Going the opposite way, I was raised as an atheist and came to religion pretty much on my own terms. Up until I was ~9ish years old I was just...
For what it's worth, I don't think your experience is improbable. As a polytheist, I'm not in the business of telling other people that their gods...
It's very difficult to. Most would describe such things as ineffable, as something experiential rather than discursive. I can try to put it into...
I've read a lil bit. His work was pretty influential on some Neopagans in the 1970s, and is still used by some Atheopagans. But it's not super...
I do believe in an afterlife. But I live my life much the same as I did before I believed in such a thing, as I do now. I do not think one's form of...
Good thing I'm not trying to convince you. If you want answers to your questions, I can try my best. But do keep in mind, I have no interest in...
There's usually an ulterior motive to questions like that, forgive me if I was hasty.
I've never done psychedelics, no. Though I don't think that they would invalidate a spiritual experience.
Gods, plural. And no, not necessarily. I've had personal experiences with spirits of place, ancestral spirits, not just gods. Though some of the most...
Most of them, it's upbringing. The inertia of tradition and education. Culture. For others, such as myself, it's deeply personal spiritual...
Enoch fits into a wider pattern of Late Second Temple literature that is increasingly esoteric and eschatological. This preceded Christianity by...
Certainly. There are many patron gods of archery, such as Apollo and Artemis, Diana, Ullr, etc. Practicing archery can be dedicated to them, the...
Oh yeah, most definitely. I took a bit of a circuitous way around to twofold points: 1. Religious motivations for major historical events pretty much...
Yeah. And to an extent, to co-opt the critiques of the Cathars, not unlike the 16th-17th century Counter-Reformation. Though there's an argument to...
All of that was less about textual literalism, and more about public adherence to doctrine about theology, philosophy, and practice. Though it's a...
Right, and as exchemist pointed out, that's a fairly recent movement, only the past couple centuries. Now, Christianity has a long history of...
The Black Sea hypothesis is very controversial, and is not exactly widely accepted. Same goes for the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, or other...
Gradually, in a process that began around 50 CE and was generally complete by the start of the 4th century CE. Jewish Christians in the 1st and 2nd...
Pythagoreanism, Platonism and Neoplatonism, and Classical Stoicism all are part of the Classical philosophical tradition. And they were also heavily...
Definitions covering such a broad concept usually are. The ancient Greeks certainly would say that most creative acts were inspired by the Muses or...
Separate names with a comma.
