callm3f1sa - Tumblr blog

callm3f1sa · 60 minutes ago

Text

Fast sketch with @yakowo 💕

980 notes · View notes

callm3f1sa · 21 days ago

Text

How to Honor Hellenic Gods: Ouranic vs Chthonic

So, essential to understanding how Ancient Greek offerings and worship worked and their intended goals, is an understanding of the Ancient Greek concept called xenia, or theoxenia.

What is Xenia?

Xenia was a pillar of Ancient Greek customs and morality that basically translated to “hospitality.” You had to treat your guests kindly, and guests had to respect their hosts. This was even represented in the myths (you never know when your guest is a god in disguise) and extended to kings. Zeus, as a god of kings and justice, was charged with looking over Xenia and punishing those that violate it (such as king Sisyphus). Back in Ancient Greece, by eating the food offered to you by someone in their home, you officially make yourself their guest.

How this Applies to Offerings

One of the things that offerings serve to do is to invite the gods and their presence in your life or home, and to show your gratitude and attention towards them. From a Hellenic perspective, this supports the idea that giving a deity an offering is a good way of officially saying “I want your attention and I’m starting to work with you.” Like a conversation starter. Offerings were often shared amongst guests at dinners, parties, or celebrations, and a portion of it was given to the gods to share amongst everyone and the gods together. The same goes with just one person eating giving a portion of their food to the gods.

Save for Some

However, not *all* gods or entities should necessarily be invited to ones home or life, nor should the accept them into their community, such as the dead. To share food with the dead or those of the underworld would make you one of them.

What are Ouranic and Chthonic Gods?

There are two types of Hellenic deities that follow their own different forms of worship and celebration. Ouranic deities are those that can be found above the earth, and chthonic deities are below the earth, or in the underworld.

Ouranic Hellenic Gods:

Ouranic literally means “celestial” but really refers to any deity that can be found above the surface of the earth. The Greeks often referred to Heaven as the abode of the gods.

The ouranic gods can be directly referred to with their actual names, or epithets that add on to their name like a title. For instance, Apollon Mousagetes if you want to prefer to a certain job of Apollon.

Offerings are usually given as a portion of one’s food, whether from the indivisible or food that’s passed around and shared between individuals at a dinner or festivity. This makes it so that everyone shares the good between one another, mortal and god.

Offerings that go up to the air like incense are appreciated by ouranic deities.

Chthonic Hellenic Deities:

Chthonic literally means “earthly” or “subterranean” and really refers to any deity or spirit that dwells in the underworld.

The ancient Greeks usually didn’t directly call on chthonic deities by their real names for fear of confusing them and calling on death or being brought to the underworld. More often than not, chthonic deities were addressed by one of their epithets, and Greek gods had many.

Food wasn’t shared or split with chthonic deities. Instead, you’d give a whole, separate offering of food to them. This shows your appreciation and gratitude without sharing any food amongst yourselves. By sharing food, you’d be declaring that you share a home with the dead.

Chthonic gods won’t necessarily appreciate offerings if incense or anything that goes to the sky. It’s. best to put things that don’t go up or float and dispose of them in the ground or any other way so that they can receive offerings in the world below us.

The Greeks believed that chthonic gods had trouble hearing us so far below in the underworld, so they would often hit the ground or knock on it to get their attention when speaking to them or praying for something. Someone I know likes to face down and pray towards the ground.

Mystak Witch Haven Member @ikilledamanimeanwhat

Sources

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

1K notes · View notes

callm3f1sa · 1 month ago

Text