#tiresias worship

[wisdom-devotee]

31 DAYS OF HELPOL: Day Fourteen and Fifteen

Do you have any hobbies that fit into your deities’ domains?

I consider writing (poetry and narrative) to be under Athena’s domains of crafting and wisdom. Literature analysis too. And I suppose in part, using this blog to share knowledge about Hellenic Polytheism and have discussions about it definitely fits under Her. I don’t think any of my hobbies fit under any of my other deities, but divination is definitely a Tiresias thing for heroes.

How has your worship changed you?

It’s made me more motivated. Happier. Helped me connect to the world around me, people online, my family, and of course my Gods and Heroes. It’s made me learn things about myself like what I value, what interests me, what I need and what I’m looking for. It’s changed my outlook on life, people, history, and the world.

[uponsteppingstones]

🪶 . . . sorceress, & minor goddess of magic.

Circe (or Kirke) is a goddess of magic and a skilled sorceress who is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. daughter of Helios and Perseis, a sea nymph, she resides on the island of Aeaea where she encounters Odysseus.

Circe meets Odysseus when his travelling companions enter her palace after reaching Aeaea. however, before joining them, Odysseus meets Hermes, who instructs him to take a magic herb before he speaks with Circe, who will attempt to enchant him too.

having resisted her enchantment, Circe becomes enamoured with Odysseus, and swears and oath to do no more mischief to him and his men in exchange for him laying with her. she turns his travelling companions from swine back into men, and they bring their ship ashore and spend a year and a day feasting with Circe and the nymphs of her palace and living in comfort.

following this, though, Odysseus is reminded by his men they should go on - and so, instructing him in the art of necromancy, or what must be done to reach the underworld, Circe tells him he must travel to the realm of Hades to meet the prophet Tiresias. she sets his men off when the wind is favourable, with instructions of how to safely pass the island of the Sirens.

🪶 . . . powerful enchantress.

Circe is often described as a fearsome goddess, and her island is said to be inhabited by lions and wolves who were once men. being a daughter of Helios, she is beautiful and radiant, with particularly lovely hair, but is said to be a very powerful sorceress. in the Odyssey, Homer gives her the epithet Polypharmakos (or knowing many drugs or charms), because of her detailed knowledge of herbs and enchantments. in addition to her potions and tinctures, Circe also wielded a magic wand with which she could enchant or transform.

🪶 . . . worship & modern times.

Circe was the subject of some cult worship (or hero-worship) in ancient Greece, but similar to some other mythological figures has been reimagined in modern times in a more positive light to how she was understood in wider society due to a view of her as a powerful, free woman. in her role as a goddess of magic, she may also be embedded in some people's practice of witchcraft in the modern era.

I don't personally work with Circe, though! she is a goddess I am very interested in, but I have never interacted with her myself, so if any of you have experiences communicating with or working with her I'd love to hear about them!

[just-a-mer]

Odysseus returns both gestures to the fullest, holding as firmly as possible and letting the kiss overflow with love impossible to express. Perhaps that earlier naivety from his childhood had returned, but the siren couldn't stop himself from feeling hopeful. It was a sensation he hadn't experienced in a long time and was one he desperately needed.

To be able to help one person he loved; it was a relief. "I will." He confirms. "Even if this doesn't work, I'll be here with you through it all. We'll make new memories if all else fails. I'll tell our stories to you."

"Tir, my star, I found them!" Odysseus yells, quickly swimming to the shore and grabbing the prophet's hand. Even without the sight of his shaking and drenched form, Tiresias can hear Odysseus' quick breaths.

It was hard for a mer to gather information that didn't travel among the sea foam, but a passing ship and a human on board had finally given him the answer he'd been searching for. At least, the one he had hoped would be it.

ooc: I know we have the other rp going on, but I couldn't wait to send this ask in hsbsjsms /silly

[ they jumped at the touch, grasping their love’s hand as an anchor to help ground them ]

“What—who—?—Love, please! You’re shaking; settle, then you can tell me everything.”

[mask131]

The myth of Dionysos (1)

What’s better to complete this Christmas season, alongside some Arthuriana and some ghost stories, than some Greek mythology?

There is a great book in France that serves as a key research reference, and that is called the Dictionary of Literary Myths, composed under the direction of Pierre Brunel. Within this bookthere are several articles covering the complexity and evolution of the Greek gods, both within their own mythology and within European literature as a whole (with a strong focus on French literature, of course, being a French book). Given I do not know if the book was ever translated or not, I thought I’d share some of the text within it. And to begin, I will focus on one of the several articles dedicated to Dionysos – the god you English speakers known as “Dionysus” (even though the whole -us thing stays completely weird for me who grew up with all the Greek names ending in -os). This first article, written by Alain Moreau, is titled “The Antique Dionysos: The Elusive One”, and as the title says, it is a study of the figure of Dionysos within Antiquity.

I will offer here a vaguely-faithful translation of the text – and given it is a longarticle, I will break it down over several parts.

THE ANTIQUE DIONYSOS: THE ELUSIVE ONE

Of all the gods of Olympus, Dionysos is the one whose character is the hardest to define. Despite his many historical uses and the numerous interpretations of mythologists, we cannot fully understand the god. His origins, his childhood, his physical appearance, his behavior, his role in the city, his symbolism… It is all rich, all complex, all fleeting. Dionysos is the god of metamorphosis: the elusive one.

I) The origins: Old god, new god

The impossibility to confine Dionysos within a specific setting already manifests in the beginning of this investigation: the research of the god’s origins is puzzling. There is no doubt that Dionysos is a very ancient god. He was called “Dendrites”, “god of the tree” – and he was even depicted with branches growing out of his chest – which links him to the oldest deities of vegetation and fecundity, the ancient mother-goddesses. For example, the Greek Demeter: Callimachus’ Hymn to Demeter says “Everything that huts Demeter also hurts Dionysos”, and Pindar names him “the consort of Demeter” in his Isthmics. Dionysos is also linked to Cybele, and though her to the Syrian goddess Kubaba – the Dionysos-Cybele link is made clear in Euripides’ Bacchants. There is also the Phrygian mother-goddess Zemelo, whose name sounds strangely like Dionysos’ mother’s, Semele. And all these deities were worshiped in Asia Minor, in Thrace, in Crete, and in the Aegean world. In Athens, very ancient festivals partially celebrate him; Anthesteria, Apaturia, Oschophoria… It explains why Tiresias, in the Bacchants, speaks of “traditions that come from our fathers, and whose age is as old as time itself”. All points out to the Dionysian cult having pre-Hellenic roots. During the Mycenaean era in the middle of the second millennium BCE, his presence was attested by two tablets found at Pylos written in linear B. The name of Dionysos is found in its genitive form: “diwonusoyo”. Bacchants gives us another clue about the ancient nature of the god: beyond the tragedy-of-impiety that is the death-punishment of Pentheus, one can sense a second level of comprehension, maybe hidden to the play’s creator, but that mythologists and ethnologists all perceived. That is to say, a ritual of human sacrifice – the tragedy takes its root in a primitive rite.

And yet, the historian Herodotus claims in his Histories that the name of Dionysos is the last one that the inhabitants of Greece learned when discovering their gods, while Pentheus and Tiresias in Bacchants both call Dionysos a “new god”. A new god, because he is foreign, supposedly coming from Thrace or Asia Minor. Ancient Greeks analyzed his name as coming from a fabulous land, whose exact location kept changing from person to person, but that was always outside of the Greek world: Caucasus, Ethiopia, India, Arabia, Egypt, Libya… Numerous myths tell of the strong difficulties that the cult of Dionysos had to face when implanting itself in Greece – especially in Boeotia, the land of Dionysos’ mother, Semele (who herself was the daughter of Cadmos, the founder of Thebes). Mythologists themselves were fooled and, up until a recent date, most of them believed that Dionysos was a latecomer to the pantheon, an imported god.

Where does this contradiction comes from? It is probably because of how unique the worship of Dionysos was: religious possession, orgiastic rituals, running races throughout the mountains… It always made him an eccentric, isolated god, a god of the people rather than a god of the aristocracy (he plays almost no role within the works of Homer), and as such a much less prestigious deity than the other Olympians. But Dionysos had his revenge: starting from the 8th century BCE onward, it seems that the god “woke up” and was brought back under the spotlight, thanks to women, who spread his cult. Various religious movements coming from Phrygia, Lydia, Thrace and the Greek islands also helped this renewal by revitalizing the old forms of the cult and accentuating its orgiastic aspect. The rise of Oriental cults in Athens at the end of the 5th century made everything go even faster. All these outside additions explain why the Greeks themselves felt that Dionysos was a foreigner and a “new” god. All in all, this look at the god’s origins accentuates one of his most fundamental characteristics: the impossibility to clearly define his personality.

II) A very complicated childhood: births and rebirths

The childhoods of Dionysos all bear the same strangeness. He is a god that is constantly born and that constantly dies, before escaping those that hunt him down, and finally imposing himself definitively. Let’s take a look.

1) Semele, beloved by Zeus, follows the wicked advice of the jealous Hera, and asks the king of the gods to appear before her in his full, shining glory. Zeus, who had made the solemn promise to grant any wish Semele would make, has no other choice but to obey. He appears to her wrapped and surrounded by thunder and lightning, and the poor Semele dies because of it. She was in her sixth month of pregnancy – and Zeus saved Dionysos from death, by ripping the fetus away from his mother’s belly, and placing it in his own thigh. There, Dionysos finished his growth during three more months, before finally being “born” out of Zeus’ leg. This is why one of the etymologies of “Dionysos” means “the god born twice”. In France, it also led to the common expression “se croire sorti de la cuisse du Jupiter” ; “to believe one’s got out of Jupiter’s thigh”.

2) The god Hermes, by order of Zeus, gives the child to king Athamas and queen Ino, rulers of Orchomenos. They raise the little Dionysos by forcing him to wear feminine clothes, in hope that Hera will not recognize him disguised as a girl. Unfortunately Zeus’ wife is not fooled, and she turns Dionysos’ foster parents insane. Zeus then transports his child towards Nysa, and entrusts him to the nymphs of the region. This time, it is said that he was turned into a kid (as in a baby goat). In the Homeric version of the story (found in Iliad, VI), Nysa is replaced by “the divine Nyseion”, a Thracian mountain where rules king Lycurgus. Lycurgus ended up hunting down the nurses of the child and wounding them – the terrified Dionysos jumped into the sea to flee the attack, and ended up protected by the goddess Thetis. [Note: Jeanmaire offered an alternative reading of the Homeric tale, proposing that maybe the Nyseion was actually the name of the "country of the Nysai", aka the land of the Nymphs, which would make it an Ancient Greece version of Elfland or Fairyland]

3) Finally, there is the Cretan legend of Dionysos-Zagreus. While the legend was only recorded by very late text, in truth it seems to be a very ancient story: the name Zagreus first appears in the 6th century BCE in the Alcmeonis, and then came back in the first half of the 5th century within Aeschylus’ Sisyphus the Runaway. In the Zagreus story, Dionysos is given a new group of nursing parents: the Kouretes. As they dance with their weapons around the child and do not pay attention, the Titans discreetly reach Dionysos-Zageus and lure him away using toys (a ball, a spinning top, a mirror, a fleece, jackstones, apples, a bullroarer…). Once they had him, the Titans killed him, dismembered him and cooked the pieces of his body within a cauldron before roasting them and eating them. Zeus struck the Titans with his lightning, but hopefully could resurrect the young god, using his still-beating heart that had been saved by Athena from the Titans’ gruesome feast.

Next time: The Shapeshifting God, and A Complex Personality

[vulnerasti-cor-meum]

if I were to dress for Halloween (my fundie-lite mother, ofc, reared me to be wary of the devil-worshipping festival that is Halloween) I would love to tie a bloody bandage across my eyes and be an Oedipus or a Tiresias or a Hazel Motes figure. Very appealing the idea of a figure who only gains sight when he gouges out or acids out the eye of the body.

[thedansemacabres]

Hinthial, ais of the ghostly reflection

[ID: An image of a pond at dusk. The woodland shore is visible to the viewer, curving slightly to the left. Above the pond is a forest of trees, reflecting onto the pond. The water also reflects the dark sky with hues of pink.]

By Morgan, poetry by Nico

THE AISER OFTEN HAVE NAMES THAT DIRECTLY RELATE TO THEIR DIVINE PRESENCE, and Hinthial’s means ‘ghost’, ‘reflection’, and ‘mirrored image.’ Like many of the aiser, little evidence exists for her. While this post is short, Hinthial’s existence does implicate more on the ideas of Rasenna afterlife and perhaps a chthonian Turan.

Hinthial’s name tells us the most about her. In scenes with ghosts, spirits are addressed as “hinthial”, before their name such as the scene of hinthial Tereais or hinthial Patroclus. This tells us that ghosts, with hinthial also meaning ‘reflection’, are ghastly mirror images of the living in Rasenna cosmology.. Considering this, we can see Hinthial as a goddess of ghosts, but also of mirror reflections, mirror divination, and related to beauty through her divine reflections. 

THE ETRUSCAN MIRROR 

One of the very few direct attestations we have of hinthial is from a divine dressing scene. These scenes depict Turan being adorned by her circle/her handmaidens, as Turan represents the aristocratic lady in Rasenna society. 

Hinthial here is depicted as a finely dressed older woman holding a mirror. As such, we can understand the mirror—called malena or malestra—as her symbol, befitting for the ais of the ghostly reflection. 

Scenes of Turan often show her being attended to by her divine circle, many of which share aspects or relation to her—Zipna is associated with beauty, Thalna with childbirth which is a possibility of Turan’s blessing of pleasure, Mean with Turan’s association with peace, etc. Turan likely has a chthonic aspect like Venus, as a statue of her named the “Cannicella Venus” was discovered at an Rasenna necropolis. Fascinatingly, this kouros style statue was likely modified from a traditional male kouros into a feminine one, essentially undergoing gender reassignment. Hinthial being in her circle could possibly give more to the concept of a chthonic Turan.

MODERN WORSHIP 

As with most of the aiser, worship of hinthial will have to largely rely upon UPG and inferences we can make about her. Firstly, as a goddess of the mirror image, she can be venerated in connection to beauty and our reflections. Secondly, we can honour her as a goddess of ghosts. She guides the reflections of life we see when we interact with the undead—perhaps making her of interest to modern necromancy and death-focused practices as a unique beauty and death ais. To our current knowledge as of November 2023, there are no worshippers of her, and so the newest generation of Rasenna polytheists can become her first devotees in a millenia. 

Hymn to Hinthial by @poeticnorth

I call out to Hinthial

The ghostly queen within mirrors

She who is the reflection of the dead

And serves as Handmaiden to Turan

You are the shadow of the dying

The shade of the departed

You weave fate deftly

And reflect it from your realm

Matcher of lovers, patron of beauty

Who reveals flaws and strengths

From within the looking glass

Ghost of Tiresias, friend of the buried

O Hinthial, I sing to you now

wordpress link

References 

De Grummond, N. T., & Simon, E. (2009). The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press.

de Grummond, N. T. (1985). THE ETRUSCAN MIRROR. Source: Notes in the History of Art, 4(2/3), 26–35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23202423

Bonfante, L. (1993). ETRUSCAN NUDITY. Source: Notes in the History of Art, 12(2), 47–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23202935

File:Bronze mirror from London with Zipna Malavisch Hinthial Munthuch Turan Drawing.jpg – Wikimedia Commons. (n.d.). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bronze_mirror_from_London_with_Zipna_Malavisch_Hinthial_Munthuch_Turan_Drawing.jpg

[apocalyptickoala]

[104] ISMENE: Yes, if you can, but you're in love with impossibility. [111] ANTIGONE: But leave me to my own absurdity, leave me to suffer this—dreadful thing. I will suffer nothing as great as death without glory. [246] LEADER: Never. Only a fool could be in love with death. [610] ANTIGONE: Who did the work? Let the dead and the god of death bear witness! I have no love for a friend who loves in words alone. ISMENE: Oh no, my sister, don't reject me, please, let me die beside you, consecrating the dead together. ANTIGONE: Never share my dying, don't lay claim to what you never touched. My death will be enough. ISMENE: What do I care for life, cut off from you? [855] HAEMON: No, no, she will never die beside me— don't delude yourself. And you will never see me, never set eyes on my face again. Rage your heart out, rage with friends who can stand the sight of you. [870] CREON: I will take her down some wild, desolate path never trod by men, and wall her up alive in a rocky vault, and set out short rations, just the measure piety demands to keep the entire city free of defilement. There let her pray to the one god she worships: Death—who knows?—may just reprieve her from death. Or she may learn at last, better late than never, what a waste of breath it is to worship Death. [908] ANTIGONE: I go to wed the lord of the dark waters. [1013] ANTIGONE: What law of the mighty gods have I transgressed? Why look to the heavens any more, tormented as I am? Whom to call, what comrades now? Just think, my reverence only brands me for irreverence! Very well: if this is the pleasure of the gods, once I suffer I will know that I was wrong. But if these men are wrong, let them suffer nothing worse than they mete out to me— these masters of injustice! [1191] TIRESIAS: You, you have no business with the dead, nor do the gods above—this is violence you have forced upon the heavens. And so the avengers, the dark destroyers late but true to the mark, now lie in wait for you, the Furies sent by the gods and the god of death to strike you down with the pains that you perfected! [1157] LEADER: No more prayers now. For mortal men there is no escape from the doom we must endure.

Antigone by Sophocles

trans. Robert Fagles

[classicschronicles]

Hi lovelies,

Okay so my A-levels are approaching and once again, what is the point of having this blog if I can’t exploit it for revision, and so today I am going to explain Euripides Bacchae to you all. Also this is my favourite favourite Greek tragedy and so you all have to love it too. Okay yay <3

So, in true Euripidean fashion, the play begins with a prologue that sets the scene. The one giving this speech is Dionysus who explains the complicated circumstances of his birth. His human mother, Semele, was pregnant with Zeus’ child and long story short Hera got angry and Semele dies with Dionysus still in her womb. Zeus takes the baby from the womb and sews him into his thigh, birthing it from his thigh when the time came. However, the family of Semele (especially her two sisters) did not believe the circumstances of her pregnancy. They were convinced that Semele died because she had lied about her relationship with Zeus and so they denied the fact that the child was the son of a god.

The now adult Dionysus says that he has travelled all around Asia gathering a cult of female worshipers (Maenads) to establish his right as a god. He says he has now returned to the place of his birth, Thebes, to take revenge on the ruling house of Cadmus (his mothers father) to punish them for his refusal to worship him, and to vindicate his mother. As the play begins, Dionysus has driven the women of Thebes (including his aunts Agave and Ino) to the mountains of Cithaeron and turned them into his worshippers. The only men in the city who have accepted Dionysus include the king Cadmus, and the prophet Tiresias (although there is a lot of debate over whether these two really accept Dionysus or if they are just taking the piss).

Enter the young king of Thebes, Pentheus (son of Agave and cousin of Dionysus). Guys also wait, when I first read the Bacchae (for reasons you will soon find out) I literally would shit on Pentheus, but I found out that he’s actually like 17 which changes the whole morality of the play and now I kinda feel bad for him rip. Anyways, enter Pentheus, who proceeds to ban Dionysian worship in its entirety and orders his soldiers to arrest anyone engaging in the bacchic rites. He sees the Maenads ‘divinely-inspired’ insanity as drunken cavorting as an attempt escape the moral codes of Theban society.

And then enter Dionysus, who has deliberately allowed himself to be arrested in his disguise as a the long-haired Lydian leader of the Dionysian priests (referred to as the Stranger). He is then questioned by Pentheus. However, it is clear that Pentheus (despite his apparent disgust of the Maenads) is actually very fascinated by the maenads. The reason for that is basically he thinks that the Maenads are having 0rg13s in the woods and he lowkey wants to see it. However, the Strangers refusal to reveal the full extent of the Bacchic rites angers Pentheus and so he locks him up. However, as a god, Dionysus is able to break free quickly and then basically sets fire to Pentheus’ palace. Excessive but okay king.

Guys also I know that Pentheus has banned Dionysian worship and that is seriously blasphemous of him, but you have to understand that this strange man has turned up and taken all the women of the city to the mountains and is claiming to be a god, you would be confused as well. So when he bans Bacchic worship, I don’t think he’s doing it out of malice I think (as a 17 year old) he is doing his best to protect his people.

Okay now to set the scene again, this poor confused 17 year old has just had his palace burnt to the ground and now some strange messenger arrives and tells him what the Maenads are really doing. He says that the Maenads are behaving in a superhuman manor and are performing incredible feats and miracles. The messenger tells of how the women hit the ground with their thrysus and milk and honey spring from the ground. However, when they see the male guards they are whipped into a wild frenzy, chasing after them. He says that the weapons of the guards are unable to harm them, whilst the women are able to defeat them armed only with sticks. He also says some stuff about they are suckling the wild animal cubs in the forest and also they rip up a cow and honestly, there is a lot going on. A lot.

Anyways, this makes Pentheus even more determined to see the maenads. There is some debate over whether or not Pentheus is simply curious about the maenads, or if there is some psycho-sexual thing going on here, but feel free to interpret that however you want. Anyways, Dionysus then says that if Pentheus is so eager to see the maenads, he should dress up as one and infiltrate the rites, saying this in an attempt to humiliate Pentheus.

Pentheus then dresses up as a woman and there is this whole scene where he stands there admiring Dionysus gorgeous curls and his eyelashes, and it’s all a bit homoerotic if you read the deeper meaning. When Pentheus is all dressed up, rather than being humiliated, he is quite taken by his image and asks if he looks pretty and if his wig is fixed right. Basically, this poor boy is having a moment of gender euphoria before it all goes to shit.

As you may or may not know, all violence in greek theatre happens off stage and is retold through messenger speeches. This is because theatre was incredibly sacred to the Greeks and therefore its ritual purity was not to be ruined by violence. Which leads on to the next part. A messenger enters and tells the following. He says that the god took his vengeance a step further than humiliation, helping Pentheus to the top of a tree to spy on the maenads secretly. However, Dionysus alerts the women of the arrival of a man and they proceed to shake the tree from its roots until Pentheus falls. (Trigger warning because it gets quite violent). They then proceed to rip him apart by his limbs and play catch with his head.

Agave (his mother) still possessed with Bacchic frenzy, arrives back at the palace carrying her sons head and displays it at the feet of Cadmus. The catch is, she thinks this is the head of a mountain lion that she has defeated, and has no idea what she has really done. But as the Dionysian ecstasy begins to wear off she releases what she was done and become inconsolable. Cadmus comments that the god has punished the family excessively.

Dionysus then appears in his true form and exiles Ino and Agave. Deciding that this is still not enough, he also turns Cadmus and his wife into snakes. By the end of the play, Dionysus has all but destroyed the house of Cadmus.

Okay so when I didn’t know that Pentheus was literally a child I was like, mmm slay Dionysus mwah. But now it’s maybe not his biggest slay. Also, I cant help but feel for Pentheus as a young king who is convinced he is doing the best for his people, and is being punished unjustly for the impiety of his mother and aunt. Also, i have done this play absolutely no justice so I really recommend that you all read the Bacchae, it’s a very short and very easy read!

Anyways, that was grim but it is my absolute favourite tragedy, and I hope you all enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Hopefully I’ll see you all next week!

~Z

[milftrickster]

poor tiresias rlly cant win. in the bacchae pentheus accuses him of only worshipping dionysus so he could make extra money on prophecies and sacrifices for him. in the OT oedipus accuses him of conspiring against him with creon and being a fake. and in the odyssey he's just straight up dead

[cymorilcinnamonroll]

Lucifer Diary, or "Fucking My Motherland"

incineration. it etched on my bones like a paen, proud lucifer, cast adrift like  dust. 

mangled, mutilated, me. when the beauty is cast aside, what is left but blood? scar tissue grows stiff, the finger nubs bleed, tendon exposed to the harsh  breath 

of winter in hell. in the lowest circle, louses bleed ice, and the great phlegethon  aches 

on my breast like lilith’s nails etching cursed script in seraphic tongues. to be  damned, 

to be profane – to build my castle here, on this gritty, barren rock – a place the  shamir 

could not burrow, where rahab would not dare cast his abyssal net, for fear of what  yields 

my tears bring forth – tis pandemonium, place of many demons. so mammon, take  your belly 

and sate yourself on the blood and sweat of my back. i will build an empire (i will  build, build. Build.) 

from this ice, i carve a chapel of sorrow. from the bones of leviathan, i make  my crown.

out of the ash of a thousand songbirds, soldered with the heart of a freezing star, a  new engine 

to bring warmth to cambion’s houses. for the damned are born here, feasting on  marrow milk. 

it is a carnival of shadows, this unholy unbeauty, this war I wage on myself.  skyscrapers of flesh. 

torn remnants of maiden’s ankles – like her ankle I bit – like the foot of Mary that  tramples me. 

a curse, the Son. I have no Sun here. He does not deign to spill his light. instead, a  cold oblivion. 

true darklight. shadow nefarious. falling is easy. falling takes a breath, a niggle  doubt. i pick my skin 

of yesterday’s lashings – I am always cat-o-nine-tailing the last bit of holy  out of me – i prostrate, I worship her, i suck off Him. I raise a single palm up,  asking for manna – but molding bread. 

there is something beautiful about the darkness, that is what homer knew. Tiresias,  blind, saw all. 

so pluck my eyes, Father. take my heart while you are at it, from the Lapis of  Exile, forge the 

Sang Real in Migdal Eder’s womb. there is no sting of death. for knowledge – for 

freedom, i rise 

with the dawn and gloaming (long ago, i was eos’ son) and i claim the throne of El. for that is what it is 

to fuck 

my mother 

tongue.

[wisdom-devotee]

31 DAYS OF HELPOL: Day Five

How much have you bonded with your deities?

Ive bonded the most with Athena and Ares I think. I’m a devotee of Athena and Ares was the first deity who I felt called to, so the bonds I have with those two are really special I think.

I’ve also bonded a fair bit with Melinoë, as since there isn’t a lot of information on Her I’ve had to work a lot on making that bond personal.

I’m trying to bond more with Aphrodite and I’m working on offering some bigger stuff to Her, because I have quite a big ask and I want to make sure the offering is equal to it.

As for heroes, I’ve bonded with Odysseus the most I think, but Penelope isn’t far behind. I’d also consider myself really close to Helen.

With Tiresias, I haven’t bonded with her that much yet because it’s quite recent I’ve started worshipping him. Hopefully when I do this again next year I’ll have more to say on him!

[mybookof-you]

"There is not much philosophy in the Oedipus. There is not, in comparison with other Greek plays, much pure poetry. What there is, is drama; drama of amazing grandeur and power. In respect of plot no Greek play comes near it. It contains no doubt a few points of unsophisticated technique such as can be found in all ancient and nearly all modern drama; for instance, the supposition that Oedipus has never inquired into the death of his predecessor on the throne. But such flaws are external, not essential. On the whole, I can only say that the work of translation has made me feel even more strongly than before the extraordinary grip and reality of the dialogue, the deftness of the construction, and, except perhaps for a slight drop in the Creon scene, the unbroken crescendo of tragedy from the opening to the close...

As to Tiresias, I wish to ask forgiveness for an unintelligent criticism made twelve years ago in my Ancient Greek Literature, p. 240. I assumed then, what I fancy was a common assumption, that Tiresias was a "sympathetic" prophet, compact of wisdom and sanctity and all the qualities which beseem that calling; and I complained that he did not consistently act as such. I was quite wrong. Tiresias is not anything so insipid. He is a study of a real type, and a type which all the tragedians knew. The character of the professional seer or "man of God" has in the imagination of most ages fluctuated between two [Pg x]poles. At one extreme are sanctity and superhuman wisdom; at the other fraud and mental disease, self-worship aping humility and personal malignity in the guise of obedience to God. There is a touch of all these qualities, good and bad alike, in Tiresias. He seems to me a most life-like as well as a most dramatic figure."

h/t Mr. Welch, high school World Lit teacher

[wisdom-devotee]

So I’m only devoted to Athena, but I also worship Ares, Aphrodite, and Melinoë, and I’m starting to worship Hera and Zeus. When I started out I only worshipped Nemesis and soon Philotes too. Then I also worship Odysseus, Penelope, Tiresias and Helen. So altogether that’s 8 actively, 10 if you count Hera and Zeus, and 12 if you count Nemesis and Philotes.

I guess I balance this by incorporating worship into daily tasks. When I walk to college I listen to a devotional playlist. I dedicate self-care (things as simple as showering) to Aphrodite. When I read a book, I dedicate that action to someone if any of the characters remind me of them. My study materials are offered to Athena. I offer parts of meals and snacks to them, when I remember.

I have specific days dedicated to some of them - every third of the month is dedicated to Athena because that’s Her birthday. Some deities have a corresponding day of the week, but weekly worship fees like a lot for me and I have too many deities to fit that anyways, so I make it a specific thing instead, like every first Tuesday of the month goes to Ares. Whenever the 13th falls on a Friday, that’s dedicated to Aphrodite.

Most of all, if I do struggle with balancing, I give myself a break. I forgive myself whenever I’m inconsistent. I don’t have to feel bad about this because I haven’t made any promises to the deities that I will be consistent.

Dear fellow Hellenic Polytheists,

Currently I am only devoting myself to one God (Lord Ares), just because I’m new to this and don’t want to overwhelm myself. I still pray to and interact with the other Gods, but only devote myself to one. I have been getting some callings from others, but until I feel like I can handle balancing the devotional acts of one God, I’ll wait to take on others.

It got me wondering though, how many Gods are the others in this community devoted to? How do you balance your time between them all?

I would love to hear about your experiences and the tips and tricks you all have, either in the comments or reblogs!

-Blessings!-

[viktorkondrakis]

Greek myths: Tiresias

The half-divine son of Eueres and the nymph Chariclo, Tiresias is famous for his gifts of prophecy and his transformation into a woman. In Hellenic neo-paganism (Greek and Roman pantheons) he has become a queer icon.

Uncouth and harsh, Tiresias came across a pair of mating snakes and killed them, angering Hera. Snakes were associated with feminine divinities, as seen in the Minoan snake-goddess figurines excavated in 1903 at Knossos. As punishment for harming these sacred animals he was subsequently turned into a woman, and then blinded by Athena (who was associated with snakes through her aspect as Athena Parthenos).

For years the blind seer wandered from place to place, even getting married and having a daughter, Manto. Finally after being a priestess of Hera for seven years, Tiresia (as I affectionately call her) was turned back into Tiresias. But to "settle down" and have children would imply that this oracle had accepted their life, yes? Perhaps Tiresias-Tiresia was an early recorded instance of a genderfluid person in Greco-Roman tradition.

Either way, they have since taken on a new life in many queer Pagan circles. I personally invoke them along with Zeus, Ares, Summānus, Antinous, Quirinus and Hecate in my worship. In a mythic world so rich with non-gender-conforming and queer individuals, it always amazes me that there exist so-called pagans who insist on holding on to archaic notions of gender and sexuality, imposed largely by the conservative religions of the present era. Maybe if they actually studied their religion they could appreciate it for the inclusive and sophisticated rainbow it is.

[dhampiravidi]

"...do we need...special assistance? Or do you think nymphs would be too afraid to stand between you and Poseidon?" Achilles asked this once the captain had told him all about their next deadly obstacle. When Odysseus and his men had visited Hades, they'd spoken to a few spirits before Achilles, and one of them had been the seer Tiresias. The prophet explained that Poseidon would continue to watch Odysseus struggle for some time, as his crew and ship would be destroyed by Zeus as punishment for killing Helios's sacred cattle. After that, he still would need to get rid of all of Penelope's suitors, who were making a mess of his home. Achilles was growing fonder of the Ithacan the more they got to know each other. He was sure he'd help the man get home, never mind his own personal goals. Besides, though he wouldn't say it aloud, the gods did not scare him. Gods were just powerful people who tended to kill when they were angry, play favorites when they liked, and fuck pretty much all the time (unless they were one of the virgin goddesses). Achilles had never really thought much of the gods--why should he, when they acted like the mortals they presided over, and his mother was a kind immortal who no one worshipped at all...?

[koraki-pharmakis]

(Re)coining Teirsian and Iphisian

So, to be clear, I am these terms' original coiners. But, for reasons elaborated in my last post, I am removing them from the website where they were originally coined. Additionally, I no longer define them the same as I used to. As such, I am redefining them today. The original definitions will be at the bottom of each for clarity.

Both are gender identities exclusively for non-cisgender Hellenic Polytheists. Period. I expect non-polytheists and cisgender folks to refrain from coining imagery or labels for these identities (and yes, I do need to make that disclaimer, unfortunately.)

With that out of the way, let's crack in:

Iphisian

[ID in alt text]

Iphisian is a gender for Hellenic Polytheists who are AFAB (or natally female) and transgender, CAFAB intersex, transmasculine, transgender lesbians, and especially transmasculine lesbians. The gender is also oriented towards, but not exclusive to, worship of Aphrodite, Hera, and/or Isis (Kemetic). It is named after the figure in Greek Mythology, Iphis, who was a 'woman' raised as, and later turned into, a man. It is strongly associated with the theoi and the divinity of the transgender experience.

While being transmasculine or a lesbian are not a requirement to be Iphisian, being a transgender or intersex Hellenic Polytheist is, and the term refers mainly to transmasculine and transneutral Hellenists.

Original/outdated definition: Iphisian is a gender for Hellenic Polytheists who are AFAB and transgender. The gender is also oriented towards, but not exclusive to, worship of Aphrodite, Hera, and Isis (Egyptian). It is named after the figure in Greek Mythology, Iphis, who was a 'woman' raised as, and later turned into, a man.

Teirsian

[ID in alt text]

Teirsian is a gender for Hellenic Polytheists who are multigender, CAMAB intersex, AMAB and transgender, and/or genderfluid. The gender is also oriented towards, but not exclusive to, worship of Apollon, Hermes, and/or Hera. It is named after the figure in Greek Mythology, Teirsias, who was transformed into a woman for seven years.

While being transfeminine or AMAB isn't a requirement for being Teirsian, being a non-cisgender or intersex Hellenic Polytheist is, and the term refers mainly to multigender and genderfluid Hellenists.

Original/outdated definition: Teirsian is a gender for Hellenic Polytheists who are bigender, AMAB transgender, and/or genderfluid. The gender is also oriented towards, but not exclusive to, worship of Apollon, Hermes, or Hera. It is named after the figure in Greek Mythology, Teirsias, who was transformed into a woman for seven years.

Note: natal sex and AGAB are both listed because they are not the same thing. Natal sex is birth sex (male/female/intersex). AGAB is what the doctor said when you were born. Natal sex and AGAB are not requirements for either terms, but who the term is oriented for due to the contents of the myth.

Finally, I'd like to reiterate I'm not a MOGAI blog and I don't plan to coin again soon (except to post my divine trans symbols, I suppose). I just wanted these terms off a Wiki that permitted disrespect of my religion, and to do that I needed to recoin them.

If you have questions, message me or reply. Khaire!

Edit: *honks clown nose* I forgot to include the flag meanings

Iphisian: Blue-violet: Aphrodite, sapphic love, gentle masculinity Blue: Hera, masculinity, grief and recovery Light gold: The ouranic divine, Aphrodite/Hera's gift to Iphis Thin pink stripe: The love and resilience at the center of the myth, and the love and beauty of trans people Gold: The touch of the divine, concrete divine influence Teirsian: Lavender: Gender nonconformity, fluidity, blurring of lines Muted magenta: Love, femininity, beauty, divine gifts Light gold: The ouranic divine, Zeus and Hera, Apollon Thin fuschia stripe: Erotic love, the divine marriage of Zeus and Hera, the wounding of Tiresias Gold: The gift of Apollon, the touch of the divine

Edit 2: Natal sex is used in Iphisian because Iphis himself was not AFAB, but an AMAB natal female who became biologically male through the aid of the theoi. Natal sex is used to mean sex at time of birth, and is a commonly used alternative to AGAB by many interesex and transsex individuals.