#aliakay

[memoriaedamnatio]

Aliakai

TW: Antisemitism

Aliakai#0945

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The pagan YouTuber Aliakai (she/they) attempts to present herself as a community figure, but is rife with problems ranging from toxic debatebro rhetoric and misinformation to antisemitism.

She is a hypocrite, constantly railing on Christianity and the Bible, including the Old Testament, which Christians barely use, and treating the Odyssey as a Bible. This is neither historically accurate nor the intended purpose of ancient Greek myths.

Her anti-”monotheism” runs constantly throughout her platforms, and one could say this is their most consistent issue.

Tweet archived here.

As for Aliakai’s antisemitism, it requires a deeper look. In this video, we find multiple instances of their antisemitism. Referencing the Old Testament to try to defeat the Christians just ends up being antisemitic almost every time. They repeatedly bring up Elohim and specifically Jewish stories in their attempt to “debunk” or “out-logic” Christianity. The Old Testament isn’t meant to be a strict rulebook - it’s also a collection of stories, a fact which Aliakai seems to purposefully ignore.

They talk about Sodom and Gomorrah and the sins committed therein as if the two cities were not specifically written to be bad examples. Additionally, ancient Greeks famously abducted women as the spoils of war. It is incredibly hypocritcal to judge mythical Sodom and Gomorrah without even a mention of the known, historical practices in ancient Greece. She then ties homophobia to the fact that God smote people with hemorrhoids, once again, in a Jewish tale. She is aware that the infamous Leviticus quote is likely about pederasty, but continues to use it to try to posture Judaism and Christianity as inferior anyway.

Aliakai criticizes the God of the Old Testament for smiting Job when Apollo also smites Cassandra in an equally cruel manner.

She then claims that Exodus is actually about punishing Egyptian gods and that the pharaoh is somehow the true victim in the story, not the enslaved Jews.

She also implies everyone takes the Bible literally, committing the common fallacy of equating all Christians with dangerous evangelicals. There is no “common Christian theology” as she claims. They are also condescending to trinitarians, while simultaneously assuming all christians are trinitarians. The text of the Bible does explicitly refer to the Trinity, contrary to their statement.

Any attempt to try to find plotholes in the Bible is pointless, and the amount of time and energy Aliakai wastes is akin to an atheist in 2016.

Here are some furtner examples of Aliakai’s antisemitism:

(Archived first link)(Archived second link)

Here she implies Christianity and Judaism are the same faith, which anyone knowledgeable in either should be able to tell you is both incorrect and a dangerous statement.

(Archived here)

This shows an incredibly poor understanding of how religious oppression is currently functioning in society, and again demonstrates their anti-monotheism. Do we need to discuss Myanmar’s militant Buddhist genocide of Rohingya Muslims, for example? Or Hindu lynchings of Muslims? The list goes on.

Aliakai’s archived talk for the Hindutva org Indica here. To her credit, she did sever her relationship with Indica (archived). However, for a politically inclined youtuber who can research, this is a dangerous lack of vetting. Same can be said of the others who partook, of course.

Despite disavowing Indica, they never disavowed Butler, who is undeniably a fascist. In fact, Aliakai continues to recommend Edward Butler a year after the community-wide revelation of his fascism.

Here is her only acknowledgement of Butler's fascism (archived), without explicitly agreeing or disagreeing with the blogger's criticism of him.

In this Tweet (archived), they are making a lot of assumptions about Butler here and being too generous.

They give Butler a lot of leniency despite his years-long, public love affair with fascism. This is an extremely weak willed response to finding out an associate is fascist. This is not antifascism. This is not accountability.

In this video, Aliakai tries to present a case for making an SPG more official of Ares and mental health. In this video, around 8:03, she hints that Ares is the god of police officers who brutalize protesters. Considering police brutality and the unjust use of police violence, this is incredibly insensitive and quite racist. Police do not have anything to do with justice, and claiming as much for a shared community experience is bold.

Performing a Hellenic ritual for Ukraine with a Heathen without involving any Slavic pagans is morally questionable, as is claiming Ukraine is dedicated to Demeter’s arts. This is an act of further colonialism against a country currently being invaded by imperialist forces.

Asking viewers not to invoke Eris simply because of personal beef for a supposedly aid based ritual is infantile.

[honoringthor]

Dionysus Is A Queer Icon

[sayjoisme84]

How to Research History

[thors-daughtersthoughts]

Watch "18 Pitfalls Beginning Pagans Should Watch Out For" on YouTube

[will-one-with-the-bees]

If it is not safe for you to pray out lead because of many reasons, then that is OK as the gods can hear you if you pray in your head. As Odysseus does it in The Odyssey (5 440-444).

I must say you don’t have to pray everyday so never feel pressured to do so I personally pray to Aristeaus every Monday, Athena every Tuesday, and Hermes every Wednesday. I tried to pray to all three once a day but it just wasn’t working.

A special thanks to Aliakai’s great video on prayer that I got the information about Odysseus (as I haven’t read The Odyssey yet but plan to once I read The Iliad)

[that-cunning-witch]

How do the gods interact with you? How do you know they approve/disapprove of a particular offering or action? How does that mutual connection that a lot of people talk about manifest?

This is a huge question to unpack because it really depends based on what you're looking at. Mediterranian, Celtic, Asian, etc.

I would love to answer your question and I've been pondering for a couple days on how to answer this question. I think the best I can do for now is talk about *my* experience and *my* perspective as a Hellenic Polytheist and just keep in the back of your brain that this is not universal whatsoever.

I'm gonna go a bit out of order with your question. I'll answer your third question first, then your second question, and then finally the first one. Hope that makes sense!

In Hellenic Polytheism, the basis of maintaining relationships with the gods is referred to as kharis. While there isn't one definition as this word isn't exactly translatable in English, the best I can describe kharis is the act and upkeeping of cyclical reciprocity. You give time, worship, offering, love, etc. to the gods and they give in return. Your kharis to the gods is not built on wanting things from them but rather loving them unconditionally.

But how do you know this cycle of kharis is being maintained on the god's part? If part of kharis is maintained with offerings, how do you know they accepted the offering?

In Ancient Greece, a lot more could be done. Specifically by looking at the remains of sacrificed animals to see if they were perfect. If they were imperfect, that meant the gods didn't accept the offering. However, for several (hopefully obvious) reasons, this isn't done any more and shouldn't be done anymore. Aliakai has a great video explaining why animal/meat offerings shouldn't be done anymore. Note that this is the opinion/beliefs of some helpols, not all. Some still choose to sacrifice meat product and that's totally okay, that doesn't make them any less of a helpol! But what does this have to do with anything?

Well, if we can't figure out the god's approval that way, what can we do instead? Feel happy!

When giving an offering, if you feel happiness, an overwhelming sensation of joy, or just overall positivity, then that's the gods expressing their happiness with you. Think of the Kharites and how they're the personification of happiness and joy if that helps. However, if you don't feel anything or feel negativity about the offering, chances are that's the god(s) disapproving of the offering.

Something to note here is that feeling anxiety does not automatically mean it failed. As someone who has a big problem with always feeling anxious and wondering "am I doing the right thing?" feeling that anxiety in the back of the brain can be worrying as you begin to spiral and wonder if it all failed and if it's your fault. The answer is no. I've noticed that when I cleanse myself prior to ritual/prayer/offering, it helps my brain calm down and I'm able to shelf away my anxiety-ridden thoughts for the time being. However, I know that won't work for everyone. The best I can say is that as long as you feel happiness or joy somewhere, that's the gods approving of the offering. Once you get that message for the first time, the anxiety quickly becomes less and less with each additional offering you give to the gods over time.

We now look at the first question. How do the gods interact with you? This varies from person to person, but there are several ways they can contact you and speak with you:

Divination (ex: tarot cards, oracle cards, psephoi, etc.)

Symbols connected to the god in question appearing (sun rays filling your house despite being cloudy earlier, sudden rain or thunderstorm, spider in your room, rainbows, butterflies flying around you, etc.)

Sensing their presence via the clairsenses (clairaudience, clairvoyance, clairsentience, etc. but please make sure that you don't have any physical or mental conditions as what may be a clairsense may actually be a symptom of a larger problem)

Seeing them or their symbols in a dream

An offering or gift from them (ex: you've never worked with Athena before but you somehow pass an exam you didn't think you would pass)

This list is not exhaustive in any way!

One last thing: a lot of the time when people ask about how the gods interact with us a reason they're asking is because they want to know when a god is contacting them to work with them. Several cultures have different ideas on who should contact who first, but in Ancient Greece, humans are supposed to be the ones to contact the gods first. There are obviously exceptions, but overall, it's typically the gods that are doing the waiting.

According to Porphyry in Life of Plotinus (also referred to as The Enneads by Plotinus, but Porphyry was an editor), "Amelius was fond of sacrifices, and used to busy himself with rites of the new moon, and rites to allay fears. He once tried to get Plotinus to participate with him, but Plotinus said: 'They must come to me, not I to them.' We did not know what consideration led him to make such a grand pronouncement, and did not have the nerve to ask him."

I hope this answers your question anon! Feel free to send in another ask if needed

[diana-thyme]

love your stuff! any good resources for someone who wants to work with the hellenic/ancient greek pantheon but doesn’t know how to start? very much appreciated thanks so so much :]

Hello and thank you!

All of these resources are on r/Hellenism, I recommend going there if you have more questions. Use the search bar!

Theoi.com provides the basics of each deity.

This is a beginners guide to Hellenism.

Some resources and answers to common questions can be found here.

This is a terminology list.

Here is a Hellenism calendar, the one I personally follow.

Here are some answers to even more questions.

Here is a small reading list, with a more extensive one listed as well. I’d also recommend “Household Worship” by Labrys.

Some YouTubers listed include Pic the Pagan, Aliakai, Fel the Blithe, and Elani Temperance. I do not watch videos about Hellenism, but many people have found them informative.

And here is a list of books, sites, blogs, etc.

When first starting out, I recommend figuring out what works for you. Some people make Khernips and cleanse themselves every time they speak to the Gods. Some people do rituals. Some people are more casual, like me.

Find a deity or two that you’re the most interested in. I started out with Aphrodite, she appealed to me the most and I already had stuff to build an altar for her. Start worshipping them. Light a candle, offer some food or water, make a small altar if you want. The goal is to figure out if Hellenism is for you. If it isn’t, tell your deities and be polite about it. If it is, continue worshipping, building your relationship, and even adding more deities to your altars. There are plenty of resources about historical and UPG offerings. I’d be glad to talk about any deity you’re interested in!

Good luck!

[valuesofold]

* Kharis *

This is one of the central concepts of Hellenism, at its basic level we can say it talks about the reciprocity between us and the theoi.

>> Kharis in greek can mean multiple things, "from beauty to joy, delight, kindness, good will, grace, favor, benefit, boon, charm, attraction, appeal, elegance, gracefulness, pleasure, cheerfulness, wit, gratitude, thankfulness and gratification", as said in baringtheaegis' blog. But another word that isn't mentioned and can also fit here is charity.

The way we most often achieve this is by the giving of gifts to the gods but also as a thank you for prayers, favour given to you by the gods or just to keep up a relationship with them, this the basis for this reciprocal relationship in Hellenism. In short this means that you should give out of your own free will, love and thanks to the theoi, and in turn they might or not choose to also give you something back, be it the answer for your prayer or anything else. This relationship shouldn't be forced on either side.

Sometimes some people have this idea that if you pray you must receive an answer, or worse that you can bribe the gods with an offering, this is not true, it completely goes against kharis. If you gave something to your good friend because you wanted to, you wouldn't expect them to give something back to you, even if you went and mentioned it. This also shouldn't be grounds to end your relationship. It should be the same way with the gods, they only heed your request if they wish.

>> We must always strive to build a relationship with our gods, simply praying and making devotional acts also allows us to build Kharis with them. It is built on a cycle of offering and praise to the gods which builds our relationship with them, if they do decide to look upon these acts favourably then it is expected that we once more offer and praise them, creating this endless cycle for as long as we worship them.

>> I want to end this post with the long but accurate definition given by Aliakai in one of their videos:

“Kharis in ancient Greek meant many things. Calling it reciprocity and gift exchange hints at its meaning and purpose in Hellenism, but barely scratches the surface. Etymologically, it manes favour, goodwill, but also gratitude, thanks, influence, delight, gratification, grace, and elegance. […] it can mean a grace or favour felt on the part of the doer, but more frequently on part of the receiver, in the form of thankfulness and gratitude. It means a favour or gift returned, the delight of that return, a thing done for another’s sake and the pleasure it is done for. […] These favours are freely done, out of kindness, and this is how it is used when we refer to the Gods and the gift exchange between us and Them. The Gods need nothing of us, but through Their greatness and our Love of Them, we offer, and build our relationships through a lifetime. Kharis is the purpose of offering, but also its action. It’s a word that embodies layers of concepts in ancient religion and wraps itself in prayer, ritual, spectacle, festival. It is, for lack of a more concise definition, the culmination of the relationship each individual has built with each God and also the Gods as a whole, along with the community’s standing in the eyes of the Gods and God in question.”

---

Resources Used:

https://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2012/07/kharis-our-relationship-with-gods.html

https://www.tumblr.com/greeknatty/652264171243765760/kharis-the-reciprocal-relationship-with-the-gods

[hellenic-reconstructionism]

Aliakai spreads so much misinformation, my god

[khaire-traveler]

Hi there! Do you have any YouTube Channel / Podcast suggestions for those wishing to learn more about Greek Polytheism & Roman Polytheism? I do a lot of delivery driver work and so I’m looking for something auditory I can listen to to learn while I’m working.

Thank you 🙏🏻

Hey, Nonny, thanks for the ask!

Glad to find a fellow delivery driver on here! c:

Personally, I don't really listen to podcasts nor do I watch Hellenic polytheist YouTube channels. I have watched the YT channel Aliakai who has some interesting content, but that's about it lol. She did have some videos that would probably be fun to listen to as you're driving, such as one about Hellenic household gods and one about the origins of Hell (not specifically Helpol but I found it interesting).

I heard Aliakai had gotten into some kind of drama within the community (I believe on her discord server), but I'm unsure what the details of this are or if it was some made-up bs. I'm not sure where you'd be able to find more information on that.

Along with Aliakai, I've heard (but not watched) that Fel the Blithe on YT has some interesting content. I'm unsure what all Fel talks about, but their channel might be worth a look for you. I also know @teawiththegods has a YT channel where he posts a podcast, if I remember correctly. Not sure if she's still running it currently, but you can at least watch/listen to older entries of his. You might enjoy that. c:

I know this isn't the most helpful answer ever, but I hope I could at least give you some place to start! Take care, and have a wonderful day/night. 🧡

[will-o-the-witch]

hey rabbit r u still practicing helpol? what r ur thoughts on aliakai? apparently theyre antisemitic??

I haven't practiced hellenic polytheism in probably around 3 years now. I've never heard of that person so I can't speak to it one way or another.

[thewitchfarhan]

Academic Texts Are *Typically* Not Accessible - Any Suggestions?

Context: As someone with a bachelors degree (I have a bachelors in Social Work and double minors in Psychology and Gender Studies), I am privileged enough to have been taught how to read academic literature.

However, just because I know *how* to read and analyze these texts - doesn’t mean that it is always easy for me.

I’ve been watching a lot of Aliakai on YouTube and while their videos are an AMAZING wealth of information - the sheer amount of academic language makes them feel somewhat inaccessible when I am not in the space to analyze what they are saying. Or - to put it another way - sometimes the words are too complex and I have a hard time understanding what is being said.

Does anyone have any recommendations for YouTube videos and/or Documentaries that help explain Hellenic Paganism to beginners using language that is more accessible and easy to understand? I’m looking for something aimed at beginners.

~ Errosthe - Be Well 🌾

[honoringthor]

How to Research History

[sayjoisme84]

What Is Cultural Appropriation Anyway?

[ciceroandthelistener]

holy shit aliakai is posting again

[avatar216]

My Not Great View of Poly Pagans

 I have had the unfortunate displeasure of encountering what I call Poly Pagans. I am a Norse/Kemetic Pagan and I've noticed an increase of promotion of polyamory in the community online, especially on different Discords and Facebook as well as a little on Reddit.  The main reason I'm posting this is because it's kind of creeping me out that these people insist that certain historical figures didn't cheat on their wives they probably were just poly. They also seem to have a love-hate relationship with the concept of divorce. On the one hand they said it's a freedom that gets two people who aren't compatible away from each other but at the same time they also said that they wouldn't pay child support or alimony if they were ordered to. They also try to reinterpret mythological stories that are clearly there to point out why cheating is bad especially for children namely due to having to raise a child that isn't yours against your will and how that can affect the child because they will feel unloved. This particular person insisted that it was their right because it was their body, and well, their children will just have to deal with it.  They also literally said that cheating is a derogatory word and that polyamorous people don't cheat because it's all consensual. They also literally said that cheating is a derogatory word and that polyamorous people don't cheat. They also like to reinterpret mythological and even biblical texts to support their lifestyle when they're not actively reframing a story about how cheating is bad and harmful that is. This is still nothing in the face of them trying to insist that certain historical figures were poly and not cheaters. I even saw one of these idiots try to do this with Henry VIII. They insist that because most marriages were not about love historically, that must have meant that polyamory was the norm and monogamy a diseased exception. What these people fail to understand is that this often mainly applied to the really wealthy and or to people who are really trying to get a leg up in society because people just married someone they knew whether that be for Love or not and yes Arranged marriages were common in a lot of places but that doesn't mean there wasn't love between those people. An arranged marriage is not necessarily a forced marriage because some people do want to have an arranged marriage because it makes their life easier since they don't have to be the ones to do all the hard work of settling things financially oftentimes among other things. What they seem to fail to understand is that marriages were for stability as well as status whether that be through social or economic means. Love was viewed as detrimental to marriage because they knew people would do stupid things in the name of love like running away with the stable boy, which would lead to the ruination of the whole family and even one's own future children and grandchildren. One's actions affected everyone in the whole family and even the whole community sometimes. Cross post from Reddit.

P.S: Edit to Add. I don't care if I sound hateful, but this is not rage bait or whatever the fuck the internet calls it. I experience this stuff on Ocean Keltoi's Discord and elsewhere. I'm not just going to assume that people know that the Hellenist YouTuber Aliakai is one of the people like this, which did not surprise me when I found out about her because she sounded sketchy in some of her stuff. She always talked about money and seemed to whine when she thought she deserved more.