ONLINE CLASSES The Celtic Horse Goddesses Registration open until 21st November, 2024. Learn about Rhiannon, Macha, Epona and so much more. PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN More info here: tinyurl.com/TCHG24 Introduction to Celtic Mythology starts 4th January. EARLY BIRD RATES until Dec. 2nd. tinyurl.com/ICM25 Information about classes always available at tinyurl.com/GDclasses
As one of those young people getting into paganism, thank you. This attitude seems very common online, and it already turned me once before, and now I'm just doing my best to ignore most of the internet side of things because of it. This attitude just... takes all the awe and divinity and seriousness out of things. A big culture shock when you come from other religions, and not a favourable one. I've often seen pushback to this sort of criticism that religion doesn't have to be serious all the time. And of course it doesn't have to be all the time. And it's common throughout history to see a god in familiar terns such as a friend. But there is... such a gulf between that and what you see online, where a deity feels more like a tamagotchi or hogwarts house.
Your post really strikes a chord with me. I have never been attracted to "fantasy" whether that's novels, films or games. I'm NOT saying these things are necessarily bad, but it feels like an awful lot of people either think nothing is real or that everything is equally "real". (I know I'm getting into very deep philosophical waters!) The thing which makes Celtic gods and myths "real" for me, is their long survival in a culture. And I agree that it deserves a fairly respectful and reverent attitude. Thanks so much for your comment, it made me think about things!
This semi-randomly showed up in my recommendations. I was expecting a rant, but you have perhaps the most grounded, clear explanation I've ever heard as I've looked around at modern polytheists! Thanks for the wisdom; I think it'll come in handy whether or not I find a spiritual calling in paganism
Well said. IMHO this should be required viewing for all new pagans. The Abrahamic religions program folks to believe their deity is always watching, always listening, and always ready to cast the unwary or unchosen into eternal torment. It's very hard to keep those perceptions from creeping into our pagan practices as well.
I know it definitely impacted me. I grew up in an evangelical household, and it impacted how I came to view the Gods. Even today, I sometimes feel guilty when I miss an offering. Then, I remind myself that the Gods aren’t like the Christian God.
@@Reed5016 I grew up in a very middle-of-the-road not-quite-agnostic household and grew up with an idea of Jesus as some kind of kindly uncle or benevolent guru who cared about my every little thought. I also had to realise that my relationships with the gods weren't meant to be like that.
@@KrisHughes I think it’s very common. Our culture (the western world in a general sense) doesn’t hold a nuanced understanding of religion or spirituality. It’s very black-and-white.
It's really kind of you to say that. It's hard to hit the right note on things like this. If you believe that it's potentially useful, then please do share it wherever you feel comfortable doing so. ♥
I guess that's the main reason Christianity grew and other folk religions fell, not considering the inexcusable forced conversions, dogmas, and cruelty of the church. The part where people chose it, because it relays a truth that we can be children of God. We already are, but not quite worthy of the title until we purify ourselves and live in a manner befitting such a title. We can and do have a close and personal relationship with God. It may take different forms in different cultures at different times, but essentially we are all one, we are divine, and religion and mytholgy serves to preserve that knowledge, despite man's apparent intent to erase it from our collective memory and consciousness. Don't blame religion for the way man uses it. There is a lot of value in those texts for those who are able to really understand. Like the name changes of some characters, like Abram, Saul, etc. Like the names a Pharoah would take, or a Pope even. It's about a recognition of divinity. Anyway... keep a critical and open mind about how knowledge is preserved for us. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater as they say.
Thank you, ma! C. S. Lewis makes an adjacent point towards the end of The Last Battle, when a foreign soldier who believes in his own god with all his strength is allowed into the New Narnia because, as Aslan explains in so many words, this kid gets the concept. This moment really helped open my heart, as a practicing Christian, to understanding and appreciating other people who are on their own journeys, and set me up to respect and learn from them instead of being frightened or thinking I had a moral duty to "fix" them. I've learned more about how to genuinely, truly build a meaningful relationship with my own God through the practices of others than a lifetime of Sunday services.
Many of the young pagans these days seem INCREDIBLY anxious. Now, I myself picked up this path as a teenager, and I'm not so old that I've forgotten it. And while yes, I have anxiety, I was never _that_ anxious. Perhaps because I was raised agnostic? Either way, there's a lot of fear of offending the gods. Lots of checking with pendulums to see if the gods hate them. It's like there's a void they're trying to fill with divinity, and I'm afraid it's only going to lead to disappointment, because the gods aren't your parent or your friend.
They often blame it on hellfire evangelical upbringings, but I think a fair bit of it is the rise in other types on anxiety (social, etc.) and they way this particular generation isn't very independent - too much helicopter parenting, maybe?
@@KrisHughes Modern society makes it hard to be independent. Even if parents don't want to helicopter, we've taken away a lot of the spaces where kids used to safely be able to go be kids without any sort of watchful eye. "Loitering" kids get the cops called on them, etc. We don't let kids go out and doing stupid stuff and learn from it.
I agree with this statement. Young people don't go outside to play! People live in nuclear families separated from their community, they are watching tv, using their phones, and not interacting with each other. I think this isolation is causing young people to be very unhealthy. And the sad part is part of their anxiety is germ focused which keeps them from going outside! Also the dread of the message of climate change and the devastation they expect to see is extraordinarily unhealthy.
I can't describe how much I'm happy to find your channel, I found in this video so much that I couldn't find in my polytheistic YT channels, so thank you 🙏🏻💚
Thank you for this and your latest video. They have both been useful in providing a perspective for me to reflect on and consider how I personally relate to any dieties I might want to relate to.
I removed a few comments here, simply because they are wildly off topic and resulted in silly arguments that were even more off topic. Keep it up and I'll start blocking people. It's fine not to agree with me, but this isn't a platform for your unrelated ideas.
It seems to be the vibe of the moment. As an old Pagan, I have the luxury of perspective. Please be aware, as a new Pagan, that you are "entering an area under development". The whole movement still has a lot of things to figure out!
I think it takes a true encounter with the divine or two to really understand how appropriate terror is as a reaction to the attention and presence of the gods. I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes gods can refuse to be reached out to, and I count myself very fortunate to not have died at the hand of my pestering of a deity who I didn’t realise was telling me to go away until they had to smack me away. I am a priest in the Ancient Greek fashion and serve a local cult in that capacity, and I often try to get across to people that our god, one among many, is ancient and wild and deserving of both great wonder and great reverent fear, because just as he is awesome, he is awful as well.
Your sensible view on this is singlehandedly reviving my interest in associating with paganism again. I left because it seemed the whole field was being nonsensical in the critical thinking sort of way about what they were doing, and decided to stop trying to fix the problem from within and accept that if that's really what this was all about, then I must not be one. Its healing something in me to see someone saying i even such a specific direction that this video is targeted in that someone agrees
It feels to me like the right choice to try to stay and help. There are sooo many young people trying to turn to the old gods, and yes, they are clueless and subject to fads and bad actors. But that isn't entirely their fault.
I truly never understood that relationship some pagans seem to had with their god - oh, silly *insert deity*, they keep doing this or that - said deity is all day with you, messing with you? How special might you be to get a god's undivided attention! I always thought those people saw signs where there wasn't any to feed their illusions. I might seem harsh, but sometimes, it is to an extreme I find disrispectful to the gods, and it makes me uncomfortable. To me, they are beings that are to be revered with the atmost respect, even if you do have a close relationship with them... Like don't treat Fenrir like a cute doggo, he's far from it! Point is: I couldn't agree more with what you said here, and I wish more would dutifully respect their deities.
Thanks for this video. I really appreciate it. I also have a question. What are you’re thoughts on people who take myths literally? Are you one of those people? No shame if you are, just curious.
@@KrisHughes lol true enough. I recently did a video about my personal issue with many people tending to want them to be what they want vs what they are. though UPG is important, I find sharing with others or teaching we should be sharing the sources and letting folks build their own relationship. vs using our own upg or wishful thinking to tell others. I felt like that was along the same vein as your video here.
@@BlazeLeeDragon I have so many thoughts about this. For years I've mostly stuck to teaching mythology and a bit of interpretation of mythology and preferred to leave it at that. But I see people floundering around, and I see that we're now coming into a third generation of polytheists, and they are arriving in a situation where the first two generations have built almost zero infrastructure for them. Why? Because we're all doing the rugged individualist thing, or we "hate organised religion and you're not the boss of me!", and often because people who got involved x decades ago wandered off into something else (because they didn't build/find any infrastructure). Oh, look at me, ranting in my own comments section LOL! I should probably go write a blog post.
Most of what I'm hearing here is all stuff that historical adherents of polytheistic faiths did. Pagan gods, demigods and legendary heroes were like the celebrities, rockstars and superheroes of their time- celtic and germanic polytheism were both unreformed faiths, not universal faiths- so there was no moral or spiritual law and with Celtic polytheism in particular, spiritial literacy and doctrines went against the core of the faith. If someone decided that x god likes y thing then thay was up between them and their god, they'd just better hope they got the answer right if they believed in the god literally rather than seeing the value in sacrifice as a spiritual practice. More often than not, the gods weren't supposed to be that interested in mundane human products- so it was more about the value something (or someone when you get into the really gnarly practices) held to the adherent in question and what that sacrifice means to them. Furthermore, adherence to a specific god within a polytheistic pantheon is a common practice within modern and ancient polytheist faiths. Hindu denominations differ based on which god they believe to be the supreme being, many believe Vishnu to be the supreme deity but others believe that Shiva is the supreme deity and so forth. This is in large part because polytheistic faiths are not and were not created fully formed, they develop through a process of syncretisation between regional practices; so for Hinduism, a large number of faiths based around distinct deities all coalesced into one religion then agree to disagree on which god is the coolest and best one. With that talk about syncretism in mind; folk traditions that are annexed into Christianity are absolutely a valid indicator of pre-Christian practices. Also it's not true that all European polytheistic practice ended in bloody crusades and mass conversion, Ireland was one of the first places to Christianise on a large scale besides Armenia and Ethiopia and did so of their own volition before the Romans adopted Christianity. Even when it comes to things like the Northern Crusades, the new European social order of Roman Catholic "Christendom" was beneficial to a lot of Germanic and Slavic polities and so there were just as many waves of fervent voluntary conversions as there were forced conversions and incidents of sectarian violence. More often than not the Catholic church would meet polytheistic practitioners half way and canonise their gods and heroes as saints in order to aid the process. Personally I find it more than a little irritating when european polytheists attempt to co-opt anti-colonial rhetoric and appropriate a victim status based on historical events they're wildly misinterpreting. The christianisation of Europe did not in any way resemble colonialism, full stop. The christianisation of the Americas and Africa was far more brutal, complicated and tied up in practices like slavery. Many slave owning colonists didn't want their slaves to convert to Christianity in the early modern period because it was against papal law to enslave Christians. When many slaves did convert to Christianity either in an attempt to achieve emancipation or because they earnestly wanted to convert; that's when our modern concept of "race" began to be invented to justify enslaving Christians that weren't white skinned and European. Long and short is; the whole point of polytheism is that your faith is regional, atleast partially ethnogomous and either unreformed or pluralistic. Let people do whatever they want and figure it out for themselves, they're showing these facsimile faiths all the respect their due by participating enthusiastically.
I agree with what you're saying, though I am of differing religiosity. On the other hand; I will gladly embrace the neophytes who treat their religion like getting a new dog, or collecting Pokemon, over the fascist weirdos.
I was in Dingle, CO. Kerry in 2002 right before Halloween. Walking in a crowd of people in the town when I saw a woman coming down the hill. She looked exactly like my sister, only with a very red complexion and her black hair flowing down to her waist. I had the crazy idea that it was the Morrigan. Do you think that's crazy? I dont.
Many Gods are my friends. Not all Gods are my friends. I have braved death for Humanity, and I have served true sacrifices for the good of All. I wish more People would aid Nature and the World.
@@mdb3102How can They be your friends? Do you hang out with Them? Do They confide in you? Has one ever called you in the middle of the night because They needed help with an ex? The Gods are not human. They aren't your friends in any way that a human being is
I think it's important to acknowledge how gods relate to time. An example of this is my upcoming connection with Lilith. I originally planned for it to be in September, but I kept finding conflicting information on the next Monday New Moon, so I chose the next one. And this next one is during a rare event called a Black Moon, which is powerfully Lilith instead. Sometimes the gods are funny like that, but it all works out of you pay attention and wait.
Unless these gods can change reality on a wim or even actually show themselves like there ancient storys say they can I wouldn't put to much faith in them or any pagan 'god'
Maybe you're better off with them leaving you alone rather than them showing up and asking you to do stuff. I really have no interest in experiencing a supernatural vision just to learn such a thing is possible. I'm okay with it being possible without knowing that it's possible. Divine interference sounds very inconvenient, and usually in the Bible it is. I can't recall when God showed up doing something miraculous without also asking the prophet to do some inconvenient mission. He showed up MAINLY to give the mission, not to affirm someone's belief.
@WildMen4444 Well the answer would be maybe you have to realize basically EVERY God known and unknown to mankind can change it's shape not including shape shifters, skin walkers, fay, angels AND demons, literally any none human creature with power can change it's shape and should never be trusted. The only one you should put any trust in is either God, Jesus, Buddha, nearly every God outside of those 3 want you dead.
All stereotype madam. I did not believe one of these things as a 20 something non-theologian TV watcher. Though, it cant help, that social media is itself a stereotype.
You have no Idea what gods want or like. Why do you pretend so? Are you one of those pretend-druids who think they can be druids 2000 years after the lore was for ever lost? Go ahead. but stop pointing fingers. that is so annoying.
ONLINE CLASSES
The Celtic Horse Goddesses Registration open until 21st November, 2024. Learn about Rhiannon, Macha, Epona and so much more.
PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN More info here: tinyurl.com/TCHG24
Introduction to Celtic Mythology starts 4th January. EARLY BIRD RATES until Dec. 2nd. tinyurl.com/ICM25
Information about classes always available at tinyurl.com/GDclasses
As one of those young people getting into paganism, thank you. This attitude seems very common online, and it already turned me once before, and now I'm just doing my best to ignore most of the internet side of things because of it. This attitude just... takes all the awe and divinity and seriousness out of things. A big culture shock when you come from other religions, and not a favourable one.
I've often seen pushback to this sort of criticism that religion doesn't have to be serious all the time. And of course it doesn't have to be all the time. And it's common throughout history to see a god in familiar terns such as a friend. But there is... such a gulf between that and what you see online, where a deity feels more like a tamagotchi or hogwarts house.
Your post really strikes a chord with me. I have never been attracted to "fantasy" whether that's novels, films or games. I'm NOT saying these things are necessarily bad, but it feels like an awful lot of people either think nothing is real or that everything is equally "real". (I know I'm getting into very deep philosophical waters!)
The thing which makes Celtic gods and myths "real" for me, is their long survival in a culture. And I agree that it deserves a fairly respectful and reverent attitude. Thanks so much for your comment, it made me think about things!
This semi-randomly showed up in my recommendations. I was expecting a rant, but you have perhaps the most grounded, clear explanation I've ever heard as I've looked around at modern polytheists! Thanks for the wisdom; I think it'll come in handy whether or not I find a spiritual calling in paganism
That's great to hear!
Well said. IMHO this should be required viewing for all new pagans. The Abrahamic religions program folks to believe their deity is always watching, always listening, and always ready to cast the unwary or unchosen into eternal torment. It's very hard to keep those perceptions from creeping into our pagan practices as well.
I know it definitely impacted me. I grew up in an evangelical household, and it impacted how I came to view the Gods. Even today, I sometimes feel guilty when I miss an offering. Then, I remind myself that the Gods aren’t like the Christian God.
@@Reed5016 I grew up in a very middle-of-the-road not-quite-agnostic household and grew up with an idea of Jesus as some kind of kindly uncle or benevolent guru who cared about my every little thought. I also had to realise that my relationships with the gods weren't meant to be like that.
@@KrisHughes I think it’s very common. Our culture (the western world in a general sense) doesn’t hold a nuanced understanding of religion or spirituality. It’s very black-and-white.
It's really kind of you to say that. It's hard to hit the right note on things like this. If you believe that it's potentially useful, then please do share it wherever you feel comfortable doing so. ♥
I guess that's the main reason Christianity grew and other folk religions fell, not considering the inexcusable forced conversions, dogmas, and cruelty of the church. The part where people chose it, because it relays a truth that we can be children of God. We already are, but not quite worthy of the title until we purify ourselves and live in a manner befitting such a title. We can and do have a close and personal relationship with God. It may take different forms in different cultures at different times, but essentially we are all one, we are divine, and religion and mytholgy serves to preserve that knowledge, despite man's apparent intent to erase it from our collective memory and consciousness. Don't blame religion for the way man uses it. There is a lot of value in those texts for those who are able to really understand. Like the name changes of some characters, like Abram, Saul, etc. Like the names a Pharoah would take, or a Pope even. It's about a recognition of divinity. Anyway... keep a critical and open mind about how knowledge is preserved for us. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater as they say.
Polytheist here. Most of pagan groups online freak me out.
And yet, if we don't discuss things, it's the loudest 'influencer' voices who get all the attention and no critical appraisal of what they say.
Thank you, ma!
C. S. Lewis makes an adjacent point towards the end of The Last Battle, when a foreign soldier who believes in his own god with all his strength is allowed into the New Narnia because, as Aslan explains in so many words, this kid gets the concept. This moment really helped open my heart, as a practicing Christian, to understanding and appreciating other people who are on their own journeys, and set me up to respect and learn from them instead of being frightened or thinking I had a moral duty to "fix" them. I've learned more about how to genuinely, truly build a meaningful relationship with my own God through the practices of others than a lifetime of Sunday services.
Many of the young pagans these days seem INCREDIBLY anxious. Now, I myself picked up this path as a teenager, and I'm not so old that I've forgotten it. And while yes, I have anxiety, I was never _that_ anxious. Perhaps because I was raised agnostic? Either way, there's a lot of fear of offending the gods. Lots of checking with pendulums to see if the gods hate them.
It's like there's a void they're trying to fill with divinity, and I'm afraid it's only going to lead to disappointment, because the gods aren't your parent or your friend.
They often blame it on hellfire evangelical upbringings, but I think a fair bit of it is the rise in other types on anxiety (social, etc.) and they way this particular generation isn't very independent - too much helicopter parenting, maybe?
@@KrisHughes Modern society makes it hard to be independent. Even if parents don't want to helicopter, we've taken away a lot of the spaces where kids used to safely be able to go be kids without any sort of watchful eye. "Loitering" kids get the cops called on them, etc. We don't let kids go out and doing stupid stuff and learn from it.
I agree with this statement. Young people don't go outside to play! People live in nuclear families separated from their community, they are watching tv, using their phones, and not interacting with each other. I think this isolation is causing young people to be very unhealthy. And the sad part is part of their anxiety is germ focused which keeps them from going outside! Also the dread of the message of climate change and the devastation they expect to see is extraordinarily unhealthy.
I can't describe how much I'm happy to find your channel, I found in this video so much that I couldn't find in my polytheistic YT channels, so thank you 🙏🏻💚
Aw - I'm glad you found it useful. I hope you'll find some of my other content helpful, too.
Thank you for this and your latest video. They have both been useful in providing a perspective for me to reflect on and consider how I personally relate to any dieties I might want to relate to.
Thanks! I'm glad they've been helpful.
I removed a few comments here, simply because they are wildly off topic and resulted in silly arguments that were even more off topic. Keep it up and I'll start blocking people. It's fine not to agree with me, but this isn't a platform for your unrelated ideas.
You did a really good job putting into words a lot of what I've been feeling as a new pagan interacting with some online communities.
It seems to be the vibe of the moment. As an old Pagan, I have the luxury of perspective. Please be aware, as a new Pagan, that you are "entering an area under development". The whole movement still has a lot of things to figure out!
I think it takes a true encounter with the divine or two to really understand how appropriate terror is as a reaction to the attention and presence of the gods. I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes gods can refuse to be reached out to, and I count myself very fortunate to not have died at the hand of my pestering of a deity who I didn’t realise was telling me to go away until they had to smack me away. I am a priest in the Ancient Greek fashion and serve a local cult in that capacity, and I often try to get across to people that our god, one among many, is ancient and wild and deserving of both great wonder and great reverent fear, because just as he is awesome, he is awful as well.
Your sensible view on this is singlehandedly reviving my interest in associating with paganism again. I left because it seemed the whole field was being nonsensical in the critical thinking sort of way about what they were doing, and decided to stop trying to fix the problem from within and accept that if that's really what this was all about, then I must not be one. Its healing something in me to see someone saying i even such a specific direction that this video is targeted in that someone agrees
It feels to me like the right choice to try to stay and help. There are sooo many young people trying to turn to the old gods, and yes, they are clueless and subject to fads and bad actors. But that isn't entirely their fault.
You are so right Kris, and you SHOULD say it! Thank you for putting to words something I've been thinking about for a while.
I truly never understood that relationship some pagans seem to had with their god - oh, silly *insert deity*, they keep doing this or that - said deity is all day with you, messing with you? How special might you be to get a god's undivided attention! I always thought those people saw signs where there wasn't any to feed their illusions. I might seem harsh, but sometimes, it is to an extreme I find disrispectful to the gods, and it makes me uncomfortable. To me, they are beings that are to be revered with the atmost respect, even if you do have a close relationship with them... Like don't treat Fenrir like a cute doggo, he's far from it! Point is: I couldn't agree more with what you said here, and I wish more would dutifully respect their deities.
Very good video thanks for sharing.
Thanks for this video. I really appreciate it. I also have a question. What are you’re thoughts on people who take myths literally? Are you one of those people? No shame if you are, just curious.
I'm definitely not, but at the same time I believe that they are vitally important.
@@KrisHughes Thanks.
alot of people need to hear this...
Oof! You're not wrong. However, at least the gods are getting plenty of attention.
@@KrisHughes lol true enough. I recently did a video about my personal issue with many people tending to want them to be what they want vs what they are. though UPG is important, I find sharing with others or teaching we should be sharing the sources and letting folks build their own relationship. vs using our own upg or wishful thinking to tell others. I felt like that was along the same vein as your video here.
@@BlazeLeeDragon I have so many thoughts about this. For years I've mostly stuck to teaching mythology and a bit of interpretation of mythology and preferred to leave it at that. But I see people floundering around, and I see that we're now coming into a third generation of polytheists, and they are arriving in a situation where the first two generations have built almost zero infrastructure for them. Why? Because we're all doing the rugged individualist thing, or we "hate organised religion and you're not the boss of me!", and often because people who got involved x decades ago wandered off into something else (because they didn't build/find any infrastructure).
Oh, look at me, ranting in my own comments section LOL! I should probably go write a blog post.
*reads title of video* Try telling that to my border collie.
LOL! You're thinking of "Your pets are not gods"
Great video!
Thanks!
The Firefly in the heart shaped jar is my Huggy Bug.
💚🐍💚
Most of what I'm hearing here is all stuff that historical adherents of polytheistic faiths did. Pagan gods, demigods and legendary heroes were like the celebrities, rockstars and superheroes of their time- celtic and germanic polytheism were both unreformed faiths, not universal faiths- so there was no moral or spiritual law and with Celtic polytheism in particular, spiritial literacy and doctrines went against the core of the faith. If someone decided that x god likes y thing then thay was up between them and their god, they'd just better hope they got the answer right if they believed in the god literally rather than seeing the value in sacrifice as a spiritual practice. More often than not, the gods weren't supposed to be that interested in mundane human products- so it was more about the value something (or someone when you get into the really gnarly practices) held to the adherent in question and what that sacrifice means to them.
Furthermore, adherence to a specific god within a polytheistic pantheon is a common practice within modern and ancient polytheist faiths. Hindu denominations differ based on which god they believe to be the supreme being, many believe Vishnu to be the supreme deity but others believe that Shiva is the supreme deity and so forth. This is in large part because polytheistic faiths are not and were not created fully formed, they develop through a process of syncretisation between regional practices; so for Hinduism, a large number of faiths based around distinct deities all coalesced into one religion then agree to disagree on which god is the coolest and best one.
With that talk about syncretism in mind; folk traditions that are annexed into Christianity are absolutely a valid indicator of pre-Christian practices. Also it's not true that all European polytheistic practice ended in bloody crusades and mass conversion, Ireland was one of the first places to Christianise on a large scale besides Armenia and Ethiopia and did so of their own volition before the Romans adopted Christianity. Even when it comes to things like the Northern Crusades, the new European social order of Roman Catholic "Christendom" was beneficial to a lot of Germanic and Slavic polities and so there were just as many waves of fervent voluntary conversions as there were forced conversions and incidents of sectarian violence. More often than not the Catholic church would meet polytheistic practitioners half way and canonise their gods and heroes as saints in order to aid the process.
Personally I find it more than a little irritating when european polytheists attempt to co-opt anti-colonial rhetoric and appropriate a victim status based on historical events they're wildly misinterpreting. The christianisation of Europe did not in any way resemble colonialism, full stop. The christianisation of the Americas and Africa was far more brutal, complicated and tied up in practices like slavery. Many slave owning colonists didn't want their slaves to convert to Christianity in the early modern period because it was against papal law to enslave Christians. When many slaves did convert to Christianity either in an attempt to achieve emancipation or because they earnestly wanted to convert; that's when our modern concept of "race" began to be invented to justify enslaving Christians that weren't white skinned and European.
Long and short is; the whole point of polytheism is that your faith is regional, atleast partially ethnogomous and either unreformed or pluralistic. Let people do whatever they want and figure it out for themselves, they're showing these facsimile faiths all the respect their due by participating enthusiastically.
I am a Sanatani and i agree i see it happening more in Bharat due to influence of the west sometimes.
I agree with what you're saying, though I am of differing religiosity. On the other hand; I will gladly embrace the neophytes who treat their religion like getting a new dog, or collecting Pokemon, over the fascist weirdos.
Yes, of course, but the 'new hobby' thing can also be a blind alley that they get stuck in.
I refuse to choose either. Both are horribly problematic.
Yes, but there are a multitude of demigods and, of course, nature spirits who are far more accessible to be a part of our daily lives.
I was in Dingle, CO. Kerry in 2002 right before Halloween. Walking in a crowd of people in the town when I saw a woman coming down the hill. She looked exactly like my sister, only with a very red complexion and her black hair flowing down to her waist. I had the crazy idea that it was the Morrigan. Do you think that's crazy? I dont.
Not necessarily, no.
The gods are not your pets, or your friends
Not YOUR friends maybe... LOL!
Many Gods are my friends. Not all Gods are my friends. I have braved death for Humanity, and I have served true sacrifices for the good of All. I wish more People would aid Nature and the World.
@@mdb3102How can They be your friends? Do you hang out with Them? Do They confide in you? Has one ever called you in the middle of the night because They needed help with an ex? The Gods are not human. They aren't your friends in any way that a human being is
but what if "pets" are gods?
That's a different TH-cam channel.
@@KrisHughes good point, a lot of them probably
How do you mean?
I trully think everything is God. That said, maybe this channel is not for me too ;)
I think it's important to acknowledge how gods relate to time.
An example of this is my upcoming connection with Lilith. I originally planned for it to be in September, but I kept finding conflicting information on the next Monday New Moon, so I chose the next one. And this next one is during a rare event called a Black Moon, which is powerfully Lilith instead.
Sometimes the gods are funny like that, but it all works out of you pay attention and wait.
Pets are real.
The gods are beyond "real" and "not real"
@@gabrielsoto1693 they're not gods either.
@@apersonwhoknows i have a very open mind. share some of your wisdom with me.
Unless these gods can change reality on a wim or even actually show themselves like there ancient storys say they can I wouldn't put to much faith in them or any pagan 'god'
Maybe you're better off with them leaving you alone rather than them showing up and asking you to do stuff. I really have no interest in experiencing a supernatural vision just to learn such a thing is possible. I'm okay with it being possible without knowing that it's possible. Divine interference sounds very inconvenient, and usually in the Bible it is. I can't recall when God showed up doing something miraculous without also asking the prophet to do some inconvenient mission. He showed up MAINLY to give the mission, not to affirm someone's belief.
Would you even be able to recognize Them if They did show up? I'm guessing the answer is no
@WildMen4444 Well the answer would be maybe you have to realize basically EVERY God known and unknown to mankind can change it's shape not including shape shifters, skin walkers, fay, angels AND demons, literally any none human creature with power can change it's shape and should never be trusted. The only one you should put any trust in is either God, Jesus, Buddha, nearly every God outside of those 3 want you dead.
@Vonsweet you don't know shit about Buddhism if you think Buddha is a god
All stereotype madam. I did not believe one of these things as a 20 something non-theologian TV watcher.
Though, it cant help, that social media is itself a stereotype.
You have no Idea what gods want or like. Why do you pretend so? Are you one of those pretend-druids who think they can be druids 2000 years after the lore was for ever lost? Go ahead. but stop pointing fingers. that is so annoying.
Definitely not a druid, pretend or otherwise.
Yes, they are.
Prove it
Didn t the christians get rid of you guys
Happily, no. They missed some roots and we grew back. 🙂
@@KrisHughes plenty of time🙏
nope ❤
As the puritans left England to live a more "godly" life in America, some of them actually brought paganism along secretly. Ironic no?
@@Vlad-ho8vxYou want to get rid of us? Post your address, friend. You can get rid of me in person