hellenic-fire

[hellenic-fire]

Aphrodite Areia🕊⚔️

(The warlike)

Happy friday everyone!

[hellenic-fire]

Aphrodite; Prayer For Strength

Grant me strength in this moment of need.

May your divine love empower my spirit.

Aphrodite, guide me with your wisdom,

As I embrace the power of love within me.

Through your eternal beauty,

May I rise, renewed and unbroken.

[hellenic-fire]

I'm going to put a stop to this shit right now.

The gods are not going to punish you for the way the election turned out.

There's already a trend I'm seeing where people are claiming the gods are mad, and mad at us specifically, and I NEED you to please, please try and listen to me when I say that this is a part of grief. We are scared and looking for someone to punish us, to tell us that we're bad, to validate how scared we feel.

This is even MORE prevalent if you've grown up with abusive parents.

Listen, I cannot speak on behalf of the gods, nobody can, especially random people on tiktok.

Try to see that this is a part of doom-scrolling, it's also a part of the grieving process, it's also a part of fear.

You are not in trouble.

[hellenic-fire]

Libations

As a Hellenic polytheist, one of our most important duties to our gods would be to give libations. Libations are liquid offerings to our gods, not only in recognition of them and their importance but as an invitation into our lives for them.

When it comes to giving libations, it can be difficult for those of us practicing and worshipping in secret. So in this post I'll go over typical libations and how they're given, and then some methods I believe would be helpful for those that can't give openly! Please keep in mind that the suggested methods (for those practicing in secret) come from someone who is still navigating and learning her own religion. As always, do your own research where needed and do methods that make you most comfortable in your practices.

Typical Libations

Wine (typically red)

Symbolic of the divine ether, and Zeus's influence on the soul. Additionally, dark red wine represents the blood of Dionysus/Zagreus. We drink his blood as reflectance for his sacrifice by the titans and the eating of his flesh. It represents his metamorphosis, and in turn, our own cycle of birth.

Milk

Representative of Hera and Ira', who's breast milk formed the galaxies and cosmos. Milk also represents the earth.

Honey

Honey just golden which is incredibly symbolic of the gods, particularly their ichor (the blood of the gods). Honey is also a powerful preservative representing the immortality of the gods.

Fine oil (typically olive)

Oil historical lyrics symbolizes life, prosperity, and the divine spirit.

Milk and honey together are also a considerable libations but is particularly good for death related gods and the honoring of the dead. Milk and honey libations for them should NOT be consumed.

Giving Libations

To give libations, you would first pick up the offering bowl full of whatever you are giving with your right hand, then hold it with both and recite a dedication. The dedication itself is up to you but the example I saw is as follows:

"We dedicate this libation to khrismôdós Apóllôn and aithǽrios Diónysos and to all the happy, deathless Gods!"

Libations can be made to a singular god or multiple at once. Just ensure you have enough for them equally. Dedications can also be to a singular god or you can name the ones you are dedicating to.

Once you've made tour dedication, you'll transfer the bowl to your left hand and pour your offering on the ground or into whatever reservoir you have dedicated to it on your altaf. This is your libation, and the offering now belongs to them. Once you've made your libations you may sip from the remaining contents of the bowl as communion. Before doing so you may recite a prayer. Here is an example:

"We drink the blood of Diónysos! May the Aithír of Zefs intoxicate our souls and transform us!"

Please be aware that you should NOT drink libations to the dead or to death gods.

When sipping from the remainder of your libations, do NOT sip from the part where you poured. You should drink from the opposite end of the bowl.

Libations in Secret

When you're practicing in secret, these method of libations can be incredibly difficult. So with that, here are a few ways that I think could be helpful!

Can't access or drink wine/milk/honey? Substitute them for water or better yet, flavored juices!

Pomegranate juice can make a good libation for Underworld gods and goddesses, apple juice would be good for Zeus, etc. Research your deity's associations and try working with them. Water is also life-giving and integral to life.

Can't pour your libations outside or in a dedicated offering bowl? Use cups!

Pour your libations directly from the bottle to a cup and sit it on a shelf or desk or wherever you've dedicated to your god. You can recite your prayers and dedications in your head as well.

Worried about wasting drinks? Offer a smaller amount!

Typically what you give should be more than you keep, but your gods understand your struggles and would be understanding of your intentions. Offer a small amount of your drink, honey, etc and inform them of your reasonings and intentions. Your gods love you, they'll be happy with your efforts regardless.

Can't do your libations during the day? Do them at night!

Give your libations while everyone is asleep. You can even hide it under your bed or behind something to keep it for the time you want. (Please be careful of doing this with honey and be mindful of possible insects, pets, pests, spills, etc)

A minor? Do your libations at school!

You can do your libations while at school by making them during a PE class, during lunch, or any period of time where you can take a moment to do so! (I'm not condoning using your bathroom breaks to sneak off and do them, I'm just saying you definitely could do that)

Regardless of how you do your libations and with what, your practice is your own as is your relationship with your god(s). Do what feels right for you ♡

[hellenic-fire]

Thank you, Lord Ares, for giving me comfort even when I lash out.

[hellenic-fire]

I'll keep this short: Nour's campaign has been stagnating and Tumblr keeps banning her accounts. If you can, please consider donating. She has five young children to care for (one immunocompromised), and many members of her extended family—who were already poor before the war broke out—now rely on this fundraiser to make it through the winter.

Currently: $34,770 / $90,000

For vetting info, look here.

[hellenic-fire]

as a mormon child i never got why people loved religion so much, until i converted to hellenism- i've never been so happy about belief and my place on the planet, ive never felt so loved

[hellenic-fire]

Carnelian intaglio depicting Hercules, Roman, 1st century BC

from The Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

[hellenic-fire]

☽☾ 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 ! ♡)

[hellenic-fire]

Praying to the Gods that my job search ends in success.

[hellenic-fire]

i can't vibe with anyone who thinks icarus was an ignorant idiot for flying too close to the sun. "oh i'd never do that i would have remembered my father's warning and been fine". do you seriously think that after years of imprisonment, feeling the sun on your face and the open air beneath your wings, you would be able to focus on anything but the joy of being alive and free? do you actually think that if you were given the opportunity to go where nobody has never been before, you wouldn't want to push it to the limit? to dare to be the first to try what no one else has ever even thought possible? do you honestly think you're too good for your own human nature? look me in the eyes and tell me if i strapped a pair of wings to your back that could take you wherever you wanted to go whenever you pleased that you'd be careful and sensible about it. you are not better than icarus just because you have the benefit of his example.

[hellenic-fire]

I love dedicating the mundane to my deities.

cooking, cleaning, enjoying a warm beverage with Hestia.

thinking of Aphrodite as I pick out my outfits, apply makeup, shower.

feeling Hecate's presence in the neighborhood dogs' barks, crows cawing, black cats playing in my yard.

seeing Persephone in the little sprouts on my windowsill, in the leaves falling, in the colors of autumn and spring and summer.

researching my ancestry, honoring my loved ones who have passed, knowing Hades sees and appreciates it.

[hellenic-fire]

You can always reinvent yourself, you can always learn to love yourself. The Gods know what path your headed down and they know that things get better.

The seeds that you plant today will ripen in another season, water them often.

[hellenic-fire]

Aphrodite embracing Eros by Antonio Canova, 1798–99

[hellenic-fire]

Hecate the goddess of witchcraft; the worker from afar, the night-wanderer, the guardian of the crossroads, and keeper of the keys of death. I wasn’t pleased with the design I gave her for my Witch Wednesday initiative on instagram so I reworked it a little more to my liking. Hopefully you enjoy her new look as well.

[hellenic-fire]

Hellenic polytheism - free (and reliable!) resources

Updated 23 February 2022

The Homeric Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns1.html              

The Homeric Hymns, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis are also available to read online for free: 

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00home 

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00atha

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns0000unse

The Orphic Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html

The Orphic Hymns, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis:   https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780891301196

The Delphic Maxims: https://www.scribd.com/document/186693295/Delphic-Maxims

Many other primary sources from ancient Greece can be found in English translations at theoi.com, which is a fantastic resource for information about the Theoi.

Modern prayers to the Theoi:

Hearthstone: https://greekpagan.com & https://greekpagan.tumblr.com/ Note: downloads of Hearthstone’s two books of Hellenic prayers can be purchased at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HearthfireHandworks

winebrightruby: https://winebrightruby.tumblr.com/devotional

Some of the best and most essential sources to start with - and for continuous reference, in my opinion:

Adam, John. The Religious Teachers of Greece. Clifton, New Jersey: Reference Book Publishers, Inc, 1965.  https://www.giffordlectures.org/lectures/religious-teachers-greece

Adkins, Lesley and Adkins, Roy A. Handbook To Life In Ancient Greece https://archive.org/details/handbooktolifein00adki

Betegh, Gabor. Greek Philosophy and Religion. https://www.academia.edu/4990433/Greek_Philosophy_and_Religion

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion  https://archive.org/details/greekreligionarchaicandclassical

Angelos Chaniotis, “The Life of Statues of Gods in the Greek World’” Kernos  [Online], 30 | 2017, posted on October 01, 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/2492 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.2492

Dignas, Beate, and Kai Trampedach, eds. 2008. Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Figures from Homer to Heliodorus.Hellenic Studies Series 30. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.  http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_DignasB_and_TrampedachK_eds.Practitioners_of_the_Divine.2008

Dillon Matthew. “Household, Families and Women” in Kindt, J. Eidinow, E. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Religion in the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015. https://www.academia.edu/7974646/HOME_AND_HEARTH._THE_CLASSICAL_GREEK_EXPERIENCE_OF_DOMESTIC_RELIGION_in_Kindt_J._Eidinow_E._eds_The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Religion_in_the_Ancient_World_Oxford_University_Press_Oxford_2015

Furley, WIlliam D. and  Jan Maarten Bremer. Greek Hymns: Selected Cult Songs from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Part One: The texts in translation.Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.  https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/uploads/tx_sgpublisher/produkte/leseproben/9783161586552.pdf

Garrett, Jan. Did Socrates ‘Teach New Deities’? Or: Homer’s Gods, Plato’s Gods  http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/pgods.htm

Hesiod. Theogany  https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html 

Hesoid. Works and Days https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html

Kearns, Emily. The Nature of Heroines in The Sacred and the Feminine in Ancient Greece edited by Sue Bundell and Margaret Williamson, Routledge, 1998. pp. 96-110.  http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1500680.files/kerns%20nature%20of%20heroines.pdf

Kindt, Julia. “Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion?” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 135, 2015, pp. 35–50., www.jstor.org/stable/44157346

Kitts, Margo. What’s Religious about the Iliad? Religion Compass 7/7 (2013): 225–233, 10.1111/rec3.12050 Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2013.  https://www.academia.edu/5744383/_Whats_religious_about_the_Iliad_Religion_Compass_7_7_2013_225_233_draft_version_

Koutoupas, A. “The Meaning of Reciprocity in Ancient Greek Religion.”  https://www.academia.edu/12126893/The_Meaning_of_Reciprocity_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion

Meyer, Marvin.The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World   https://archive.org/details/ancientmysteries0000unse_p7i2

Morford, Mark, P.O., Lenardon, Robert J. and Sham, Michael. “The student companion to Classical Mythology, Tenth Edition”: https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/

Otto, Walter.The Homeric Gods  https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4448/page/n5/mode/2up

Petrovic, Andrej, and Petrovic, Ivana. “Introduction” in Inner Purity and Pollution in Ancient Greek Religion Vol I.  https://www.academia.edu/30262742/Introduction_in_Inner_Purity_and_Pollution_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion_Vol_I

Pirenne-Delforg, Vinciane and and Francesca Prescendi. Feeding the gods? Sacrifice and representation of the divine.   https://books.openedition.org/pulg/1604

Rask, K.A. “Devotionalism, Material Culture, and the Personal in Greek Religion.”  https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/23

Seznac, Jean.The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art, Princeton University Press, 1953. Chapter One, pp. 11-36. http://people.bu.edu/bobl/paganchristian.pdf

Smith, William. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray, London, 1875. Articles on Greek and Roman religion, including divination, festivals, funerals, magic, priestly officers, and rituals: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA/Religion/home.html

Von den Hogg, Ralf. “Images and Prestige of Cult Personnel in Athens between the Sixth and First Centuries BC” in Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus, edited by Kai Trampedach, and Beate Dignas. Kolloquium. pp 107-141 http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/2166/1/vdH_Images_Prestige_2008.pdf

Webster, Michael. Reading Hesiod’s Theogany. 2005.   https://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Hesiod2.htm

Webster, Michael.

Ways of Interpreting Myths

. 2005.   

https://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/ways.htm

Weddell, Poly. Touching the Gods: physical interaction with cult statues in the Roman world. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/555/1/Touching_the_Gods.pdf?DDD3+

Whitmore, Emily. Personal Religion in ancient Greece.  https://www.academia.edu/8729313/Personal_religion_in_ancient_Greece

Woodward, Roger D. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology https://archive.org/details/TheCambridgeCompanionToGreekMythology/page/n1/mode/2up

____________

Find more information at my Masterpost of Resources for Hellenic & Roman Polytheism: https://honorthegods.tumblr.com/masterpost

Please feel free to ask me questions or contact me about books/articles on specific topics related to ancient Greek religion and modern Hellenic polytheism!

[hellenic-fire]

There's levels to ancestral connection, and you shouldn't skip any of them.

Take this as your reminder to first of all, spend time with your spirits, without expecting anything in return. Heavy on that last part. You don't make and maintain a genuine connection with someone just by showing up to their doorstep every time you need something from them. Treat them as people because they are. Your people. You should care for them as much as they care for you.

Be it ancestors (specifically direct blood lineage or adoptive family, any deceased human relative) or ancestral spirits (in general, that is, all ancestral allies and hereditary connections not just your ancestors). Just make time to hang out. Walk up to their space, a cup of your favorite drink in hand, give them their preferred drink and just chat. Don't ask anything in return. If you have an altar for them, do that. But it can be just going to visit their graves and giving libations and flowers, and telling them how your life's going, sharing memories together, remembrance, or just to listen. It can also be going to the beach or a river, and same thing, pour a drink and talk to them, and listen back. It can be your plant allies, while you're watering them, or putting eggshells or honey or sugar water or other good nutrients and fertilizers on their soil. It can be visiting your ancestors in dreams, and spending time with them there. There's so many ways to do this.

The second level to this is letting them sit in your body too. Listen. Become familiar with how they make you feel. With the signs of their arrival and presence. With the signs they communicate with and what they mean to you. With how they let you know they have a message, or that they're in for a visit. And let them in. Dance to your grandma's favorite beats. Sing your grandpa's favorite songs. Make a family recipe and share a meal with them, enjoy it for them and with them.

Ancestral reverence isn't just the big rituals and they're not the most important aspect of it, it is the everyday coexistence, in your little but constant everyday ways.

Do as you do but also as they did. You're an extension of them and they're an extension of you. They not only walk with you, you carry them within you.

Honor that.