Pagan Deities and Occult Themes
Jupiter Dolichenus is one of the many new gods created when the Romans syncretized their deities with local deities they encountered as they expanded their empire. Unlike similar counterparts, this god became extremely popular beyond its region of origin, and his mystery cult was practiced, mostly by soldiers, across the empire. Mystery cults were very... Continue Reading →
When most people think about Medusa, they think about the story told by the Roman author Ovid in his Metamorphoses. He casts her as a priestess of Athena who was ravaged by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. As punishment for this sacrilege, Athena transformed Medusa into a hideous monster with snakes for hair and a gaze... Continue Reading →
Seeing the number 59 repeatedly can be a sign from the universe that you are going through a period of change. It encourages you to let go of something that no longer serves you, but you are still holding on to. This will create the necessary space to embrace new opportunities. Remember that you are... Continue Reading →
Ragnarok, or the "Twilight of the Gods," is a prophecy that recounts the inevitable and unavoidable apocalypse in Norse mythology. The Aesir gods, led by Odin, are destined to face an army of giants, led by Loki and the fire giant Surtr, with the two sides destroying one another completely. The actions of the gods... Continue Reading →
While Neopagans are pagans, the nuance of language is used to distinguish between the pagan religions that defined ancient cultures and modern takes on pagan philosophy. This article explains ancient paganism and when and how it started to be referred to as “pagan,” the disappearance of traditional pagan religions, and the modern revival of pagan... Continue Reading →
Ouranos, better known as the Latinized version Uranus, was one of the very first gods to emerge from Chaos and forms part of the primordial group of gods alongside Gaia and Tartarus. He cruelly hid his children, leading one of his sons, Cronus, to castrate his father and usurp his role as ruler of the... Continue Reading →
Astrology has a long history. Many cultures, from the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians to the Romans to the Vedic Indians, believed in the principle “as above, so below.” They believed that the positions of the heavenly bodies at the time of your birth, your horoscope, could influence your character and destiny, and that by monitoring... Continue Reading →
Ammit was a demon in Egyptian mythology that could prevent the souls of the dead from reaching the blessed underworld, banishing them to eternal oblivion. Evolving Ideas of the Egyptian Underworld As Egyptian ideas about the underworld developed over time, the passage from the world of the living to the paradise of the dead became... Continue Reading →
The demon Asmodeus is one of the demons listed in the Goetia of the Lesser Keys of Solomon. According to this listing, he is a fearsome creature with three heads: a bull, a man, and a ram. He also has a serpent’s tail, webbed feet, and flaming breath. He rode a dragon and carried a... Continue Reading →
Greek and Roman religion is often conflated as “classical religion” because of the similarities between the Greek and Roman gods. Many people describe them as the same god, with a Greek and a Latin name. But this is an oversimplification. The Greeks and Romans had a shared cultural heritage as Indo-European speakers, but the Greek... Continue Reading →