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a little bit abt Venus

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Venus is most commonly known as the Roman counterpart to the Greek Aphrodite. However, in my opinion, the two goddesses are entirely separate, different goddesses, despite sharing some ideas and similarities. I take Latin in school and heard about Her in our mythology lessons, and searched her up eventually. Aphrodite seems to be a fairly popular goddess in the pagan community, and I’m so glad so many people get to work with such a wonderful goddess. However, I do believe that Venus is a bit under-recognized. I tend to be more comfortable with the Roman pantheon because of my heritage and prior knowledge about Ancient Rome, so I was called to Venus more so than Aphrodite. I began working with Her on a Thursday, and the following day was therefore a Friday. I do believe that Fridays have a special significance in terms of love, being Venus’ day of the week and all. (For those who don’t know, the name Friday comes from the name of the Germanic goddess Frigga, who was associated with the
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omnism—how can you believe in all gods?

There are a few basic types of religion and spirituality, and amongst these the most recognized are perhaps atheism and monotheism. However, there is much more than these two. Atheism is the belief in no gods, deities, or divine beings. Monotheism is the belief in one god or deity exclusively, often believing that this god is the one, supreme, all-encompassing god. Polytheism is the belief in multiple or many gods, and is commonly associated with paganism and ancient religions. Henotheism is the worship of one supreme god or deity without denying the existence of other gods or deities. Omnism is the belief in all gods (“omni” means all in Latin). The first question someone might ask when hearing about omnitheism is how can you worship every single god ever? And the answer is simple: I don’t. In fact, I don’t even try to. Many may often worship a handful of deities that are significant to them and their life, without denying the existence of others. Because I am an omnist, I believe in
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my experience with Hecate

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 I’ve been pagan for a whole year now! I first identified as an eclectic witch and Wiccan, however, I now identify as an herbal witch and pagan polytheist. I’ve introduced myself to Odin, Hebe, and have just begun working with Venus. However, my longest and closest relationships to my deities so far has been with Isis and Hecate. That’s four different pantheons, which is a lot to work with, but I love seeing the overlap and differences in gods across the Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and Norse pantheons. I identify most perhaps with the Roman pantheon. I have Italian heritage, and I love the idea of my ancestors worshipping the gods in Ancient Rome. And so I’d like to talk about my relationship and journey with Hecate. This is not the universal experience, merely mine, but I’d like to share what it’s been like for me. Hecate, which can also be spelled Hekate (I prefer the Roman spelling, personally), is the goddess of many things. I don’t like to say that She is just  the goddess of witchcra
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what is non-binary

Non-binary is a gender outside of the gender binary. Agender is having no gender. While some non-binary people are agender and all agender people are non-binary, non-binary can mean full of gender. The most common misconception about what it means to be non-binary is that all non-binary people don’t experience gender. This is false. The first problem is that our perception of gender as a society is girl and boy, woman and man, female and male, feminine and masculine. We assume if someone is neither woman nor man, they must be agender. But we forget; there are so many other ways to experience gender beyond feminine and masculine! Being agender is perfectly valid, but it is not the same thing as being non-binary. Gender Beyond the Binary The experience of a gender that is neither feminine or masculine is the experience of non-binary gender. Contrary to what society tells us, there are so many ways to experience gender, not just two. It can be hard to put into words, as it is more of a fe
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guilt

You do not have to be good You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. I have moral scrupulosity. It’s a type of OCD. And the truth is, explaining it through words is nearly impossible. Some things can only be explained through pain. My moral scrupulosity has tortured me for years. I question how long I’ve actually had it, looking back on my childhood and realizing how obsessive and compulsive I was about being “good”. There’s a good chance I’ve struggled with this mostly my whole life. I say that guilt is the worst feeling in the world. When I feel guilty, shame rises up in my throat like fire. It literally burns, physically. It physically hurts me. At a certain point in life, without a single close friend, I came to the false conclusion that the only one I truly had was myself. And what if I were to betray myself? What if I, the most important and crucial part of my futur
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what other people may think (it doesn’t matter)

I was not raised Christian, nor was I really raised atheist. I grew up with no real expectations for what religion I may or may not be a part of when I got older. I’m grateful for that, because it’s given me freedom and clarity to choose my own path. However, growing up with a choice is actually quite frightening at times. I wanted many times to pray, but I didn’t know who to pray to. Much of my family is Christian, and so the only spiritual being I could think to pray to was God. But I never had a clear or close connection with God. I believe in and respect the existence of all gods, but I do not worship or feel a connection to all gods. I felt lost for a little while, having no one I knew to pray to. One of the only things I knew I believed in for certain was angels. I had been told since I was young that they would watch over and protect me, and I felt many times that they were doing so. I still feel that way, and angels are very important to me. I was lucky in that I had several ve
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witchcraft & gender

  In 1974, the Council of American Witches gathered to create the document titled “Principles of Wiccan Beliefs”. One particular principle on this list is still argued over amongst traditional and eclectic witches today: “We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity -- as masculine and feminine -- and that this same Creative Power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine.”     It is important to recognize that this polarity of masculine and feminine can be seen in other religions as well. The issue is with how people interpret this belief and whether or not they harm others because of it.     What I personally wonder is, does this exclude people? There is no mention of transgender and gender non-conforming people in this principle. However, could this principle stand to use some editing? An update, maybe? Is this really still an accurate representation of the witchcraft community? Perhaps this principle
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