I can only answer for myself and how I knew; for me it was very obvious. They’ve come to me in dreams and in visions. And I’ve actually seen Sekhmet. So I’ve had conversations with a few. I know some other pagans that have had similar experiences. I would imagine that dreams and visions would be the most common way. I know some that have had little more than a sense of knowing that they were being called and didn’t meet with their deity in dreams or the astral till much later on if at all.
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Monday (5/14)
Tuesday (5/15) Wednesday (5/16) Love a tree day Wear purple for peace day The netjerts fest in their temples Thursday (5/17) Ascension* George Boleyn, Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, and others beheaded, 1536 Friday (5/18) International Museum Day Saturday (5/19) Queen Anne Boleyn beheaded, 1536 Anne Boleyn Day Sunday (5/20) Pick Strawberries Day Sacred to Athena *Ascension observed New moon Solar eclipse 7:23 pm (EDT) Your post about the pantheons choosing you. I think I love you. <3 -- hamadamasatoshi-deactivated2013Aww thank you. :) I’m glad you liked it.
I really hope you don't mind me messaging you, but I saw your post about choosing a pantheon. I've been trying to force myself into recon for months now because I thought it would give me structure that I desperately need, but after reading your post, I finally said "I give up" and just went after a deity I've been skirting around for years. And I just had the most intense religious experience of my life. So thank you, since your words prompted me into doing something possibly life-changing. <3 -- antleringI’m glad to hear that my words helped you. :) I tried to be a Hellenic reconstructionist for years and tried to ignore deities from other pantheons that were more or less punching me in the face to get my attention. And now that I’ve allowed them into my path, it’s been that much more fulfilling.
Something that really bothers me is when newer pagans and Wiccans are told that they "have to" choose a singular pantheon to work with. Honestly, I don't think someone should choose a pantheon. The pantheon should choose them. And when it does, you'll know. Trust me. And if just one chooses you, Fantastic! But there's a huge chance that you'll never be claimed by a whole pantheon. Even if most of the Greek gods are like "Hey, you're cool. WE want you to work with us", Dionysus (just for example) may never give a rat's ass about you. Further more you may decide that you can't stand an individual deity. Artemis and I do not get along. She likes me just fine, I think she can be a bitch and I don't work with her for such reasons. It has to be a pretty big emergency for me to call on her. While it's rare, it's happened. But that's just my personal relationship with her. Even more common is that you'll also be called by members of OTHER pantheons. While I work primarily with the Greek pantheon (and I mean more than just the Olympians because I tend to work with Titans more than Olympians), I've also been called by Sekhmet, Bastet and Ma'at from the Egyptian Pantheon. I have a love-hate relationship with Set for some reason. I'd love to work with Anubis but he's yet to call me to his service. And while he hasn't called me to his service, Sekhmet's son Nefertum has made it very clear that he's more than happy to reassure me and that he has my back (I was having a personal crisis and started seeing the blue lotus everywhere). I've also been called by Irish deities including The Morrighan, Brighid, and Scathach. Even more confusing is that I've been called into the service of the Virgin Mary and Saint Mary Magdalene and my "ancestors" (I use the older meaning of the word which is along the lines of someone who's died before you that had an impact on who you've become and also anyone related to you) that have actively giving me guidance range from Cleopatra to Anne Boleyn to Elizabeth Howe to Marie Antoinette to Anastasia Romanov.
To tell a person that THEY should choose a pantheon to work with is completely arrogant. To me that's like telling a god "hey, I'm going to worship you and you get no say whatsoever in this". And yes, some people do this and it works fantastically in the end and they develop an incredible relationship with their deity. And for those that see all deities being part of the lord and lady/spirit, it's weird to me that you should think you have to choose one face of the Goddess over another anyway. My point is that by making people who are just starting out on this path think that they "have to" choose a pantheon causes many of them to try to force a relationship with some deities, and ignore others because they aren't part of their chosen pantheon. I honestly think the attitude we should be "teaching" is that they should be open to deity in all it's forms. If a whole pantheon calls you, cool beans. If Aphrodite, Kali, Aset, and Krishna all call you, that's pretty awesome too. I think this should especially be expressed to people seeking to follow reconstructionist paths because I've known many who choose their pantheon, decide the best way to worship them is in their historically accurate form, and then try to force a relationship with a deity who they have a terrible connection with just because "historically" they would have been a main deity and honored every this day or that. Many of us came to Paganism because we were tired of mainstream religions telling us who, how, when, and where to worship. While the "you have to pick a pantheon" attitude isn't quite the same thing, it's not to far off to me. Monday (5/7)
Sacred to Apollo Tuesday (5/8) RedCross day Wednesday (5/9) First day of Lemuria Thursday (5/10) Friday (5/11) Saturday (5/12) Limerick Day Day of Purification of All Things Sunday (5/13) Mothers’ Day Leprechaun Day First day of Anne Boleyn Week which is a personal festival of mine. |
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