Ways Of Worship?

Hello,

I am in great need of help.

So, I originally come from Christianity. I have the common problem of adjusting to polytheistic views. Personally, I can't see every God or Goddess being in existence. I feel like I want to have a dualistic approach to faith, with Supreme God and Supreme Goddess being that duality. I want to believe that all Gods and Goddesses are branches up to the Great Mystery. I do, except I am very confused.

How do I worship this kind of theology with comfort? Paganism fulfills me with utmost bliss and joy, but I'm having a hard time with this...again. I love the practice of magick and I want to consider myself as Pagan/Wiccan, except this is my major barricade blocking me from full and peaceful faith. Any advice?

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Being an active Christian this is the way I see it. Most religions including some pagan ones acknowledge one creator God as above everything or as part of everything. So as a Christian we have God. Never in reading the Bible front to back three times have I seen thou shalt have no other Gods before me translated into no other Gods exist. Secondly what aspect of paganism are you wanting to follow? You don't have to worship a God or Godess to practice magick.

I want to follow Wicca. I don't want to be Christian if God condemns magick.

This is matter of religion, so it really comes down to what you believe. Faith is more than a label.

Some people see deities as a representation (archetype) of a type of energy or a part of the source of all creation (call it what you will). So for instance, they can look at an image of Aphrodite and say, that is the image of "love" IF it were an embodiment.

Others see them as, not "gods", but merely "powers of" "spirits of" "angels of" whatever you fancy. The word god is just a word. I personally see all deities as merely "higher beings" which is why you see that in my writing. The only being I see as deserving of the title "god" or "goddess" (when addressing them not just referring to them) is whatever created the universe. I like to think it has no gender but is a duality of male and female and neither at the same time. It has no true form, it just is, and we are all made from it, therefore we are all apart of it. So deities are not above it but are mediums of its different aspects. So all deities are still under the main creator. And all religions, even polytheistic ones, believe there is a single creator and that creator created the gods. That's why I don't "worship" them, but "honor" them.

Ever consider reading Taoism? You might like it. It was a philosophy first, then it was turned into a religion. But if you look into just the philosophy, you might find some ways of thought that make more sense to you. Look up what Tao actually is. When it comes to being pagan, we have the freedom to think for ourselves. It isn't a crime to find truth in other beliefs and decide to incorporate them into your own.

King Solomon was a mage and still he followed the Hebrew fate

Welcome to the club. I was catholc but now i'm an eclectic pagan- i don't have a set path just take things from here there and everywhere really! :) My problem is just learning to let go. I think once i find my deity/ies I will be able to accept that this is it. I'm a real pagan now. :)

Willow

You may praise what or who you will. I am A christian, Catholic to be exact, and I embraced it, I do believe as you believe except that my belief is like this:

"Your name is Joe, your dad calls you son, your mom calls you sweetheart, your mistress calls you darling, your friends call you Smart guy."

In Kabbalistic Tradition, being Polytheistic is actually also being Monotheistic since we are just calling the Same Divine God many names but he is still the same God we are praising. When we praise Aphrodite, we are calling upon God's aspect of love and beauty, when we praise Mars, we are Invoking God's aspect of war. With that analogy you can be comfortable with it. You are praising one God with many names, and when polytheistic religion usually praise different Gods because they have different aspects. Like in Hinduism where Shiva is the Destroyer, Brahma is the creator, and Vishnu is the preserver. They have 3 aspects when combined create the whole. You can choose which path as you will.

I do also want to add that the Biblical Solomon and David is myth or fable, Solomon never really existed so did David. It is not history, however I am not doubting the virtue of the parable or the like. I am only stating that Solomon and David was a mythical character. The one who created the "Song of Solomon" wasn't really him since he never existed. Nowhere in history did it state that Israel was divided into 2 divisions (Judea, and Jerusalem) in that time, The city was on siege by Nebuchnezzar (If I am correct) and there was no evidence that Solomon's temple ever existed either. However the strength and literary virtue of the parable given is not to be doubted, The person whoever wrote it is still a literary genius and know his stuff.

I would also like to add that indeed I WAS Catholic, I became sort of a Jewish Thelemite. It made more sense to me than the dogmatic belief of the Christian faith. In the Jewish faith, they do not reinforce their rules through politics and authority but share what they can of humble manner, and Thelema which is a sort of Religious philosophy which aids a person in attaining the "Great work" and training that person to be virtuous and perfect through magick.

For some all religion is or ever was is the fulfillment of a moral belief or standing. In this case the above stated post of deity's being the embodiment of said belief is true to the point.