#helenic pagan

[the-coconut-witch]

Prayer to Aphrodite:

You rise from the ocean

Salty foam drips from your hair

Longer than the sea

Brighter than the stars

You of beauty

You of love

Mother of harmony

Daughter of water

Hear my prayer

Grant me love and beauty

Grace and courage

And be with me

As a guide

A healer

A mother

Now and always

I ask this of you

Amen

[kyprigeneia]

On Balance

Today I was studying some general Hellenic concepts and I came across something that made something click in my head.

Firstly, the concept of arrêt / arete - the idea of excellence and virtue in all you do. The means of achieving this being the practitioner being not only present in their own life, but active. Being active in your own life is a concept that, to be honest, has blown me away. It's something I've been actively focusing on lately, taking the reigns and steering yourself towards whatever you desire. It's beautiful, and it's something the Theoi encourage. I love this.

Secondly, the importance of balance. I have realised that achieving arete is made far more possible if there is a sense of balance in both the spiritual and the mundane. There are many many Gods, each with their own domains and ways of being helpful to humanity, previously I might have said that I didn't understand why the ancient Greeks worshipped all twelve Olympians, or why people nowadays choose to work with a variety of deities. Today, I finally began to understand just how important that is. Building kharis with each of the Gods is a means to achieve good spiritual balance. It's enriching and expands your practice along with your life.

It seems like by combining balance and drive, striving for arete will become second nature.

[porphurios]

[yanny09]

gang can we please normalize not doing massive things as worship, good for you: you can do massive fesitvals, cook great meals for your gods, devote days and days to them. im sorry i literally cant do that i get tired from simple readings and i barely manage to play music for apollo on a good day how about i take a deep breath for my gods instead, drink a juice for them (because if i put it on my alter TRUST i will forget), find quotes on Pinterest instead of making poetry for my gods because i silently cringe while making them and say the quotes like a prayer. if its humane, you can do it for your gods regardless on extravagance. if they accept you they accept your actions too

[arttemisiia]

Lady Aphrodite 🐚🫧

Digital Offering🏛️

[candlelit-cemetary]

So, I do glamour magic in honor of working with Aphrodite. In the week that I started, I have not only been complimented on my lip shape, but also been told I smell like chocolate. And all I do is state affirmations while bathing and putting on lotion.

Don’t sleep on glamour magic.

[chthonicelf]

Yall be like “OMG THE GODS ARE SO PISSED YALL” and then describe average seasonal changes as your reasoning

“but uh oohh the days are getting shorter and the nights longer which means Artemis is mad!!”

“Its been so sunny but now its raining so Appollo is pissed”

SHUT THE FUCK UPPPPPPPPPPPPPP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

[jacobpking]

Trojan War - the Trojans

The sister piece to my chart on the Achaeans. Out of the two, this is my favourite. I spent so many hours on Helen and I'm so proud of how she turned out.

[morselmint]

Apollo Noumios

Apollo as a Protector of Pastures and Shepherds

Finally finished this piece! I was hoping to do a little more with it, but sadly, I didn't have that much time and was extremely tired at the time. This one goes primarily for my university assignment :)

[pixelxgore]

i was feeling a little silly (*ˊᗜˋ*)

This was inspired by one of @hermes-the-god 's posts ୧((〃•̀ꇴ•〃))૭⁺✧ (I like your stuff btw :3)

This makes me kinda sad

Like imagine a lover garden

siting on a bench talking to your favorite plants honoring them in this garden full of beautiful flowers

(this stems from the fact that Apollo also kinda turned one of his lovers into a plant)

Just a thought a sad one (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

[the-coconut-witch]

Happy noumenia 💞🩷🫶✨️

[stormsvoice]

Quick drawing of Athena at work

[moncher-pierrot]

Khaire, Hermes! 🧿

[certainpeanutartisantrash]

Aphrodite/Venus💕

[candlelit-cemetary]

Just wanted to let you know, if you don’t have certain pendants or jewelry for your deity, that’s ok! You could always wear a crystal in their honor and it doesn’t even have to be one accociated with them if you don’t have one. They always appreciate you.

Currently I am wearing rose quartz for Aphrodite and citrine for Apollo, gifts for them. It makes me feel whole to have a peice of them with me.

Even if you can’t get jewelry, do something else, make a poem, color a picture, do something and that still counts as an offering.

They will always be greatful. I hate when people say that gods and goddesses don’t care about us because they do. We are their prized creation. They love us in a way a mother and a father would, but that’s for another time. They appreciate all you do. Even just showering or doing your hair in their honor would please them.

Keep all of this in mind.

[c-vs-paganism]

Samhain just passed and it has once again amazed me how different cultures can be and how people within one culture dont necessarily interact with norms and traditions in the same way.

Samhain is traditionally celtic, although its been spread around the larger pagan communities for a good while, so obviously we have to take into consideration how non-pantheon specific pagans and non-celtic pagans have added to the common modern practices and beliefs. We also have to take into consideration of how the internet and the mysticization (ik ik i cant think of a better term) of paganism have played on how people view popular holidays like samhain, yule, and ostara. A lot of what we consider the typical "witchy" traditions have very little to no actual historical record or tradition, and were instead made introduced into the social culture of paganism, which we can see on platforms like tiktok. That's not to say that those new practices are less significant than historical ones, bc imo we are our own religion: we define whats important to us and base our practices off if those feelings and beliefs.

That being said, however, I think it's also important to recognize when we're making traditional practices out to be stuff their not, taking from closed cultures (*cough cough* white americans using indigenous practices *cough cough*) and when theres influence of colonization and cultural appropriation. Im indigenous and its a HUGE point that rubs me the wrong way when i see people using items or pieces of tradition that they (knowingly or unknowingly) have taken from a closed practice. Stop and do your research. ABOUT. EVERYTHING. Sorry if it's too much work or it slows you down but its so important.

Even for open practices: do your research. If you are using traditions and practices from somewhere and you dont know where it comes from there is still the potential for appropriation.

I personally urge all pagans to research every little thing. Why do certain herbs have these properties? Where does this practice come from? Just because something is available to you or you can kind of make stuff up along the way doesn't mean you should.

All this in mind, ive noticed Samhain has been merged with the modern idea of Halloween (dont give me a history lesson guys, ik the origins of halloween: im talking about commercialization) and i personally find it enjoyable. I grew up trick-or-treating, the decor is fun, etc. I know yall are bored atp but all of this was leading up to this question:

How did yall, as pagans, celebrate the past few days (if you celebrated at all)?

Im mainly just curious to see how social cultural norms in paganism span through the different sections and beliefs of the people i can reach on the internet.