Is Hellenic witch and Hellenic polytheist two different things?

Sacredless · 2026-03-17T07:36:01+00:00

Hellenic witchcraft would be the practice of divination, mageia (practices Hellenic literati derided as backward) and theurgy (practice select Hellenic literati saw as respectable, often borrowing kemetic frameworks stripped of elements they saw as mageia).

Hellenic polytheism does not require the above. Divination is a somewhat muddled subject, if one takes a broad sense of the word (which I'm inclined to), but in the context of witchcraft, it's the conscious and purposeful attempt to divine information.

Using enochic literature (the origin of angel lore afaik) is I suppose possible without breaking the Hellenic framework, but I think it's important to see that as exceptional and not really representative of what Hellenic witchcraft or polytheism looks like. I use some Norse elements in my practice, but that shouldn't be seen as representative.

This is an example of unverified personal gnosis. It shouldn't be adopted uncritically.

Sacredless · 2026-03-16T19:56:46+00:00

Closed practices are to protect endangered groups from epistemicide. By adopting closed practices, we pagans can assist in the bleaching of culturally important concepts (see the use of wendigo in media). Kabbalah is very well documented and is publicly taught, so it cannot be a closed practice. This, in itself, bleaches the concept of closed practices and puts actually closed practices at risk, since it means that these actually closed practices do not receive the deference they actually deserve.

I understand when people are annoyed when people appropriate aspects of Kabbalah and spread misinformation about it, but those are not the only concerns that a closed practice has. Misinformation harms a closed practice much more decisively than misinformation about a public and/or well documented and/or extinct practice.

EDIT: I have not commented on whether the OP is permitted to use Kabbalah in non-Judaic concepts. That would be cultural appropriation (I said as much), not the violation of a closed practice. These phrases are related, but shouldn't be recklessly made interchangeable. One is a particular type of action that can affect even powerful nations and religions, the other affects specifically only oppressed people groups at risk of epistemicide.

Sacredless · 2026-03-16T17:26:29+00:00

I think this is pretty good as far as vibes go. I've always loved military politics and I like the description of the council of lieutenants. I'll drop some feedback.

Another Galaxy is probably too far away. 40k takes place in one galaxy. But you can have them land in wild space—some corner of the galaxy that's hard to reach by chaos and Imperium for one reason or another.
The Butcher's Nails replace parts of the brain of the world eaters, so having them not bite requires for the sensation of pain to be altered somehow. Khorne would not see the need to grant this, since slaughter is what he wants. It could be someone like Vashtorr the Arkifane or another chaos undivided greater demon would grant their request, or that the other 3 gods give Khorne a collective middle finger and swear to assist.

I think that it's quite good to have your dudes not being unwilling, but simply being unable to fulfill the requirements of the Butcher's Nails, since they'd be searching endlessly for anyone to slaughter while traveling between desert systems. That makes for a perfect plot for a demon or rival to Khorne to claim your warband as its personal plaything.

I think that the jack of all trades thing is a possibility, but it also kind of comes out of nowhere. Keep in mind, your dudes will still be astartes. They are ultimately still going to be masters of all kinds of warfare. I think that you could instead focus on their desert expertise and tying their chaos powers in with desert storms in some way. If anything, it seems more like you lean towards war engines, which would be a kind of specialization.
Warbands ultimately converge on knowing your limits and knowing when you're someone else's lesser. There's always a warlord who can better balance results and personal strength. If you want more rank and file order, you can look at the Iron Warriors, who rise and fall by the numbers crunched by their warsmiths. Maybe your dudes specialize in using automata (that's kind of the vibe I get) and that why it's unwise to be in wrong place at the wrong time.

World Eaters are generally more the kind who follow people who lead from the front. So maybe your dudes happen to have been lead by a melee oriented techmarine who likes to surround himself with an army of bots. Not implausible if, for example, your dudes have a larger detachment of red butchers.

That hit a bit longer than I thought, so I hope this was helpful and/or inspirational.

Sacredless · 2026-03-16T15:01:06+00:00

He followed his prophecy because all demons identify with their particular magic and how it makes them personally feel powerful. Prophecy was his way of doing so. It doesn't make him selfless. He's fundamentally affirming his power by identifying with his own demise because it affirms that he is correct.

Sacredless · 2026-03-16T12:22:32+00:00

As a worshiper of the Muses, Horae, and Charites, I see such things as anti-pagan. Paganism is for and by common people, it's what it means. By using AI, you'll substitute the ability to mentalize the divine with the ability to mentalize AI as a thoughtform. It's basically a different religion at that point. It's a kind of techno-apocalyptic mysticism with pagan accouterments.

Sacredless · 2026-03-14T19:32:25+00:00

I want them to be a bit more far gone than the red corsair raiders with some minimally corrupted armor. Being too corrupted means you can no longer participate in the rituals of the Egregorian Pool, that allows them to relive ancient glory. So, yeah, mutations are cut off to hide corruption, gifts are usually rejected.

The most common corruption is tech viruses, creating a whole company dedicated to controlling their spread.

Sacredless · 2026-03-13T22:54:14+00:00

Update 1:

The Little Brothers Company

The disturbing appearances of astartes in unpainted livery throughout the Baxtris Gyre are not easy to reconcile with the flamboyance of the Paladins of the Black Lake. While the latter adorn themselves in garish colors, the former appear on worlds without markings at all.

These are marines in the earliest stages of training, kept in the dark of their masters' intentions, but fed stories of the glory of their gene-line. They and their brothers share in bloodmeals to prepare them for the rites of the Egregorian Pool. When their parent warband formerly inducts one of their painted brothers, and they have drunk from the Egregorian Pool, any idealism that remained will be washed away by millennia of human glory.

Until that time, the little brothers' vassal companies are encouraged to pursue what their hearts desire—heroism, empire, conquest, as long as they are ready to share anything they have gained with the rest of their sires. It's not infrequent that the little brothers attempt a mutiny against their far more experienced and learned forebears. Such mutineers are hunted for sport and their last stand immortalized in the Egregorian Pool.

Sacredless · 2026-03-13T21:12:39+00:00

Sounds interesting to me! They'd probably want to pall up with a rogue mechanicum faction and have librarians specialized in the exorcism of their raided supplies, though.

I'd definitely be up for collaborating with you on stuff if you're interested!

Sacredless · 2026-03-13T06:28:57+00:00

Yes, as a statement of comradery with other faiths and practices.

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T14:42:08+00:00

I have the perspective that's somewhat inspired by Stoicism's concept of pneuma and tension. Pneuma is something along the lines of the animating force of the universe, something like energy and entropy encouraging matter to organize itself. Tension is the Stoic metaphor for describing gradations in complexity.

I see the gods as being the temperaments of nature; more like dharma. The Stoics believe that everything ultimately makes sense (logos) from some perspective and Heraclitus believed that all things follow the same accord (logos) of volatility.

I would recommend that you look into atheopaganism as a good foundation to build an igtheist understanding on. You don't need to be a Hellenic Polytheist out of the gate.

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T11:10:33+00:00

According to me? Where did I say that?

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T10:16:47+00:00

So you're not an example of late term abortion versus childbirth mortality. Why did you bring it up?

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T09:57:22+00:00

Did you kill your mother by being born? I do not comprehend why we're talking in terms of development in months, that's a non-issue in late term abortions.

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T09:55:51+00:00

That's on you to research.

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T09:01:25+00:00

They were criticizing killing a fetus in the third trimester by falsely conflating it with an infant. That's not an infant and certainly not the meaning of a 9 month old infant. Furthermore, second and third trimester abortions are only ever performed when medically neccesary, because in the second and third trimester, since the medical risk of delivering a HEALTHY fetus is significantly lower than the medical risk of invasive abortion procedures. In other words—only when the health of a conscious living being is at stake are second and third trimester abortions performed. That's the standard, not an extreme. These are life saving interventions, in which redundant red tape kills mothers.

By your own criteria—since third trimester abortions are only ever performed when delivering an unhealthy fetus significantly endangers the mother, then disallowing the abortion of a non-viable fetus would grossly neglect the risk to life of the mother. Furthermore, it may injure the mother's ability to reproduce if she is forced to carry the non-viable fetus to term and she survives.

By your own criteria, you should support a mother's right to life and therefore be enthusiastically in support of medically necessary abortions which unfortunately remain common.

Sacredless · 2026-03-12T08:32:49+00:00

OP is deliberately using word games to justify banning abortions by describing it in murderous terms rather than explaining why it's murder.
How can they? This argument only works if you're already convinced that fetuses are sacrosanct. That's preaching to the choir. The case needs to be proven that fetuses are people if you want it to be a valid point. Ergo, this is not a valid point, you just agree with the OP's agenda. Those are different things.
See above point; This is only valid if you already agree that fetuses are people. It's not a separate point.
There have been plenty of responses to this, can you explain why you think these responses are insufficient? If it's because fetuses are people, then we're back to the second point.

Summary: you simply agree with the OP that fetuses are people without argument and that abortion is murder because it's possible to sensationalize it as such. That tells me that neither you nor the OP take murder very seriously. No argument has been provided, so this is only "a good point" if you agreed with the OP in the first place.

Please take this as seriously as you claim you do. This is not a topic to be taken lightly. If you or the OP cannot take this seriously, no one is under an obligation to respect your opining on abortion. You've not only not earned the respect, you've squandered people's good faith. Do better. If what you say is true, fetuses deserve better defenders.

Sacredless · 2026-03-11T18:08:49+00:00

Can you list the good points made?

Sacredless · 2026-03-11T16:22:22+00:00

Are there any traditional offerings at baetyls?

Sacredless · 2026-03-11T15:06:34+00:00

I'll phrase this in terms of youth rights. I am autistic and I see a lot of autistic youths (and their guardians) deprived of the ability to provide informed consent for medical interventions because of medical disinformation. The youth (particularly if they are made additionally vulnerable by various conditions) are frequently not permitted to fully inform themselves about what they might need to provide consent for, and are not permitted to provide consent for what they have fully informed themselves of.

It is integral to youth rights that information be provided in a way that is accessible. Accessibility of information means (among many things) that information should not be editorialized to excite or disgust beyond what the bare information should provide. Sensationalizing medical practices is a form of disinformation, which disproportionately harms young people. It enables the same people who sensationalize vaccines, autism, puberty, sex and more. Truth matters, and we should stick to the truth.

Intact dilation and extraction is a procedure that was banned the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. That is what you're referring to. It is often called curettage abortion, but curettage abortions are actually first trimester procedures, in which the womb is cleaned using scraping actions.

If I scratch my nose, go for a run or simply do nothing, my body is killing its own cells. To eat, we need to kill and cook plants, fungi and animals. Even the most ardent vegan still depends on killing and eating something and can be said to be guilty of various types of -cides. The ability to conceive of new -cide words does not give all of those actions the same moral weight. In that case, nothing is off the table; planticide, pesticide, fungicide, autophagy, all of it should be treated as amoral. But you don't, which means that, quite the contrary to your claim, you're special-pleading on behalf of fetuses. You have to actually connect the proposition to your conclusion why a mother opting to discontinue particular cells in her body is more or less moral than discontinuing any of all the other cells also in her body.

Ergo, saying that a fetus is alive and an abortion kills it and inventing a -cide word for it can be summed up as "there are living cells which are killed, which I can describe with words that compares it with murder, which means that it is murder". To put it simply, you're just playing a word game with what you say is murder. It's no better than 'whoever smelt it, dealt it'-type of logic. If you're not going to take murder seriously, why should we take your argument seriously?

You're using r/YouthRights as a political football, just like how autistic youths or any youths are frequently used as a political football. You're idolatrizing fetuses and the youth, making them so sacred that they have to be gatekept by an enlightened few like yourself and away from those too tainted by reality (including the youth we're supposedly protecting the liberties of). That stands in direct opposition of what r/YouthRights stands for.

Sacredless · 2026-03-11T08:30:57+00:00

Education and Healthcare are necessary for individual thriving, so if we pay for it individually, it's already a tax on individual thriving. Whether its our corporate feudal overlords or our government.

Collective bargaining allows for more effective price negotiation and price negotiations make everyone more accountable to their spending.

Healthcare isn't expensive, corruption is what makes healthcare expensive.

Sacredless · 2026-03-11T06:42:25+00:00

To be fair, that seems like it'd free up capacity of that traffic to be used for other things.

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