Alternative Religious Pony Coffee Club Lounge (ARPCCL)

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,616]

I decided to create a gathering place for users of MLPF who are of an "alternative" (or even nontheistic) religious bent to chill and relax. Whether your pagan, Zoroastrian, even Satanist or Pastafarian, you're always welcome here in our little corner of the site. Grab some wine, mead, tea, or yes, even coffee, toast to whatever being(s) you may or may not believe in, and just get to know everypony.

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,616]

Soooo...as an intro post, let me get into how I became a Hellenic polytheist (or pagan, whichever one works best). See, I've always been a spiritual person on some level, but struggled for years with the question of whether or not God existed - I generally took an agnostic position when asked. Things REALLY became complicated when my bio dad killed himself last year after a lifelong struggle with mental illness. I began seriously doubting that God (or any other higher power, really) existed; if They did, why would They take a man who (in spite of all his flaws) loved everyone in his own odd and oftentimes chaotic sort of way away from the family who loved and cared about him the most? To this end, I began searching for the right answers, but was never really satisfied, which wasn't helped by my mother getting diagnosed with brain cancer (which she is thankfully recovering from). It all came to a boiling point when I finally let all my grief and suffering out on a Discord server, where I got down to the root of my problems - I was trying to use religion as a coping mechanism, without actually talking about what was bothering me. In an effort to alleviate my pain, I decided to browse the blog of Priestess of Aphrodite, a pagan who I had discovered on my "religious window shopping" journey, and whose entries I had quickly grown fond of. As I was reading, trying to hold back my tears, I felt a warm embrace from behind. I couldn't explain it, but it felt comforting, and I could sense this presence, whatever it was, was feminine, almost motherly - there was no malice or unease from what I could sense, and this presence was wanting to comfort me above all else. Though I initially approached it with uncertainty, I knew on some level that this intangible, feminine force was indeed the Greek goddess Aphrodite. From there, I dove headlong into the Hellenic faith, reading Old Stones, New Temples by Drew Campbell voraciously, solidifying my connection to Aphrodite through finding she and I, while not being able to directly communicate, had many of the same principles and values. And while I didn't have similar experiences with Zeus, Apollo, and Artemis, I eventually found similar kinships with them by recognizing traits and beliefs to my own. And, after further uncertainties that led to me briefly abandoning them for a while (that I would rather not go into), I have found a place with the Theoi once again.

[Pastel Heart 6,473]

I'm cherokee shaman but I haven't practiced in a long time, spirituality hasn't been central to my life lately. I've been influenced by Thelema and Satanism and incorporated some of those into my system~ so I guess I'm worldly 

I wouldn't say I'm theistic, though I do believe in the power of totems and that the gods we see in history as reflecting very powerful individuals who are strong enough compared to other humans to be seen as gods. I see the gods of the Lovecraft mythos to be the closest to what I'd consider the gods to be like; I'm personally fond of Nyarlathotep :3 his counterparts I'd say are Loki, Tezcatlipoca and Set.

I'm a materialist too but I don't consider this to be in conflict with my spirituality as I see science and magick as mostly the same, same with alchemy.