How Not to Be Pagan: Examples, Questions, and Answers

[Morgandria]

Katefox Tarnagona

Colour me ignorant, but I don't entirely see why this is so bad? I mean, if they are going for a Wiccan-esque thing, and trying to force Bast and Herne into a being sexual partners, I can see why that's bad, definitely. But I don't really see an indication that's what they're doing? Their different spaces look fairly clearly delineated. It just seems like, if that's the only space available, then an exception can be made, even if it would be preferred to give them each space on their own shelf.

Maybe I'm not getting this because I don't work with any Deities. But my shrine space is a bit of an eclectic mix, and my apartment is so small that I don't think I could split it up into multiple shrines if I wanted to.

In my eyes it's more a matter of trying to do too much, with too little. I'm pretty keen on seeing things given proper boundaries. Bast and Herne don't have anything near enough in common to place them on the same space - they're from very disparate cultures. With a shrine that small being used for multiple types of work, there's going to be a degree of 'bleed' between the energies, even if you tried your best to keep the energy from mixing. I have shrines in my home that will not even share a room with certain others, let alone a single space.

I can't imagine trying to maintain a clean and functional working space that sits between two entities that may or may not get on with each other, or wish to be that close to their neighbour. Not to mention the bleeding of whatever working into the shrine space - there's always the possibility that the spell or materials used might be offensive, or of a paradigm that isn't of a close enough affinity to be appreciated by the entities housed beside it. Purity is a big deal to the Egyptians - so I can't imagine Bast being pleased to live next to what she'd consider a barbarian entity, and a workspace that may not be ritually pure enough for her.

It sucks when you've got limited space and need multiple shrines. But I'd rather see a person wait until they have the space to separate them out, than to try to put too much into one. It's just not respectful of the differences between cultures and pantheons.

This is just my opinion, remember. This is something that irks me, and those are the reasons why. Shrines are personal - but the energies that are there have to be willing to be there, and to play nice. It's much harder to do that if you're 'crossing the streams' between pantheons and cultures and paradigms.  

[Katefox Tarnagona]

Morgandria

Katefox Tarnagona

Colour me ignorant, but I don't entirely see why this is so bad? I mean, if they are going for a Wiccan-esque thing, and trying to force Bast and Herne into a being sexual partners, I can see why that's bad, definitely. But I don't really see an indication that's what they're doing? Their different spaces look fairly clearly delineated. It just seems like, if that's the only space available, then an exception can be made, even if it would be preferred to give them each space on their own shelf.

Maybe I'm not getting this because I don't work with any Deities. But my shrine space is a bit of an eclectic mix, and my apartment is so small that I don't think I could split it up into multiple shrines if I wanted to.

In my eyes it's more a matter of trying to do too much, with too little. I'm pretty keen on seeing things given proper boundaries. Bast and Herne don't have anything near enough in common to place them on the same space - they're from very disparate cultures. With a shrine that small being used for multiple types of work, there's going to be a degree of 'bleed' between the energies, even if you tried your best to keep the energy from mixing. I have shrines in my home that will not even share a room with certain others, let alone a single space.

I can't imagine trying to maintain a clean and functional working space that sits between two entities that may or may not get on with each other, or wish to be that close to their neighbour. Not to mention the bleeding of whatever working into the shrine space - there's always the possibility that the spell or materials used might be offensive, or of a paradigm that isn't of a close enough affinity to be appreciated by the entities housed beside it. Purity is a big deal to the Egyptians - so I can't imagine Bast being pleased to live next to what she'd consider a barbarian entity, and a workspace that may not be ritually pure enough for her.

It sucks when you've got limited space and need multiple shrines. But I'd rather see a person wait until they have the space to separate them out, than to try to put too much into one. It's just not respectful of the differences between cultures and pantheons.

This is just my opinion, remember. This is something that irks me, and those are the reasons why. Shrines are personal - but the energies that are there have to be willing to be there, and to play nice. It's much harder to do that if you're 'crossing the streams' between pantheons and cultures and paradigms.

Ahhh, I see. Thank you for explaining.