faithfultothetheoi

[faithfultothetheoi]

LPS #318 AKA Lina as a 21 CM OOAK Ball Jointed Doll!

[AVAILABLE HERE]

[faithfultothetheoi]

Littlest Pet Shop Horse V1

[faithfultothetheoi]

˖ ⋆ 🀧 Readings & Religion For Yogi - Fundraising For My Dog's Treatment ⚕⋆ ˖

I'm offering various readings and religious writings to help fund Yogi's (my dog) veterinary treatment! I'm hoping to raise $2,000 USD in total! Even if I can't meet the goal exactly, everything counts. ♡

For the duration of the fundraiser, my DMs will be open. Please message me for requests there. If you're more comfortable sending an ask, you can.

Goal: $1,681.77 / $2,000.00 USD

↑↑↑ Click on original post for goal updates ↑↑↑

˖ ⋆ My Services ⋆ ˖

˖ ⋆ Divination:

***You may choose your deck from any in my collection! I'll send you pictures with the deck options upon request. Pictures will be sent to you along with my full interpretation!***

1 Tarot Deck Reading (six cards) - $8 USD

1 Oracle Deck Reading (six cards) - $8 USD

1 Tarot Deck & 1 Oracle Deck Reading (eight cards) - $12 USD

+ Add another deck of your choice for an extra $2 USD

+ Add another reading for an extra $8 USD

1 Greek Alphabet Oracle Reading (three letters/set of 24) - $5 USD

↓↓↓ ✨ MORE SERVICES BELOW ✨ ↓↓↓Keep reading

˖ ⋆ Religious (Any Pantheon Unless Stated Otherwise):

***Link to my Subtle Worship Masterpost if you'd like to see my examples! Posts written by others are not included in this offer. Here are examples of my poems and prayers! I do have an example of a Deity Worship Guide that you can find at this link, but I plan to update the formatting and include more information. I don't have current examples of customized rituals, but it would be created for you specifically with step-by-step instructions you can follow. All of these options would be based on a deity of your choice and any specific deity domains or life situations you want me to focus on.***

1 Subtle Worship Post - $8 USD

+ Add another Subtle Worship Post for $4 USD

1 Deity Worship Guide; Includes Basic Information About a Deity of Your Choice - $8 USD

+ Add another Deity Worship Guide for an extra $4 USD

1 Customized Devotional Writing; Poem or Prayer - $5 USD

+ Add another poem or prayer for an extra $2 USD

1 Customized Devotional Written Ritual; Instructions Included - $15 USD (Greek Pantheon only due to my personal comfort level)

If I cannot complete a religious writing request due to my comfort/knowledge level, I will give you a full refund. Please be aware that requests will take time to fulfill.

Detailed Explanation of the Fundraiser: I've decided to give away readings and religious writings for my dog's veterinary treatment. He has an acute glaucoma and will require eye removal surgery which is likely to cost at least $1,600 USD. So far, his combined appointments have cost $1,524 USD in total, without including his future trip to the eye doctor or surgery costs. If you're able, please donate or reblog my post. There's no pressure to donate, but I do appreciate it if you can!

If you'd like to donate without receiving, that's also ok! Please make it clear that you wouldn't like anything in return if that's the case.

***Below are the handles you can send money; they have the strange censorship because otherwise, my post would be shadow-banned, from what I've been told.***

Venm0: @Stagilicious

Ca$hApp: $Stagilicious

I am no longer using Ko-Fi due to some issues it started giving me.

Thank you in advance for any support you choose to give, be it monetary or simply reblogging! Everything counts. ♡

---

Dividers provided by @jasper-graphics and @enchanthings - Dividers used can be found at this link (Jasper) and this link (Enchant)

[faithfultothetheoi]

back to the antiquity with these ancient grecian gal pals

[faithfultothetheoi]

i can't stop making these

[faithfultothetheoi]

☽☾ The Early Lightbringer ☽☾

FINALLY managed to get this drawing of Lady Eos done , and it sure took a lot out of me but I'm glad I got to finish it in her honor <3

This drawing depicts my take on the goddess , titaness & embodiment of dawn , Lady Eos . I gave her flowers in her hair, mainly roses & crocuses, a pitcher with water alluding to dew , and a star of light over her head , connecting to her two sons Lord Eosphorus ( the morning star ) & Lord Hesperos ( the evening star ). I tried to base her wings on Swallows ( at least in shape ) , and her colors are based on the dawn lighting up the night sky, which you can hopefully recognize in the back . I kinda wish I could've added a bit more in terms of jewelry but I'm content with it now , don't want to mess it up . The earrings are based on the sun & the moon , as a nod to her siblings <3

Since the goddess Lady Selene is my matron goddess, I try to honor her direct , beloved siblings Lady Eos & Lord Helios every chance I get , and I thought a devotional drawing was the perfect idea ! I really hope Lady Eos likes it , and hope you'll do too !

( divider made by me ! ♡)

[faithfultothetheoi]

Hera

(made in february)

[faithfultothetheoi]

Hermes Kydimos, Blessed Messenger. This might always be a WIP.

[faithfultothetheoi]

Colossal Sculpture Depicting Dionysus with a Satyr. end of 1st.century A.D Roman. basanite stone.      http://hadrian6tumblr.com

[faithfultothetheoi]

I just beat Assassin's Creed Odyssey and now I don't know what to do with my life

[faithfultothetheoi]

looked down upon

[faithfultothetheoi]

Two Serpents of the Caduceus and the Double Helix of DNA

[faithfultothetheoi]

Hygieia, Greek goddess of good health and disease prevention.

Drawn as a commission.

[faithfultothetheoi]

Birth of Venus 🩵✨

One of the rare instances a school assignment actually turns out good

[faithfultothetheoi]

Zeus Aethiops

For the people that come to my blog for the information, the actual post is in non-italics below (pls scroll down quick otherwise I'll look like a dork haha) For the people who have been following my blog for a longer period of time (and those fond of the dramatic) I set this scene:

You open your eyes to a sturdy oak table in the midst of a dimly room that smells of moisture, frankincense, and oakmoss. A deep blue satin cloth, about three feet long, lies upon the table, held down on either side by lit candelabras. The surface is bare otherwise. Pulled out a few feet behind the table is matching sturdy oak armchair with eagle head detailing on each of the armrests, and a royal purple satin cushion. Star-of-Zeus enters, wearing square glasses and holding a old and dusty-looking leather-bound tome that's thicker than their hands can hold stretched to their max, so Star chooses to hold it to their chest wrapped in their arms. Walking to the table, you watch them lean forward to set the heavy tome on the table with a solid, resounding thump before wiping the dust off their shirt and blowing the rest of the dust off of the tome before opening it up. [You, standing on the other side of the table, are subsequently covered in this dust and have to stand there looking like a bizarre snowman while listening] Finally, Star looks up through their glasses after settling in their chair and grins.

"My, my. It seems that it's been three years and two months since my last Zeus Epithets post. Finally ready for the next one?"

Zeus Aethiops is one of my absolute favorite epithets that I commonly venerate, and though this epithet comes rooted in a notion of race that looks nothing like our modern concept, I will take a stand (likely in another post so I can make a full breakdown/rant) against other opinions that I've seen that advise against blending the two (ancient and modern) notions of race when venerating such an epithet, but it will be written entirely from my perspective and experience, so be aware. But I digress - let's get back to learning about this epithet. Some translations I've seen include "of the Burnt Face" or "Ethiopian". Our beloved resource, theoi.com, defines this epithet of Zeus as:

AE′THIOPS (Aithiops), the Glowing or the Black. A surname of Zeus, under which he was worshipped in the island of Chios. (Lycophron, Cass. 537, with the note of Tzetzes.)

If we go to the theoi.com translation of Lycophron's Alexandra, 537, we find the line:

But we have one, yea one beyond our hope, for gracious champion, even the god Drymnius Promatheus Aethiops Gyrapsius, who, when they who are destined to suffer things dread and undesirable shall receive in their halls their fatal guest, the swooping robber, the wandering Orthanes...

The god referred to only by epithets in this line "Drymnius Promatheus Aethiops Gyrapsius" is indeed Zeus - the epithets Aethiops + Gyrapsius are cult-names from Chios, while Drymnius is from Pamphylia and Gyrapsius from Thurii.

So, now that we've established this epithet is from Chios, and attributed to Zeus, let's take a closer look at what the term Aethiops might signify. Merriam-Webster defines Aethiops as an alternate spelling of Ethiops, and defines Ethiops and simply meaning "Ethiopian" but the old Greek etymology of the word is a compound, according to Wikitionary --

From Proto-Hellenic*aitʰiyokʷs, explained since antiquity as αἴθω (aíthō, “I burn”) +‎ ὤψ (ṓps, “face”), though this is likely a folk etymology.

Thus, it wouldn't be outrageous at all to assume that this was a word used to refer to peoples with higher amounts of melanin, or generally those from the ancient region of Aethiopia, which was a geological term used to designate the "upper nile region of Sudan, south of the Sahara, and certain areas of Asia."

But yes, overall the opinion of scholars and historians is that the term 'Aethiops' could reasonably be associated with features that are associated with the Black or African people of today. As an American, I could go on long-winded talks about my experience worshipping a Justice god that is depicted as what I see as Black (not even to mind that I started following this path in 2020, during another round of BLM protests) but that's a topic for a more personal post instead of a research-based one. In the meantime, please look at one of my favorite pictures of Zeus from a Laconian cup, and if you look at me in my beautiful hazel eyes and tell me those aren't locs coming from Zeus's head I'm having Sisyphus crush you under his boulder.

Was Homer's Zeus Black?

Chios is a Greek island off the Western coast of Turkey, and I watched one video that also talks about Zeus Aethiops but makes the claim that Homer is from the island of Chios (which the author provides evidence for from the Homeric hymn to Apollo) and therefore the Zeus that Homer writes about in the Iliad and the Odyssey could be Black. In my personal opinion, they're playing very fast and loose with the Homeric Question, something scholars have been arguing over for centuries, but at the same time I very firmly believe in the mystery of history and the fact that it is incredibly important for people to see themselves in the deities or things they venerate, and at the very least it's great food for thought. The Homeric Question is outside the scope of this post, but I just wanted to share some other resources in case someone wants a longer more video-essay style post about Zeus Aethiops and that perspective on Homer.

But yes. That's all I have to say on Zeus Aethiops for now, but rest assured I will be shouting from the rooftops about him again soon. I'm so happy I finally did a post on one of my (probably top 5?) Zeus epithets, even though there isn't a lot to be found about this surname of his since I suppose it could have been considered minor in the ancient world.

As always, feel free to send in requests for other epithets!

[faithfultothetheoi]

Hephaestus

[faithfultothetheoi]

“…the Graces bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms upon the bodies of the eternal gods—oil divinely sweet, which she had by her, filled with fragrance. And laughter-loving Aphrodite put on all her rich clothes, and when she had decked herself with gold, she left sweet-smelling Cyprus and went in haste towards Troy, swiftly travelling high up among the clouds”

- Homeric Hymn V, to Aphrodite. Hugh Evelyn-White, tr.

My contribution to the Sing, O Muse! Greek Mythology zine in all of its glory depicting Aphrodite being tended to by the Charites in her temple. Let’s get into it. 

Historically speaking, the Charites aren’t ever really given individual characteristics. If you’ve ever seen a painting or a statute of three naked ladies hanging out, you’ve seen the Charites But they are so much more! 

Algaia, meaning “shining” is the goddess of adornment. She is also the wife of Hephaestus so I wanted to make her the most blinged out (apart from Aphrodite). She’s the one holding the mirror. 

Thalia means “blooming”. She’s typically associated with festivities, but given her name and the context of the illustration I tied her more to fragrances. She’s wearing a myrtle crown (one of Aphrodite’s sacred plants) and holding an alabastron (a vessel for perfumes). 

Euphrosyne, meaning “merriment” is the goddess of good cheer. I didn’t really have anything that could tie into how that would help Aphrodite get ready, so she’s just fixing the hem of her mantle. 

We also have many of the Erotes appearing in the decorative tiles of the background. They serve as personifications of various forms of desire. From left-to-right, the visible Erotes are: 

Anteros, or unrequited love holding a club and scales.

Hymenaios, representing the wedding ceremony holding a torch.

Eros, in his role as a representative of procreation holding a hare and foreshadowing Aphrodite’s seduction of Anchises and the subsequent conception of the hero Aeneas. 

Himeros, representing desire and holding a tainia (hair ribbon) 

Hedylogos, representing sweet talk, playing an aulos 

Make sure to check out Sing, O Muse! A Greek Mythology Zine Illustrating the Homeric Hymns, featuring my work as well as sixteen other very talented artists!