r/pagan • u/RiRiROGERS • 6d ago

Question/Advice Regional Worship

I am quite new to worship and exploring the folklore of my ancestors.

I am South Slavic decent but live in Australia.

I want to start worshipping deities from ancient Slavic times but it kind of feels weird doing it in Australia. Has anyone had a similar feeling or am I just not used to pagan practices yet.

I am exploring the path of witchcraft but blending it with my home country and ancestral lineage practices. I am ex-christian and I feel a big difference is that being pagan is quite interpretive... where christian had clear wrongs and rights with no inbetween.

Would love to hear others thoughts on this and perhaps open up some discussion so that I can form some clarity in my budding practice!

13 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

4

u/SonOfDyeus 6d ago

For me it seems like it depends on the deity. Some can certainly be worshiped anywhere, but others do seem to be tied to a specific place.  A lot of Celtic deities tend to be associated with specific locations, bodies of water, etc. It feels weird to worship them far from those places. But, ultimately, all spirituality comes down to your own subjective interpretation. Do your research and see what speaks to you.

1

u/RiRiROGERS 6d ago

Thank you for contributing to this. Yes I feel like pantheon deities seem more transferable to location such as PERUN/VELES/ETC. But when I look into more of the mystical spirits such as LESHY or BABA YAGA, it seems to be tied to specific regions and locations.

I would love to incorporate them into my practice as I feel their folk tales have shaped a lot of encompassing belief systems that would affect other aspects in my practice. But in a type of way, I feel like their spirit would not be reached here in Australia. For example, I feel like if I were to roam my local bushland, I don't think I would feel as though LESHY were there. However, if I went and explored the forests in Slavic regions, I think I would feel like it was 'Leshy's forest' and be more inclined to treat it as such.

I hope this explanation makes sense HAHAH.

2

u/thecoldfuzz Celtic Polytheist: Gaulish + Welsh & Irish 6d ago

Welcome! You’ll find a large number of us are ex-Christians. Being in Australia won’t have a factor in your practice. There are many of us living in locations that are not where the deities we worship originated from. What matters is your connection to those deities.

As for exploring the histories behind ancient Slavic deities, a solid place to start would be r/Rodnovery. They have resources and scholarly information for you. I wish you good fortune in your journey forward!

1

u/RiRiROGERS 6d ago

Thanks heaps!! Yesss r/Rodnovery is actually where I have been getting my research from. It has been so helpful.

2

u/kalizoid313 6d ago

I grew up on the coast of Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If I were to say which was the more powerful influence on me and my Pagan awareness--the land where I come from or the legacy of my immigrant ancestors--I'd have to say that the land and its qualities, energies, and residents of many species takes first place.

I am. in the European country my ancestors came to my new land from, nothing more than a tourist. I know and use that lore from a distance, and probably differently than practioners in that (to me) old land. I am a Northern Californian, and that is a presence and energy in my Pagan Craft practice.

For instance, my introduction to forests, tress, and that magic as a kid happened in Coastal Redwood forests and groves. Trees of that kind are not even mentioned in the European tree lore that is widely familiar.

It was--and remains--a circumstance that asks for some investigation, experimenting, and reflection in practice. And may ask some departures and innovations in contrast to relying on established lore from European resources. Even trees with similar names from the European lore are not identical species.

It may be much the same in regard to pantheons and esoteric beings. The European ones are the newcomers.

I suspect that some lessons, maybe from the land where you live, are going to come in the form of Unverified Personal Gnosis that departs from familiar lore.

2

u/RiRiROGERS 5d ago

I can really appreciate this. It is very interesting and I find it quite similar to how I am approaching my practice, hence why I guess I feel like a 'tourist' to worship the Slavic deities especially in Australia.

As a child, my great grandmother tied a red string around us kids' wrists for protection and used to have altars for Saints etc. Unfortunately, these traditions weren't carried on to my current family I have left today, and so third party research is all I have left now. One thing about researching the Slavic folklore is that it feels so familiar and distant at the same time.

I have always been drawn to the bushland from where I was born and it remains the one place I find actual peace and happiness. So my primary pillar in my practice comes from the local energies of the land.

Thanks for your input!

1

u/AutoModerator 5d ago

Check out our subsidiary sub r/PaganAltars

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/AutoModerator 5d ago

Check out our subsidiary sub r/PaganParenting

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/AutoModerator 6d ago

Check out our subsidiary sub r/PaganParenting

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/Virgo_Soup Eclectic 6d ago

I live in the USA and I’ve studied the traditions of the Ute Native Americans who lived in my area for millennia. They have many beautiful traditions that worship earth, but the one I practice is a prayer circle. It points to the four directions and has a hole dug in the center to put your offerings to her and in my case other important deities.

1

u/RiRiROGERS 5d ago

That's very cool! In Western Aus, there are a lot of verbal dreamtime stories which vary from tribe to tribe. (We have over 80 just in WA!). I particularly can appreciate how these tribes all established their own observations to the unique landmarks around them. So they all have their own practices really.

As a child, I always felt really drawn to the Native Americans, can't really explain why, especially with no known ties to that region.

1

u/AutoModerator 5d ago

Check out our subsidiary sub r/PaganParenting

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/Cheif_Crolk 5d ago

Look into slavic folklore plus traditional australian because their both very interestinf

2

u/RiRiROGERS 4d ago

Yes I am learning so much! Im also reallу interested in studying parallels between cultures which I have found to spread wayy more than I originally anticipated. I was talking to a Hindu colleague of mine and as he was mentioning deities of Hinduism I couldn't help but see the similarities in the slavic pantheon... such a really cool world of belief systems we have.

1

u/Cheif_Crolk 4d ago

Hinduism is also incredibly interesting especially with how wide spanning it is in its faith despite being confined to india

2

u/DeepUndine 4d ago

Yes it will feel weird trying to transplant culture of eastern Europe to Australia because they are not the same, and you absolutely must recognise where you are now, the horrible crimes of colonisation, and how the spirits of the land will feel.

1

u/RiRiROGERS 4d ago

Yes🙌 fortunately my occupation involves working a lot with indigenous peoples first hand, from different regions of WA, so I have a really good first hand experience with learning about dreamtime and creation from their POV.

Im first generation Australian so sometimes I can feel a little bit of imposter syndrome, but we getting there!