Your polytheistic religious experiences.

[Jainarayan]

Mine had chosen me a long time ago, but I didn't have the ears to listen.

I think that's what I was getting at by saying above that I knew Thor years ago, but never really paid attention to him. Not until recently when I think he grabbed me in, as I like to call it, a headlock. I think you have to be ready; the deities are patient, "give or take 5,000 years".

 

[Jainarayan]

I have a difficult time seeing certain gods/goddesses as real. No idea why, may be they seem to much like 'characters' from a story. I read about some temple to a deity and I think, 'people believed that?!
I guess it's just an individual thing.

Yes, remember what I always say... the Indian saying "everyone sees God(dess) in their own way". Isis is as real to that person over there as Skadhi is to me. But then again, some gods and goddesses just may not have an interest in us.

 

[The Hammer]

I have a difficult time seeing certain gods/goddesses as real. No idea why, may be they seem to much like 'characters' from a story. I read about some temple to a deity and I think, 'people believed that?!
I guess it's just an individual thing.

It does appear to be an individual thing. When I traveled overseas and visited temples that were devoted to other gods (I was agnostic/pantheistic at the time), I felt an overwhelming sense of power and awe. I still do to this day, and will pay my respects to other deities as the need arises through travel.

As for how I found my gods, as thorbjorn said, it was kind of like a calling. I started out Monotheistic, played seeker for a long while, settled on pantheism, then moved to worshiping elements and spirits (which I still pay respects to), but then one day I decided to meditate on a symbol I had gotten good feelings about, and I just about got smacked on the head with a metaphorical "what took you so long?"

 

[Quintessence]

I have a difficult time seeing certain gods/goddesses as real. No idea why, may be they seem to much like 'characters' from a story. I read about some temple to a deity and I think, 'people believed that?!
I guess it's just an individual thing.

Real? What makes something real, exactly? See my signature for some thoughts on that.

But honestly, I never ask "is that real." The answer is always yes. If I'm talking about it at all, and experiencing it, it's real. Characters are real. I experience them, I know them, and I can find meaning in them. Methinks mainstream culture needs to learn how to value the otherworlds. That's basically a fancy way of saying we need to remember how to value imagination, art, and storytelling. Things hardly have to be "literally real" or "objectively real" or "materially real" for us to know them, experience them, and value them.

 

[Desert Snake]

Ah! There's the rub. It's something I brought up at another site, asking that very question... how do I know which god(dess) helped me? I really don't know. I don't know if there is any way to know for sure. Though I feel as if Lakshmi has been behind some of it. For all I know, it could have been Frigga, the All-Mother who just put on the appearance of Lakshmi, because at the time I was trying to be Hindu. As far as any deity calling to you or calling you to them, that's something I think you feel. I felt a great yank by Thor that I never felt with Krishna or Rama or any Hindu deity. Thor feels personal in a way no other deity has... there is some sort of connection.

So you don't really know necessarily if the deity is in disguise.

 

[Gnostic Seeker]

I already shared in another thread that I believe I've felt Athena because I was thinking on her at the time. I've also gotten sudden smells of incense, which is believed in many traditions to be indicative of a god's presence. I've also seen what the ancient Hellenes would've called an omen in what they considered a common conduit for omens- a flock of birds.

 

[EyeofOdin]

"He who knows does not tell, he who tells does not know"~ Lao Tzu

 

[Jainarayan]

So you don't really know necessarily if the deity is in disguise.

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Odin is known for wandering the world disguised. Zeus and Hermes did the same once to test the hospitality of the countryfolk. See the story of Baucis and Philemon. Thor did it during his fishing trip with Hymir.

 

[Desert Snake]

"He who knows does not tell, he who tells does not know"~ Lao Tzu

That's an off topic excuse and a cop out.

 

[EyeofOdin]

That's an off topic excuse and a cop out.

It is neither off topic, an excuse nor a cop out.

I find that it's disrespectful, and at times arrogant, to proclaim one's great and deep shamanic relationship with the gods. Saying these experiences would imply that one is a shaman, and calling yourself a shaman is like calling yourself a hero. It's pompous. This is all assuming that this thread is referring to "mystical" polytheistic experiences rather than practical, which doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Desert Snake]

It is neither off topic, an excuse nor a cop out.

I find that it's disrespectful, and at times arrogant, to proclaim one's great and deep shamanic relationship with the gods. Saying these experiences would imply that one is a shaman, and calling yourself a shaman is like calling yourself a hero. It's pompous. This is all assuming that this thread is referring to "mystical" polytheistic experiences rather than practical, which doesn't seem to be the case.

I don't think it's pompous. It is what it is. If people want to talk about their experiences religious or otherwise, why shouldn't they, that's their prerogative.
I pretty much expect people to have some tact, but I don't think you are going to prevent anyone from appearing pompous.

 

[Riverwolf]

Ironically it isn't worded condescendingly lol.

That's not something you always have control over.

 

[Riverwolf]

I don't think it's pompous. It is what it is.

And what it is is going to vary.

 

[Riverwolf]

The Gods sing to me on occasion.

 

[Aupmanyav]

The Gods are my friends. I don't take that liberty with Goddesses.They are mothers. Also, I am an atheist.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Been worshiping Minerva for eons and I ain't had no experiences yet. I know exactly why but I will let you guys do the reasoning behind it. I get a little worried when anybody tells me they were visited by Zeus or Kratos

 

[Sha'irullah]

The Gods are my friends. I don't take that liberty with Goddesses.They are mothers. Also, I am an atheist.

AH! So I ain't the only god(ess) worshiping atheist. Great to know I am not the only contradiction on RF

 

[Riverwolf]

Been worshiping Minerva for eons and I ain't had no experiences yet. I know exactly why but I will let you guys do the reasoning behind it. I get a little worried when anybody tells me they were visited by Zeus or Kratos

Well, when I talk like that, you can relax because I'm not speaking literally.

 

[Jainarayan]

The Gods are my friends. I don't take that liberty with Goddesses.They are mothers. Also, I am an atheist.

And in some cases, they are our relatives. Thor is not only a bud, but a big brother. We consider Odin and Frigga to be All-Father and All-Mother, respectively, and give the respect due to parents. Other deities could be somewhere between elder siblings and aunts or uncles... that's the kind of respect we pay to them. In fact, the relationship is so close it's very likely that if we were to kneel or bow down to them they'd say "get up!"

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

And in some cases, they are our relatives. Thor is not only a bud, but a big brother. We consider Odin and Frigga to be All-Father and All-Mother, respectively, and give the respect due to parents. Other deities could be somewhere between elder siblings and aunts or uncles... that's the kind of respect we pay to them. In fact, the relationship is so close it's very likely that if we were to kneel or bow down to them they'd say "get up!"

As has happened. It's taken me most of this lifetime to learn that we're all kin, and the proper way to show respect is to treat each other as (roughly) equals, as family (in the positive sense, even when in an adversarial relationship), even when one can knock the stuffing out of the other, so to speak.