My wife thanks being apologized is going to do myself it's going to do my soul she worries about me but she left she worries about me but she lets me practice my religion as I need to however do however she does pray for me every night that's my closet story
This was a big deal for me. Even though it turned out to be folkist, Hearth of Hellenism was a huge influence in me becoming an out Hellenist. Later, Hellenion showed me I wasn't alone, and gave me a structure and foundation to lean into my faith through my whole life, not just once a day at ritual time. And now this community has shown that there are more of us than I ever imagined. But it didn't come without consequences. Half of my family doesn't speak to me and some of those who do bombard me with bs every time we talk. My mother burned books and did horrendous things growing up to discourage me from my faith, though she's grudgingly accepting now. I've been physically attacked, emotionally abused, had my things broken including outdoor ritual objects in my own yard, and lost jobs over my pagan faith. But it's worth it to be who I am. And I live in the "progressive" north. It's much worse down south for you all.
Your story really touched me. I’m trying not to cry. I’m scared of being out. But you gave some hope. But I live in Texas. Luckily my parents are tolerant & my sister is also pagan
Honestly I had to come out of the broom closet when my dad found I offered cigarettes to Freyr and Freyja. He didn't question it much and was willing to accept it but now and then will mention that I should come back to Christianity, not entirely realizing I left because I felt ignored and deciding that it wasn't right for me to be devoted to a god that largely ignored me. The egg donor, on the other hand, godsdamn was she awful about it. She refused to accept my beliefs, insulted the main gods I worshipped at the time before my calling to Hecate, the Aesir, by calling them violent war gods(not realizing they're a lot more than that), all while preaching about love and acceptance. One of many reasons I went no contact with her. You don't insult the gods and may she get exactly what she deserves. At least my mother didn't burn books, largely because I didn't have texts for her to burn, and I kept my Necronomicon at my dad's. Honestly I live with my aunts who are very accepting of my religion, and I'm going to ask them about using some leftover wood to build a small altar for my worship just to be sure they're okay with it. I'll send pictures on Ocean's discord when it's done but I haven't faced any issues at work other than someone saying they say Yahweh manifest in front of them and making me question my own relationship with the gods, but that's not bad at all.
There are places in the South where it is better than others. Where I live, the persecution is more subtle, but there are also a large number of pagans and heathens around here,too.
I’m still partially in the closet, but just started wearing a Mjolnir necklace recently. I’ve been in the closet for 27 years. Feels good to see paganism growing. Slainte.
I used to wear one when 17 in bronze I’m now 38 and wear a silver one and bjorn (bear) arm ring and mainly lokean , pray to Loki gives me kick up ass I need
@@alexandervangraff8475 Loki is the son of Laufey, who is listed among Ásynjar in one of the þulur. This is potentially why Loki was "enumerated among the Æsir," as described by Snorri in Gylfaginning.
Bless you, that is a long time to have to remain hidden. I am sure it builds a type of character the fully embodies the "silent" part of "to know, to well and to keep silent"
Sadly that's a problem in Germany, Not because of religion but because a lot of Nazis like wearing them and it's actually illegal to be a Nazi here. So, if you wear it, you might get harassed by actual cops in some situations.
You can do that here too. Many Americans are so afraid of conflict they won't even bring up their religion in 2021. Getting actually harmed for being a Heathen in the USA is probably about as regular as lightning hitting you two nights in a row. I would have to say I don't believe you were beaten specifically for being a heathen. Edit: I should say I don't believe Ocean Keltoi got attacked twice by people who probably don't even know what a heathen is.
@@shanpatrickbaker988 well that's wrong, in fact it's so common people came up with the idea of the "broom closet" to describe having to hide your faith for fear of reprisal by angry Christians.
Us Alabamians aren’t so lucky, though I’ve gotten much more open since I’ve reached adulthood. I’m open about it to all my close friends and my immediate family. Unless I think it’s someone it might go bad with I’m generally open about it to new people
I really felt that when you said ‘We’re not converted, we’re drawn to it.’ That’s exactly how it was for me. I’ve felt drawn to Paganism for a number of years now but it’s only in the past year or two that i’ve started doing some serious research and decided that Norse Paganism is right for me. I’m in the broom closet and probably will be to an extent for a couple more years, but I do feel at least a little comfort knowing I have six friends that will have my back no matter what, five of them also being Pagans as well.
My mum (she's a Christian fundamentalist) thinks I'm an atheist because I know she would lose her absolute mind if she found out. I'm not even out of the lgbt closet never mind the broom closet.
I suppose I'm fortunate. I'm married to a Christian - but an open-minded, non-judgmental one. I don't think we spoke about religion for the first ten years we were married (she's definitely not a fundamentalist), but one day she asked "what exactly do you believe?" I told her, and walked her through how a college course on the Bible had set me on the polytheistic path. Her response was: "that makes sense and I respect it, but I hope you don't mind if I stick with what's comfortable for me." Nope. No problem at all. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary this week. That's not to say I haven't had well-meaning friends attempt to "save" me...some just can't resist that compulsion. I've managed to shut them down amicably though.
I moved from the North, where I had a decent sense of community, to Georgia a few years ago. Knowing that there are Pagan communities in this state makes me feel less alone. I live in a rather blue area, but I don't think I can fully come out of the broom closet. About a year ago I started accepting myself as a witch and a Pagan. I finally came out of the broom closet as a witch to my mom over the phone and she was like "Oh, I'm Pagan too!". It was a really funny and wonderful moment. My whole life I had no idea, but looking back it makes sense my mom is also Pagan. It really was like meeting someone again for the first time.
Wow. That's kind of mind blowing.... Did your mums fear they would be rejected if they'd told you earlier in life?? 😲 Or was it more a case of it not being safe for them to practice openly in their area, and their being uncertain if a younger person could be discreet if informed? It feels like the stories shared around videos such as this one are a really timely reminder that the religious "freedom" supposedly available in some countries is still often just a sham, alas. And provides further proof that people who reject the 'other' apparently don't just confine their awful bigotry to those of clearly-different race, gender or culture... 🤦🏻♀️ The community these people claim to be "protecting" via their hate is also full of individuals whom they'd turn on in a heartbeat if they knew that their children, friends, colleagues etc were different too! So sad 😢
I think it was for a few reasons. Mainly I think my Mom wanted me to figure out what spirituality worked for me rather than have a religion forced on me. We just never really talked about it. Another part was I avoided the subject cause I didn't want her to keep a secret from my grandmother, who is very hatefully Christian. I am sure that if my grandmother found out I was bi that I would be disowned by her (after many "come to Jesus" talks). I have gotten really close with my mom the past few years, so we talk about everything. We finally hit a point where we are starting not to care what my grandmother thinks because Gram's health is so bad that she has lived longer than we thought and has become increasingly toxic. It really sucks, but I let my gram see me as her idealized version cause arguing would just waste my energy and I would rather be on good terms. I am just really grateful that my mom is so supportive when her own mother is so hateful to anyone who doesn't fit into her definition of a good Christian.
@@thesleepystrawberry3620 Really sad to hear you and your mom having to just hide so much of yourselves due to your grandma's virulent beliefs 😔 Definitely can understand the dilemma though - when people are that entrenched in both their beliefs & unwillingness to accept others' difference, I don't think we'll ever change them, and it just uses up so much energy to withstand their aggression if trying to have open conversation...? Some people can be brought to greater open-mindedness by seeing a good life lived firsthand, but with a few individuals sadly I think all we can do is wait for their generation to slowly pass... 😢
I think any atheist who contributes to keeping pagans in the broom closet, cautious of expressing, and being open about their beliefs (for example by calling “all theists irrational”, and other things of the sort), frankly, disgusts me a little. We always talk about how freedom of religion must include freedom to not have one, and (rightly) complain about often having to hide our non-belief, so it’s incredibly narrow-minded and hypocritical to perpetuate the same situation for others. The only beliefs anyone should be ashamed of are harmful beliefs.
@@ksoundkaiju9256 So has politics. In my experience, political affiliations are often far more irrational, dogmatic, and cruel than any religion. Yes, religion has resulted in death, but so has many forms of political philosophy
I'm sorry you have this experience with atheists. Just remember that atheists in general are not one group that subscribe to one belief. Personally I see spirituality as a form of human need, it has to be respected if you seek to respect others at all. Sadly there are many atheists out there who think belittling people of faith as some form of atheist missionary work or something.
When I came out of the broom closet to my parents, I was on a roadtrip with them. It is by far the worst car ride I have ever been in. My parents sort of knew I'd been falling away from the faith, but not going to Communion was the last straw. I'll admit, I could have explained it better than I did but I was afraid my cradle Catholic parents would drop me off at my destination and never talk to me again. My mother acted like I was going against every single thing our family was made of. My dad wasn't convinced I worshiped Hiddleston's Loki from the Avengers. Nowadays it's . . . a non issue. Part of it is because I moved out and am not strong-armed into going to church. There are times my mother admits she prays for my soul but it's so much better than lying to them and playing the dutiful Catholic daughter (of which I am neither)
I like what you said about "...we tend to grow out of the ground..." Personally I have recently come out of Messianic/TorahObservant christianity-ish living. Started seeing all the inconsistencies in the bible, the constant call to not be in a churchianity environment. Honestly the story is a bit longer than that but you have a life so maybe one day I'll make my own channel. Anyway, thank you Ocean and other Pagan/Heathens who had the guts to start channels. It helps.
I have only come out to one coworker who, although christian herself, was very interested in what I believed in and didn't judge me at all, and two friends, both also christian. One of the christian friends stopped talking to me and all of my friends, even tho she was close to all of them. The other one didn't talk to me for 3 days, and then decided that he liked being friends with me too much to not talk to me anymore. Later in our friendship we talked about what we belief in and we found mostly similarities which made him feel even better. We are still very good friends. Edit: That last friend started making pagan jokes since I came out to him, and then apologize immediately after saying them. But I don't mind, since most of them are really good and funny jokes and non of the jokes are hurtful or meant to be hurtful.
I've not been assaulted, but I've been more in the closet than out. My sister used to have a pentagram tattoo on the back of her shoulder. She had it covered up after someone literally spat on her because of it. I've been verbally harassed, told I'm going to hell, called "satan's whore" and all the rest. All for identifying myself as a witch. Needless to say that drove me back into the broom closet pretty far. But I've felt increasingly uncomfortable in there. In part because it's exhausting to constantly monitor my language, to watch what I wear, to literally police my whole identity in certain spaces. In another part because I work(ed) at a liberal university in a job that promotes and strives towards inclusion and have not been given any real reason to think that wouldn't include me. And finally, in an increasingly large part, because I've begun to feel like my ability to hide is a kind of privlidge. That doing so is an odd kind of complicity in maintaining the status-quo as a WASP society. Allowing myself to be bullied into silence does not benefit anyone, especially the bullies who soon enough think that there isn't any form of diversity in their lives.
Holy sh**! That bit about privilege and complicity hit home. That's why I am more out of the "broom closet" than in. (Belong in many closets being a lesbian, and autistic. Y'gads!)
As a practitioner myself I can whole heatedly relate to verbal abuse driving you into hiding. I'm in home healthcare and when I worked for a company I had to even hide my ethnicity (I'm half Hispanic but got my mother's inability to tan) because so many would just assume I'm an illegal and try to report me to the company. I was also always asked if I was religious and believed in god. Just kept saying it was against policy to speak religion and politics. That fear from work impacted my personal life as well and I was hiding from my friends and even my fiance. Just recently I've become so much more open with him and my friends and the reception was so much better than I had imagined. Two of my friends are also witches and we had no idea! It was great to speak with someone. I wish you luck in your journey and hope that you can go now more out of the closet than in. Blessed Be!
I myself am in the broom closet, but my mother had a wiccan friend, who was unapologetically out of the broom closet. Her husband had no problem with it and neither did my mom, but my dad had a problem with it because he "was pagan and it was a mistake" and "the Christian god is the best". And as such he would frequently rltry and convert her at every moment he got. He even took my sisters and i aside and had discussions about how Christianity is the best thing and that it saved his life. I never vibed with that and soon discovered my own path as a reconstructionist pagan. I had attempted to talk to my dad to see if i could come out of the broom closet to him and he spun it into a talk about jesus, so that was a no go. I uad been hoping to move out last year but lockdown had messed with my ability to move out and pretty much lost me my job
@@OceanKeltoi dude, saying a fucking Wastelander "had the right idea" is how you get Milvian Bridge, Part II, Trepanning Boogaloo, alright? Like, I get how you were trying to work that, but, with those like OP's dad, all anyone really gets is supposedly "caught" talking like that.
I've always been out. From the time I discovered Asatru back in 90 I haver always been out. I know many pagans and all too many of them refuse to stand up and be counted. I've lost jobs over it. Lost relationships. Lost friends. Been thrown out of stores, restaurants and other businesses because of the hammer I was wearing. Had many people mistake the hammer for an upside down cross. All in all I've had a lot of problems with people because of my religious beliefs. Do I regret any of it? Not one damned bit. I will say this..one of the reasons that we Pagans are still looked askance at is because there is a lack of familiarity with Paganism in the public forum. Whether one is a Heathen, or a Celt or a Hellenist or any of the myriad of other Pagan and....n it is the same. There is a lack of familiarity is because there are not many who are out and open and the reason there are so few who are out and open is because of how we are treated (or at least believe we will be treated) if and when people find out we are pagans. I have been at my place of employment off and on since the late 80's. A total of 16 years. (Yes I know 1986 was a lot longer than 16 years ago but there have been gaps in time when I worked at other places). In all of that time I have only known 4 other pagans in a place that employees several thousand people at any given time of the year. 2 of them I knew from outside of that job, one I met there and only found out there were a pagan, a fellow Heathen because he mentioned a name in passing of someone I knew and the other...well that person approached me and said that I should hide the fact that I was a Pagan (again I have always been open about it and have adamantly refused too hid my hammer for any reason) because that fact would keep me from getting anywhere in that place. I will admit that I have had a lot of trouble with things there, but that was a much my own doing as anything else. My point being that in all that time I have encountered such small number of Pagans in that place. If I were part of any other minority, and make no mistake as a religion we Pagans ARE a minority, others of that same group would be screaming about that fact there would be law suits and charges of discrimination because no only are there so few there, of that they environment is such that they have to hide, but that none of them were in any position of authority. But, because other Pagans feel the need to hide...nothing gets said or done. Getting back to the ides of Pagans in the public forum. You will notice that you do not anyone who is openly Pagan in the public eye, unless they are doing something connected with being a pagan (like authors who write pagan oriented books) or in the Music industry where pretty much anything goes, you don't see them. You don't see pagan characters on TV shows or in movies, at least not accurately portrayed and more often than not, when you do see someone worshipping the "old gods" it is usually some angsty teenage girl who is hellbent on revenge because the popular girls were mean to her, or the cute boy she likes won't ask her out (usually because he is shagging one of the aforementioned popular girls who were mean to her) and in the end her plans for revenge usually end up doing more damage to her than to them. Again, if were were any other minority, we would be DEMANDING that we be properly represented to see accurately portrayed Pagan characters, to have Pagan performers announced when they join the cast, to see openly Pagan candidates running for public office, we certainly don't see Christians, or Muslims or Jews hiding their religion, nor do Hindu's or Buddhists. Yes I know Hindu is one of the Pagan religions but .it has become so mainstream that most people, including other Pagans, don't think of it that way anymore. I'll be honest though...my being out and open is really of no benefit to me personally, or to the pagan community as a whole. I'm nobody. Just a low level clerk whose never actually had a real job until a couple of months ago (I'm 53...will be 54 in a couple of months). I just simply refuse to hide, or pretend ( I seem to recall that honesty and courage are kind of important things so...) I guess what I'm getting at is that, until more of use start standing up, things for those of us that are OUT will continue to be problematic, and as more come out, more will be able to come out. Who knows, someday, maybe someday soon, we will see a Hellenist running for state senate, or have the lead role in a romcom go to Celt or watch an MMA match between a Heathen and a Mayan. Of course for any of that to happen...people need to know that were are here, there are more of us than they think, and we're damned tired of hiding in the shadows.
Certainly an interesting read, and frustrating that people have to hide who they are to keep workplace positions in countries where religious freedom is supposed to be a legal requirement. The only statement I'd argue is the one that other religious minorities in Western countries don't have to hide their faith. Not true my dude!! Many are decidedly at risk of all kinds if openly practicing, or just found out... particularly Muslims, I'm sad to say? Even in relatively accepting countries like this one we still get verbal abuse of hijabi, workplace discrimination against Sikhs, and even horrible terrorist attacks on mosques.... 😔
Also mine, who is agnostic/atheist, often asks me to pray the gods for their favour in his behalf and partecipate to some offerings while visiting together sacred sites. The previous one loved to talk about græco-roman antiquity and mythology but clearly felt unease about my practice.
I’m still a baby pagan, and still in the broom closet. My friends know me as the weird but chill guy who likes Vikings and is probably not a demon, so I don’t think they’d be surprised if they found out.
My first experience with religious prejudice that would really effect me was in filling in a work form with "Unitarian Universalist" (after leaving that empty, then thinking UU was innocuous, then learning my manager who insisted on it being answered wanted a particular answer). A long fight, but we (1970s) had a good Union and some federal laws and I was a steward with a tape recorder an "emotional problem" with most managers and notorious for "weird ideas" and weirder books (all the criptid, aliens, religions, tarot, etc). I kept my job, she almost lost hers and finally gave up on returning me to my Baptist roots long lost (or thrown away). I was actually Wiccan at the time; if she only knew; eventually recognizing and accepting my atheism. Some noticed I took my vacations a week at a time at soltices and equinoxes and asked, I answered. But it can be very interesting to be different in any way: most everyone told me I should date/marry/have kids, work daylight hours, not have so many pets (they said I should have kids), be more Christian, and "fix" my mother (family is so very important) until they had to deal with her. So this was one problem of several.
Being from Arkansas, I can tell you the looks and children getting tugged behind their mothers just from a Mjöllnir necklace and oath ring, is by no means miniscule.
I was raised nonreligious/agnostic/atheistic and my immediate family is something within that spectrum. At the same time that I fully dove into paganism I also became very interested in the secular community and so also started lucking the atheist community. Well, my cousin who is like an older brother to me became a born again Christian after going through Alcoholics Anonymous and one day he came over and overheard me listening to an atheist podcast. When we confronted me if I was atheist I told him I was pagan. He went to complain to my older sister. Big mistake. She's openly an atheist and told him off. So he then turned to our mother. An even bigger mistake. She isn't atheist but she gives zero flips what her children belief and told off my cousin-to-is-like-a-brother for trying to stir drama. And that is how my whole extended family found out I was pagan. A not as funny story comes from my stepdad. Mom remarried when I was almost an adult. He lied is way into the relationship and things went downhill from there. He hated me almost from day one. When he found out I wasn't Christian (I didn't tell him)... he actually started threatening to kill me. On one occasion he even through liter-fluid on me while he was smoking and joked about tossing his cigarette at me. He also made comments about "burn witches in the street" and other comments on a regular basis. (He also verbally and physically abused me because he suspected me of being LGBT (I am) and for being autistic, so all around asshole.) No one ever did anything because he was a wheelchair-bound, partially parallelized amputee due to Type 1 diabetes with dementia and "he doesn't mean it" or "he can't take care of himself." He died of a a major stroke 6 ond and painful years after he married my mother. I'd piss on his grave if he had one. Worst experience with someone anti-pagan I've ever had and hopefully never have to live through again.
This sounds very familiar, not the Mormon thing but finding my way. I am not really in the closet about my beliefs but people are largely ignorant about most religions other than the big 3. They think believing in our ancestors' Gods comes from watching too many Marvel movies.
I've been going through your playlist, "Intro to Heathenry and Polytheism" for a couple of weeks now, and I've been waiting to watch this video. Wow...Thank you! I have just recently began following the Norse gods, so I consider myself quite the apprentice and student, at best. My wife and kids are understanding and supportive; but I do feel a need to share my new path with some of my closest and dearest friends, some of whom are quite ingrained in their Christian faith, and some who are not. For example, I'm a teacher up in Illinois and my co-teacher and I have talked a little bit about religion from time to time, so this past week I took a step out of the broom closet, and while she did not have that much to say, I gathered there was respect and acknowledgment for my beliefs; so I feel fortunate. I have other friends who are closer to me, and I feel a stronger desire to share, because I don't want to be deceitful of who I am. I also acknowledge that this topic doesn't come up all too often and there is no need to...soooooooooo...that being said (sorry for my rambling), you gave me much to think about and reflect upon and settled some anxiety in the process. Thank you, sir.
I am from Japan and I am now a citizen of America. I was raised as Shinto. I still hold these beliefs dear to my heart but I am also Wiccan. I live in the South as well.
This hit home way hard , I found your channel a few months ago and not only did you help me simply learn history for fun but this story made me feel less boxed in life. My words are jumbled ,I'm sorry but thank you truthfully.
Pagan in Central TX, and I flaunt it. Prayer beads and rune tattoos, I wear gems and crystals. It never ceases to amaze me how many other pagans are down here. It might help that my godmother is a devout Hellenistic pagan, as well as my mother. They both always said that this was nothing to be ashamed of, and to be proud of being pagan.
Lucky. Are either your godmother or mother employed? If they have a Christian boss who finds out, they can be fired from their jobs for any reason because Texas is an 'at will' employment state.
@@benjalucian1515 my godmother lives in Michigan, and my mother is a government employee in Nevada. It's just me and my brother down here. Mom moved to Nevada about two years ago.
As a young teenager I was an Atheist. My parents were Catholic and made me go to church for years and even become a part of it but at the young age of 12 I knew that it wasn't for me and scientifically made no sense so Atheism came naturally, but I'd already seen things that could not be explained such as ghosts and spirits. When I found the pagan and witch side of Tumblr I was stunned and very interested. People had actual connections to their deities unlike in Catholicism where you go through Father for most things and everyone I knew had never had a personal religious experience. I decided to give paganism a shot. I read about people's experiences and what the tenants of each system were. In the end, I chose to just put out a general call for guidance and a plea to show me that something was out there. I didn't think it would happen but it did. I got a sign, something that was outside the realm of normal, so I asked again for a sign and got the same sign. In the end, I asked for that sign for a week and every day it happened in even weirder and more interesting ways so I never looked back. I found out it was Anubis that came to me (and later found out He was there since birth for me) and became a Kemetic pagan at 15 and at 18 I joined Kemetic Orthodoxy. Right now I'm out to my friends and some coworkers but if my family found out it'd be chaos, most likely I'd be annexed. They already don't think I'm religious enough and my aunt purposefully baits me by gifting me Christian things she knows I won't use and when I don't use them she gets upset and tells my family, "see they aren't Christian."
I used to be a strong Catholic back in the day, but became an Atheist; a thing which did not exactly brought problems with my parents but it did brought some ugly clashes. This has made me reluctant to open with them about my Paganism (also because they are sure that I'm still Catholic but I am just through a "rebellious face" although I constantly wear Pagan necklaces and refuse to kneel during prayers in Church). But the thing that kicked me straight to this closet was this one time when my cousin's girlfriend told something about me being Atheist, to which I corrected her in me being Pagan, to which she surprised to and replied "Oh God! Is that true? Tell me it is true!", It surprised me as she is a Catholic (but a very light and progressive one) but my cousin, a dude which I respect and cherish deeply, being the convinced Atheist he is, told me to "Stop fucking joking" (in our language the word he used for "joking" has a more mocking and insulting connotation). Then his girlfriend's face changed to a confused one, and since then she acknowledges me as an Atheist, and so does anyone even if I tried to explain to them that I'm not. Probably the fact that my believes were criticized as a "joke" in front of everyone has made them think that my Paganism is just "a fucking joke". You can imagine the insecurity I have had ever since to open up about my believes c':
so like im wiccan right, so here i was just standing in line at some government department when suddenly someone yells at me "YOUR WEARING IT UPSIDE DOWN!" im like super confused then realize hes talking to me, about my pentacle chain that i wear literally everywhere. . . i just ignored him not wanting to explain that *and no it wasn't upside down lol* another time someone related to an old childhood friend of mine came out of nowhere and just started asking me about tarrot cards and other forms of divination, spellcraft and whatever else and i was like Wait.. your a witch? WTF xD ahhh
As frustrating as it was at the time, my mom playing Devil’s Advocate during our first actual discussion about my hellenic beliefs was a real help to me. She’s the more strong arm Christian of my parents. My dad would just shrug and go “as long as youre okay and a good person”. My mom was more adamant about trying to keep me in their church up until this point. We talked and it really helped me figure out the stuff I belief, where I stood with certain gods and practices, and gave me some introspection I wouldn’t have gotten until much later. Religion still isn’t talked about between me and my Christian family, but it’s no longer a major point of contention.
9:20 I have a necklace with Hecate's wheel that I've worn a few times. I always get compliments on it until they ask me "What does it mean?" When they find out it's related to Paganism I always get an eyeroll or they'll flat out walk off before I even finish explaining. Its a little sad when my family gives that kind of reaction but I can't help but chuckle that everyone's initial reaction is to admire it. It's almost like they can't help but be drawn to Hecate's power.
Man this makes me feel for our American pagan friends and family, we don’t have this type of issue really in the UK, we hear about it sometimes but in the main we’re open with our religion and suffer little of these situations ❤
It's actually rather bad in some parts of the states, I wear the Icelandic Style fo Mjolnir simply because I can make look like a cross quickly so it doesn't cause issues or any kind of altercation
I personally find Christians being themselves (hateful assholes who worship a "loving" god) quite funny and just cements my faith even more. Of course I wish those scumbags didn't exist, but religion is just a tool for assholes to be righteous assholes, they'd still be assholes without their religion.
I'm a Celtic polytheist who plans on becoming an OBOD druid someday and I was recently outed from the broom closet accidentally, as my mom walked in on me with my books out in the open. She and the rest of my family are extremely Christian, so it's been difficult.
Run. Screw it. Screw them. ⏸️ Just find a good bag, get what books you can keep _relatively_ safe, and fucking run. They've already shown you what kind of notion of """family""" they were trying to get you to die keeping afloat.
@@katiehowell2537 cool... Just, uh... maybe stick with bracelets and long sleeves for awhile, yeah? They can't drag you by what they can't [physically] see, after all...
Meeting my barber and a former member of the local chamber of commerce who spoke at my high school at pagan pride events was amusing and a pleasant surprise. I have been half in and out of the broom closet most of my 20 plus years on my path.
I can relate to being a Pagan in the South. I was born/raised in Dallas Tx. Now living in Oklahoma. I am not out of broom closet and living here I would never open that doorway. My friends know , but no one else is aware. I do wear a pentacle necklace , a Mjollnir (or however it's spelled) and the talons of a N American Kestrel (small predatory bird) around my neck. The other 3 talons 2- hang from my ears and I gave the 3rd one away as an Initiation gift to my newest student. It too is now an earring.
I usually tell them, "But I have seen the light! Why do you think I'm no longer Christian?" Some of us know better! As far as name-calling, I have been called everything from a "devil worshipper" to a "kitty killer," which really hurts as I am an ardent cat lover. Some people in the little birdhouse of their mind feel that if you don't believe as they do, you are worshipping their devil by default. This is why they even go after other Christians. Once I was waiting in line at the check-out stand when a man asked me why my Star of David had only five points. I told him I was a bad Jew and they had taken one point off. He believed me!
Hello Ocean. Just discovered your channel and I'm really liking the topics. It's wonderful to see the community that is present and growing due to channels like yours. I've been a Wicca for about 20 years and thankfully, I've been out of the closet for most of that time (maybe 15 years). I feel blessed (after reading some of the comments) that I've not had many negative reactions. I have two xtan sisters who simply asked me what it was. When I explained, they accepted it. I think my Mom and other sister (both xtians too) are either in denial about it or just let it pass, which is also fortunate. I think it helps to be in the tristate area, where the population is so international and transitory, that hardly anyone blinks an eye when I wear my Wicca/Pagan clothes/jewelry. I'm even out of the closet at work and have had no worries. Thanks for listening and Blessed Be.
Personally I'm still in the closet because of fear of losing friends, family, scholarship opportunities, etc. I wear my Mjolnir pendant daily, but I keep it under my clothing; although in times of stress or if I am particularly nervous I will put the pendant in my hand as I whisper a prayer. Although when I do that in public I make sure no one is watching, and that I am quiet. This channel is great for me because I dont need to hide who I am.
Henry David Thoreau brought me to an appreciation of the Goddess Aurora, any since i've spent many early morning hours clambing up high peaks and to vista to appreciate her in the fullest light.
As someone who works in home healthcare in south GA, the broom closet is my life. I'm open about my journey with my fiance of course, and some friends, but at work you have to watch what you say. I'm also half Hispanic (Spanish and Italian) and my trainer told me not to disclose that I am anything but European white because they would call me an illegal Mexican and try to report me (it's happened before) so my religious ideas were definitely on lock down for awhile just out of fear of losing my job. I'm so happy I found a private home health job with a client who himself is atheist and very open minded and respectful of my views. His family not so much so I still have to be on guard, but at least I feel more freedom.
In the winter of 2009, I gifted all of my books, my athame, and my triple moon pendant to my best-friend. They were the last pieces of my "Pagan life" as I began my conversion to Catholicism. It hurt a hell of a lot, (there was outside pressure) but I was a doing my best as a wee lamb. October of 2019 I began what I told everyone was research for a book I was writing (not wholly untrue), and began learning again. Two days ago, I made my first true act of disobedience and I ordered an Odin statue and a Janus coin. And so the foundations of the pantheon are laid. The closet door handle is a-rattlin' now.
One day I will be free from the Broom Closer. I'll break free from it when I can leave my parents' home. One day, none of us will have to hide our faith anymore. This is my hope.
My wife and I had a wicca/norse pagan wedding ceremony, a good friend of ours we met a meadry, he a Wiccan priest and developed a wedding ceremony combining both his, my wife, and my beliefs(all non-christian) it was truly amazing. However my parents threatened to sue us for custody of our kids, violence and other things. My family is no longer in my life because of this, however my wife and kids and I are so much happier and have more friends that are more family to us than anyone we are biologically family with. Stepping out of the broom closest is scary, and there is sacrifice, but if your true path is non-Christian you have to follow it to be happy. It was worth it for us.
Thank you so much for making this video. It’s one I really needed
4 года назад+1
My dad was Catholic, and my step-mother was a Quaker. Maybe 25% of the time, she'd go to local Mass with him in Tecumseh, Mich., he'd attend Meeting House in Ann Arbor with her about the same many times, and the other 50% they attended their own alone, or rather with the kids (and any other family) who went with them (though my step - mother's family were mostly Methodists, and even in rural Michigan, if you've seen King of the Hill, they had a Rev. Strupe incident, though without lutefisk and a Smelly Man, but cos it was the early '90s and KotH is generally based on the reality of living in a small town). When I was twelve, I started getting into Stevie Nicks, and that led to getting into paganism (though certainly wasn't my first major introduction to it, but that's another story for another time), and in part cos my dad was Catholic, in part cos the tiny town we were in was FAR more Conservative than even my dad, who was born and raised in metro-Detroit (and for real, for a Catholic, he'd go off on how Pope JPII needed to at least give the OK for abortion in cases of incest, severe medical issues, or even rape, cos having grown up in Detroit in the 1940s and '50s, he'd had a couple of classmates who were the product of rape, and he knows how badly that can mess a family up; and sure "maybe some Catholic girls, who have a good family and good relationship with the Holy Spirit, will make peace with that before the baby is born, but if they not there yet, maybe it's more merciful to let the baby go so she can heal? We do better by starving animals than our own women, sometimes."), much less my step-mom, whose Religious Society of Friends was basically founded by proto-feminists, and even in the 1990s was still nominally Christian, but had strong alliances with Buddhists, Hindus, and Pagans in the Ann Arbor area. Anyway, a bunch of people in Lenawee County were Pentecostals who still thought Dark Dungeons was real, plus the "Satanic Panic" that had its greatest notoriety in the 1980s took longer to die down in certain parts of the Midwest (and I'm sure the same can be said of the South) so when their kids came home and told their mom about the weirdo new kid from metro-Detroit, who wore mostly black, lace scarves, and was reading about Welsh and Irish mythology and Celtic folk magic, and wore dragon necklaces and knuckle rings, and then the parents told my step-mom, cos she was their family's social worker (or, less often, as office gossip) or my dad heard about it from his AA buddies (or church gossip), and both were already "the weird family," cos even though step-mom lived there most of her adult life and grew up on a dairy farm maybe twenty minutes between Tecumseh and Ann Arbor, she was the divorceé who they assumed "thinks she's too good for regular church in town and goes to Ann Arbor" and my dad was from Detroit, spent most of the 1960s hopping freights (long story, I have a video about it), had a head injury that kept him from regular work, my step-mother was his fourth wife, and in spite of Tecumseh having once been an Underground Railroad stop, most scandalous of all was that my dad both had black friends and "talked ghetto" (latter of which... Not really? Yeah, he used a lot of antiquated jive slang, but he also had a speech impediment after his head injury in 1990, and as such irregularly dropped contractions or similar kinds of things; it wasn't urban AAVE, by any definition), and his third wife (my mother) left him to be a later-in-life lesbian. As if we couldn't be any weirder, already, add to this that my dad's first (surviving) kid was from his second wife, and shortly after we moved into town, her mother fell off the wagon again (for unrelated reasons), so Half-sister had to take a semester of school in our new town, my full sister was barely over a year *younger* than me and already the town delinquent, and even before we got there, my older step-brother knocked up the daughter of his mother's best friend since high school, so the two kids were only a few weeks apart and often assumed either cousins or fraternal twins (by people who didn't know either family very well), and there were already rumours swirling around town about my younger step-brother's sexuality (he would later come out to the family as bi). So like, we were already "the weird family" by a pretty wide margin -most of it being over things that weren't really in anyone's control. OTOH, my dad and step-mom were probably thinking "OK, Ruadhán is already a weird kid who likes weird things, and has been like this since age five; Ruadhán also speaks Welsh and a little Latin, dresses flamboyantly (especially for a kid who spent K-6 at Catholic school and is now uniform-free), and well, the chips this town has against kids like that were heavy since long before moving here. If we can get Ruadhán to at least go to Meeting House, that might make the kids at school go a little easier." So I was offered an ultimatum: Mass with Dad (though he wouldn't force me into Confirmation, if I really didn't want to, for which I'm always going to be grateful), or I could go to Meeting House (plus the occasional Mass) with my step-mother; either way, don't bring the "witchcraft" books to school, no matter what. Yes, it wasn't breaking any school rules, but it's a tiny town, and people don't have anything better to do than gossip about the town freakshow family, and let's face it, for the rest of the '90s, that was the McElroys. Even if they were going to talk about us behind our backs, they'll still be nice to our faces, even the Pentecostals (who were a sizable minority; at the time, about half the Adrian-Tecumseh area was Catholic, and ~45% were some combo of Methodist, Lutheran, and "Evangelical Church of Friends" who are a Quaker splinter group who has scripted sermons and are only still really "Quaker" in being nominally pacifist [which step-mom's ex-husband was], but the local Assembly of God was gaining influence), but for a lot of people in town, reading _Drawing Down the Moon_ in the junior high cafeteria was crossing a line, so _please_ nobody is asking me to stop being the weird kid, just be aware that sometimes you gotta reel it in. So, yeah, I grew up in metro-Detroit, and in spite of Catholic school, an environment that was fairly permissive and even reading Starhawk in the St Adalbert school cafeteria might get a side-eye from the Nuns, but the kids (especially as they grew up with my weirdness and were generally used to it, since kindergarten) didn't really care. Then I'm plopped into the middle of nowhere, for my step-mother's job, and while I very quickly noticed that there was literally ONE black family in the whole town (until my freshman year of high school, when there were TWO) and I honestly thought towns that white only existed on TV, at least this far above the Mason-Dixon, it literally didn't occur to me that a town that small would have people being dicks to the weird family over something as trivial as a child's interests. Yeah, I was twelve, and such a drastic change can be traumatic to a kid, so I didn't take the advice, about what to avoid reading in the cafeteria or study hall, all that seriously at first, but eventually had to, especially after the after-school "bullying lessons" started.
I can honestly say that I was hanging onto every word of this video. I live in rural Southeastern Georgia and you are 100% correct. I am still in the broom closet and have only told 2 close friends of mine ( who don't even live around here). I'm terrified that if I come out of the closet that I will lose close family ties and work relationships. I hide my pentacle necklace under my clothes and keep it in the pocket of my scrubs while I'm at work . I keep my altar disassembled and reassemble it during rituals. It is extremely tough not being a "Christian" down here and gets pretty lonely but anytime I start feeling sad or frustrated, I take a walk and I go into the woods. Only place that calms me and gets me back into the correct headspace. Thank you again for making this video!
@@OceanKeltoiYes! I always hear people on here talking about being open with being Pagan and wearing what they want and I'm over here relating more to the Salem Witch Trials ! It's getting harder and harder to hide my true self so I guess I should start preparing for another "Come to Jesus " lecture😩
I remember those. I went to a Christian college in rural ga and converted in the midst of that, AND decided to be open about. That was a bit of a journey.
I'm so grateful for finding this safe place to learn. I've been in the broom closet half my life. I've found others by accident but they are so few and far between that I forget I'm not alone. I've sampled many different cultures over the years but once the ravens came for me I've delved into Norse. Thank you for being a guide on my path. May the Gods watch over you (and everyone else) and bless you for teaching us.
I live in northern Florida. It's a very Christian oriented place, you could confuse the area i live in with the bible belt at times. I was never a devout Christian like my family but growing up with it god was always there. I was introduced to alternative faiths through some friends I made after I moved here to Florida when they invited me out to a Wicca ritual. It was there I was introduced to Freyja and finally felt something significant from religion. So Freyja became my goddess and I've followed ever since in my own way. That was probably about 2010. Ever since I saw how wiccans and pagans are treated. And in 10 years I've only ever told my grandmother, in my family, about my faith. Thankfully it was a reasonable exchange. She said as long as I wasn't worshipping the devil she didn't care. But I know the same can't be said about others. There's only 1 person outside of my family I've told that wasn't there when I was first introduced to Freyja, a second positive exchange. At least in person. So I find myself still very much in the closet and remarkably lucky in my 2 reveals about my faith. The group that existed when I first adopted my faith doesn't really exist anymore. So offline representation of my faith has become harder. But seeing the community here is helping build up my confidence about it. Edit: For those that read this I identify as a Norse Pagan/Polytheist thanks to Ocean and others I've found. Although introduced to Freyja through Wicca I don't think I'm Wiccan. Although I'll always be thankful to Wicca for showing me a different path.
I've experienced this with an online friend of mine. I didn't tell him that I was / am a Norse Pagan who just happens to work with two Egyptian gods for 6 months because I knew he wasn't going to take it well. In his eyes I was the girl who loves biology and that was as far as my identity went. To him, it's quite unfathomable that I can both love biology and be a polytheist, and nearly every time he brings up my beliefs he makes it seem like I'm a monotheist and by no means am I one. This done specifically when he Renton cizme worshipping, and I'm more annoyed with being put in a monotheistic framework than I am with anything else. He is not a Christian but he absolutely has a Christian mindset which I 100% despise. He leaves nothing but toxic positivity in his wake and now he has a RUclips channel. Ironically, I'm still friend's with him, but by no means does he try to understand me because if it's not a part of his worldview he thinks it's not important or not real. He even kept on asking me if I was going to give up my religion in a specifically are you going to give it up in 2 years manner. I told him no but every time I talk about researching the gods or making an offering he brings it up. He'd basically be an anti-theist since he doesn't like atheists either. He likes to complain about religious people cherry picking religious texts when he cherry picks science. Yes, oh how much I wish he could understand that he's nothing but a freaking hypocrite. My family is indifferent to my religious views but they've known since the beginning, well technically, since in reality I've always believed in Set and Anubis but that's not how I would have described me thinking oh if it's not set or Anubis so you and your God are irrelevant to me whenever Jehovah's Witnesses would come to the door. My family members are mostly Roman Catholic or Baptist but they've always been open to other religions and I was taught about mythology very early well not Norse mythology but I digress. I'm allowed to own books on the Gods but I just don't have an altar for now
Wow! Thank you. I just recently. about 2 weeks ago, have found out that people still worsjip the old gods. I remember in middle school the idea of worshipping the old gods so fascinating when discussing it in class and it filled me with sadness when thinking how its dead. I feel relieved that its not. I am very drawn to it. Not sure about polytheism yet, though. Very nice content and a lot to think about. Thank you. Also I love the synth and vaporwave music you use. Totally my cuppa tea
I just recently learned that someone outed me as a witch to my goddamn fundy parents. And they hate it, but they never got to yelling. But if I was outed as atheist or heathen... that would be just about as bad as being trans has been.
Im still in the broom closet. My girlfriend is a devout Christian and where I'm at your either Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. I've been trying to find a community of pagans to worship with but I've been unsuccessful. The nearest group I was able to find was at least an hour away. This video made me feel like I'm not alone. Thank you so much and keep up the great content!
I am incredibly new to all this (only a few months) and I've been watching alot of your videos new and old. I find you very informative and interesting to listen to. When I first mentioned to my brother that I found out that people still believe in multiple gods such as odin skadi or buldr his reaction was one of annoyance and what felt like disdain I love my brother greatly so I never mentioned it again and I'm not sure I ever will
Send him videos once in awhile, guise it as you are learning about a mythology from someone who lives it, he'll unconsciously get used to the idea, over a lot of time.
I came out in 1999 in East Tennessee.... my life was so hard after that but it made me so strong. I do not regret it however I do wonder if I could have kept my family if I had just stayed in the closet. I wonder but I have no regrets and I'd rather die without regrets then to have hidden who I really was. It is indeed a sad fact that people are punished but at least now death is against the law and most do not burn or tortured. I super feel ya on the south part! East Tennesseans see you as a devil worshiper and nothing else. Absolutely no room for anything other then god or satan. You are absolutely right, those of us who have been out now for over 20 years have paved the way and hopefully softened the blows.
I'm reminded of this tale from Song of the Bird, titled "The Zen Master and the Christian": A Christian visited a Zen Master and said, “Allow me to read you the Sermon on the Mount.” “I shall listen with pleasure,” said the Master. The Christian read a sentence and looked up. The Master smiled and said, “Whoever said those words was truly an Enlightened Man.” This pleased the Christian. He read on. The Master interrupted and said, “Those words come from a Saviour of mankind.” The Christian was delighted. He read on to the end. The Master then declared, “That sermon was pronounced by someone radiant with Divinity.” The Christian’s joy was boundless. He left, determined to return another day and persuade the Master to become a Christian. On the way back home he found Jesus standing by the roadside. “Lord,” he said excitedly, “I got that man to confess you are divine!” Jesus smiled and said, “And did it do you any good except inflate your Christian ego?”
I used to work in a really religiously conservative area and I didn't really come out, all I did was wear a pentagram ring. That was all it took for one of the really religious men to zero in on me and start trying to convert me. I don't have much patience with that stuff so I shut him down hard, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. So, he said he'd do for me what his grandmother did for him to bring him back to the 'light'... he'd pray for something awful to happen to me to show me that God was real. So I asked him point blank, "Are you going to be the one to do it? Because that sounds like Wrath, to me." I came back from lunch the next day to find my work station in shambles, wires and tools tossed on the floor. He told me that God had come through and shown me he was real. I laughed in his face and asked if this God was wearing a wife beater and blue jean shorts. He didn't speak to me again until he couldn't hold it in and accused me of worshiping the vending machine because it doled out food. What an idiot.
I was very new to things and still exploring, high schooler in TX so my mom finds a Wiccan Book and confronts me very aggressively (as i was thinking about coming out to her earlier that week but so glad i didnt) she is waving this book in my face. I look at which one it was "Cooking by Moonlight" it was a wiccan cook book. So I lied. "Mom that is also a cook book they have a cool bean soup and pumkin stuff in there. it belongs to a friend and I need to give it back." she deflated and let me cook the bean soup.
Having grown up in a very Catholic family, I'm still in multiple closets with most family members. Fortunately, living in another state lets me be more open most of the time. Coworkers have never given me any issue with being bi, non-binary, or heathen (though I don't know how many of them are super aware of all those aspects of me).
Recently found your content and joined the discord today. One of my main goddesses is Hestia and I hope, some day, to be able to create a home and a center for education for the overlapping (but not mutually exclusive) witchcraft and pagan communities to be out of the broom closet together!
I, being originally from Alabama, feel your pain. I was a Christian. At eighteen I got a dragon tattoo and then put two symbols from the necronomicon around it (yes, I was an idiot), then two symbols that randomly popped into my mind (Did I mention that I was an idiot at that time?). Then the words Spirit Walker tattooed under the dragon, thought it sounded cool. I'll be 48 this year. I know what Spirit Walker means now and what the sigils mean that popped into my mind, all seems appropriate for my path. Been seeing runes in the candles flames lately, never felt called by the Norse Gods until recently. Always thought Odin was cool though (metalhead here) so there's that. Neat stuff.
I feel like I have to comment on your videos now. Sorry if that's annoying. But at least the algorithm likes it. I wanted to say three things: 1) congrats on passing 5k! Hope your channel keeps growing. 2) I entered college thinking I was a vanilla, monogamous, cis-het protestant male. Now I realize I'm a kinky, polygamous, pansexual, genderfluid, athiest. I graduate in December, And I still haven't told my family about any of it. That conversation is going to be interesting. 3) I wanted to thank you. I met you at FF last year, and got familiar with you from hammered out. Because of that, I backed off being the stereotypical religion hating anti-theistic atheist that everyone hates to deal with. You got me to see that not every religion is Abrahamic. I love your content, and I hope your flavor or religion becomes much more common.
I’m still a closeted Hellenist. I converted when I was sixteen and had to still feign Christianity around my relatives. Growing up in the South, the people absolutely despise atheists, and Pagans are even worse. I’ve had my relatives talk about Pagans and dehumanize them by calling them demons, murderers, destroyers, blasphemers, and more. Luckily, my other relatives out of state are all-accepting. The conversion was made even worse given that I’m also a gay man. With both of those stacked, it’s been very difficult to thrive where I live. Oftentimes, Christians come after me at work or in random public spaces and tell me I’m going to hell or something of the sort. I’m currently working towards moving with my accepting family.
I live in rural California. There is a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy for my family and a “if they know, they’ll disown me/my fiancée/my future kids” policy for my fiancée’s family. Ive only had one time I’ve been scared of being outed. My best friend knew I was pagan but not that there is such a thing as a broom closet. He casually tells total strangers (who happen to know my fiancée’s family because we live in a small county) that I’m a Practicing Polytheist. They were too, luckily, but I don’t show my tattoos, talk about religion, or talk about pre-modern history in public.
Ocean I have been watching your videos more recently. In all sense of honesty I am an atheist. Came from grass root christian, to jw, to Buddhist. Through it all though I have never heard some one speak so plainly about their beliefs, the reasons for them, and how they work with what they believe. You have made this simple for me to understand. I have always had an interest in the pagan and Norse ideologies as any other l. It's a hobby for me to see different philosophical ideas and how they function. I subbed because it's refreshing to hear something other than to just believe or have faith. Thank you good sir for your work.
I guess I didnt know how fortunate I have been. When I began my path on Norse Paganism/Heathenry about 35 years ago (when I was 21) I was accepted (for the most part) by my friends & family ( although some in my family thought it was a 'fad'). Rarely do I meet opposition or confrontation. Mostly my christian friends are not confrontational nor am I confrontational towards them, but we have had some pretty deep talks especially about how the northlands were converted to christianity (seems to be a lot of that repeated throughout history).
I've been lucky and able to tell a handful of friends of my Kemetic faith, most of whom have taken it well. I could probably tell my parents too and they'd be fine; I dabbled in Hellenism in my earlier years. But I still have to pick who I tell carefully, I feel some others would scoff and scorn. It kind of sucks that only a few can truly know me, but hey, it won't stop my worship.
@@kukulkanlordofcas4931 I can't say I've really had the experience to notice. I'm in West Virginia and have never met another pagan face to face that I know of. Just cool to say hi. Guess I'll recommend The Twisted Rope if you haven't heard of it yet. And leave it here for others to see if you have.
@@kukulkanlordofcas4931 Its a blog from a Kemeticist+Shintoist (I have no idea if that's a word), I was reading it a lot when I was digging into it but haven't gone exploring or learning in ages.
My mother thought I should study Tarot and astrology, because "young girls should explore those things" 🤷, but when I became interested in Paganism, that was a touch too far and I was immediately told there would be no "Devil worship" in her house (despite my insistence that I did not really believe in or have any intention to honor a "devil"). My dad's response was simply, "You're a Christian, and this is a Christian nation." I found so much resistance to my beliefs and my desire to practice and participate in them that I even tried to find a more "respectable" religion, and explored and practiced several, but could never really give up polytheism and my truest beliefs -- like you said, we are drawn to them! I even married someone of a different religion, having convinced myself that I could be a member of that religion too and just keep my polytheism private or just in my heart, but when my integrity and honesty with myself really finally showed through, and we ended up having many long conversations on the subject of religion, he ultimately realized that polytheism was something that was missing from his life, too, and my husband, who I initially thought might divorce me for needing to return to Paganism, has been the greatest defender of my faith to others, and has encouraged me to be open and really live it and engage with it. He's been my champion and defender as I've finally fully come out of the broom closet, 15 years after that first conversation with my mother ended in tears. As you say, it's good to have people at your back! And good to be able to confidently have shrines in your living room! My dad still tries to sneak Christian children's books into his gifts for my children, though. 🙄 Maybe he thinks my soul isn't salvageable but theirs still are! Thankfully I was only threatened and never actually treated with violence because of my beliefs. My heart goes out to every Pagan and polytheist who lives in fear of their beliefs becoming known. Wishing you safety and community. ♥️
I have just very recently stopped being Christian being drawn to Norse Paganism. I'm not sure if I can consider myself a pagan for I been only researching it for a year, a couple months of starting the practice and started my alter. I only have incense as I'm not sure what to do or how to do it. I joined some Facebook groups and actually started with another channel that let me to this channel. Thank you for putting your content out. For now I'm in the broom closet as my family are very much fundie Christian. I bought some books and looking forward to learning more
Unfettered in the woods and hills of the Ozarks but I've had no luck finding like-minded individuals in my area. I am grateful to you, your content has made me feel more connected 😁
I never thought about how big of a deal this must be for some pagans. As an athiest, I realize it's a diffrent experience, but in some ways it can be simalar. I came out as an athiest to my family at 12 and my first though was "is this what it feels like to come out as gay?" A year later I realized I was a little bit gay too. I am out to my friends about that, but not my family, as I know they would think I am confused. The main difference is LGBT people seem to find each other pretty quickly and find community there, whereas with pagans that seems to be more difficult. I feel for anyone who has ever had to hide any part of themselves because of how people may receive them.
There's a lot of crossover in the many communities / identities that have to be closeted. But I agree with you that finding community with LGBT is far more accessible. Community in Atheism is accessible but also bumpy. Many atheists actively resist community, especially around the idea of Atheism. But for pagans, we're often very much wanting for community that is unavailable.
I asked openly if I was on the right path with Odin I'm my minds eye and I asked if I was on the right path and I turned around to see 2 crows streaming right by me and sat on my gate for a few moments but in that moment I felt like I didn't need to worry and just be me
I am someone who is a-religious at the moment, I am Norse and Celt pagan curious. I was raised as a fundamentalist/evangelical christian. My parents are VERY religious and were missionaries when I was really young. My father was a pastor in a speaking in tongues, holy ghost, laying on of hands church. I have felt "in the broom closet" for a long long time. At first because while I considered myself a christian, I still played Dungeons and Dragons, feeling that it was ridiculous to think the rpg was satanic. The older I got the more christianity had more holes poked in it by logic. I just couldn't back an "all knowing, all powerful, all loving" god who let the ills of the world happen to children, let alone anyone else. It doesnt make a bit of sense to me that the answer to that has always been "free-will". Eventually I just dropped any pretense to myself and let myself admit to being not christian anymore. I don't know who, what or if I believe in anything religiously anymore. About a decade ago I broke all contact with my family over other matters, something that I still have twinges of guilt about even though I feel justified. I never came out to them about anything, so there is a small part of me that feels closeted and will probably never feel open. But that is something I will need to live with. I am glad channels like this exist so I can look into things and figure out where or what I am. Or at the very least feel in good company about having a Broom Closet. ;)
I'm what I called semi-closeted. I'm out and proud online and I don't go out of my way to my beliefs, but around non-pagans, I simply don't discuss my beliefs unless someone asks.
I’m new to Norse Polytheism and I’m on these videos after feeling a sense of calling or a pulling and I’m still in the broom closet as I continue to learn about the religion
I'm partially in the closet, and it's a pretty touch and go kind of thing. To some, I'm fully out of the closet, mostly to my husband [who is what he calls himself a Pragmatic Christian, and has never once not accepted me for who I am and my beliefs]. Some of my co-workers know because I am blessed to have a non-descriminatory environment, and some don't simply because it just hasn't come up. Hell, even one of my co-workers is also "of the witchy disposition" as we call lovingly. Some of my friends know, and they're my closest friends who ask me all kinds of questions, and have never once disrespected me. I still keep myself "in plain sight". I wear a crystal necklace in the open 'because it's pretty and I like shiny rocks', and under my shirt is either a metal raven skull or an ankh, or eventually Mjolnir. I'm happy to see Paganism growing, and for it to become more common.
For me, I was blessed to be born into a family of mixed faiths. My mother's Baptist, my was dad Catholic, my sister is agnostic/atheist, and her boyfriend is some form of atheistic pagan. Being the wishy-washy person that I am, I've bounced around from faith to faith, trying to see what feels right. I've been agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, and now I'm an eclectic delving into the world of heathenry and paganism. When I told my mom that I was worshipping Athena and practicing witchcraft, she expressed concern about my straying into a dangerous situation. I explained that it's not far from Christian worship: instead of praying to the 1 Christian god for everything, I pray to a deity whose dominion is over the goal which I am pursuing, stating, "This is the same as seeking out a personal trainer to help me get into shape". As I'm into seeking knowledge, prophecy, and wisdom then it makes sense to seek out Gods that represent those aspects. As such, I'm syncretic and eclectic. I don't think it necessary to put all the burden on 1 deity, when we can ask for help and guidance from someone who has a mastery over that which I seek. My mom was quite interested by this way of explaining my pragmatic approach to spirituality. She was worried that I was going to get into trouble or be possessed by a demon for practicing witchcraft, and I explained that a spell jar or charm is akin to having a visual aid to remember one's goal (i.e.: a money reminds you to save rather than spend frivolously). As she spoke with my sister and her mother-in-law about this, they admitted to her that they do similar things. Witchcraft doesn't have to include sacrificing a chicken to read its entrails... unless you're into that kind of thing. Now I tell my mom about how both sides of our family, my dad's ancestors and hers, both show STRONG likelihood of having Scandinavian ancestors, and she's cool with that... it's who we are! So to honour Ođin when her family is descended from exiled Berserkers and Picts, and my dad from Normand nobility only makes sense. In the end, for me religion is a construct of the human experience. We seek agency in our fate; a sense of community with like-minded individuals; and an understanding of something we will only experience when we can't come back to tell of its existence. So if I choose to honour only Gods from aspects of life that interest me and I don't hurt anyone in the process, who cares if it's Yaweh, Vishnu, Allah, Apollo, Ođin or Horus that I pray to? While I learn about the religions of the world, the cultures from which they were born are also uncovered to me. As my family motto goes, "A chacun sa vue" (to each his perspective)
I came out of the broom closet in the summer of 2016. Before that, I'd grown up in the Episcopal church and, even though my family was very open in terms of spirituality, I was still nervous to admit even to myself that I was Pagan. I'd subconsciously absorbed that "Believe or you'll burn in Hell" idea which often appears in Christian-dominant countries (I'm American). Plus, being visually impaired, I already got unwanted attention from Christians while out in public, offering healing prayers or wanting to "bring me to Jesus" as if I wasn't already Christian. I could only imagine the raised eyebrows or worse that I'd get if I was seen with my white cane AND pentacle jewelry. But after a lot of soul-searching, prayer, meditation, and studying in secret, I got the courage to come out. And my family was accepting and so were my friends and that's all that matters. What strangers think of me, I don't really care. My loved ones are cool with who I am, and that's enough for me. My channel isn't strictly Pagan-related, but as a Wiccan, I do make videos on the subject when I feel inspired to, so feel free to check it out if you'd like. Blessed be.
I’m in north Florida and someone outed me. It was due to peer pressure and him being on the fence about Christianity. They manipulated him into thinking it was the right thing to do. I don’t think he really understood how much danger that could’ve put me in or still could, since a part of me feels it’s only a matter of time before word spreads to my family. And it actually led to someone from the group he told finding my social media and getting into my DMs, asking questions and then started witnessing to me. I went to an MRI afterwards and they thought I had ghosted them? It was only a few hours but whenever I checked the messages they’d blocked me, which just made things easier on my end lol He has since greatly apologized and left Christianity. So it’s water under the bridge now. But that whole experience really freaked me out.
Hey, I live in Georgia too! I'm in the Coweta County area. I know many people who experienced the broom closet, and quite a few of them seemed to just accept the bridge-burning of being open about their religions. Personally, I am trying to start my own, and I have many Pagan leanings (for my own purposes l, Nature worship is sufficient for Paganism. Exceptions abound). I'm not quite overt about my religion not on purpose, but just because it never really comes up. I was raised Lutheran by a Catholic mother and possibly Baptist father, both of whom were admittedly bad at their respective religions (there's a saying that Lutherans, as opposed to Baptists, sin openly and pray secretly, so maybe that influenced my outlook. It's that outlook which led to my rather clean split from Christianity). It's hard to find other Pagans, but the internet has, as you can imagine, made it easy and fun to keep up relations. I think things are getting better, and more of us are acting like pioneers to a more open expression of our religions. I only hope this continues, and it's channels like yours that help a lot.
It was always the smell of campfire.. on a summer or winter night the feeling never changed.. I felt a calming feeling even alone I was at peace. I was drawn to the outdoors almost to much so, I spend a lot of time there and there’s a feeling of home.. my past aside to feel at home broke me open and I knew I had the wanderer following me till I was ready to have the talk and accept my roots. The tree of life has always sheltered is from the harshest storms! Hail to the gods!
being norse polytheist in a catholic high school and having to explain why i didn't want to receive communion was certainly... an experience. great video
👀
What lake is that Lanier?
@@CbreezyBearded another Georgia friend?
@@jacobhofius2528 yes sir you know it!
Wolf, Only someone who is a Christian in name only would force his beliefs on others... the minister is the one instigator of all the hatred.
My wife thanks being apologized is going to do myself it's going to do my soul she worries about me but she left she worries about me but she lets me practice my religion as I need to however do however she does pray for me every night that's my closet story
This was a big deal for me. Even though it turned out to be folkist, Hearth of Hellenism was a huge influence in me becoming an out Hellenist. Later, Hellenion showed me I wasn't alone, and gave me a structure and foundation to lean into my faith through my whole life, not just once a day at ritual time. And now this community has shown that there are more of us than I ever imagined. But it didn't come without consequences. Half of my family doesn't speak to me and some of those who do bombard me with bs every time we talk. My mother burned books and did horrendous things growing up to discourage me from my faith, though she's grudgingly accepting now. I've been physically attacked, emotionally abused, had my things broken including outdoor ritual objects in my own yard, and lost jobs over my pagan faith. But it's worth it to be who I am. And I live in the "progressive" north. It's much worse down south for you all.
Damn Ali, how do i get your strength?
@@carnival8789 I wouldn't wish the trials that gave me that strength on anyone. :p
Your story really touched me. I’m trying not to cry. I’m scared of being out. But you gave some hope. But I live in Texas. Luckily my parents are tolerant & my sister is also pagan
Honestly I had to come out of the broom closet when my dad found I offered cigarettes to Freyr and Freyja. He didn't question it much and was willing to accept it but now and then will mention that I should come back to Christianity, not entirely realizing I left because I felt ignored and deciding that it wasn't right for me to be devoted to a god that largely ignored me.
The egg donor, on the other hand, godsdamn was she awful about it. She refused to accept my beliefs, insulted the main gods I worshipped at the time before my calling to Hecate, the Aesir, by calling them violent war gods(not realizing they're a lot more than that), all while preaching about love and acceptance. One of many reasons I went no contact with her. You don't insult the gods and may she get exactly what she deserves.
At least my mother didn't burn books, largely because I didn't have texts for her to burn, and I kept my Necronomicon at my dad's.
Honestly I live with my aunts who are very accepting of my religion, and I'm going to ask them about using some leftover wood to build a small altar for my worship just to be sure they're okay with it. I'll send pictures on Ocean's discord when it's done but I haven't faced any issues at work other than someone saying they say Yahweh manifest in front of them and making me question my own relationship with the gods, but that's not bad at all.
There are places in the South where it is better than others. Where I live, the persecution is more subtle, but there are also a large number of pagans and heathens around here,too.
Well, if someone attacks me for being a pagan, I'll just have to kick their ass in the time-honored tradition of my ancestors.
a rap battle ^^
Skoal to u. That may b the only way to get them to back off. Raise ur horns!
rap pog
@@bleddynwolf8463 flyting shall be had this day
better bring the bars my boy
Yes bring back Galdr!
I’m still partially in the closet, but just started wearing a Mjolnir necklace recently. I’ve been in the closet for 27 years. Feels good to see paganism growing. Slainte.
I used to wear one when 17 in bronze I’m now 38 and wear a silver one and bjorn (bear) arm ring and mainly lokean , pray to Loki gives me kick up ass I need
@@BrotherYusuf Loki isn't even a god, he is a ni
@@alexandervangraff8475 Loki is the son of Laufey, who is listed among Ásynjar in one of the þulur. This is potentially why Loki was "enumerated among the Æsir," as described by Snorri in Gylfaginning.
Bless you, that is a long time to have to remain hidden. I am sure it builds a type of character the fully embodies the "silent" part of "to know, to well and to keep silent"
Hold the heathen hammer high!
im so grateful i live in England were i can openly wear my thors hammer neckless and practice norse paganism openly and without fear
Sadly that's a problem in Germany, Not because of religion but because a lot of Nazis like wearing them and it's actually illegal to be a Nazi here.
So, if you wear it, you might get harassed by actual cops in some situations.
@@Nerobyrne we really need to nip this issue in the bud before our cultural heritage is irreversibly damaged.
You can do that here too. Many Americans are so afraid of conflict they won't even bring up their religion in 2021. Getting actually harmed for being a Heathen in the USA is probably about as regular as lightning hitting you two nights in a row. I would have to say I don't believe you were beaten specifically for being a heathen. Edit: I should say I don't believe Ocean Keltoi got attacked twice by people who probably don't even know what a heathen is.
@@shanpatrickbaker988 well that's wrong, in fact it's so common people came up with the idea of the "broom closet" to describe having to hide your faith for fear of reprisal by angry Christians.
Us Alabamians aren’t so lucky, though I’ve gotten much more open since I’ve reached adulthood. I’m open about it to all my close friends and my immediate family. Unless I think it’s someone it might go bad with I’m generally open about it to new people
I really felt that when you said ‘We’re not converted, we’re drawn to it.’
That’s exactly how it was for me. I’ve felt drawn to Paganism for a number of years now but it’s only in the past year or two that i’ve started doing some serious research and decided that Norse Paganism is right for me. I’m in the broom closet and probably will be to an extent for a couple more years, but I do feel at least a little comfort knowing I have six friends that will have my back no matter what, five of them also being Pagans as well.
My mum (she's a Christian fundamentalist) thinks I'm an atheist because I know she would lose her absolute mind if she found out. I'm not even out of the lgbt closet never mind the broom closet.
Lmao profile pic and fundamentalist mother it all makes sense
@@ProfessorShnacktime xD
@Freikorps Berserker he/she/ they, mean that they haven’t told their mom that they aren’t straight.
I suppose I'm fortunate. I'm married to a Christian - but an open-minded, non-judgmental one. I don't think we spoke about religion for the first ten years we were married (she's definitely not a fundamentalist), but one day she asked "what exactly do you believe?" I told her, and walked her through how a college course on the Bible had set me on the polytheistic path. Her response was: "that makes sense and I respect it, but I hope you don't mind if I stick with what's comfortable for me."
Nope. No problem at all. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary this week.
That's not to say I haven't had well-meaning friends attempt to "save" me...some just can't resist that compulsion. I've managed to shut them down amicably though.
Ngl thats goddamn beautiful
Long as those fucking Wastelanders are the ones getting "shut down..."
I moved from the North, where I had a decent sense of community, to Georgia a few years ago. Knowing that there are Pagan communities in this state makes me feel less alone. I live in a rather blue area, but I don't think I can fully come out of the broom closet. About a year ago I started accepting myself as a witch and a Pagan. I finally came out of the broom closet as a witch to my mom over the phone and she was like "Oh, I'm Pagan too!". It was a really funny and wonderful moment. My whole life I had no idea, but looking back it makes sense my mom is also Pagan. It really was like meeting someone again for the first time.
Same! I told my mom I was exploring witchcraft and she showed me her hidden closet of books and tools.
@@goirkens That makes me so happy! Bless supportive moms!
Wow. That's kind of mind blowing.... Did your mums fear they would be rejected if they'd told you earlier in life?? 😲 Or was it more a case of it not being safe for them to practice openly in their area, and their being uncertain if a younger person could be discreet if informed?
It feels like the stories shared around videos such as this one are a really timely reminder that the religious "freedom" supposedly available in some countries is still often just a sham, alas. And provides further proof that people who reject the 'other' apparently don't just confine their awful bigotry to those of clearly-different race, gender or culture... 🤦🏻♀️ The community these people claim to be "protecting" via their hate is also full of individuals whom they'd turn on in a heartbeat if they knew that their children, friends, colleagues etc were different too! So sad 😢
I think it was for a few reasons. Mainly I think my Mom wanted me to figure out what spirituality worked for me rather than have a religion forced on me. We just never really talked about it. Another part was I avoided the subject cause I didn't want her to keep a secret from my grandmother, who is very hatefully Christian. I am sure that if my grandmother found out I was bi that I would be disowned by her (after many "come to Jesus" talks).
I have gotten really close with my mom the past few years, so we talk about everything. We finally hit a point where we are starting not to care what my grandmother thinks because Gram's health is so bad that she has lived longer than we thought and has become increasingly toxic. It really sucks, but I let my gram see me as her idealized version cause arguing would just waste my energy and I would rather be on good terms. I am just really grateful that my mom is so supportive when her own mother is so hateful to anyone who doesn't fit into her definition of a good Christian.
@@thesleepystrawberry3620 Really sad to hear you and your mom having to just hide so much of yourselves due to your grandma's virulent beliefs 😔 Definitely can understand the dilemma though - when people are that entrenched in both their beliefs & unwillingness to accept others' difference, I don't think we'll ever change them, and it just uses up so much energy to withstand their aggression if trying to have open conversation...? Some people can be brought to greater open-mindedness by seeing a good life lived firsthand, but with a few individuals sadly I think all we can do is wait for their generation to slowly pass... 😢
I think any atheist who contributes to keeping pagans in the broom closet, cautious of expressing, and being open about their beliefs (for example by calling “all theists irrational”, and other things of the sort), frankly, disgusts me a little. We always talk about how freedom of religion must include freedom to not have one, and (rightly) complain about often having to hide our non-belief, so it’s incredibly narrow-minded and hypocritical to perpetuate the same situation for others. The only beliefs anyone should be ashamed of are harmful beliefs.
Spot on.
I mean religion has killed ALOT of people
You don't see Atheists having Holy Wars over some asshole in the sky
@@ksoundkaiju9256 Stalin
@@ksoundkaiju9256 So has politics. In my experience, political affiliations are often far more irrational, dogmatic, and cruel than any religion. Yes, religion has resulted in death, but so has many forms of political philosophy
I'm sorry you have this experience with atheists. Just remember that atheists in general are not one group that subscribe to one belief.
Personally I see spirituality as a form of human need, it has to be respected if you seek to respect others at all.
Sadly there are many atheists out there who think belittling people of faith as some form of atheist missionary work or something.
When I came out of the broom closet to my parents, I was on a roadtrip with them. It is by far the worst car ride I have ever been in. My parents sort of knew I'd been falling away from the faith, but not going to Communion was the last straw. I'll admit, I could have explained it better than I did but I was afraid my cradle Catholic parents would drop me off at my destination and never talk to me again. My mother acted like I was going against every single thing our family was made of. My dad wasn't convinced I worshiped Hiddleston's Loki from the Avengers. Nowadays it's . . . a non issue. Part of it is because I moved out and am not strong-armed into going to church. There are times my mother admits she prays for my soul but it's so much better than lying to them and playing the dutiful Catholic daughter (of which I am neither)
Y'know ancient pre Christian beliefs found femininity in men to be a vile trait. And Loki was not worshipped, he served as a foil in myth.
Ancestors Give me Strength
I like what you said about "...we tend to grow out of the ground..."
Personally I have recently come out of Messianic/TorahObservant christianity-ish living. Started seeing all the inconsistencies in the bible, the constant call to not be in a churchianity environment. Honestly the story is a bit longer than that but you have a life so maybe one day I'll make my own channel. Anyway, thank you Ocean and other Pagan/Heathens who had the guts to start channels. It helps.
I have only come out to one coworker who, although christian herself, was very interested in what I believed in and didn't judge me at all, and two friends, both also christian. One of the christian friends stopped talking to me and all of my friends, even tho she was close to all of them. The other one didn't talk to me for 3 days, and then decided that he liked being friends with me too much to not talk to me anymore. Later in our friendship we talked about what we belief in and we found mostly similarities which made him feel even better. We are still very good friends.
Edit: That last friend started making pagan jokes since I came out to him, and then apologize immediately after saying them. But I don't mind, since most of them are really good and funny jokes and non of the jokes are hurtful or meant to be hurtful.
I've not been assaulted, but I've been more in the closet than out. My sister used to have a pentagram tattoo on the back of her shoulder. She had it covered up after someone literally spat on her because of it. I've been verbally harassed, told I'm going to hell, called "satan's whore" and all the rest. All for identifying myself as a witch. Needless to say that drove me back into the broom closet pretty far.
But I've felt increasingly uncomfortable in there. In part because it's exhausting to constantly monitor my language, to watch what I wear, to literally police my whole identity in certain spaces. In another part because I work(ed) at a liberal university in a job that promotes and strives towards inclusion and have not been given any real reason to think that wouldn't include me. And finally, in an increasingly large part, because I've begun to feel like my ability to hide is a kind of privlidge. That doing so is an odd kind of complicity in maintaining the status-quo as a WASP society. Allowing myself to be bullied into silence does not benefit anyone, especially the bullies who soon enough think that there isn't any form of diversity in their lives.
Holy sh**! That bit about privilege and complicity hit home. That's why I am more out of the "broom closet" than in. (Belong in many closets being a lesbian, and autistic. Y'gads!)
As a practitioner myself I can whole heatedly relate to verbal abuse driving you into hiding. I'm in home healthcare and when I worked for a company I had to even hide my ethnicity (I'm half Hispanic but got my mother's inability to tan) because so many would just assume I'm an illegal and try to report me to the company. I was also always asked if I was religious and believed in god. Just kept saying it was against policy to speak religion and politics. That fear from work impacted my personal life as well and I was hiding from my friends and even my fiance. Just recently I've become so much more open with him and my friends and the reception was so much better than I had imagined. Two of my friends are also witches and we had no idea! It was great to speak with someone. I wish you luck in your journey and hope that you can go now more out of the closet than in. Blessed Be!
Yea, the moment someone spits on me may as well be the day I sign my death certificate, bc shits gonna escalate r e a l quick over the following hour
I myself am in the broom closet, but my mother had a wiccan friend, who was unapologetically out of the broom closet.
Her husband had no problem with it and neither did my mom, but my dad had a problem with it because he "was pagan and it was a mistake" and "the Christian god is the best". And as such he would frequently rltry and convert her at every moment he got. He even took my sisters and i aside and had discussions about how Christianity is the best thing and that it saved his life.
I never vibed with that and soon discovered my own path as a reconstructionist pagan. I had attempted to talk to my dad to see if i could come out of the broom closet to him and he spun it into a talk about jesus, so that was a no go. I uad been hoping to move out last year but lockdown had messed with my ability to move out and pretty much lost me my job
Saying the Christian God is the best implies that there are many Gods to choose from. So he has the right idea. Just a weird conclusion.
@@OceanKeltoi dude, saying a fucking Wastelander "had the right idea" is how you get Milvian Bridge, Part II, Trepanning Boogaloo, alright? Like, I get how you were trying to work that, but, with those like OP's dad, all anyone really gets is supposedly "caught" talking like that.
I'm honestly so new to faith I've just become aware of the brooms in this closet 😫
he's speaking from a reginal perspective...further north it isn't QUITE as bad...but still bad, the smaller the town, the worse it is....
I've always been out. From the time I discovered Asatru back in 90 I haver always been out. I know many pagans and all too many of them refuse to stand up and be counted. I've lost jobs over it. Lost relationships. Lost friends. Been thrown out of stores, restaurants and other businesses because of the hammer I was wearing. Had many people mistake the hammer for an upside down cross. All in all I've had a lot of problems with people because of my religious beliefs. Do I regret any of it? Not one damned bit.
I will say this..one of the reasons that we Pagans are still looked askance at is because there is a lack of familiarity with Paganism in the public forum. Whether one is a Heathen, or a Celt or a Hellenist or any of the myriad of other Pagan and....n it is the same. There is a lack of familiarity is because there are not many who are out and open and the reason there are so few who are out and open is because of how we are treated (or at least believe we will be treated) if and when people find out we are pagans.
I have been at my place of employment off and on since the late 80's. A total of 16 years. (Yes I know 1986 was a lot longer than 16 years ago but there have been gaps in time when I worked at other places). In all of that time I have only known 4 other pagans in a place that employees several thousand people at any given time of the year. 2 of them I knew from outside of that job, one I met there and only found out there were a pagan, a fellow Heathen because he mentioned a name in passing of someone I knew and the other...well that person approached me and said that I should hide the fact that I was a Pagan (again I have always been open about it and have adamantly refused too hid my hammer for any reason) because that fact would keep me from getting anywhere in that place. I will admit that I have had a lot of trouble with things there, but that was a much my own doing as anything else. My point being that in all that time I have encountered such small number of Pagans in that place. If I were part of any other minority, and make no mistake as a religion we Pagans ARE a minority, others of that same group would be screaming about that fact there would be law suits and charges of discrimination because no only are there so few there, of that they environment is such that they have to hide, but that none of them were in any position of authority. But, because other Pagans feel the need to hide...nothing gets said or done.
Getting back to the ides of Pagans in the public forum. You will notice that you do not anyone who is openly Pagan in the public eye, unless they are doing something connected with being a pagan (like authors who write pagan oriented books) or in the Music industry where pretty much anything goes, you don't see them. You don't see pagan characters on TV shows or in movies, at least not accurately portrayed and more often than not, when you do see someone worshipping the "old gods" it is usually some angsty teenage girl who is hellbent on revenge because the popular girls were mean to her, or the cute boy she likes won't ask her out (usually because he is shagging one of the aforementioned popular girls who were mean to her) and in the end her plans for revenge usually end up doing more damage to her than to them. Again, if were were any other minority, we would be DEMANDING that we be properly represented to see accurately portrayed Pagan characters, to have Pagan performers announced when they join the cast, to see openly Pagan candidates running for public office, we certainly don't see Christians, or Muslims or Jews hiding their religion, nor do Hindu's or Buddhists. Yes I know Hindu is one of the Pagan religions but .it has become so mainstream that most people, including other Pagans, don't think of it that way anymore. I'll be honest though...my being out and open is really of no benefit to me personally, or to the pagan community as a whole. I'm nobody. Just a low level clerk whose never actually had a real job until a couple of months ago (I'm 53...will be 54 in a couple of months). I just simply refuse to hide, or pretend ( I seem to recall that honesty and courage are kind of important things so...) I guess what I'm getting at is that, until more of use start standing up, things for those of us that are OUT will continue to be problematic, and as more come out, more will be able to come out. Who knows, someday, maybe someday soon, we will see a Hellenist running for state senate, or have the lead role in a romcom go to Celt or watch an MMA match between a Heathen and a Mayan. Of course for any of that to happen...people need to know that were are here, there are more of us than they think, and we're damned tired of hiding in the shadows.
Asatru. You dont see that one every day. I see and support you my dude. Its even more opressed than celtic and nordic paganism. Stay strong 🖤🖤🖤
Certainly an interesting read, and frustrating that people have to hide who they are to keep workplace positions in countries where religious freedom is supposed to be a legal requirement. The only statement I'd argue is the one that other religious minorities in Western countries don't have to hide their faith. Not true my dude!! Many are decidedly at risk of all kinds if openly practicing, or just found out... particularly Muslims, I'm sad to say? Even in relatively accepting countries like this one we still get verbal abuse of hijabi, workplace discrimination against Sikhs, and even horrible terrorist attacks on mosques.... 😔
As an atheist I find a friendly comfortable relationship with the polytheist pagan gods it's the the monotheistic gods that are the troublemakers.
@Gwallter Rixon Monotheistic gods? I supposed you are referring to Allah and Yahweh isn't ?
prolly jesus
I'm only partially in the closet cause I'm not educated enough on the history & beliefs, and I don't want to spread misinformation.
I told my partner (who is still my partner) about my worship of Aphrodite. A week or so later, they took me to the beach and watched me pray.
Also mine, who is agnostic/atheist, often asks me to pray the gods for their favour in his behalf and partecipate to some offerings while visiting together sacred sites. The previous one loved to talk about græco-roman antiquity and mythology but clearly felt unease about my practice.
As someone new to the faith and living in Alabama, this hit close to home. Thank you for the encouragement friend.
I’m still a baby pagan, and still in the broom closet. My friends know me as the weird but chill guy who likes Vikings and is probably not a demon, so I don’t think they’d be surprised if they found out.
It's better to tell friends than your parents or grand parents
@@dancingbear2367 and even calling _that_ shit "good" is fucking debatable...
Speaking from Eastern Washington/the northern blade of Idaho.
My first experience with religious prejudice that would really effect me was in filling in a work form with "Unitarian Universalist" (after leaving that empty, then thinking UU was innocuous, then learning my manager who insisted on it being answered wanted a particular answer). A long fight, but we (1970s) had a good Union and some federal laws and I was a steward with a tape recorder an "emotional problem" with most managers and notorious for "weird ideas" and weirder books (all the criptid, aliens, religions, tarot, etc). I kept my job, she almost lost hers and finally gave up on returning me to my Baptist roots long lost (or thrown away). I was actually Wiccan at the time; if she only knew; eventually recognizing and accepting my atheism. Some noticed I took my vacations a week at a time at soltices and equinoxes and asked, I answered. But it can be very interesting to be different in any way: most everyone told me I should date/marry/have kids, work daylight hours, not have so many pets (they said I should have kids), be more Christian, and "fix" my mother (family is so very important) until they had to deal with her. So this was one problem of several.
Being from Arkansas, I can tell you the looks and children getting tugged behind their mothers just from a Mjöllnir necklace and oath ring, is by no means miniscule.
Yes! Fellow Arkansan here
I was raised nonreligious/agnostic/atheistic and my immediate family is something within that spectrum. At the same time that I fully dove into paganism I also became very interested in the secular community and so also started lucking the atheist community. Well, my cousin who is like an older brother to me became a born again Christian after going through Alcoholics Anonymous and one day he came over and overheard me listening to an atheist podcast. When we confronted me if I was atheist I told him I was pagan. He went to complain to my older sister. Big mistake. She's openly an atheist and told him off. So he then turned to our mother. An even bigger mistake. She isn't atheist but she gives zero flips what her children belief and told off my cousin-to-is-like-a-brother for trying to stir drama. And that is how my whole extended family found out I was pagan.
A not as funny story comes from my stepdad. Mom remarried when I was almost an adult. He lied is way into the relationship and things went downhill from there. He hated me almost from day one. When he found out I wasn't Christian (I didn't tell him)... he actually started threatening to kill me. On one occasion he even through liter-fluid on me while he was smoking and joked about tossing his cigarette at me. He also made comments about "burn witches in the street" and other comments on a regular basis. (He also verbally and physically abused me because he suspected me of being LGBT (I am) and for being autistic, so all around asshole.) No one ever did anything because he was a wheelchair-bound, partially parallelized amputee due to Type 1 diabetes with dementia and "he doesn't mean it" or "he can't take care of himself." He died of a a major stroke 6 ond and painful years after he married my mother. I'd piss on his grave if he had one. Worst experience with someone anti-pagan I've ever had and hopefully never have to live through again.
Wow, that sucks. You have my sympathies. (No offense, but your step-father sounds like a douchebag.)
Your mom and sister sound awesome. Your step dad is a pile of shit.
As I'm still trying to figure out *what* I believe, wading through the remaining Mormon conditioning, I take a lot of heart in content like this-
ayyy another exmo I grew up mormon too and its taken me years to deconstruct it
I was only in for 5/6 years and I'm still deconditioning after having left 2 years ago
Good luck friend! One of my good friends from high school was raised Morman and converted to Celtic Paganism. You'll figure things out eventually! ^_^
@@Amy_the_Lizard Thanks!
Dumping the indoctrination is the hardest part XD
This sounds very familiar, not the Mormon thing but finding my way. I am not really in the closet about my beliefs but people are largely ignorant about most religions other than the big 3.
They think believing in our ancestors' Gods comes from watching too many Marvel movies.
I've been going through your playlist, "Intro to Heathenry and Polytheism" for a couple of weeks now, and I've been waiting to watch this video. Wow...Thank you!
I have just recently began following the Norse gods, so I consider myself quite the apprentice and student, at best. My wife and kids are understanding and supportive; but I do feel a need to share my new path with some of my closest and dearest friends, some of whom are quite ingrained in their Christian faith, and some who are not. For example, I'm a teacher up in Illinois and my co-teacher and I have talked a little bit about religion from time to time, so this past week I took a step out of the broom closet, and while she did not have that much to say, I gathered there was respect and acknowledgment for my beliefs; so I feel fortunate.
I have other friends who are closer to me, and I feel a stronger desire to share, because I don't want to be deceitful of who I am. I also acknowledge that this topic doesn't come up all too often and there is no need to...soooooooooo...that being said (sorry for my rambling), you gave me much to think about and reflect upon and settled some anxiety in the process. Thank you, sir.
I am from Japan and I am now a citizen of America. I was raised as Shinto. I still hold these beliefs dear to my heart but I am also Wiccan. I live in the South as well.
"Find a way, or make one" I like that.
This hit home way hard , I found your channel a few months ago and not only did you help me simply learn history for fun but this story made me feel less boxed in life. My words are jumbled ,I'm sorry but thank you truthfully.
And context I live in the Deep South too 😅
Pagan in Central TX, and I flaunt it. Prayer beads and rune tattoos, I wear gems and crystals. It never ceases to amaze me how many other pagans are down here.
It might help that my godmother is a devout Hellenistic pagan, as well as my mother. They both always said that this was nothing to be ashamed of, and to be proud of being pagan.
Good to know others are this close to me. I live in West Central TX and I know of no group around here that I can gather with.
Lucky. Are either your godmother or mother employed? If they have a Christian boss who finds out, they can be fired from their jobs for any reason because Texas is an 'at will' employment state.
@@benjalucian1515 My mom is a Christian and her boss is as well. I really am the only polytheist in the area from what I know.
@@JohnSmith-uw9or - OK, but my comment was directed at the original poster.
@@benjalucian1515 my godmother lives in Michigan, and my mother is a government employee in Nevada. It's just me and my brother down here. Mom moved to Nevada about two years ago.
Being fron rural South Louisiana i feel this video in my soul
As a young teenager I was an Atheist. My parents were Catholic and made me go to church for years and even become a part of it but at the young age of 12 I knew that it wasn't for me and scientifically made no sense so Atheism came naturally, but I'd already seen things that could not be explained such as ghosts and spirits. When I found the pagan and witch side of Tumblr I was stunned and very interested. People had actual connections to their deities unlike in Catholicism where you go through Father for most things and everyone I knew had never had a personal religious experience. I decided to give paganism a shot. I read about people's experiences and what the tenants of each system were. In the end, I chose to just put out a general call for guidance and a plea to show me that something was out there. I didn't think it would happen but it did. I got a sign, something that was outside the realm of normal, so I asked again for a sign and got the same sign. In the end, I asked for that sign for a week and every day it happened in even weirder and more interesting ways so I never looked back. I found out it was Anubis that came to me (and later found out He was there since birth for me) and became a Kemetic pagan at 15 and at 18 I joined Kemetic Orthodoxy. Right now I'm out to my friends and some coworkers but if my family found out it'd be chaos, most likely I'd be annexed. They already don't think I'm religious enough and my aunt purposefully baits me by gifting me Christian things she knows I won't use and when I don't use them she gets upset and tells my family, "see they aren't Christian."
I used to be a strong Catholic back in the day, but became an Atheist; a thing which did not exactly brought problems with my parents but it did brought some ugly clashes. This has made me reluctant to open with them about my Paganism (also because they are sure that I'm still Catholic but I am just through a "rebellious face" although I constantly wear Pagan necklaces and refuse to kneel during prayers in Church). But the thing that kicked me straight to this closet was this one time when my cousin's girlfriend told something about me being Atheist, to which I corrected her in me being Pagan, to which she surprised to and replied "Oh God! Is that true? Tell me it is true!", It surprised me as she is a Catholic (but a very light and progressive one) but my cousin, a dude which I respect and cherish deeply, being the convinced Atheist he is, told me to "Stop fucking joking" (in our language the word he used for "joking" has a more mocking and insulting connotation). Then his girlfriend's face changed to a confused one, and since then she acknowledges me as an Atheist, and so does anyone even if I tried to explain to them that I'm not. Probably the fact that my believes were criticized as a "joke" in front of everyone has made them think that my Paganism is just "a fucking joke". You can imagine the insecurity I have had ever since to open up about my believes c':
so like im wiccan right, so here i was just standing in line at some government department when suddenly someone yells at me "YOUR WEARING IT UPSIDE DOWN!" im like super confused then realize hes talking to me, about my pentacle chain that i wear literally everywhere. . . i just ignored him not wanting to explain that *and no it wasn't upside down lol*
another time someone related to an old childhood friend of mine came out of nowhere and just started asking me about tarrot cards and other forms of divination, spellcraft and whatever else and i was like Wait.. your a witch? WTF xD
ahhh
Sounds like the verbal equivalent of a person itching to fix a collar. Haha
As frustrating as it was at the time, my mom playing Devil’s Advocate during our first actual discussion about my hellenic beliefs was a real help to me. She’s the more strong arm Christian of my parents. My dad would just shrug and go “as long as youre okay and a good person”. My mom was more adamant about trying to keep me in their church up until this point.
We talked and it really helped me figure out the stuff I belief, where I stood with certain gods and practices, and gave me some introspection I wouldn’t have gotten until much later. Religion still isn’t talked about between me and my Christian family, but it’s no longer a major point of contention.
9:20 I have a necklace with Hecate's wheel that I've worn a few times. I always get compliments on it until they ask me "What does it mean?" When they find out it's related to Paganism I always get an eyeroll or they'll flat out walk off before I even finish explaining. Its a little sad when my family gives that kind of reaction but I can't help but chuckle that everyone's initial reaction is to admire it. It's almost like they can't help but be drawn to Hecate's power.
Man this makes me feel for our American pagan friends and family, we don’t have this type of issue really in the UK, we hear about it sometimes but in the main we’re open with our religion and suffer little of these situations ❤
It's actually rather bad in some parts of the states, I wear the Icelandic Style fo Mjolnir simply because I can make look like a cross quickly so it doesn't cause issues or any kind of altercation
I personally find Christians being themselves (hateful assholes who worship a "loving" god) quite funny and just cements my faith even more. Of course I wish those scumbags didn't exist, but religion is just a tool for assholes to be righteous assholes, they'd still be assholes without their religion.
I'm a Celtic polytheist who plans on becoming an OBOD druid someday and I was recently outed from the broom closet accidentally, as my mom walked in on me with my books out in the open. She and the rest of my family are extremely Christian, so it's been difficult.
Run.
Screw it.
Screw them.
⏸️
Just find a good bag, get what books you can keep _relatively_ safe, and fucking run.
They've already shown you what kind of notion of """family""" they were trying to get you to die keeping afloat.
@@seand.g423 I've been saving up as much money as I can so that I can get a car and hopefully I'll be able to get out finally this summer.
@@katiehowell2537 cool...
Just, uh... maybe stick with bracelets and long sleeves for awhile, yeah? They can't drag you by what they can't [physically] see, after all...
Meeting my barber and a former member of the local chamber of commerce who spoke at my high school at pagan pride events was amusing and a pleasant surprise. I have been half in and out of the broom closet most of my 20 plus years on my path.
I'm genuinely on the verge of tears. You stated my feelings beautifully. We really do grow everywhere.
I can relate to being a Pagan in the South. I was born/raised in Dallas Tx. Now living in Oklahoma. I am not out of broom closet and living here I would never open that doorway. My friends know , but no one else is aware.
I do wear a pentacle necklace , a Mjollnir (or however it's spelled) and the talons of a N American Kestrel (small predatory bird) around my neck. The other 3 talons 2- hang from my ears and I gave the 3rd one away as an Initiation gift to my newest student. It too is now an earring.
I usually tell them, "But I have seen the light! Why do you think I'm no longer Christian?" Some of us know better!
As far as name-calling, I have been called everything from a "devil worshipper" to a "kitty killer," which really hurts as I am an ardent cat lover.
Some people in the little birdhouse of their mind feel that if you don't believe as they do, you are worshipping their devil by default. This is why they even go after other Christians. Once I was waiting in line at the check-out stand when a man asked me why my Star of David had only five points. I told him I was a bad Jew and they had taken one point off. He believed me!
Okay the part about you telling him you lost a point cracked me up
I remember the "Come To Jesus" convos.
Not sure if you still look at comments on this but I just want to say thanks Ocean. You helped me find my path as a Heathen.
I do see them. And I'm glad ^_^
Hello Ocean. Just discovered your channel and I'm really liking the topics. It's wonderful to see the community that is present and growing due to channels like yours.
I've been a Wicca for about 20 years and thankfully, I've been out of the closet for most of that time (maybe 15 years). I feel blessed (after reading some of the comments) that I've not had many negative reactions. I have two xtan sisters who simply asked me what it was. When I explained, they accepted it. I think my Mom and other sister (both xtians too) are either in denial about it or just let it pass, which is also fortunate. I think it helps to be in the tristate area, where the population is so international and transitory, that hardly anyone blinks an eye when I wear my Wicca/Pagan clothes/jewelry. I'm even out of the closet at work and have had no worries. Thanks for listening and Blessed Be.
Personally I'm still in the closet because of fear of losing friends, family, scholarship opportunities, etc. I wear my Mjolnir pendant daily, but I keep it under my clothing; although in times of stress or if I am particularly nervous I will put the pendant in my hand as I whisper a prayer. Although when I do that in public I make sure no one is watching, and that I am quiet. This channel is great for me because I dont need to hide who I am.
Henry David Thoreau brought me to an appreciation of the Goddess Aurora, any since i've spent many early morning hours clambing up high peaks and to vista to appreciate her in the fullest light.
Thank you sharing these other channels, your content has been such a big help for me in articulating my view to my family.
As someone who works in home healthcare in south GA, the broom closet is my life. I'm open about my journey with my fiance of course, and some friends, but at work you have to watch what you say. I'm also half Hispanic (Spanish and Italian) and my trainer told me not to disclose that I am anything but European white because they would call me an illegal Mexican and try to report me (it's happened before) so my religious ideas were definitely on lock down for awhile just out of fear of losing my job. I'm so happy I found a private home health job with a client who himself is atheist and very open minded and respectful of my views. His family not so much so I still have to be on guard, but at least I feel more freedom.
In the winter of 2009, I gifted all of my books, my athame, and my triple moon pendant to my best-friend. They were the last pieces of my "Pagan life" as I began my conversion to Catholicism. It hurt a hell of a lot, (there was outside pressure) but I was a doing my best as a wee lamb. October of 2019 I began what I told everyone was research for a book I was writing (not wholly untrue), and began learning again. Two days ago, I made my first true act of disobedience and I ordered an Odin statue and a Janus coin. And so the foundations of the pantheon are laid. The closet door handle is a-rattlin' now.
Absolutely loved this. Good job. Explained the concept perfectly!
One day I will be free from the Broom Closer. I'll break free from it when I can leave my parents' home.
One day, none of us will have to hide our faith anymore. This is my hope.
My wife and I had a wicca/norse pagan wedding ceremony, a good friend of ours we met a meadry, he a Wiccan priest and developed a wedding ceremony combining both his, my wife, and my beliefs(all non-christian) it was truly amazing. However my parents threatened to sue us for custody of our kids, violence and other things. My family is no longer in my life because of this, however my wife and kids and I are so much happier and have more friends that are more family to us than anyone we are biologically family with. Stepping out of the broom closest is scary, and there is sacrifice, but if your true path is non-Christian you have to follow it to be happy. It was worth it for us.
Thank you so much for all of the hard work you've done over the years.
Thank you so much for making this video. It’s one I really needed
My dad was Catholic, and my step-mother was a Quaker. Maybe 25% of the time, she'd go to local Mass with him in Tecumseh, Mich., he'd attend Meeting House in Ann Arbor with her about the same many times, and the other 50% they attended their own alone, or rather with the kids (and any other family) who went with them (though my step - mother's family were mostly Methodists, and even in rural Michigan, if you've seen King of the Hill, they had a Rev. Strupe incident, though without lutefisk and a Smelly Man, but cos it was the early '90s and KotH is generally based on the reality of living in a small town).
When I was twelve, I started getting into Stevie Nicks, and that led to getting into paganism (though certainly wasn't my first major introduction to it, but that's another story for another time), and in part cos my dad was Catholic, in part cos the tiny town we were in was FAR more Conservative than even my dad, who was born and raised in metro-Detroit (and for real, for a Catholic, he'd go off on how Pope JPII needed to at least give the OK for abortion in cases of incest, severe medical issues, or even rape, cos having grown up in Detroit in the 1940s and '50s, he'd had a couple of classmates who were the product of rape, and he knows how badly that can mess a family up; and sure "maybe some Catholic girls, who have a good family and good relationship with the Holy Spirit, will make peace with that before the baby is born, but if they not there yet, maybe it's more merciful to let the baby go so she can heal? We do better by starving animals than our own women, sometimes."), much less my step-mom, whose Religious Society of Friends was basically founded by proto-feminists, and even in the 1990s was still nominally Christian, but had strong alliances with Buddhists, Hindus, and Pagans in the Ann Arbor area.
Anyway, a bunch of people in Lenawee County were Pentecostals who still thought Dark Dungeons was real, plus the "Satanic Panic" that had its greatest notoriety in the 1980s took longer to die down in certain parts of the Midwest (and I'm sure the same can be said of the South) so when their kids came home and told their mom about the weirdo new kid from metro-Detroit, who wore mostly black, lace scarves, and was reading about Welsh and Irish mythology and Celtic folk magic, and wore dragon necklaces and knuckle rings, and then the parents told my step-mom, cos she was their family's social worker (or, less often, as office gossip) or my dad heard about it from his AA buddies (or church gossip), and both were already "the weird family," cos even though step-mom lived there most of her adult life and grew up on a dairy farm maybe twenty minutes between Tecumseh and Ann Arbor, she was the divorceé who they assumed "thinks she's too good for regular church in town and goes to Ann Arbor" and my dad was from Detroit, spent most of the 1960s hopping freights (long story, I have a video about it), had a head injury that kept him from regular work, my step-mother was his fourth wife, and in spite of Tecumseh having once been an Underground Railroad stop, most scandalous of all was that my dad both had black friends and "talked ghetto" (latter of which... Not really? Yeah, he used a lot of antiquated jive slang, but he also had a speech impediment after his head injury in 1990, and as such irregularly dropped contractions or similar kinds of things; it wasn't urban AAVE, by any definition), and his third wife (my mother) left him to be a later-in-life lesbian. As if we couldn't be any weirder, already, add to this that my dad's first (surviving) kid was from his second wife, and shortly after we moved into town, her mother fell off the wagon again (for unrelated reasons), so Half-sister had to take a semester of school in our new town, my full sister was barely over a year *younger* than me and already the town delinquent, and even before we got there, my older step-brother knocked up the daughter of his mother's best friend since high school, so the two kids were only a few weeks apart and often assumed either cousins or fraternal twins (by people who didn't know either family very well), and there were already rumours swirling around town about my younger step-brother's sexuality (he would later come out to the family as bi). So like, we were already "the weird family" by a pretty wide margin -most of it being over things that weren't really in anyone's control. OTOH, my dad and step-mom were probably thinking "OK, Ruadhán is already a weird kid who likes weird things, and has been like this since age five; Ruadhán also speaks Welsh and a little Latin, dresses flamboyantly (especially for a kid who spent K-6 at Catholic school and is now uniform-free), and well, the chips this town has against kids like that were heavy since long before moving here. If we can get Ruadhán to at least go to Meeting House, that might make the kids at school go a little easier."
So I was offered an ultimatum: Mass with Dad (though he wouldn't force me into Confirmation, if I really didn't want to, for which I'm always going to be grateful), or I could go to Meeting House (plus the occasional Mass) with my step-mother; either way, don't bring the "witchcraft" books to school, no matter what. Yes, it wasn't breaking any school rules, but it's a tiny town, and people don't have anything better to do than gossip about the town freakshow family, and let's face it, for the rest of the '90s, that was the McElroys. Even if they were going to talk about us behind our backs, they'll still be nice to our faces, even the Pentecostals (who were a sizable minority; at the time, about half the Adrian-Tecumseh area was Catholic, and ~45% were some combo of Methodist, Lutheran, and "Evangelical Church of Friends" who are a Quaker splinter group who has scripted sermons and are only still really "Quaker" in being nominally pacifist [which step-mom's ex-husband was], but the local Assembly of God was gaining influence), but for a lot of people in town, reading _Drawing Down the Moon_ in the junior high cafeteria was crossing a line, so _please_ nobody is asking me to stop being the weird kid, just be aware that sometimes you gotta reel it in.
So, yeah, I grew up in metro-Detroit, and in spite of Catholic school, an environment that was fairly permissive and even reading Starhawk in the St Adalbert school cafeteria might get a side-eye from the Nuns, but the kids (especially as they grew up with my weirdness and were generally used to it, since kindergarten) didn't really care. Then I'm plopped into the middle of nowhere, for my step-mother's job, and while I very quickly noticed that there was literally ONE black family in the whole town (until my freshman year of high school, when there were TWO) and I honestly thought towns that white only existed on TV, at least this far above the Mason-Dixon, it literally didn't occur to me that a town that small would have people being dicks to the weird family over something as trivial as a child's interests.
Yeah, I was twelve, and such a drastic change can be traumatic to a kid, so I didn't take the advice, about what to avoid reading in the cafeteria or study hall, all that seriously at first, but eventually had to, especially after the after-school "bullying lessons" started.
I can honestly say that I was hanging onto every word of this video. I live in rural Southeastern Georgia and you are 100% correct. I am still in the broom closet and have only told 2 close friends of mine ( who don't even live around here). I'm terrified that if I come out of the closet that I will lose close family ties and work relationships. I hide my pentacle necklace under my clothes and keep it in the pocket of my scrubs while I'm at work . I keep my altar disassembled and reassemble it during rituals. It is extremely tough not being a "Christian" down here and gets pretty lonely but anytime I start feeling sad or frustrated, I take a walk and I go into the woods. Only place that calms me and gets me back into the correct headspace. Thank you again for making this video!
Southeast GA can be a trip. I grew up in north GA and I feel this comment so hard. It's a frustrating reality that so many of us deal with.
@@OceanKeltoiYes! I always hear people on here talking about being open with being Pagan and wearing what they want and I'm over here relating more to the Salem Witch Trials ! It's getting harder and harder to hide my true self so I guess I should start preparing for another "Come to Jesus " lecture😩
I remember those. I went to a Christian college in rural ga and converted in the midst of that, AND decided to be open about. That was a bit of a journey.
"The forbidden gods" sounds metal as hell... literally. As an agnostic, sometimes I want to be heathen just cause it sounds cool.
I'm so grateful for finding this safe place to learn. I've been in the broom closet half my life. I've found others by accident but they are so few and far between that I forget I'm not alone. I've sampled many different cultures over the years but once the ravens came for me I've delved into Norse. Thank you for being a guide on my path. May the Gods watch over you (and everyone else) and bless you for teaching us.
I live in northern Florida. It's a very Christian oriented place, you could confuse the area i live in with the bible belt at times. I was never a devout Christian like my family but growing up with it god was always there. I was introduced to alternative faiths through some friends I made after I moved here to Florida when they invited me out to a Wicca ritual. It was there I was introduced to Freyja and finally felt something significant from religion. So Freyja became my goddess and I've followed ever since in my own way. That was probably about 2010. Ever since I saw how wiccans and pagans are treated. And in 10 years I've only ever told my grandmother, in my family, about my faith. Thankfully it was a reasonable exchange. She said as long as I wasn't worshipping the devil she didn't care. But I know the same can't be said about others. There's only 1 person outside of my family I've told that wasn't there when I was first introduced to Freyja, a second positive exchange. At least in person. So I find myself still very much in the closet and remarkably lucky in my 2 reveals about my faith. The group that existed when I first adopted my faith doesn't really exist anymore. So offline representation of my faith has become harder. But seeing the community here is helping build up my confidence about it.
Edit: For those that read this I identify as a Norse Pagan/Polytheist thanks to Ocean and others I've found. Although introduced to Freyja through Wicca I don't think I'm Wiccan. Although I'll always be thankful to Wicca for showing me a different path.
I've experienced this with an online friend of mine. I didn't tell him that I was / am a Norse Pagan who just happens to work with two Egyptian gods for 6 months because I knew he wasn't going to take it well. In his eyes I was the girl who loves biology and that was as far as my identity went. To him, it's quite unfathomable that I can both love biology and be a polytheist, and nearly every time he brings up my beliefs he makes it seem like I'm a monotheist and by no means am I one. This done specifically when he Renton cizme worshipping, and I'm more annoyed with being put in a monotheistic framework than I am with anything else. He is not a Christian but he absolutely has a Christian mindset which I 100% despise. He leaves nothing but toxic positivity in his wake and now he has a RUclips channel. Ironically, I'm still friend's with him, but by no means does he try to understand me because if it's not a part of his worldview he thinks it's not important or not real. He even kept on asking me if I was going to give up my religion in a specifically are you going to give it up in 2 years manner. I told him no but every time I talk about researching the gods or making an offering he brings it up. He'd basically be an anti-theist since he doesn't like atheists either. He likes to complain about religious people cherry picking religious texts when he cherry picks science. Yes, oh how much I wish he could understand that he's nothing but a freaking hypocrite.
My family is indifferent to my religious views but they've known since the beginning, well technically, since in reality I've always believed in Set and Anubis but that's not how I would have described me thinking oh if it's not set or Anubis so you and your God are irrelevant to me whenever Jehovah's Witnesses would come to the door. My family members are mostly Roman Catholic or Baptist but they've always been open to other religions and I was taught about mythology very early well not Norse mythology but I digress. I'm allowed to own books on the Gods but I just don't have an altar for now
Wow! Thank you. I just recently. about 2 weeks ago, have found out that people still worsjip the old gods. I remember in middle school the idea of worshipping the old gods so fascinating when discussing it in class and it filled me with sadness when thinking how its dead. I feel relieved that its not. I am very drawn to it. Not sure about polytheism yet, though. Very nice content and a lot to think about. Thank you. Also I love the synth and vaporwave music you use. Totally my cuppa tea
Hey! Glad you’re exploring!
I just recently learned that someone outed me as a witch to my goddamn fundy parents. And they hate it, but they never got to yelling. But if I was outed as atheist or heathen... that would be just about as bad as being trans has been.
Im still in the broom closet. My girlfriend is a devout Christian and where I'm at your either Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. I've been trying to find a community of pagans to worship with but I've been unsuccessful. The nearest group I was able to find was at least an hour away. This video made me feel like I'm not alone. Thank you so much and keep up the great content!
I am incredibly new to all this (only a few months) and I've been watching alot of your videos new and old. I find you very informative and interesting to listen to. When I first mentioned to my brother that I found out that people still believe in multiple gods such as odin skadi or buldr his reaction was one of annoyance and what felt like disdain I love my brother greatly so I never mentioned it again and I'm not sure I ever will
Send him videos once in awhile, guise it as you are learning about a mythology from someone who lives it, he'll unconsciously get used to the idea, over a lot of time.
I came out in 1999 in East Tennessee.... my life was so hard after that but it made me so strong. I do not regret it however I do wonder if I could have kept my family if I had just stayed in the closet. I wonder but I have no regrets and I'd rather die without regrets then to have hidden who I really was. It is indeed a sad fact that people are punished but at least now death is against the law and most do not burn or tortured. I super feel ya on the south part! East Tennesseans see you as a devil worshiper and nothing else. Absolutely no room for anything other then god or satan. You are absolutely right, those of us who have been out now for over 20 years have paved the way and hopefully softened the blows.
I'm reminded of this tale from Song of the Bird, titled "The Zen Master and the Christian":
A Christian visited a Zen Master and said, “Allow me to read you the Sermon on the
Mount.”
“I shall listen with pleasure,” said the Master.
The Christian read a sentence and looked up. The Master smiled and said, “Whoever
said those words was truly an Enlightened Man.”
This pleased the Christian. He read on. The Master interrupted and said, “Those
words come from a Saviour of mankind.”
The Christian was delighted. He read on to the end. The Master then declared, “That
sermon was pronounced by someone radiant with Divinity.”
The Christian’s joy was boundless. He left, determined to return another day and
persuade the Master to become a Christian.
On the way back home he found Jesus standing by the roadside. “Lord,” he said
excitedly, “I got that man to confess you are divine!”
Jesus smiled and said, “And did it do you any good except inflate your Christian ego?”
I used to work in a really religiously conservative area and I didn't really come out, all I did was wear a pentagram ring.
That was all it took for one of the really religious men to zero in on me and start trying to convert me. I don't have much patience with that stuff so I shut him down hard, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.
So, he said he'd do for me what his grandmother did for him to bring him back to the 'light'... he'd pray for something awful to happen to me to show me that God was real.
So I asked him point blank, "Are you going to be the one to do it? Because that sounds like Wrath, to me."
I came back from lunch the next day to find my work station in shambles, wires and tools tossed on the floor. He told me that God had come through and shown me he was real. I laughed in his face and asked if this God was wearing a wife beater and blue jean shorts.
He didn't speak to me again until he couldn't hold it in and accused me of worshiping the vending machine because it doled out food. What an idiot.
I am sorry that happened to you. Did he end up being punished for that dickish move?
I was very new to things and still exploring, high schooler in TX so my mom finds a Wiccan Book and confronts me very aggressively (as i was thinking about coming out to her earlier that week but so glad i didnt) she is waving this book in my face. I look at which one it was "Cooking by Moonlight" it was a wiccan cook book. So I lied. "Mom that is also a cook book they have a cool bean soup and pumkin stuff in there. it belongs to a friend and I need to give it back." she deflated and let me cook the bean soup.
Nice cover.
Having grown up in a very Catholic family, I'm still in multiple closets with most family members. Fortunately, living in another state lets me be more open most of the time. Coworkers have never given me any issue with being bi, non-binary, or heathen (though I don't know how many of them are super aware of all those aspects of me).
Recently found your content and joined the discord today.
One of my main goddesses is Hestia and I hope, some day, to be able to create a home and a center for education for the overlapping (but not mutually exclusive) witchcraft and pagan communities to be out of the broom closet together!
I, being originally from Alabama, feel your pain. I was a Christian. At eighteen I got a dragon tattoo and then put two symbols from the necronomicon around it (yes, I was an idiot), then two symbols that randomly popped into my mind (Did I mention that I was an idiot at that time?). Then the words Spirit Walker tattooed under the dragon, thought it sounded cool. I'll be 48 this year. I know what Spirit Walker means now and what the sigils mean that popped into my mind, all seems appropriate for my path. Been seeing runes in the candles flames lately, never felt called by the Norse Gods until recently. Always thought Odin was cool though (metalhead here) so there's that. Neat stuff.
I feel like I have to comment on your videos now. Sorry if that's annoying. But at least the algorithm likes it.
I wanted to say three things:
1) congrats on passing 5k! Hope your channel keeps growing.
2) I entered college thinking I was a vanilla, monogamous, cis-het protestant male.
Now I realize I'm a kinky, polygamous, pansexual, genderfluid, athiest. I graduate in December, And I still haven't told my family about any of it. That conversation is going to be interesting.
3) I wanted to thank you. I met you at FF last year, and got familiar with you from hammered out. Because of that, I backed off being the stereotypical religion hating anti-theistic atheist that everyone hates to deal with. You got me to see that not every religion is Abrahamic. I love your content, and I hope your flavor or religion becomes much more common.
this is huge, I really appreciate this
I’m so happy for you that you have discovered who you are & that you’ve let go of that negativity in your life. I hope you are well
I’m still a closeted Hellenist. I converted when I was sixteen and had to still feign Christianity around my relatives. Growing up in the South, the people absolutely despise atheists, and Pagans are even worse. I’ve had my relatives talk about Pagans and dehumanize them by calling them demons, murderers, destroyers, blasphemers, and more. Luckily, my other relatives out of state are all-accepting. The conversion was made even worse given that I’m also a gay man. With both of those stacked, it’s been very difficult to thrive where I live. Oftentimes, Christians come after me at work or in random public spaces and tell me I’m going to hell or something of the sort. I’m currently working towards moving with my accepting family.
Thank you so much for this video Ocean! It helps me alot,Hail the Aesir!
-Wet glory- I'm fucking DYING Wolf.
I live in rural California. There is a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy for my family and a “if they know, they’ll disown me/my fiancée/my future kids” policy for my fiancée’s family.
Ive only had one time I’ve been scared of being outed. My best friend knew I was pagan but not that there is such a thing as a broom closet. He casually tells total strangers (who happen to know my fiancée’s family because we live in a small county) that I’m a Practicing Polytheist. They were too, luckily, but I don’t show my tattoos, talk about religion, or talk about pre-modern history in public.
Ocean I have been watching your videos more recently. In all sense of honesty I am an atheist. Came from grass root christian, to jw, to Buddhist. Through it all though I have never heard some one speak so plainly about their beliefs, the reasons for them, and how they work with what they believe. You have made this simple for me to understand. I have always had an interest in the pagan and Norse ideologies as any other l. It's a hobby for me to see different philosophical ideas and how they function. I subbed because it's refreshing to hear something other than to just believe or have faith. Thank you good sir for your work.
I guess I didnt know how fortunate I have been. When I began my path on Norse Paganism/Heathenry about 35 years ago (when I was 21) I was accepted (for the most part) by my friends & family ( although some in my family thought it was a 'fad'). Rarely do I meet opposition or confrontation. Mostly my christian friends are not confrontational nor am I confrontational towards them, but we have had some pretty deep talks especially about how the northlands were converted to christianity (seems to be a lot of that repeated throughout history).
I've been lucky and able to tell a handful of friends of my Kemetic faith, most of whom have taken it well. I could probably tell my parents too and they'd be fine; I dabbled in Hellenism in my earlier years. But I still have to pick who I tell carefully, I feel some others would scoff and scorn. It kind of sucks that only a few can truly know me, but hey, it won't stop my worship.
Fellow Kemetic? What's up?
Ayy, nice. We're few and far between, at least from my experience.
@@kukulkanlordofcas4931 I can't say I've really had the experience to notice. I'm in West Virginia and have never met another pagan face to face that I know of.
Just cool to say hi. Guess I'll recommend The Twisted Rope if you haven't heard of it yet. And leave it here for others to see if you have.
Michigan here. One of my friends recently turned pagan, but other than that, never personally known a pagan. Thanks for the tips.
@@kukulkanlordofcas4931 Its a blog from a Kemeticist+Shintoist (I have no idea if that's a word), I was reading it a lot when I was digging into it but haven't gone exploring or learning in ages.
My mother thought I should study Tarot and astrology, because "young girls should explore those things" 🤷, but when I became interested in Paganism, that was a touch too far and I was immediately told there would be no "Devil worship" in her house (despite my insistence that I did not really believe in or have any intention to honor a "devil"). My dad's response was simply, "You're a Christian, and this is a Christian nation." I found so much resistance to my beliefs and my desire to practice and participate in them that I even tried to find a more "respectable" religion, and explored and practiced several, but could never really give up polytheism and my truest beliefs -- like you said, we are drawn to them!
I even married someone of a different religion, having convinced myself that I could be a member of that religion too and just keep my polytheism private or just in my heart, but when my integrity and honesty with myself really finally showed through, and we ended up having many long conversations on the subject of religion, he ultimately realized that polytheism was something that was missing from his life, too, and my husband, who I initially thought might divorce me for needing to return to Paganism, has been the greatest defender of my faith to others, and has encouraged me to be open and really live it and engage with it. He's been my champion and defender as I've finally fully come out of the broom closet, 15 years after that first conversation with my mother ended in tears. As you say, it's good to have people at your back! And good to be able to confidently have shrines in your living room!
My dad still tries to sneak Christian children's books into his gifts for my children, though. 🙄 Maybe he thinks my soul isn't salvageable but theirs still are!
Thankfully I was only threatened and never actually treated with violence because of my beliefs. My heart goes out to every Pagan and polytheist who lives in fear of their beliefs becoming known. Wishing you safety and community. ♥️
I have just very recently stopped being Christian being drawn to Norse Paganism. I'm not sure if I can consider myself a pagan for I been only researching it for a year, a couple months of starting the practice and started my alter. I only have incense as I'm not sure what to do or how to do it. I joined some Facebook groups and actually started with another channel that let me to this channel. Thank you for putting your content out. For now I'm in the broom closet as my family are very much fundie Christian. I bought some books and looking forward to learning more
Unfettered in the woods and hills of the Ozarks but I've had no luck finding like-minded individuals in my area. I am grateful to you, your content has made me feel more connected 😁
I never thought about how big of a deal this must be for some pagans. As an athiest, I realize it's a diffrent experience, but in some ways it can be simalar. I came out as an athiest to my family at 12 and my first though was "is this what it feels like to come out as gay?" A year later I realized I was a little bit gay too. I am out to my friends about that, but not my family, as I know they would think I am confused. The main difference is LGBT people seem to find each other pretty quickly and find community there, whereas with pagans that seems to be more difficult. I feel for anyone who has ever had to hide any part of themselves because of how people may receive them.
There's a lot of crossover in the many communities / identities that have to be closeted. But I agree with you that finding community with LGBT is far more accessible. Community in Atheism is accessible but also bumpy. Many atheists actively resist community, especially around the idea of Atheism. But for pagans, we're often very much wanting for community that is unavailable.
@@OceanKeltoi that's understandable! I'm glad you're creating a welcoming community for them :)
I asked openly if I was on the right path with Odin I'm my minds eye and I asked if I was on the right path and I turned around to see 2 crows streaming right by me and sat on my gate for a few moments but in that moment I felt like I didn't need to worry and just be me
I am someone who is a-religious at the moment, I am Norse and Celt pagan curious. I was raised as a fundamentalist/evangelical christian. My parents are VERY religious and were missionaries when I was really young. My father was a pastor in a speaking in tongues, holy ghost, laying on of hands church. I have felt "in the broom closet" for a long long time. At first because while I considered myself a christian, I still played Dungeons and Dragons, feeling that it was ridiculous to think the rpg was satanic. The older I got the more christianity had more holes poked in it by logic. I just couldn't back an "all knowing, all powerful, all loving" god who let the ills of the world happen to children, let alone anyone else. It doesnt make a bit of sense to me that the answer to that has always been "free-will". Eventually I just dropped any pretense to myself and let myself admit to being not christian anymore. I don't know who, what or if I believe in anything religiously anymore.
About a decade ago I broke all contact with my family over other matters, something that I still have twinges of guilt about even though I feel justified. I never came out to them about anything, so there is a small part of me that feels closeted and will probably never feel open. But that is something I will need to live with. I am glad channels like this exist so I can look into things and figure out where or what I am. Or at the very least feel in good company about having a Broom Closet. ;)
I'm what I called semi-closeted. I'm out and proud online and I don't go out of my way to my beliefs, but around non-pagans, I simply don't discuss my beliefs unless someone asks.
I’m new to Norse Polytheism and I’m on these videos after feeling a sense of calling or a pulling and I’m still in the broom closet as I continue to learn about the religion
Being Celtic pagan right next door to you in South Carolina I really feel this. The discrimination is strong.
It’s crazy that I just found this channel. I too live in Georgia about 40 miles East of Atlanta
I'm partially in the closet, and it's a pretty touch and go kind of thing. To some, I'm fully out of the closet, mostly to my husband [who is what he calls himself a Pragmatic Christian, and has never once not accepted me for who I am and my beliefs]. Some of my co-workers know because I am blessed to have a non-descriminatory environment, and some don't simply because it just hasn't come up. Hell, even one of my co-workers is also "of the witchy disposition" as we call lovingly. Some of my friends know, and they're my closest friends who ask me all kinds of questions, and have never once disrespected me. I still keep myself "in plain sight". I wear a crystal necklace in the open 'because it's pretty and I like shiny rocks', and under my shirt is either a metal raven skull or an ankh, or eventually Mjolnir. I'm happy to see Paganism growing, and for it to become more common.
I'm in south Ga myself so I can definitely feel the pressure to not express myself. Not only for myself but also for my family
For me, I was blessed to be born into a family of mixed faiths. My mother's Baptist, my was dad Catholic, my sister is agnostic/atheist, and her boyfriend is some form of atheistic pagan. Being the wishy-washy person that I am, I've bounced around from faith to faith, trying to see what feels right.
I've been agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, and now I'm an eclectic delving into the world of heathenry and paganism. When I told my mom that I was worshipping Athena and practicing witchcraft, she expressed concern about my straying into a dangerous situation. I explained that it's not far from Christian worship: instead of praying to the 1 Christian god for everything, I pray to a deity whose dominion is over the goal which I am pursuing, stating, "This is the same as seeking out a personal trainer to help me get into shape". As I'm into seeking knowledge, prophecy, and wisdom then it makes sense to seek out Gods that represent those aspects.
As such, I'm syncretic and eclectic. I don't think it necessary to put all the burden on 1 deity, when we can ask for help and guidance from someone who has a mastery over that which I seek. My mom was quite interested by this way of explaining my pragmatic approach to spirituality.
She was worried that I was going to get into trouble or be possessed by a demon for practicing witchcraft, and I explained that a spell jar or charm is akin to having a visual aid to remember one's goal (i.e.: a money reminds you to save rather than spend frivolously). As she spoke with my sister and her mother-in-law about this, they admitted to her that they do similar things. Witchcraft doesn't have to include sacrificing a chicken to read its entrails... unless you're into that kind of thing.
Now I tell my mom about how both sides of our family, my dad's ancestors and hers, both show STRONG likelihood of having Scandinavian ancestors, and she's cool with that... it's who we are!
So to honour Ođin when her family is descended from exiled Berserkers and Picts, and my dad from Normand nobility only makes sense. In the end, for me religion is a construct of the human experience. We seek agency in our fate; a sense of community with like-minded individuals; and an understanding of something we will only experience when we can't come back to tell of its existence.
So if I choose to honour only Gods from aspects of life that interest me and I don't hurt anyone in the process, who cares if it's Yaweh, Vishnu, Allah, Apollo, Ođin or Horus that I pray to? While I learn about the religions of the world, the cultures from which they were born are also uncovered to me. As my family motto goes, "A chacun sa vue" (to each his perspective)
I came out of the broom closet in the summer of 2016. Before that, I'd grown up in the Episcopal church and, even though my family was very open in terms of spirituality, I was still nervous to admit even to myself that I was Pagan. I'd subconsciously absorbed that "Believe or you'll burn in Hell" idea which often appears in Christian-dominant countries (I'm American). Plus, being visually impaired, I already got unwanted attention from Christians while out in public, offering healing prayers or wanting to "bring me to Jesus" as if I wasn't already Christian. I could only imagine the raised eyebrows or worse that I'd get if I was seen with my white cane AND pentacle jewelry. But after a lot of soul-searching, prayer, meditation, and studying in secret, I got the courage to come out. And my family was accepting and so were my friends and that's all that matters. What strangers think of me, I don't really care. My loved ones are cool with who I am, and that's enough for me.
My channel isn't strictly Pagan-related, but as a Wiccan, I do make videos on the subject when I feel inspired to, so feel free to check it out if you'd like. Blessed be.
I’m in north Florida and someone outed me. It was due to peer pressure and him being on the fence about Christianity. They manipulated him into thinking it was the right thing to do. I don’t think he really understood how much danger that could’ve put me in or still could, since a part of me feels it’s only a matter of time before word spreads to my family. And it actually led to someone from the group he told finding my social media and getting into my DMs, asking questions and then started witnessing to me. I went to an MRI afterwards and they thought I had ghosted them? It was only a few hours but whenever I checked the messages they’d blocked me, which just made things easier on my end lol
He has since greatly apologized and left Christianity. So it’s water under the bridge now. But that whole experience really freaked me out.
Hey, I live in Georgia too! I'm in the Coweta County area.
I know many people who experienced the broom closet, and quite a few of them seemed to just accept the bridge-burning of being open about their religions.
Personally, I am trying to start my own, and I have many Pagan leanings (for my own purposes l, Nature worship is sufficient for Paganism. Exceptions abound). I'm not quite overt about my religion not on purpose, but just because it never really comes up. I was raised Lutheran by a Catholic mother and possibly Baptist father, both of whom were admittedly bad at their respective religions (there's a saying that Lutherans, as opposed to Baptists, sin openly and pray secretly, so maybe that influenced my outlook. It's that outlook which led to my rather clean split from Christianity).
It's hard to find other Pagans, but the internet has, as you can imagine, made it easy and fun to keep up relations. I think things are getting better, and more of us are acting like pioneers to a more open expression of our religions. I only hope this continues, and it's channels like yours that help a lot.
It was always the smell of campfire.. on a summer or winter night the feeling never changed.. I felt a calming feeling even alone I was at peace.
I was drawn to the outdoors almost to much so, I spend a lot of time there and there’s a feeling of home.. my past aside to feel at home broke me open and I knew I had the wanderer following me till I was ready to have the talk and accept my roots. The tree of life has always sheltered is from the harshest storms!
Hail to the gods!
being norse polytheist in a catholic high school and having to explain why i didn't want to receive communion was certainly... an experience. great video