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yet another pantheon question

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    yet another pantheon question

    I'm confused and I could use some guidance. I come from Buddhism to Wicca/pagan. I'm having a hard time choosing my pantheon. I see that many worship many dieties from different pantheons. does it not offend dieties from one pantheon when you worship a diety from another? and if you worship dieties from multiple pantheons does this imply that all gods are valid? would the ancient Greeks have prayed to the Norse God's?

    #2
    Re: yet another pantheon question

    Originally posted by Randolf View Post
    I see that many worship many dieties from different pantheons. does it not offend dieties from one pantheon when you worship a diety from another? and if you worship dieties from multiple pantheons does this imply that all gods are valid?
    Keep in mind that you don't need to choose a pantheon right away, or even ever, so don't feel pressured to rush into it.

    I worship two deities from different pantheons, and if either is offended by my worship of the other, they've never shown that. However, I think that's one of those things which can vary from person to person, also depending on which individual deities we're speaking of. I think it's also important to keep in mind that just because two deities come from the same pantheon, it doesn't mean they'll always get along, either. There can be more to consider than just what pantheon they might be a part of.

    As for the validity? Depends on who you ask, but most polytheistic pagans seem to lead to the idea that, yeah, they're all valid, they all exist. I have not met many pagans who believe their pantheon is the only one that actually exists. Often there are two views... hard polytheists who believe that all these deities exist as their own separate entities, and soft polytheists who take an 'all are one' approach, where any deities one may worship are manifestations of the same single divine. (If you're familiar with Hinduism at all, they have a similar concept.) Paganism is a really broad term which covers a ton of different traditions, and so there are lots of different ways pagans view deities.

    would the ancient Greeks have prayed to the Norse God's?
    The ancient Greeks often equated deities from other pantheons to their own deities. Ancient Egyptians sometimes did the same, as did other cultures. Worship of some deities spread through many cultures - Isis being a good example. She was originally an Egyptian deity who's worship spread to many places, had many temples built dedicated to her (including some in Greece). Deities were often adopted into a pantheon from another in ancient times. Usually the local culture would put some of their own symbols, ideas, and so on to the adopted deity as well.
    Hearth and Hedge

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      #3
      Re: yet another pantheon question

      Adding to what Gardenia said, one might argue that much of the Catholic concept of The Virgin Mary is based on Isis...

      Have you considered asking The Divine/Universe/Gods/etc. if there is a god or gods interested in you? Often devotion starts with them finding you, rather then picking ones you think would suit you... The results are often deities you wouldn't expect or consider.
      Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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        #4
        Re: yet another pantheon question

        Originally posted by Randolf View Post
        I'm confused and I could use some guidance. I come from Buddhism to Wicca/pagan. I'm having a hard time choosing my pantheon. I see that many worship many dieties from different pantheons. does it not offend dieties from one pantheon when you worship a diety from another? and if you worship dieties from multiple pantheons does this imply that all gods are valid? would the ancient Greeks have prayed to the Norse God's?
        For starters, one doesn't necessarily need to find a particular pantheon. And not right away.

        Secondly, we aren't the ancient Greeks. Or the ancient Norse. We are modern people. Unless you're attempting a deliberate reconstruction of an ancient religion, practising one's worship of the gods will invariably be different from the ways the ancients did. So that shouldn't be too much of a concern. Though to more formally answer your question--the Greeks and many ancient cultures could be very syncretic about religion. There's a lot of evidence that some of the most "classically Greek" gods were worshipped by local tribes or neighbouring regions, and the Greeks absorbed their cults into a broader mythology.

        Third, most Neopagans accept that all gods are valid and beings that exist. It varies from person to person, of course; but mostly, yeah, the gods are all seen as equally valid. If it offends them to be worshipped alongside gods of another culture...that's also pretty much on a case-by-case basis. Some are, some aren't. Most don't really seem to be, though. I suppose it depends on the context in which they're worshipped.
        The thing to remember is that the gods are not necessarily equivalent to the culture that worshipped them. A Greek deity is a simply a deity that was worshipped by the Greek people.

        Originally posted by Dez View Post
        Adding to what Gardenia said, one might argue that much of the Catholic concept of The Virgin Mary is based on Isis...
        Not really. The conception of Mary as simultaneously Queen of Heaven and Mother of God is a uniquely Judaic idea. In ancient Israel, it was the mother of the king that was considered the Queen, rather than any of his wives and concubines. Marian theology just took that idea and applied it to Jesus as the messiah--which makes sense given late Second Temple Judaism's obsession with messianic kingship. It's "pagan", I guess, insomuch as it's linked to an ancient ethnic religion; it's just that religion happened to be monotheistic Judaism. Not really anything to do with ancient Egypt.
        Last edited by Louisvillian; 30 Jan 2013, 00:05.

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