Bit late, but hope everyone had a happy Beltane!

I did, thanks... as usual I did nothing, but I had a nice quiet day... so it was all good

How about you?

Hope everyone here had a lovely Beltane.

Cheers to Midi for adding Hypatia to her sig!

-- Nephele

My Sig. in a Picture!

As for my Beltaine, I did not do anything. I was going to have a bonfire- but personal things kept me from doing this.

That's brilliant!

I've put them all in chronological order for you:

Laozi, 604 BCE to ?
Buddha, c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE
Confucius, 551 BCE to 479 BCE
Hillel, c. 110 BCE to 10 CE
Jesus, 7-2 BCE to 30-36 CE
Hypatia, c. 351 CE to 415 CE
Gandhi, 1869 CE to 1948 CE

I just did that because I'm obsessive-compulsive. It's not a suggestion to change your sig or pic or anything. I love it the way it is!

-- Nephele

I have this sudden fascination with Aset (Isis). Such an interesting goddess. I've always had this fascination with Egyptian mythology but Aset always intrigued me, how she lived on through many names not only in Egypt but in Greece and Rome.

I should look into Celtic mythology as well, though. It is my heritage. Part Celtic, part Norse. I'm unsure where my ancient Egypt fascination came from, though....

I have a cat named Isis. She just had a kitten a few weeks ago. We named him Horus.

Sometimes a person can just feel pulled toward a certain pantheon, regardless if that pantheon is part of his or her heritage. I'd think that it perfectly normal and it wouldn't be anything to really worry about.

Have fun learning about Celtic and Norse. It is interesting.

Same here!

Agreed. I had this when I was drawn to the Greek pantheon... I have no connection to Greece of any kind - Roman I could have understood more, seeing as I am English and am a Londoner, through and through (London being built upon the ancient Roman city of Londinium). But the Greek is a mystery to me. Strangely I now seem to be feeling more of a link to the Roman pantheon than I ever have, especially Minerva and Vesta (although I used to be drawn to both Athena and Hestia, and the former two are the Roman counterparts of the latter two).

I used to be drawn to the Kemetic (Egyptian) pantheon as well, many moons ago... but for some reason about five years ago my interest seemed to wane, virtually overnight, and I have never given it another thought since that day (a shame as I have dozens of, now unread, books about every aspect of the Ancient Egyptian world ).

That is very cool! I meant to mention that earlier!



My dog is named Hestia. She does a great job of living up to her name! I like the Greek Pantheon, but I've always felt closer to the Norse gods. My first pet, a min pin, was named Thor. I was only about 8 years old at the time when we got him- so you see how far back my love of mythology goes!

I later learned (much, much later) that my grandmother has a German history and family linage. Connection? Maybe.

When I was about 17 and visited (and took part in) Hindu services at a gathering, I developed a deep love of Hinduism and their gods. I love learning about the Hindu gods as much as I could, and even my title here at gnet is a Hindu Goddess. Manisha is the Hindu Goddess of the Mind- I found it fitting since I study psychology.

That just cracks me up – a minpin named "Thor"! (For those here unfamiliar with the breed, minpins are a small breed of dog grouped in the "toy" category – but they have MIGHTY personalities!).

One of my rescued minpins came with the name "Sparky." Ugh. So, I changed it to "Anubis" – the name of the jackal-headed Egyptian god of the Dead. He looks like Anubis, too.

As for heredity and pantheons... In a way, all of these ancient civilizations are a part of our heredity, when you consider the art, architecture, astronomy, and so on that we have inherited from them. So, it's not odd at all that a pagan nature might be drawn to civilizations of the past, regardless of where our more immediate ancestors came from.

-- Nephele

I would have thought I would have had more of a connection than I do to the Norse as well, with the invasions of the Vikings and Saxons to this fair isle lol. Although I find their Eddas interesting (what I have read anyway) I just don't have that deep connection of interest that I have to have in order to delve past the surface. I tried to force that with the Celtic and Welsh pantheons and it never happened (the Celtic I know failed because of the dreadful time I have in pronouncing the names! I'm not a natural with Gaelic ).

I am also confused about Ragnarok... has it happened, or is it to come? I asked some of the most hardcore and devoted practicing Heathens I knew about it and even they didn't know (and seeing as one of them actually makes offerings to Odin so that he leaves her in peace, attends blots and works with Wyrd and Seidr...and she feels she is somehow unduly influenced by Loki I think she knows her Norse lol).

I amazes me just how many pantheons leave me cold! As much as I have tried to cultivate interest in them I just cannot do it... and sadly Hinduism falls under that category I wish I could change it, but I just can't. Same with the Japanese, Chinese, Sumerian, Aztec, Mayan, Incan, Native American, African, Babylonian, and more recently Egyptian, Welsh and Celtic pantheons... and the Loa of Voudon actively petrify me, and I never say their names out loud for fear of alerting them to my presence! (I know a woman who is so controlled by the Loa that they specify which colours of clothes she can wear and which offerings they have to be left by her on certain days... or else bad things occur to her and her life ) These days, unless it concerns the Greek or Roman I can't seem to muster any interest in reading about it... sounds really exclusive and snobbish, but what can I do? Sleep usually results when I force myself to read stuff that doesn't interest me

Religions have fared no better; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, the Quakers, Deism, Unitarian Universalism, Oneness, Pantheism, Humanism (I know not an actual religion) and even Paganism - to a certain extent - are currently off my reading list for the foreseeable future (maybe because I confuse myself far too easily on matters of religion and faith... better to avoid them all ).

Very wise, and very true. I know my love for ancient civilizations is almost all consuming sometimes.

As for Min pins, they are adorable dogs. The only reason I don't have one now is because the dog I currently have was given to me as I was saving for another min pin (whom I will name Aries when I at last get one!).

I believe you have two (or more?) minpins, don't you, Nephele? They are the best dogs, at least mine was. Loyal as hell- and as you said, a personality a big as they are small!

I remember once a Rocky got into our yard and attacked my sister's lab mix named Shadow. Now Shadow and Thor grew up together (if any two dogs were gay and could be considered married- it was those two!). Well Thor seen what was happening because we were trying to stop it (everyone was panicking because the Rocky was the most violent dog we'd ever known and we went sure how to stop him) and Thor shot outside, ran through the dog's legs trying to trip him and ended up jumping on the rocky's back and started biting his neck. Believe it or not, my tiny dog saved Shadow's life that day.

The rocky (his name was Fatman and belonged to a neighbor at the time) forgot about Shadow and tried to get Thor off his back. I thought for sure he was going to die. But no, When Thor seen that Shadow was safe he jumped off his back and raced his tiny ass back inside. He and Shadow remained close until Thor passed away. Shadow followed him to the grave shortly after. They are buried side by side. Fatman was put down not long after the attack because of his violence- he'd often break his chain and kill animals. The last straw was when he got loose and killed three goats that another neighbor owned and raised. Rocky's are beautiful, but I'd never own one because of that dog.

So yeah- I will never underestimate a min pin, ever.

And Anubis is too cute a name for one of those dogs!


Minty- I don't think its vital to believe in a pantheon. I study them, but I don't exactly follow any of them. For me, I almost find it ridiculous to pray, worship, or otherwise believe in gods when I feel that we've made them up. Ironic that I still believe in my patron god and goddess, though- isn't it?

We are all different, and I think its awesome!

More than two. I have an insane number of minpins -- all rescues.

Loved that story about your little Thor! Did you mean to write "Rottie" instead of "Rocky"? As in Rottweiler? Minpins are said to have a "Napoleon complex" -- they're little dogs that often feel compelled to take on the big dawgs.



Thanks! Sometimes, we affectionately call him "A Nusiance" instead of Anubis, because he scraps a lot with one of our other minpins named Teivel (which means "devil" in Yiddish). All of my minpins have dark names, and I don't think it's a coincidence that "miniature pinscher" anagrams into "unchristian empire."

-- Nephele

Yes! Rottie. That is exactly what I meant. I have a bad habit of calling them Rockies. They are lovely dogs, but that one from the neighbor utterly turned me off to the breed. I'll look at them and adore them, but I'll never have one myself. I agree with the Napoleon Complex. It certainly described mine rather well!



That is too cute and I love how it anagrams into 'unchristian empire'. No wonder they are my favorite dogs!