endless-elysium

[endless-elysium]

Holidays, Offerings, and Other Ancient Praxis in Paganism: It's Not an Exact Science

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A lot of people just starting out have questions about the specific details of their praxis, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! Beginners, I've noticed, especially want to know how many holidays, what to do for them, when exactly they are, etc. Some are caught up in wondering what acceptable offerings are, how they should offer, and how should they pray. And these are all very reasonable questions from a beginner's perspective. The problem is that pagan religions, particularly those that are reconstructed from ancient belief systems, (in other words, not new age religions like Wicca) are not that easily simplified; there isn't one secret collection of knowledge on how to get it "right."

So, I wanted to break down a few of the difficulties with reconstructing historical traditions that you might run into and also remind you that maximum accuracy isn't always the goal.

1. Timeframe

The first problem we run into for recreating really anything, is that some traditions (ahem, especially Hellenic and Kemetic paganism) have a lengthy history. Those civilizations spanned thousands of years, so their religion did not exist in one singular, unchanged form for the countless generations it was practiced. If you want a modern example, we can look at holidays popular in modern culture, like Christmas, that have already changed and adapted over the course of maybe the last 200 years.

Now, put that into perspective for figuring out holidays from ancient religions. There is no single answer for how to go about Paganism because there wasn't just one correct way to practice when these religions were "alive." The best we can usually do is guesstimate based on surviving records and fill in the rest with our own UPG and experience. And that leads us to the second struggle:

2. Lack of information

This is a bigger issue for pagan traditions like Norse, Celtic, or Slavic. These people relied far more on oral tradition, well up to Christianization. Because of this, we don't have a super detailed idea of what certain aspects of the practice looked like, particularly from further back in their history. There's a bit we can infer from anthropological findings and secondary sources, although those aren't always reliable since many were retold from a Christian perspective, and we then lose the context.

3. Localization

This isn't so much an issue as it is something to simply be aware of. Ancient pagan civilizations were not monoliths of culture and belief; different regions had different practices. In Hellenic Paganism, for example, there were different deity cults that were city-specific. Just as culture changed over time, it also changed over space, so the recorded history of holidays in, say, Athens, wouldn't be the same as a rural village fifty miles north of Athens.

This is one that can really inform our modern practice because I'm fairly certain that the average practitioner isn't living like folks were back in those times. We can localize according to our own cultures, geography, and lifestyle, just as they had to do. Example: Olives and wine were a central part of Ancient Greece and many offerings were centered around this. I, however, live in the southern US. Instead of stressing about the cost of imported Olive Oil, I will instead pick honey suckles, offer a locally brewed Stout, or set aside some Crawfish.

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Now, this is all to say, don't get weighed down by the finer details of your practice, especially if you're a beginner, because the "right way" is in itself an oversimplification of the change inherent to spiritual practice. Even when the religion was still "alive," it was not a single, uniform structure (deconstruct that Othodoxy, ya'll).

Yes, a pre-made calendar is a good frame of reference for worship, and yes, a guide on how to pray to each God would have helped in the beginning. But odds are, you live in a different environment than ancient people, under different circumstances than the religion was originally practiced, and most of the original context under which they practiced no longer prevails. So you have room to create your own path.

Don't get stuck in the "learning phase" because your whole practice is the learning phase.

[endless-elysium]

☕️SIP OF THE DAY☕️

I mean lets think about it for a moment. Artemis is the god of the hunt and who was primarily doing the hunting???

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I drew this with PEBBLES!!!!!! I really enjoyed the process though, guess I'm a caveman now. Hope my god is pleased, that's for him🙏☀

Apollo do you like the view?

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He visited. I blame you.

The most vile words have been spoken to me by none other than my best friend. If Lord Phobetor decides to visit me in my sleep tonight, y'all will know.

@merakis-wish , I don't like when your sadism is turned towards me, have I ever mentioned that?

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The most vile words have been spoken to me by none other than my best friend. If Lord Phobetor decides to visit me in my sleep tonight, y'all will know.

@merakis-wish , I don't like when your sadism is turned towards me, have I ever mentioned that?

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Your HelPol practice is valid if you:

Are a Reconstructionist

Are a revivalist

Study ancient language

Don't study ancient language, only looking into it when it's needed

Have read the myths

Are still working on the myths

Are disabled

Give physical offerings

Give digital offerings

Give acts of service as offerings

Pray every day

Don't always remember to pray

Practice witchcraft

Practice sorcery

Don't practice witchcraft or sorcery

Use tarot/pendulum/divination to talk to the gods

Use clair senses to talk to the gods

Don't use divination or clair senses at all

Have a degree in classics

Don't have any degree at all

Have been to Greece

Have never been to Greece

Have an altar

Don't have an altar

Have a shrine

Don't have a shrine

Call them gods

Call them deities

Call them Theoi

Are a man

Are a woman

Are neither

Are trans

Choose to godspouse (it's nobodies business but yours anyway, idk why people care so much)

Believe in egregores

Never "work with" a deity and only ever worship

Have made mistakes in the past

Have trouble finding resources

Believe in pop culture paganism/magic

Worship other gods too

The gods love you, and they won't smite you or hate you for your mistakes or your differences. They love you. And anyone who says otherwise is sabotaging you.

[endless-elysium]

This is just a little thought that I had and wanted to get it out there.

TW - death + war mentions

I really like that poppies are a symbol of Hypnos. I understand that that's the case due to their sedative properties and being opiates - however I also like it because they're associated with death. Mainly their association with the lives and blood spilt from war. It makes me think that, not only are the poppies vibrant red colour representative of their blood, but also representative that they are now at rest. They fought so endlessly hard and are now getting the rest and comfort that they so desperately deserve.

I'm unsure about other countries, but being Australian, poppies are used for both ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. I was taught in school that poppies were used during ANZAC Day ceremonies because the day after the Battle of Gallipoli, when people came to retrive / check the bodies of the deceased, they found hundreds of poppies blooming on the battle ground - that were not there the day before. We were taught that people then thought that the bright red colour of the poppies was due to the blood spilt that had seeped into the flowers (of course probably not true, but that's what was thought). And now, being devoted to Hypnos, looking back at the story I can add my own thoughts. The poppies blooming the day after the battle as a sign from Hypnos (and Thanatos) that they are at rest now, to reassure that they are safe.

I don't know, it's just a thought that came to me. It's made me appreciate the association of the poppy more.

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Anger is a gift

O' determined Aphrodite. O' mighty Ares. I pray to you, consorts in burning passion. With gratitude I preach your reminder of How much dormant self-worth and hurt pride Reside in vitriolic anger. May your presence teach me how to harness it, How not to spiral in its thorny whirlwind And choose when to release its poison. This I pray, as your humble worshipper. Blessed are your names, Aphrodite Areia and Lord Ares, Olympian bringers of retribution!

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Not quite sure how to articulate this, but I'm heavily associating Lord Hepheastus with chemistry.

Metallurgy falls under chemistry for one, and fire is also pretty prevalent in many of its processes. Ores are also something I'm currently reading up on.

I'm planning to study chemical engineering in university, and as I was wondering Whose domain it could fall under, Lord Hepheastus came to mind, and not just because of the engineering part of it.

I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts on this! Or maybe even what other Gods could be associated with chemistry! Or honestly, any subject that is prevalent today that wasn't historically.

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i love reconstructionists, as they keep our history accurate and alive, and maintain a connection to our ancient elders!

i love revivalists, as they breathe life into a faded practice, and spread accessibility to all through modern worship variations!

i will not hold space for anyone who loudly proclaims the superiority of their own practice against another’s, ESPECIALLY those who feel the need to aggressively retaliate when someone doesn’t agree. i will not feed into it, and i certainly won’t make bigoted, nasty remarks (or support anyone who does).

i love the balance, and the complexity. without one or the other, revivalists or reconstructionists, the community would be unbalanced. both aspects are crucial to our continued development, but aggression is directly detrimental!

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Psychosis Discussion for the Witchy/Pagan Folks In My Phone

also i'm not an expert, this is based off personal experience, personal research, formal research (my past college classes, but it's not like we had an in depth class for psychosis specifically, we just touched on it for like a week or two total), what i've heard from others, and observation

u know what. no one tells y'all what to do if you think ur in spiritual psychosis* (or just psychosis). all they do is make fun of people they think are in psychosis and use the term like a weapon.

here's what to do

eat enough (this one is underrated. how will your brain be able to work properly if not given the fuel? it takes energy to emotionally regulate and double check conclusions you come to)

drink water

try to get enough sleep (also underrated)

do something non psychosis related. draw something silly, or go sit outside, or watch a comfort show. observe how your body feels without assigning explanations to why it feels that way. these are all to help ground yourself. (sometimes grounding is explained with a spiritual lens and you may not want to get into that if you're trying to take a break from spirituality). if you're delusions are about deities, take a break from your deities. they won't be mad, they've seen psychosis before and they love you.

address your distress. i can't speak much for manic feeling types of psychosis, my episodes were very anxiety based. but for anxiety, use coping mechanisms for calming yourself down. do something that doesn't harm you but makes you feel safe.

if you can, get professional help, or get medications adjusted if that's what's causing it

if you know the source or something heavily influencing your psychosis, distance yourself from it. witchtok is known for fearmongering and feeding peoples psychosis

reach out to friends if you've been isolating yourself. you can just spend time together doing something chill. something that helped my episodes was being with people who weren't tied to the themes of my psychosis, so if your psychosis is tied to witchcraft for example, hang out with friends who don't do anything witchy, or stay off the topic of witchcraft if your friends are all into witchcraft

hold off on major decisions like large purchases, getting rid of lots of personal items, moving, etc until you feel better and more stable

a bonus tip is to spend time away from people who are toxic or who make you feel confused and off kilter. if there's someone who for reasons you can or cant explain, just repeatedly makes you feel bad about yourself or guilty or angry, it might be because they're toxic in a way you havent noticed yet. if i had a nickel for every time someone told me they thought they were going insane until they spent less time with someone who turned out to be an abuser, and they suddenly got better, i'd have three nickels including myself.

i see too many people in witch/pagan communities acting like the psychosis is just when people are weird or when believe weird things and it's such a bold thing to say when we literally talk to gods and/or light candles to get money. it makes it seem like the bad part of psychosis is being weird or cringy. that is not what is destructive about psychosis. what's destructive is the social isolation, obsession, anxiety, paranoia, lack of self care, and big impulsive decisions. if you feel safe, are safe, and aren't harming others, your beliefs are not a major concern. you're either right, or harmlessly wrong. nothing wrong with that. so stop bullying people you think are weird, i will always repeat this sentiment

if something happens in your practice that is a little wacky, just keep taking care of yourself. the priority is your safety and others' safety. there's a lot of fearmongering in witchy spaces about being wildly wrong meaning you're in psychosis, but being wrong is okay. do some research (not on social media), ask for signs you can't miss, get a tarot reading from someone you trust, and remember spirituality is just wacky sometimes. we can't prove every single spiritual occurrence. we can only prove if we're physically taken care of. if you're safe, and the people around you are safe, and you don't feel overwhelmed with paranoia or anxiety or mania, you're probably okay to move forward, and just accept you could be right or wrong.

also, coming out of psychosis is a slow process. you're changing your view of your own reality. that doesn't happen in one night.

*i want to add to this, it is possible to know you're in psychosis, it's just not always common. if you are feeling like everyone is out to get you (thinking everyone is trying to hex you or you're being constantly spiritually attacked), or that you are more special than everyone (thinking youre a gods favorite devotee, that you're the most powerful witch, thinking you're the only one stopping an astral war, for me i thought i personally would cause the rapture), feeling like everything is a sign, those could be delusions. (the ones i'm describing here are delusions of persecution, grandeur, and reference. i see these most often in witchy/pagan/spiritual spaces)

also this might just be me, i have chronic dissociation, OCD, GAD, and such but psychosis has its own separate feeling of "i'm losing it". it feels like that mental thing you get in dreams where you just don't question anything. once you're out of it, you're like "why did i just believe that???". and like you can question yourself in a dream, but you'll only catch one thing. you'll recognize the clocks are look weird, but you won't notice the walls changing colors, you know? so if you feel that half-in a dream, reasoning isn't working right feeling, that could be a signal too. i think the closest feeling i've had to this was a PTSD (not a cptsd one in this case) flashback after a night of no sleep.

okay i'm rambling. tldr: if you think you're developing are/in psychosis, do basic physical self care (especially eating enough). do things that are simple and fun that isn't related to what is triggering you (so like grounding). social self care, like meeting with friends to do things not related to your psychosis triggers. try to use basic coping skills for anxiety, guilt, fear, things like that. you don't need to dig into why you feel it, just how to calm it down.

and stop bullying ppl online, doesn't matter how insane you think they are

(i have DID and it's hard to keep track of what i say without rambling and switching trains of thought and repeating myself without realizing so if this is confusing. uhh. rip lmao)

[endless-elysium]

Would it be disrespectful to ask The Muses for inspiration for re-writing some of my fanfiction? I know prose technically doesn't fall under any of Their jurisdictions, but the motivation could help me a bunch.

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AI art has no right being in Helpol/witchy spaces. It's so lifeless. So boring. Your Gods would be disappointed in you. They appreciate your creativity, your imagination, the things you do. They don't care about artistic skill and would be thrilled with whatever you create, as long as it's created with your heart and not a stealing algorithm.

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Xenia means you help your neighbours escape immigration police

Xenia means you feed, house, and respect the homeless, regardless of what got them there

Xenia means you do the work to unlearn racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism and transphobia

Xenia means (with obvious exceptions) you treat criminals and felons as human beings worthy of dignity and respect

Xenia means you make your environments less overstimulating if you know you’ll be with an autistic person

Xenia means Fuck the police

Xenia means you talk to the elderly neighbour who’s living on their own, and has nobody in their life

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Ever since I met my best friend, they've had this ability to predict the most random shit. Sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes impressive, other times it's terrifying. So anyway, they became a devotee of Lord Apollon.

@merakis-wish

Please stop being such a strong reminder that Lord Apollon is the God of prophecy.

[endless-elysium]

Gentle reminder that any offering is a valuable offering

I speak from experience when I say that there are plenty of things which can prevent you from doing some "easy" offerings. That doesn't make your practice lesser in any capacity.

Judging "value" of an offering is purely subjective. You can't know everyone's unique circumstances, whether that be where they live, their disabilities, the avaliablity of materials, and many other such things. You can't really view it from an objective standpoint, something that is easy to you might be nigh impossible for someone else.

You can't put things into tight little boxes and exclude everyone who even mildly steps out of them. That is not what this religion is about. Ableism is unfortunately so prevalent, and whether intentionally or not, enforcing harsh standards for what is and isn't proper is only further amplifying it.

Take a step back and look: is this person directly disrespecting the Gods by doing this? Are they harming themselves or others by doing it? (Animals and the environment included.) No? Then move on. Scroll past it, block them if it really gets on your nerves, but don't go against Xenia just to prove yourself somehow superior.

And to those who are struggling and feeling like they aren't doing enough to honour the Gods; just know that it's okay. Whatever your circumstances are, whatever your situation may be that's making you feel that way, just know that you're trying, and that's enough.

Don't let yourself fall into a spiral of what's proper. Does it feel right? Does it make you feel good? Then it's enough.

All of us have unique situations. Don't judge someone else based on your perspective alone. Don't put anyone down for being different. We're a community, let's have each other's backs instead. You don't need to agree with everything, just don't spread hate or try to make someone feel inferior.

I know a lot of people covered this already, but I just want there to be more reassurance around.

Share your snacks with your deities, drink tea with Them, sit in silence with Them, talk about your day with Them, devote your thoughts to Them; whatever you can, whatever feels good, is equally as valuable.

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Hm, wow, ok. There's a lot of tension in the community right now, and I feel the need to make a post because it's gotten way out of control.

Sometimes we have opinions that differ from each other. As a community with hundreds of people in it, that's entirely normal and ok. We're just not always going to agree, and when we come across posts that we don't agree with, the best thing to do sometimes is just keep scrolling. It probably wasn't meant for us. Moreso if it angers us to such a degree that we feel the need to insult the original poster, whom we know nothing about offline. Instead, why not just block the original poster? You can choose to simply ignore that person's content and carry on with your own individual worship, as is.

Sending mean asks or threats to someone is a form of online harassment. If you're doing that, you're harassing someone. Doesn't matter how strongly you disagree, you are still harassing that person. There are unpopular opinions circulating around, and I know that some people have been feeling invalidated by these opinions, but at the end of the day, guys, they truly are just opinions, and you don't have to agree with them. You're entitled to your own opinions, just as much as the people that you disagree with are, and vice versa. Attacking someone for having very different opinions on worship than you is not ok, just as you wouldn't want someone to do that shit to you either. Please please please please please, STOP and REFLECT on why you even feel the need to do that. What does your anon hate achieve, when it comes down to it? Are you contributing anything - literally anything - positive in the slightest? Is it constructive? Can the person even actually learn from anything you're saying, or are you simply insulting and demeaning them because you feel that you've been personally attacked? Pause for a moment, and breathe. Log off for a bit. Do whatever else you need to do, but do NOT sit there and harass others over a difference of opinion. Just let them be, and continue practicing however you see fit for yourself. The end. It's over. All done.

We are a community, people (one that operates on Xenia, no less). Let's stop grabbing at each other's throats, and start acting like it.