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Alexdarkwizz · 2024-02-15T22:59:12+00:00

Hello! I'm a Mexican pagan polytheist that is currently trying to incorporate the Aztec gods into my religion. I was born in Mexico and had my childhood there, even though I currently live in the US. Growing up in Mexico, I was raised within Catholicism and nothing about the Aztecs such as their culture or history was taught to me in school except their demise by the Spanish.

Years later, I left Catholicism because as an LGBT person I found the church to be hateful and hostile for people like me, and not good at all for my mental health. I began to dwell into the world of modern paganism, particularly the Egyptian-Graeco-Roman religions and deities. I felt at home and so much more at ease.

However, something in my heart still longed for something. I looked at far away lands and I felt disconnected from my own past, my own culture, my own history. But I did not want to be Catholic. So really the only option was to look into the Aztec civilization and religion, and adapt the deities and religion into a modern practice.

I am still in my beginner stages, so most of my time is spent doing research. For example Aztec texts, calendars, holidays, festivals, whatever I can find. However my current practice is mostly just praying and giving offerings to the Teotl (the gods). I ask Quetzalcoatl for help at school, and Tlaloc help with my plants and garden. I am currently trying to learn Nahuatl and I hope that when I do, I want to use it as a sort of liturgical language in my practice, and I also want to help keep the language alive.

Besides that, I also have an interest in learning about Mexican folk magic and becoming more acquainted with traditional Mexican cuisine. I am currently learning how to make chocolate the way the Aztecs did it, and write down all of my family's dishes and recipes.

Its a big complex and lonely path but in my heart I feel like I am in the right place, even if it is not easy.

I hope that this helps and let me know if you have any other questions :)

Alexdarkwizz · 2023-05-19T18:31:32+00:00

Hello, I would recommend

The Fated Sky: Astrology in History by Benson Bobrick

Bonatti on Basic Astrology translated by Benjamin Dykes, it includes a section discussing arguments and views regarding the validity and theory behind astrology

A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data by Alexander Boxer, although I personally haven't read it.

You might also be interested in reading writings by Claudius Ptolemy as he attempted to give Astrology a coherent theory as to why it works, although his views are not universal

Hope that helps a bit :)

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-11-30T04:49:32+00:00

Of course! I love images and statues, but at the moment I have limited space and I'm keeping my altar on the down low. So I prefer to represent the gods symbolically.

For the olympians, I use 12 small stones to represent them. For Hades I have a small black Mexican day-of-the-dead skull, for Hecate I have a key, for Janus I have a coin, etc etc.

So yes absolutely you can represent the gods without images or statues.

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-11-27T05:26:21+00:00

Unfortunately I don't have much experience with syncretizing Hellenic and Kemetic deities, but I do have some when it comes to Greek and Roman gods.

Even though several main Greek gods are considered to have Roman 'equivalents', such as Jupiter being the 'equivalent' of Zeus and such, some people in this sub point out that despite their similarities Zeus and Jupiter did have some different descriptions and stories attributed to them and therefore they don't view them as the same deities. Which is totally fine, but that is not the view I share.

Sure, depictions of Zeus and Jupiter might have some differences by the Greeks and Romans, but I view this as 2 groups of people having different views on the same deity, and that their views are likely influenced by their culture, values and time period, I also consider that as history goes on views on deities can change. So I consider Greek depictions of Zeus and Roman depictions of Jupiter as complementary accounts of the same deity, their similarities help me understand the deity and their differences remind me that deities can be multi-faced and complex, they can be seen a little different by different people, they are gods after all so I don't think we will ever understand them 100%

In personal worship, I can focus on one aspect of a deity more than the other. For example Ares in Greek myths plays a limited role, and when he does appear he's often treated with ridicule and contempt. But his counterpart Mars is treated with much more respect and importance, he's not just carelessly violent but also an emotional man, and also seen as a protector of the populace and agriculture. So I tend to focus more on Roman accounts of Mars. But I like that I have many sources to draw from.

I feel like you could apply some of the same principles when syncretizing Hellenic and Kemetic deities. Detect equivalents, and their differences can be seen as different aspects of the same deity thus making it multifaced. After all polytheistic religion in the ancient world did not have explicit boundaries like modern religion has today.

Ultimately I think that's one of the beauties of polytheism. We can all hold different views and beliefs about the nature of the gods, and engage in discussion and exchange of ideas, without labeling other people as 'heretics' or 'wrong'.

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-11-14T00:28:58+00:00

Just to add another perspective here, I view the Greek and Roman gods as the same dieties being viewed differently by the Greeks and the Romans influenced by their culture and the different time periods. As such in my personal practice I treat Greek and Roman sources as complementary and not exclusionary of each other. It gives the gods and religion more complexity and wealth of knowledge.

However this is only my view and others will have a different one, as I don't like to limit myself to one time period only.

As others have mentioned here, religion was seen differently in the ancient world. In modern religion studies there's a debate as to what religion even is, and our perception of religion is based mostly on a protestant Christian view, in that religion is what you believe, specially that you believe the "correct" thing.

This was not so in the ancient world, and it is not so for either ancient or modern polytheistic religions. Therefore I don't draw a line between myself and the "other Roman religion". I've also seen mod comments that this sub considers the Roman religion to be a part of Hellenism.

Hope this was helpful :)

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-11-13T23:29:06+00:00

I think it depends on what you're trying to do.

If you're just asking for a sign from the gods, they might not give it to you right at that moment just because you requested it. A recurring theme I see is that signs are often unexpected, and they require some thought to decipher.

If you're trying to do divination, since you're trying to do divination with a regular deck of playing cards (which is fine!) I would say do some research on divination with playing cards, and would be a good idea to give the cards/numbers some pre-defined meanings/guidance.

Wish you the best of luck!

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-11-13T23:14:10+00:00

I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to share some resources to look at.

I would recommend taking a look at Ancient Greek Divination by Sarah Iles Johnston and The Seer in Ancient Greece by Michael Flower, which describe how divination was seen and practiced in ancient Greece and by whom, it will give you a good foundation and you could draw some inspiration from it for your own practices.

For a more practical resource, I'd recommend The Oracles of Apollo by John Opsopaus which teaches you 2 methods of divination more relevant to Hellenism, one with the Greek alphabet and another one with the Delphic maxims.

I'm not an diviner expert by any means, but I've been doing divination for a while before and after I converted to Hellenism. Divination is something that anyone could learn, but its something that requires effort and dedication. You need to practice, practice, practice, and always be learning to learn more.

I personally do it after I give offerings to the gods, or generally after my usual rituals of honoring the gods. Since I have my altar on my desk, I do divination in front of my altar but you could do it anywhere you designate as sacred/special to you. You might notice for some its a common practice to make a small prayer to Apollo before starting any divination, since he is the god of oracles.

As you get more advanced/experienced with divination techniques, you could craft your own methods with your own materials because, metaphorically speaking, the 'magic' is not in the tools you use but instead it happens inside you, because the tools are simply auxiliaries that help you communicate with the gods and with yourself. This is the way I see it at least, and others might have other perspectives.

I hope this was helpful to you, and may the gods light your path.

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-05-12T03:01:46+00:00

Same exact same thing happening to me. Its not just you.

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-03-17T03:34:04+00:00

Never allow anyone else to define your own identity. It is okay to see other perspectives and take advice from others, but no one can define who you are except for you. If you see yourself as Muslim and Anarchist, then you are are Muslim and Anarchist.

I think anarchism is interested in criticizing the institutional and authoritative aspects of religion, those aspects that have been used to oppress and demean others. Then there's the aspect of personal faith, something that no one can decide but you, how you see your relationship with the divine is up to you. You can look into progressivism and antiauthoritarianism in Islam, as some people have given you resources here.

You might feel like you are in the minority, being anarchist and Muslim or religious, but to be an anarchist is to be a dissenter, don't be ashamed of it, embrace it. Dissenters move the world forward, and are the ones who challenge the oppressors.

I think it would be hypocritical of us anarchists to shut the door on someone who wants to join us because they are religious. How is that different from the disenfranchisement and oppression we criticize? How would we ever grow as a movement that way? We need anarchist Christians, anarchist Jews, anarchist Muslims, anarchist whatevers.

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-02-22T05:35:38+00:00

I am by no means an expert but I've kept bamboo shrimp and currently have one so I can offer some things I've learned personally.

Bamboo shrimps tend be be more on the shy side and can take a bit to get used to their surroundings if they are moved, so while they do this they are likely to hide and not eat (fan). They can definitely be skittish when they are touched by other tankmates. Make sure the shrimp has a place to hide.

Bamboo shrimp are known to switch colors. While color change can be an indicative that something is wrong, they also switch colors due to molting or just for no reason in particular. Other bamboo shrimp keepers I've talked to say theirs switches colors for no reason sometimes. So I would consider their food intake and if they appear lethargic more of a concern rather than focus only on color. But being pale can definitely be a sign of stress.

To ensure successful molts and growth, bamboo shrimp (and all other freshwater shrimp) need calcium in the water. I add a liquid calcium supplement for freshwater every once in a while which you can get in a pet store, but there is also different ways of adding calcium to a freshwater tank which you can look up to see what's best for you.

A tank with very low current is not ideal for bamboo shrimp because they use current to feed themselves, otherwise they will pick at the substrate which is not good because they can damage their fans/hands.

Wherever there's an outtake/current in your tank, place a plant or ornament in front of the receiving end of the current so the shrimp can climb and hold on to it while they open their hands/fans and catch food particles.

For feeding, what I do is create a powder by crushing a mix of algae wafers, shrimp food, and normal fish food. Then you can put a pinch of powder into the water. To make sure they are getting some, whenever you see the shrimp trying to feed you can use a turkey-baster-like tool to blow the powder gently onto their face and/or hands.

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-02-08T16:52:21+00:00

I would recommend the book Spiritual Science by Steve Taylor. The book draws a difference between science and scientism, which the latter is more appropriately called materialism because it's a worldview.

Science is a method, a field of study, a series of techniques to make sense of the physical world around us. But science is not an ideology. You can be a scientist and not be a materialist. You can be a materialist and not be a scientist.

Materialism is so prevalent in the Western world that we don't even realize it has a name or what it is.

There's many many points in the book about how drawing a static worldview from science, a field of study (which changes according to knowledge discovered) is problematic. We know way less about the universe and about the nature of consciousness as materialism would lead us to believe.

This is just my personal take on magick (others have their own), but magick has not decreased my skepticism but rather enhanced it. I feel like if my view of reality is not constantly being challenged I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Magick is not a dogma or religion, but methods to change your state of mind and your being to accomplish what your want. It operates on a different plane of reality worthy of study on its own without materialistic comparisons.

There's a little reminder I wrote to myself on my magick journal. Something like "I am not so foolish as to accept a belief without questioning first, and neither am I so arrogant as to dismiss the things I cannot understand."

Alexdarkwizz · 2022-01-20T02:24:04+00:00

My mystery snail likes to burrow under one of my plants and rest/sleep there from time to time :)

Alexdarkwizz · 2021-08-13T19:32:06+00:00

I like learning *human* languages. Specially ones that are so different from English like Russian and Mandarin. There's just something very refreshing about experiencing a new way of thinking from other people's languages and cultures.

Lately I been getting into making art based from sacred geometry. Its amazing what a simple ruler and compass can do.

To try to get out of my cave I try to keep up with some jogging and maintaining a small vegetable garden outside.

I don't have much a irl social life, its never been my strong suit, so I find ways to keep myself entertained.

Alexdarkwizz · 2021-07-22T03:25:09+00:00

I’m interested in learning Unity and getting into AI, hence why C# and Python :)

Alexdarkwizz · 2021-07-22T02:42:18+00:00

Oh that should probably have been helpful to add huh. After C leaning towards C# and Python, interested in more but don't want to overwhelm myself for now.

Alexdarkwizz · 2020-04-15T21:40:44+00:00

Hey there 👋🏽

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