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[mysticalreadings]

Juneteenth

June 19th 1866

They day white society tricked my ancestors into thinking they are free.

As everyone knows this day is now considered a federal holiday. Which is a complete slap in the face. They are now deciding to profit off of me and many black folks hard work in the organizing community. While folks who are employed, low income, marginalize have to continue to work. Not only is this classist it’s definitely racist. It’s extremely performative of them and quite frankly tokenizing off of a holiday that was meant for us. Not only did slavery continue after it was made illegal to enslave my ancestors they continue forcing labor on to my people. Nothing is happy about this day. It’s actually traumatizing asf and not too many folks know this, but, a lot of us who are spiritual tend to connect to our ancestors specifically on that day.

Many of us cook dishes that represent our heritage. The fact they made it a federal holiday is disgusting. Why now? It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing people are recognizing our day as an actual holiday but sadly only for them to use. Before Biden was elected Trump tried to win my people’s votes by using our day as some type of incentive if we voted him. Making our day a federal holiday is not a treat. You don’t wave around the day that my people were suppose to be free on. That’s so taunting. And what happened ? They made it a federal holidays To continue on top of that schools across the country are rallying about teaching critical race theory. How is that they want to be pro black yet are protesting to teach accurate black history ? Make it make sense. The proclamation of emancipation did not apply to folks like me. July 4th 1776 was white America’s freedom. June 19th 1866 my people’s “freedom” nearly a century. These folks failed to tell my people they were free. They had to just figure it out that’s fucked up. Let me not fail to mention the prison/ police industrial complex is legalized slavery.

The fight doesn’t stop here. So please do not eat up this lame ass performative gesture they are making.

If you’re truly an ally to the cause and understand how much this breaks mine and many other black people’s hearts. You should like to be generous to us. Redistribute funds or even donate funds to black folks today and everyday.

Nothing is happy about Juneteenth.

Non black folks stand up and lift my people up. Put us at the forefront.

Please help out by sending me reparations today !! I’m a black trans woman who’s in need of funds to survive this fucked up economy.

All funds go towards gender affirming care, my son and my chosen family.

Venmo: jmiami35

Cashapp: $ny21x

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/NyahKWilliams

ApplePay: nyahbae20@gmail.com

[mysticalreadings]

so I worship gods for about a year and I take my practice very seriously. but the more I learn about historical practice and ancient culture overall the more I feel that I'm not enough and will never be enough? It feels that worship in the past was so grandiose and people were so different? and I'm doomed to stay forever kind of second-class in the eyes of the gods in comparison to the worshippers from antiquity no matter how hard I'll work

It's an illusion. The same illusion, in fact, which occurs when people are exposed to social media and start comparing themselves to the image they see, whether this is about looks, success, or spiritual matters.

The comparison you make is extremely unfair to yourself. You are comparing your means - the one of a single person in the 21st century- to the ones of either a state or the elite.

The religion we read about and know is most often the one of the polis, that is, the State. It's a worship that is regulated, financed, and organized. When we know of the personal worship of an individual, it is most often the worship of a wealthy citizen, maybe even someone whose name was written in stone for their important financial contribution to a sacrifice or religious event.

For the several names that made it to us, there are thousands of nameless worshippers whose worship wasn't as grandiose. No one will remember Alexandros the farmer who sacrificed a bull once a year when he could afford it -when the harvest was good-. All those people who weren't kings, a lot of which weren't even citizens to the eyes of the polis still carried out their worship, at home, in the fields, on the sea, with their local community etc. They did so with their own means, no matter how small or how big.

The thousands of nameless people - second-class citizens to the eyes of the rulers, not the gods- who worshipped those same gods are closer to you than the loud minority we know about and whose opinions you are reading through the scarcity of our sources.

[mysticalreadings]

[mysticalreadings]

You cant criticise Israel or zionism without at least one person going “so do you hate jewish people?” Or any other varient of asking you to denounce antisemitism. Yet Israelis can march while demeaning and insulting Muslims and our religious figures, or can openly call for mass genocide by chanting “death to all Arabs” and no one bats an eye? Where is the call for them to denounce Islamophobia?

Dont turn it into a “so are you saying one shouldn’t denounce antisemitism if their counterparts don’t denounce islamophobia?” Because I that is not what I’m saying. Both are as bad as the other and it’s hypocritical of you to support one and ignore the other.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have no place in our society and it’s disturbing to know that most people don’t feel like that.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 🇬🇧 London, UK 🇬🇧 (@desi.humour)

I urge you to watch this video and compare it to the previous pictures and videos of Palestine and its people that I’ve posted. You will notice a very obvious difference, people in Palestine are trying to survive while Israelis are encouraging mass genocide and an ethnic cleansing. There are countless videos of people, children, mourning their friends and family while the people in this video want more of them dead. How is this okay? Why is no one holding Israel accountable? Where are the sanctions? And where are the world leaders now? Everyone was quick to jump on the “they have the right to defend themselves” boat but who exactly are they defending themselves from? This doesn’t seem like self defence to me? The world is watching Israel and there simply is no way for anyone to deny that whats going on is wrong.

[mysticalreadings]

By @hollyisnotanartist

[mysticalreadings]

hey btw white pagans and non pagans wherever you happen to be, if a marginalized say indigenous person tells you youve overstepped and need to re-evaluate you dont get to decide you didnt and go on w your life. ur still harming indigenous people and being racist by ignoring that. check urselves and ur egos.

[mysticalreadings]

i feel like by not supporting palestine, companies and universities are exposing themselves. they all claim to support ~diversity~ but when an actual ethnic cleansing is happening right in front of them they ignore it

[mysticalreadings]

If anyone is interested in Finnish folklore, give this a read!

Finnish folklore Red flags

I’ve noticed that there is a wave of foreigners becoming interested in so-called “Finnish folklore” - great! There are plenty of fascinating traditions and beliefs which I’m sure people are happy to talk about. But there are a few things to keep in mind when researching the subject. As most available information is written in Finnish, the main source for your research will most likely come from Finns - which is obviously okay, but ignorance and misinformation is more than present in these circles. I myself am not by any means an expert, but everything I’ve listed here is basic information. More under the cut.

Kalevala is not your friend. If someone sources/bases their teachings on Kalevala, and/or recommends it to you - run. That person does NOT know what they are talking about. Not only is Kalevala an inaccurate description of “Finnish” beliefs, but the whole existence of this storybook is problematic. The epic is a result of Finnish nationalism, Western European influence and cultural theft. It is a bastardisation of indigenous Karelian oral tradition and whatever “Finnish” the book holds between its covers is not helpful from a research standpoint. I kept this part brief because I am not Karelian, but TLDR; Kalevala is cultural appropriation and it has very little to do with Finland, and we Finns cannot claim the stories for ourselves. This is the first thing you learn when researching Finnish folklore.

When and Where? There has never been a solid, concrete “Finnish culture” as the term “Finnish” was coined during the rise of nationalism and it used to only represent a fraction of the population. Beliefs and traditions have changed and shifted depending on location and time. If the person you’re speaking to does not give you at least an approximate location and time period for what they’re trying to teach you about (for example, 1600s Ostrobothnia) - run. Also, it is best to almost completely avoid the 1800s and after.

Deities are not worshipped. If someone claims to worship deities, and/or encourages you to do the same - again, run. Deities are tied to specific locations and they cannot be called to oneself. In fact, most powers are avoided due to their dangerous nature. Do keep in mind that, just like traditions, deities and the ways people interact with them differ based on location and time period. Make sure you’re not confusing Karelian deities with Finnish ones. Many deities have been combined and misrepresented by Kalevala’s “author” Elias Lönnrot due to similar sounding names. Similarities ≠ Identical.

Please learn about our history when researching folklore. Avoid Wikipedia as it is not a good source when it comes to the mistreatment and colonization of indigenous populations (Karelians and Sámi), so get your information directly from the people affected. We Finns must work to decolonize our minds and beliefs before we’re fully able to embrace our native, pre-christian traditions. We have a right to be frustrated about what we’ve lost to colonization, but we cannot take that anger out on indigenous peoples and we cannot fill that gap in our ancestral history with stolen and distorted parts from cultures not our own. If you are Finnish and you truly care about your culture and ancestors you wouldn’t lie to yourself like this.

Karhun kansa and neopagans DNI.

[mysticalreadings]

Developing countries are not ‘developing’ but recovering from European colonialism.

[mysticalreadings]

thinking about hero worship and how most heroes had their bones worshipped bec most hero worship was on a local scale done to locals and it reminds me of catholicism for some reason

[mysticalreadings]

thinking more about how the ancients saw the mythos as their history and how that affects worship — certain gods founded states and places (such as Helios and Rhodes), or that certain myths detailed the creations of seas and mountains — it really shows how the divine is with us, in our history, our cities, etc.  and yes, they did take them literally, but in a folk religion way <3

[mysticalreadings]

okay but like here me out on comparing helpol with folk catholicism:

A set of canonised texts that define the overall view (Homer) and then local legends that vary greatly. 

locales have very different ideas of how the figures are, but they are fundamentally the same figure — sometimes they get polymorphic because of the inability to reconcile the literal beliefs (five Madonnas and the two Aphrodites because some people couldn’t see how Aphrodite could be born from seafoam and Zeus/Dione)

Processions and anointment/decoration of icons/statues

Local saints only found in certain areas and local deities found in certain regions (Ennodia, Hyakinthos, etc)

Heroes being comparable to saints in the way that they are mighty dead that receive veneration and prayers

hero worship being ancestor worship sometimes and saint worship being ancestor worship sometimes 

patron saints and patron gods 

people claiming to come from certain saints comparable to people claiming to come from certain heroes or gods

In some areas the practices get REALLY wild 

veneration of objects (sceptre of Agamemnon)

Local folklore galore! Like a Saint resting in a certain spot and a god resting there 

Funky syncretisms galore (Mary-Aphrodite anyone?)

Traditional foods, meals, songs, etc at certain festivals 

Different areas having very different traditions but still being the same religion

this is fun and I hope it brings a better understanding!! It’s certainly giving me thonks hjhfhdjvne

[mysticalreadings]

A Speculation on Hero Worship, and Why Heroes are not 'Fictional Characters'.

I would like to begin this post with a disclaimer. I in no way intend to invalidate others beliefs and or opinions. I also do not wish for anyone to use this post to attack others' ideologies, especially if they are not harmful to themselves or others.

In this post, I will be logically describing and explaining why hero worship in the Hellenic Pagan faith is not worshipping ocs of stories, and is actually a form of ancestor worship. This will be a follow up on my response to the previous post.

First, we will be explaining that the Greeks in fact did take myths as true. According to Britannica, the ancient Greeks did indeed take the myths word for word, albeit these stories differentiated throughout regions, perhaps the explain certain epithets in some places. The reason why they (at first) did not question these stories is because of the immense 'piety' as the Britannica describes it, towards the gods. It wasn't until famous philosophers such as Socrates or Plato came around and attempted to dissect these stories, and as we modern practicing pagans know, are not the full and completely true descriptions of the gods we love and see. In fact, the reason why many people did not see the gods as the way they were described in the myths are due to cults dedicated to specific deities. These people saw the god(s) they worshipped differently than how some of the myths portray them.

With this in mind, people in Ancient times took these stories seriously. Worshippers saw these heroes as true, and everything they did as real, even if it does seem far fetched at times. Worshippers did not see heroes such as Perseus or Achilles as simply characters in an orally told story, but rather semi-divine mortals whom showed great potential, and walked among humans ever so long ago. To say that these heroes are simply made up characters is an insult to past worshippers, as well as present worshippers who have studied hero worship and have dedicated most of their spiritual lives to these heroes. This is why this opinion has received a lot of backlash from many hellenic pagans, as historically this is untrue. Yes, many of us agree that the myths are not 100% true, and that there is a great amount of misogyny and other unwelcomed traits in these stories, especially when they were translated by western scholars in recent centuries. This does not mean, however, that they are completely made up from scratch.

Invalidating others' practice, even unintentionally, is unreasonable. Although I myself do not understand and do not agree with Pop Culture Paganism, I do not insert my opinions on this community because I do not know what it is like to have a mindset as such a worshipper/practioner. I ask that the PC community also respects us in a similar manner, and does not intrude on the many hero worshippers whom have a great deal of bonds between these heros and themselves. The same way how you would not want someone to invalidate a PC worshipper, that is what we ask of them. Some opinions should never be said as they are disrespectful.

With this out of the way, I want to explain why heroes are most likely real, and are NOT simply made up story characters.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is, as many of us know, a fictional detective. There have been stories of him spanning from the 1800s until now, with movies of his stories. He is a fictional character. This series is labeled as a masterpiece by many writers and literature enthusiasts. However, there is a hidden truth to this character. He was inspired by a real detective in England. A professor took a liking to this detective and began writing books inspired by him. This information is obtained by a simple search (look up Sherlock Holmes origin). Although the character itself is massively fictional with little truth, the character is based off a real human, who was a detective and helped his community to lower the crime rates. It is a legend of a human.

2. The Trojan horse.

According to BBC, the story of the Trojan horse is massively fictional with little truth. The story goes that, Troy was in a war with Athens. Troy decided to trick the Athenians as though they were leaving, and left behind a gift for the Goddess Athena. Little did Athens know that Trojan soldiers were hiding in it let the grand horse in, and the Trojans burned the city to the ground.

Historically, the city was burned to the ground, but there was no wooden horse to be found. In fact, BBC says that the horse was inspired off a tactic used in war where soldiers would use wet horse hides to avoid fire arrows from the enemy. This story having fictional traits does not mean it is completely wrong, it was inspired by real events, and romanticized to appeal to the media.

3. Myths

Because myths were told orally, they have been changed, and many myths have inconsistencies, even if it's the same myth. An example is of the Kidnapping of Persephone. In this story, some forms say she went of her own accord, wandering into the Underworld. There are some accounts that say Hades forcefully took Persephone to be his queen. No matter what you believe in, the story has the same basis: Persephone becomes the queen of the Underworld with Hades as her consort and leaves the human world every year for half a year, and her mother mourns the loss of her daughter, thus giving us the winter months of no harvest. This myth is heavily changed, but the essence of it is the same.

With these examples in mind, I will now talk how these are relevant to hero worship.

What these stories have in common is that, behind every story, there is truth. Maybe will never have historical evidence that a man named Achilles existed. But the war certainly did. And out of war, comes heroes. Perhaps there was no man named 'Achilles', and he did not have any powers. Perhaps he was a normal man who died for a heroic cause. But his story lives on. His descendants told his story to others, and his triumphs inspired others, thus making the man we know of. Perhaps his name wasn't Achilles, but this man existed. He fought and died, and someone out there wanted his memory to still be alive. So they made these stories. Even if the story of achilles isn't true, a sliver of it is, and should be respected as such. That was someone's ancestor, and thus has bene preserved through the millenia as a story about a semi-divine mortal. To say he is a made up character is untrue. This story is a legend about an actual warrior. That is its truth.

Perhaps there was never a man name Orpheus and his lover named Eurydice. Maybe it was symbolism after all. But in the end the main basis of the story is, a man loses his lover, tries to retrieve her form the dead, but fails. Perhaps Orpheus was a practioner of magic and attempted to revive his beloved, but after a long journey of doing so, he failed and was never with her again until death. In the end Eurydice stays dead, and Orpheus is forever heart broken. Maybe the character names and the journey he took was unreal, but the essence of the story is real, and that was likely someone's ancestor or relative. Someone in ancient times was inspired by someone who sa ehow much effort they put into bringing their loved one back that they decided to keep it going. To be imprinted in history forever even if the truth has almost, if not completely vanished.

In some parts of Greece, however, there were local heros. These men and women went unsung as perhaps they did not receive as much interest as heroes such as Achilles. But they were cherished among their people. In fact, some place even kept their remains and worshipped them! Their stories kept living amongst their people, and their people in turn showed their gratitude for their efforts in whatever struggle they took place.

There is no true historical evidence that all these heroes existed, but there was someone who inspired these stories. They were loved and cared for by someone, and therefore preserved via stories. The personalities made possibly even the names, could be untrue, but the essence of the story stays true. That is the nonfiction part.

With this concludes my logical explanation as to why Hero Worship is not worshipping random story characters. These stories preserved someone's legacy, love, adventure whatever it may be. Please do not invalidate those who have worshipped these heroes for more than a millenia. Do not belittle them and say such things please. If you have any addiontal information, or would like to continue this conversation by all means this post will stay open. This will not be taken down. All I ask is that we stay respectful to one another, no matter our opinions.

Thank you for your time, and may the Gods look down upon us in favor ❤️

[mysticalreadings]

Artumes Followers Masterpost

Here is a comprehensive list of followers, devotees, etc of Artumes (Artemis transliterated into Etruscan). To be added to this list, please comment, reblog, or send an ask. Similarly, if you wish to be removed, comment, reblog, or send an ask stating that you no longer honour him and wish to be added to this list.

We request that you only add yourself to this list if you worship Artumes in an Etruscan manner and are apart of Etruscan polytheism. Just worshipping Artemis in a Greek or Roman fashion will not qualify you for this Masterpost.

[mysticalreadings]

Calling our heroes fictional is literally so offensive. And it’s a massive misunderstanding of hero worship because heroes were often local, real people that died in their cities. It’s no better than a Christian calling our gods fake.

I guess people *who were literally buried in their cities and worshipped* are fictional characters now because we’re all just larpers. Oh, and gods were considered heroes as well, so does that mean they’re OCs too?

I hate to break it to you, but pop culture paganism is not an excuse to disrespect the religions of others. I too often see it being used in the same way “practicing chaos magic” is used: as an excuse to disrespect recon practices and culturally appropriate.

Lesson of the day kids: don’t listen to 32 year olds (or anyone for that matter) who encourage minors to fuck gods or godspouse.

I don’t like vague posting, however I don’t have a choice at this moment since the person in question has me blocked.

[mysticalreadings]

Um, heros were seen not as fictional characters but as real people who sometimes were made into deities? Theres actual tombs dedicated to them??? The analogy that you're using could also be interpreted as "Oh gods were in stories? Myths must be fictional" when in reality myths were taken ss 100% real events down to the last detail.

since we're talking about pop culture practice, I just wanted to add: I kinda interpret working with fictional characters and such in a similar way to how hero worship works in hellenic polytheism, if that makes sense. Not on the same level as the gods, but still as a character/personality that can be respected, looked to for guidance, and drawn inspiration from!

You know I was actually JUST thinking about this concept esp because I'm like elbows deep in research about heroes. Personally I think there's a lot of overlap and similarities between hero worship and working with or even worshiping fictional characters. I mean isn't hero worship essentially the worship of fictional characters that the Ancient Greeks decided to deify? Idk i feel like people do this thing where if its ancient its acceptable but if its modern then its bullshit. And it completely ignores the fact that clearly humanity has and continues to be truly inspired by fiction to the point that we wish to pull these characters out of their stories and stick them on altars. Like theres a bigger and more profound discussion here but people would rather gatekeep.

[mysticalreadings]

today, 8th of april, is the international rromani day. today the rroma are still subjected to discrimination, marginalisation and segregation. discrimination is widespread in every field of public and personal life, including access to public places, education, employment, health services and housing. the rroma community is still not regarded as an ethnic or national minority group in every member state (in europe) and thus it does not enjoy the rights pertaining to this status in all the countries concerned.

bring awareness of this issue. this is a map with that reflects the size of the rroma population in each european country.

Some sites to donate money to help to better the life of rroma communities:

Secretariado Gitano (Spain)

Roma Edutional Fund (International)

European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network (International)

Roma support group (UK)

@oprerroma has a lot of resources and organisations on her bio where you can donate to.

Feel free to add your paypal, cashapp, etc to this post if you're rroma. Also if you know of local/national organisations that accept donations add them to this post as well.