bean-chaointe:

answersfromvanaheim:

thegirl-withfire-inhereyes:

OK so this is by all means not meant to be taken in a rude way. So please accept my apologies if it offends any of y’all. But you know how people always ask Christians what’s there reasoning or proof to why or how they know God/Jesus exists. So what or how is your reasoning on why the god and goddess or any other deity’s exsist?

I think the short answer is that you don’t.

Religious claims can’t really be “proven” (although every religion likes to think that it’s backed up by science), if they could, there would be way fewer atheists and agnostics.

Personally? It would be nice if it could be proven, but to me the more important question is “Does it help?”

Does it make you a better person?

Does it, say, help you connect with a culture, traditions, and community?

Does it give your life meaning?

I haven’t had the experiences with deities that some people have had, no one can “prove” to me that they exist, especially since many modern Pagan traditions emphasize personal (and sometimes group) religious experience, but that’s okay, because it gives my life purpose and meaning

This article, “Atheism to Polytheism: Because Why Not?” is my reasoning.  It comes down to the fact that you can’t prove a negative anyway and, like @answersfromvanaheim says, the benefits I get out of it outweigh any fear I have of being wrong.

For people who do have experiences with what seems to be a deity and who have those experiences on multiple occasions, there’s a point at which you have to acknowledge that your (admittedly very subjective, experiential) evidence conflicts with your preconceived notion of what “must” be true.  Just bad science, otherwise.

Here’s a post on possible reasons why paganism tends to be invalidated so often and another post on why the age of a religion is, and should be, completely irrelevant to the religion’s validity.  (Hell, just have the whole damn sociology tag.)

bean-chaointe:

You ever have those times when someone asks you about your spiritual practice and you have so much emotion tangled
up in the deep roots of it that it’s all you can do not to raise your
voice and wave your arms in the air and pace around because it’s the
only way you can physically express all that madness going on inside
you, and when you reach the deepest part of the taproot, the one that
says this is why I do the work that I do and this is my purpose in this life you just

try not to explode

into all the little, most fundamental parts of you?

scalesojudgement:

Sometimes, sometimes I will sit in my home (or stand in my shower). Sometimes I will lay on my floor, or on my bed and I will just start a story.

I have loved myths and stories ever since I can remember, I have loved telling stories ever since I can remember. (Ask my mom, apparently my kindergarten teachers were upset because during naptime no one wanted to sleep, they wanted to hear my stories, because I couldn’t sleep unless there WAS a story.)

So I keep telling stories, sometimes to no in particular and sometimes to my cat. 

There’s some One, though, who likes to listen. If I stop, there’s the ever quiet but stern whisper of, “no, continue.” It could be because the stories are often about Him, and his waters. Sometimes I’ll spend thirty minutes, talking to no-one-in-particular about how long and beautiful Hiis jaws are, how white and strong His teeth are. Sometimes I’ll get really into it, and talking about specific myths. Sometimes they are hard to continue, if I mention the punishment of the cutting of His tongue. Sometimes they are exciting and powerful in sheer size and completely 100% gloat-like. 

and sometimes they are just silly, and more for me. 

But I talk, I talk about them out loud. Sometimes I sing Him songs. 

He might not be listening, but he might be. When I talk aloud, when I weave my stories and become so engrossed in my own words. I breath life into their realities, I breath life unto Him. 

That gives me life, and I’m sure at least a chuckle to Him.

So yeah, talk to your Gods, talk to your God. Strike up a conversation and just go at it, forget what’s going on around you, forget what fears keep you up at night. Weave your stories, ask your questions, get things off your chest.

Maybe some One is listening, maybe they aren’t. It still helps, it still feels good.

It still feeds my faith.

aspoonfulofwitchcraft:

We all feel the Gods call in different ways.

Sometimes it’s soft and subtle. A feeling that comes over you while you watch a gentle rain. A low rumble of thunder while giving an offering.

Sometimes it’s a distracting thought guiding you until you realize what they want. Sometimes it’s symbolism finding you over and over in the form of a bird. Sometimes it’s sudden inspiration.

Sometimes it’s a touch. A whisper. A calling in your heart.

All of us feel it different. And yet it’s powerful all the same…

youcantseebutimmakingaface:

My Anup,
Guardian of my life,
He who holds my heart
Feed upon my life and joys.
Grant me every pleasure and achievement.
Give me the strength and wisdom
To create for you my life anew
And live to the fullest.
Let every action honor you
Let every moment of pleasure
Please you.
He who dispels all enemies,
Grant me protection, the intelligence
To keep myself and my loved ones safe
Even as you cradle me in the palm of your hand
May my heart be light, my soul worthy
May I one day greet you as lover and friend
May I speak with you always
Learn and give in
Dua Anup,
Giver of second lives.
May your name be on my lips always
In my thoughts always
In my heart always.

satsekhem:

thetwistedrope:

thepaperwitch:

Ho-hum.  Who doesn’t love a minor religious crisis on a Monday afternoon.

Keep reading

idk if feedback is what you’re looking for or not, but i don’t believe all of the gods love all humans, either. like you, i suspect that most of us are not even on the radar of the gods, and that their love is generally directed towards certain humans, with a sort of vague “well I don’t dislike humans, and/or want to see humanity do better” towards everyone else.

I think the “gods love everyone” rhetoric persists because it’s easier to say than to write out “the gods love everyone more or less, but probably not you dickheads, they probably don’t like you”. It creates a liability for the organization in question, and opens up a can of worms. It’s the same reason it gets hard to accurately judge others’ UPG and experiences–it opens up a can of worms and makes for liability issues. It’s just easier to Not Go There, with the understanding that not everyone is right, even though we don’t explicitly say it. In the same way that we don’t say “the gods probably dislike at least some of us” because it is a statement that can easily be used to hurt others.

Doesn’t sound as cool, but you gotta CYA when you’re heading a large group, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s a factor. 

I tend to agree with both of you: certain gods love certain humans but not everyone. I personally would find the idea that the gods love everyone annoying. Like I’m all for a little love and light once in a while, but as was pointed out in the OP, there’s just no way that it feasibly works when you consider how shit is going down in real time.

darkgreen-murmur-suggestion:

the wheel of the year will keep turning, the sea will keep churning, the spring will keep coming, the wind will keep blowing, the gods will keep watching, all will be well.

here-be-vultures:

i beat myself up over not being good enough for my gods all the time, that im an awful person and that i dont see why they would spend time with me at all, and that they could just go and find someone better.

but thats not the point. theyre not going around looking for flawless beings that never do anything wrong. they want to see me learn, and change, and grow. they want to be with me on my path and they want to help me overcome problems and be there for me when i need it. im not supposed to never make any mistakes, im supposed to be a flawed human being.

theyre not here because they expect me to be perfect, theyre here because they want to be with me on my path.

we walk this path together, and theyre allowed to see me trip and fall and get stuck. and they wont just leave me behind for that.

honorthegods:

pieandhotdogs:

Sometimes your gods don’t ever talk to you. Don’t let anybody tell you that that’s not normal, or that they’re better devotees or more religious or any of that horseshit. Your friends aren’t “more open” to the gods or anything like that. Your gods are not pissed at you. Silence from the gods is not an indicator of “something wrong” and if anyone tells you otherwise, they can fuck themselves with a pinecone.

Silence can be like when you and your bff are hanging out together, and you’re both reading or working or gaming or listening to music, and you’re not talking to each other, but you’re close and companionable and content.

Silence can be like when you’re at work, and your boss checks in to see if you’re doing okay, and they see you’re busy, so they don’t say anything, but they can tell if you need help or anything, and they know if you got this.

Silence can give you the chance to grow and evolve, to strive and take satisfaction in achieving something on your own. Silence can be a nudge to relax, to stop listening, and stop being alert. Silence can bid you to think outside the box and take a new perspective. Silence can encourage you to meditate, embrace the moment, find peace. Silence can mean you don’t need someone to hold your hand anymore. Silence can mean, “You’re doing My work, and doing it well.

Trust your gods.  

oblivions-kiss:

“Know thyself” – listen to it, know it, learn it, understand it, then work with it.