Marie

I think I was meant to be back in this space and back in these shoes. I have reclaimed a thousand pieces of myself in a thousand ways, but coming back to this specific space, carrying this specific name, letting myself be vulnerable in ways I wouldn't have before. I think I was meant to reconnect with people who remind me of who I used to be and how deeply spiritual my practice used to be.

"Whether used to charm, seduce, confuse, teach, or transcend, music represents the raw, emotional force of creation. It disturbs, heals, transforms, and liberates. It is at once divine structure and dangerous freedom."

This is all very genuine and comes from a genuine place of curiosity!!!! I have a few questions for pagans :)

In Hellenic Polytheism, there's no religious text like a Bible or Torah. Scholars and Academics have put in a lot of work and hours to provide a broad understanding of what actual ancient practice looked like, but all modern Hellenic Polytheism practice a reconstructed version, where the gaps are filled in according to personal preference, and chosen cultic traditions.

And idk, from my personal viewpoint, people don't have to love you or have very close relationships with you to help you with something. Sometimes they do it as a small act of kindness.

So much of my troubles have come from trying to force a sense of normalcy in abnormal situations. The average person isn't experiencing a deep spiritual connection with nature, or communicating with the spirits that inhabit it, or hearing the gods that surround us.

When you reach a certain point in your journey with the gods/spirits there is no normal. Not many people will be able to relate to you because they aren't as invested in their craft/relationships as you. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's okay to have a weird/hard to explain relationship with magic and spirits/gods.

I've been thinking about this lately too, because my practice is sort of hard to classify and doesn't fit very well into any one group, and a lot of my views & opinions are very different from what seems to be mainstream. and part of me definitely wishes that I could relate more to the community at large, but at the same time I love what my practice has become and I value the process of building it piece by piece in my own way. I'm sure it seems strange or difficult to parse for a lot of folks, but I don't expect (or want) most people to have every detail of the knowledge, experience, and values that led me here. I still try to share it, the parts of it I'm able to, because I think it's helpful to get an outside perspective - if only in the sense that knowing what I filter, translate, or omit in public generally points to the things I should be paying most attention to.

I think fear of receiving doubt or pushback prevents a lot of us from sharing, but facing that discomfort can be beneficial, too.

So much of my troubles have come from trying to force a sense of normalcy in abnormal situations. The average person isn't experiencing a deep spiritual connection with nature, or communicating with the spirits that inhabit it, or hearing the gods that surround us.

When you reach a certain point in your journey with the gods/spirits there is no normal. Not many people will be able to relate to you because they aren't as invested in their craft/relationships as you. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's okay to have a weird/hard to explain relationship with magic and spirits/gods.

I've been thinking about this lately too, because my practice is sort of hard to classify and doesn't fit very well into any one group, and a lot of my views & opinions are very different from what seems to be mainstream. and part of me definitely wishes that I could relate more to the community at large, but at the same time I love what my practice has become and I value the process of building it piece by piece in my own way. I'm sure it seems strange or difficult to parse for a lot of folks, but I don't expect (or want) most people to have every detail of the knowledge, experience, and values that led me here. I still try to share it, the parts of it I'm able to, because I think it's helpful to get an outside perspective - if only in the sense that knowing what I filter, translate, or omit in public generally points to the things I should be paying most attention to.

I think fear of receiving doubt or pushback prevents a lot of us from sharing, but facing that discomfort can be beneficial, too.

So much of my troubles have come from trying to force a sense of normalcy in abnormal situations. The average person isn't experiencing a deep spiritual connection with nature, or communicating with the spirits that inhabit it, or hearing the gods that surround us.

When you reach a certain point in your journey with the gods/spirits there is no normal. Not many people will be able to relate to you because they aren't as invested in their craft/relationships as you. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's okay to have a weird/hard to explain relationship with magic and spirits/gods.

So much of my troubles have come from trying to force a sense of normalcy in abnormal situations. The average person isn't experiencing a deep spiritual connection with nature, or communicating with the spirits that inhabit it, or hearing the gods that surround us.

When you reach a certain point in your journey with the gods/spirits there is no normal. Not many people will be able to relate to you because they aren't as invested in their craft/relationships as you. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's okay to have a weird/hard to explain relationship with magic and spirits/gods.