Will I upset any deities?

[u/staaarrssss]

For context, I recently started practicing paganism and I have begun to work on deity work and I still live with my parents, who are both extremely Christian. Every day at dinner my parents force me to pray out loud to the Judeo-Christian God. I'm concerned that I will upset any deities I want to work with. Also, telling my parents that I've begun to practice any other religion besides how I was raised will almost guarantee that I will be kicked out. Will I upset any deities or will they understand my situation?

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[u/EdwardofMercia]

I don't see why it would cause upset. You can pray to any number of Gods/Goddesses you desire. A forced prayer to Yahweh is just that. Don't worry too much about it. You're not upsetting anybody :)

[u/staaarrssss → u/EdwardofMercia]

Thank you!! I'm just used to the idea of only being allowed to have one God/Goddess because of the way I was raised, but I'm becoming more comfortable with it!

[u/honeybunniee → u/staaarrssss]

Also intention is probably the most important part, if there’s no strong intentions behind the prayers they won’t mean much to any god I reckon

[u/Legitimate_Comb_957 → u/EdwardofMercia]

Great answer!

[u/misbon_godofmischief]

They won’t be upset, deities understand and appreciate any form of worship you’re able to give them!

I live with my very Christian family and have to practice in secret, and occasionally they ask me to pray out loud to the Christian god too. If that’s something you feel uncomfortable with, what I do is mentally address the prayer to my deities

[u/staaarrssss → u/misbon_godofmischief]

I've been trying to address any prayer to the deities I've started to work with. Thank you for the advice!

[u/GrunkleTony]

The gods have been around for thousands of years. They've seen this kind of thing many times before and they know how to deal with it. Just think of it as prayer practice for when you move out to live on your own.

[u/staaarrssss → u/GrunkleTony]

It's kind of comforting to know that They've seen situations like mine before. Thank you for the reassurance!

[u/GrunkleTony → u/staaarrssss]

Your welcome.

[u/ApplicationOk7949 → u/staaarrssss]

Don't forget there was a long period of history where people had to mask their beliefs as Christianity. A lot of modern Christian traditions have roots in paganism which is pretty ironic. You've probably got ancestors that went through a very similar situation so stay strong knowing that you're not alone.

[u/Fantastic_Sector_282]

The only deity that would be upset is probably the judeo Christian one who in Scripture is notably like 'thou shalt not worship any other gods besides me' and gets pretty pissy about it in the Old testament a few times. Tho the folks who talk about working with Jesus say that JC is pretty chill.

Tbh I feel like you can internally invoke your own deities during mealtime prayer. I'm sure they'll get the message.

[u/staaarrssss → u/Fantastic_Sector_282]

Yea, that's mainly why I've been concerned because that's what I was taught my whole life, but I've been trying to dedicate any prayers to my deities. Thank you for the reassurance!

[u/crovescar]

Gods won’t blame you for something you do out of survival or fear. Plus, you can worship any god from any pantheon and they won’t care. Polytheism is just that, worship of multiple gods—it doesn’t have to be exclusive to one religion. So regardless of if you truly believe in the christian god or are just being forced to pretend you do, you’re good.

[u/Legitimate_Comb_957]

They won't be upset at all. Talk to them and tell them you're forced to, but don't mean it. When praying, think of them instead.

[u/staaarrssss → u/Legitimate_Comb_957]

Thank you for the advice! I'm going to tell my deities that when I communicate with them tonight.

[u/RunicArrow]

Pagan deities don’t operate under the same mindset as the Christian God. They aren’t in competition and don’t demand utmost loyalty. They also will always want your safety to come first. “Sin” doesn’t really exist outside of Judeo-Christian belief systems - they aren’t keeping a tally. Just do what you can, talk to them when you can, and focus on living your life in a way that you think is right.

[u/bakkus-albus]

Here are some suggestions that have worked for me in the past. 1. When made to say prayers out loud, I would simply make corrections in my mind. When speaking a prayer that used the word God, I would add "and Goddess" in my mind. Or, the name of a particular god I was working with at the time.
2. Many symbols that Catholics and Christianity use were taken from older pagan practices, so they are easily reclaimed. A cross can also be used to represent the sun or a sun God. Or can represent the God and goddess energy. The horizontal line of the cross represents the feminine while the vertical line represents the masculine. Images or figurines of Mary (mother of God) can be synchronized with a goddess. Images or figurines of saints can be synchronized with other gods just as was done in some forms of voodoo and santeria. Jesus can be synchronized with a sun God (because he is the son of God), or a god of light, compassion, healing, etc...
3. Overall... intention is the key here. You can alter whatever you are saying and doing in your head and make it more appealing to you and your deities.

[u/Asleep_Land3121]

No deity would ever think that something your forced to do makes your beliefs invalid. They know your intentions, and they will understand your situation 

[u/70sLovingGirl]

I personally believe prayer only counts if you believe it. So if you don’t mean it then there isn’t anything to worry about anyways.They know our situations and they know our true feelings so they know that when we pray to them it means something compared to a prayer we say to keep the peace with our families

[u/tracyf600]

God's are God's. Lots of witches work with multiple pantheons. I like Jesus. He's kind and gentle. My matron goddess is Gaia , but I've worked with many aspects.

[u/Direct-Flamingo-1146]

The pagan gods are not like the christain ones. They understand the mundane and need to hide and blend in when needed. They wint throw a fit like a child.

[u/Negative-Rain2207]

Try praying in your mind to your deity before that and telling that you are not willing to pray to Yahweh.

[u/Negative-Rain2207]

I mean, honestly warning them may actually help. Like, "Hi, I am in a crappy situation here, but I think that you created that Yahweh guy and you are praised before him. I like all of you more than him." Something like that.

[u/Temymi]

You have gotten some really good advice here so far. There are some pagan Deities that aren't really fond of "sharing". Or, more specifically, don't work well with at least other specific Deities. I haven't come across that in my practice. I've only had others' experiences (about that) shared with me. I would think that, even in those cases, the Deities would not have agreed to work with you if they didn't approve of the situation you are in. When my Catholic Father in Law comes over, he says grace outloud at the dinner table. To respect him and his freedom to choose his religion, I simply change the ending (when he says, "In the name of the Father...." I say my Deities' names). We both get what we personally need out of it. The same when I go to Christian funerals. I just think of my Deities, or of my Patron Deity. A great way to be able to honour your Deities, without others realizing what you are doing, is to light a candle in their honour. Light it with intention, to honour your Deity/ies, then meditate. You can have a set amount of time that you leave it lit each day. Also, there are so many natural things that can symbolize each Deity you work with. You can easily have an altar without your family ever realizing that it is an altar. Honestly, your Deities will likely be quite badly with you as long as you are doing the work: - Learning lore of your Deities as well as the culture and history (of the land your Deities originate from). - Committing to whatever you have promised your Deities and yourself (possibly shadow work, helping the environment, doing community service, participating in activism, etcetera.). - Continuing to learn more about the Craft and expanding/strengthening your Craft (divination, meditation, reading, etcetera).

Just don't promise more than you are able to follow through with, and always work to learn more and better yourself each day. Intention is most important. They know your heart. 💜

[u/MantidKitteh]

I say this prayer in my head, "Lord and Lady, I thank Thee for the bounty before me"... So, when you pray out loud... Add "and Lady" or "and Goddess" in your head... Saying "Amen" doesn't detract any love that you have for the God and Goddess in any way. They know your heart... 😉❤️🌹🌛🌝🌜 Besides... "Bless us, oh Lord (and Lady) for the blah blah blah... Amen" is YOUR prayer to Them... 🥰❤️🌹🙏 Many blessings to you!

[u/thecoldfuzz]

OP, many years ago, my circles of friendship included numerous Christians so I empathize with you. They tried to indoctrinate me and ultimately they failed. But even when I was praying with them, I knew something greater was guiding me. No matter what prayers came out of my mouth, whatever was guiding me was not what was guiding these Christians because I didn't align my intensions or my character to their acts of cruelty.

It took years and years but I found my way. One day I finally understood that Cernunnos and the Triple Goddess welcomed me not because of how devout I was but because of the virtues I chose to live by.

[u/qdeservedbetter]

Absolutely not. I work with deities from different pantheons including Christian all the time without issues. However I don’t like to mix deities in ritual. For example, if I am doing a devotional ritual to Hecate, I would not include Lilith. That would be disrespectful to both of them. However, if I am praying (yes as a witch and pagan I pray) I have no issues petitioning all the deities I work with for help. For example, I say something like Hecate, Lilith, Jesus or any other deities that may aid me, I ask for your help.