#devotee

Guys theres no requirements in helpol.

Dionysus worshiper but never want to touch drugs/alcohol? Thats okay

Artemis worshipper but feel more male than female? Thats okay

Ares worshipper but you arent physically strong/timid in nature? Thats okay

Persephone worshipper but you dont have energy to go outside? Thats okay

Athena worshipper but you struggle with studies? Thats okay

Hermes worshipper but you dont want to gamble? Thats fine.

Aphrodite worshipper but you dislike sex/romance? Thats fine

You dont always have to follow their domains you just have to love them.

happy new year! still working on the thing

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.

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.

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.

your okay to doubt your practice. your okay to overthink your practice. your okay to stress over your practice. but you know what? your safe and the gods dont hate you.