#Theoi devotee

[skively]

— Aphrodite is iridescence, like the shimmer of pearls and seashells, like glittering jewels in the sea

[ivettaflowerblooom]

I begin to sing of Pallas Athena, the glorious goddess, bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities, courageous, Tritogeneia.

Homeric hympn to Athena.

[apollophanes]

Αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν οὐ λήξω ἑκηβόλον Ἀπόλλωνα ὑμνέων ἀργυρότοξον, ὃν ἠύκομος τέκε Λητώ. And I will never cease to praise far-shooting Apollo, god of the silver bow, whom rich-haired Leto bare.

- From: Homeric Hymn 3, To Delian Apollo

[whispereddeathworship]

Do not tell me that Thanatos hates humanity,

for how is death to hate us if He is there to greet us at the end

Do not tell me that Thanatos hates humanity,

for how is death to hate us if He stays with our bones as they decay

Do not tell me that Thanatos hates humanity,

for how is death to hate us when He holds us in our grief

[theholydivines]

trust in the Gods 🤍 they have a path for you, even if it seems scary. they are with you, always.

[thewhisperofzagreus]

The Triumph of Bacchus, 1875 - oil on canvas.

— Gustave Moreau (France, 1826–1898)

[gothicaphrodite]

Apollo 🎻 goth playlist

Summoning of the Muse Dead Can Dance

Angel Light This Ascension

Blood Citadel Bedless Bones

Apollo Soror Dolorosa

Cassandra Theatre of Tragedy

Sister of Charity The 69 Eyes

Prophecy The Shroud

Temporal Love SRSQ

Sunlight Vandal Moon

Musette and Drums Cocteau Twins

As Bright as a Thousand Suns Arcana

Remedy Mors Syphilitica

Daphne Lycia

The Fortune Teller Echoberyl

Are You the One? Miranda Sex Garden

YouTube playlist 🎻 Other devotional goth Theoi playlists

[orquid-girl]

Kinda messy collage but this is how I see and feel Artemis; as I continue to learn about her, the more I resonate with her and I see how I embody her. She reminds me of the way I was in my early teens; angry, inspired, encountering feminism, being that outspoken young girl that made the older insecure women want to hush, telling my mom "I don't see myself having a family with a man... instead with a woman" at 14 and my mother till this day not seeing me as a queer woman.

As I encounter Artemis; I encounter myself.

She makes me stand up for myself and other women. She is the force that is clear on who she is outside of the lenses of patriarchy and invites me, and you, to claim that. She has a stern stare yet soft when you meet her gaze. She wants us to stand tall and aim at our goals with pride.

As I encounter Artemis; I encounter acceptance.

[ts-witchy-archive]

Hestia Devotional Activities

I was cleaning my room last night and found this list on a random piece of paper. I've been worshipping/working with Lady Hestia for roughly 2 years now so I have no idea when these ideas are from but I hope you enjoy!

Pick up rubbish in communal areas

Offer the first or last bites/portions of food your to her

Cooking/baking for yourself or others

Having a candle lit whenever possible (electric or real)

Alternatively, playing a video of a fire place. (This is my favourite)

Volunteering at or donating to homeless or DV shelters

Setting healthy boundaries with friends and family

Tea/Coffee magick is always a great devotional opportunity

Get involved with your local community in anyway possible.

Additionally, getting involved in politics! Advocating for policies you believe will better the community is absolutely in alignment with Hestia and her role in ancient Greece.

Allow yourself to rest (this is UPG but i've always found that she just wants you to take care of yourself more than anything).

Do a chore you've been putting off for a long time and dedicate it to her

Organise to hang out with some friends and/or family

Be kind to others AND YOURSELF!!

Veil or bind your hair!

Wear something red or orange (I normally opt for a red hair tie and bind my hair with it. 2 birds, 1 stone)

Make a devotional playlist for her

While we're on the topic of digital witchcraft, make a pinterest board or a mood board for her

Learn about kitchen witchery

[to-hypnos-we-dream]

Prayer to Hypnos to Remember your Dreams

"Oh God of Rest, Divine one who delivers us visions at nightfall, winged God Hypnos who brings us these gifts we hold so gently to our soul I call upon you in prayer. Fog claims the gifts you offer, To remember your visions is what I need. May my rest be offering to you, may my interpretation be offering to you. Hypnos hear this call and so I will remember the dreams I have. Thank you for listening to this prayer."

[virgils-hymns]

Αφροδιτη Αρεια

Aphrodite Areia

Αρεια (Areia) — the warlike, of Ares

Armed Aphrodite Statue

All across the world, hate and turmoil seem to be making themselves known, infecting our leaders and those we should be able to look up to. May Lady Aphrodite protect our heads from the onslaught of hate, and may our warlike goddess defend us from any harm that may come our way.

[fabledfoxglove]

ᴀʀᴛᴇᴍɪs • ɢᴏᴅᴅᴇss ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɴᴛ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴ, ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ, ᴡɪʟᴅʟɪғᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ ᴏғ ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɢɪʀʟs

[ivettaflowerblooom]

La Danse Triomphale de Pallas Athénée

Statue of Athena in Paris. She is also supposed to be holding a spear in her hands

[ceremonialthing]

left the house late so i said a quick prayer to Lord Hermes asking for help. i arrived five minutes early. thank you Hermes :)

[gold-mouse]

Updated altar(s) with some fresh offerings for everyone ^^ they got essential oils that reminded me of them (Aphrodite has wildflower scents, Hestia has a HEARTH FIRE scent -the whole reason I got the essential oil pack- and Apollon has sweet orange scent)! Apollon also got orange juice and some chocolate that I will be eating later:3 and a new candle! Hestia's is new too, I work with her mainly and so her candles are lit the most often. I add something personal to all my store-bought candles, so for example Lady Aphrodite has rose petals and Lord Apollon has some extra orange wax. Not sure what to put in Lady Hestia's yet, but I'm thinking some cinnamon would look cute^^

They also have their tarot cards though a little hidden under all the other stuff, and my jewelry. While searching for something to put on Aphrodite's altar I found a 10 Karat golden bracelet??? Noone in the family knew we even had anything of that value but I'm taking this find as a good sign haha:D

Apollon has been sending me a shitton of crows (we don't see them often here, so to come across at least like 120+ crows in one car ride was very unexpected and, probably a sign as I've been neglecting his and Lady Aphrodite's altars.) so he got a little more than the others today, as an apology for the lack of attention he's been getting from me. What else hmmm... I cleaned and reorganized my pet mouse, Trinket's enclosure as a devotional act to him as I've heard he's associated with mice a lot. Idk man life's been good, I found out through some readings from others that I've been hexed but Hestia protected me from most of it, I started a new sport that I finally enjoy and I clean my space much more often since I started worshipping the gods. Yay.

[light-of-delphi]

On Worshipping Lord Apollo;

I've decided to start a little series about the deities I worship, have worshipped, and will worship in the future. I've always found posts like these to be more helpful and, if I can help anyone, I think this is an amazing way to to so. In this post, I'm going to cover a lot, so buckle up! And I will make a master post for all of the posts I make in this series.

First up! Lord Apollo.

Hands down, he is the deity with whom I have the most experience and personal anecdotes. Apollo has been in my life since the very beginning. I go into a little bit more detail in this post, in which I detail how I view him as a worshipper, my patron, and a godspouse. For information's sake, however, I will try to keep this post a little bit more factual than UPG. UPG stands for "Unverified personal gnosis", which refers to a spiritual belief that stems from intuition or personal spiritual experience. So, while UPG may seem to line up with mythos or just "make sense" for the deity, it varies from practitioner to practitioner and from relationship to relationship. With that being said, I'll focus mostly on the facts with some little bit of advice thrown in from your older brother :)

Correspondences!

First, let's talk correspondences. Consider this a little cheat sheet if you will.

☀︎ You can refer to him by Apollo / Apollon, typically he will clarify which. Many regard him as "Lord Apollo/n", though it is fully dependent on your relationship with him. I drop the Lord unless I'm praying or invoking him, such is the nature of our relationship. For the sake of this post, I shall be referring to him formally as Lord Apollo.

☀︎ He has... a lot of epithets. You can view them here (theoi.com) if you'd like to see a full list.

☀︎ Apollo is typically associated with Sunday, and such is associated with the Sun.

☀︎ He has many sacred animals - The raven, dolphin, swan, mouse, and wolves.

☀︎ Tarot-wise, he is associated primarily, and most commonly, with The Sun. He has also been associated with The Star, though I do not see this one in many sources.

☀︎ He is the God of a plethora of things. The Sun (he is responsible for pulling it across the sky), Light, Poetry, Music, the arts, plague, prophecy, logic and reason, truth, beauty, agriculture, and archery. I am sure I'm missing things. And if you know other deities to be associated similarly, that is okay. Many Gods can share domains and rule over certain things.

☀︎ He is associated with the colors red, white, orange, yellow, and gold!

☀︎ Symbolically, he is related to the Sun, the Lyre, the Bow and Arrow, and the Laurel Wreath.

☀︎ For incense, he is linked to frankincense, myrrh, cypress, clove, cinnamon, and bay.

But that is a lot of correspondence. What can we do with these? Why, I'm glad you asked! With this list of correspondences, we can start to worship Apollo by the book. These would be some more traditional things that would assist you in learning what you want to offer him, what to associate with him, and what you should keep an eye out for. In a later section, I go over some familial ties that can prove useful as well.

Apollo, as an individual

Lord Apollo has typically been regarded as a "beginner deity." He is very easy to work with, incredibly receptive, and is universally known as being a little more laid back with things such as offerings, prayer, and worship. Though I've found all deities to be understanding of circumstance, there is no strict schedule unless you decide to adhere to one.

At the start of our relationship, I found Lord Apollo's energy to be rather bright. I was very new to picking up on spiritual energy and the metaphysical, so his energy felt very overbearing, and we did not spend much in-person time together because of this. He was understanding of my limitations, but he did not hesitate to push these limitations as much as he could for my personal development. This is something he continues to do to this day.

While he does tend to carry himself rather relaxed and carefree, he has no issue being serious and stern whenever needed. If there were signs he was sending me and I would intentionally ignore them because they pointed in directions I did not like, he would respond sternly and ferociously, forcing me to face the negative sooner or figuratively shoving my nose in the signs so I couldn't avoid it. If I needed to face a brutally honest truth, he had no issue being brutally honest. This makes sense, considering he is the God of Truth and Knowledge.

Lord Apollo is also very playful. He's easily excitable. He loves seeing the people he works with make good progress. And if you take a few steps back, depending on your relationship, he is absolutely there to catch you. He is reliable and present. Additionally, he likes attention. He absolutely adores being talked about, thought about, referenced, and thanked. He adores being said good morning to, or even just getting a wave. Some people regard such deities as "high maintenance", but I really just consider it part of his character.

You have every right to decline to work with a deity, by the way. Don't feel as though there's any obligation to work with every deity that is considered "of your skill level", as there is no such thing, and you should only work with a deity once you are ready. The Old Gods do not come with stats above their head and white text that says "PREFERRED LEVEL." They are Gods. You should not get involved with them if you do not feel ready. And even if you feel ready, there is no pressure to invite them into your life.

Worshipping Tips!

This one is a bit lengthy. Apollo, being one of the twelve Olympians, has a lot of lore surrounding him. But this gives us a lot to work with! You can devote time to him in a lot of ways. This involves worshipping or leaving offerings to his family!

His mother is Leto, his father is Zeus, and his twin sibling is Artemis. Familially, he is not married to anyone, but he has had a series of lovers. One account says he was, at one point, a lover to Hekate and together they had Skylla, a sea monster. Though this is unusual. He was said to be a lover to each of the Nine Muses but married none. He fell in love with a myriad of nymphs; Aethusa who birthed Eleuther, Akakallis who birthed him twins Philanderos and Philakides, Daphne who was turned into a laurel tree, and more. There's famously Hyacinthous, a prince, who was accidentally killed. Hymenaeus, another prince, and Cyparisus, another prince, who died of grief and was transformed into the cypress tree.

This gives us a whole lot to work with. Especially for offerings! You can leave him a lot of things:

☀︎ Cypress tree leaves or seeds. ☀︎ Bay leaves ☀︎ Laurel leaves ☀︎ Sun imagery - charms, pictures, drawings, anything. ☀︎ Crystals - Sunstone, citrine, tiger's eye, amber, bumblebee jasper, orange selenite, carnelian, and other yellow, red, or orange stones. ☀︎ Coffee, energy drinks, or anything with caffeine in it. ☀︎ Citrus! Oranges and lemons! Grapefruit! ☀︎ Flowers - Hyacinths, sunflowers, orange roses, larkspur/delphinium, palm, aloe, or any plant that reminds you of him. ☀︎ Instruments - String instruments are the main thing people offer, however you can offer him any instrument. ☀︎ Art - Things you made. Drawings, sculptures, compositions, poetry, paintings, song lyrics, photography, literally anything you made with your two hands.

In terms of what you can do to worship him, there are a few things you can do.

☀︎ Maintain your physical and mental health. Go to the gym, take your medicine, and positively affirm yourself. ☀︎ Sing for or with him. Play an instrument. Learn an instrument! ☀︎ Write short stories or poetry. ☀︎ Go outside and bask in the sun for a little while. ☀︎ Say Good Morning and Goodnight; Thank him for pulling the sun across the sky. ☀︎ Write about him. ☀︎ Draw him offerings, or draw in his honor. Create in his honor. ☀︎ Do a paint-and-sip class, or follow a Bob Ross tutorial. ☀︎ Pick up a new creative hobby. ☀︎ Volunteer at a local hospital or nursing home. ☀︎ Grow some of the plants that are sacred to him! ☀︎ Go to your local museum or art gallery. ☀︎ Support small artists! Support local artists! ☀︎ Create a hymn in his name and honor. ☀︎ Wear jewelry with his symbols on it. I wear a sun necklace! ☀︎ Wear perfumes or colognes that are citrus-scented or scented like any of his preferred incense.

At the end of the day, you can really do whatever you want for Lord Apollo if it reminds you of him. And you can give him whatever you want, so long as it reminds you of him. If you think that it may not mean anything to him, let me give you a bit of brotherly insight. Offerings were left for The Old Gods as a thank you. A form of appreciation for the divine from the physical, mortal plane. People left whatever they had. And if they had nothing, they would pray and hope to be heard. While offerings are not optional, remember that your words count, as well. Even if it seems small.

And if you have any questions, as usual, please ask!! I love talking about Apollo. Not only am I godspoused to him but he's one of my biggest hyperfixations and I absolutely love talking about him and spreading his teachings and information on him. So this is me begging you to ask me questions, ask me anything, literally anything in the comments or in my inbox I will eat it up. Maybe I'll open up a brotherly advice box or something. Non lo so, ma vedremo!

Blessed be, and may the sun be your guide! A domani!