Do people still worship the Roman, Greek, Celtic, Viking, etc Gods?

[AdamWeishaupt]

Do people still worship the Roman, Greek, Celtic, Viking, etc Gods?

I have recently found an advertisement for an animal insurance with the name Epona. Epona is an antique celtic god of horses.

-> http://www.epona.ch/

They say in their advertisement:

There are three good reasons to insure your animal with Epona (= the horse god):
1) to insure yourself against the unpredictable
2) for the animal the insurance has a price, too
3) fast and transparent service

Funny, isn't it? Especially funny is the first reason.

So, this is what you can expect from Lady Horse (the unpredictable, a price and services).

[Col. Tartleton]

She's also a character in Zelda. But Epona was the Celtic Demeter who was originally a Horse Goddess the same way Poseidon was a Horse God (and they were a couple.)

[Helm]

If a horse counts as a character?

[AdamWeishaupt]

She's also a character in Zelda. But Epona was the Celtic Demeter who was originally a Horse Goddess the same way Poseidon was a Horse God (and they were a couple.)

If a horse counts as a character?

What I find ironic here, is the metaphorical use of Epona in a product marketing to convince customers to buy an insurance.

epona = horse (compare lat. equus)

[ScottishAdam]

I'm keeping it old school I am a Thor worshipper. He is the way forward and I get comfort from my faith.

My god is better than yours and I don't have to wear a hat

[Heathen Storm]

I'm keeping it old school I am a Thor worshipper. He is the way forward and I get comfort from my faith.

My god is better than yours and I don't have to wear a hat

I had to laugh at that mate.
But I am an Asatruar as well. I worship the old gods of the Norse. And I really don't care whether people try to say i'm "trying to be a rebel/be cool". Because that's your own opinion. The truth, however, is that I'm following what is calling out to me, and obviously my Norwegian roots are definitely calling out to me.

So to answer the OP;
Aye, people still worship the old gods. Very few in number, but growing daily. With the controversy in the Catholic Church it's very easy to gain members without trying to convert forcefully, unlike other religions I can think of...

[Diamat]

Question to all the polytheists out there:

Does it work? Does praying to your gods bear any successes?

That's the obvious question, which no one usually ever bothers asking.

[Logios]

Question to all the polytheists out there:

Does it work? Does praying to your gods bear any successes?

That's the obvious question, which no one usually ever bothers asking.

Being an asathru I don't pray, I do blot, and that is done standing up.
And yes, doing blot gives me self-confidence, courage, focus and direction and maybe even some luck, after all sometimes stuff happend that I can't explain.
I hope this answered your question (it was not a retoric question, right ?)

[Diamat]

Being an asathru I don't pray, I do blot, and that is done standing up.
And yes, doing blot gives me self-confidence, courage, focus and direction and maybe even some luck, after all sometimes stuff happend that I can't explain.
I hope this answered your question (it was not a retoric question, right ?)

Not a rhetorical question. I was simply curious about the actual experiences of polytheists.

[Heathen Storm]

Question to all the polytheists out there:

Does it work? Does praying to your gods bear any successes?

That's the obvious question, which no one usually ever bothers asking.

I'm with Logios on this one.
Although we cannot "pray" in the Christian sense, we can - and do - sacrifice. Some pagans do still practice blood sacrifice, I've done it myself a couple times (my own blood, not an animal's). I've seen a fair number of asatruar who sacrificed bad habits and other things that could be given up. For example, I drink a LOT of Monster energy drinks. At least one every other day, when I have the money. Now, I have a good reason for that. I am in school (university) for almost 12 hours a day, and the days that I'm not in school I tutor for the school for 6-8 hours, then go to my other job as well. So I have sacrificed drinking Monsters before in exchange for something. (This is just an example there are millions of things you could sacrifice.)

Most Asatruar (a generalization, so it may just be me) see the gods as their kin, or family. We (I) do not kneel to them, nor do I kneel to any other person, deity or establishment. And if you ask for something from a family member, it's usually customary to offer them something in return. Don't fulfill that promise, and you could greatly anger that family member.
Note: These are my beliefs and do not reflect all Asatruar or other Pagans. Extreme caution is advised.

[TrueX]

I know I'm a bit late and out of place, but I know I don't care what people think I'm beyond teenage years and I still wanna believe in the Hellenes religion I prefer Pallas Athena of all other gods but the way most of these posts seems is that you have to have some direct ancestory to said religions. I just wanted to point that out. because I know I have no real decendant that I know of and I was getting the impression that just because I'm not a direct desendant of that, that I'm wrong for believing in it. just would like to know what others think about this . And I'd appreciate it if I don't get some bogus anwsers and rude comments thank you.

[Helm]

The thing to bear in mind about many of these pre-Christian beliefs is that none of them were formally a religion or what we would recognise as a religion. They didn't even have a name for religion the closest word the Romans had for it was "Honouring the gods". In ancient Greece there were some organised Mystery Cults based on Isis, Mithras and a certain Jewish guy who would become a little bit popular in later years.

[Col. Tartleton]

I know I'm a bit late and out of place, but I know I don't care what people think I'm beyond teenage years and I still wanna believe in the Hellenes religion I prefer Pallas Athena of all other gods but the way most of these posts seems is that you have to have some direct ancestory to said religions. I just wanted to point that out. because I know I have no real decendant that I know of and I was getting the impression that just because I'm not a direct desendant of that, that I'm wrong for believing in it. just would like to know what others think about this . And I'd appreciate it if I don't get some bogus anwsers and rude comments thank you.

I believe the general belief among neo pagans is that its sort of a heritage thing. Mars and Ares and Tyr and Kuan Ti are all "The War God" and you seek their aid when you face a struggle, but how you approach their veneration is a thing of tradition. They're all very different. Mars is a Proud Warrior, Ares is a Savage Slayer, and Tyr is a Fearless Guardian. Do you sacrifice a White Bull to Zeus or a Ram to Thor? How do you try to do that now? Is cooking some steak and offering the bones, fat, and the drippings to Zeus enough? Does Thor want Lamb? Do you sacrifice at all? The Jews used to and they stopped.

IMO it's more about venerating the ancient archetypes as you need them in the style you feel is appropriate.

[Helm]

The ancient Jews used to practice sacrifice as well but it just kind of went out of fashion. Besides it was just a neat way of getting some meat back then as they ate whatever they sacrificed and just gave the gods the bones. In a way Muslims still practice animal sacrifice as you have halal meat which as been ritually slaughtered.

[Exarch]

no, this is the very essence of cultural extermination; all of europe and america in fact have been well and truly christianised meaning a middle eastern religion came to dominate all of western culture

[Helm]

Christianity is more a Roman/European religion, it has its roots in Judaism but also in the pagan mystic traditions which may well have influenced by elements of India Hindu theology from the east. Hinduism in turn had historical connections to the Indo European religions to begin with. It's all kind of connected together in a great mish mash. Most of the peoples who converted to Christianity did so peacefully and over several hundreds of years they weren't under the boot or anything. The big exception being the Americas the native American civilisations were throughly done over but land and gold was a bigger motivation than the saving of souls.

[Logios]

I believe the general belief among neo pagans is that its sort of a heritage thing. Mars and Ares and Tyr and Kuan Ti are all "The War God" and you seek their aid when you face a struggle, but how you approach their veneration is a thing of tradition. They're all very different. Mars is a Proud Warrior, Ares is a Savage Slayer, and Tyr is a Fearless Guardian. Do you sacrifice a White Bull to Zeus or a Ram to Thor? How do you try to do that now? Is cooking some steak and offering the bones, fat, and the drippings to Zeus enough? Does Thor want Lamb? Do you sacrifice at all? The Jews used to and they stopped.

IMO it's more about venerating the ancient archetypes as you need them in the style you feel is appropriate.

The term War-God is a bit one-dimensional. Most of the nordic Gods have some kind of a warrior aspect, and you might as well call Tyr the "Peace God" or the "Democracy God" as he is the guardian of ceasefires, negotiations and the Thing (which includes modern parliaments too). I suppose (without really knowing) that Mars has some agricultural aspect.
At the blot I usually sacrifice wine if I have a personal sacrifice or just the homemade mead from the common horn. Having animal sacrifice during the ritual would cause some logistic and hygienic problems. We usually eat together right after the ritual and preparations take time, so we sometimes have an arrangement with a butcher a day before.
I sacrifice my own blood at the hospital, and try to time that with the solstices and equinoxes.

[knight of virtue and valor]

my Uncle is asatru, and even though I am christian, many of my recent ancestors and still liveing relatives are Germanic/Viking Pagan. so yes, they still exist.

[Col. Tartleton]

The term War-God is a bit one-dimensional. Most of the nordic Gods have some kind of a warrior aspect, and you might as well call Tyr the "Peace God" or the "Democracy God" as he is the guardian of ceasefires, negotiations and the Thing (which includes modern parliaments too). I suppose (without really knowing) that Mars has some agricultural aspect.
At the blot I usually sacrifice wine if I have a personal sacrifice or just the homemade mead from the common horn. Having animal sacrifice during the ritual would cause some logistic and hygienic problems. We usually eat together right after the ritual and preparations take time, so we sometimes have an arrangement with a butcher a day before.
I sacrifice my own blood at the hospital, and try to time that with the solstices and equinoxes.

Well it's hard to find a person whose only useful trait is that he's handy in a fight And he's Ares. Another example appears to be Yahweh Sabaoth. Gods so terrible they're almost purely invoked to destroy their enemies and require the occasional virgin sacrifice to get their swell on. I mean the people who worship Ares the most were the Thrax and the Scythian. Kali and Sekhmet may be female variants depending on how warlike they're taken to be. It's the fire and slaughter type.

Yes, Mars is more the god of the Citizen soldier, a Protector of Hearth and Hold, Tyr is similar in the whole Democracy thing. Mars has that defender of the Republic thing going for him. More Truth Justice and the American Way! than Kill Maim Burn!

[Helm]

There are people who still believe fairies exist.



No fooling actual fairies. One thing to mention is that the pictures in there, they're not photographs someone drew those. And Leprechauns apparently live near fairies because they make fairy shoes, fairies often ware out their shoes from frequent dancing around.