Fertile /fərdl/ adjective:
(of soil or land) producing or capable of producing abundant vegetation or crops.
“Fertility” represents the things in life that keep us alive:
– Fleecey flocks.
– Cows or something. Bulls, too. Oxen. Y’know.
– Growing fields.
– Grape vines.
– Bees zipping around pollinating medicinal plants.See where I’m going with this? There’s no point in having a baby if you’re starving. Anyone who tells you that “fertility” is primarily concerned with having children has not thought through the subject they’re discussing well enough. Yes, insofar as establishing and maintaining lineage, it’s probably important to some people (I am not one of them). But I think the fact that everyone needs to eat is way more important to discuss than… well, you know.
Remember why you became a polytheist. Perhaps you prayed and Someone unexpected answered. Perhaps a Goddess tapped you on the shoulder and said “you’re mine.” Perhaps you realized that the world is better explained by many Gods of limited power and scope than by one all-powerful God and you decided that following Them was the best way to order your life.
It’s hard to be spiritual when your roof is leaking. If your current situation has dampened your enthusiasm for the Gods, Their virtues, and Their work, it’s understandable. And usually, They understand too – They tend to have a longer and wider perspective than we do. But whatever your reason for becoming a polytheist, it was valid then and it’s still valid now.
I don’t get polytheists that wag their finger at other polytheists that don’t worship in a way they deem appropriate.
Like, don’t worry about it.
If the gods have a problem with it, then the gods will take care of it.
Unless you are unusually lucky/blessed, you probably won’t feel the presence of your god(s) constantly. And that’s okay! The gods are busy. It doesn’t mean that you’re a bad devotee or that you aren’t trying hard enough for them. It is not a bad sign; it’s completely normal. Some devotees spend their whole lives worshiping without a sign from their god(s), and it doesn’t mean that the gods love them or you any less.
- Mythic time
- The fact that some supernatural entities have Rules that they follow for a variety of reasons including: it’s in their nature, it’s part of how they’ve interacted with humans for ages, etc. A.K.A. Why are ostensibly powerful beings repelled by iron, certain trees, or salt? What a Weaksauce Weakness!
- That you can believe multiple things about a deity, sometimes contradictory things, and they can all be true, or false, or not quite true, at the same time
- That just because you think someone’s practice is weird doesn’t make it invalid
- That social ills (racism, sexism, etc.) exist in our communities because we are people who come from societies where they are part and parcel, that we are not actually “more accepting” than other traditions
- That “tumblr Pagans” are actual people who are Pagans IRL, that many of us were Pagans before tumblr and will continue to be Pagans when tumblr is gone
If you’re a Norse heathen and believe that “race mixing” is bad
- remember that many of the gods are born from interracial pregnancies between the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotunns.
If you’re a Norse heathen and are transphobic or homophobic
- remember that many of the gods will alter their forms drastically, the most notable being Loki changing into mare and being impregnated by a male horse, and later giving birth to Sleipnir
If you’re a Norse heathen and fascist
- remember that vikings were largely democratic and would regularly hold votes to decide legal matters, and were incredibly accepting of other cultures
Re-blogging this for the Nazi who just started following me ❤
Great post, I feel the same way @danishheathen !
If you’re a Norse heathen and believe that excluding people with disabilities is fine
- remember that all deities deserve the same respect, even the disabled like for example Hödur
if you’re a Norse heathen and think being misogynist is cool
- remember how Freyja would slay you, how Skadi insisted on her revenge
We usually think of ancient Greek religion as taking place in temples, but there was as well a strong aspect of household worship.
For the most part, household gods were not only household gods–they usually had community temples and festivals as well, although the god was often known by a different epithet or epithets within the household.
The following is a short list of gods who were frequently worshipped within the home.
Hestia
Hestia is the household god par excellence. She is far, far more than that–she occupies a central role in the ancient Greek religion and plays a part in not only household worship but civic rites as well, and takes part in the offerings given in rites honoring most other gods–but she was a center of household worship. She received offerings at family meals, and each new child born to a household was presented to her.
The hearth of each home belongs to Hestia.
Hekate
The hekataion was the home of Hekate within the household, and stood before the door, at the threshold of the house. The many small Hekate triformis statues still in existence may have served to represent the goddess in this context.
Hekate protected the household from evil from outside the home.
Hermes
Hermes was represented before a home in the form of a herm, typically a four-sided pillar with the head of the god on top and an erect phallus on the front. The herms within a city brought good fortune to the city (the destruction of the herms in Athens in the 5th century BCE was a serious crime), as a household’s herm did to the individual home. The herm had a practical function as well, serving as a boundary marker for the property on which it stood.
The herm was a home’s guardian, and would be anointed with oil or draped with garlands by individuals before their homes.
Other herms stood by the side of country roads and thoroughfares, again providing both protective and practical functions for travellers. The earliest forms of these were simple piles of stones which served as road markers.
Apollo Agyeius
Apollo Agyeius was represented before the home in the form of a conical stone or pillar. He protected the household from evil.
Zeus Herkeios (Zeus of the Courtyard)
Zeus Herkeios had an altar in the courtyard of the home, out in the open, where he received his offerings. Possession of such an altar was the mark of a good citizen; without it, one would not be eligible to hold certain offices. It is probable that only households of a certain standing would be expected to have an altar to Zeus Herkeios.
While the precise realm of Zeus Herkeios is uncertain, it seems likely that he protected not only the physical house but the family within the household as well; he would be a protector of the family over generations.
Zeus Ktesios (Zeus of the Storeroom, Zeus of Possessions)
Zeus Ktesios was represented in the storeroom of the home in an interesting and unique way; the householder took a two-handled jar with a lid, wrapped it in white wool, and filled it with an “ambrosia” made from water, olive oil and fruits. The jar was closed and kept in the home’s storeroom or larder.
His concern was the prosperity of the household; the presence of Zeus Ktesios within a home would ensure its material security and wealth.
Zeus Meilichios (Kindly Zeus, Zeus the Mild)
Zeus Meilichios was a chthonic or chthonian deity, which is to say that he had power beneath and within the earth. While he could be dangerous, he could also provide great gifts and blessings if treated properly. He was a giver of wealth and abundance and was often represented in the form of a snake, underlining his association with the underworld.
Although Zeus Meilichios was primarily worshipped by individuals, in Athens he was honored with a community festival as well, the Diasia.
“Heavily ingrained in the occult”. Yeah, and the reason for that is due to centuries of cultural appropriation by Christian occultists, frequently using Jewish holy symbols in ways that are actively sacrilegious, such as using the Tetragrammaton. The only good thing from your post’s advice means that your followers wouldn’t be pronouncing the Name correctly.
We are very much aware of how Western Magick occult practices views Jewish traditions and motifs as a buffet bar, and have for centuries. “Oh, I’ll take some Arcane Mispronounced Hebrew Chanting from this tray, and mix it with some Names For God from this tray, and sprinkle it with a helping of Alchemical Symbols from the spice rack, and use some Christian interpretations of King Solomon to bulk things out.” And all we see is a bunch of outsiders that come in, take things completely out of context, and then smugly say that they know how to “properly” use our cultural heritage that they’ve stolen.
I’m not blaming you in particular, but you come from a tradition that has, for centuries, been involved in the parallel processes of both oppressing us and stealing our culture and heritage when bits of it attract interest, magpie-like. Add to implicit equivalence between Hebrew and Latin as dead languages that can just be used without care or consideration or effort, and the reasons we’re… irked with the tone of your post I hope are fairly clear. Does that make sense?
Singing For Her 