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One of my most favorite exhibits of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, medallion of goddess Athena, 2nd century B.C. I love the 3D effect of it, plus the details, very impressive.

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thinking of making a greek alphabet oracle (like norse rune divination but with greek letters for anyone unfamiliar) out of salt dough tbh. i think ill dedicate it to apollon as well idk i’ll see

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APOLLON 13.

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zeus the thunderer, the avenger of the wronged-- king of kings and lord of lords, most perfect of the perfect powers, hear our prayer and for the sake of us your children, keep us safe from the violence of wicked men whose deeds you so rightly despise. bring order to this chaotic world, bring peace to mankind. i cry to you, o blessed king and ruler of all, stretch forth your strong hand and cast down the tyrants, the despots, and the dictators. save us from the oppressors, o mighty one.

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To Zeus Eleutherios, the Liberator

Zeus Eleutherios, divine liberator of mankind

You who breaks chains and brings freedom to the masses

It is you who gives us the strength and the understanding to free ourselves from tyranny

And it is you who intervenes to free humankind from the yoke of slavery and oppression

In these times of trouble I turn to you, that you might grant to us your guidance and intervention now

To you I pray, oh lightning-wielding patron of the freedom struggle

I beg of you, bestow upon us the strength, the skill, the power, and knowledge to free ourselves

To free our world from the tyranny of fascism, imperialism, and zionism,

To overcome and destroy oppression in all its forms

Grant the people inspiration, that we might be able to rise up and defeat those who hold us down

That we might be delivered from all those who exploit, murder, and marginalize

Just and Revolutionary Zeus, who with your son Dionysos, carries the title of Liberator

May all the enemies of the people be laid low, may they be disarmed and disempowered

May they pay for their crimes in this life, in this generation, and not the next

Bring swift justice and vengeance on those who deceive us,

and upon the forces that render us complicit in violence and the destruction of our siblings

May all who defile the Sacred Earth with bloodshed and pollution be cast into the deepest depths of Tartaros

Oh great King of the Heavens, wolf-like and serpentine, avenging the wrongs and corruption of mortal leaders

It is to you I pray, that we shall arrive at freedom in our lifetimes

And that through your divine inspiration we may build the struggle to create a better world

Strike down with your shining scepter all those in power who subdue the coming of justice

That our path to freedom be one not far from us, but near at hand

Oh Lord Zeus, you who delivers freedom and justice, hear this my prayer

(Art by Heinrich Friedrich Füger)

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have you read about sacred prostitution? i know you have opinions on sexual devotion to the gods. i also totes recognize that like, the culture was WILDLY different then, and i guess maybe they were more "vetted," for lack of a better term? i'll admit i haven't done the absolute most reading on aphrodite's connection with prostitutes in ancient greece. i'd just like to hear what you have to say about it considering your stance on masturbation as a devotional act.

I have, and the scholarly consensus is that "scared prostitution" was a myth.

If "sacred prostitutes" existed in ancient Greece, they were enslaved girls. And they didn't dedicate the act of sex to Aphrodite. They dedicated their commission (which they weren't allowed to keep) and the tools of their trade to her.

There's an entire book about this called "The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity" by Stephanie Lynn Budin. The premise is that there was no sacred prostitution in any sense of the word.

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OSIRIS-ANTINOUS. antinous enters the nile human, and leaves a statue 🪷

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"Oh... You love Zeus?... But didn't he-"

An ear piercing screech is the last thing you hear as I tear the skin from my body, revealing that I'm the eagle come to eat your liver.

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putting the poly back in polytheism

something that I've noticed in neo-pagan/polytheist spaces is this focus on one or a few deities. while this is a valid approach and seems to be working amazingly for many people, i wanted to write a short defence of a different form of polytheism that, while maybe less visible on social media, is equally viable.

the poly in polytheism necessitates the belief in multiple gods however modern forms of worship take many different forms on top of that. from my years being in pagan spaces on social media I have noticed that to many, being a polytheist means worshipping one or a handful of gods and having very close relationships with them. which deities someone chooses to have this kind of relationship with stems from multiple possible sources, for example, personal interest, the deity's domain being somehow related to a person's life or an inexplicable draw to them.

to me, this seems to be the dominant view on social media of the form that neo-paganism takes, however, after years of exploring my spirituality and practice, I have come to the conclusion that this is not how I want to worship. I am writing this post for more people like me, who are interested in exploring this often less mainstream approach.

an ancient template

reading about Ancient Greek and Roman civilisations I was always struck by the number of minor deities with hyper-specific domains and associations. as a modern pagan, I could not understand the appeal of worshipping such a deity, ie. using so much time and resources to build a relationship for only a handful of niche issues that you could approach them with.

but as I kept reading and exploring, I realised that I was approaching polytheism completely differently than the ancients did. they truly did live in a world full of gods and they did not require a relationship built over days, if not weeks or more, to approach a deity and ask for their aid.

as long as you followed the rules of reciprocity, you could approach any deity that was relevant to your situation because they were the best equipped to help you with your problem. now this is not true for all of the population all the time, there were definitely also for example, people devoted to one deity, but from my understanding, this seemed to be the general form that polytheism took in those ancient civilisations.

the influence of monotheism

I think another feature of online neo-paganism is this expansion of the major deities' domains which then removes the need to worship the smaller deities. now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for expanding the domains of deities, especially if this is done from a revivalist perspective in order to modernise them for the contemporary worshipper. but sometimes I feel like completely unrelated domains are added for the sake of convenience more than anything else, ie. so that someone can keep worshipping the same deity(ies) without approaching others.

this, in my opinion, goes against one of the core aspects of polytheism which is the idea that different gods rule over different domains and have power over them. following this idea, it would make very little sense to pray to Neptune during air travel as he has no influence over the skies. yet, I sometimes see the deities be treated more like monotheistic gods which are all-powerful and can influence anything in the world.

if this is your view of how the gods work, that's fine, but I feel like sometimes people accept it without questioning it much or thinking about their view of theology at all. after mulling this idea over for some time, I realised it made much more sense to approach those specific deities, even if they are much less known or minor because this fits into my beliefs about polytheism much better.

a poly-practice

so, how would a poly-polytheistic practice look like in the modern day? well, there are many ways to go about it but I will just share bits from my own experience.

what I have ended up doing is focusing on different deities as they become relevant in my life - I focused on worshipping Janus at the beginning of the year while also taking the time to pray to Fortuna in moment when I needed her aid. I then did some extra reading on Jupiter, but didn't forget to thank Mars every time I went to the gym. I no longer felt the pressure to have some sort of special "connection" to every deity or "feel their presence", just trusting that they are there and then catching glimpses of divinity in my daily life.

looking into which Roman festivals I wanted to celebrate also opened my perspectives to more deities I would not have otherwise worshipped on my own. like this, I feel like I am building an arsenal of deities I can turn to when I need and of course, it is also vital to remember that I can call on multiple ones at the same time, just like the Romans saw the gods aiding one another in their tasks.

I only have one altar, which is practical and thus quite minimalistic, but there is space for my prayer notebook as well as other supplies that I need for my rituals.

conclusion

of course, this kind of practice results in a much more "impersonal" relationship with the gods, but I never really felt the need to communicate with them directly or things like that, so it fits me well. I find comfort in imagining a world full of gods, who may only know me in passing but who look out for me nevertheless.

in the end, the goal of this post is not to change anyone's mind about how they worship, but to present an alternate perspective which you can learn from but also completely disregard. in the end I am just happy that you were interested enough to reach until the end of this post. thank you for reading!!

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Prayer to Djehuty

Djehuty, the great scribe, bless my hand to master the arts as you have. Master of the quill, master of words, bless my words to become willful and imaginative. O’ wise one, grant me your wisdom to make my mind as sharp as a knife, as graceful as a gazelle, as fast as the striking cobra. Mightest and wisest of the gods, bless me on this day as I call out to you.

-Raet / Akhret

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as a person who is apart of the spiritual community and has been for a while,

Shifting isn't real.

"oh but it's been around for 5000 years ancient buddhists used t-"

no nononon shut up. just stfu. that is a lie that you just made up or heard from someone lying to you. that is cultural appropriation. shut up

"b b b but if you just keep trying, no just listen, think about if it IS real! what you're missing out on! just meditate a little bit more!!!!"

...

cult-like behavior, no?

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if your Samhain celebration doesn't include any traditional Irish customs, you're not celebrating Samhain you're celebrating Wiccan Halloween and also contributing to the erasure Irish culture has long been subject to

oíche Shamhna shona daoibh go léir ♡♡

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Me, obsessed with Greek mythology? Pshhh, that’s be absolutely bonkers.

Just ignore my Spotify, and my childhood bookshelf, and my tumblr, and my Pinterest, and my cork board, and all my pfps, and my religion. They are simply irrelevant to the conversation <3

Oh, do I know who Ares is? Well, I’m sure I know a tad bit. SO-

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The council of the gods is present here on Earth. In every bush, every rock and stream, every valley and every hill. From the highest places to the lowest places, from the trees that stretch into the heavens, to the moss that clings to the stony ground. They are present in the homes of those who worship them, and of those who do not. They are everywhere. For everywhere, every place, is holy. There is not one inch, not one stretch of land or physical space-- that is not sacred to the gods. All the earth is sacred. So, when you pray before the gods and don't immediately feel their presence as you pray, do not be ashamed. Do not be troubled or upset, and do not let it bother you. For the gods are always with you. There is nowhere they cannot be, and nowhere they cannot reach. They hear your prayers. They see your actions. They know you are doing your best. And that's all that matters.

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Low energy Devotional Acts for when you don’t have a lot of energy (or time, or money, etc.) pt. 3

🎲Hermes🎲

- watch a comedy special

- watch a funny show or movie

- watch travel videos

- watch sports (literally any sport)

- if able learn a new language if unable to do that listen to music in a foreign language or watch a movie or show in a foreign language

- learn about the underworld and His role as a psychopomp

- the story of Him stealing Apollon’s cattle always makes me laugh so if you’re feeling down maybe read about that or watch a video about it!

- eat food from a foreign country or watch cooking videos with recipes from foreign countries

- make a bucket list of places you’d like to travel (doesn’t necessarily have to be other countries! It can be within your own country or in your own state! Or hell maybe there’s places in your own town/city you haven’t checked out yet that you’d like to go see!)

- learn some geography!

- listen to a devotional playlist for Him

- play some board games or card games or dice games

🌊Poseidon🌊

- listen to oceanic/sea soundscapes

- learn about earthquakes

- listen to sea shanties and learn about why they were used

- watch documentaries or shows about marine animals or the ocean/sea themselves

-learn about horses

- stay hydrated

- watch aquarium videos! They’re very soothing

- if able print out or buy ocean themed coloring pages/coloring books and color! (I also think the finished product could go great on His altar if you have one!)

- learn about and if able to take trips to local ponds or lakes (and if able go to the beach)

- learn about marine plants and marine biodiversity

- watch videos about naval history, or naval warfare

- learn about boats and sailing history

- watch videos about hurricanes! Learn about them!

- listen to a devotional playlist for Him

- learn about shipwrecks or maritime disasters if that interests you (my favorite YouTube channel for these vids is: Oceanliner Designs)

- watch ocean or maritime related shows or movies (I personally like The Terror which I get isn’t 100% ocean related but y’know)

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y'all ever be so frustrated that you don't live in Greece or you don't have access to an actual temple... like dude I just wanna go down the street and see a Hellenic temple.

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Stress less about observing festivals on the exact same days as everyone else. Focus more on making your festival calendar work with you, not against you. I promise you it's more worthwhile that way.