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Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

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    Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

    I am from a Christian upbringing, so praying to "pagan" god/desses is a bit hard for me to do, with the fear implanted in my from my upbringing religion... you know deutoronomy 18 9-12, forbidding divination, contact with spirits, astrology, sacrifice exc...

    Also throughout the bible, Yahweh mentions he is a jealous God and he is the Most High God, he rules the Universe pretty much how I interpret it, the alpha and omega...

    I feel as if it is a Sin to pray to other Gods, though I want to ask them for assistance as I feel at time Yahweh is not meeting my needs on this earth... I feel maybe other God/desses could better help me grow and aid me in this path of life, which brings me to...

    Is it fair for me to simply pray to these God/desses and ask for my needs or wants? are they offended, as if they are being used... after all, if they do exist and are not simply man made ideas, they do have emotions and thoughts of their own, motives exc, just as a human does, wouldn't you be offended if someone just came along asking you for things all the time but never doing anything else? I believe this is the concept of offering, you offer something of value to them in exchange for their service.

    I feel I have been wronged, and I want justice on certain people that have been in my life, and I wonder if praying to A God that rules justice would be able to help me? or say I needed help in love and sex, would I pray to Venus or aphrodite, and are these God/desses jealous, as the Christian God, one day I may pray to Thor and the Next Isis, would they be offended, as if I am not giving them my full allegance, as Yahweh desires...

    Also, please do not flame me or put me down for my upbringing and my Christian background, I'm simply looking for clarity here, from a pagan perspective, I have been quite interested in Magick and the spiritual world and arts, and alternative god/desssess for over a decade now, and have done much research, though the fear of betraying Yahweh and Jesus Christ scares me, hurting them, offending them, and even going to hell! Cause it says I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the Most High God, it would seem as if he rules over all these god/dessess, if this is true, would it not make logical sense to go to the Most High God? instead of these "inferioir" or less powerful god/desses?

    any insight? opinion?

    #2
    Re: Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

    If you are looking to the Bible for permission, try Jeremiah 6:16 or Daniel 5:11-12. Another thing you might want to remember is that King James really, really hated and feared witches, and his translation sort of reflects that. Men wrote the Bible, and it is more like collected essays than a book, with as much left out as put in.

    I can give no advice regarding praying to gods and goddesses since it is not something I do. Listen to your inner compass.

    For what it is worth.

    "No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

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      #3
      Re: Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

      I agree that just showing up and asking this or that deity to help you and give you things isn't very polite or respectful. Relationships take time to build and an understanding of how a particular deity interacts with it's people will go a long way in growing you spiritually.

      Yahweh is known to be a jealous god and I would think very carefully before you venture out towards other deities if you intend to keep Yahweh in your life. If nothing else, your own spirit will be torn, as evidenced by your post here.

      You express that Yahweh is not meeting your needs and other deities might better be able to help you grow. Here is my thought on that. There is a good point to be made that compatibility and shared goals are the basics foundation for a good relationship. I think that goes for human/deity relationships as well.

      Do factual research, as well as meditations with deities to get to know them a bit. To feel out your compatibility. When you find one or more that are a good fit, that have the qualities you want to grow in your life, etc, then spend some time building that relationship.

      God shopping/dating has it's place, but at some point, in order to make real spiritual progress and get to know a deity very well, we need to commit to a path, at least for a while. We can grow in a variety of paths, it is true, but the idea that the god is greener on the other side of the fence can keep us in spiritual immaturity.

      Good partnerships are rich and wonderful things. In time we come to see that deities do not hand us gifts as often as they support us in the best use of the gifts we have.

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        #4
        Re: Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

        In the time before Christianity, when Pagans ruled, people tended to have one primary god and then secondary gods. You could have Athena as your primary goddess but sometimes you can call upon Artemis or Apollo for help in other things. Artemis was always a popular choice for secondary goddess. That's how I do it. I have Athena as my main goddess, I call upon her for wisdom in my life. But when I want protection for my animals, I'm going to call upon Artemis, since that is her field.

        As for you fearing praying to anyone else, that's normal. It's called Christian Guilt. Even though I claimed to be an Atheist for many years, I always had this loom and doom of hell and all this guilt hovering over me for so long. It passes with time after you leave the grasp of the said religion's influence on you. I had that guilt from living with a judgey brother who went away to Christian College and suddenly felt he had a right to judge others. Once I moved far, far away from my judging family, it all went away! Never felt that way since.

        That is, if that's what you're getting at. I interpreted that as you're no longer Christian but you still feel guilt. I understand that being agnostic/atheist and doing nothing seems better than actually hoping over and praying in another religion.

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          #5
          Re: Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

          Some people here honestly feel that a Christian can somehow be Pagan at the same time, but I'm a little old fashioned. ChristalVision93, if you in your heart of hearts, do not have respect for a deity, or feel Them to be lesser beings They are probably not going to help you in your cause. If you look to the Christian God or Jesus as your personal deity of choice, and follow the tenets of Christianity, it's probably not wise to look outside of God or Jesus for assistance. As you said yourself, God is jealous and prefers that His children not place other Gods before Him.

          In my personal experiences with practicing magic (or witchcraft, if you will) I don't often call directly on deities for assistance in achieving personal goals or gains. I believe that every person has the ability to affect the world with their own energy and will-power. If you feel that witchcraft is allowable in your religious framework, you can perform spells directed towards justice being served and leave all Gods out of it. A brief internet search for 'spells for justice' will give you plenty of websites full of spells that you can tailor into your own comfort-zone.
          The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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            #6
            Re: Praying to the Gods for specific needs/advice for new practitioner

            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
            Some people here honestly feel that a Christian can somehow be Pagan at the same time, but I'm a little old fashioned. ChristalVision93, if you in your heart of hearts, do not have respect for a deity, or feel Them to be lesser beings They are probably not going to help you in your cause. If you look to the Christian God or Jesus as your personal deity of choice, and follow the tenets of Christianity, it's probably not wise to look outside of God or Jesus for assistance. As you said yourself, God is jealous and prefers that His children not place other Gods before Him.
            I agree. Some people do feel that it's logical and possible to be a "Christo-Pagan," and if that makes them happy, then fine, but IMHO it doesn't make sense. Christian lore makes it quite clear that Yahweh is the One and Only, so in my mind claiming to be a Christian but invoking, say, Hecate is, at the least, hypocritical.

            Putting all that aside, here is my two cents.

            If some day you do truly feel that your path lies somewhere in the realm of Paganism, your spirit will guide you in the right direction. A god, maybe several, will call to you and you will build a relationship with them. Asking the gods for assistance is not selfish unless that is the only reason for your relationship. The primary purpose of a relationship with Deity is personal growth that extends beyond material gain and personal justice, and to express your love for and devotion to them. When you have this sort of relationship with your god(s) then asking for favors on occasion is not offensive. It's like asking a good friend for a ride somewhere.

            While we may not know their exact nature, many of us feel that it's best to treat our gods as "honored guests." This is why Pagan ritual is designed the way it is - You make a space for them, clean it up, invite them in, offer them something to eat and drink (in the form of offering), make conversation and show them how much they mean to you. You don't boss them around or take advantage of them, you make them feel at home and comfortable. This isn't done out of fear or sycophantism, it's done because you want to maintain your bond with Deity.

            On the other hand, it's not entirely necessary to have a full-on relationship with a specific god in order to petition them for help. There exists what is called a worship bargain, which is something akin to a customer/businessman relationship. For example, I don't have a strong, constant relationship with Asclepius, but if I or someone I care for is ill I will call to him and give him an offering in exchange for his blessing of health and healing. In much the same way you may not be friends with someone you pay for a service, you do not need to have strong, intimate ties to a particular god in order to ask for their help, so long as you give them something they would want in return and treat them with decency and respect.
            Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.
            -Erik Erikson

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