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    I really just have a question

    About 3 years ago I joined a class, to learn about wicca. One thing that confused me about it, was that they worshipped gods and goddesses from different cultures, norse, greek, roman, etc. but that didn't make sense to me.... I'm big on history, but you don't have to be to know that civilizations with different religions or gods did not get along. Because of those differences. If the vikings met the ancient romans, there would probably be a war over it. I personally identify with Scandinavian religion than any other. But, do others do that? Worship deities from different cultures? Please no rude comments, it's really been bugging me.

    #2
    Re: I really just have a question

    Ultimately this tends to be a question left to personal preference by most of the neo-pagan communities. Some individuals have no problem, and see no issue, in worshiping and revering Gods and Goddesses from other cultures, and 'mixing pantheons' as they please, while other individuals and groups frown on such behaviours, and others are apathetic to the issue. Particularly in Wicca, to my understanding of the religion as an outsider to it, typically sees these different Gods and Goddesses as simply manifestations of archetypes within the God and Goddess. As a result, there really is not a difference between the Gods and Goddesses of different cultures, to the extent that they all represent the God and Goddess just in separate forms. That being said, there really is no universal teaching regarding such matters within most neo-pagan religions and practices.

    On the topic of wars between ancient pagan religions, while I cannot say with any proper certainty that they never happened, I can say that the idea of borrowing deities from other religions is not unheard of throughout history. For example, as the Roman and Gaulish peoples began to intertwine, by acculturation so too did some of their religious beliefs and practices. The most well-known being the Goddess Epona who, while being a Celtic deity, was worshiped in Rome for a time. In addition, it has been my understanding that the pre-christian religions were typically far more tolerant of each other.

    Ultimately your decision on the topic will lie with your own personal beliefs on the subject, as well as what religious group or tradition you affiliate yourself with, and what it believes, if anything, on the subject. Personally I try as much as I can to avoid mixing pantheons, and find the idea of doing so to be rather improper, but as previously stated in regards to this subject this is merely my opinion on the matter of religious practice. ^-^;

    Hope I helped! :3

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      #3
      Re: I really just have a question

      Originally posted by iheartpibbles0216 View Post
      Worship deities from different cultures? Please no rude comments, it's really been bugging me.
      Wicca developed right around when Neopaganism as an idea was taking off; it has a lot of eclectic background, even in its more traditionalist format. It borrows elements from other religions and cultures because it was intended to be a generalist "pagan" religion. Part of the idea laying behind the "Witch Cult" hypothesis is that pre-Christian religion became distilled over time in order to survive underground. It's inaccurate, but it was an important part of its ethos.

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        #4
        Re: I really just have a question

        Well, the Romans were huge god borrowers. Not just from the Celts, but also from everyone--there was a cult of Cybele, of Isis, of Mithras, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

        With that being said, yes, plenty of people worship deities about more than one culture, not just Wiccans (and not all Wiccans, for that matter).

        Wicca is traditionally duothestic. But this duotheism comes in different flavors--1) all gods are emanations or aspects of *the* god and all goddesses are the same for *the* goddess, 2) the god and the goddess are twin aspects of a single divinity, which may or may not be pantheistic/panentheistic in nature, or 3) that a god and goddess as individual deities to be representative of the god and goddess. This might mean that a Wiccan worships Isis and Osiris in one ritual, and Zeus and Hera in the next OR it might mean that a Wiccan always worships Herne and Diana OR that a Wiccan will worship the god and goddess using the names of whatever deities they feel compelled to use "Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names" (from the Charge of the Goddess).

        I worship mostly aquatic deities. Some of them are Greek, one is Vodou, one is Inuit, and one is from a modern fantasy novel (I'm not Wiccan)...plus there are some (non aquatic Roman and Etruscan gods rolling around in there) Since I don't believe that the gods are autonomously acting literal and discrete entities, I see no conflict in this at all.
        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
        sigpic

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          #5
          Re: I really just have a question

          Originally posted by LunarHarvest View Post
          Ultimately this tends to be a question left to personal preference by most of the neo-pagan communities. Some individuals have no problem, and see no issue, in worshiping and revering Gods and Goddesses from other cultures, and 'mixing pantheons' as they please, while other individuals and groups frown on such behaviours, and others are apathetic to the issue. Particularly in Wicca, to my understanding of the religion as an outsider to it, typically sees these different Gods and Goddesses as simply manifestations of archetypes within the God and Goddess. As a result, there really is not a difference between the Gods and Goddesses of different cultures, to the extent that they all represent the God and Goddess just in separate forms. That being said, there really is no universal teaching regarding such matters within most neo-pagan religions and practices.

          On the topic of wars between ancient pagan religions, while I cannot say with any proper certainty that they never happened, I can say that the idea of borrowing deities from other religions is not unheard of throughout history. For example, as the Roman and Gaulish peoples began to intertwine, by acculturation so too did some of their religious beliefs and practices. The most well-known being the Goddess Epona who, while being a Celtic deity, was worshiped in Rome for a time. In addition, it has been my understanding that the pre-christian religions were typically far more tolerant of each other.

          Ultimately your decision on the topic will lie with your own personal beliefs on the subject, as well as what religious group or tradition you affiliate yourself with, and what it believes, if anything, on the subject. Personally I try as much as I can to avoid mixing pantheons, and find the idea of doing so to be rather improper, but as previously stated in regards to this subject this is merely my opinion on the matter of religious practice. ^-^;

          Hope I helped! :3
          Yes! Thank you, I understand it a lot better now!

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