khaireis

[khaireis]

the seduction of helen

[khaireis]

epidaurian asklepios, syringe-bearing,

who through sleep and time performs

every miracle of restoration, lord healer

who with swift hand guides every needle

and venomous fang, companion to

glowing health and soft relief, oh divine

physician, i ask your aid, your kindness

boundless, overflowing, unshakable,

prop me up stalwart against light-headed

darkness and feverish, bloody weakness,

dear friend to the ailing, attend my entreaty

-25.5.21 [to asklepios of phlebotomy]

[khaireis]

oh asklepios we're really in it now...

[khaireis]

possibly fun ask game: make assumptions about me based solely on my tumblr and I’ll tell you how accurate they are

[khaireis]

oh michi the fed is back on tumblr :/

[khaireis]

People who only know one version of a myth: Medusa was a victim!

Me, who's never cared about Ovid nor any of his works: Medusa was a Gorgon and a monster to be feared. I suppose she could be considered a "victim" in the matter that she was somehow mortal when her two sisters were immortal, and her head was therefore the one Polydectes demanded from Perseus in order for him to save his mother.

[khaireis]

Hey also I have an Etsy for jewelry, mostly historical stuff but also just fun stuff in general if any of y’all wanna check it out

[khaireis]

spinning your own yarn *is* a holy activity that *can* bring you closer to the gods, in this essay i will

[khaireis]

so many posts about what mythology is or isnt as a whole, with all these sweeping generalizations, not enough posts about backgrounds of specific ancient authors, knowing who wrote a myth and when is quite important to deciding whether the story is applicable to your perception of the gods and your reconstruction i think

(also, making distinctions between time periods and roman reception of greek myths is something i am always dying to see)

[khaireis]

Ingredients of Ancient Greek style reconstructed magic

What’s Used Differently?:

Crystals: magical jewelry was a common method, but by no means a must and very inaccessible, as often the stones used were precious or semi-precious. Crystal grids and the like are not super common.

Herbs: they are used (especially if you interpret some of the animal part names as fancy names for plants). I’d say incense is more important in terms of offerings given to the Theoi as a part of spells/rituals.

Lesser known components:

Papyrus: Papyrus is a pretty common component, and I think paper is an acceptable alternative, though maybe you’d want separate and/or consecrated paper for rituals and spells.

Animal parts: This is obviously more difficult and not necessarily something everyone can/should do nowadays. You could substitute for things with handmade, earth-safe models (so you can burn/bury them, whatever the rituals call for).

Lamps: This is also surprisingly a common ingredient. For the sake of getting into and maintaining the correct ritual headspace, I recommend an oil lamp. There’s some pretty cheap ones online, all you need is olive oil, a lighter/match and fire safety.

Nonsense words: Nonsense words and letters (kharakteres) are pretty common in PGM spells.

Metals: Metals of different types are used pretty frequently. Lead is common in curses, but obviously not very safe. I haven’t tried much stuff with metal yet, but perhaps metal sheets from local hardware stores could be a reasonable alternative (I doubt all ancient Greek magicians had access to silver and gold).

[khaireis]

Jupiter Dolichenus

[khaireis]

Some of my readers call themselves "Hellenistic polytheists" or "Hellenistic pagans."

The term “Hellenistic” refers specifically to the time period from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE to the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony by Octavian in 31 BCE.

Popular deities worshiped during the Hellenistic period included Hermanubis, Hermes Trismegistus, Isis, Dionysus-Osiris, Serapis, and Harpocrates - deities which the majority of "Hellenistic" polytheists/pagans don't seem to acknowledge.

Instead, the vast majority of "Hellenistic" polytheists/pagans appear to worship one or more deities in the traditional Hellenic pantheon: Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, etc.

What we call our religious practice helps us find like-minded others.

If you call yourself "Hellenistic," but you don't worship any actual Hellenistic deities, you're confusing the rest of us.

[khaireis]

Hello, if you’d like to feed your local hungry witch, consider getting a reading from me or commissioning an art piece

base prices:

-$10 for an uncolored character bust drawing or skull/flower design

-$15 for it to be colored

-Tarot readings: $3 for a 1 card reading, $6 for a 2 card reading, and $10 for a 3 card reading -$5 for a bone casting reading

[khaireis]

Bas-relief sculpture of Minerva recovered from the ruins of Herculaneum

1st century BCE- 1st century CE

[khaireis]

on my knees, begging, pleading with people online to go and look at dates on primary sources, please, if you see anno domini, even if the author is listed as greek, that is either a roman greek author from roman greece, or even a greek from roman egypt, or a greek christian

[khaireis]

the tiny virgil that lives in my head: "the spider, hateful to minerva..."

me, piling little plastic spiders on her shrine: That's Cool

[khaireis]

spiders are not a symbol of athena. people associate them with her because of the myth of minerva and arachne, but even that is a tenuous connection because our oldest sources on the topic are from roman authors, and especially ovid in his metamorphoses. virgil even says in his georgics that the spider is "hateful to minerva," so anything saying spiders are sacred to athena is going to be syncretic upg

I’ve heard it said that spiders are a symbol of Athena. I am a worshiper of Athena especially right now in my life but I am extremely arachnophobic. Am I a bad worshiper of Athena if I kill spiders??