 - Do ancestors or human spirits play a big role in your practice?

🐾 - Do animal spirits play a big role in your practice?

🌱 - Does nature - plants, nature spirits, etc. - play a big role in your practice?

💀 - Do you believe in ghosts? If yes, have you ever had an experience with one?

☄️ - Do you believe in astral travel/the astral realm? If so, have you been there before?

[luunare]

i've seen so many posts in my time lurking of people wishing that there was more of a sense of community here on tumblr in these polytheist or pagan spaces.

one day after making a post asking to find and be part of some kind of community, and i've already received too many messages from people questioning or attempting to police my faith and worship, making assumptions, and being generally condescending to me. i've only published my response to one anon in particular, but i'm so tired.

i want there to be community, but i don't want to be part of it if y'all are going to immediately pile onto a literal teenager trying to be part of something. i'm almost an adult, and sure i can take it, but i shouldn't need to prove anything to be part of this space. my faith is not yours, point blank. how i worship is between me and the gods. i am not doing harm to anyone and that's really all you can hope for.

i understand feeling isolated in this space and wishing for more - i want more! but some of you need to be more understanding and kind toward beginners, teenagers, and those with different perspectives or belief systems. if you keep pushing people away, how will this community thrive?

[luunare]

It's not "much too simple to say", i was just trying to give you information without the history lesson. It's not too easy because that's exactly what it was, there's documentation proving that completely outside of Greek mythology because Romans took everything from currency to art to poems. If you aren't doing enough research to know this i doubt you know much about HelPol beyond mythology and clearly not a lot about that either.

Also you tagged of your own post with "Roman Paganism", soooo 🤥 i wouldn't have mentioned it out of nowhere lmao

I was trying to be nice and give you some information lmfaooo you're not going to be happy until you piss off the wrong deity mixing together the wrong shit. You wouldn't be the first to get taught a lesson just because you didn't listen to experienced people. Beyond the fact that i've been practicing HelPol 8+ years, i do study this for school 😭

i tagged my post with "pagan" to get a wider reach to hopefully find more community here, not because i'm pagan. i didn't intend to seem rude when i said i was polytheist, if i did, i was just replying that i am not pagan.

romans were very interested in hellenic culture, that is true. but that doesn't mean they "stole" everything and simply rewrote the myths with some ulterior motive to demonize the grecian religion. religious syncretism happens at the wide scale, with leaders and violence, and imperialism. this was absolutely a factor in how religion spread, as with many things all across history.

religious syncretism also happens through the voluntary sharing of culture, art, and faith at the smaller scale through time. this is what happens when people interact with other people. there are plenty of examples of faith being shared across cultures, and though this has a bloody and violent history, it also has a history of humans being humans. humans wanting to share, even in the worst circumstances.

most things in the world have a bloody and violent history (including ancient greek culture, that you seem to hold so high on a pedestal as being better than the romans), and i can recognize that and still find the humanity within it.

and, i syncretize many aspects of the pantheons and faiths, but that doesn't just mean mashing them together. no, i do not think the greek and roman religions were the same and were even comparable in most aspects. i'm taking care to be respectful in anything i do, and that's between me and the gods.

obviously i don't study this as you claim to, but i try. you're being very condescending, even in your last ask you sent.

if you believe that modern people can practice in modern ways, in very different ways to the ancients and with different cultural understandings of the faith and the gods, then why can i not practice a syncretic form of worship? my worship is absolutely modernized, but syncretism of many ancient faiths is historically attested either way. just look at the pgm, look at isis, at serapis. bacchus.

look, i'm very tired. i don't want to continue this, because it doesn't seem like you are really interested in "being nice," just that you want things done your way and that's it.