#Apollon mousagétês

[ravenandmoon]

🎶Apollon Mousagétês & Calliope⚔️

[ravenandmoon]

My main blog is about books, but I still want to share it here too because my reading and writing are almost always a devotional act for Apollon Mousagétês and Calliope. Sometimes even Athena and Hekate (especially when i read non-fiction).

I finished book one of Sword of Truth, Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind, yesterday.

First of all, it was the french edition, so around 980 pages, and it tooks me around a month to read it because I was slow and unable to focus. I've mainly read it during my 5 hours long trips, which was not always ideal. But I've finally finish it and it was really good ! I know it's an old series but there is, in this story, so many interesting ideas. The storytelling is great. The characters are enjoyable to follow and I got very attached to Richard and Kahlan. The book is huge but the chapters are shorts which is really great for my unfocused brain, to be honest. Now, it feels like a young adult for a good half of it, but I'll warn you about the many heavy subjects and events when we get closer to the second half and the end so, please, be carefull.

[ravenandmoon]

When you could do something normal but your main connection to the divine is to listen to Sleep Token.

[ravenandmoon]

One thing that made me grow as a worshiper is that I progressively became more specific about which deties I'm devoted to. Aphrodite Areia, Apollon Mousagétês, Hekate Enodia. It didn't happen right away after two week of telling I was devoted to...No. For example, I started being really close to Artemis and Dionysos during winter and then months after that I started worshiping Erebos...and only then I started to say I'm devoted to Apollon Mousagétês, because i'm not devoted to Apollon Phoibos (which I worship). This made my devotion to Him way easier.

Obviously this is a "me and my practice" thing but honestly, this made everything way less overwhelming for me to be specific when I can. I still struggle though.

[ravenandmoon]

The deities (+ epithets) I dream on having in my space as small shrine (the ones in bold are already there) :

Aphrodite Areia and Ares (where i put on make up and focus on my courage and self-esteem)

Aphrodite Aphrogenês & Philommeidês (for cleansing, skincare, peace and joy)

Athena (for knowledge and studies)

Apollon Mousagétês/Hermes Diaktoros/Calliope (for my writing space)

Hekate Enodia/Artemis Hêmerasia/Selene (for my space for the moon and shadow work)

Hestia/Hera (for my kitchen space)

Haides Ploutôn/Erebos (money stuff and also shadow work/mindfulness)

Hypnos (on my nigthstand, cause i'm insomniac)

[ravenandmoon]

This might be a hot take but I don't think worshiping and devotion are that different. Depending on the language, they are synonyms. I've started calling myself a devotee to Apollon only few months after starting worshiping Him because it was normal, I write novels, I sometimes play music (not as much as I want to tho), I love Him and it's not just about what I do for Him it's also about what my life looks like and He was always there. The only thing that get easier with time is the specificity. "Not devoted to Apollon but Apollon Mousagétês". I worship Apollon Phoibos, are they the same entity ? I'm not sure. This is the kind of doubt a post on Tumblr or a video on TikTok will never fully demonstrate, this is why I don't like to talk about "serious subject" as like, should we do research before starting ? (And believe me when I say I have some thoughts about it.) Because we all have our own experiences. Took me month to say I'm devoted to Apollon. Took me a year to say the same about Hekate Enodia. Took me a year for Aphrodite Areia too. It's still a work in progress with another deity. And there are so many deities that have altars in my studio and all and I don't think about being their devotee... There is no "level of faith" that gave you or not the right to define your relationship with a deity. This is not like saying you're a priest or something. And yeah sometimes I wish I could do better, but this is not just about a god this is also about myself. I wish my mental health was better so I could be better, but I'll never let it mess up with my faith. I'll never let it ruin something peaceful and beautiful.

[ravenandmoon]

The 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

The last few days I missed and today's question !

DAY TWENTY-THREE: What’s a bit of UPG you have with your deities?

I'm not sure if i'm comfortable to share them like this.

DAY TWENTY-FOUR: What’s an offering you’ve made that you’re really proud of?

As always, my writing sessions and every pieces of written work I came up with during these for Apollon Mousagétês.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: What was the most surprising thing you’ve learnt about Hellenic Polytheism or your deities?

They aren't always sweet or lovely, at least with me (maybe because I would not like that). Sometimes I mess up, it's human, it's normal, and I think they know and can be patient, but they also can lead me to do the right thing and that can be tough.

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Do you celebrate any festivals? Which ones or why not?

I really want to try one day but for now I'm not sure how and I don't want to jump right in without being sure about my research and all. For now, I just try to create my own rituals and celebrations.

[ravenandmoon]

The 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

DAY EIGHTEEN: How can you best describe your relationship with each of your deities?

They are so many of Them so I'll try my best. (It's a long post, that's why there's a divider)

Apollon (Mousagétês/ Phoibos) : a mentor, an encouraging friend, an inspiration and a loved one. I can find Him everywhere in my life since childhood. Hekate Enodia : a teacher and a parental figure, she shows me the paths I didn't saw first. She is the cold and smart hand that hold me through the dark path, even when I'm afraid, I know she is still somewhere and everywhere. Aprodite Areia : a parental figure, it's a tough love relationship but She helps me grow so much. She gave me strength and makes me believe in myself. Aphrodite Aphrogeneia / Philomeidês : Helps me with basic hygiene and find joy in the little things when everything becames harder. Ares : an encouraging parental figure, who often supports me and give me strength Athena : she is a mentor, she guides me through my intellectual and academic life (with Hermes too) Hephaïstos : He gaves me strength when I can't focus, I don't really have a relationship with Him per se, but when I'm down, I know I can rest, but I also know that trying is still something big Zeus : a parental figure and a mentor, He keeps me accountable and inspires me discipline. Hera : I'm not really close to Hera but She also keeps me accountable with my chores. Hestia : She is a friend who helps me with taking care of myself especially with food. Dionysos : I don't know what kind of relationship we have, He is important in my life, maybe since childhood, He represents so much for me. I find Him everywhere in my life, I guess He is an old friend and new friend, again and again. Hermes : a friend, a mentor, a guide... everything ? He guides me through my interest and intellectual life, also my creativity. Calliope : No relationship with Her i guess, I just worship Her as i read fantasy and write it too. Nyx : She is a Mother and a safe place, She is my inspiration and a protector. Artemis : She is an everything for me, the pets I loved through my life, the nature around me, the light of the Moon that guides me through my sleepless nights. Selene : She is also a guide and, I think, She is also an inspiration through my art as She is the Moon and the Moon guides me through some of my creative nights. Erebos : A loved one, a dear companion of my sleepless nights and a mentor who told me I didn't have to stay scared of the dark. He's also the one that help me manage my emotions when they're too much, such as Ares and Dionysos do sometimes too. As Erebos is the Underworld, I also think about Him as a safe place. Hypnos : I don't really have a relationship with Him, he's really sweet though. Haides : It is a slow process, with some amount of respect because for me Haides is a king and I think it will impacts my worship at some points. For now this is my relationship with Him as I just start to grasp what it's like to worship Him. Melinoë : I think it's a friendly relationship in which I try to scare myself to death with horror stuff and she hold me tight when I do get scared to death. Asteria : I have so much love for Asteria but I'm not sure we have a real relationship, even though i also worship Her as the mother of Hekate so this is, like, a grandmother. Helios : For Helios it's a bit the same except that I do have a ritual for Him along with Apollon Phoibos every sundays, so He really is a kind of grandfather and mentor to which I talk to (almost) every sundays. Eris : She is some kind of a friend, or familly member, I'd go to when I really need to vent and don't want advices, just, screams and cries through the rage...I don't know. Asclepius : I worship Him as Apollon's child and when I feel bad because of a cold or something not to bad I just talk to Him and address some prayers for chronic back pain sometime, but no real relationship with Him. Thanatos : I don't have any relationship with Him but I wanted to mention Him anyway. Persephone/Korê : I don't really have a relationship with Her but I still wanted to acknowledge Her here because I worship Her, I do two rituals each year for Her as Korê and Karpophoros ("bringer of fruit") in spring and as Persephone Khthonia in fall.

[ravenandmoon]

The 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

DAY FOURTEEN: Do you have any hobbies that fit any of your deities’ domains?

Yes I do !!!

Writing : I write novels which I associate to Apollon Mousagétês, Hermes, Dionysos and Calliope.

Playing piano : It was a habbit for a long time and would really love to go back to it one day. I think I've started worshiping Apollon with trying to get back into learning piano by myself.

Reading : I often associate my non-fiction readings to Athena and Hekate (depending on the subject), while I associate my fiction readings to Calliope (fantasy), Melinoë (horror/thriller) or Aphrodite (queer romcom and romtasy).

Drawing : I'm bad at it. Really. But when my mood is at its worse (of depression or euphoria), my only way to process it drawing with Dionysos and Ares.

Journaling : I try my best to do it often and it's my main way to connect with either Hekate or Erebos (depending on my mood and if I can deal or not with heavy work on my patterns and behavior or not).

Commonplacing : I want to turn into a habbit but it's a process. I love keeping commonplace book (I also have a blog on tumblr just for reblogging stuff I want to collect). I also love keeping compendium. This is obviously for Athena, I have started worshiping Her through a commonplace book.

I also like knitting/doing macramé, for Athena. Sadly, I don't it often...

Same goes with cooking, I really love cooking with Hestia but I don't do it often.

[ravenandmoon]

The 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

DAY EIGHT: Do you have altar(s)? If you do, how do you use it? If you don’t have one, do you want one? Why/why not?

I have 6 altars : Creativity, Study-Work, Hearth, Beauty-Selfcare, Night-Death and Sleep. On them I have one or multiple shrines for each deities I associate with it and that are close to me. Like, Creativity's altar include a shrine for Apollon Mousagétês, Hermes, Calliope and Dionysos. Sometimes I will use the shrine to put a offering for the specific deity though, but most of the time I use the altar as a group of deities I worship together with one or two deities as a "center" (like Apollon Mousagétês being in the center of my Creativity's altar, same goes with Hekate and Nyx for my Night-Death's altar). I wish I could have more shrines and altars but for now it's enough because my practice is really based on devotional act more than offerings.

[ravenandmoon]

The 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

I love doing this so I keep doing it !

DAY SEVEN: Are you openly a Hellenic Polytheist offline? How does being open/not being open effect your worship?

I am ! I think sometimes it helps figuring out what can be improve in my belief system because sometimes I try to explain something to a friend or familly member and realize that I need to do a bit more research on some aspect, or sometimes its just silly, like I was explaining my Hermes' altar situation and why I can't give Him libations by just putting it there and a friend said "why you don't move it from the bookshelves to a safer space ?" It tooks some days to think about it and now my creative altar (Hermes, Dionysos, Calliope and Apollon Mousagétês) is on my desk with my hearth altar (Hestia and Hera) and my study altar (Athena, Zeus, Hephaistos). It's like if I was sure there was only one way for me to do something and yet a friend or a familly member will answer that no, actually, there are many other ways you could do that.

[ravenandmoon]

The 31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

DAY FIVE: How much have you bonded with your deities?

This is really hard for me to say because my practice is really fluid. Sometimes I don't manage to get anything done for them, or even worse, sometimes I forget about my practice. I spend many times reconnecting with my practice, and reconnecting with them. At some point I think it impacts my bond with them. But still, I'm devoted to 3 or 4 of them : Apollon Mousagétês, I started my devotion to Him really early in my practice though so I had to add specificity through time. Hekate Enodia, a very different bond, to be honest. Aphrodite Areia, a chaotic yet lovely bond. There is another deity that I might be devoted too but it's a bit hard to say for now. I have many shrines in my space and I worship many deities but those three/four are constantly in my life.

If I only think about the ones who have an altar/shrine in my place, which is still 17 deities (with the 4 one I've already mentionned), my bond is strong with Hermes, Dionysos, Ares, Athena, and Artemis. Mostly because I'm an ace transmasc and I'm really dedicated to death work. But it's also because my practice is really casual and mundane so, maybe, if I answer to the same question two months later I will say something different.

If I add the deities who doesn't have an altar/shrine (yet !) in my place, my bond is definitely strong with Helios and Apollon Phoibos (yes, I worship some deities as different deities depending on some of their epithets). I have almost all my sundays dedicated to Them. And Aphrodite Aphrogeneia / Aphrodite Philommeidês for who I often dedicate my skincare routine.