In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

[Jovana]

Okay, so, my name is Jovana and I'm from Serbia. I've been raised orthodox all my life but even as a kid, I was never drawn to that religion and I never felt the connection. Recently I've discovered paganism, and I feel that I might find my fulfillment and path here.
I've realised that I am feeling a strong connection to the nature and the elements, and also the dark side of things (which is why i was drawn to satanism). Also, I am feeling a need to give my respect to a certain higher power. Maybe a god or a goddess, I don't know, like I said, I'm quite new to this.
So, I started researching, but quite a few things aren't clear for me. And I have some questions.

1. How do I know which gods and goddesses I should focus on? As in, there are so many mythologies and traditions and I don't know which one would be the right for me? And I don't know how to find that out because I simply can't realise that by just reading the lore. And I certaly can't try to have a connection with every single god, until I find the right one.

2. If I decide that, I don't know, Greek mythology is the best for me and I start praying and connecting with Ares and then later discover that I also want to connect with Rod (from the Slavic mythology), is that wrong? Should I focus just on one mythology and tradition? And is praising 2 gods forbidden as that I might offend and disrespect the first god? If it is, than again, I return to the first question.

Thanks.

[habbalah]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

As to the first question, I would suggest doing research about different entities. See which ones have a pull for you, or interest you. Try speaking with them and see if they are interested in working with you

As to the second, I definitely say no, it's not forbidding (others might disagree with me, but this is what I've personally found). I work with a few different gods, and since none of them are at cross-purposes with each other, I've never offended any of them. I would be careful and make sure that you aren't trying to work with two enemies, though. Or two entities whose beliefs clash (for example, when I was researching Saraswati, it warned not to spend too much attention to Lakshimi or money, because it would tell Her that you were too focused on material things and wealth, and not enough on knowledge and so forth). That might not go well.

[Jovana]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

So, for the first quesion, do you think that I should literally read as much as I can and connect with the one that I feel would most likely work out for me? Or do you think that I should try to find myself in the tradition and beliefs of my ancestors, which would for me be the slavic mythology?

[iris]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

The easy answer to that is whatever feels right for you. reading a lot is definitely a good start, also talking to people on here. If you already feel a connection to your ancestral mythology, start by researching that if you feel that's right for you, allow yourself to stay there. You can always change your mind, no rules against that (you will find people who disagree, but the only oppinion that really matters is your own). If you don't like it, let your mind wander over others, look at what catches your attention. Keep in mind that you don't have to fit in a box, lots of people forge their own paths based on what resonates with them.

[thalassa]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

1. How do I know which gods and goddesses I should focus on? As in, there are so many mythologies and traditions and I don't know which one would be the right for me? And I don't know how to find that out because I simply can't realise that by just reading the lore. And I certaly can't try to have a connection with every single god, until I find the right one.

Introspection (my preferred method here is meditation), intuition, and trial and error. Who interests you? What mythos speaks to you the loudest? Start there. If it works for you, you will know after a month or two (maybe sooner) if its the right path for you (at least for now). If it does't click, then you've still learned something about keeping a devotional practice and you've ruled out one deity (or group of dieties)...no harm, no foul.

2. If I decide that, I don't know, Greek mythology is the best for me and I start praying and connecting with Ares and then later discover that I also want to connect with Rod (from the Slavic mythology), is that wrong? Should I focus just on one mythology and tradition? And is praising 2 gods forbidden as that I might offend and disrespect the first god? If it is, than again, I return to the first question.

Thanks.

IMO, no. Some opinions will differ. The most common opinion though tends to be that its ok to worship from disparate pantheon, but to keep them separate in ritual, and to keep them in their proper cultural context. For example, artemis and thor probably don't belong at the same shrine sharing an offering at the same time.. Then again, I worship dieties that correspond with the features of my landscape from a number of pantheons, and I've never had a problem...but I also have a non-literal view of the gods

[Gleb]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

Okay, so, my name is Jovana and I'm from Serbia. I've been raised orthodox all my life but even as a kid, I was never drawn to that religion and I never felt the connection. Recently I've discovered paganism, and I feel that I might find my fulfillment and path here.
I've realised that I am feeling a strong connection to the nature and the elements, and also the dark side of things (which is why i was drawn to satanism). Also, I am feeling a need to give my respect to a certain higher power. Maybe a god or a goddess, I don't know, like I said, I'm quite new to this.
So, I started researching, but quite a few things aren't clear for me. And I have some questions.

1. How do I know which gods and goddesses I should focus on? As in, there are so many mythologies and traditions and I don't know which one would be the right for me? And I don't know how to find that out because I simply can't realise that by just reading the lore. And I certaly can't try to have a connection with every single god, until I find the right one.

2. If I decide that, I don't know, Greek mythology is the best for me and I start praying and connecting with Ares and then later discover that I also want to connect with Rod (from the Slavic mythology), is that wrong? Should I focus just on one mythology and tradition? And is praising 2 gods forbidden as that I might offend and disrespect the first god? If it is, than again, I return to the first question.

Thanks.

1. What god or goddess should you focus on? Well, many branches of paganism hold an idea. Sometimes it can be defined and sometimes not. They have different characteristics and things they focus on (the pantheons, that is). When you choose your pantheon, you can look for the deity you most identify with. You don't have to stick to only one pantheon or one deity. You can mix.

2. No, it's absolutely not wrong. It can be a little trouble some if the two deities oppose each other. For instance, Kronos and Zeus. But I doubt such deities will be worshipped by the same person. Praising more than one god is never forbidden as long as there is harmony between the gods you worship.

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So, for the first quesion, do you think that I should literally read as much as I can and connect with the one that I feel would most likely work out for me? Or do you think that I should try to find myself in the tradition and beliefs of my ancestors, which would for me be the slavic mythology?

Totally . You won't know unless you do research about different traditions. Research is your friend.

[Aeran]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

There are a lot of different opinions on these kinds of questions, but personally:

1. How do I know which gods and goddesses I should focus on? As in, there are so many mythologies and traditions and I don't know which one would be the right for me? And I don't know how to find that out because I simply can't realise that by just reading the lore. And I certaly can't try to have a connection with every single god, until I find the right one.

Start with mythology. Pick a culture which interests you, or which you feel connected to. If you can't pick one, then going with whichever one is closest to your ancestry or cultural background is usually a good starting point. Then read up on their mythology - not in neo-pagan sources (which have a tendency towards exaggeration, syncretism and improper sourcing & referencing), but in their original forms (eg: the Eddas for Norse mythology, the four Cycles for Irish mythology, the Illiad/Odyssey for Greek, and so on), then go through a few exegeses of these mythological texts to establish a firm understanding of them, and then onto academic/mainstream texts which discuss the mythology/religious beliefs & practices of that culture. By that point, you should have a fairly good grounding in the style of worship and spiritual practice and the relevant deities, and you can go into the neo-pagan sources with a more discerning eye.

2. If I decide that, I don't know, Greek mythology is the best for me and I start praying and connecting with Ares and then later discover that I also want to connect with Rod (from the Slavic mythology), is that wrong? Should I focus just on one mythology and tradition? And is praising 2 gods forbidden as that I might offend and disrespect the first god? If it is, than again, I return to the first question.

While I'm not a big fan of wild eclecticism, I've never heard of anyone who's come across trouble because they've connected to different deities over the course of their spiritual development. If you go out of your way to explicitly devote yourself exclusively to one deity, then you might, although I'm not certain - but you should avoid that unless you're really sure you know what you're doing and you've thought it over for a good while anyway.

Remember that the ancient pagans themselves, for the most part, saw different pantheons as varying names for and manifestations of the same deities. Thoth and Hermes were viewed as the same deity by both Greeks and Egyptians, and when Roman scholars went North and saw the Germanic religious practices, they related the deities worshiped to the ones they knew back at home, eg. Wodan was referred to as Mercury in Roman accounts of contact with the Germanic tribes (Mercury being the Roman name for Hermes, so you've got 3 different cultures with 3 different names and appearances, but all more or less agreeing that they're worshiping the same deity - although I'm not sure what the Germanic people thought of the concept). They definitely had no trouble integrating foreign deities into their worship (there were many temples to Isis in, iirc, Athens, at one point in time, for example). the concept of a universally "jealous" God who forbid worship of anyone but themselves didn't really exist until the emergence of the Abrahamic religions (although there was Atenism's brief stint in Egypt, and I'm not certain where Zoroastrianism stood on the matter).

[elvenjediknight]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

One thing I have tried is praying to "a higher power", just whoever is listening and then trying to find out who answers you.

I am new to Paganism too, but I am trying to worship Inanna, Athena, Hades, and some spirits (some are ancestors) that I have made friends with. I also plan to start honoring Hecate. I have found no problem with worshiping gods from different pantheons, though Inanna and Athena seem to have different ideas about what my sex life should be like. (Inanna is a goddess of love, and Athena is a virgin goddess.) They seem to be fine with me worshiping each other though, as long as they both get attention.

[Thorbjorn]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

1. How do I know which gods and goddesses I should focus on? As in, there are so many mythologies and traditions and I don't know which one would be the right for me? And I don't know how to find that out because I simply can't realise that by just reading the lore. And I certaly can't try to have a connection with every single god, until I find the right one.

Very often, but not always mind you, a deity (or multiple deities) will contact you and draw you to him/herself. And it can be after a very long time of searching and experimenting with different paths. The deities are, in my experience with the deities I've worked with, very patient. You may be "head blind" to very many deities, hence not knowing whom to follow. But it should become clear, maybe at the most unlikely time, and maybe out of the blue.

As others have said, read up on the different pantheons and practices. In that, the deity may make themselves known to you. Sometimes one deity will bring you to another. That is, the one you feel most attracted to initially may not be the one you stick with. People dismiss Wikipedia but I think it's a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:...belief_systems

2. If I decide that, I don't know, Greek mythology is the best for me and I start praying and connecting with Ares and then later discover that I also want to connect with Rod (from the Slavic mythology), is that wrong? Should I focus just on one mythology and tradition? And is praising 2 gods forbidden as that I might offend and disrespect the first god? If it is, than again, I return to the first question.

Thanks.

Don't force yourself to adopt a path it is your heritage. As others have said, worshiping two gods who don't get along probably won't work. For example, Athena hates Ares with a passion, even though they are half-brother and half-sister. Athena and Poseidon aren't the best of friends either... they competed for the city of Athens, and Poseidon raped Medusa in Athena's temple, a heinous sacrilege. Athena couldn't exact revenge on her uncle, so she took it out on poor Medusa and transformed her into the monster we know her as.

The Norse gods all pretty much get along, as do the Hindu gods. In fact, the Hindu gods often tell each other to pray to (seek the help and advice of) yet another god. Rama (who is Vishnu) prayed to Shiva for help in rescuing Sita. All the gods prayed to Vishnu at various times for his help in settling a matter or for protection from some evil force.

Being a semi-hard polytheist, I see Thor, Indra and Perkunas as pretty much the same god viewed through different cultural lenses. Other people see that differently. If they are indeed the same god, it's Thor I am drawn to, not Indra, though I was once Hindu (so maybe they are not the same god ). Right now I'm having something of a conflict in continuing to worship Hanuman as the god of strength, courage, devotion and loyalty, because Thor is all those; Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom, learning and the arts, but Odin and Bragi perform those roles also. And while one may say we can never have too much help, methods of worship of them are very, very different.

Not to throw even more confusion at you, but that's a big consideration also... methods of worship. For example, if I were to work with both pantheons, I could not enshrine them together... it's perfectly acceptable to offer meat and alcohol to the Norse gods, but that is an affront and almost a sacrilege to offer to the Hindu deities, especially to offer beef (Thor has been known to consume a whole ox or two at one sitting). So yes, it can get a little squicky, to use someone's else's word.

I seriously hope I haven't confused you more.

[MaskedOne]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

The Norse gods all pretty much get along...

Heimdall and Loki?

[thalassa]

More importantly, myth is the collective search of humanity for truth, meaning and significance in the experience of life, so that it resonates beyond the merely physical (and short) time that we are alive into something more.

[Thorbjorn]

Re: In need of help and advice for my new path and paganism in general.

Heimdall and Loki?

That's why I said "pretty much". I like to hedge my bets. Interesting point, however. It occurred to me as I was learning the Lore little by little, that it might be unwise to enshrine Heimdall and Loki together, as someone might do, considering them major players among the Aesir. I don't know how often that might happen, but it goes back to convos we've had here about making sure that deities who are enshrined together get along, same pantheon or not.