Article: Should You Mix or Match Wiccan Pantheons

[Heartsong]

I subscribe to this nifty little newsletter, and the editor just wrote this really interesting article about "borrowing" deities from different pantheons. While I'm not satisfied with how short the article is, she asks quite a number of good questions and I thought you guys might like to take a look, maybe open a discussion on the topic.


http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27265.asp/zzz

[Obsidian]

I think that with all things (but spiritualism especially) you should always act with integrity. As the authour mentions, would it be right for you to invite two deities into your circle but pretty much ignore one? I think it best to be honest in your actions and invite/worship only deities you connect with, not a pair or a pantheon just because it seems like the more conventional option. Also, as I'm leaning towards being an eclectic witch, I very much believe that if I am going to have a spiritual aspect to my life, it should be something that I 100% identify with and want to do- not something that is being dictated to me.

Finally, I think it's a good idea to explore your spiritualism and research and try new things, but if you have tried to feel a connection with something and it's just not happening for you, I don't think you can force it. Because if you don't honestly believe in something, then doesn't that make any worship to that deity null and void because the belief isn't there? You would just be going through the motions. That's my opinion on the matter anyway.

[Isis3Anubis]

I once celebrated Lughnasa with all Egyptian deities but Elemental Quarters,in ritual I forgot to mention Lugh. Well I was informed of his being insulted in my meditation after ritual. Lugh did not like his festival being celebrated without proper mention or acknowledgement. He was nice about it though and just laughed at me for forgetting him. My altar candles also would go out and refuse to light again. I just took that as a sign not to mix and match Celtic with Egyptian. Dragon energy on the other hand worked fine with my Egyptian rituals, I guess they are more elemental energies so the deities don't mind.

[Holdasown]

The article was well done. If your not a specific polytheist, ie. not Heathen, Greek/Roman, etc. you can do a bit more mix and match. Just make sure you gods are ok working together. Also just to put it on record, Odin has had several consorts outside of his wife Frigga there are UPG or actually in lore Holda, Freya, Jord (Thor's mother) and the Nine sisters. People shouldn't be afraid to look at gods/ goddesses their patron may be involved in.

[-Dark-Moon-]

I think it's important to work with particular forces by using the system particular to them.

I don't think it's a good idea to use gods from different pantheons in a circle, for many reasons but primarily out of respect.

I don't practice Wicca (although I love it as a religion), and I do borrow from it when working with masculine/feminine forces in balance. To help solve problems I often make offerings to particular deities in the traditional ways peculiar to them. I mostly use the Egyptian Panthenon day to day but may enlist the help of others such as Hekate (be prepared for a hard lesson) and various spirits to help teach me things, and of course Angels in emergencies .

I would never think its a good idea to put an angel in a circle with an Egyptian god, it just depends on what system I'm working to solve the problem. If you were to do something like this you may find unintended effects. Ultimately however, if you're actually practicing magic, you will soon learn what works and what doesn't. Isis as Mistress of Magic is a wonderful teacher. Bast is a wonderful protector especially if you protect cats in return. Anubis is incredibly helpful and powerful. These are only my experiences. Always wanted to work with Sekhmet but So far she hasn't made her presence felt.

Interested to hear others interpretations.

[loona wynd]

I believe that people can have relationships with deities from multiple pantheons. I do not believe in mixing pantheons in the same ritual. I do think that they should be worshiped seperatly. Some pantheons may mix and match in ritual easy like Greek/Egyptian/Roman, but that is because there are historical records of them being worshiped together. Greek and Norse together no. So look at the history of the culture and the region before mixing and matching.

[valerian moon]

I think it best to be honest in your actions and invite/worship only deities you connect with, not a pair or a pantheon just because it seems like the more conventional option.

okay, i get it now, i was pretty much confused as heckie for a moment while reading the article, but your comment just cleared it up for me.

[seidkonacat]

The article was well done. If your not a specific polytheist, ie. not Heathen, Greek/Roman, etc. you can do a bit more mix and match. Just make sure you gods are ok working together. Also just to put it on record, Odin has had several consorts outside of his wife Frigga there are UPG or actually in lore Holda, Freya, Jord (Thor's mother) and the Nine sisters. People shouldn't be afraid to look at gods/ goddesses their patron may be involved in.

I completely agree. If you look back throughout history, "borrowing" gods from another pantheon was not uncommon. (the Romans worshiped Isis, Skadi and Ullr of the Norse Pantheon were adopted from the Saami). Mixing pantheons is by no means a modern occurrence--it has an extraordinarily long history that spans across the globe.

[YanaKhan]

I don't know if it's a good idea to mix pantheons in the same ritual. Even some Gods within the same pantheon sometimes don't work well together. But I don't quite see the point of asking more than one God/Goddess for help within the same ritual either. After all, if the God you are working with can't help you, it's probably not meant to be anyway. (have to say, this doesn't include the Lord and Lady in Wicca, who are supposed to be invited in your circle together).
I work with different deities from different pantheons, but have never even thought of working with them at the same time. Or working with them on the same subject for that matter. I think of it as I would think if someone becomes my student at the same time he/she is a student of someone else. It's not nice and is insulting to both. Maybe the student could profit from it, but it's still too selfish for my liking. The same with Gods.
I must say, I could be wrong as I have never attempted to work with different Gods within the same ritual. But at this point, when I haven't done enough research, I wouldn't even try it.

[loona wynd]

I completely agree. If you look back throughout history, "borrowing" gods from another pantheon was not uncommon. (the Romans worshiped Isis, Skadi and Ullr of the Norse Pantheon were adopted from the Saami). Mixing pantheons is by no means a modern occurrence--it has an extraordinarily long history that spans across the globe.

This is actually why I mentioned the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. Because of their trade routes the three cultures existed and worked together all the time. They have found Egyptian Temples with statues and worship offerings for various Greek and Roman gods at the same time. During this period you had people of all three cultures moving in and out at all times. So the multiple culture temples were a way that the Greeks could worship their Gods away from home.

In some cases new deities actually were created by the combined worship.

[Kat]

This is actually why I mentioned the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. Because of their trade routes the three cultures existed and worked together all the time. They have found Egyptian Temples with statues and worship offerings for various Greek and Roman gods at the same time. During this period you had people of all three cultures moving in and out at all times. So the multiple culture temples were a way that the Greeks could worship their Gods away from home.

In some cases new deities actually were created by the combined worship.

u mean that Hakate and Bast could mix in the same ritual? could this combimation create a new deity?
Hekate is greek but Bast is Egyptian.

[Isis3Anubis]

Isis was worshipped by the Romans and Greeks. She was seen to be like Demeter, Aphrodite, and Astarte.
Also the Roman historian Apuleius, claims Isis to include manifestations of the goddess as Ceres, "the original nurturing parent"; Heavenly Venus (Venus Caelestis); the "sister of Phoebus", that is, Diana or Artemis as she is worshipped at Ephesus; or Proserpina (Greek Persephone) as the triple goddess of the underworld.
From the middle Imperial period, the title Caelestis, "Heavenly" or "Celestial", is attached to several goddesses embodying aspects of a single, supreme Heavenly Goddess such as Isis. The Dea Caelestis was identified with the constellation Virgo (the Virgin), who holds the divine balance of justice.

On the Greek island of Delos a Doric Temple of Isis was built on a high over-looking hill at the beginning of the Roman period to venerate the familiar trinity of Isis, the Alexandrian Serapis and Harpocrates. The creation of this temple is significant as Delos is particularly known as the birthplace of the Greek gods Artemis and Apollo who had temples of their own on the island long before the temple to Isis was built.
In the Roman Empire, a well-preserved example was discovered in Pompeii.The only sanctuary of Isis (fanum Isidis) identified with certainty in Roman Britain is located in Londinium (present-day London).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis#Greco-Roman_world

[loona wynd]

u mean that Hakate and Bast could mix in the same ritual? could this combimation create a new deity?
Hekate is greek but Bast is Egyptian.

Not exactly. What I meant was that Hermes, and Thoth were both messenger Gods, both Scribes, and had many similar aspects. They were associated together as the same God so they were worshiped together at times. This is how they believe the god Hermes Thrice great was created.

So the Goddesses associated with Isis for example were often worshiped together, and believed to be the same being. This could have created another God who was a combination of those Gods. The identities combined into one being through combined worship.