everythingchnges

[everythingchnges]

I need you all to hear me out on this

they're the same

[everythingchnges]

every time the sun hits my face i'm like "omg lord apollo hiii" and i have the immense urge to go out waving to the sun in the middle of the street

[everythingchnges]

Offering to Lord Hermes

[everythingchnges]

Oh my beautiful Hermes :((❤️

Offering to Lord Hermes

For keeping me safe and allowing me to enjoy my trip. I've been feeling very drawn to him these past few days and just wanted to express my overall appreciation and love.

"So he spake. And from heaven father Zeus himself gave confirmation to his words, and commanded that glorious Hermes should be lord over all birds of omen and grim-eyed lions, and boars with gleaming tusks, and over dogs and all flocks that the wide earth nourishes, and over all sheep; also that he only should be the appointed messenger to Hades, who, though he takes no gift, shall give him no mean prize."

[everythingchnges]

Do any experienced witches, helpols, pagans etc know how to preform a ritual for peace to Lady Athena for strategies over war? Very important for my Iranian ass right now I fear.

[everythingchnges]

I need to hit him and put him in a jar and inspect him

I didn’t draw in over 10 days⁉️

[everythingchnges]

MYTHS VS HELLENIC POLYTHEISM : What’s the difference? What to actually look out for?

I’m going to start this blog off very blunt at first and then I’m going to dive deeper in, first off:

Mythology ≠ Religion.

That’s as blunt as I can actually get. Now, to dive in deeper,

“How are they different?”

Well, we first need to take a look at the actual definition of mythology.

See how it says “exaggerated”? Yeah, exactly. Myths are a collection of stories that are often made over the top and fictitious to often serve as a “moral of the story” and a lesson to people reading them, to show aspects of humans and how their live and act and what their ethics are. How does that work? Well, usually when you read myths (I’m going to put the story of Icarus here because it’s the most famous one), they tend to deliver a certain message to the reader, for example with the Greek myth Icarus who got too close to the sun despite the warnings given to him, depict a lesson on the consequences of not listening to someone/disobeying. Usually, it just serves and life lessons and are NOT supposed to be taken so literally. Like no, you aren’t gonna make wings and fly up to the sky and fall in a LITERAL sense…

You can take Alaska Native story telling as a reference who use these stories to teach the community, or serve as lessons for their heritage. (Or in my culture what we have is called “Zārb Ol-Māssāl” which are a series of poems or stories that tend to deliver a message to the reader on their actions.)

The whole point of myths is to tell a story in hopes that the reader or people passing down these stories will understand them on a deeper level instead of looking at it in a literal and surface sense. It allows people to connect with these stories on different aspects like love, loss, grief, etc… and to use them to create a path to share these stories with future generations. Believe it or not, myths actually serve as a powerful tool to keeping a culture alive. Why do you think Greek myths and Nordic myths are so popular?

Now, here comes the question on,

“Well why is it so bad to take these myths literally when it comes to religion? Aren’t they stories from these religions?”

Myths - although do share a purpose to aspire and teach - become way too mixed with the concept of religion at times and messes up the whole narrative. And in Hellenic Polytheism, it’s very VERY common for non-HelPols to mutter a “But Zeus was a 🍇ist!” Here or a “Hades kidnapped Persephone!” There. And this can be VERY damaging to the religion as a whole.

Now say it with me:

The gods are NOT their Myths.

Read that again. It’s exactly what’s written there.

During these myths, the gods are depicted more as characters instead of spiritual and natural beings. Think of the gods not as people, but as energy. A force of nature like spirits. Shoving these energy forces into a corner and labelling them as this and that is extremely disrespectful because you’re just throwing their spiritual depth away like it’s a cartoon show. The gods aren’t your characters you can headcanon. They’re actually forces of nature.

Most literal readings use the myths as a way to corner people who genuinely practice this stuff and force them to explain the “cheating” and “affairs” that they’ve seen from these stories, which creates a stigma around these people to explain themselves and it makes them view this practice as absurd and disgusting. What’s even worse is that the myths usually make people completely block the theological interpretation and place the gods as being only this and that. Hellenic Polytheism is a RECONSTRUCTED religion. Say it with me now:

RE. CON. STRUC. TED.

Which means it has evolved through studies and modern day practice. Basically let’s say back then the Greeks had their temples to worship the gods but now, modern day HelPols don’t actually HAVE those huge temples to go to since most are destroyed, so we make our own small, roomy altars for the gods since we have no other choice. Get my point?

And not to mention, most people who name Hellenic Polytheism as an absurd religion full of people who defend 🍇, are often conditioned by Abrahamic religions and use THEIR teachings into Polytheistic religions like Hellenic Polytheism. In Abrahamic religions, most stories are actually taken literally and seriously so when you see myths from another religion trying to tell you about the consequences your actions have on yourself and others and it’s not ACTUALLY what the text LITERALLY says then they lose their shit. These misinterpretations can often lead to memes and pop culture references that are harmful stereotypes for a VERY REAL religion

(Cough cough looks at Lore Olympus COUGHHHHHHHH)

So yeah, generally not so good.

But then you must be asking:

“If they’re all myths, then how are the gods related? How is Apollo the son of Zeus if it’s just a myth?”

Great question! And I’m here to explain the concept of “branches” to you.

Let’s place Zeus and Apollo as a point here. Who is Zeus? Well, Zeus is the “Sky Father” of Olympus. He is often seen as the highest order of the Olympians. What about Apollo? Well, Apollo being his “son” often shares the divine authority with him for example with music and prophecy and the sun. Which can all also be traced back to Zeus like an archetype relationship, like a branch. They share things in common and cosmic functions to be connected to each other on a more spiritual basis rather than “blood”.

You can also see them as metaphors! Like how Zeus is Apollos “father”. But what they really mean by this would be something like:

Zeus is … -> order and kingship. A divine authority.

Apollo is -> prophecy and light. Shares a piece of that divine authority with Zeus.

It’s a symbolism. And not only does Hellenic Polytheism use this but other systems like Egyptian, Norse, Hindu, etc… use these as well to connect divine authority and spiritual power.

Yes the gods are “related” but not in the way us humans actually think of when the word “related” comes to mind. It’s more of a spiritual thing connected by forces of nature.

Have a wonderful rest of your day. 🤞🏻

[everythingchnges]

Collage of my messy doodles

[everythingchnges]

Aphrodite who cries for the people who hurt themselves because self love is love too

Artemis who doesn’t hunt animals anymore (humans do it enough) She now walks in clubs looking to hunt the real animal

Athena who donates hundreds of books to local libraries and schools

Apollo who watches all street musicians hoping their talents can get them a little money (He gives more than a little)

Dionysus who watches over everyone’s drinks at the bar making sure they stay safe

Zeus who makes it rain for the couples that just want to frolic and dance and kiss in the rain

Hera who donates to woman’s and SA survivors shelters

Ares who is at the forefront of every protest because those are battles too

Hestia who holds and keeps thousands of secrets so the ones who whispered them into flame don’t have to

Hades who let’s families get one last goodbye to a loved one before they die

Persephone who personally makes sure that the ones taken too early feel safe and secure in the Underworld

Demeter who gives Her best crops to food banks and homeless shelters

Hecate who is a street magician and does actual magical for the kids

Poseidon who finds the best seashells and leaves them on the beach for someone to find and treasure

the Gods aren’t gone they ARE the little things in life

[everythingchnges]

Hello! I'm a new helpol and I see your profile a lot on the helpol tags and am really intrigued by your posts and layouts. I've made a separate blog from my personal for all things helpol/as an online shrine/alter and was wondering if you had any tips. Also! I really love your layout style so if you had advice on how to make my posts pleasing to the eye that would be super helpful!!

xoxo all love!

Hello lovely!! Omg just reading this made my day honestly. 😭💗

Okay so first off, I think for digital altars as far as I know, you can do like… moodboards and touch them up with pretty and aesthetic filters. my recommendation would be to use Polarr. Pinterest also has a lot of Polarr codes you can use for it.

And for layout, I’d suggest maybe going with one colour pallet. For example, mine is just warm toned such as orange or browns. You can do a variety but if you want it simple i’d recommend just going with either cool or warm tones and such or for example: Orange and Blue, White and Pink, etc etc. Since my own blog is mainly centred around Hermes as I work with him a lot, I often associate him with warm tones hence the whole theme. 😭

And for any recourses for blogs, you can search up “rentry recourses” on Pinterest and it gives you a VARIETY of different blogs directing you to Rentry with dividers, pngs, images, gifs, etc… you could use for you blogs! The ones I use are here and here ! You can use fonts, kaomojis, pretty symbols, etc, all from the resources like Rentry.

And if you want to post Hellenic Polytheism related stuff for like your digital altars, incorporate hymns from the gods :) my pinned post starts off with a hymn for Hermes. (Has a lot more stuff.)

If you are aiming to make awareness helpol posts then when you’re giving your info, make sure to adjust them all neatly with dividers and highlight the important ones with the main colours you use (for example I use orange most of the time lol.) And make sure your divider images have a matching point with one another more or less. (I’m going to use Lady Athena as an example for a moodboard and divider)

Divider:

Divider as a picture + Polarr filter + extra text:

Pinterest moodboard + Polarr filter:

(Lady Athena looks so pretty 🥺)

I hope I was able to help you with these, anon <3

[everythingchnges]

I love the House M.D fandom, Chase killed a dictator and y'all think the moral dilemma here is about kissing a dying 9-year-old girl in a absolutely non-sexual way.

[everythingchnges]

house md is the only fandom by far that i like because I hate all of them but I also love them. like chase, i fucking hate your guts, but I also love you. you're so pathetic. cameron, get a grip, you're falling apart girl. you also scare me. foreman, you're just a dick. i fucking love that. wilson, you're also falling apart, like real bad. also, you're gay as hell, stop getting married. lisa cuddy.....you're the only i like. but you're also a pushover sometimes, but I'll forgive you. and oh. do we even have to talk about house. no. no we don't.

[everythingchnges]

…I stalked her channel a bit and found out she thinks paganism and Hellenism is absurd and corrupt and all her teachings have been taught by her friend. I’m going to rip my skin off.

I once was talking to an old friend who genuinely wanted to godspouse Apollo and said he’s going to propose to her soon and have a wedding (🧍‍♀️) and said that when she was talking to Apollo, she said that “Not even Apollon likes Zeus!”

… are you okay?

(How are you gonna godspouse Apollo if you think THAT way about his father. Zeus of all deities.)

[everythingchnges]

Probably will get shit for this, but I am SO tired of seeing God spousing shit everywhere.

I mean no hate towards the act of actual God spousing!!! but the way the internet (particularly tiktok) has created and popularized it into something that is almost entirely people intentionally attention seeking and/or in some degree of delusion is worrying and disrespectful.

Apollo is not your baby girl. Loki is not your boyf who loves watching horror movies with you. They are not your husband. They are not uwu making you blush and giggle and kick your feet. They are not sliding a hand down your pants and making you c>m. You are not pregnant with their astral children. And no, most people are not god spoused.

The problem is not that it's a different path than me. I don't care about that. I love different paths, even the "cringe" ones like pop culture worship and digital magic and etc etc. And even things I dislike/do cringe a bit at such as "left hand path" or "dark witchcraft" or "black magic witch" are not a problem! Just because something isn't for me (or someone else) doesn't make it dangerous or problematic.

My problem is (varying degrees of) spiritual delusion and psychosis, appropriation and misrepresentation of actual practices, and disrespect towards deities and paganism as a whole. Which is most of what I see in online god spousing spaces. (And unfortunately often in online pagan + witch communities as a whole, which I've discussed before.)

Please. You are 16 (often.) Delete those Tumblr posts and Tiktoks. Just move on. Learning and growing is normal and good! We have all been through phases or beleifs we cringe at and leave in the past. You have no reason to cling to bs. Stop the disrespect (to both the Gods and your own mind), and make something legitimately beautiful for yourself in your practice. Learning and growing is normal and good!!!

[everythingchnges]

I once was talking to an old friend who genuinely wanted to godspouse Apollo and said he’s going to propose to her soon and have a wedding (🧍‍♀️) and said that when she was talking to Apollo, she said that “Not even Apollon likes Zeus!”

… are you okay?

(How are you gonna godspouse Apollo if you think THAT way about his father. Zeus of all deities.)

[everythingchnges]

Literally one of the best responses to my post 😭

MYTHS VS HELLENIC POLYTHEISM : What’s the difference? What to actually look out for?

I’m going to start this blog off very blunt at first and then I’m going to dive deeper in, first off:

Mythology ≠ Religion.

That’s as blunt as I can actually get. Now, to dive in deeper,

“How are they different?”

Well, we first need to take a look at the actual definition of mythology.

See how it says “exaggerated”? Yeah, exactly. Myths are a collection of stories that are often made over the top and fictitious to often serve as a “moral of the story” and a lesson to people reading them, to show aspects of humans and how their live and act and what their ethics are. How does that work? Well, usually when you read myths (I’m going to put the story of Icarus here because it’s the most famous one), they tend to deliver a certain message to the reader, for example with the Greek myth Icarus who got too close to the sun despite the warnings given to him, depict a lesson on the consequences of not listening to someone/disobeying. Usually, it just serves and life lessons and are NOT supposed to be taken so literally. Like no, you aren’t gonna make wings and fly up to the sky and fall in a LITERAL sense…

You can take Alaska Native story telling as a reference who use these stories to teach the community, or serve as lessons for their heritage. (Or in my culture what we have is called “Zārb Ol-Māssāl” which are a series of poems or stories that tend to deliver a message to the reader on their actions.)

The whole point of myths is to tell a story in hopes that the reader or people passing down these stories will understand them on a deeper level instead of looking at it in a literal and surface sense. It allows people to connect with these stories on different aspects like love, loss, grief, etc… and to use them to create a path to share these stories with future generations. Believe it or not, myths actually serve as a powerful tool to keeping a culture alive. Why do you think Greek myths and Nordic myths are so popular?

Now, here comes the question on,

“Well why is it so bad to take these myths literally when it comes to religion? Aren’t they stories from these religions?”

Myths - although do share a purpose to aspire and teach - become way too mixed with the concept of religion at times and messes up the whole narrative. And in Hellenic Polytheism, it’s very VERY common for non-HelPols to mutter a “But Zeus was a 🍇ist!” Here or a “Hades kidnapped Persephone!” There. And this can be VERY damaging to the religion as a whole.

Now say it with me:

The gods are NOT their Myths.

Read that again. It’s exactly what’s written there.

During these myths, the gods are depicted more as characters instead of spiritual and natural beings. Think of the gods not as people, but as energy. A force of nature like spirits. Shoving these energy forces into a corner and labelling them as this and that is extremely disrespectful because you’re just throwing their spiritual depth away like it’s a cartoon show. The gods aren’t your characters you can headcanon. They’re actually forces of nature.

Most literal readings use the myths as a way to corner people who genuinely practice this stuff and force them to explain the “cheating” and “affairs” that they’ve seen from these stories, which creates a stigma around these people to explain themselves and it makes them view this practice as absurd and disgusting. What’s even worse is that the myths usually make people completely block the theological interpretation and place the gods as being only this and that. Hellenic Polytheism is a RECONSTRUCTED religion. Say it with me now:

RE. CON. STRUC. TED.

Which means it has evolved through studies and modern day practice. Basically let’s say back then the Greeks had their temples to worship the gods but now, modern day HelPols don’t actually HAVE those huge temples to go to since most are destroyed, so we make our own small, roomy altars for the gods since we have no other choice. Get my point?

And not to mention, most people who name Hellenic Polytheism as an absurd religion full of people who defend 🍇, are often conditioned by Abrahamic religions and use THEIR teachings into Polytheistic religions like Hellenic Polytheism. In Abrahamic religions, most stories are actually taken literally and seriously so when you see myths from another religion trying to tell you about the consequences your actions have on yourself and others and it’s not ACTUALLY what the text LITERALLY says then they lose their shit. These misinterpretations can often lead to memes and pop culture references that are harmful stereotypes for a VERY REAL religion

(Cough cough looks at Lore Olympus COUGHHHHHHHH)

So yeah, generally not so good.

But then you must be asking:

“If they’re all myths, then how are the gods related? How is Apollo the son of Zeus if it’s just a myth?”

Great question! And I’m here to explain the concept of “branches” to you.

Let’s place Zeus and Apollo as a point here. Who is Zeus? Well, Zeus is the “Sky Father” of Olympus. He is often seen as the highest order of the Olympians. What about Apollo? Well, Apollo being his “son” often shares the divine authority with him for example with music and prophecy and the sun. Which can all also be traced back to Zeus like an archetype relationship, like a branch. They share things in common and cosmic functions to be connected to each other on a more spiritual basis rather than “blood”.

You can also see them as metaphors! Like how Zeus is Apollos “father”. But what they really mean by this would be something like:

Zeus is … -> order and kingship. A divine authority.

Apollo is -> prophecy and light. Shares a piece of that divine authority with Zeus.

It’s a symbolism. And not only does Hellenic Polytheism use this but other systems like Egyptian, Norse, Hindu, etc… use these as well to connect divine authority and spiritual power.

Yes the gods are “related” but not in the way us humans actually think of when the word “related” comes to mind. It’s more of a spiritual thing connected by forces of nature.

Have a wonderful rest of your day. 🤞🏻

[everythingchnges]

He is so silly and goofy. He looks so grumpy and confused after House woke him up. He seems to be not understanding what is happening around him like a new born little lamb. I want to squish his face and stroke his messy hair