Pagan/Witchcraft practicing Merfolk? Anyone?

I have been pagan for about 10 years now and am staff on a server of almost 1,000 witches.

My parents used to be super against it when I was growing up, but now that my mom has left, my dad says I can have an altar and all my tarot decks (he’s even let me read for him!) as long as I’m not doing spellwork in the house (I don’t do spells much anyway, just Sabbats).

I don’t believe we should be telling folks how their religion works, particularly when we don’t subscribe to that belief set any longer.


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It's okay. It's like I said from the start. Many of my beliefs are Christian, but I'm more spiritual than devout.

As for healing, I don't think the things I find helpful are strictly of the Christian mind set. I was told that as long as you believe in God as I stated from the beginning you are Christian.

Anyways, I want to be respectful of this thread, so I don't want to talk about Christianity here unless I absolutely need to. I'm still hoping to learn anything that people might know about healing practices.

Are there links about Crystals anyone might recommend?

Does anyone know anything else aside from Crystals that they find healing in nature?

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So, this seems close to something I think about with food. I'm not sure if it's 100% true.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...62509fdf05.jpg

However, cooking makes me think of potions. Is that strange?

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I'm Wiccan and follow the Celtic deities.

Practicing pagan of 17 years here! (Waves fins)

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Originally Posted by Merman Dylan Zalrian

It's okay. It's like I said from the start. Many of my beliefs are Christian, but I'm more spiritual than devout.

As for healing, I don't think the things I find helpful are strictly of the Christian mind set. I was told that as long as you believe in God as I stated from the beginning you are Christian.

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If you need to talk about the various forms of Christianity, and the way various Christians might incorporate natural healing (there is a huge movement of natural health Christians out there, you can Google it) there is another thread for Christians (the Christian Fellowship thread). There are also Christian Witches, a number of them are on the Sea Witches and Water Witches FB groups I mentioned earlier in the thread.

Many if not most of the pagans here deal with having to hide their path from people around them or are told this or that erroneous things about their beliefs, and this should not be a place where they have to worry about it also. So thank you for recognizing that this isn't the place for talking about the major religions as a focus.

So did anyone do any Samhain or similar rituals or ceremony? I usually do, and this year I didn't at all do the same as usual... for some reason, I'm missing my deceased friends so much more than usual this year. Next Saturday is the 8th anniversary of one of my best beloved's deaths, and it's hitting me harder this year because of other things that are going on. I know she'd understand. We'd talk about it, we'd laugh, we'd cry, and she's not here to do that anymore. And she hasn't visited in ages. I probably will honor the dead next year. And my friends Tim, Bob, Ash, Jesse... so many lost in just the past few years. Last year's altar held them all. This year I just didn't have it in me to set it up. Halloween itself was a blast, we have a haunt two doors down and holy cow, the line was long and went past our house, so we ran out of candy and I had to go out and get more. It was awesome, though, to have adults from the line trick or treating. lol Everyone gets candy at our house.

Meanwhile, Winter Solstice approaches, and I'm pretty sure I'll have an altar for that set up in our living room. I will walk to the water that day (it's like two minutes away from me), and I'm feeling very thoughtful about it all this year. We're putting up decor next week, the Yule tree, etc, but yeah, an altar also sounds really nice.

Some time ago, I came across a news article and video describing the ease with which one could establish ones own church. The idea began to germinate. What about a "mermaid church"? The Roman Emperor Tiberius had his own natural Nymphaeum in the Blue Grotto of Capri. Others have been established in ancient cities elsewhere. Why not establish a small local congregation and an larger online following to honor Melusine, Poseidon, Oannes, and the like?

Dan, the last thing Pagans needed to do is organize themselves. You know that.

There are already established covens, churches, groups, casual meetings, whatever you want, worshiping whoever and whatever they want, however they want, everywhere. There are also solitaries that rather enjoy not being locked into some other human's vision.

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Originally Posted by lotusauriel

There are already established covens, churches, groups, casual meetings, whatever you want, worshiping whoever and whatever they want, however they want, everywhere. There are also solitaries that rather enjoy not being locked into some other human's vision.

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That was my point. :mermaid kiss:

Perhaps a secret order, then? C'mon... who doesn't want their own sigil ring, password, and secret knock? ;)

Anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, can become a legally ordained minister. So if you want to set up your own mer-religion, you go right ahead. I'm just going to stay over here, on my rock, drowning pirates.

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Originally Posted by MermaidSaph

I'm not pagan/wiccan etc. myself, but I've always found it interesting. I'll have to go back through this thread on my laptop and check out some of the links/sources listed here!
However, I am an emotional energy/ elemental+nature energy/sanguinarian vampire. I also work with crystals and meditate when I can.

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Well whaddya know. I guess working with crystals n such was gonna eventually lead me to at least looking into witchcraft. [emoji38]
Since making the original post I researched witchcraft and things related to it, and it just kinda...made sense? I dunno. I don't really follow any specific paths or traditions, I just kinda do a little bit of everything.

I was raised catholic but as I have gotten older ive come into my own beliefs. I do believe in the spirit world and I don't just mean ghosts. I have a boyfriend that is spiritual and we live cross country from each other and 2 timezones. Hes in AZ and im in FL. When we first started talking and he started talking about it i thought he was a little nuts and thought i was crazy for believing him or that he was trying to pull something over on me. but then he had me close my eyes and he showed me and i could honestly feel him sitting right next to me on my couch. He had never seen my house but could accurately describe a few things about it. He studies things about projecting auras and projecting his spirit. Im definately fascinated by the spirit world and what lies within it.

To boil it all down, here are the basics:

Paganism is the honoring of diety through Nature. Pagans recognize both the male and female aspects of diety.

'Witchcraft', and in this context, I'm talking mainly about divination and spellworking, is simply the manipulation of energy towards a goal.

That's it...the BIG SECRET of Paganism. :mermaid kiss:

I thought the modern definition Paganism was any religion that wasn't Abrahamic or Eastern. Historically it was simply any polytheistic faith, but we changed that these days because most priests of any Eastern faith take offense to the term.

I was speaking in terms of Neo-Paganism, which are loosely associated with most Celtic/Druidic/Stregheria/Santeria (Western Europe/Mediteranean/North African) traditions. The overreaching 'pile them all into one bucket' definition of paganism is most likely found in Comparative Theology discussions. The 'Everything Not Judeo/Christian is Pagan' thinking is painfully shortsighted.

It certainly is. A lot of folks who follow those religions (under the supposed pagan catchall) really don’t appreciate being called so.


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Ah. I've known a few witches that would object to the pagans worship through nature definition, since they don't really acknowledge nature, they worship a specific god. (I believe the ones I've talked to specifically were worshipers of Odin and Yemaja, respectively.) They didn't worship nature, or even claim to like all of nature. After all, cockroaches and mold on their showers still disgusted them, nature or not.

I might be getting things wrong though. I'm not pagan, I'm Christian. But I prefer discussing spirituality with self-identified pagans and witches. I get a lot less "you suffer because it's God's plan" or "have you been sinning a lot lately?" that way. (That and it's a lot more interesting to watch than a church service. Hope you guys don't mind.)

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Originally Posted by Merman Dan

Some time ago, I came across a news article and video describing the ease with which one could establish ones own church. The idea began to germinate. What about a "mermaid church"? The Roman Emperor Tiberius had his own natural Nymphaeum in the Blue Grotto of Capri. Others have been established in ancient cities elsewhere. Why not establish a small local congregation and an larger online following to honor Melusine, Poseidon, Oannes, and the like?

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You can’t run a damn convention right. Leave polytheism alone, Dan

JFC that drama is spilling everywhere, isn't it? Lmao. :lol:

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Originally Posted by BlueCorvidae

JFC that drama is spilling everywhere, isn't it? Lmao. [emoji38]

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Let's leave it here, please. I'm sure we can agree that fighting on hallowed ground isn't wise.

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Originally Posted by Ransom

Let's leave it here, please. I'm sure we can agree that fighting on hallowed ground isn't wise.

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No, I agree with you. It's not wise to fight in public anywhere, or even at all if it can be avoided.

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Originally Posted by BlueCorvidae

Ah. I've known a few witches that would object to the pagans worship through nature definition, since they don't really acknowledge nature, they worship a specific god. (I believe the ones I've talked to specifically were worshipers of Odin and Yemaja, respectively.) They didn't worship nature, or even claim to like all of nature. After all, cockroaches and mold on their showers still disgusted them, nature or not.

I might be getting things wrong though. I'm not pagan, I'm Christian. But I prefer discussing spirituality with self-identified pagans and witches. I get a lot less "you suffer because it's God's plan" or "have you been sinning a lot lately?" that way. (That and it's a lot more interesting to watch than a church service. Hope you guys don't mind.)

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Well, Odin, for the Nordic traditions and Yemeya from the Youruban/Santeria traditions do have specific gods and goddesses associated with them, however, they do recognize the male/female dichotomies of spiritual nature - and if you dig deep enough, both traditions are rooted in Earth-based beliefs. Judeo-Christian beliefs hold themselves separate from those energies.

The 'I'm right, you're wrong and you're going to suffer for it because my book says so' mentality is exhausting.

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Originally Posted by PearlieMae

Judeo-Christian beliefs hold themselves separate from those energies..

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Indeed, its in the book; the desires of your flesh are 'evil', and Capital 'G' Man is the only was to 'fix' it... like our bodies are somehow special from the rest of the matter in the universe. I mean, c'mon... everything eats (organic or energy and loose matter), shits (whether is dead organic material, or gamma rays/light/energy), and then dies (or collapses/explodes).

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The 'I'm right, you're wrong and you're going to suffer for it because my book says so' mentality is exhausting.

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I had a book that told me Santa was real, too... He must be, then!

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Originally Posted by PearlieMae

Well, Odin, for the Nordic traditions and Yemeya from the Youruban/Santeria traditions do have specific gods and goddesses associated with them, however, they do recognize the male/female dichotomies of spiritual nature - and if you dig deep enough, both traditions are rooted in Earth-based beliefs. Judeo-Christian beliefs hold themselves separate from those energies.

The 'I'm right, you're wrong and you're going to suffer for it because my book says so' mentality is exhausting.

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I'm sorry if I came across that way. I like discussing and learning new things, I didn't mean to imply that anyone was wrong.

No worries, Blue! I didn't mean to imply YOU personally were exhausting, I meant the stereotypical Christian attitude of intolerance.

And Kane, Santa did exist, but he was a Druidic shaman!

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Originally Posted by PhaylennMurúch

You can’t run a damn convention right. Leave polytheism alone, Dan

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Everyone's a critic. I outgrew monotheism by the time I was twelve.
As for the future of NC Mer-Mania, I'll address that elsewhere, since drama seems to run heavy on MN.
In a nutshell, the venue could no longer accommodate our needs. I was perhaps too patient in waiting for additional dates that never came. And now we'll be moving to a new timeframe.
Meanwhile, though I have now completed an Event Manager course and have commissioned a local artist for new artwork, I will be sticking to local events. I never expected the event to draw more that 50 people anyway. So here we go again.
So yeah, watch for news on FB and the website but most likely not here.

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Originally Posted by Merman Dan

Attachment 42890

Everyone's a critic. I outgrew monotheism by the time I was twelve.
As for the future of NC Mer-Mania, I'll address that elsewhere, since drama seems to run heavy on MN.
In a nutshell, the venue could no longer accommodate our needs. I was perhaps too patient in waiting for additional dates that never came. And now we'll be moving to a new timeframe.
Meanwhile, though I have now completed an Event Manager course and have commissioned a local artist for new artwork, I will be sticking to local events. I never expected the event to draw more that 50 people anyway. So here we go again.
So yeah, watch for news on FB and the website but most likely not here.

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Don't you have a series of apologies you should be writing?

Oh, we talking about Christmas history and folklore? This is my jam!

Funfact; Santa Claus is actually a mix of various people, some real and some mythological! (I love this topic.) First you have St. Nicholas, who was a Catholic Bishop in ancient Rome, which is modern-day Turkey. He was an interesting man because despite his habits of leaving money in the shoes of the poor people, he actually had quite the temper and was prone to getting into fist fights! This was not only recorded about him, but we found evidence of it when his skull was found with a nose that was once broken and healed in a strange angle. This is probably my favorite version of Santa, because I love the idea of a man in a toga punching people while having a soft side and doing charitable deeds. (May utilize this for D&D one day.)

You've also got Joulupukki, who has the whole red suit with white trim going on, and I believe he has a habit of delivering food and turning into a goat. He's from Finnish tradition, but I can't really find a lot of information on him since he isn't widely known and these days I guess the Finnish just like to go, "eh, he's Santa now." He liked to take part in the Wild Hunt though. Speaking of that...

The third figure is Odin, who has a habit of entering people's homes through the chimney, and took part in a wild hunt in the sky, which involved a procession of deer and horses. Not to mention his glorious beard. I don't think I need to tell you guys about how awesome Odin is, but I think you'll all get a tickle out of how Germanic Yule traditions let him slip into our modern portrayal of Santa. Mainly through my third figure;

The English Father Christmas! Who is really just from English folk in the 1400's saying "We want some of that hot Odin action but without making the church mad" so I guess he doesn't really count. They kind of repurposed him though and went, "This is less about the wild hunt and more about feasting and drinking and staying warm and having fun!"

Then you've got the Roman Sol Invictus festival, which from what I understand is a big festival to several of the gods in the Roman pantheon, during a time of year where trying to flatter the sun itself would have been very appropriate. While I guess this doesn't tie into Santa (or maybe it does and I just haven't learned how yet) it does tie into the Hogfather, which is a Santa-like figure in Discworld, aka the best book series ever. In short, it talks about how belief in things like Santa and pantheons full of gods are what make us human in the first place, and able to comprehend all of our abstract ideas like justice, mercy and beauty.

Red from Overly Sarcastic Productions has an entire video about this, and she perfectly captures why I love Christmas/Yule/Saturnalia so much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tt9ucyHV-I

Merry February, everyone! Yuletime cheer is only 325 days away! (How do you guys celebrate Christmas?)

That's so awesome!

I don't celebrate Christmas, I celebrate the Winter Solstice!

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Originally Posted by PearlieMae

I don't celebrate Christmas, I celebrate the Winter Solstice!

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this.

And since you're talking about german christmas traditions;
Christmas is called "Holynight(s)" in German.
They simply took the "pagan" previous holiday, called "Smokynight(s)", and replaced smoky with holy.

Would probably have been too much work to rename all the pagan holidays.
Like Easter is still called after Eostre/Astarte, and so on.

It wasn't that it was too difficult to rename holidays, it was easier to convert Pagans to the new religions if they were made to seem like the old ways. It's no coincidence that the 'birth of the son of God' coordinates with the 'birth of the Sun God', when early texts of the Christian bible claim that Jesus (aka Joshua Ben Joseph) was born in the spring when the olive trees were in bloom.

When western European pre-Christian religions were honoring the Goddess, the new Christians would decorate the doors of their churches with carvings of the Goddess of Willendorf and Sheila Na Gig...images the countryfolk were familiar with. Remember, not a lot of people could read back then and depended on the familiar and traditions of their ancestors. Tweak them just a bit, add a little novelty, and you've got a brand new bunch of converts. At one point in early Christian history, forevery church dedicated to Jesus, there were 500 dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. If that's not trying to convert goddess worshippers, I don't know what is.

Catholic Mass is based on the basic Pagan circle ritual, it's just held in rows.

Why? You may ask...then, the Church wielded all the political power. Not like today where it's the rich who are all powerful.

ye, it's pretty obvious Mary is a replacement for whatever goddess the folk were worshipping previously. In many cases, the goddess idol figure (mostly small, carved statues) were not even replaced :D

If you ever delved a bit deeper into the story of Bernadette Soubirous (the girl famous for her visions that discovered the "Holy Spring" of Lourdes), it's a great example of how rural ancient traditions which are still rife in the Pyrenaes (worship of small fairy damsels connected to caves & springs) were painted in a christian light by the officials, despite Bernadette herself denying that the deity she saw was "Mary", she always called it "aquero" ("that thing") and described it as a pretty little damsel not taller than a ten year old girl.

Greatest irony; the Basques worshipped a female goddess named Mari (who, very familiarly, was married to a flying serpent God).
Wonderful how it's always again the same story, just the names change.

Hi, new here...

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Bright blessings, Myah!

Hi everyone! I consider myself a pantheistic Norse heathen. My mersona is ruled by Æge and Rån. I'm a new budding merling, nice to meet you all!

I'm a weird mix: I'm a Trinitarian Wiccan, or Christian Witch. I see God as a combo of all the gods of the world, and I'm a devotee of Brighid. Been experimenting with different forms of magic and now I'm seeing if I can work with mermaid spirits. I never have time to do so, but it's on my list of things I want to try with oceanic magic.

I am a witch. I am spiritual, but religiously ambiguous. I often claim to be Agnostic or even simply Pagan, but to those extremely close to me, I admit I am a devout Luciferian.
I study all forms of the occult, from alchemy and sciences to mythologies and even Lovecraft’s work. Intense stuff, LoL.


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Originally Posted by Kidiu

I am a witch. I am spiritual, but religiously ambiguous. I often claim to be Agnostic or even simply Pagan, but to those extremely close to me, I admit I am a devout Luciferian.
I study all forms of the occult, from alchemy and sciences to mythologies and even Lovecraft’s work. Intense stuff, LoL.


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In Utah? That's double tough!