#Harpocrates Worship

[khaire-traveler]

🌑 Subtle Harpocrates Worship 🌹

Take time to sit in silence with yourself; become comfortable with your own presence

Keep secrets that people tell you; don't tell the stories that aren't yours to tell (e.g. a person's trauma, an embarrassing thing someone has shared, etc.)

Have a candle that reminds you of him (no altar needed)

Wear jewelry that reminds you of him

Keep a picture of him in your wallet

Have a stuffed animal snake, snail, or hawk (sparrowhawk specifically)/bird of prey

Have imagery of roses, wings, sunrises, or secrets/mysteries (maybe fog?) around

Take a walk under the new moon (if it is safe to do so in your area)

Watch the sunrise; watch the first sunrise of winter

Engage with childhood media or activities

Drink some wine or berry-flavored tea; raise a glass in his honor

Read about mysteries; mysteries in history, unsolved cases of things, mystery novels, etc.

If you have long hair, wear it in a side-braid

Learn when to keep certain things to yourself; practice restraint

Take time to meditate in a dark and quiet environment; take that time to decompress and practice mindfulness

Ground yourself regularly; practice emotional regulation skills

Learn not to judge a book by its cover; be more understanding with people

Study psychology/the human mind

Be kind to children; play with them if offered

Wear blues, purples, muted colors, or colors of the sunrise

Explore new places, especially abandoned places or places that have an air of mystery to them

Sit with a loved one in silence; do your own thing as you are together

Engage in a relaxing activity; read a book, draw, do yoga, etc.

Take a self-care bath/shower, especially with dim light (please be safe about this)

Forgive yourself for past mistakes; practice releasing past regrets

Learn to become comfortable within your own presence

Light a bonfire and sit in front of it under the night sky; focus on the peace of the moment, the warmth of the fire, the silence of the night

-

This was a requested deity, and it was rather difficult to find information on him, unfortunately. He was a result of cultural fusion between the Greeks and Egyptians, and very little is known about him. He is known as the God of Silence, interestingly due to a cultural misunderstanding on the part of the Greeks, thinking his raised finger meant hushing when the Egyptians symbolized childhood with his raised finger (raised finger as in this: 🤫). Honestly, I had never heard of him before receiving the request. 💀

Nonny, wherever you are, I hope you find this helpful! Take care, friend. 💜

Link to Subtle Worship Master list

[servantofthegodss]

Dua Heru-sa-Aset 🙏

Praise Horus, Son of Aset

Praise Horus in the Horizon

Praise the Divine Falcon

Praise He Whose form and Whose appearance are not perceived

[diana-thyme]

Greek Gods 101: A Masterlist

This is a masterlist of the “Greek Gods 101” series. This series aims to provide basic information and worship ideas for both major and minor deities. This masterlist also involves heroes, deified mortals, spirits, and other figures of Greek mythology.

Aceso

Acheron

Acratos

Aedos

Aegle

Aeolus

Aether

Aglaea

Akhlys

Ampelus

Amphitrite

Ananke

Anemoi

Angelia

Anteros

Antheia

Aphrodite

Apollon

Aporia

Ares

Arete

Ariadne

Aristaeus

Artemis

Asklepios

Asteria

Astraeus

Astrape

Athena

Atlas

Bia

Britomartis

Calliope

Carpi

Cassandra

Ceraon

Cerberus

Ceto

Chaos

Charon

Chione

Chiron

Chloris

Chrysos

Circe

Clio

Clymene

Comus

Cratus

Cronos

Daphne

Deimus

Deipneus

Demeter

Dicaeosyne

Dike

Dionysus

Dysnomia

Ececheria

Eileithyia

Eirene

Ekho

Electryone

Eleos

Elpis

Endymion

Enyo

Eos

Epiales

Epione

Epiphron

Erato

Erebus

Eris

Eros

Ersa

Eucleia

Eudaemonia

Eunomia

Eupheme

Euphrosyne

Euporia

Eupraxia

Eurybia

Eurydice

Eusebia

Euterpe

Euthenia

Eutychia

Fates

Furies

Gaea

Galateia

Ganymedes

Gelus

Hades

Harmonia

Harpocrates

Hebe

Hecate

Hedone

Hedylogus

Helius

Hemera

Hephaestus

Hera

Heracles

Hermaphroditus

Hermes

Hestia

Hesychia

Himeros

Homonoia

Horae (Seasons)

Horae (Time)

Hormes

Hybris

Hydros

Hygieia

Hymenaeus

Hypnus

Iaso

Iris

Lelantus

Lethe

Leto

Macaria

Matton

Medusa

Melinoe

Melpomene

Methe

Mnemosyne

Morpheus

Nemesis

Nike

Nyx

Oizys

Orpheus

Orthannes

Ossa

Ourania

Ouranos

Ourea

Paeon

Paidia

Palaemon

Pallas

Pan

Panacea

Pandaisia

Pandora

Pannychis

Panopia

Paregoros

Pasithea

Pegasus

Peitho

Penia

Penthus

Persephone

Perses

Perseus

Phales

Phanes

Phaunus

Pheme

Philophrosyne

Philotes

Phobus

Phoebe

Phorcys

Phthonus

Phusis

Pistis

Plutus

Poena

Polemus

Polymnia

Pompe

Pontus

Ponus

Porus

Poseidon

Pothus

Priapus

Prometheus

Pronoea

Prophesis

Psamathe

Pseudologoi

Psyche

Ptocheia

Rhea

Selene

Silenos

Sophrosyne

Soter

Soteria

Styx

Tartarus

Telesphorus

Terpsichore

Tethys

Thalassa

Thalia (Mousai)

Thalia

Thallo

Thanatus

Thaumas

Thea

Themis

Theseus

Thesis

Thrasus

Thyone

Tithonus

Triptolemus

Triton

Tritopatores

Tyche

Tychon

Urania

Uranus

Zagreus

Zelus

Zeus

What is a “Universal Offering/Devotional Act?”

Feel free to request or suggest deities! This list will be done in order but you can ask for me to complete one that’s further down the list.

This list is subject to change. There are probably repeat deities (deities who go by multiple names, parts of groups like the Horae or Charities who are mostly grouped together, etc.) on this list. Some deities are not on here. Some names are spelt wrong or different.

[artifacts-archive]

Statuette of a Child God, probably Horus the Child (Harpocrates)

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period (664–30 BCE)

The child god Horus was worshipped as the hero-to-be who would avenge his father’s murder. Horus also symbolized eternal life through his role as the sun, battling evil at night to rise triumphant every morning. The Greek form of the Egyptian “Horus the Child” is “Harpokrates.” The god’s youth is indicated by his side lock of hair and his finger touching his mouth. The Greeks and later the Romans worshipped him with his parents as part of a growing interest in mystery cults promising a true and real life after death.

[cosmic-metanoia]

The Final Fantasy Book & Why It Was Written

**Warning - Spoilers for Final Fantasy XVI***

There is something that is breaking my heart and I MUST post about it! Let me preface this by saying I adore Joshua and Clive and I want BOTH to be alive at the game’s ending. I saw someone posted on Reddit towards the earlier part of the game, “Joshua is strong in the spirit but weak in the flesh whereas Clive is strong in the flesh but weak in the spirit.” And that the brothers learn to strengthen themselves in both aspects as the story progresses. It was such a beautiful and PERFECT way to describe those too! With that in mind…

If Clive was the one who survived in the end and Joshua died…I can only imagine the intense joy, relief, and despair at the Hideaway reunion. I yearn to watch the scene of Clive reuniting with his beloved Jill and Torgal and all of the Hideaway family.

The reason why I said “despair” is because I’m thinking about a very specific person – Jote. She centered her life around Joshua as his Shield during the 18 years he was with the Undying. They spent so much time together and she had come to love him as a person, not because he was the revered and worshipped Phoenix. Even if Joshua returned alive from Origin as a normal human devoid of his former Eikon, Jote would still love him the same.

It really tears my heart apart imagining her breaking down upon hearing that Joshua did not make it. I imagine that Clive, being the empathetic soul he is, would be the one to tell her and he would embrace her as she sobbed.

Even if initially their first meeting was a little tense, I feel that Clive and Jote developed a mutual respect and understanding for each other – they both love Joshua and served as his Shield.

As for Clive…I can only imagine how depressed he would be and how agonizing it would be for him to cope over his brother’s death. He thought Joshua was dead for 18 years and joyfully reunited with him...only for their reunion to be cut short by Ultima.

Perhaps Clive wrote the Final Fantasy book as a means of coping with Joshua’s death and honoring his legacy. He would have the help of Harpocrates, Cyril, Jote, and his Wall of Memories to incorporate everything into the book. Joshua became Clive's Shield in so many senses of the word and the esoteric knowledge he garnered helped Clive defeat Ultima. That's why Clive wished for future generations to remember Joshua’s name and not his own. Ultimately, writing that book helped Clive to accept his brother’s death and heal.

[percabeth4life]

What Apollo myths did he make up??

The primary one that makes me seethe is the myth where he bullied Harpocrates. That has absolutely no basis in mythology or cult worship, in fact from what I understand Harpocrates was sometimes considered one and the same as Apollo. Like- that was done solely to make Apollo look bad.

In addition he repeatedly twisted the myths of Apollo to frame him in the worst light possible.

[the-chronicle-of-holy-days]

Day 7

Liber A’ash

vel Capricorni Pneumatici

0. Gnarled Oak of God! In thy branches is the lightning nested! Above thee hangs the Eyeless Hawk.

1. Thou art blasted and black! Supremely solitary in that heath of scrub.

2. Up! The Ruddy clouds hang over thee! It is the storm.

3. There is a flaming gash in the sky.

4. Up.

5. Thou art tossed about in the grip of the storm for an æon and an æon and an æon. But thou givest not thy sap; thou fallest not.

6. Only in the end shalt thou give up thy sap when the great God F.I.A.T. is enthroned on the day of Be-With-Us.

7. For two things are done and a third thing is begun. Isis and Osiris are given over to incest and adultery. Horus leaps up thrice armed from the womb of his mother. Harpocrates his twin is hidden within him. Set is his holy covenant, that he shall display in the great day of M.A.A.T., that is being interpreted the Master of the Temple of A∴ A∴, whose name is Truth.

8. Now in this is the magical power known.

9. It is like the oak that hardens itself and bears up against the storm. It is weather-beaten and scarred and confident like a sea-captain.

10. Also it straineth like a hound in the leash.

11. It hath pride and great subtlety. Yea, and glee also!

12. Let the Magus act thus in his conjuration.

13. Let him sit and conjure; let him draw himself together in that forcefulness; let him rise next swollen and straining; let him dash back the hood from his head and fix his basilisk eye upon the sigil of the demon. Then let him sway the force of him to and fro like a satyr in silence, until the Word burst from his throat.

14. Then let him not fall exhausted, although the might have been ten thousandfold the human; but that which floodeth him is the infinite mercy of the Genitor-Genitrix of the Universe, whereof he is the Vessel.

15. Nor do thou deceive thyself. It is easy to tell the live force from the dead matter. It is no easier to tell the live snake from the dead snake.

16. Also concerning vows. Be obstinate, and be not obstinate. Understand that the yielding of the Yoni is one with the lengthening of the Lingam. Thou art both these; and thy vow is but the rustling of the wind on Mount Meru.

17. Now shalt thou adore me who am the Eye and the Tooth, the Goat of the Spirit, the Lord of Creation. I am the Eye in the Triangle, the Silver Star that ye adore.

18. I am Baphomet, that is the Eightfold Word that shall be equilibrated with the Three.

19. There is no act or passion that shall not be an hymn in mine honour.

20. All holy things and all symbolic things shall be my sacraments.

21. These animals are sacred unto me; the goat, and the duck, and the ass, and the gazelle, the man, the woman and the child.

22. All corpses are sacred unto me; they shall not be touched save in mine eucharist. All lonely places are sacred unto me; where one man gathereth himself together in my name, there will I leap forth in the midst of him.

23. I am the hideous god, and who mastereth me is uglier than I.

24. Yet I give more than Bacchus and Apollo; my gifts exceed the olive and the horse.

25. Who worshippeth me must worship me with many rites.

26. I am concealed with all concealments; when the Most Holy Ancient One is stripped and driven through the marketplace, I am still secret and apart.

27. Whom I love I chastise with many rods.

28. All things are sacred to me; no thing is sacred from me.

29. For there is no holiness where I am not.

30. Fear not when I fall in the fury of the storm; for mine acorns are blown afar by the wind; and verily I shall rise again, and my children about me, so that we shall uplift our forest in Eternity.

31. Eternity is the storm that covereth me.

32. I am Existence, the Existence that existeth not save through its own Existence, that is beyond the Existence of Existences, and rooted deeper than the No-Thing-Tree in the Land of No-Thing.

33. Now therefore thou knowest when I am within thee, when my hood is spread over thy skull, when my might is more than the penned Indus, and resistless as the Giant Glacier.

34. For as thou art before a lewd woman in Thy nakedness in the bazaar, sucked up by her slyness and smiles, so art thou wholly and no more in part before the symbol of the beloved, though it be but a Pisacha or a Yantra or a Deva.

35. And in all shalt thou create the Infinite Bliss and the next link of the Infinite Chain.

36. This chain reaches from Eternity to Eternity, ever in triangles—is not my symbol a triangle?—ever in circles—is not the symbol of the Beloved a circle? Therein is all progress base illusion, for every circle is alike and every triangle alike!

37. But the progress is progress, and progress is rapture, constant, dazzling, showers of light, waves of dew, flames of the hair of the Great Goddess, flowers of the roses that are about her neck, Amen!

38. Therefore lift up thyself as I am lifted up. Hold thyself in as I am master to accomplish. At the end, be the end far distant as the stars that lie in the navel of Nuit, do thou slay thyself as I at the end am slain, in the death that is life, in the peace that is mother of war, in the darkness that holds light in his hand as an harlot that plucks a jewel from her nostrils.

39. So therefore the beginning is delight, and the End is delight, and delight is in the midst, even as the Indus is water in the cavern of the glacier, and water among the greater hills and the lesser hills and through the ramparts of the hills and through the plains, and water at the mouth thereof when it leaps forth into the mighty sea, yea, into the mighty sea

Time and time again I choose the same one as a favourite. It’s funny how these lines still resonate in me, however I do not remember when I read them last time.

[pagansprite]

and in my experience, that is a gr8 way to get started with deities that are not very well known.

the way i see and interact with maia is very much colored by hermes. she is, like he is, ouranic and cthonic. and i very much get the feeling that she has a playful side !

and my understanding and worship of harpocrates is very much shaped by my understanding and worship of his parents. he is very much the Heir to their power.

[alienturnip]

Finished FF16 a few days ago and I do have some (long) thoughts about it, so I'm noting them down below. Reactions include the Waloed & Origin arcs.

Tagging @zadien as you requested <3 My thoughts won't be organized but I'll try my best to articulate as I go. Wall of text alert!

I think this is yet another case of "the story didn't satisfy me a lot but the characters bewitched me body and soul" so here I am at the end of the roads... with a lot of grievances toward how the story was structured & written but also impossibly attached to the cast haha, needless to say I have fanart ideas planned and incoming.

Things that I enjoyed a lot:

CliveJill's scene with the snow daisies, where she tells Clive that she wants to spread her wings after all this is over. MY GIRLFRIEND... YOU SHALL HAVE THE WORLD.

Jill being so good with acting dkfjsl <3 <3 she's so cute....

Jill being as much of a ruthless mtfk as Clive, they're soooo in tune when it comes to wrecking havoc

Everything about Joshua he brings SO SO MUCH to the table both with his personalities and the themes he represents. I would ramble if not for fear of this post's length...

Dion's contradictory demeanor hahahahaha - he insisted everyone call him "Dion" but wouldn't shut up about "Ifrit" and "Phoenix", he also refused Harpocrates' gift but then gave another to Clive 2 seconds later, then sauntered off without even checking if Clive likes it or not...

I generally bemoan the lack of discussion on Dion's relationship with his country's imperialism and his hands in that (like, everything about him was perfect to address that topic even in very brief ways?), BUT I highly enjoyed Dion's theme about the loss of personhood and to be reduced to a vessel of power and worship, his multifaceted relationship with the concepts of power & duty & hierarchy. So subtly yet powerfully done with so little screen time... I think Clive's own engagement with the theme (which is supposed to be his central theme) comes short in comparison.

Dion's side quest with Harpocrates also scratched my brain in INCREDIBLY ways, but again I won't ramble too much in this post...

(Hahaha by this point I think everyone knows who my fav is)

Dion & Joshua's dialogues are all so well-written (maybe save for Joshua's last speech...)

Everything about Mid & Gav, they're beautifully done, I love them they have such solid places within the narrative and lovely personalities too. When I watched Mid navigating the Entreprise I was just squealing and cheering for her! Her talking about the dream of flight and the danger it might entail, and her plan of turning such a weighted topic into a lighthearted treasure hunt! My gosh 💗 Gav's drinking scene with Clive is also especially touching, I felt a lot for his burdens.

Lady Isabelle may I have your hand in marriage--

Clive holding Joshua or clutching his body...... breaks me every time I love love LOVE tragic siblings

I can honestly write an essay for each of the characters (especially Jill & Dion my thoughts about them are overflowing) but they will have to be separate posts at this point, let me know @zadien (or anyone else reading this 🫣) if you'd like me to talk some more.

NOW onto the criticisms proper...

Waloed & Origin arcs were pretty underwhelming, mostly because I feel like they haven't offered anything new that wasn't already resolved in the previous arcs...? I enjoyed Barnabas' vibe but his impact on me was a big fat 0, and here comes the conundrum because, well, I'm guessing him being emotionless & devoid of a personality is supposed to be the point with his worship of Ultima, but even that was not done well... All his bedroom scenes kinda ruined all of that, not to mention the out-of-nowhere 'mother' appearances that the story doesn't even bother to explore aside from showing her naked body (Benedikta got the same treatment after her death my god I'm so sorry my beloved)...

Idk what I'm supposed to take away from the character and, in consequence, the Waloed arc? I know nothing of who he was, his dialogues didn't even match Clive's growth at that point - again, why is Clive questioning his humanity NOW of all time, when the story has been going so well? Could they have, idk, shown Clive's fear coming back to him after reuniting with Joshua & discovering Dion's descend to madness, so that they can segue into the Waloed arc more smoothly - that despite Clive's best intention he may lose all his control at the most crucial point and ruin all that he holds dear (like Dion), and that he never let go of his guilt at Phoenix Gate, and having Joshua back unwittingly brought back the nightmares he'd lived with for 13 years? Maybe that would give his identity crisis at the beach some more substance instead of "Barnabas bested me twice and now I'm wet and sat" situation he got going on... I am thankful for Mid & Dion's arc & CliveJill romance & everything about Joshua but the main villain & plot points felt so distant... MY BRAIN WAS NOT SCRATCHED

(I adore Mid & Dion & Joshua hahaha they're so colorful in 3 entirely different directions, my silly children)

I am also not really convinced by Ultima's writing. The plot reveal of him being a God who created humanity but then abandoned us all *could* have been pretty powerful and on point if it wasn't executed in such fragmented ways. If only they dig deeper into one or two specific aspects of that concept to explore...

I am especially fond of the idea of Ultima as symbolic for "the absent parent" and "the narcissistic parent" (both in the intimate familial context and the wider context of head-of-state/leader figures), which could have paralleled SO WELL with Anabella & Sylvestre & EVEN ELWIN had they not cut off Anabella's presence immediately after her death, or had they make Dion reflect deeper upon his relationship with his father beyond "I killed him I am so sad", or had they make Joshua's and Clive's memories of Elwin more complicated - maybe in how they (especially Joshua) worshipped his as their father & leader, but less so as a man, someone human & flawed? And then they can explore how the children gaining autonomy & freedom despite their parents & the circumstances that shaped their childhood as a direct mirror to them breaking away from Ultima? The frustrating thing is, I THINK they did try to do that, what with all the Inner Voice snippets and the initial buildups and all, but the execution keeps coming up short...

Ultima & the Eikons as symbols of "power that binds & enthralls" in contradiction with Clive's fight for a "free world" could've been much more relevant and poignant if maybe they allowed us to get more invested in Ultima's backstory (flashback cutscenes perhaps? more involved murals? a more multifaceted discussion around the concept of will? some attempts at humanizing Ultima's race so that when Clive says "you're just like us" we feel it a bit deeper?) instead of just having the guy monotonously narrating all the plot twists... my god. Not to mention all the on-the-nose dialogues of power of friendship & crude slavery allegories... I don't know! I think Square did NOT do it well in this one.

That's all I can pull from the top of my head at the moment! Ready to hop into replies or asks to talk some more, but yea!

[pissmaster228]

Serapeum's name makes more sense once I've actually woken her up. TL DR It's a temple to a fusion god (created to legitimize an empire) made of ritually sacrificed bulls and the god of the dead and rebirth. The earliest serapeum had a daughter library of the Library of Alexandria.

From Wikipedia:

A serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria.

Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian god. A syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter, as a means to unify the Greek and Egyptian subjects of the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

The cultus of Serapis was spread as a matter of deliberate policy by subsequent Ptolemaic kings. Serapis continued to increase in popularity during the Roman Empire, often replacing Osiris as the consort of Isis in temples outside Egypt. Alongside his Egyptian roots he gained attributes from other deities, such as chthonic powers linked to the Greek Hades and Demeter, and benevolence derived from associations with Dionysus.

The Serapeum of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom was an ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246–222 BC) and dedicated to Serapis, who was made the protector of Alexandria, Egypt. There are also signs of Harpocrates. It has been referred to as the daughter of the Library of Alexandria.

Ptolemy I Soter ordered the construction of the first temple dedicated to Serapis. It appears that it was a simple and modest building. Ptolemy introduced the cult of this god. Ptolemy III expanded it, at the same time as he ordered the construction of the Library of Alexandria. Starting with the Roman emperor Claudius (emperor from 41 AD to 54 AD), the temple evolved and took on the dimensions of a large sanctuary, until it reached 185 by 92 meters. In this way, the Alexandrian acropolis was embellished with a series of buildings: in addition to the aforementioned temple and library, the temple of Anubis, that of Isis, the necropolis of sacred animals, the obelisks of Seti I and the great column of Serapis, which was still standing in the 3rd century, were added.

The Serapeum of Saqqara was the ancient Egyptian burial place for sacred bulls of the Apis cult at Memphis. It was believed that the bulls were incarnations of the god Ptah, which would become immortal after death as Osiris-Apis. a name which evolved to Serapis.

Ptah is an Egyptian creator god who conceived the world and brought it into being through the creative power of speech. A hymn to Ptah dating to the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt says Ptah "crafted the world in the design of his heart," and the Shabaka Stone, from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, says Ptah "gave life to all the gods and their kas as well, through this heart and this tongue."

ka=soul, essence of life

[bijoumikhawal]

Jijoi! Symbolism explanation below cut

First, design. Jijoi’s face is partially based on a possible bust of Smenkhare, who is part of a fringe theory that Nefertiti became pharaoh and adopted a male presentation later in life, maybe being trans. I haven't decided on a default hairstyle for him, just that it's popular for people in his sect to wear top knots as a cultural miscommunication of some images that got brought over. The hairstyle is loosely based on Egyptian hairstyles from late Antiquity- I've seen a few half up hairstyles like this, and the corkscrew curls seem to have been characteristic of local Egyptian hairdressing. This is possible with styling on curly hair, these days people use flexirods for this affect and I've seen Northeast Africans wear their hair like this as a cultural style. The cap is referenced from a Coptic sprang cap.

The tendrils by his ears are a reference to grey herons, black crowned night herons, and demoiselle cranes, all of which have a trailing feather by their eyes leading off the back of their heads. All three of these birds are seen in Egypt and are known to engage in homosexual activity.

Jijoi’s name comes from an older name meaning "bearer of the side lock", and epithet for Horus in the form of a child, worshipped under the name Harpocrates. Harpocrates gained an association as the god of secrets dye to a miscommunication of a visual pun by Greeks and Romans, and in Rome was associated with roses (see the term "sub rosa"). Wether the Ancient Egyptians adopted these signifers as well isn't something I can state, but I combined the roses here with eyes, which are natively associated with Horus.

[khaire-traveler]

✨ Subtle Deity Worship Master List ✨

Greek Deities:

Subtle Aphrodite Worship

Subtle Ares Worship

Subtle Apollo Worship

Subtle Artemis Worship

Subtle Athena Worship

Subtle Dionysus Worship

Subtle Eros Worship

Subtle Hephaestus Worship

Subtle Hermes Worship

Subtle Demeter Worship

Subtle Hera Worship

Subtle Zeus Worship

Subtle Circe Worship

Subtle Hestia Worship

Subtle Helios Worship

Subtle Persephone Worship

Subtle Poseidon Worship

Subtle Hekate Worship

Subtle Hygeia Worship

Subtle Nemesis Worship

Subtle Psyche Worship

Subtle Asklepios Worship

Subtle Haides Worship

Subtle Harpocrates Worship

Subtle Erebos Worship

Subtle Medea Worship

Subtle Tyche Worship

Subtle Lethe Worship

Subtle Selene Worship

Subtle Eris Worship

Subtle Themis Worship

Subtle Talos Worship

Subtle Thanatos Worship

Subtle Nyx Worship

Subtle Phobos & Deimos Worship

Subtle Pan Worship

Subtle Hypnos Worship

Subtle Charybdis Worship

Subtle Skylla Worship

Subtle Harmonia Worship

Subtle Galatea Worship

Subtle Hyacinthus Worship

Subtle Triton Worship

Norse Deities:

Subtle Sigyn Worship

Subtle Loki Worship

Subtle Baldr Worship

Subtle Freyr Worship

Subtle Odin Worship

Subtle Heimdallr Worship

Subtle Freyja Worship

Subtle Thorr Worship

Subtle Tyr Worship

Subtle Jormungandr Worship

Subtle Hel Worship

Subtle Sleipnir Worship

Subtle Idunna Worship - created by @soil-and-stanzas :)

Subtle Fenrir Worship

Subtle Frigga Worship

-

This list will be updated as I make more posts! I will be making separate lists for these pantheons because I have too many links lol.

[yourantiquarian]

Roman statuette of Harpocrates

ITEM Statuette of Harpocrates MATERIAL Marble CULTURE Roman PERIOD 1st - 2nd Century A.D DIMENSIONS 110 mm x 60 mm x 34 mm CONDITION Good condition PROVENANCE Ex Swiss private collection, acquired between 1970 - 1990 In the Roman period, Harpocrates continued to be a significant deity, albeit with adaptations and reinterpretations influenced by both Roman and Egyptian religious traditions. Harpocrates was originally an ancient Egyptian god associated with silence, secrets, and confidentiality. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the cult of Harpocrates spread throughout the Mediterranean, and the god underwent syncretism with various Greek and Roman deities, blending cultural and religious influences. In Roman art and mythology, Harpocrates is often depicted as a young boy with a finger to his lips, symbolizing the gesture of silence. The Romans associated him with the concept of confidentiality and discretion, making him a popular figure in various contexts, including funerary art and domestic worship. The Roman adaptation of Harpocrates integrated elements of the original Egyptian symbolism with the broader Greco-Roman religious landscape, showcasing the fluidity and adaptability of ancient religious beliefs during this period. Devotion to Harpocrates also found a place in mystery cults and esoteric traditions in the Roman Empire. Read the full article

[zerogate]

In earlier times the shrines of Isis had an equivocal reputation. The goddess was popular with the demimonde, and her worship can have had little connection with moral purity. But such scandals are not recorded in the third century, when indeed they would have hardly have been tolerated. In our period the worship of Isis was organised in a manner very like that of the Catholic Church. There was a kind of pope, with priests, monks, singers, and acolytes. The images of the Madonna were covered with true or false jewels, and her toilette was dutifully attended to every day. Daily matins and evensong were said in the chief temples. The priests were tonsured and wore white linen vestments. There were two great annual festivals, in the spring and autumn. The autumn festival was the occasion of public grief and joy over the death and resurrection of Osiris-Sarapis. The processions and ceremonies described by Apuleius and others were ingeniously contrived to excite curiosity, stimulate devotional feeling, and gratify the æsthetic sense.

For the mystic, Isis represented the deepest mysteries of life. Proclus makes her say, ‘I am that which has been, is, and will be. My garment none has lifted.’ The worship of Isis was closely connected with that of the dog-headed Anubis, long popular in Egypt; of Harpocrates the son of Isis and Osiris, and above all of Sarapis, who more and more took the place of the old Egyptian god, Osiris. Sarapis was a deity of many attributes; he had a great reputation for miraculous cures, and invalids often slept in his temples. He ended as a solar deity of omnipotent majesty, and as the great god of Alexandria threw Isis somewhat into the shade. Caracalla paid him the compliment of dedicating to him the sword with which he had killed his brother Geta, as South-Italian assassins have been known to offer to the Virgin the knife which they have used successfully on a private enemy.

Isis was a suffering and merciful mother-goddess, who longed to ease human troubles. Her worship had a miraculous element for the vulgar, a spiritual theology for the cultured, and an attractive ritual for the average worshipper.

No other religion practised faith-healing, by passing the night in temples (ἐγκοίμησις), on so large a scale. This Egyptian religion never inculcated a very robust or elevated morality. Its power lay in its charm, and in the hope of immortality which was always strong in the Egyptian religion. ‘There is a famous passage in an ancient Egyptian text relating to the worship of Osiris, which speaks of the loyal votary of the god after death. “As truly as Osiris lives, shall he live; as truly as Osiris is not dead, shall he not die; as truly as Osiris is not annihilated, shall he not be annihilated.” The initiate is to share eternally in the divine life; nay, he does already share it. He becomes Osiris.

[...]

The worship of the Magna Mater had been known and recognised in Attica as early as the fourth century B.C., and at Rome as early as the second Punic war, and was patronised by the aristocracy, though no Roman was allowed to enrol himself among the eunuch priests of the Asiatic goddess. King Attalus at this time presented the senate with the black aerolite, formerly kept at Pessinus and then at Pergamum, which was supposed to be the abode of the Idæan Mother. The grateful Romans, at last rid of Hannibal, erected a temple to her on the Palatine, and ordained an annual holy week in her honour.

The Phrygian religion was wild and violent, as befitted a climate which produces extremes of heat and cold. It included such primitive elements as the worship of stones and trees, and at once horrified and fascinated the West by its wild orgies at the spring festival, which culminated in the self-mutilation of devotees. But it had also an ascetic order of mendicant friars, and ‘mysteries,’ of which little is known.

Till the beginning of the empire, the Phrygian worship was kept under strict control, and attracted little notice except on the festival days when the foreign priests marched in procession through the streets. But Claudius, according to a second-century authority, removed the restrictions on the worship of Cybele and Attis, and Roman citizens began to be chosen as archigalli. Henceforth the Phrygian worship received a measure of official support not extended to other Oriental religions. The festal processions were very imposing, and the death and resurrection of Attis was regarded as a sacrament and pledge of human immortality. The worshippers sang, ‘Take courage, ye initiated, because the god is saved: to you also will come salvation from your troubles.’

-- William Ralph Inge, The philosophy of Plotinus

[pagansprite]

i don't think i set out to create epithets ? they just kind of came out organically while i was praying/worshiping. there was a role/aspect that i wanted to praise, and i gave it a title.

like hermanubis is Guide in the Dark bc he guides souls to the underworld, he guides/carries harpocrates (the sunrise) through the night. he is Companion (and variations: loyal companion, ever faithful companion) bc a huge part of my understanding of him is that he is at the side of other deities. and if he isn't at the side of other deities, he is near to humanity. Dear Shadow, or Inky Black Shadow, is related to his closeness (he is close like a shadow), is related to how i see him (pure black, blending in with the darkness), is related to the souls he guides (a kind of shadow)

you could look for mythic associations, if there are any stories. iconographic associations, animals, plants, etc.

you can never go wrong with physical attributes (there are many epithets of many deities that refer to eyes or hair or general stature).

where were they worshiped ? if there's any evidence of worship. what sort of landscape or geographical features are associated with them ? where would you find them, basically.

oh and literally like a week ago i was thinking about how a lot of my understanding of lesser-known gods comes from their relatives. parents, children, siblings. harpocrates is his parents. maia shares a lot of features with hermes. so on and so forth. for me, that really only comes out through the process of worship tho. (less epithet focused but im sure there could be some shareable epithets)

Worshippers of ‘minor’ deities, have you ever made up your own epithets for them if there aren’t many known ones? How do you go about it and what are some that you have?

[paganimagevault]

Venus Pandemos by Marc Charles Gabriel Gleyre 1852

"Aphrodite Pandemos (Ancient Greek: Πάνδημος, romanized: Pándēmos; "common to all the people") occurs as an epithet of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite. This epithet can be interpreted in different ways. In Plato's Symposium, Pausanias of Athens describes Aphrodite Pandemos as the Goddess of sensual pleasures, in opposition to Aphrodite Urania, or "the heavenly Aphrodite". At Elis, she was represented as riding on a ram by Scopas. Another interpretation is that of Aphrodite uniting all the inhabitants of a country into one social or political body. In this respect she was worshipped at Athens along with Peitho (persuasion), and her worship was said to have been instituted by Theseus at the time when he united the scattered townships into one great body of citizens. According to some authorities, it was Solon who erected the sanctuary of Aphrodite Pandemos, either because her image stood in the agora, or because the hetairai had to pay the costs of its erection. The worship of Aphrodite Pandemos also occurs at Megalopolis in Arcadia, and at Thebes. A festival in honour of her is mentioned by Athenaeus. The sacrifices offered to her consisted of white goats. Pandemos occurs also as a surname of Eros. According to Harpocration, who quotes Apollodorus, Aphrodite Pandemos has very old origins, "the title Pandemos was given to the Goddess established in the neighborhood of the Old Agora because all the Demos (people) gathered there of old in their assemblies which they called agorai." To honour Aphrodite's and Peitho's role in the unification of Attica, the Aphrodisia festival was organized annually on the fourth of the month of Hekatombaion (the fourth day of each month was the sacred day of Aphrodite). The Synoikia that honoured Athena, the protectress of Theseus and main patron of Athens, also took place in the month of Hekatombaion."

From Plato's Symposium:

"Such in the main was Phaedrus' speech as reported to me. It was followed by several others, which my friend could not recollect at all clearly; so he passed them over and related that of Pausanias, which ran as follows: "I do not consider, Phaedrus, our plan of speaking a good one, if the rule is simply that we are to make eulogies of Love. If Love were only one, it would be right; but, you see, he is not one, and this being the case, it would be more correct to have it previously announced what sort we ought to praise. Now this defect I will endeavor to amend, and will first decide on a Love who deserves our praise, and then will praise him in terms worthy of his Godhead. We are all aware that there is no Aphrodite or Love-passion without a Love. True, if that Goddess were one, then Love would be one: but since there are two of her, there must needs be two Loves also. Does anyone doubt that she is double? Surely there is the elder, of no mother born, but daughter of Heaven, whence we name her Heavenly; while the younger was the child of Zeus and Dione, and her we call Popular. It follows then that of the two Loves also the one ought to be called Popular, as fellow-worker with the one of those Goddesses, and the other Heavenly. All Gods, of course, ought to be praised: but none the less I must try to describe the faculties of each of these two. For of every action it may be observed that as acted by itself it is neither noble nor base. For instance, in our conduct at this moment, whether we drink or sing or converse, none of these things is noble in itself; each only turns out to be such in the doing, as the manner of doing it may be. For when the doing of it is noble and right, the thing itself becomes noble; when wrong, it becomes base. So also it is with loving, and Love is not in every case noble or worthy of celebration, but only when he impels us to love in a noble manner.

“Now the Love that belongs to the Popular Aphrodite is in very truth popular and does his work at haphazard: this is the Love we see in the meaner sort of men; who, in the first place, love women as well as boys; secondly, where they love, they are set on the body more than the soul; and thirdly, they choose the most witless people they can find, since they look merely to the accomplishment and care not if the manner be noble or no. Hence they find themselves doing everything at haphazard, good or its opposite, without distinction: for this Love proceeds from the Goddess who is far the younger of the two, and who in her origin partakes of both female and male. But the other Love springs from the Heavenly Goddess who, firstly, partakes not of the female but only of the male; and secondly, is the elder, untinged with wantonness: wherefore those who are inspired by this Love betake them to the male, in fondness for what has the robuster nature and a larger share of mind. Even in the passion for boys you may note the way of those who are under the single incitement of this Love: they love boys only when they begin to acquire some mind—a growth associated with that of down on their chins. For I conceive that those who begin to love them at this age are prepared to be always with them and share all with them as long as life shall last: they will not take advantage of a boy's green thoughtlessness to deceive him and make a mock of him by running straight off to another. Against this love of boys a law should have been enacted, to prevent the sad waste of attentions paid to an object so uncertain: for who can tell where a boy will end at last, vicious or virtuous in body and soul? Good men, however, voluntarily make this law for themselves, and it is a rule which those ‘popular’ lovers ought to be forced to obey, just as we force them, so far as we can, to refrain from loving our freeborn women. These are the persons responsible for the scandal which prompts some to say it is a shame to gratify one's lover: such are the cases they have in view, for they observe all their reckless and wrongful doings; and surely, whatsoever is done in an orderly and lawful manner can never justly bring reproach.

“Further, it is easy to note the rule with regard to love in other cities: there it is laid down in simple terms, while ours here is complicated. For in Elis and Boeotia and where there is no skill in speech they have simply an ordinance that it is seemly to gratify lovers, and no one whether young or old will call it shameful, in order, I suppose, to save themselves the trouble of trying what speech can do to persuade the youths; for they have no ability for speaking. But in Ionia and many other regions where they live under foreign sway, it is counted a disgrace. Foreigners hold this thing, and all training in philosophy and sports, to be disgraceful, because of their despotic government; since, I presume, it is not to the interest of their princes to have lofty notions engendered in their subjects, or any strong friendships and communions; all of which Love is pre-eminently apt to create. It is a lesson that our despots learnt by experience; for Aristogeiton's love and Harmodius's friendship grew to be so steadfast that it wrecked their power. Thus where it was held a disgrace to gratify one's lover, the tradition is due to the evil ways of those who made such a law— that is, to the encroachments of the rulers and to the cowardice of the ruled. But where it was accepted as honorable without any reserve, this was due to a sluggishness of mind in the law-makers. In our city we have far better regulations, which, as I said, are not so easily grasped."

-taken from wikipedia and Plato's Symposium 180c-182d