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Tales commonly referred to as Greek myths are stories we know through the works of poets and the depictions of artists. Some of these stories offer explanations for the origins of rituals and the founding of sanctuaries, while some describe the relationships between different gods and help to explain why particular gods became associated with their various spheres of interest. Some of the stories may also reflect the traditions of specific communities passed down over generations, but it is clear that many are the invention of poets adapting material to make new and better plays or poems, and many are the work of mythographers – collectors and arrangers of myths to make coherent sense. Writers such as Pausanias and Herodotus invoke myths to explain contemporary religious practices, but in some cases the myths are stories they have found in poems written at other times and in other places. They are interpretations which these writers bring to the communities they are describing, rather than interpretations that the writers have learned from them. Using myth to understand religious practices requires caution.

Mystery Cults in the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden (emphasis mine)

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demeter

[templeof-demeter]

Demeter Khrysaoros

An online offering for Demeter Lady of the Golden Sword

[templeof-demeter]

Hi 👋, My name is Mohammad, and I’m reaching out in a moment of desperate need. I’m a father of three young children living in Gaza, and we are caught in the midst of a catastrophic war. Our home is no longer a safe haven, and the future here seems increasingly uncertain. 💔

I’ve launched a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $40,000 to relocate my family to a safer place where my children can grow up in peace and have a chance at a brighter future. 🕊️🇵🇸

Unfortunately, my previous fundraising efforts were abruptly halted when my account was terminated without explanation. However, I remain determined to keep fighting for my family’s safety and well-being. 🫶

If you could take a moment to read our story, consider donating, or simply share our campaign with others, it would make an incredible difference. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to safety and a new beginning. 🙏

Thank you for your time, compassion, and support. ❤

https://gofund.me/fd1faea2 🔗

I wish you and your family the best in these terrible times

Friends, please donate to Gaza funds if you can

[templeof-demeter]

I will be working on more informative posts soon, I have been having a difficult time mentally and keeping focus is hard. I am working on this though, currently making a schedule to get a hold on all of my interests and ideas.

[templeof-demeter]

How I figure out if something is a sign from a God/dess

this is how I personally figure out if something is a sign from a god/dess, specifically Lady Aphrodite. The way you do this may be completely different and that’s okay, there’s no one right way.

1. Is this thing something associated with the deity (historically or upg)?

2. Is this something that happens ordinarily or commonly? (for example, hearing a mourning dove call is probably not a sign, at least in my area)

3. did it happen more than once? (seeing three rabbits (idk if that’s vpg or upg or what but I associate Her with them) in a day is more likely a sign than seeing one, for example)

3. Could it be a coincidence?

4. Do I feel the deity’s presence?

5. Did I ask them for a sign or to tell me something?

6. if I still haven’t figured out if it’s a sign, I will use a pendulum to ask if it was.

I don’t always use these specific steps, this is mostly when I’m not sure if it’s a sign- most of the time I just kind of know whether or not it’s a sign without having to consciously try and figure it out.

Even if something turns out not to be a sign, it’s a nice excuse to say hi to a deity and/or thank Them for the thing that made you think of Them.

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Grief, Hallowed Demeter, as I cling to your words

Like the changing colors of the leaves, it inches through me

Helpless to stop it

And known is its inevitable conclusion.

As I lay across the earth, I wonder

If you too feel such things;

If the color of golden death makes you begin to weep

Tears of red and yellow, Autumn’s ails upon us.

I know, in Days, there will come dawn again,

And Helios will warm our faces,

And the grass shall sway in Notus’ breeze.

But now- Autumn reigns upon us, and us-

Soundless Mourner, Graceful Demeter-

Our heads are cradled by Sleep.

[templeof-demeter]

Demeter, goddess of agriculture.

Mother of Persephone, goddess of spring.

A little mother-daughter bonding time.

[templeof-demeter]

For my fellow trans worshippers,

Demeter aids you in the changes you make, she sees your transition and remembers her own journey across the earth and Olympus. Her, you, and I create great change for our truth and what we love. If you choose to medically transition, she is with you each step of the way. She is the reminder to eat so that your HRT progresses swiftly. She knows the satisfying but difficult swallow of a pill, stab of a needle, or rubbing of gel. If you do not medically transition, she is with you too. She knows the difficulties and obstacles that come with being the one to stand up and make change happen. She knows that the choice may not make sense to all, but only needs to make sense to you.

Demeter is change, and she loves you each step of your own.

“God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason he made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine: so that humanity might share in the act of creation.”

[templeof-demeter]

🏺 On Fear of Gods.

Specific religion: ancient Greek polytheism.

Unsourced claims that "actual fear of the Gods was frowned upon in ancient times" remind me badly of the "everything before Christianity was good and now we have fear instilled in us by Evil Monotheism" and it bothers me so much so why don't we look at our sources.

I don't think it's wise to look at just poetic sources for votive claims, though poetry does show us another perspective on the feared and respected Gods, so I am using Homeric Hymns (trans. by Apostolos N. Athanassakis, *just my personal preference) as a source. Previous commentators in [ this post ] have already mentioned that many festivals, such as the beloved by many Thargelia, were festivals to appease Gods and shoo away the dangers awaiting old communities.

Let us look at cases of the Gods causing fear in the very people that do respect them:

Awe, reverence, and pale fear seized the mother; and she yielded her seat to the goddess and asked her to sit.

(to Demeter, 190-191)

All night long they propitiated the glorious goddess, quaking with fear, and as soon as dawn appeared they told the truth to Keleos, whose power reached far, as the fair-wreathed goddess Demeter had ordered them.

(to Demeter, 292-295)

Demeter is among feared Goddesses not just because she is amazing and deeply awed (though she is); her wrath brings devastation. Appeasing Demeter out of fear of what happens if you don't is simply a norm of the society her cult thrived in: one reliant on agricultural luck.

When you are here you shall be mistress of everything that lives and moves; your honors among the immortals shall be the greatest, and those who wrong you shall always be punished, if they do not appease your spirit with sacrifices, performing sacred rites and making due offerings.

(to Demeter, 364-369)

Persephone's becoming as the queen of the underworld is marked, with the words put into the mouth of God of the dead himself, by this statement: they will honor you or they will be punished. Aside from being a sweet thing to say to your newly-made-queen wife, it's a reflection of an ancient belief that non-appeased Gods are terrifying.

Through the precious tripods he entered his temple and lighted a flame to guide the ships, enveloping all of Krisa in light; and the wives and fair-girded daughters of the Krisians raised a cry at the radiance of Phoibos, for he instilled in them great fear.

(to Apollo, 443-447)

Apollo is not at all posing danger to these people. In fact, a few lines below, he wonders why they hide away in fear and instills courage in their hearts so they may speak. But he is feared for such is the nature of a God. His voice is "loud", his presence is "mighty". Like other immortals, he overwhelms you with the very presence.

When he saw Aphrodite’s neck and lovely eyes, he was seized with fear and turned his gaze aside.

(to Aphrodite, 181-182)

I should provide context: Anchises feels fear upon realizing that Aphrodite is divine. The very fact alone is enough to instill this primal reaction in him, because she is so much above him.

Now the god became a fearsome, loud-roaring lion in the bow of the ship and then amidships a shaggy bear he caused to appear as a portent. The bear reared with fury and the lion scowled dreadfully on the topmost bench.

(to Dionysus, 44-48)

Dionysus is probably the most obvious God to be afraid of: he turns into terrifying creatures most often, instills frenzy, and causes disruption and desolation if he's displeased frequently. Most people know the account of Pentheus or the story of Minyas' daughters. Dionysus is a notoriously fearful God.

A lot of mythical narratives serve to instill fear of misdemeanor, it is not a thing that only existed in Christianity: the idea of hubris is the idea of not crossing the clear-cut line between mortal and divine. If you do, you are punished as so many were, in myth. Ancient Gods are feared while being respected and beloved, those are not opposites of each other because the divine beings are not human despite sometimes appearing human-like. They are forces of nature, patrons of inter-human relationships, ones who control how things are done. And it just happens so that if things are done wrongly, they let humans know through signs, messengers, or punishment depending on the wrongdoing.

There's cultural background behind religions that cannot be overlooked just because it reminds you of aspects of Christianity and to say that recorded aspect of fear within many religions is an invention of Christian faith is simply disrespectful to these religions.

I'm not going to police your personal religious practice, this is not my business; so please do not make it about that. But there's a difference between having no fear in religion personally and claiming that it's historically a "Christian invention" that did not exist in some magical glorious ancient past.

[templeof-demeter]

I am deeply devoted to Demeter, she encompasses most of my life. I have a deep hearted grief, a constant state of mourning. I just want to cry all the time. I love food, I know hunger very well as we are life long friends. I fear loss, I have many siblings and lived ones that I fear might leave their older sibling someday. I am deeply scared.

But I see myself in Demeters story, as if she knows my pain and fears. She went through the same, she is the all nourishing. I cradle her grief because I understand. Her story teaches me that it will all be okay, this too shall pass.

But even then I still feel alone, I don't have friends and mutuals, people to praise the goddess with.

I understand your feeling well my friend, I also have felt deep grief and sorrows in my life and food and hunger are intertwined in my history and life. Demeter has helped me through it. Her story and kindness brings great comfort and understanding. You’re right, her story teaches. You will be okay, and as you cradle her grief she cradles yours as well.

You are free to worship and praise here. You can always send messages, anonymous or not, of your experience, your prayers, your thoughts. I encourage it, in fact.

I wish you the best of luck and love on your journey, may your plate always be full.

[templeof-demeter]

♧ Demeter Carpophorus (Bearer of Fruit) ♧

[templeof-demeter]

Honoring a God is very deeply transformative. Even when you’re not actively “working” with them, even when you’re simply taking in their essence and making an offering here and there! My advice to someone who wants to learn about a deity is to learn from this deity. What can they teach you, as a mythological and divine figure? What are the positive changes that came to be since you’ve started venerating them? Notice these changes and let yourself learn and be guided by the deities you love!

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My main working altar is covered in a noticeable layer of dust, but it feels like an honor to be steady in worship long enough for dust to accrue day by day. I’ll clean it soon, and let another fresh layer appear, but it makes me smile when I see it. A sign of devotion and a life filled with love

[templeof-demeter]

09/15 - Question of the Week

Do you feel any particular energies, temperature changes, or signs when doing divination or prayer to Demeter?

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My personal celebration of the rites is mostly over, I did a lot this year! I fasted for a week, said prayer in a lake, had a ritualistic bath, made art and listened to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, had a day of mourning, and had many religious & death related thoughts, questions and conclusions.

09/08 - Question of the Week

How will you be celebrating the Eleusinian Mysteries, if you are able? Have you celebrated the event before?

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We have seen at Eleusis that Demeter was associated with grain. Those who honoured the Eleusinian goddesses did so in the expectation of continuing good harvests. Similarly those who honoured the Great Gods of Samothrace would expect divine help when in danger on the sea. In neither case, however, is it clear why mystery rites should be seen as the way to achieve these ends. It is partly for this reason that scholars have looked for more profound themes in mystery cults, focusing in particular on their relationship to eschatology: mystery cults must offer something beyond normal mortal life. But we do not find eschatological themes associated with the mysteries on Samothrace or those of the Kabeiroi, either on Lemnos or in Boeotia. As we have seen, this is not entirely due to our ignorance, but also to the ignorance of the Greeks themselves about the gods they were worshipping. And since they did not know much about whom they were worshipping, and could not therefore tell stories about them, it is difficult to see how they could have developed theological explanations for their mysteries. Rather, as with Eleusis, we should consider that it was the experience of being initiated itself that was fundamental to these cults.

Mystery Cults in the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden