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Author Topic: Pantheons and practice  (Read 1722 times)

Serpent

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Pantheons and practice
« on: May 27, 2013, 05:30:06 pm »
I've been half heartedly looking into paganism. Life has been busy and stessfull and I haven't had much time for research or ANY kind of personal practice. Now that life has somewhat settled down I want to look into paganism seriously.  

One of my questions has to do with godsend/goddesses and a personal practice. In the brief research I've done I find myself drawn to Kemetic and Celtic pantheons. My problem is that I don't believe in the same things when it comes to afterlife and such. Now one could say "make up your own beliefs, ritual and practice but keep the deities". I've thought about that but I feel id be doing them some kind of wrong if I worship these deities but follow only portions of the original religion.

Can anyone who follows deities from these two pantheons (whether you follow the original religion or made your own practice) provide some insight?

I've had a strong pull to look into both of these pantheons.

Snowdrop

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Re: Pantheons and practice
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2013, 05:44:19 pm »
Quote from: Serpent;110062
I've been half heartedly looking into paganism. Life has been busy and stessfull and I haven't had much time for research or ANY kind of personal practice. Now that life has somewhat settled down I want to look into paganism seriously.  

One of my questions has to do with godsend/goddesses and a personal practice. In the brief research I've done I find myself drawn to Kemetic and Celtic pantheons. My problem is that I don't believe in the same things when it comes to afterlife and such. Now one could say "make up your own beliefs, ritual and practice but keep the deities". I've thought about that but I feel id be doing them some kind of wrong if I worship these deities but follow only portions of the original religion.

Can anyone who follows deities from these two pantheons (whether you follow the original religion or made your own practice) provide some insight?

I've had a strong pull to look into both of these pantheons.

 
Hm . . . well, my religion is mostly Kemetic but with some Celtic elements/deities blended in.  I'd be curious, I guess, to know what it is about these religions that doesn't work for you, and conversely, what does work for you, because I think your answer lies there.  

F'ex, the beliefs about the afterlife are part of what I really like about Kemeticism.  I worship gods from several other pantheons as well, and for a while I was interested in the Norse Hel.  I ended up realizing that I just couldn't integrate Her into my practice, though, because so much of Her worship is predicated on Norse views about death and the afterlife that just don't have any place in my religion.  On the other hand, there are other Norse gods Whose worship doesn't conflict with anything I believe at all.  

I think I would ask:
1.  What is it you don't like about Celtic religion?  Kemetic religion?  
2.  Is there anything besides the pantheons you do like about them?
3.  Are there specific gods that you're drawn to?  What draws you to Them?  
4.  Are you interested in reconstructionism?  Are you purely eclectic?  Somewhere in-between?

Serpent

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Re: Pantheons and practice
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2013, 07:06:36 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;110064
Hm . . . well, my religion is mostly Kemetic but with some Celtic elements/deities blended in.  I'd be curious, I guess, to know what it is about these religions that doesn't work for you, and conversely, what does work for you, because I think your answer lies there.  

F'ex, the beliefs about the afterlife are part of what I really like about Kemeticism.  I worship gods from several other pantheons as well, and for a while I was interested in the Norse Hel.  I ended up realizing that I just couldn't integrate Her into my practice, though, because so much of Her worship is predicated on Norse views about death and the afterlife that just don't have any place in my religion.  On the other hand, there are other Norse gods Whose worship doesn't conflict with anything I believe at all.  

I think I would ask:
1.  What is it you don't like about Celtic religion?  Kemetic religion?  
2.  Is there anything besides the pantheons you do like about them?
3.  Are there specific gods that you're drawn to?  What draws you to Them?  
4.  Are you interested in reconstructionism?  Are you purely eclectic?  Somewhere in-between?

 
With the Celtic religion I haven't looked that much into it to really find conflict with it. I'm not quite sure why I threw Celtic in there as this was mostly a question about Kemetic religion. I'm very much drawn to Egyptian deities as I've been facinated by the culture since a young age. I just find it hard to consider following these deities without following their original religion. For example,  their views on the afterlife. I believe in reincarnation and from what I've read the Kemetic religion believes in a different sort of afterlife.

I'm drawn to a few goddesses but I haven't looked into any of the gods yet. The goddesses are Isis (Aset), Bast, and Bridget. As far as what drew me to them, I'm not sure. I see Isis/Aset as a very motherly figure. As I hope to have children soon (trying) I find myself drawn to that aspect. Bast I see as a protector which also is an aspect I'm drawn too. Bridget just sort of popped out at me when I was briefly looking into the Celtic pantheon.  

I think I'm somewhere between reconstructionism and eclectic. I want to follow the religion as closely as I can but also feel like I want to have the freedom to worship/practice in my own way should the mood strike me. I just feel like with that freedom id be doing something wrong.

Aster Breo

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Re: Pantheons and practice
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2013, 02:06:27 am »
Quote from: Serpent;110068
With the Celtic religion I haven't looked that much into it to really find conflict with it.

*snip*

 Bridget just sort of popped out at me when I was briefly looking into the Celtic pantheon.  

I think I'm somewhere between reconstructionism and eclectic. I want to follow the religion as closely as I can but also feel like I want to have the freedom to worship/practice in my own way should the mood strike me. I just feel like with that freedom id be doing something wrong.


A head's up, in case you do decide to look into Celtic religion:  An important thing to understand is that we don't really know much about what the ancients believed or how they worshiped because they didn't write it down.  It's also likely that the various tribes held more or less differing beliefs and practices, and that there wasn't one, unified "Celtic religion".  What we "know" about ancient Celtic religion has mostly been reconstructed from a combination of oral history, interpretation of the surviving lore, and whatever we can piece together from archaeological work.  So, it's pretty much impossible to be sure you're following the religion closely.  If being able to do that is important to you, you will probably be uncomfortable or frustrated with Celtic religion.

And, about Brighid "popping out at you" -- She does that.  ;)
"The status is not quo."  ~ Dr. Horrible

Maulus

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Re: Pantheons and practice
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2013, 04:23:11 am »
Quote from: Serpent;110062
I've been half heartedly looking into paganism. Life has been busy and stessfull and I haven't had much time for research or ANY kind of personal practice. Now that life has somewhat settled down I want to look into paganism seriously.  

One of my questions has to do with godsend/goddesses and a personal practice. In the brief research I've done I find myself drawn to Kemetic and Celtic pantheons. My problem is that I don't believe in the same things when it comes to afterlife and such. Now one could say "make up your own beliefs, ritual and practice but keep the deities". I've thought about that but I feel id be doing them some kind of wrong if I worship these deities but follow only portions of the original religion.

Can anyone who follows deities from these two pantheons (whether you follow the original religion or made your own practice) provide some insight?

I've had a strong pull to look into both of these pantheons.

 

I am a Kemetic and i am learning about the religion as i go along. I have been tempted in the past to go towards reconstructionism, particularly KO, but it doesn't work for me, mainly because we aren't in a position here to reconstruct everything, we don't have 3 seasons, we have 4, we don't live in the same socio-economic structure and so on. Besides, the gods i follow prefer to teach me personally.

When I first started off, i wasn't sure of the afterlife portion, but after a few lessons from Djhwty, i have come to understand how it works with 5 parts of the soul, each with it's own potential for immortality.

My advice would be get books, from the library, bookstore, online, whereever you can. there are loads out there that translate the pyramid texts and so on. Read as many versions of the translations as you can, as some people are a little unreliable and put their personal views into them.
meditate and contact the gods, Bast, in my experience is very easy going and amenable to newcomers, she will normally have another god or 2 with her to introduce you to.

Don't worry about upsetting them too much, from what I can tell, a lot of the ritual that is written about in the pyramid texts was more to raise the priesthood above the average Kemetic person, rather than a requirement of the gods themselves. That, or they have mellowed in the recent centuries.


Dan

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Re: Pantheons and practice
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2013, 08:14:52 am »
Quote from: Serpent;110062
I've been half heartedly looking into paganism. Life has been busy and stessfull and I haven't had much time for research or ANY kind of personal practice. Now that life has somewhat settled down I want to look into paganism seriously.  

Can anyone who follows deities from these two pantheons (whether you follow the original religion or made your own practice) provide some insight?

I've had a strong pull to look into both of these pantheons.


Egyptian views of the afterlife changed over  thousands of years.  So there isn't just *one* belief or interpretation.  Some people do interpret some of the afterlife stuff as reincarnation.  

I would highly recommend this book by Kiya Nicoll:  The Traveller's Guide to the Duat.
I am the Goddess of Who I can Become. I mix the magic of the sorceress with the blade of a warrior. I walk the liminal pathways to see the face of the Goddess, both terrible and kind. As She stares back at me, I tremble in awe and ecstasy.  --SatAset

Serpent

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Re: Pantheons and practice
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2013, 04:09:24 pm »
Quote from: SatAset;110123
Egyptian views of the afterlife changed over  thousands of years.  So there isn't just *one* belief or interpretation.  Some people do interpret some of the afterlife stuff as reincarnation.  

I would highly recommend this book by Kiya Nicoll:  The Traveller's Guide to the Duat.

 
Thank you all for your replies. And thank-you SatAset for the book recommendation. I will look for it. I am going to.do more reading and research into Kemetic religion as I am feeling a pull toward this pantheon.

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