/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.18111024]

I want to find apolitical frens to practice Hellenism or any other polytheist religion actually. I'm a newbie who recently decided to start practicing on my own, also I've been a long time believer on Neoplatonism until I made my decision. I looked around everywhere but I can't find a sane pagan community out there, i have either to settle with /pol/tards or radleft SJWs, both groups disrepect the Gods and use indo-european polytheism to push their identity politics. Does anybody else here feel the same way?

[Anonymous No.18111075]

>>18111024
>I looked around everywhere but I can't find a sane pagan community out there
Damn, I wonder why?

[Anonymous No.18111142]

>>18111024
>I want to do something that is not what System wants me to do and everyone involved in this is a weirdo.
You're in good company then. By not just LARPing and worshiping a church you are, by definition, a weirdo as that or Social Justice are the two options the system gives you.

>but how do I find people who aren't shit?
Keep looking. If you're going on craigslist, what the fuck do you expect? If YOU had a good group for anything, would you advertise?

[Anonymous No.18111164]

>>18111142
the system tells you not to be a christian, and yet this board is chock full of militant christians extremists, you're in no position to lecture anyone for not going with the flow.

[Anonymous No.18111172]

>>18111164
It's called Finklethink, anon. Look it up before you vote for whoever the Republican Party puts up in 2024.

[Anonymous No.18111180]

>>18111172
i'm not american and intend to stay away from the political maelstrom as much as possible

[Anonymous No.18111235]

I would say that much of this can be resolved by broadening your view, not just with the rituals and stories, but with the philosophies of it as well. Back then, philosophy was kind of a bridge between mythos (the story aspect, told by a poet) and logos (factual reports, told by a messenger), and over the years, those two aspects got replaced by something where everything is factual (monotheism and scientism), or nothing is (stuff like postmodernism). What needs to happen IMO is that much of the development after the beginning of monotheism and modern science needs to be reevaluated in its entirety, and replaced with something where we go back to the set up with mythos and logos. I think Taleb actually wrote quite a bit about this, I remember his stuff about skeptical fideism, of Montaigne’s work if I remember it correctly, is a good stepping stone in this direction.

In any case, much of the current systems of meaning need a complete overhaul, but I think in the end it will be worth it.

[Anonymous No.18111272]

>>18111235
>In any case, much of the current systems of meaning need a complete overhaul, but I think in the end it will be worth it.
I know, the polytheist/pagan community needs to be purged from the scoria that plagues it. I'm not an ethnonationalist myself, but I'm strongly against ridiculous new-age practices like godphoning or godspouses, or whatever sort of new-age abominations came out of the minds of nu-pagan feminists on tumblr. Too many neo-pagans see polytheism as a hobby or a fleeting fad rather than a lifestyle or a religion to wholly devote themselves to.

[Anonymous No.18111283]

>>18111235
I think he's also looking for a niche within a niche. If he wants to find a group of buddies to do Iamblichian theurgy with Plotinic influences or whatever, he's already talking about the Pagan sphere, and he wants to hone in even further.

[Anonymous No.18111303]

>>18111024
>I've been a long time believer on Neoplatonism until I made my decision.
Why did you downgrade?

[Anonymous No.18111310]

>>18111303
I did not downgrade, I believe in the same religion Plotinus and Plato believed in. Neoplatonism can coexist with hellenic polytheism.

[Anonymous No.18111314]

>>18111024
You understand the ancient Greeks who actually practiced the religion would be regarded as extreme right wing fundamentalist nazis by today's standards right?
Not saying I agree with the politicizing, but I understand why it happens in our current climate.

[Anonymous No.18111321]

>>18111310
neoplatonism is hardly polytheism but okay

[Anonymous No.18111349]

>>18111314
>the ancient Greeks who actually practiced the religion would be regarded as extreme right wing fundamentalist nazis by today's standards
everyone who isn't a left wing fanatic would fare the same way nowadays.
>>18111321
Anon, Neoplatonism has coexisted with Greek and Roman polytheism for centuries, Julian was a hardcore Neoplatonist and still practiced his native faith, the same applies to all the other ancient neoplatonist philosophers, they made votive offerings to the Gods and prayed to them. Sure there are a couple of prayers and hymns to the One, but there were no temples or shrines to The One as far as I can tell, you could compare the One to the primordial Chaos in the Greek mythology, even though the latter lacks the fundamental ontology of Neoplatonism.

[Anonymous No.18111382]

>>18111310
Wouldn't this go against the monad thesis? Neoplatonism categorizes the archons/aeons as 'minor' gods. My path was Hermeticism - Neoplatonism - Gnosticism and I'm also trying to find a group to discuss such themes without the political/religious zealotry, let me know what you find.
Good luck on your journey my friend.

[Anonymous No.18111408]

>>18111382
>Wouldn't this go against the monad thesis? Neoplatonism categorizes the archons/aeons as 'minor' gods.
No, the Gods are in charge of upholding the harmony of the universe, they're emanations of the One. Look up the later Neoplatonists like Proclus and Iamblichus, they did not neglect the worship of the Gods and were extremely devoted to both the first principle and the Greco-Roman pantheon.

[Anonymous No.18111418]

>>18111382
btw Pythagoras was a devoted polytheist as well, he just never sacrificed living beings to the Gods and led a vegetarian life unlike most of the greek other polytheists

[Anonymous No.18111451]

>>18111382
>Neoplatonism categorizes the archons/aeons as 'minor' gods
I think anything that posits that there are multiple greater-than-human-entities that can be interacted with via religious means can be called "polytheism". Yes, this means that certain forms of Medieval English Catholicism that posited that Wotan, Jack Frost, and the Green Man could all be given things in a religious fashion (alongside Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Father, Angels, the Saints, the Devil, and Demons) in order to be interacted with would be classified as "polytheism".

If you, Athena, and Ares can have a three-way conversation, it's polytheism. I don't care if Ares and Athena are actually both types of Gnouisiounous emanations from Sophia via the polykourtistikiolion of The One or whatever, viewing them as "separate entities" is good enough.

[Anonymous No.18112670]

>>18111349
Neoplatonism and other schools of thought saw the polytheist gods as representations of aspects of the one.

[࿇ C Œ M G E N V S ࿇ !KNDY/Ar.iI No.18113016]

THE SON OF GOD WAS BORN IN THE FLESH TWO MILLENNIA AGO, AND THERE STILL ARE NESCIENT INDIVIDUALS TRYING TO PRACTICE DEMONISTIC CULTS.

[Anonymous No.18113023]

>>18111024
Fuck off my board you wannabe Mushrik.

[Anonymous No.18113041]

> apolitical frens to practice Hellenism or any other polytheist religion actually.
> also I've been a long time believer on Neoplatonism until I made my decision.
> /pol/tards or radleft SJWs
Please shut the fuck up. You might genuinely have brain damage, but you’re probably just an American. If you want to be a “pagan” follow the traditions of your own ancestral “paganism” don’t shop around and LARP other people’s cultures. Greek don’t want you. Also find Christ.

[Anonymous No.18113048]

>also I've been a long time believer on Neoplatonism until I made my decision
The decision to get a spiritual vasectomy?

[Anonymous No.18113056]

>>18113016
using capital letters is cringe, bro

[࿇ C Œ M G E N V S ࿇ !KNDY/Ar.iI No.18113064]

>>18113056
>using capital letters is cringe, bro [SIC]


SAID THE HEADLESS.

[Anonymous No.18113117]

>>18113064
have sex

[Anonymous No.18113136]

>>18113064
Have consensual sex

[Anonymous No.18113137]

>>18111024
You want to practice Hellenism?

Sure, but to do it properly you need to be the head of your family. Hellenistic religion is family focused, with only some state festivals. What about your dead ancestors? I bet you don't even know what the name of your great-grandfather is.

Point being, in the current age where family is being disintegrated, you can't really practice Hellenism without being locked up by the state for trumped up charges.

[Anonymous No.18113147]

>>18111408
All the same, they worshipped those gods not for the sake of those gods, but for the sake of the One. That is to say, they did not worship the 'first principle and the Greco-Roman pantheon' but instead only the first principle, of which the pantheon is derived from. Whatever angle you take, you cannot contest the fact that polytheism is a straight downgrade from Neoplatonism.

[Anonymous No.18113529]

the closest you're going to find is probably Aurum Solis. just be aware their foundation story is likely made up.

[Anonymous No.18113538]

>>18111024
>Hellenism or any other polytheist religion actually
Come on anon, at least commit.

[Anonymous No.18114833]

>>18111024
You're not a Hellen. I know it sucks but we have to find a new way forward.

[Anonymous No.18114858]

>>18111024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvBHhvvBfM0
One of us! One of us!

[Anonymous No.18115970]

Platonism is inherently an often lonely road. To abandon it for the faiths of popularity is to fall into the very politics you wish to avoid—until the populace cries out for true guardians.

[Anonymous No.18115981]

>>18114833
Hellenism is Paideia.