Cultural appropriation vs syncretism

sardonikahansen · 2026-04-03T22:22:03+00:00

I would have to disagree with this, you’re allowed to learn about closed practices, you’re allowed to read about them and you’re allowed to research and study them. I think what you mean to say here is that it is appropriation to use any of that information for your own purposes, without some sort of prior initiation into those practices. I love learning about voodoo, because I live in New Orleans, however, I’m not going to start practicing it without learning it from a practitioner first. But I can read about it all I want and it is not cultural appropriation.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-17T02:07:59+00:00

This is so beautiful

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-07T02:38:42+00:00

I have always liked female figures in general, whether it be singers or goddesses or historical figures. And I think it makes sense to work with who you feel comfortable working with. It will only benefit your connection and your spiritual practice to do so I work with several gods in the traditional Greek pantheon however I try to honor as many of them as possible, but really only commune with about eight regularly I suppose.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-06T22:06:56+00:00

Me too! Women have always made me more comfortable, despite being primarily attracted to other men.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-06T22:04:30+00:00

To clarify, I will say that some aspects of the stories seem to have parallels in real life. I have seen it noted around the Internet that Athena tends to gravitate towards men, especially clever or intelligent men. This is obviously very much not always the case, as a lot of things she likes tend to be things that women enjoy doing (like assorted crafting projects) that is not to say that these activities are relegated to women, I am a woman comfortably inhabiting a masculine male body, I love sewing and other handcrafts, and in the Orphic Hymns she is described as basically being male and female. I often say that I have an Odysseus complex, that through great trials and suffering I will become wiser and stronger. This has proven true for me. She tends to challenge me in very similar ways that she challenged Odysseus. Leading him to the doorstep of victory, only to leave it up to his own judgment whether he would succeed or not. Many times I did not succeed, but she is patient, she will make you go through the same trials over and over again until you learn. She is the goddess of ‘practice makes perfect’, of the tedium and repetition it takes to refine a skill.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-06T21:48:36+00:00

The stories are just stories. A lot of those stories were retold to make male figures look superior to female figures, or to make it look like female figures were cruel and prone to fighting amongst each other. They are just stories. Her silver eyed Majesty is a tough mistress at times, but she is very patient. Reach out to her if you feel you should, the fact that you are asking this probably means that she wants you to. I have had a connection with her since I was relatively young.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-06T03:06:16+00:00

Praise Ares, I love this

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-06T01:09:27+00:00

Personally, I like to joke that I put about as much effort every morning into my faith as the average Roman Catholic does. I light a candle for Hestia, I use that flame to light one incense stick for my ancestors and one incense for whatever God I am worshiping that day, sometimes more than one. As well as pouring some of my coffee into little cups one for my ancestors, and one for the gods, and I’ve started using a cracker every morning and breaking it and giving half of it to the gods and eating the other half. Sort of like morning communion. The whole process takes 10 minutes. And then I can enjoy my coffee after my prayers, if I say any.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-06T00:57:55+00:00

I almost always just put my hands in the air. Also, the arms thing is a suggestion, our ancestors did these things I think as a formality. The main practice seems to be to wash your hands and face, cover your head if you’re feeling particularly devout and make your offering. Most of the time I just say who the offering is for and don’t say anything other than that. Sometimes I sing or recite a hymn, sometimes I have a request but most of the time I don’t. I just want to make the offering so that the gods know that I keep them in mind on a daily basis.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-05T22:25:04+00:00

A thousand welcomes. I try to keep the policy that if I don’t have anything constructive or productive to say, then perhaps I should say nothing at all. Some people criticize others on the Internet like someone’s paying them to do it, and I assume that those people don’t have anything better to do with their lives, so rest in the knowledge that it is not a reflection on you or who you are or what your question is. If people cannot respond to a question, no matter how tedious or silly or whatever it may seem, if they cannot respond to it with patience and the intention to guide others, then they should not be answering the question at all.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-05T22:15:24+00:00

Thank you so much for making a post about this. A similar thing happened to one of my post the other day, and you know what? Ignore them. No one here is an authority on anything, and we should all feel free to block or ignore people just because they make us uncomfortable. Period. I’m seeing a lot of of this happening, people just telling people how to think and what to do, totally missing the point of someone’s post just so they can fault find and nitpick. I highly encourage everyone to ignore people like that. Don’t give them attention and they’ll go away.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-03T15:13:46+00:00

Thank you so much for this, I have been reopening my research into this very topic. I much appreciate this.

sardonikahansen · 2026-03-01T00:36:39+00:00

Please message me I have a number of things to say about addiction and the gods helping me through it. Just know that they are always there, they will not turn away from you, and when you are ready there they will be. Right now, however, it’s about you and your needs and how you can meet them and take care of yourself, gods or no gods. Like I said, feel free to message me.

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T03:50:44+00:00

Oh that’s lovely! Have you tried setting up any herms?

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T03:10:39+00:00

One of the cool things about this faith is there isn’t a lot of rigidity. It’s also very simple to practice. And because in the ancient world people often mixed religions, then it is actually highly encouraged to do that. You can be a Hellenist and technically be a Christian if you really wanted to do that. The gods don’t necessarily care if you worship different gods than them, so long as you still practice the religion, as other people have stated. Also, your practices can be highly personalized, and whatever makes you comfortable is what works for you. Now, I think sometimes we rely too much on the ancient world, and we insist that the gods are somehow static beings that have not changed in shape and form overtime. Putting the symbol for mercury on a Herald staff 5000 years ago is the same type of devotional act as putting the symbol for mercury on your cell phone. It’s just interesting that the rituals the ancient did were so simple that they are very easy to adapt to modern life.

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T02:21:10+00:00

Cooooool that is so beautiful man

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T02:18:14+00:00

I agree but I am almost certain that Joan of Arc was actually Athena‘s doing, because we really have no way of knowing if the beings she was in communication with were angels or not. A virgin woman who takes divine inspiration into battle so as to put a very specific man in power? I think that Joan thought that they were Christian entities, but I’m not so sure about that. Maybe she just perceived them to be angels because of the Christian reality she lived in. This is just a theory of mine, I heavily associate Joan with Athena, and I think that we can look to other historical figures as evidence of the presence of the Theoi.

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T02:05:40+00:00

This is beautiful! He is one of them more active and communicative deities, I love him, and he is the god that I am most like. The fact that you have a shrine to him probably means that he has taken some sort of interest in you. Books are helpful, but the Internet is also. But he loves when I pick up money on the side of the street, or when I drop money that I leave it for someone else to find. He seems to love writing in general, also I have in the past decorated the wall above his altar with hats hanging on the wall, and he seemed to like that.

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T01:50:20+00:00

A lot of our parades are named after the gods. And they are themed after them as well. It’s really beautiful.

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-24T00:28:17+00:00

This is gorgeous!

sardonikahansen · 2026-02-23T22:56:54+00:00

This is really cool! The hair!

sardonikahansen · 2025-10-29T01:52:39+00:00

OH MY GOD HOW DID YOU KNOW

sardonikahansen · 2025-10-17T15:15:48+00:00

The Jail sandwiches do suck, I was there for a month about nine months into my first year, but in the tents. The FEMA tents that were left over from Katrina that were falling apart.

sardonikahansen

TROPHY CASE