Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ok! Soo I decided to try something different. Instead of searching out a Path that seemed special to me I said why take things already special to me and see if I can find a Path with them. Which has led me to Bear Worship. Now from the bit of research I have done it seems that the Ainu worshiped them and so did many other Northern Eurasian cultures. I saw a reference, I am thinking wrong, to some Norse Warriors whom wore bear skins into battle? But any info or sources you guys have the Ainu, Bear Worship in general and anything of the like would be appreciated.

Ok. Hmm. Well any religion or pantheon with a Bear God or Goddess would be of interest to me. And any animal totemistic religion as well. Deities with Bear connections or Bear symbols would be good too. Basically I have just noted that I have a vague connection with Bears. Mostly similairities and such. For example Bears are not true hibernators, they are just very lethargic during Winter...I prefer to just curl up and read during Winter.

Well...define believe. I am not precisely sure what your getting at. Or I should say, I dont understand exactly what your asking.

Hmm. Well. That is the problem. Having pretty much lacked any Spirituality in my life I am vague on many many things. I have fairly little that's concrete. I have a for lack of a better term Code I try to follow but even that is fairly vague. But I shall put down my few concrete things. Also I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors. I am on my phone and it's a tad difficult to spell check.


- while the idea of Reincarnation is .... hard to deal with properly for.me I dobelieve it makes elegant sense.
- I am a hard polytheist though this is very new to me and so I am fairly certain I have offended the Gods by misspeakin. Actually being religious and thinkin bout what I say because of that is new.
-I believe that you outta do good for.the sake.of it.
- I definitely believe in Good and Evil Honor and Justice.
- I am not sure this applies but I believe in equality tween the sexes in that one completes the other. One does thinga better than the other so as to complete the other
- I seem to prefer Goddesses.
- The only times I consistently feel something Spiritual is in the Ocean and watching the Moon. But quite oft people relate me to the element of Earth.
- I also like Nature a lot
- and family is important
- I have a hard time understanding why the Gods have any interest in us or caee. To me it makes more sense that They simply made tj
hey made us and Everything and now don't get too involved

And that's really all I can think of aside feom the obvious. Don't murder, steal lie etc.

I know that pain wink

Generally the more you read and explore, ideas start to appeal and so on that you might modify or adopt yourself. You don't have to have anything solid, but knowing what appeals and what doesn't helps to direct your views. You certainly can be eclectic, but it's good to have a point from which to start.



That's a start. You can put down "maybe" as far as your personal belief here goes, and explore religions in which it appears. Wicca is one, but it's also favourite in many people's eclectic Neo-Paganisms and varieties of Neo-Pagan witchcraft, like Reclaiming and so on.

In other religions it's sort of a rare possibility. In Heathenry, it's possible for people to be reborn in their family line, afaik, but considered pretty unlikely.



If you are to worship the gods, what do you see yourself doing? Just hypothetically.



You believe justice should be done, or that justice will take care of itself?
Can you define your personal concepts of "good" and "evil"? Are they independent, objective things or personal viewpoints?



In what sense? Can you explain this further? I'm not sure I understand... do you believe in enforced gender roles, or heterosexism, or...?

This sort of thing does apply, as in some religions there are particular roles depending on sex and/or gender. How palaeo-Pagan cultures viewed the sexes may be of relevance to you too when picking a religion.



Goddesses generally, or particular goddesses? Why do you think this might be? Would you like to worship goddesses solely, primarily, or does it not matter overmuch?


Would you like your religion to incorporate nature-worship, the honouring of nature spirits, animism, or....?


Would you want this to be a part of your religious practice? Would you want to incorporate elements of ancestor worship?

You can still do that and have it be religious. It's just not Wicca itself, that's all.

What sort of rituals do you prefer? Big and complicated? Short and simple?



I'm not sure that is correct, and even if it is correct, is it right? What makes someone "the woman"?



In the sexual sense, as in Wicca? Or in another sense?



Is this important? I can give birth, but the concept of being pregnant horrifies me. I don't want to give birth. And even though women can give birth, it's not like they can do it without male input. What is so special about squeezing eight pounds of flesh out through your v****a? Let me tell you, it's not some magical event with glitter falling out of the sky. Your v****a tears, and there's blood and screaming, and you poop, and then there's the afterbirth which is frankly disgusting. The whole birthing process could have been designed to at least be less gross, if not less painful and awkward. And at the end of it all you get out of it is a baby, which isn't even entertaining for like six months. It's just a blob that lies there and screams and defecates.

And frankly in my experience a lot of women would be happy to pass the whole pregnancy chore on to men anyway.



Not really. Men produce children. They do it by impregnating women. Women can't produce children without a man impregnating them. I'm not sure why you would honour and respect a woman's ability to produce children, and not a man's ability to produce children.

I'm unsure you really grasped my meaning when I mentioned gender roles.



Why can't one person be both nurturer and protector? If you're a solo parent, for example.



Women are crazy, though. Like, crazy.

I personally would not go about comparing one's experience with men to how gods will be, nor one's experience with women to goddesses. Goddesses aren't really "nicer". Artemis in particular has a habit of killing people with those arrows.



So, what, all of the above? They're not really the same thing.

I'm trying to ascertain what sort of ritual form appeals so I can point you in the right direction. Possibly you haven't read enough rituals to have an idea yourself.



Could you try? I'd like to know what you meant.



Have a think and get back to us.



But why is it important? Why important to your religion? What does it mean? What implications does this have on non-reproductive women?



It's not the first time I've wondered if you're sexist. Sexism can be subtle. You may be sexist and unaware of it.



What about polyamory? Asexuals? Why does love have to be limited to two people? Why is the person who "completes" you a lover? Can't it be a friend? Offspring? A sibling? What does it mean to be complete?

Do you consider monogamy something to strive towards?

Is this something you want incorporated in your religion, and if so, what form would it take?

A ritual can be as little as saying a chant or lighting a candle. Or a ritual could be more complicated and include picking an appropriately corresponding day and specific time (this could come from skrying or from astrological correspondences or moon phases, or from important days and times within whatever faith path you end up following), clearing out a place for ritual purpose, cleansing the space, cleansing your body, calling quarters, casting circle, performing your chose work/ritual (which ranges in how simple/ elaborate it could be) creating energy, meditation, ritual meal, opening circle, and bidding farewell to the quarters.

I'm sure there are more and less complicated ritual formats and ones that look completely different than what I just described. I'm using my basis in eclectic outer court Wicca info here for examples.

Point is what will work for you and your gods. For me, I prefer doing a formal work with sacred space and quarter calling at least once a month. I get something from that ritual both in planning and performing it and my divinity thinks it's important that I have a block of time just reflecting on them available.

Usually though my spell and energy work is far more informal. I don't think of magic or divinity as a last resort or something needs careful consideration. I need will and intent, but I don't really need anything else to do a work. It only takes me a moment to slip into the right mentality to do energy work and once in that frame of mind, just a thought or word or simple action can constitute a ritual.



I think the whole male and female thing is kind of a false dichotomy created by a patriarchal hetero-normative society which we are all victims in.

It's probably worthwhile to figure out what you mean about "opposites" and how that works in romantic, friendly, family, and acquaintance relationships/dynamics.

That you believe people are not whole without another to fill in the "gaps" seems like it would be a core part of any practice you have. I mean discerning where you lack and who around you has that would be core to happiness if to be truly happy and the benefit of full experience on this plane one needed to be whole. Of course I am reading your words through my own religious bias and I think at this point I might have started to read things that aren't there/put words in your mouth.

The point being that gender roles seem to play a huge role in your belief system and you should figure out what those are and why you feel that way so you can further explore faith and relationships that would match those feelings.





Everyone is a little sexist, it's just how it is. There are a couple of important things to remember though:
1.) Strive to treat everyone as a human first not as a girl/boy/gay/straight/bi/non-white race.
2.) When someone call you on sounding sexist or saying something sexist/racist/homophobic, acknowledge it and ponder for a bit. What was the core of what you meant and is that core meaning prejudice? Sometimes the answer is "I don't know" and that's ok. Apologize and move on.

Just my thought on it.



That might be what you're looking for and great for you, it's not what I'm looking for. I know I'm a complete person on my own and I'd go as far as to say that if I didn't feel complete and self sufficient I'd have no right looking for a significant other because I'd be a burden on them with my need and insecurity and dependence. I don't want an adult to be dependent on me and I don't want to be dependent on anyone else.

I'd be offended if someone implied/suggested that I needed a man/woman/mate to be complete. I don't see love or companionship in those terms though.

So yeah more on this and what that means for you and your faith are probably crucial, just so long as you realize it's not a universal view and you don't try to blanket people into one way of being.

What about polyamory? Asexuals? Why does love have to be limited to two people? Why is the person who "completes" you a lover? Can't it be a friend? Offspring? A sibling? What does it mean to be complete?

Do you consider monogamy something to strive towards?

Is this something you want incorporated in your religion, and if so, what form would it take?

-*- I dont think everyone has that tendency. Some people just dont. Some people can be complete without it being a lover. At least to me it seems that most people would find it in their lover. Being complete to me is like being the perfect person. Like if you and the person who completes you were one person you would be pretty damn perfect. I dunno if I am just bein weird or not. And yes I do believe monogamy is something to strive towards. Not everyone can do it though. I would like their to be a marriage ceremony in my religion yes or an oath or something that marks me and whomever I would marry as officially together. -*-