| Paganism |
| I can't help but feel as though I am a servant of the dark and pestilant gods. It's a side effect of my upbringing and the fact that I was brainwashed once to think that the life I live is moving me inevitably toward Hell. Darkness flows through my veins. There is so much pain and suffering in the world and I cannot help but see the hands of the dark gods in everything that transpires. Following are the basic portfolios and some brief thoughts on the darker aspects of the pagan pantheons. I have deliberately left out the daemonic heiarchies because they are detailed in greater detail on my Diablerie page.
Most pantheons, notably the Greek and Roman, exhibit deities that are remarkably human and subject to the occasional act of selfishness and baseness. There are always a few, however, whose characters are twisted and malformed, those who are consumed by the godly power that they exhibit. Like the insane uncle locked in the attic, they are rarely talked about. Their names were frequently evoked to ward off misfortune, if they were said at all. For some, the name leaving human lips was believed to draw unwanted attention (Hades kept up with what was going on with the surface folk by people invoking or cursing his name). |
| Hel- (Norse)
Erishkigal- (Babylonian) Nyx- (Greek) The Goddess of Night and Darkness. Erebus - (Greek) Thanatos - (Greek) Morpheus- (Greek) Le petite morte Eris & Co. (Greek) Nemesis - (Greek) Fates: Chlotho, Lachesis, Atropos - (Greek) XAOS - (Greek/Roman) Furies - (Greek) See the Orestia Kali - (Hindu) Cthulhu et al. (Lovecraftian) Typhon/Set - (Greek/Egyptian) Loki (Norse) Trivia- (Roman) |
| I am beginning to fully embrace my mystical leanings. I will never fully subscribe to any religious tenets, but it seems to me that with all the redefining of the concept of God going around that I should put forth my ideas. My concepts of the Divine are naturally unconventional. They are also inconsistent and prone to change at any given moment. I understand that the deities aren't actual entities but rather primal forces. Thus, Aphrodite isn't actually a woman who just showed up nude on a beach one day in a giant seashell. She is, though, the personification of the force of attraction between two people. Paganism is capable of capturing the imagination far better than a monotheistic system. Botticelli's pagan paintings were far superior, in my opinion, to his Christian paintings. The forms, ths stories, and the superpowers of the gods alone make it far more fun to study. Perhaps that's why I am far more like to say a prayer to Tyche or make a gesture to Apollo than I am to show any obeisence to the Christian Jehovah. Paganism is a looser structure, and the gods act more like humans, than any of the monotheistic religions, even though one has a god that actually was human! Following is some information that I have found while exploring my mysticism. These are the gods that I feel the biggest connection with (from all pantheons) and some interesting tidbits about the ancient way of looking at the cosmos, which I have unconsciously been reconstructing on my own. |
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| The Roman patron god of gardens, viniculture, sailors and fishermen. He is portrayed wearing a long dress that leaves the genitals uncovered. The Romans placed a satyr-like statue of him, painted red and with an enormous phallus, in gardens as some kind of scarecrow, but also to ensure fruitfulness. The fruits of the fields, honey and milk were offered to him, and occasionally donkeys. He was fairly popular and in his honor the Priapea was written--a collection of 85 perfectly written poems, sometimes funny but usually obscene. |
| He was the Greek god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He invented wine and spread the art of tending grapes. He has a dual nature. On the one hand bringing joy and devine ecstasy. On the other brutal, unthinking, rage. Thus, reflecting both sides of wines nature. If he choses Dionysus can drive a man mad. No normal fetters can hold him or his followers. |
| The Norse god of poetry, light, innocence, and peace. He was murdered by his blind brother who was tricked by Loki into using the only type of weapon that could kill him. Just goes to show you that the beautiful things in life are destroyed in a moment of pique by some uncaring jealous monster. He will supposedly be resurrected after Ragnarok to help the world rebuild. |
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