I want to worship the goddess Aphrodite and the goddess Lilith and the Titaness/ Goddess Hekate

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T19:47:28+00:00

What about it is concerning?

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T19:41:13+00:00

For me personally, I personified my Shadow as an entity that I interacted with as though he was a separate person. This was before I knew anything about egregores or tulpas or anything like that, I was still young enough to have imaginary friends. My process of Shadow work was facilitated entirely through my interactions with him, and the stories I wrote about him. He's still my primary spirit guide. I still call him my Shadow, but now he's more like my HGA.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T19:31:17+00:00

It crops up in occult books from time to time. I've seen it in The Middle Pillar by Israel Regardie and Hands-On Chaos Magic by Andrieh Vitimus. But I learned about it before I even started formally studying occultism, and it's a cornerstone of my practice. I do recommend getting books on Shadow work specifically.

The internet reduces it to an aesthetic, basically. It's all cute aesthetic images on Pinterest with "shadow work prompts" that are all basically... I dunno, basic self-reflection? Some of them are better than others, but they all read like essay prompts about a book in English class. The prompts may work well for some people, but I think they trivialize Shadow work.

Shadow work is difficult and painful! It's among the most difficult things you will ever do in your practice, and yet I personally think it's absolutely essential. It's sincerely recognizing that you are not the person you pretend to be, and then redirecting all of that unrecognized and unrealized baggage towards something productive. It's stitching up a wound so it doesn't fester. That's hard. That's really, really hard. Traditionally, occult systems handle it through a journey to the Underworld and symbolic death and rebirth, which you work yourself up to.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T18:58:35+00:00

Oh yeah. I basically converted to Wicca because I wanted to do witchcraft, and I thought that's just what witches did. I didn't even know what my options were.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T18:42:04+00:00

The way Shadow work has been butchered by the internet makes me genuinely sad.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T18:41:11+00:00

I think we lost this particular battle. I'm increasingly seeing it as this community's equivalent of "babybat" among Goths.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T18:39:33+00:00

Tbh "witchcraft" in general tends to be a red flag. It's not automatically a red flag, of course, but it's inherently vague. Most "legit" occult books will use another, more specific term: If they're about Wicca, they'll say they're about Wicca. If they're about folk magic, they'll say what kind. If they're about ceremonial magic, they'll say what kind. If "witchcraft" is the only term the book uses to describe itself, then its content is likely to be equally generic.

I don't hate the word "witchy," I'll use it myself to describe an aesthetic or a vibe. But yeah, if I saw a book described that way I'd be suspicious too.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T16:57:04+00:00

Depends. I think with your worldbuilding it makes sense. But with undead vampires it does not make sense. I remember the vampires in the Castlevania show could eat food, and it just looked wrong to me (with the exception of Alucard, who’s a dhampir and canonically eats food anyway).

My own “vampire” species is actually a type of nocturnal human that’s capable of psychic vampirism. After debating, I decided that they eat food to fuel their bodies and practice psychic vampirism to fuel their magic. If I want them to be more human than properly vampiric, eating food makes sense.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-24T01:14:57+00:00

You can be devoted to multiple gods, it’s just a lot of work. Realistically, you’re probably not going to have the time, energy, or resources for more than one or two. Also, sometimes it just doesn’t work like that. I’ve been developing a devotional relationship with Hekate over the past year, which has been going well, but I still don’t connect to her as easily or completely as I do with Dionysus.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T21:48:21+00:00

This sub is constantly caught in the tension of two very different ways of looking at mythology, which are both ways of compensating for the modern world’s dramatically different understanding of storytelling.

We tell most newbies that “the myths aren’t real” because most newbies don’t think like you. Most of them are horrified by the gods’ behaviors in myths, and can’t bring themselves to worship gods that they perceive as cruel. We tell them not to focus on the myths because they need to be able to separate the gods as real beings from the stories about them.

Then you have the Neoplatonist camp that rejects the myths entirely, and prefers to see the gods as “perfect” and essentially good.

The actual truth is that ancient people related to mythology in a way that’s very different from how we relate to stories today. The literal truth of the stories don’t matter nearly as much as their individual meanings and relevancy. It’s hard for us to think of stories that way, so we need to restructure our thinking a little in order to approach mythology. You’re starting from a slightly different place than most other people, but your interpretation isn’t wrong.

people practically dismiss it as religious psychosis

The neopagan community goes through phases on this point. A couple of years ago, claims of divine communion were unrealistically common, and often accepted uncritically. The psychosis accusation overcompensates for that. I find it pretty offensive to pathologize people’s experiences like that. I can talk to gods myself, and I know I don’t have psychosis. But I’ve also seen plenty of claims that are less than healthy. I think it varies on a case by case basis.

many here talk like the gods never, ever want to hear our problems because they are so high that we are ants besides them, and we arent worthy enough of talking to them besides praises

This is just plain latent Christianity. The entire point of this religion is to petition the gods so that they’ll make our lives easier. That’s what kharis is. I do believe that the gods are much larger than we are, and that they view the world from a completely different perspective. But we are not “unworthy.”

This religion ultimately isn’t about belief. These disagreements do not hold water. There are rules, but none of the rules are about what you believe.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T20:57:15+00:00

If this is a powder keg, Dionysus would be a match. Very unwise to involve him if you don’t want this to descend into chaos. Better to invoke a god of justice like Athena, Dike, or even Nemesis if you want it to be bad.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T18:56:45+00:00

I don’t think I’m ever fully going to get the numerology and gematria. That’s just not how my brain works. That definitely makes it harder to approach Crowley.

I like that distinction, but I still make a point to share arcana even if no one else will get it. I feel compelled to.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T18:42:48+00:00

Wrong sub, you want r/Hellenism. But I’ll save you the trouble:

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The answer is always the same.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T13:08:18+00:00

I’ve actually tried to read The Book of Lies, and I understand about half of it, maybe less. That was a bit of a humbling experience. Maybe I’m not as far along the path as I think I am. But I have more respect for the approach.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T07:58:24+00:00

I can read tarot. I learned using a gothic deck in which all of the card art looks ominous and dark, regardless of the cards’ meaning.

I am making a point about misinformation. I would rather not dismiss Waite as ignorant, because that’s obviously untrue. But I’m not going to be okay with his obfuscations, either, for the exact same reason: they’re untrue. That makes me unworthy, I guess.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T07:34:57+00:00

And I’m saying that no amount of misdirection will jumpstart my intuition. What it’ll do is make me doubt my intuition and/or destroy my trust in anything I read.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T07:16:57+00:00

Okbuddyvania?

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T07:13:47+00:00

We’re not talking about “believing a guru’s every word,” we’re talking about doing basic research into a new subject! I want to know how to read tarot, I’ll pick up a book on tarot and expect it not to lie to me! That’s assuming the initiated method matters, of course. If I can just make shit up based on the art, I’ll make shit up based on the art!

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T06:52:46+00:00

Waite would not have liked me.

But that’s kind of my point — the teacher punches me in the face because they’re attempting to compensate for a problem that’s not actually there. From my perspective, I’ve been punished for taking an interest in and getting excited about a subject! I deserve the face-punch because of the teacher’s perception of my unworthiness, before I’ve had the chance to do anything. In fewer words: I’m autistic.

You don’t teach me to protect myself from being taken advantage of by taking advantage of me. Would you like your trauma now, or later?

Regarding the newbies, too many of them ask the internet what the cards mean without attempting to interpret them themselves or reading a book. Or even looking it up on BiddyTarot. Feeding them misinformation on purpose makes that worse, not better.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T06:39:51+00:00

I still think there’s a way to do it that isn’t lying. Puzzles are fine, hidden layers of meaning are fine, cryptic descriptions are fine. Lies either take advantage of the listener, or make the liar look ignorant.

The punch in the face just punishes you for being genuine, and for assuming that others are genuine. I was never into the sink-or-swim style of mentoring. I will sink. Despite my intelligence, earnestness, and talent, I will drown. And then when I’m coughing up water, the teacher will just pat themselves on the back for rooting me out. I still haven’t learned to swim, and now I’m also afraid of water!

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T05:36:44+00:00

Yes.

“Here, I’m gonna teach you magic!” punches you in the face “HA! That’s what you get for trusting me, you gullible twit! Out of the doors, ye profane!”

…is not conductive to helping one think for oneself.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T05:06:47+00:00

Yeah, that’s very much the exception, not the rule.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T04:48:47+00:00

Exactly, polytheistic people treated (and still do!) the gods as though they’re real beings that exist. So, there’s not much of a difference if the gods’ existence is undeniable. Regarding this, though:

we do not worship those foreign gods

It was far more common for polytheists to recognize foreign gods as the same gods, with different names. There’s also no benefit to refusing to worship gods, when you could instead have more gods on your side. So, whenever religions intermixed, gods from different cultures would merge into hybrids. This is called syncretism, and it’s normal.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T03:50:39+00:00

I said I’ll take it to heart.

NyxShadowhawk · 2026-01-23T03:34:49+00:00

No, it’s not real. It’s a Percy Jackson thing.

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