wiccans using hindu gods

[Vinayaka]

I once had an experience like that when I visited the Batu Caves.

Never been there, but one day. I've heard nothing but great stories.
Another thing I've learned about shakti (the energy we're referring to) is that after awhile, you sort of get used to it, and its harder to detect just because of that. It's like a smell in the air. It takes someone else to come along to notice it.

 

[Me Myself]

How do u feel about it

Hindu gods cannot be used unless they want to be used

 

[DreadFish]

Never been there, but one day. I've heard nothing but great stories.
Another thing I've learned about shakti (the energy we're referring to) is that after awhile, you sort of get used to it, and its harder to detect just because of that. It's like a smell in the air. It takes someone else to come along to notice it.

Yup..

 

[Vinayaka]

Its like doing kavadi, hot weather, firewalking, cold weather, spicy food. There is a ton of wisdom in the statement .... "They're used to it." From a distance, things seem impressive, but if you do it every day ... that's why kavadi bearers tend to get more extreme each year.

 

[Monotheist 101]

Yes, it's a feeling of benevolence that's always with me. In fact, I have such a feeling of their presence sometimes I feel like I have no privacy.

I've told this story before:

During Hurricane Sandy part of my fence blew down. It is a 6' high x 8' wide wood slat fence, quite heavy. My backyard slopes downhil, and guess which way the fence fell? Into my neighbor's backyard. I was one month out of rotator cuff surgery, with my arm in a padded sling. I had no one (on this Earth, anyway) to help me move the fence, but it had to be moved. I walked downhill, squatted down and started lifting the fence with my good arm. I said under my breath "Lord Hanuman, please help me" (he is my weightlifting and strength patron). With no further ado I lifted the fence, and flipped it upright, and up into my backyard, with one hand, as if I were tossing a towel. I know, and no one will ever convince me otherwise, that Lord Hanuman either did it himself, or he was pushing from behind. There is no way I should have been able to lift that fence and flip it uphill by myself.

Do you think there is a similarity in the concept of Chi gathered from other dieties or statue of Buddha..I have seen amazing if not impossible feats done by martial arts instructors in styles like Five Animal system of Spontaneous Chi Kung..Apparently an animal spirit/god gives them extra power..

 

[Jainarayan]

Do you think there is a similarity in the concept of Chi gathered from other dieties or statue of Buddha..I have seen amazing if not impossible feats done by martial arts instructors in styles like Five Animal system of Spontaneous Chi Kung..Apparently an animal spirit/god gives them extra power..

Yes, I believe it. Being a universalist and syncretist, I believe the gods can manifest any way they want and do anything they want. Hindus see the Hindu gods in the Hindu way; Native Americans see the spirits in the Native American way; the Celts saw the gods in the Celtic way; Buddhists see deities in the Buddhist way; Wiccans... and so on. All of these people have had mystical experiences and/or performed extra-human feats.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have never seen Hindus using the energy of the Gods for strength related feats. For more compassion, reduction of ego, love, yes, but not for physical strength. Not saying it isn't possible, just that I have never seen it.

If anything, shakti generally makes me feel weaker physically. But there can be a strengthening of will, which if put into strength, might come out that way. Certainly the bearing of kavadi is would indicate this.

 

[Jainarayan]

I have never seen Hindus using the energy of the Gods for strength related feats. For more compassion, reduction of ego, love, yes, but not for physical strength. Not saying it isn't possible, just that I have never seen it.

I have. That wasn't the only time, not by a long shot. I feel that by Lord Hanuman's grace I have healed from my back and shoulder surgeries, and have gained strength faster than the doctors expected. Given my age, it should not have happened. I've told this story before:

During Hurricane Sandy part of my fence blew down. It is a 6' high x 8' wide wood slat fence, quite heavy. ... I said under my breath "Lord Hanuman, please help me" (he is my weightlifting and strength patron). ... There is no way I should have been able to lift that fence and flip it uphill by myself.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have. That wasn't the only time, not by a long shot. I feel that by Lord Hanuman's grace I have healed from my back and shoulder surgeries, and have gained strength faster than the doctors expected. Given my age, it should not have happened. I've told this story before:

What I meant is I've never personally seen it in others, or heard people testify as to that being what they felt from the shakti in the temple. Usually it mellows people out, although I have seen people go into 'the shakes' or trance or faint on occasion. Your fence wasn't at the temple. Not that I'm not attributing it to God. I think we're talking about two different things. Your fence incident could well be attributed to a rush of adrenaline.

 

[Jainarayan]

What I meant is I've never personally seen it in others, or heard people testify as to that being what they felt from the shakti in the temple.

Ok, I see. I haven't spent enough time in temple to get a good reading on people's reactions. Though I have at times felt the energy, even as I have at my own home shrine. In those cases it is a feeling of calmness and benevolence I call "the warm fuzzies".

Your fence incident could well be attributed to a rush of adrenaline.

It's very possible, because of stories of people lifting cars to get someone trapped. For me, however, this has happened too many times. Maybe it's faith that caused and causes the adrenaline rush(es), even if Sri Hanuman himself was not pushing. To rework an old phrase, the gods work in mysterious ways.

 

[Vinayaka]

Ok, I see. I haven't spent enough time in temple to get a good reading on people's reactions.

Most people only say very vague things like, "The temple was strong today. The only physical sign besides the aforementioned is tears of bhakti.

 

[Madhuri]

This might be a little off topic...but growing up I had a hindu friend who said on more than one occasion while we were at his house the Lord Ganesha was visiting..didnt quite understand the concept, Do you guys feel the presence/experience of the Gods that you worship..if so what kind of feeling do you get? This is a question directed at hindus, I find it very intriguing..

Cheers
God Bless

Oh absolutely. For me, I feel it as a sense of what the god/God represents. I have always been a devotee of Sri Krishna. Krishna represents pure love. So the feeling of Krishna's presence in my life is the feeling of intense love and this sense comes from worship of Him and especially during worship of Him.

 

[thomaslewis1997]

I got into worsipping the Hindu pantheon...but I am also a Wiccan.
How does it work?
Well, for starters, I had to learn a way to worsip Kali that would'nt offend present day Hindus. This was sort of difficult, but I figured it out. I use a mixture of mantras and invocations before ritual to increase my own spiritual energy and to bring her into my circle. It is difficult, but you have to go by traditional hindu traditions as you dont want to offend others. Also, I have brought into my beliefs the God Bhairava. I don't know much about him but I'm trying to research. I believe it is an incarnation os Shiva, but I don't exactly want to go by Wikapedia when it comes to this (lol). So any help would be appreciated.

 

[Vinayaka]

I believe it is an incarnation os Shiva, but I don't exactly want to go by Wikapedia when it comes to this (lol). So any help would be appreciated.

Schools may vary, but generally Bhairava is seen as Siva in a different form ... the one that guards. And this is also the way the idea of fierceness comes in, as sometimes a guard needs to take a really hard stand.

 

[Aupmanyav]

.. but growing up I had a hindu friend who said on more than one occasion while we were at his house the Lord Ganesha was visiting..didnt quite understand the concept, Do you guys feel the presence/experience of the Gods that you worship..if so what kind of feeling do you get?

Ganesha visits millions of households (Ganesha will be visiting our place after a few days) and so does Mother Parvati (she comes to the city and not to a house). Nice feeling, great fun. Then the relatives and friends also visit us to meet with our deity. Gala occasion. Mother Parvati comes as the daughter of the city, Shiva tags along, son-in-law (see the blue one with beard, that is Shiva). It is sad when it is time for them to go, but many a times we extract a promise from them that they will return after one year. Ganesha coming to a house, Parvati coming to a city (Gangaur):

 

[Aupmanyav]

There is no way I should have been able to lift that fence and flip it uphill by myself.

Jai Bajrang Bali. I think Bajrang is a derivation from Vajra + Anga, i.e., limbs as solid as Vajra (the bone weapon of Lord Indra derived from Sage Dadhichi when he took the form of a horse). Of course, there are other stories about Sage Dadhichi. Duryodhana's limbs also were as solid as Vajra, and there was only one place where he was vulnerable, the crotch. This is because Krishna persuaded him not to discard the underwear when his mother, Gandhari, removed her eye band and took a look at him. Later, Krishna asked Bhim to hit Duryodhana with his mace in the crotch (which was against the law of duels - Gada yuddha), that being the only way to kill Duryodhana. As they say all is fair in love and war.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Hinduism is a pagan religion being a mix of two streams - Aryan and Indigenous. The Indo-European mythology has many commonalities right from India to Ireland. I feel a strong kinship with Pagans and Wiccans. I would not mind them using Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Of course, they should take care that they should not change the characters of our Gods and Goddesses. Last thing, you would not have to make stories. We already have millions of stories, Hinduism being a living tradition.

 

[ShivaFan]

I first thought Wicca was witchcraft, but then checking the internet it was described as a modern religion and term invented in the 1950s, though there are some elements of witchworks such as the very old witch rite of "drawing down the moon".

Right away however, upon only 10 minutes of "research" I have serious doubt this is some modern invention even if the term "wicca" could be attributed to some 20th Century person.

Right away, I locked in my personal opinion that Wicca is actually "out of the closet" but with a bit of New Age egalitarianism in the mix, nothing less than the old Pan and consort Syrinx nymphirite religion as Pandemoniumism.

I am sure of it, IMHO. As the Goddess side of Pandemoniumism became popular, so it appears some (but I would guess very few) after turning NATURALLY to Diana Goddess then added a mix of Kali and perhaps Mariamism as well later. I find no evidence of Ganesha in the Wicca religion.

So outside of this, and outside of obvious pre-Christian paganism systemic to the flavor of Wicca, I see very little of this claim to synthesize modern Hindu Devatas. Without discounting that aspects of Pagan pantheon may have relations to Devatas and Suras, in general it is very remote even if it is there.

The true Pantheon of Wicca is in fact Pan and those Powers surrounding and in the peripherals of Pan.

As far as how I feel as a Hindu if a Wiccan worships Goddess Devi (or Ganesha) inclusive in some personal Wiccan practice, I don't really care but they may see results for which they may find new bejeweled boxes that they will not resist to open. But sound is an important and vital element to make the Murti alive, this they may lack unless they focus perhaps on Pan's pipes of reed.

Om Namah Sivaya

 

[Aupmanyav]

"In 1924, Herman Collitz suggested there might be a common Proto-Indo-European connecting Pūshān to Pan and Faunus. This root has been suggested to be *Peh2uson. (Wkipedia - Pan/Pushān). Pan is the son of Hermes and Penelope. Pūshān is the son of an Aditya (Sun).

"Pūshān (pronounced 'Pūkhā') was responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, and the feeding of cattle. He was a psychopomp, conducting souls to the other world. He protected travelers from bandits and wild beasts, and protected men from being exploited by other men. He was a supportive guide, a "good" god, leading his adherents towards rich pastures and wealth. He carried a golden lance, a symbol of activity. Traditionally, the name of the deity is said to be derived from Sanskrit verb, 'pushyati', which means "cause to thrive". So, his name means, "one who causes people to thrive.""

"Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Ancient Greek language, from the word paein (πάει&#957, meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. With his homeland in rustic Arcadia, he is also recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring."

"Swasti nah Indrah vriddhashravāh, Swasti nah Pūshā Vishwavedāh;
Swasti Nah Trakshyah arishtanemih, Swasti nah Brihaspatih dadhātu."

May Indra (who is) extolled in the scriptures, Pūshān the all-knowing, Trakshya who saves from all harm, and Brihaspati who protects our spiritual lustre, vouchsafe prosperity in our study of the scriptures and the practice of the truths contained therein!

 

[Jainarayan]

Jai Bajrang Bali. I think Bajrang is a derivation from Vajra + Anga, i.e., limbs as solid as Vajra (the bone weapon of Lord Indra derived from Sage Dadhichi when he took the form of a horse).

Yes, aka the lightning bolt.

Now every time I look something up you post, like Bajrang, I'm finding Indian athletes! Is this a sign!?

Commonwealth Games 2014: Four Indian wrestlers to vie for gold and one for bronze

Btw, there are very strong resemblances between Indra and Thor as the gods of thunder, storms, rain, though not identical, of course. Thor wields a hammer, rides in a chariot drawn by goats, has a quick temper (but is compassionate) and tends to lead with his chin. Norse mythology, which probably existed in some form since pre-Roman times flourished in the Middle Ages, the Viking Age. It was "codified" if you will, by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Now, I admit this may be a reach and leap of conjecture, but it's possible that Thor's attributes migrated northwest and became what they are between the Vedic period and Viking Age. Just conjecture.

I admit I have something of an affinity for thunder gods, particularly Thor (I too kind of lead with my chin and root for the underdog, and have a quick temper, but try to be compassionate). I occasionally wear a silver Mjolnir pendant, at the risk of looking like a Christmas tree with my other pendants and chains. Though someone once asked me if it represented a whale's tail.