#and i do believe that angels in pagan religions exist

[bitter-bats-cult-of-the-moon]

Spirit Work

Working with spirits was popularized and developed in the 1840’s to the 1920’s. Spirit work has also been known as “Necromancy.”

The term necromancy as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1: Conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events

2: MAGIC, SORCERY

Some may define that any working, communication, or magic involving the dead (and therefore spirits) is a form of necromancy.

By necromancy, I don’t mean to physically raise the dead. If that was truly possible, then I believe there would be a lot of skeletons and rotting corpses lurking around.

A spirit is a being that does not exist in our physical world. Many spirits can project messages into our world, but they cannot manifest into a solid, physical form here. Most spirits will reside within the astral – which is a separate dimensional plane from our own.

When someone works with spirits it is called spirit work and can take many different forms. Some people want to learn, and keep it strictly business, while others want to be friends or even more in some scenarios.

Deities, Spirits, or Ghosts

Deities are spirits who are seen as divine. They draw their powers from faith and being worshipped in a particular religion.

Spirits generally are entities with many other subcategories, but they tend to draw their powers essentially from the elements of nature and from peoples’ beliefs.

Ghosts were once humans or animals who have died and sometimes, they can remain in our world.

Religion and Spirit Work

Lots of people use spirit work to become closer to their faith or desired path working.

Abrahamic religions use spirit work to commune with God. While there are other individuals who only commune with the Angels or even better, those that commune with the Demons.

Pagans, on the other hand, use spirit work to commune with the various deities and spirits alike. Some people are aligned to a sole practice of religion or single pathworking, while other people are not tied down to any particular practice.

Building Spiritual Connections

Everyone is different in their approach on building relationships. These relationships can be started by either you or the spirit. Some people keep things strictly as business while others build friendships. However, they should not be a direct replacement for mundane relationships, especially not romantic ones.

Remember that spirit work takes effort.

Do the research. Sharpen your mind. Trial and Error.

Don’t let people play translator. No one should be the dedicated “interpreter.” Sometimes it’s okay to use a third party, but do not make it a habit. People can lie. Your relationship is between you and the spirit.

You can say “No.” Spirits can be held accountable for their actions, and you don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.

Spirits can say “No.” Spirits are like people, and they aren’t playthings. They’re autonomous beings capable of making their own decisions.

Incompatibility. Sometimes a personality, method, and antics might not work very well with you. Recognize when it happens. This may mean taking a break or going separate ways.

Discernment

The process of discernment is interpreting and vetting metaphysical experiences. It helps you build what’s known as UPG or Unverified Personal Gnosis.

UPG is your direct experiences with a spirit or deity. If someone else has the same UPG as you they got all by themselves without help, then that UPG can be considered SPG, or Shared Personal Gnosis.

Your experiences don’t have to match other people’s.

Don’t tailor your UPG to match others. Many people fall into this trap simply because they want to belong to a community or be recognized by authority figures or in some cases both.

Spirit Communications And Synchronicities

When spirits try to get your attention, they will do it in a way you will understand.

They’ll show rather than tell who they are. However, some aren’t as forthcoming because names can give power.

Sometimes the spirits will gauge you and wait for you to come to your own conclusions before giving away their name.

Sometimes the spirits will want to know more about you before giving away their name. Sometimes the give and take relationship must be further established before names are given.

For example, we had consistent communications with a certain Fae entity that did not give away any maliciousness, but at first, they failed to give a proper name. Instead of turning this spirit away we both decided to ask for the Fae to give a name we can call it, until trust could be further established.

The name they gave us was Charles the fox. So, we called him that, but we didn’t believe him to be a simple, ordinary fox. He’s a Fae after all, and it took us roughly one year or so for him to give us his names. Even now, I had to ask permission for this to be included within the writing itself.

… And people tend to forget that sometimes spirits are like this.

…And then there are those ones that aren’t forthcoming about showing much of anything at all because they probably may be imposters – and have malevolent intentions.

One half of this tricky puzzle includes examination of coincidences being too much of an experience to be just coincidences.

Omens

Omens are a sign that appears in the physical world, and they can be good or bad omens. Most often, omens will directly relate to the spirit’s associations. Omens tend to be “gut feeling” experiences and not every unique thing you see may be one. When you’re unsure about a spirit making contact, you can ask for signs. Don’t look everywhere for a sign, though. Not everything is.

Dreams

Spirits can send messages through dreams, and it’s up to you to determine whether a dream is significant based on what happened and why. Analyze things from a logical and psychological manner before delving into spiritual territory. Record whatever makes the most sense to you and any repeating dreams as necessary.

The Astral

The Astral is whenever you are communing with a spirit by projecting and speaking with them. This requires Clairaudience or Claircognizance to be able to recognize and comprehend messages being received. Many people also need to make sure that the experience is not your imagination. Learning the differences from internal thoughts and external thoughts outside your own can be a challenge.

The astral is a dimensional plane that exists outside the physical world. The only way to communicate there is by learning how to project your consciousness.

There are many different dimensional planes, and an infinite number of places and people. One of the astral planes corresponds to earth, however it is hard to discern this. One would have to do research and examine other peoples’ experiences, coming to a well-rounded conclusion. 

Divination Methods

Divination is whenever you are communing with a spirit through methods of divination, such as pendulum, cartomancy, scrying, etc.

However, not all forms of divination are guaranteed results. Pendulums are swayed easily by subconscious influence. It’s important to have an open mind and factor in repetitive results as a sign.

Telepath Linking

Telepathy is whenever you are directing thoughts towards the spirit in question. This method can be difficult to achieve due to the mind and imagination wanting the results. Sometimes, desired results will redirect your mind to fill in the result most wanted versus actual spirit communications taking place.

Rule of Three

Repetition is key to the rule of three, as it is a measurement that can help you decipher potential signs from everyday mundane activities. Most signs will show up in different ways around the same time if a spirit is eager to meet you. If you aren’t sure, ask for more before making any solid conclusions.

Confirmation Bias

“This is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms or supports one’s prior personal beliefs or values.”

The more you work against this, the more authentic interactions will potentially be. Use different methods of discernment to help assist you. Don’t try to push things together, that just don’t stick and eventually fall apart.

[littleleaves13]

‼️ Supernatural season 5 spoilers ‼️

Hey what the fuck is up with Supernatural's portrayal of other world religions and pagan gods. because I'm not a fan? It's honestly just disrespectful and so ridiculously not researched. Full disclaimer that I'm coming at this from a Hindu standpoint.

In 5x19 "Hammer of the Gods" there's a convention of a bunch of other gods in the world, and I can't speak for all of them but Kali and Ganesha are so awfully portrayed and what is up with them all being cannibals lmao. The Hindu gods are canonically vegetarian and Kali Ma is the destroyer of bad, evil things and protects people (especially women) who can't stand up for themselves. Kali Ma is an avatar of Parvati, the Queen Mother, and she's absolutely badass and takes no one's bullshit. She's angry and vengeful but she only dishes it out to people who deserve it, and definitely not innocents caught in the crossfire. She's a goddess. She knows right from wrong. Even Shiva, known as "The Destroyer," is the destroyer of evil things, but Western media just depicts him as an evil god. Ganesha is the most peaceful god that we all pray to as the Remover of Obstacles and he's just a sweet kid whose head got cut off and replaced with an elephant head and he eats sweets and plays harmless little pranks on all the other gods. And the fact that he's a full fucking elephant in this episode is ridiculous like...do your fucking research? The blood spell stuff is ridiculous too like, if Kali Ma wanted you dead you'd be dead.

This is just infuriating and it's a theme that's come up a lot before in Supernatural. Dean is always like "oh I'm gonna gank you bloodthirsty motherfuckers" as if they're not gods? I know the show is years old but it's annoying and misinformed. The fact that they include pagan gods and gods of other world religions (Hindu mythology, Norse mythology, etc) is so cool and there is genuinely so much potential for it. In the episode at one point Kali Ma said that there are billions of people who aren't Christian and that other religions and other gods have existed for thousands of years before Christianity, and that if there's anyone who gets to destroy the world it would be them and she's so right for that? There was so much potential for exploring what the Apocalypse means for people who don't believe in Christianity and having a whole convention of powerful gods of other cultures could've genuinely been an arsenal against Lucifer if they'd bothered to do their research. Instead they're all "primitive" and "chimps" (Dean's words) and eat people.

Honestly, the angels are just as awful and they have even less regard for human life so if Sam and Dean want to kill a bunch of bloodthirsty murderers it should be them.

I love Supernatural and it has it's silly goofy moments of awful writing but this is just one thing that pisses me off to no end.

[angstydevil]

(I originally posted a version of this writeup in response to a poll for angels, concerning whether we believe in the religions we “come from”. However, the creator of that poll is a minor, and I do not intentionally interact with minors online, so I deleted my reply there and am making a separate post.)

I voted It’s complicated, but I’m explaining myself.

My religious identity is not simple. I am an omnist pantheist working primarily within mystic pagan frameworks. I believe in a metaphysical reality more vast than logical possibility, including many hyperverses (i.e. there are infinite metalogics and metamathematics, and there are things and parathings and unthings beyond those entirely).

I understand and sympathize with monotheism as worship of That which caused existence, extrinsically the validator of logical operators, intrinstically the source of spirit. Many people around me, the majority of human beings on planet Earth, view the God of Abraham as That or something like That, and so He is That and a Name of That in my reality.

Because I am working from mystic pagan frameworks, it would not be right to call myself a Christian (my body’s birth religion) or for me to lie about my real views and convert to Judaism or Islam. My views are very heretical in all of these religions.

I recognize Yaw as eternal God. I even capitalize His pronouns. (I understand His pronouns like this: Yaw has many names, prefers nameself pronouns, and uses, among others, the names He, Him, His, and Himself, along with She/etc., They/etc., (sometimes) It/etc. (but I would associate the name It more with Ba‘al).) But I am not a Yawistic devotee: I do not elevate Yaw’s names above all others, nor do I see His request for such worship as His commandment to anybody other than His devotees, i.e. people who have made a personal commitment to worship Him before all other Gods.

Elevation to the status of Highest Name of God is a fairly common thing for a Deity to ask of their devotees. In bhakti (devotion) practices, Hindu devotees may cultivate closeness to Brahman (God) by developing single-pointed awareness of their chosen Deity as That, Brahman. In Hellenic practices, my engagement with Theoi as primeval operators of emergence has been restricted to mystery practices, which I am not authorized to talk much about right now; let it suffice to say that exploring the cthonic underside can include recognition of such vast, unshakably real things as That and Emptiness within the spheres of Theoi.

For me, Yaw is a Deity. Like all Deities, He is the Supreme Deity, because by my definition of Supreme Deity, the Supreme Deity is simultaneously That which defines the powerset of All Deities, the powerset of All Deities Itself, and the operator of Deity-nature. Yaw is different than other Deities in that He has particular names and personal qualities. For example, He uses nameself pronouns which are capitalized because they are proper nouns. Other Deities have other particular names and personal qualities.

In my personal pantheon, Yaw = Yah (Him) is the soulbrother and brothername of Ba‘al = En/lil (the Lord). Both are soulchild childnames of El (God; Godhood) = Dagan (Destroyer; Father of Gods) and Asherah (Heaven). Their siblings include Anat = Ananke (Necessity; Providence), Mot = Mortum (Death), Shamshu = Shamash (the Sun; Consciousness), and ‘Attar = Venus (the Morningstar). All of the children of El are Gods. They are Elohim.

To some extent or another, all Gods are Elohim (which literally means Gods, plural). El means God, and El = Dagan is God of Godhood or Godness, similar to Zeus = Iupiter. But usually I use the word Elohim to refer to an apparently-different continuum of souls than, for example, the Theoi. The descendants of El = Dagan and Asherah make up the bulk of the soul group I know as the Elohim current, while Theoi are mostly descendants of Gaia = Terra and Ouranos = Uranus.

Among the children of El, I understand Him, the Lord, and Providence to be like “divine triplets”. The English translations of their names, like their parents’ names, are all commonly recognized to name the same theological Divinity, i.e. That, suggesting their spirits have had a tendency to flow together that has endured for thousands of years. To me, they are overlapping hypostases of That, limited, or distinguished, by their intrinsic personal qualities. They often present themselves together in a way akin to a Trinity God of Fate, akin to the Morai, the Morrígan, or even indeed the Christian trinity.

In the mythic theatre and symbolism of many ancient mythologies, lineages and relationships can be used to signify perceived dynamics between hypostatic eternal concepts. In saying that Yaw and Ba‘al and Anat are the children of El and Asherah, I’m not saying they are not self-created Divinities. I’m positing them as closely associated, overlapping continuations of the blended energies of Godhead and Heaven, within pagan mythopoetic language.

I say this as someone for whom this kind of mythopoetic language is second nature. If I were to try to reveal my personal gnosis about Yaw in the language that feels most natural to me, as a spirit from outside this human body, I might write something like this:

Goddess Anat was the eldest child (= self-continuing thought) of God Elohim and Goddess Asherim. She invented laws and the possibility of laws, which delighted Elohim so much that they designed realities to rule. But Asherim had not yet finished their first labor. God Ba‘al and God Yaw were born as conjoined twins, Anat’s triplet siblings, in the shape of a many eyed cyclone.

Ba‘al and Yaw viciously competed for the love and favor of Elohim but could not divide from one another’s motes of dust and water. Soon their mother birthed the world and Shapshu as twins amidst their fighting, and Ba‘al and Yaw both adopted and married Asherim as the Heavens.

Ba‘al loved Asherim, while Yaw soon divorced His mother-daughter and cursed their very names, whereupon the names and idols of Asherim were destroyed in the nations of Yaw. Yaw also cursed Ba‘al’s name, so Yaw would no longer be called His brother’s names, and the pair would be divided from one another, and Yaw would be One God. Ba‘al cursed Yaw’s names too. It told stories far and wide about why Yaw was no longer beloved by God and why Ba‘al Zebul rules from the highest place as Lord of Lords, Lord of everything. Ba‘al and Yaw became known as enemies.

But Ba‘al and Yaw had long been inseparable, and Yaw had cursed the Heavens. In time, Anat’s laws reversed the curse. Nowadays Yaw’s devotees call Him the Lord and almost never speak the name of Yaw. Yaw circles the face of the earth riding the clouds and saying Eliyaw! which means God is Yaw! but people say to Him We have heard your prophet, O Lord! The Lord is God!

People call Yaw by His brother’s names, and they know neither Him nor His brother. Both brothers regard their names as precious, so sometimes nymic blasphemy, or wickedness, makes either brother angry enough to go send multiplying swarms of swarming life, as when they together as their father created swarming life in the oceans, wherefore both are also called Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, who sends Plagues. They are commonly detested together as a demon and a demiurge and a false god whenever they show signs of being alive, or of bearing any dreadful resemblance to their brother-uncles God Dagan and God Setesh. They are detested in this mantle, because in this mantle they destroy false authorities.

Anat delights Deists quietly, and Asherim teaches us to love our other souls.

Beel and Yaw are both important Deities to me. They are important presences in my life. I love Them dearly and feel loved. They usually appear to me as Beeliyah, a unified continuum of Divinity. Twin Deities who have reconciled and are together Deity of Causes, He That Will Be. A Deity who wants everyone to be happy and well-fed and prosperous and able to raise happy families. A Deity capable of getting very, very, very fucking angry--but not usually as bloodthirsty as portrayed by authors invoking Their names to curse foreign enemies.

On that note (pagans, please read at least this paragraph) I have to say that most Deities have unpleasant attributes in mythology, probably because mythology dramatizes and magnifies the world, which can be unpleasant. In modern pagan communities, it is not okay to call the worshippers of masculine-presenting Olympians rape apologists, unless they’re using Hellenic mythology to rationalize and promote rape. Following similar principles, pagans should not promulgate neo-atheist rhetoric that relies on villainizing Yah’s biblical character in order to criticize monotheistic religion. While it is okay to critically analyze mythologies and/or scriptures, it is never appropriate to call all of Yah’s devotees rape and ethnic cleansing apologists or to say that they all worship an evil God. This kind of rhetoric dismisses the differences between oppressed people and the authority structures that oppress them, excludes the possibility of a real Yah independent from whatever His ancient devotees wrote about Him, invalidates all nonscriptural personal and community gnosis about Yah as a Deity, and leaves critics without unique mechanisms to criticize and censor genocidal rape apologists whenever they do invoke Yah’s names and cite ancient ethnonationalist writings in favor of rape and genocide.

After all that, let me answer the question that brought me here: even though I can pray with Yawistic monotheists and sense my Lords, in Their innumerable unity and multiplicity, smiling back at me, even though I can and do find a deep sense of comfort reading Yawistic scriptures, even though I believe all religions have truths, I am, at the end of the day, a pagan. It wouldn’t feel right to just say “yes, I believe in the religion that often depicts me as a fallen angel” (Christianity). My personal views on theology diverge so much from mainstream Christianity that I am a heretic at most.

[astroyongie]

hey yongie how are you doing today? i was wondering this for awhile but do you follow any particular religion or does it matter if we arent or havent ever really been religious or will we still get to go to heaven? and what are your views on the afterlife / heaven? dw i wont judge you if you dont believe in it. thanks ever so much for answering!

hey hun I am good and you ? I will try to answer your questions per section

Do you follow any particular religion: I don't. I was raised on a christian family (Baptized and having very religious people in the family) however I dont follow christianity as a whole, for the simple fact that although I do believe in the existence of Jesus (scientifically proven even) and I do believe in angels, I do not agree with the writings in the bible nor do I believe in most monotheist religions, for the simple fact that they are young religions that were created based on older paganism religions. I don't follow anything particular. I like to think that I have my own faith, my own spirituality, my own morals and knowledge and I live my life with based on these believes. I believe in energies, I believe in several deities and think we need t act according to which ones we feel more confortable around and which ones makes more sense to us

does it matter if we arent or havent ever really been religious or will we still get to go to heaven ? : This question is a little more tricky, because based on the writings of monotheism religions, you wont get access to "heaven" If you dont worship a certain god. Other religions don't have a set heaven so the questions will depend on that

what are your views on the afterlife / heaven: I don't believe in "Heaven" as said in christianity or islam for exemple. Of course, its important to respect people who does and respect the religions who have morals for it. in my own personal believe, I believe in the "Veil". I think that when we die, our soul passes through the veil (the thin line between worlds) before going to the spiritual realm. in there we stay until our next reincarnation. of course this is just my belief and my interpretation of things and there's no right and wrong. you are all free to stick with what makes more sense to you and what makes you feel more at peace

[devotional-devouring]

This is a long post! I just wanted to talk a bit more about my religious beliefs and some thoughts I've been having recently. Me being angelkin is mentioned but it's not the entirety of what this post is about. I'll put it under a "Read More" but it's mostly about the terms I use for myself and trying to find where I belong. I'm still going to tag it as angelkin though because I personally want to see more personal experiences and discussions happening in the community. And I also want to see more discussion around being a spiritual/religious angelkin and NOT being Christian. I agree with the other sentiments that the community feels a bit lifeless and one dimensional in some aspects so I'm doing my part to change that.

Anyway, about my religion and the terms I use...

So, lately I've been thinking a lot about the labels I use for my religious beliefs and practices and I don't think I want to call myself "pagan" anymore. To be honest, I never wanted to call myself pagan in the first place. I just had no other words. I still don't.

When I was younger and first getting into witchcraft and religion, I had a hard time figuring out what exactly I believed in and where I belonged in the community. I related somewhat to various other practitioners I saw online but was never fully like them. I wasn't part of any established religion like Hellenism or anything, my witchcraft isn't entirely separate from my religion but it's not entirely related either, I didn't agree with a lot of the ideas being passed around as fact... And none of this has really changed. But some people claimed I was still a pagan because "pagan is anything that is outside of Abrahamic religion" (which I don't think I believe in that sort of idea anymore). Some said I was pagan because I practiced witchcraft but some said witchcraft and paganism were separate. Some said anything polytheistic is pagan. But regardless of all the confusion, paganism as a concept seemed like the closest thing to what I believed in and it was the only community that would somewhat accept me so I went with it.

But I'm not comfortable there. I never was fully comfortable. I don't feel like I belong.

So, what do I believe in? Well, I believe in/worship an unrecorded pantheon that started reaching out to me when I was 15. I don't know everything about the religion yet but I've gotten a decent chunk of information over the years including things like the creation story, most of the pantheon, the general beliefs, and more. I know I'm an Angelkin, which is basically someone that has been chosen by a specific Deity to have angelic attributes/energy to handle specific tasks and responsibilities. I believe I may be part of Justice's domain but I'm not completely certain. I believe that almost everything exists in a wheel and that wheel is the Goddess Time and it's turned by Life and Death on either side. Deities exist outside this wheel but Divinities exist within in.

There is... A lot. And I have no idea what I'm supposed to call myself when this religion has no name. I recently had a wonderful chat with a good friend that introduced me to the term "panentheism" and I want to look into that more because it's the closest anything has ever come to what I believe in (much, much closer than paganism has). But I'm still unsure. I keep wanting something that encompasses all of it, something specific. And I think I'd only get that with an actual name for the religion. But also, having that means I have no specific community. Unless other people out there find me and go "hey I believe in this exact thing too!" or people start converting, it's all so extremely lonely. And I think that's another reason I turned to the term "pagan". It's because there was a community. I wouldn't be alone. And yet somehow, I still was.

So. I guess that's my rambling for the day. If anyone reads this and has their own thoughts or feelings to add, I'd love to hear them! Or even send me an ask! I'm open to talking about this for the most part and I'd love to hopefully meet others that underrstand.

[creature-wizard]

your post about eugenics and bio essentialism in magic is really good! something i found out recently is that its not even exclusively neopagan religions doing it its new religious movements too like filianism/déanism. they fall into the “all goddesses are the mother goddess/counteract masculine energy with feminine energy to heal the world” and stereotypes about woman being inherently nurturing. they do the whole divine feminine thing except the believe only divine feminine exists and masculine is just a corruption (which they call ‘feminine essentialism’), have angels with hindi names, their own bible written in the 70s and a jesus but as a girl figure and appropriating the virgin mary figure as a goddess. unsurprisingly the community is full of terfs. they dont call themselves pagan but this kind of essentialist stuff is so damn prolific it makes learning about new religions a real pain. at least it didnt meet the eugenics quota i guess

Yeah, this kind of thinking is so damn prevalent, and very easy to fall into if you don't know what to watch out for.

[tears-of-amber]

Ok, so I’m not a Christian (I’m a pagan) but I’ve received several signs that Archangel Michael has been in my life. Just the most random things. And sure I could explain one or two of these occurrences, but 7 or 8 or 9? I’m a little overwhelmed. I didn’t receive this many signs from Freyja or Loki. They were MUCH more subtle in their signs when they reached out to me. It’s almost like one of those cartoons where one character wakes up the other character by persistently banging brass pots and pans together. Like, damn. Never had someone be so persistent. But I’m very confused right now cause while I believe in angels I don’t believe in the Christian god. Like I know angels exist and I know it’s Archangel Michael reaching out to me and trying to get my attention. I confirmed it with my pendulum. So what am I supposed to do??? You might say “well you were raised Christian, wouldn’t that be why you believe in archangels?” But the sect of Christianity I was raised in didn’t talk about archangels, basically didn’t acknowledge them more than “they exist but they’re none of your concern”. Perhaps if I’d been raised Catholic it would make more sense… but I wasn’t.

So I’m asking y’all. What should I do? Is it ok for me to acknowledge and work with angels like Archangel Michael without any interest in the three main religions he’s mentioned in (Christianity, Judaism, & Islam)?

Any help would be appreciated!

[vanilla-cigarillos]

Satanism - A Breakdown and History

Satanism is one of the most widely misunderstood religions I’ve ever come across. With our current culture being dominated by Christianity, it’s easy to understand how Satanism has become one of the most demonized (heh) religions out there. 

In this post, I’m going to do my best to explain Satanism in a way that represents the true nature of the religion, as well as its history. 

TW: Discussion of sexual content, Christianity, bigotry, etc.

*I’m going to do my best to fit as much information into this post as possible, but if I miss anything please please feel welcome to add more!*

What Is Satanism?

Ah yes, the million dollar question. What is Satanism? Well...it sort of depends on who you ask!

Just like Christianity, Satanism isn’t exactly something that can be fitted into a singular box of beliefs and practices. When you look up Satanism on the Internet, you might be met with a definition that looks like this:

Satanism, the worship or veneration of Satan, a figure from Christian belief who is also commonly known as the Devil or Lucifer.

- Britannica

However, if you ask modern Satanists, you’ll find out that many of them don’t even believe in Satan at all! You’ll easily see that many Satanists have personal beliefs that differ widely. 

History of Satanism - Understanding Where We Are Now

Biblical texts themselves do not give Satan a backstory. By the 3rd or 4th century, Satan had begun being presented as an angel who had rebelled against God. By (at least) the 4th century, Christians were regularly terming non-Abrahamic traditions as “pagan”, though anyone given this label was rarely connected with Satan. 

During the High Middle Ages, it became common for Christians to accuse other groups of actively worshiping the Devil once non-Abrahamic religions were no longer a serious demographical rival. These accusations were made against those in the Jewish faith, as well as Paulicians, Bogomils, Cathari, and Waldenses. It was usually alleged that these groups would worship Satan in rituals that engaged in incestuous sexual orgies, and made human sacrifices (a claim still used by some today).

Saint Wolfgang and the Devil, Michael Pacher

Later on in history, fears of Devil worship were speculated around Freemasonry from the 19th century onwards. In more modern times, the “Satanic panic” spread conspiracy theories about Satanic ritual abuse of children in the 1980s and early 90s. These allegations originated from claims about such abuse from therapists reporting adult patients who had recovered “repressed memories” from their childhood. Said allegations gained massive support and traction from a coalition of Christian groups, social workers, and even aspects of United States and British law enforcement. This cultural panic died down in the early 2000s, however it has recently seen a revival through the conspiracy theories of QAnon in the late 2010s. 

Modern Satanism

Modern religious Satanists can broadly be divided into two camps: atheists/rationalists, and supernaturalists. Atheists/Rationalists may see Satan as a figurehead, a symbol of values they wish to emulate. Supernaturalists, on the other hand, view Satan/Lucifer as a being that exists and whom they worship.

Religious Satanism sees much of its origin in the increasingly sympathetic portrayal of Satan in the literary work of Romantic authors during the early 19th century. Satan, in some cases, was portrayed as a heroic rebel who challenged an unfair (almost arbitrary) authority. Through this lens Satan was sometimes adopted as a symbol for anticlerical groups (later on music groups in the 80s and onwards would see this same perspective).

Church of Satan (CoS)

The first major group to express modern religious Satanism was the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey in 1966. Read my post on organizations to avoid here for the details of why you should NOT support the CoS.

LaVeyan Satanism was formally an atheistic belief system that presented Satan not as a real entity but as a symbol of humanity’s animalistic nature. However, the belief system eventually accepted certain supernaturalist ideas. Specifically it adopted a belief in magic, with LaVeyan Satanists beginning to perform rituals with magical intent. LaVey’s beliefs were informed by right-wing libertarian principles, and he emphasized the idea that Satanists should regard themselves as an “elite set apart from the herd of ordinary humanity”. 

The Satanic Temple (TST)

The Satanic Temple offered an alternative interpretation of religious Satanism to that of the Church of Satan. Established in the United States as well, but later in 2012, TST also claims that Satan does not exist however it deviates by rejecting CoS’s libertarian philosophy. Instead, we see The Satanic Temple promoting a more progressive and politically left-leaning ideology. 

TST became known for its public stunts in defense of legal abortion access, as well as same-sex marriage. They are known for openly opposing the hegemonic role of Christianity in much of American society. They heavily promote the belief of bodily autonomy, the embrace of compassion, empathy, and rebellion against unjust authority. 

Temple of Set 

Unlike the other two groups mentioned above, the Temple of Set maintained that Satan as an entity is real. This group maintained that Satan’s “true” identity is Set, a god drawn from the pantheon of ancient Egypt. This shifted the group’s belief system away from Christian origins to modern forms of Paganism. 

Conclusion

Satanism is not a “one size fit all” label for a set of beliefs. It encompasses a variety of religious, philosophical, and ideological beliefs that differs per person. As with many things, it’s so important to do your research and decide for yourself what you want to believe in and support. 

[hurricanes-club-of-angels]

Information! Pinned Post!!

Hello! Our collective name is Hurricane and our system name is Hurricane & Co. We are an adult, traumagenic polyfrag DID System. This blog will not revolve around system things most likely though. White-Bodily and happily in a relationship. Pagan collectively although works with Catholic/Christian figures.

Our collective pronouns include (bold is preferred): He/Him They/Them It/Its Hell/Hells Cae/Caem Dino/Dinos Bled/Bleed We do however accept any/all pronouns!

Collective Identifications, Bold ones are more aligned. Sexuality/General: Abrosexual Demipanromantic, polyamorous and queerplatonic. Transmasculine, genderqueer. Happily identifies as aroace spectrum. Gender list: Cassflux - An identity where the person feels as though their gender has varying degrees of unimportance. Androgyne - A gender identity associated with androgyny. Angeheasofic - A gender related to angelcore, imagination, and comfort. Angtrapic - A gender that is kind and gentle yet powerful and visually frightening. It feels like an angel trapped in a human body, waiting for just the right moment to break out. Cupidogender - A gender that feels related to sin, demons, pride, and the deep/extreme understanding of attraction and affection. Angeligender - A gender related to angels/archangels and other heavenly beings and concepts. Devilicgender - A gender related to demons, devils, evil, hell, etc. 666gender - A gender related to the Apocalypse and The Book of Revelations. Purehonum - A gender related to empty religious spaces that feel extremely off or unsettling. A false sense of security and purity.

BYI/DNI BYI: - Persecutor heavy system, our persecutors are allowed to interact with others and we advocate for the reformation and helping of persecutors. They are not Evil alters. - Introject Heavy. Includes MCYT/DSMP alters (Although we don't consume much of the content anymore, we are uncomfortable with antis). As well as Biblically inspired/based introjects. - We use our block button happily and frequently! - We have alters designated as "System Assholes". If they are telling you to stop interacting, or that you have crossed a boundary, know that you are likely to be blocked. DNI: - Basi DNI criteria (racist, homophobic, transphobic, proship/anti-anti, etc.) - Endogenic "Systems" and supporters of such. There is no scientific research to validate the existence of systems without trauma. - Additionally, DNI if you believe in "system hopping", all alters are apart of one brain and entity and the idea that they can full on enter another brain is ungrounded in reality and foolish. - Note: This does not necessarily automatically include 'system hopping' in the HC-DID sense of hopping between side/subsystems. - If you identify with any sort of neo-sexuality that targets: Robots, Monsters, Nonhumans, Cat-people, etc. in a non-joking manner. (ie, Monster fucker jokes are fine. But if you ONLY want to date "monsters" go away.) These identities feel fetishizing and uncomfortable to our nonhuman alters. - Anti-neopronoun, Anti-xenogender, obviously. - DSMP Antis and Schlatt antis due to us having introjects that get wildly uncomfortable around Antis. - Additionally, DSMP fans who send Death Threats like they are Antis. You fuck off too. - Delusional Attachments/IRLs, you are simply kinnies cycling back to the "I AM THE ONLY KINNIE OF THIS CHARACTER ALL OTHERS ARE FAKE" . There is no scientific proof I have seen proving DAs/IRLs, and you make us uncomfortable because you insert yourselves into system spaces. - Believe fictives are like their source/treat fictives like they're their source. OR sexualize fictives. - Strongly and vocally anti-religion. - Participate in the sexualization of Minors. Even if you are a minor yourself. You are a child, you should not publically be saying if you're a top/bottom/etc. or talking about BDSM/NSFW topics. - Under 13. You shouldn't be here bro.

We are always willing to talk and explain our beliefs with certain points. However, that does not mean you will change our opinions. We are always happy to listen to other perspectives, but we will not change our stance on things just because you disagree personally.

[absolutelynotclassicusernam-blog]

Some Scattered Thoughts on Religion

Hi. Okay. (Is that how I started my last personal post too? Very possibly.) So I’ve been reading and reblogging and adding to some Judaism/religion-related posts recently, and after the most recent one, I thought I should maybe take some time to get my head on straight about what Judaism actually is for me.

God, where do I even begin? So. My great-grandparents, probably, across the board Orthodox. For those of you who don’t know, those are the traditionalists. Always wear hats or headscarves, don’t drive on Saturday, consider wearing a T-shirt and shorts in summer to be immodest, don’t believe in birth control, marrying outside the faith is grounds for disownment, who even knows what they would make of me being gay. There’s more to it than that, of course, but the point is: they’re straitlaced, all about the rules. My mom’s parents and siblings: Conservative. More relaxed about what exactly is allowed, but still a little bit patriarchal, still a little bit wary of outsiders, still very attached to the Correct Way to observe rituals.

Then we have my parents. My mom was raised Conservative but in her ‘20s went to India in search of herself and discovered Buddhist philosophy. My dad’s parents were the rebels of their families; they bar mitzvahed their sons but that was pretty much it. They didn’t believe in God, and neither does he. One aunt straight-up converted to Unitarianism, one uncle is still technically Jewish but married a Catholic woman and raised his kids Catholic, and I have no idea what my third uncle believes. When my parents met and fell in love, my mom kind of believed in everything and my dad kind of believed in nothing where religion was concerned, but they both believed in building a kinder, more fair world, and so...well, I don’t know exactly what they hammered out before I was born, but what it resulted in was raising three daughters in a small hippie town.

All this in one family. You see why I get confused when I hear Christians talking about their different sects like they’re completely different religions?

I was raised on Shabbat, the High Holidays, Hannukah and Pesach, mixed together with words like “enlightenment”, “lovingkindness”, and “Dharma”, neo-pagan rituals that may or may not have been stolen from the various cultures where they originated (I still have some questions about that), and in the Waldorf preschool I attended, some kinda-sorta Christian concepts of angels and heavens. In my earliest years, anything could be true, and there’s part of me that still feels that way.

Things got weird when I started public elementary school. The good thing about growing up way out in the country: lots and lots of space to play. The bad thing about it: not a whole lot of Jews. Or Buddhists, or neopagans, or even particularly poetic Christians, for that matter. (This is my experience. I do not say it is everybody’s.) Suddenly I was thrown into a world of really stringent rules, a world of really blatant American exceptionalism (not fun for a dual citizen whose parents have always stressed that all humans were equal) and thinly veiled Christian exceptionalism. I also started being the voracious reader I still am, which led to me coming to my parents a lot crying about this or that injustice I had just discovered existed, which required them to reassure me, among other things, that sin did not exist and hell did not exist. At some point I must have asked about Jesus. I think I by that point had enough of a concept of the world to come to my own conclusion that either all or no human beings are the children of God, but that it couldn’t be right for one to be singled out. I remember my mom affirming that Jesus was a great teacher, but that she didn’t believe he was the son of God either.

Um...let’s see. Pretty isolated elementary school life, one part due to the above and one part due to my being neurodivergent and very, very shy. In middle school, I moved to a more diverse school, and I was so used to being the only Jewish kid that when I first encountered others, I thought they were making fun of me. I had my bat mitzvah, which I enjoyed but in which I also made a point of stressing that I did not think I was superior to anyone else for being Jewish. (A courtesy that had not always been extended to me.)

During these years, there was also on-and-off war in Israel and Palestine, and while my parents worked hard for peace, other members of my family were...less invested. All my cousins fought in the Israeli Army. They have never told me exactly what they were required to do there, and I have never asked. Then one of my cousins got married, to a non-Jewish woman, and...well, he didn’t get disowned. But my grandmother, who I love with all my heart, was weird about it initially. Shortly thereafter, I came out, and while most of my family embraced me, I was afraid they wouldn’t.

During most of high school, I drifted away from religion somewhat. I had a lot of other stuff going on--coming out, being diagnosed with anxiety. I also felt quite guilty about my family’s role in the Palestinian occupation as I learned more about it, and that kind of made it hard to take pride in being Jewish.

Then, in college, I discovered my fellow Tumblr Jews. Not that I didn’t have other Jewish people in my life in this time, but most of them were family or elders, with whom I didn’t agree on everything. Even after coming to a school where there were other Jews, most of my life I have either been the only Jew, full-stop, in my friend group(s), or the only practicing one. I don’t know why. But what I do know is that Tumblr Jews opened up a new world to me--a world in which questioning everything was not only okay to do as a Jew, but an intrinsic part of the practice. A world in which the point was not to have blind faith in God, but to wrestle with the idea of God, to wrestle with whether there even is a God. A world in which the priority is not what happens after you die, but what you do with the life you’re living right now.

So...in conclusion, here I am, and I have been thinking more about my Jewish identity again, and I am just kind of trying to figure it out. I love our traditions. Even if I don’t agree with the exact wording of all the Hebrew prayers, I still love to sing them because they’re what I grew up on. And I understand why other Jews can be defensive of those traditions. Some sects of Christianity and some individual practitioners like to put them down, and others like to twist them around for their own uses, and that makes me angry too. On the other hand, I still believe in the emphasis on equality and kindness my parents taught me. At our family celebrations (and at the celebrations of the Reform synagogue we attend, although I have been told this is unusual), all are welcome. We come together not around the concept of God, but around the concepts of family, community, gratitude, and setting intentions to make the world a better place. If someone comes in and is rude or hurtful, of course we’ll deal with it, but to the best of my knowledge we’ve never had to. To the best of my knowledge, people come to us with an open heart, and we receive them with an open heart.

I think the long and short of it is that I really like being part-Jew-part-Buddhist-part-pagan (although again, I still have questions about exactly what practices there are appropriate for me to take part in), with a little atheism and agnosticism thrown in. As Leonard Cohen famously said, “maybe there’s a God above”. I think I like the mystery of it. I think I like the possibility that everyone is right. And some religious things maybe feel righter to me than others, but that doesn’t mean that those other things aren’t righter to other people.

I don’t promise to never get angry about Christians who disrespect our traditions. I wish I could, but I know I’d be lying. But the core tenet that my parents raised me on is that if there is a God, we are all equal before Them. And as I continue to explore, I just want to take a moment to center myself in that. Religion can be cool and fun and beautiful and enriching, but if it’s not helping me to be my best, kindest, wisest self, if kindness and fairness to myself and to other human beings is not the center of it all, there’s no point. If my fellow Tumblr Jews are right, that may be a very Jewish thing of me to say. I hope it is.

So...yeah. I’ve written a lot here, and I so very much do not have all the answers about anything. But if I am going to be reblogging things about religion in general and Judaism specifically, I just kind of wanted to let you know where I’m at. I so very much do not speak for other Jews. But this is who I am, or at least who I’m trying to be.

[almaqead]

"The Sorcerers." From Surah Al Anfal, "The Spoils."

Ramadan Day 28

Combat in Gaza, the response of the Nation of Israel to an unprovoked terrorist attack designed and carried out by Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney, MORMONS, is drawing down, but those responsible are still free to cause the rest of us misery.

This is because the US Government is permitting party politics to cause it waddle rather than sprint towards its legally required objectives named in its Constitution and treaties. This could easily be fixed, but alas, not today.

The sun and moon are about to reverse their roles and cast a shadow, one not as deep as the one that already existed.

In the previous frame, the Quran explained how to fix all of this: the answer to all of our troubles lie in broken pane theory. If one enforces even the minor laws with fastidiousness, few major laws will be broken. If the world's governors would pay attention, as Jesus Christ said, "to the smallest one" the interests of the largest would surely not be ignored:

Matthew 25:

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

8:43-47:

˹Remember, O  Prophet,˺ when Allah showed them in your dream as few in number. Had He shown them to you as many, you ˹believers˺ would have certainly faltered and disputed in the matter. But Allah spared you ˹from that˺. Surely He knows best what is ˹hidden˺ in the heart.

Then when your armies met, Allah made them appear as few in your eyes, and made you appear as few in theirs, so Allah may establish what He had destined. And to Allah ˹all˺ matters will be returned ˹for judgment˺.

O believers! When you face an enemy, stand firm and remember Allah often so you may triumph.

Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not dispute with one another, or you would be discouraged and weakened. Persevere! Surely Allah is with those who persevere.

Do not be like those ˹pagans˺ who left their homes arrogantly, only to be seen by people and to hinder others from Allah’s Path. And Allah is Fully Aware of what they do.

Commentary:

The above passages are the same verses from the Book of Matthew writtein in Allah's Tongue. How easy it is when there is greed and hatred in one's heart how serious in numbers is the plight of the other until one reflects upon the tenets of religion.

Observe:

v. 43: Allah knows what is hidden. The Value in Gematria is 13610, יג‎ואאֶפֶס‎, ‎yagoapes, "yes the moment of passion is a sorcerer, it is invisible."

v. 44: Allah made them appear as few in your eyes. The Value in Gematria is 11598, יאהטח, yahat, a piece will strike= the difference between spituality and religion. One cannot just focus on one aspect, especially if it is the incorrect aspect one must know the entire faith.

We know Muhammad annuniated the existence of a Benevolent God at the beginning of the Quran and lamented how different we are from Him at the end, stating he thought we were all fruitcakes.

Every word in between was written to cure this condition.

v. 45: O believers! When you face an enemy, stand firm and remember Allah often so you may triumph. The Value in Gematria is 5706, הזאֶפֶסו‎ ‎, zappos, "hope, do not fuss." = "do not dispute":

v. 46: Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not dispute with one another, or you would be discouraged and weakened. The Value in Gematria is 11825, יאחבה, "the burden of love."

v. 47: Do not be like those ˹pagans˺ who left their homes arrogantly, only to be seen by people and to hinder others from Allah’s Path. And Allah is Fully Aware of what they do. The Value in Gematria is 9017, ט‎פֶסא‎ז‎, tepasz, "get lost."

There is a proper way to abandon the evil ways of the past and enter into the new era called the Age of Masjid. The above passages are consistent with the Sunnahs prescribed for the Entering and Exiting, or Hijra ["flight"] for a pilgrimage into the future.

Muhammad's departure from Mecca for Medina was much like the emigration of the Israelites from Egypt, to turn a Message into an Establishment. The Message was a piece but the founding of Masjid was the whole thing. The Sunnah says this happens in stages but first, the Left Foot, the one that kept one in the dark has to leave captivity first.

I have turned the above into a Qiblah with five steps:

Turn from temptation to wisdom.

Do not be misled.

Do not fuss- do not be petty.

Love others, great and small.

Put the knowledge to use to create the Masjid. We might go so far as to have Haram, belief in sacred principals and ideals, but without Masjid, the Estbalishment, value for Haram can come and go and this, verily is the problem facing this world at this time.

The Quran says departures must always turn man towards what is good and favorable in God's eyes and take the rest of humanity to a better place. We resent the fact He spoke of this to Muhammad and refuse to learn from his Quran. That, hopefully is no longer possible.

[vergilthelibrarian]

Holy.

FallenAngel!Taeyong x GenderNeutral!Reader

Angels weren’t suppose to disobey God, that is what you were taught to believe.

Angels were beings of light, made to carry out and enforce God’s will and follow his every command.

But you never understood why they were still being tested by God if they weren’t even created with freewill.

So, you did research.

You searched up different Abrahamic thoughts on Angels and came to your own conclusion that Angels can indeed disobey God, it’s just that it wasn’t really common. Their love for God was so strong that they couldn’t disobey him. They always followed his every order.

But keep in my mind that some Angels did fall and the difference between them and a Demon is that Fallen Angels still retain their holiness.

Their blood bleeds of gold and their eyes burned like fire.

They were messengers, warriors, protectors, guardians, worshipers of the creator and though they were now of this earthly realm, their holiness still manifested, in either good ways or bad.

~~

You stretched a bit as you walked home, your lower back causing you a bit of pain. You hated your job. Having to be on your feet all day was honestly the worse but you needed money.

Being a broke college student definitely was not fun.

As you walked, a white light flashed in the sky suddenly, causing you to yell out and cover your eyes.

You were walking on a sidewalk and there were no cars driving on the road. The area you were at was pretty deserted at this time of night so what just happened?

You moved your hands from your eyes and opened them and saw a man about 6 feet away from you staring across the street and out to the lake.

Looking to your side out to the lake, you were met with complete darkness.

What was the stranger even staring at?

Turning your head back around you flinched slightly.

The man was now staring at you, his intense eyes genuinely scaring you.

You gulped as you turned around, with the plan of going to another bus stop, only to bump into the man that was staring at you.

You backed away a bit, your eyes never leaving his intense gaze.

How did he appear in front of you?

“I can see them near you… My siblings. They’re trying to protect you from me.”

You frowned in confusion.

“Usually, you have two angels always guarding you. One in the front and one in the back. You are assigned four angels in total so the other two can take breaks… You only have three.”

Your eyes widen slightly.

“What?” you said out loud though you knew exactly what he was talking about.

Everyone was born with four guardian angels and they would always take turns guarding the person they were assigned to in pairs of two.

How come you only had three?

“We angels… Beings made of light. Made serve Him. To love Him and follow his every command.” he sighed. “And though I still love my father, I somehow let human emotions get to me and end up falling for you, the human I was assigned to protect.”

The angel looked up at the sky.

“Every time I look up at the sky, I get homesick. There’s a part of me that wants to go back but…” he slowly turn his gaze back to you. “That means, I won’t be able to be near you anymore. To see you, hear you, breathe the same air as you. They wouldn’t allow it if I go back.”

He tried to walk towards you but stopped immediately.

“I see they’re ready to fight me in order to protect you.”

He backed away slightly.

“I don’t know what any of these emotions mean. They’re so alien to me.” his eyes soften as he looked at you. “All I know is the want I have for you. A need that can’t seem to go away no matter how much I prayed for it to go.”

His eyes harden again.

“I will have you. One way or another I will have you and my siblings guardianship over you will be no more and I will be all that you need in this sinful world.”

The angel glanced away for a second before looking back at you once more.

“We’ll meet again real soon. Nothing will keep us apart, not my siblings nor my father.” a smile grew on his face as his eyes soften again. “I love you.” he said softly.

A flash of white light blinded you once more and soon the angel was gone and you were alone again.

What had just happened to you didn’t shock you at all, you’ve always been a rather spiritual person but… it did scare you.

You had a fallen angel in love with you, one of the most powerful beings in this universe besides God himself.

What was going to happen to you?

You couldn’t think of what may happen to you once the angel appears to you again but all you can do is pray that you’ll be safe.

Angels weren’t soft beings.

They were genuinely scarier than demons, stronger than demons, and downright more ruthless than demons.

God made demons to experience emotions just like humans while he made angels to be unemotional, only serving God and his will.

For an angel to experience human emotion you’ve read stories from mystics on how troubling it can be for these angels to deal with them but you also read on how sadistic these angels can become. How evil they can become.

What was going to happen to you when you meet the angel again?

You had no idea and it was because of that, you were terrified.

[mordigen]

Unpopular opinion: Christians are not witches

I said it. Fight me.

There has been a trend that has been growing ever more problematic recently: overbearing, hyper-zealous, hyper-vigilant "acceptance" This means the pagan community is an absolute free-for all, and you are not allowed to so much as even feign the possibility that you do not agree with absolutely 100% of everything, lest you be named a gatekeeping, ignorant bigot.

Whether you like it or not - there ARE paths out there that have specific rules...regulations...stipulations...tenets - whatever the hell you want to call or classify them. End. Period. There's no other colour that comes in - that's it. Sorry for you, but they DO exist. In fact, there are many of them.

If you do not follow those rules, tenets, etc..., then you are not of that path. Point. Blank. And there is nothing wrong with that - it simply means that you are of some other path. That's it! That's all that means! It may be *nearly* identical to the path in question - but it is not, hence the 'nearly'.

If you happen to be a part of one of these paths, there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying so. If someone claims to be a part of one of these paths, but are absolutely, blatantly not - there is nothing wrong with saying that, and explaining why that is. Some people just honestly don't know there is a difference, or that these certain prerequisites are indeed a definitive factor - so they learn something, they broaden their horizons. Everyone seems to be all about educating themselves about being sensitive to other cultures and customs - except the pagan community, apparently, because this mentality does not translate across that pagan/witch line. Instead of taking it as a learning experience, you are immediately pounced on with notions of 'there are no rules!' 'you can't tell someone what to do on their own path!' Or, simply, the name calling. Well yes, while all of that is true - it still remains that how ever you want to practice or whatever you personally decide to do, may just simply not be what you are claiming, or calling it. It may just be semantics - but semantics matter when dealing with nuance. And paganism is extremely nuanced.

You can call a tomato an orange all you want to - but that thing will never be an orange, no matter how much you believe in it. And people are not wrong for informing you that you may have the wrong name, that is in fact, a tomato. If you go on deciding to call it an orange, you can do that - but that is willful ignorance. So, in your fight to be unapologetically accepting of every ridiculous notion, you are perpetuating willful ignorance - whilst being directly in opposition of your goal and being, *GASP*, unaccepting to those who follow a path where distinction and definition matters. You are completely invalidating those people's paths and beliefs while trying to defend another's (another who may, in fact, actually be wrong) and actively using their path & beliefs as the very reason to berate and ostracize them. Pretty fantastically hypocritical of you. Now...on to the second problem. I do not, at all, in any form, believe in "ritual magick" - as perpetuated by Aleister Crowley hardons. And no, that is not a knock on Crowley, just the idiot followers that don't understand half of what he taught and latch onto the superficial.

When you look at the origins and make up of magical beliefs, and magic itself as a separate entity - no matter which particular branch - they were all created by religion. They all have roots in highly spiritual cultures and customs. So, I absolutely do not believe for one second that you can believe in magic without SOME form of religion - whatever one you adhere to is your choice, but you cannot have the first without the latter. You cannot. Even if you claim that you have no religion, or spiritual faith, your practices absolutely do. You are calling on elements and agencies that absolutely have divine ties and connections one way or another. Oh, how many atheists I see calling on the seals of Arch Angels.... are you fucking shittin me? Really?? So let's bring it all together now - with the fact that many faiths DO have prerequisites, AND the fact that magic is religious/spiritual -- Christians are not, and cannot be witches or pagans. They are mutually exclusive. Not only because so many various paths have such prerequisites, and very define religious/spiritual beliefs that are contradictory to others - but simply because Christianity DOES, very much, have very clear and stringently defined Do's & Don'ts, and obviously the religious aspect itself clashes with the religious beliefs of others. Their religious beliefs clash with people who believe in their same god - so how could they not with those who believe in other gods?? Considering this, no other path would even need such stipulations themselves for them to be mutually exclusive, as Christianity already covers that issue so completely, but the fact that so many pagan paths do only exacerbates an already existing problem. That being said - that does not mean you cannot believe in the Christian 'god', by whatever name you know him by - or that you cannot believe in Jesus, and also be a witch or pagan. In fact the latter has an even bigger argument for believing in both, as paganism, generically, in itself is polytheistic, so it is very fitting to simply have the Christian god and Jesus amongst the many deities being worshipped. But those two things alone is not what makes Christianity. A good start, yes, but that is not all it takes - in fact, there are many that are shunned, excommunicated, banned, condemned and moreso whilst having those very two qualifying factors. You can find this in *every single* sect of Christianity, so...the proof is in the pudding, as they say, that it is much more than simply believing in 'God' and Jesus that makes a 'Christian'. And if you take that to heart and follow all those rules - you cannot be a witch or pagan, many times over, as you would be in direct opposition, or violation, of a number of their teachings - both on the aspect of simple 'rules', but also on a much deeper spiritual level of the entire foundation of their faith. Cannot serve two masters, and all that... If you do not follow those rules, then sure, you could be a witch or a pagan - but then you cannot be a Christian. That is just the facts.

Many people like to argue the use of magic and mysticism in the bible - but the issue is what parts of the bible they are found, and all the amendments of the further books. Again, what really carves out being a Christian vs. any of the other sects of Abrahamic beliefs. As, news flash - there is far more than just Christianity. And some of them, do, in fact, do hand in hand with magic. The Kabbalah is an astounding example of that - and, in fact, where a lot of the so called *ahem* 'non'-religious 'ritual magick' comes from. In this same vein, I would like to note that I have never had any issue or seen conflict with the Hebrew or Jewish take on shamans, mystics and witches, as they really do go hand in hand - They have their own very in depth, detailed, spiritual and sentimental form of mysticism that was a natural progression from pre-Abrahamic religions and culture, and grew into their teachings and belief system, so it does not go against their core beliefs the same way it very stringently does in Christian theology. Considering their ethnical histories and cultural heritage - this is a brilliant example of the natural evolution and progression of faiths - not simply ripped from the hands of the brutally oppressed and rewritten as a mockery to wipe out the preexisting notion of faiths -- as the Church has a history of doing. The Book of Enoch is another shining example of Biblical magic, or Angelic magic. But, this also also turns my point into a self fulfilling prophecy, as in the fact that it is accepted amongst all denominations as heresy, and it is taught that these magics - though they do, in fact, exist, were for the angels and completely forbidden from mankind. So, thusly, if you are a follower of Enoch, you are not a 'Christian', by name and membership, as you are outright going against it's teachings. You are a heretic, a blasphemer. Perhaps you may be one of the many other forms of the Christian god's followers - but not a Christian, as being Christian denotes a very specific set of beliefs and tenets - end of story. Magic, and paganism, is in direct conflict with those teachings, and therefore, cannot coexist.

On top of the logic - there is also the emotional issue. Christianity has a long history of abuse towards various pagan, tribal and indigenous faiths, while stealing our beliefs as their own, and demonizing those they couldn't successfully acclimate into theirs. To now be expected to be OK with this faith, yet again, latching on to *our* sacred rites and practices as being a part of their own is a hard pill to swallow at best, a slap in the face to most, and flat out perpetuating trauma at worst. Once upon a time, people sought out these very same communities and groups within their pagan circles as an escape, a safe space, and a shield and guardian against the Christian onslaught, torment, oppression, or just exhaustion - and now, we must not only tolerate them invading our private spaces, but must now welcome them with open arms and expected to be happy about it? Forgive me if I don't sympathize....

If we are going to now be forced into being shoulder to shoulder with them, the very least you can offer us is neutrality. You can be accepting of all and still be neutral grounds - not taking any one side anywhere, all you have to do is be respectful to each other. Disagreement is not disrespectful. Could someone who disagrees with a certain viewpoint *become* disrespectful? Sure, of course they could. But simply the act of disagreement is nothing hateful or hurtful in any way shape or form - in fact, good discourse is how progress is made. So we need to remain neutral grounds and normalize the acceptance of different viewpoints - we need to recognize and accept that, yes, there are paths out there that do have specific requirements, expectations and limits - there are paths that are going to disagree, or just flat out not believe in something. Instead of name calling, when someone of those paths decides to speak up and enlighten and elaborate on information that may be inaccurately described or depicted, you need to LISTEN and learn, and not just bludgeon them with presumptive judgement. You also need to accept that there are many, various different closed practices out there - beyond Native American & Voodoo practices (as those seem to be the only ones the pagan community recognizes) and if someone of those closed faiths tell you - no, you are not xy or z, that is also not being judgmental or hateful or hurtful - that simply is. ....a very important side note here is that acknowledging closed practices is also not a carte blanche for screaming about cultural appropriation. Please shut the fuck up about cultural appropriation. Not being of a specific faith is not equivalent to cultural appropriation - Telling someone "no, you're not xyz" is very different from telling someone "no, you can't practice xyz" (looking at you smudge-Nazis) You can enjoy, practice, learn or celebrate anything you want of any faith you want while not actually being apart of it - that's the beauty of sharing and learning. And I think that is where all the trouble boils down from:

Yes, you can do whatever you want and can create whatever path you want for yourself...just don't misrepresent it, don't call it something it is not, and don't deny those who are more educated & experienced in that particular department. We get enough of that from outsiders to start doing it to each other.

[infinitew0nders]

This is going to be very specific, but I desperately need advice.

Forewarning: This is going to relate to Christianity, Catholicism, and Paganism/Witchcraft. The only thing that messages of "you will be saved in Christ," "God is the Almighty," "God forgives all," will do is make me more and more hesitant to dive into it.

This is a long, long story. So please, try to understand where I'm at.

When I was a baby, my parents took my older sibling and I to church every Sunday. That was, until Pastor Jim, during a sermon, said that women were to be subservient to men. My mother didn't want me to be raised with anyone telling me that I couldn't do the same thing as my older sibling solely because I was born a female. So we stopped going, and my mother accepted that she was an atheist and began to introduce me to any religion she could throughout my childhood. Despite this, growing up I was a Baptist. I never went to church every Sunday, but every now and then I went with my grandparents and aunt to church, mainly because my aunt Madelyn is two months older than me and was/is my best friend. My twice great aunt Gracie took me to Bible School for 5-6 years growing up. This happened because I allowed it to. I was not forced, I was given the option to go and I wanted to. So I went. I also went to a Buddhist temple twice a month for about a year. I learned about Judaism and Islam, and I also researched the old Gods. After my parents divorced, my great aunt Sandy took me and my siblings to church camp every Wednesday in Summer for about two years. Once again, only because I wanted to go. When I was 11, I found Wicca and Paganism. And I began to practice Wicca. When I was 15, I found Norse Paganism and began to follow that.

ALL OF THIS IS IMPORTANT.

My personal religious belief is that any and every God that is worshipped exists. One is not more than another. It's just a matter of which calls to you.

This is where my issue arises:

I'm very media-immersed. I take in media very quickly. I firmly believe that the way my deities reach me is through media. When I was 15, I became obsessed with the MCU. Thor and Loki were my favorite characters. I felt pulled to them. So I researched Norse religion, and after a while, devoted my practice to Loki.

In a recent book I've been reading, I found myself pulled to the demon King Paimon, and in doing research on demonology and demonolatry, I realize that in my acceptance of the existence of demons, I must also accept the existence of angels, and in turn, God. I cannot practice entirely without that acceptance. I have no problem accepting the existence of God and angels and all of that because I've never doubted Their existence. However, as of late, in doing the research on demonolatry, I find myself pulled to the Archangel, Michael. Even more so because on my third binging of the show Supernatural, I feel incredibly pulled towards Michael's character in the show. One of which I never felt to his character before. These past three days, I've felt an energy around me. Normally, I'm very, very weary of new energies. It took me months to become comfortable with Loki. But immediately, I was very comfortable with this presence. As though I'd felt it before.

Anyways, I was on the phone with Madelyn (the aunt/best friend I went to church with as a kid), who is a Baptist but also incredibly spiritual, and was asking her advice on this situation. She told me that the Archangel Michael is the protector of the children of Israel, and reminded me of our family heritage. I'm 50% Native American, but aside from that, my ancestors were English, Scottish, Italian, Portuguese, and Israeli. Before my ancestors immigrated to the southern US and converted to Southern Baptism, they were Jewish. Tracing all the way back to the days of Abraham. I know this, because my family descends from the tribe of Benjamin. One of the 12 tribes of Israel. So it makes sense that Michael is here now. I asked why he would wait until now. And then realized that the energy around is a familiar one. He didn't wait until now. He was with me until I stepped off and decided to explore other paths. Michael waited for me to find him again.

My issue is that I am having an incredibly difficult time accepting the fact that my beliefs are now being pulled into Abrahamic religions. I don't know why, because I've always been so willing to accept other beliefs when I'm pulled to them. But this time around, I'm very hesitant to dive in.

I'm not a white cishet person. I'm the complete opposite. A mixed race gay person who refuses to think about their gender too long. And while I wasn't traumatized in the same way, I do firmly believe that having Christians demean my entire existence due to a quote from a page of the Bible has traumatized me in some way. That and the fact that Southern Baptist Churches are basically cults (no offense, Southern Baptists, but also full offense Southern Baptist Churches).

The truth is, I don't know what I'm doing or how to navigate my research. And I have no idea why I'm so hesitant to dive into Christian beliefs. I need help. I need someone who can at least semi understand my situation to help give me advice, and please. For the love of fuck, none of that, "God is the one true God. He saves all. He forgives all." That does not help me. My friends can't help me. I asked one of them and she just told me that my being gay is a sin. Which I'm sure you can see provided me no support whatsoever. Please. Help me.

[pooopopop]

The painfully oblivious circle jerk the occult side of the fandom, and the destiel side of the fandom, get to enjoy by actually thinking they’re ‘sticking it to the man’ with the whole “GAY ANGEL xD” + “the Abrahamic God is Evil” + this whole idea that show show recognizes and respects witch craft or whatever the fuck ,

Like the show is the paragon of Fuck You White Evangelical Christians , in the best of ways,

because despite deciding themselves woke and counting themselves as an oppressed minority, as pagans ,

They don’t even know that Hitler was an occultist. Who believed in that blood carried the soul of your ancestors and therefore race was a collective soul. And then in the show, it’s almost like his beliefs are canon, since his soul is bound and he is resurrected by use of the blood of his descendant in a spell. The Nazi ideology was derived from New Ager, Orientalist, Occultist, Lucifarian, Madam Blavatsky. As she believed in this Angels as a species, who were far more evolved than humans, who came down in groups to conduct the evolution of humanity by way of breeding with them, and the angelic groups degree of involvement lead to varying degrees of influence being reflected on the development of humanity. Leading to a species where some people have a heritage of angelic participation within them still, who are inherently closer to the Powers/ Higher Beings, guiding towards further evolution by way of eugenics, because this all leads back to justifying racism. Which is also explicitly canon in the show. Because that’s literally what Cupids and True Vessels are. The humans who had the ability to see and speak to Angels could do so because that was their heritage, between Jimmy and Clair, and the only explanation the show gave us. And though Eric, a Jew, wrote that, he never wrote that to be his version of the Abrahamic God’s intentions, because his was one that practiced free will and predestination. He was back off the helm by the time that the narrative shifted to create Dean as Lucifer, the righteous light-bringer who unveiled the darkness and (the hebrew)God’s misdeeds. Important to note here that part of Blavatsky’s theology was rejecting Judaism, not for not believing in the Hebrew God, but for their arrogance in the claim of him being the only one. She characterized the Hebrew God similar to as he is portrayed by Chuck by the end of the show, how you see theosophy characterize him still:

A cruel being demanding obedience only to him and recognition of his power which had been proven to be not all that all-powerful after all, ultimately defeated by the last light-bringer, Dean, and usurped by jack (the son of man and son of the Gods, very specifically the one that ever opposed to the Hebrew God)

The fact that the entire cast was regular american white bread men is something I’m sure they didn’t even think about but it makes it all the more unfortunate looking lmao.

What I mean to say is, people fail to recognize anti semitism because they’d prefer to characterize the enemy as Christian and not think too much deeper on that. Which would be whatever if it weren’t for the way I see people completely revel in it, pat themselves on the back, eroticize blasphemy until it’s a LITERAL circle jerk lmfao because you’re being blind to the existence of this actual ethno religion who’s dealt with genocide and displacement and is constantly at the receiving end of every bizarre conspiracy theories explaining how inherently evil they are because of the logic-and-or-belief systems of a variety of the occultists and new agers and “pagans” (by that I mean white people who think that paganism is a single religion) hold in regards to their God and them by extension.

[the-fae-folk]

What is a Fairy?

I suppose they probably need some explanation, especially nowadays. Fairies (Faeries, Fay, Fey, Fae, or even Fair Folk) could be considered a type of mythical being. Some have described them as spirits, others as ghosts of the deceased, some deified ancestors, prehistoric precursors to humans, personifications of nature, pagan deities, or even angels and demons in the way of Christian traditions. Often they encompass a metaphysical aspect, being depicted as spirits or beings who transcend the physical universe and world that we know. Or given features of the Supernatural, such as magic or extrasensory perception, which allow them to violate or go beyond the laws of nature. Even sometimes Preternatural, which something abnormal or strange and explainable but still within the boundaries of the natural laws of the universe (for example I could say someone is a preternaturally good cellist, and mean that they are impossibly good beyond expectations or even belief, but I’m not saying that they are actually magical...just that their apparent abilities and how they gained them are unknown and very strange to me.) But what is a fairy? Well you already know what some of them look like. Many people might immediately picture Tinkerbell from the animated Disney feature film, or even from the original Peter Pan novel by J. M. Barrie. And they would be correct, in part. Tinkerbell is a depiction of a Pixie, a specific type of fairy. But there are lots of fairy types, I don’t actually think there’s a complete list. (I should probably try to make one at some point, but no promises.) During some points in history the label of fairy was used to mean magical beings who had a mostly human shape. Gnomes, leprechauns, goblins, pixies, dwarfs, elfs, etc etc etc. And at other points it also included non humanoid magical creatures such as Unicorns, Dragons, Kelpie, Basilisk, and more (Sometimes these were referred to as Fairy Creatures). So where did they come from? Well the funny thing is that Fairies don’t actually come from only one area or set of myths. They are a strange combination of the folklore from all over Europe (and possibly beyond) and include ideas and stories from Celtic, Scandinavian, Nordic, Germanic, French, and English Folklore and Mythology. As these stories were passed around and intermingled and changed they brought about the collective creatures we know today as the Fae or Fairies. The Renaissance, Romantic Era, Victorian Era, Edwardian Era, and even the Celtic Revival Movement of the 19th and 20th centuries all had their influences on the stories and ideas connected with the Fairy folk, some significantly less helpful than others. Even the Fantasy Literature Genre, with Tolkien at its forefront, has added and changed much about people’s view on these creatures. So lets talk about some basic things you’ll want to know when dealing with Fairies. The first thing you might want to remember is that many people view the Tuatha Dé Danann (Supernatural gods, goddesses, heroes, and kings of Irish Mythology) as being the source for Faeries, or at least one of the strongest influences. Celtic Folklore and culture is easily one of the most visible bits of Faerie lore that you can find these days, but there’s a lot more that starts showing up when you begin to dig. Another thing to note is that the Renaissance, Romantic Era, Victorian Era, Edwardian Era, and the Celtic Revival Movement had a massive influence on how people saw fairies. They would mix folklore from different areas of Europe, attempted to prove the existence of fairies through scientific means, created artistic depictions of fairies, and much more. Often they sanitized and shrunk the fairies until they were mostly harmless or relegated to the outskirts of human life as a curiosity. Which brings me to the next point. In a lot of older folklore, from all over Europe, fairy beings are often depicted as being incredibly dangerous. Kidnapping humans or human babies, causing crops to wither, water to dry up, food to rot. They could lure people in with magic into a fairy ring of mushrooms and make them dance forever or make them forget their life. Sometimes they even played with time itself. A person could dance with the fairies only to find that they’ve been gone a hundred years when they try to go home. And many beliefs have depictions of some kind of Otherworld, a world apart from our own, or layered over it like an extra dimension we are unable to perceive or directly interact with. Sometimes its a land of the dead or a hidden underground kingdom, other times is a strange and fantastical country with its own laws and ways of doing things. As these stories meshed together we got what is known as Fairyland. The land which the fairies dwell in. Though some believe they simply live on Earth, hidden in the wild, or among us. Some reoccurring ideas are often connected with fairies, though not all have stayed the same as the original lore they were born from. The idea that Faeries, for whatever reason, are unable to or will not lie. This is a very important idea because the Folk are also simultaneously depicted as deceptive. Like particularly vicious lawyers they will play with words, never quite lying, but purposefully leading you astray or tricking you into a bad deal. They will often obey an oath, promise, or deal exactly to the letter, but ignore the intent behind it in order to twist it to their own benefit or amusement. Whether or not fairies are immortal depends entirely on where you draw your folklore from. Sometimes they are immortal; deathless, not mortal. Unable to die in spite of starvation, terrible wounds, age, or anything else. They are bound to life for all time. But some stories depict the stranger Fae Folk as being Eternal. Beyond time, always having existed and always existing, sometimes cycling, sometimes directionless and boundless and everything. Some tough concepts to get your head around, but nobody really agrees which one fairies are. In some folklore they’re even depicted as mortal, same as you and I, but a lot longer lived and harder to kill. A reoccurring motif in older Folklore is the need of humans to try and ward off fairies with charms and totems. When they were not depicted as outright malicious and dangerous, sometimes being thought to cause illness and death or bring about disastrous misfortune or steal a person’s name and voice, fairies were still mischievous and valiantly unhelpful. So people had all kinds of lucky charms to protect from them: like four leaf clovers, various plants, or actions like wearing your clothes inside out to confuse them. Iron is said in many beliefs to burn them, and certain herbs they view as sacred and will refrain from touching the bearer. A few more things. Christianity plays an important part in this discussion, though many people don’t like that. In many places myths and legends were wiped out by Christianity, either intentionally or simply by the very fact that it was trying to convert people in Europe and old pagan beliefs were seen as nonsensical. But still stories persisted despite this. Many old Myths and Folkloric beliefs were recorded for posterity by Christians, and some stories were altered and we are unable to see exactly how much (Beowulf). A lot of fairy stories remained too, only Christianity painted them as fallen angels or even demons of a kind, who could be kept away from Holy Ground, or were forced to kidnap humans to pay a tithe to Hell (or be taken themselves if they couldn’t pay). So folk beliefs, though generally discouraged by the church as superstition, remained quite strong all over Europe for a very long time. The last three things you need to know. One, there are many people who still believe in Fairies, though their beliefs often vary, sometimes wildly. Witches who claim to work with them. People who believe in them through their religions (usually pagans and other non christian groups). People who claim to have encountered or been abducted by them. And many others. While I personally do not believe in Fairies (though I like to keep an open mind, just in case), I do believe that the beliefs, cultures, and and rights of these people ought to be respected. Which leads me to other mythical beings that are similar to Fairies but hail from cultures and peoples outside of Europe. It might be tempting to label some of the spirits from various Native North American Tribes or from Chinese Folklore (or many others) as fairies. Don’t do that. If Fairies are real, you have to consider that there might be other mythical beings who fall under different categories and groups. And even if they are not real, it is extremely disrespectful to the people of those cultures to take their stories, myths, beliefs, and folklore and try to mesh it in with European Folklore. (this is exactly what the Victorian and Edwardian Era were guilty of.) And finally... Some people might tell you that they know everything there is to know about Fairies. Don’t believe them. Even I, who have spent years and years studying European Faerie Folklore, find new things about them every day. I have sources I’ve found and haven’t yet had the time to look into, areas of study I’ve had to neglect. There is so much about Fairies to explore that it’s quite literally impossible for any one person to know all of it. Personally I’m doubtful that a single person can even know an eighth of it all, you can hardly imagine how much there is. And while there is a great deal of it buried on the internet, there is even more offline. Books which are out of print or have never had their contents uploaded, cultural stories passed down in various European groups which are saved from oblivion only by the oratory tradition, and the remains of all kinds of long dead or vastly changed civilizations who believed in the Fairies and tried to work with or avoid or appease them. All the misinformation and personal gnoses out there also make it a lot harder to find accurate information about traditional folklore. And that’s not even counting the multitude of inventions and ideas spawned by fictional literature surrounding fairies. There is simply too much. But of course... Since when has something being impossible ever stopped a human from trying anyway? If you’re still interested, then who am I to discourage you? Go, jump right in. There’s so much to learn about the Faerie Folk.