#devotee

[cultkinkcoven]

whenever i get sad that i don’t have friends to worship and do rituals with, I remember that birds sing love songs into the sky everyday, and the grass dances in the wind when it blows. And the clouds blush at the sunset, and the wind whistles tunes, and the bees hum, and the deer trot. And then I remember that the river runs, and the flowers open themselves to the sun, and the bugs sleep on warm leaves. and as I walk and pray, perhaps the rabbits nibbling on shrubs are praying too, perhaps that’s why the spider spun her web so beautifully. and then I remember that I’m not worshipping alone. I never was.

[thescarlettbitch]

To the Gods lost to time

We may have no way of knowing your name, but we do know you. We know you existed.

We may have no way of knowing what purpose you served in your pantheon, but we appreciate the work that you did, and the work you continue to do.

You may be older than what we think of as the first civilizations, you may be older than evolution, but thank you for being with our ancestors.

Thank you for holding their hands, teaching them how to hunt, which plants were edible, how to walk, how to develop.

It's because of you that humanity exists in the way we know today.

I'm sorry you've been lost to time.

[witchcraft-system]

The idea that some pagans have that you cannot view a deity as a lover, a close friend, as your child, as your parent, is so funny to me as someone who is both Hindu and pagan

In bhakti, there are different types of Bhava, or feelings. There is Shanta Bhava, where the devotee is peaceful. Dasya Bhava, where one serves the deity wholeheartedly and finds joy and bliss in service. Sakhya Bhava, where the deity is a friend of the devotee. Vatsalya Bhava, where the devotee sees the deity as their child. Madhurya/Kanta Bhava, where the devotee sees the deity as their lover.

And to call these practices "humanization of deities" just feels disrespectful to me. If you don't understand it then that's completely fine. But to disrespect forms of devotion just because you think it's "too weird to be real" is just not okay.

[huecycles]

intercom / TV

[starsanddawnbreak]

I love being polytheistic because like wdym I can just start worshipping ANY god and even if I don’t know a god too well I can just like go “this for you” AND THEY STILL ACCEPT THAT??

[seafoamsister]

you were created out of sand from the palm of aphrodites hand. she formed your body, your soul, your life out of bits of the sea & shells. every curve, every hip dip, every dimple, & every freckle she placed upon you for the goal to show beauty in various ways. the back rolls you loathe every time you look in the mirror was once a pebble from the ocean that aphrodite saw beauty in. the mole on your cheek was once a grain of sand aphrodite walked in. you were made with honor honey, you were made with a purpose from blessed lady aphrodite. do not be harsh on yourself. love yourself, treat yourself as a sanctuary. so mote it be

[justanotherprettyapollodevotee]

making stupid devotional memes >>>>

[witchcraftandbergamottea]

What my deities see on a daily basis (I’d say several times a day and I’m beyond happy they tolerate me ) 😄

[mythicalmuseomine]

Lord Dionysus

God of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre

i take requests

[cultkinkcoven]

I love seeing prayers and stories of devotees who worship Gods that I don’t worship.

Actually, I’ve always been like this.

I love hearing the tales of religions that I don’t subscribe to. Even if I don’t agree with every Christian, I do enjoy hearing Christians talk about how wonderful Jesus is and what he means to them personally.

I enjoy hearing Muslims talk about their prayers, how they reserve time out of their day for their God.

I enjoy hearing Jews sing their psalms, I love hearing about how they prepare their food, how they consider God’s hands in their meals.

I love hearing about Hellenic rituals and Semetic celebrations. I love learning about the different holy days among different groups of pagans.

I love learning how different people have incorporated different Gods, acts, and customs into their faith. I love hearing about their myths and legends, the stories they tell their children before bed.

I love hearing about the different ways that humanity has connected to their personal idea of God.

I don’t worship Apollon or Shiva today, but I am so delighted to hear the prayers of those that do. It’s like I’m getting to feel the mist erupting off of a waterfall. Or hearing the echo of a song that I do not know the lyrics to, but I can still hum the melody. I can feel the notes permeate my mind, even if I don’t know what they mean.

I love that there are people who worship these Gods that I do not worship. I’m happy that there is so much diversity among humanity that we have enough love in us for all of them.

For the ones that even I don’t know the names of, or felt the warmth of. Someone has.

That’s a very very good thing.

[thescarlettbitch]

Honoring Forgotten Gods

I made a post about Gods Lost To Time, and a couple people expressed how sad it made them, how it feels bad, how they wish they could worship forgotten Gods.

You can. I do, here is how I do it. (A reminder: I am not a priest or a priestess, I am by no means an expert. I myself have only recently started worshipping and honoring these Deities.)

But first, I will say this once and not again

This is an incredibly intuitive practice. If you are going to comment "how do you know you're not working with demons faking being gods to steal your soul?" Your comment assumes two things. 1) that I believe in demons 2) that I believe demons are inherently malicious. I don't believe demons are inherently malicious. My mother believes I was possessed by one when I was a child, but I don't. I believe they are a spirit in this world like everything else and that they deserve respect. If they want to come to my altar, that is fine by me. As long as they are respectful to me and my Gods, all are welcome.

Next,

What are the Forgotten Gods?

Forgotten Deities are the Deities that existed in ancient times who's names and practices have been lost to time. Could be from a not-yet discovered civilization, or maybe they're older than the written word, or even older than humans as we know them, or maybe they were lesser-worshipped in known civilizations. There is no way to know for sure if these Deities did or did not exist, we have no way to ask Neanderthals if they had a God. Their names haven't been spoken in centuries. They haven't been honored in centuries. But if we, as humans, have always had some sort of religion, it's not a far stretch to assume that pre-humans did as well. ("How do you even find out about a forgotten God?")

Prayer

Obviously the prayer is going to be a little different from how you pray to your main deities. We don't know the names of these Gods. We don't know what they represent, or anything about them. I usually start the prayer with "To all who have been lost to time" and go on to my appreciation. "Thank you for keeping our ancestors safe. For teaching them how to farm and how to use the land. For giving them fire and animals and plants to nourish their bodies." Etc etc. Then I give them an offering and say a final thank you, or I express my condolences for them having been lost, say a final thank you, and give an offering.

Building an Altar

My altarspace is currently a mess as I'm prepping to move (not moving yet, still finding a place) so I haven't "built" one yet, but I have a few ideas.

I'd start with a space, obviously, set up a place for offerings, and a candle. It could be on your major altar, or it could be its own space. I'd keep it simple, at least while starting out. Maybe something for the elements, but nothing too big or flashy. As you build relationships with these Deities, you can add and change and remove items at will.

Offerings

I do libations, the act of pouring a liquid directly on the ground, but if I had the means I would 100% burn the offerings. Leaving offerings on your alter space is also a good idea.

Here are some ideas!

Water - water has been around as far back as we can tell. Seems like a pretty neutral and safe offering idea to me.

Fruit - figs are the oldest fruit, but anything. Food is important to life, and for all we know, these Deities are the reason we have them.

Berries and nuts - see above - vegetation was an important part of the diet in ancient evolutionary periods.

Flowers - natural, neutral in my mind.

Wine/Mead/Beer - wines, beers, and meads have been around for lots of years, humans have always been fermenting foods to get drunk.

Bread and cheese - also been around for a very long time

As you grow and build relationships with these Deities, you'll learn to differentiate their energies, you'll learn who likes what, who identifies with masculine or feminine pronouns, you may even be able to give them a nickname to differentiate them from the others.

My Own Worship

Currently, my worship with Forgotten Gods does not stray far from a simple thank you, I'm sorry, and a libation. I don't work closely with any one specifically but rather the idea of them as a whole. I try to say a thank you to them once a day.

[only-your-liz]

I am doing sexting sessions today! And have content ready to go!

[apollos-melody]

[nepppaiehrx]