A question regarding Pagan polytheists who have switched from one religion to another?

Question

If you change from one pantheon to another do you still consider the old gods real? or do you think you where wrong the first time around
This isn't an attack i'm just generally curious

Answer 1

I've known polytheists who have done this. In my experience (and I was one of them, briefly, who did just this), the switch comes because the myths of one culture simple start resonating more.

Many Pagans I know and have known consider the symbology far more important than the question of whether the deity is literally real or not, and simply use the most meaningful symbology and mythology at any given point in their lives.

Many even end up becoming atheists by any technical defintion (in that they don't believe in the literal existence of their 'gods') but continue to perform rituals in honor of the legends that are personally significant, as a form of personal psycho-drama meaningful to the self.

I am one of these, in fact. Though I am a nearly rabid-atheist (wolf jokes aside... ;) ), I still consider myself a scion of Fenrirulfr and a bastard of Sekhmet, metaphorically speaking. By saying this, I am saying that the legends that surround Fenrirulfr and Sekhmet speak to me in a way other myths and legends do not -- the lessons are personally relevant to me, in a way that applies to my entire life.

It does not matter that Fenrirulfr and Sekhmet do not literally exist -- it matters that I find personal meaning in the tales told of them, and that the rituals I perform to honor those legends are relevant to me.

Answer 2

Most everyone here is correct. You should wait for the deity to come to you. that's how I did it. Once you have learned enough, and are ready, the answer will become apparent to you. Until then, I'd just work on learning as much as you can about the tradition or pantheon of your choice (since you didn't state what religion you are). As for how to connect with a deity- almost all can be connected with the same way. Meditation and dreamwork is going to be the easiest method. However, if a deity doesn't want to speak with you, you might not find anything. Those are the two methods I would recommedn to you.

Answer 3

i started out as a generic brother-sun-only type of pagan, and resisted the celtic pantheon, but cernunos called me. that doesn't change my opinion of any other gods, each person will hear the call of a different god at different times in their lives. sometimes i think the gods throw us back and forth just to keep us on our toes.

one of the central beliefs of paganism is that the gods and goddesses can take any form, or no form at all. so, changing pantheons does not invalidate our other experiences.

Answer 4

I studied Kemeticism for a while. I had a connection with those gods, but it was fuzzy at best and I really had to work for it. When I heard the call to the Norse Gods it was crystal clear and I knew it was where I was meant to be.
I don't doubt ANY gods existence. There are those who think I am mad to follow and believe in my gods. (Hel I thought I was crazy when the gods called. Going from agnostic to pagan is a leap) But I have had person experience with them even if others haven't. How do I discount THEIR experience with out discounting my own? Do think those gods make themselves heard to everyone? Not in the least. Pagans do not believe in a universal faith and reconstrutionalist are even more passionate about that fact. It is not about Elitism, it is about culture.
Even our ancestors believed other gods existed. They simply didn't belong to those other gods, there for it wasn't an issue. But while traveling or trading they seemed to honor the gods of the land and saw no hypocrisy in that. I do the same. I have friends in all sorts of denominations and I "practice" with them. I follow their rituals, their rules and help them honor their gods. It doesn't take away from MY beliefs,

Answer 5

In paganism (especially modern neopaganism), there is less need to say what gods (if any) are "real" or not - different pagans even within the same group can see gods as metaphoric, archetypes, aspects of other gods/goddesses, real or not. There tends to be no rules that one "has to" perceive the god/s in any particular way, or that one's own spiritual experiences have to conform to that of others. In neopaganism, the god/dess/e/s one chooses/is called to at the outset may change; as one's path changes, one may feel more in touch with others. It is less (to me) about which gods are "real" than "who is my guide?" "what am I here to learn?" To me, it's not about past gods being "less real" any more than me appreciating the last book I've read any less simply because I've started a new book.

Paganism tends to be Religion of Personal Experience, rather than Religion of Revelation. The latter implies an inherent "true" way of doing/seeing things, but the former tends to lack such notions.

Answer 6

I used to be Christian. I came to believe a lot of what I was being taught was wrong (such as there only being one God), but I would not say that I think the Christian God doesn't exist. I don't know if he does. I've had no personal evidence of him, but the idea that two billion people are flat out deluded seems awfully cynical to me. So I think some deity _probably_ exists answering the prayers of the Christians, but I don't think the Christians are totally right in their concept of him.

Answer 7

I don't see deities as all aspects of each other any more than I see myself as being an aspect of the people I go to work with. A relationship with a pantheon is just that--a relationship. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. It doesn't make the deities less real.

Answer 8

There are a lot of different pagan gods aren't there? That has got to be the belief I know least about.

Answer 9

I personally think they're all the same gods under different names.

Answer 10

Are you talking about Trinitarians switching to Jesus Only?
edit: or becoming Mormons? you have to be more specific!