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.
Me: "Hey Emma! Look, I found your old video where you still had hands and one leg! It is funny to see it now, cuz I am so used to your new look, being a quad."
Emma: "Lol, where did you find this?"
Me: "On my old computer. Here you could still walk and use crutches 🤩 And look at your sexy leg... you wore high heel and you walked so confident."
Emma: "Looking back, being SAK doesn't even count as disabled 😅 I could do anything I wanted. Drive this fancy car, cook, workout and I could even do you a handjob that btw you never liked. 😉 Stumpjob was always your thing..."
Me: "Do you regret having no legs and arms?"
Emma: "Sometimes yes. I can not even dress myself propperly. Climbing to my electric wheelchair takes weeks 😆 I can not even hold a spoon when I eat lunch. But ironically all this makes me horny and I can still put my vibrator between my legs as my arm stumps are long enough to reach it 🙈 Then I remember it is all worth it 🍀"
Me: "And I have to take care of your useless stumps, massaging them and putting on all the prosthetics. What a pitty 😅"
So I actually have a lot of feelings about Lady Aphrodite and the way she's drawn.
I've been a devotee/worshipper of Aphrodite ever since 2019, although I was very closeted. Blah blah I'll tell the story later, but the point is I have been able to fall in love with myself through Aphrodite.
Aphrodite, the goddess of Beauty, right? But what is beauty? Of course, when we all see art or depictions of Aphrodite we see a lot of white and blonde women - which is completely fine!! If that's what you find beautiful, then that's Aphrodite, but its also important to note that Aphrodite, as the goddess of Beauty, represents all beauty.
I really liked @wolfythewitch's depiction of Aphrodite found here, which depicts Aphrodite as several different iterations. I think that Aphrodite is what is most beautiful to you, which is why we SEE so many different versions of her out there, and they're all gorgeous and beautiful.
I have so much more thoughts, but alas maybe one day I'll go into it.
Special reminder that the most important step in devotion is thought.
THINK about your deities. Day dream about them. Imagine them. Ponder them!
Definitely learn everything you can, which offerings they prefer at which times, their sigils, symbols, etc. But it’s okay if you don’t have the means to do a huge ritual right now. It’s okay if you don’t have the time or energy. Daily devotion does not mean dedicating our lives to the idea of worshipping the Gods. It means keeping a special place in your mind and heart for them. The universe makes no distinction between thought and material, if you want to feel your God’s presence more in the material world, the very first step is to start THINKING about them. THINK about them and they will surely start to think about you.
self care is a devotional act. washing your hands is a devotional act. finding beauty in something or someone is a devotional act. finding beauty in yourself is a devotional act. loving friends, family, pets, & partners is a devotional act. devotional acts dont have to be these grand gestures, because the gods & goddesses appreciate you; especially when youre enjoying the life they bestowed upon you
me: gosh, i’m feeling so unmotivated and self-conscious right now. i’ll never be good enough to do musical theatre, maybe i should give up on my dreams of performing and just do something i hate for money
Apollo: NOT ON MY WATCH (present for my audition that i dedicated to him, now I’m in the top 5 choices for BOTH female leads in the end of year show)
me: nvm i’m gonna keep performing i love you <3
in other words i literally cannot explain how much i adore Apollo and how grateful i am that he’s with me every step of the way - and knows how to kick me back into gear when life is shitty 💛🧡