starry-polytheism

[starry-polytheism]

31 days of helpol - day 1!

(from here, by my friend @wisdom-devotee)

Who was the first deity you began worshipping? Do you still worship them now?

i started with hestia, about two years ago. even now, she is still very central in my practice! i even reciently started working on a sourdough starter as an offering to her <3

hestia is so beloved to me, she's so important to my life and i will be forever thankful that she took me in :]

[starry-polytheism]

31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

Anyone can participate regardless of how long you’ve been a Hellenic polytheist! My hope is to use these questions to reflect on the year, and repeat next year to see what has changed, and hopefully to continue doing that every year!

Answer in as much or as little detail as you see fit. You are allowed to skip any questions that you are uncomfortable answering. These questions can also apply to heroes, not just deities. You can pick specific deities to answer each one, or answer the questions with all the deities you worship. This might apply to other Pantheons and I’m happy for it to be used as such. Feel free to tweak some of the questions to fit those pantheons if you’d like!

Please link this list on your posts with your answers so that it is easy for others to find if they want to participate too after seeing your answers.

THIS IS TO BE DONE DURING DECEMBER, I’M JUST POSTING THE LIST NOW SO PEOPLE CAN FIND IT!

Have fun!

DAY ONE: Who was the first deity you began worshipping? Do you still worship them now? If this has been answered before: how has your worship changed since last year?

DAY TWO: Which deity did you most recently start worshipping? Were you called to them or did you reach out first? Do you think there were specific reasons behind why you were drawn to them?

DAY THREE: How long ago did you start Hellenic Polytheism?

DAY FOUR: Are there any deities you don’t currently worship but want to learn about?

DAY FIVE: How much have you bonded with your deities?

DAY SIX: What’s one way you incorporate Hellenic Polytheism into your routine (daily, weekly, monthly, etc?)

DAY SEVEN: Are you openly a Hellenic Polytheist offline? How does being open/not being open effect your worship?

DAY EIGHT: Do you have altar(s)? If you do, how do you use it? If you don’t have one, do you want one? Why/why not?

DAY NINE: Is there a practice that’s common among other Hellenic Polytheists that you’re skeptical about?

DAY TEN: What’s something you’ve learned about Hellenic Polytheism that you wish you knew sooner?

DAY ELEVEN: What is the clearest sign you’ve received from a deity?

DAY TWELVE: Do you do food offerings or libations? What do you do with the food/drink after you’ve offered it?

DAY THIRTEEN: Do you write your own prayers?

DAY FOURTEEN: Do you have any hobbies that fit any of your deities’ domains?

DAY FIFTEEN: How has your worship changed you?

DAY SIXTEEN: If you could give one piece of advice to someone who’s just starting in Helpol, what would it be?

DAY SEVENTEEN: Send out some love! Are there any Helpol blogs here on tumblr that you follow and really like?

DAY EIGHTEEN: How can you best describe your relationship with each of your deities?

DAY NINETEEN: If you had to assign one song to each of the deities you worship, what songs would you choose?

DAY TWENTY: Do you have a favourite aspect of Hellenic Polytheism?

DAY TWENTY-ONE: Are there any retellings/adaptations of greek mythology that you LIKE? Why/why not?

DAY TWENTY-TWO: Is there an aspect of Hellenic polytheism you haven’t yet gotten to try but hope to in the future? Do you have any other Helpol-related goals for next year?

DAY TWENTY-THREE: What’s a bit of UPG you have with your deities?

DAY TWENTY-FOUR: What’s an offering you’ve made that you’re really proud of?

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: What was the most surprising thing you’ve learnt about Hellenic Polytheism or your deities?

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Do you celebrate any festivals? Which ones or why not?

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Share a fun fact about one or more of your deities which you think is underrated or not well-known

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: What is your favourite myth?

DAY TWENTY-NINE: What is an aspect of your deities you really appreciate?

DAY THIRTY: Do you have a visual interpretation of your deities? Is this different from usual depictions you see of them?

DAY THIRTY-ONE: Share a positive experience you’ve had this month/year with one or more of your deities

[starry-polytheism]

A guide to worship of Mousai - cheat sheets

Hellenic cheat sheets

If you like my content consider supporting me on: https://ko-fi.com/screeching0wlet

[starry-polytheism]

Greek Gods 101: Clio

Clio is a Mousai of history and records. Excluding the universal offerings, some common offerings include:

Books

History Books

Textbooks

Scrolls

Recycled Paper

Journals

Quill

Ink

Other People’s Journals (i.e. Virginia Woolf’s)

Flashdrives/USB Drives

Cameras or Photos

For devotional acts, some activities that can be done for her include:

Coffee Staining Scrolls and Papers

Learning About Major Historical Events

Learning About Major Historical People

Memorizing Dates and Places

Keeping a Journal

Studying History

Learning How to Keep Records

She is not celebrated in any Athenian holidays.

[starry-polytheism]

Clio Offerings and Devotional Acts

Offerings

History books

Journals (personal or of others)

Scrolls

Depictions of your favorite historical period (art, clothes, poems, etc.)

Family heirlooms

Vintage clothing

Vintage/antique toys

Antique items

Fossils

Bone/skull depictions

Lyres

Trumpets

Hyacinths

Hourglasses

Clocks/Watches

Historic poems

Academic awards

Historical family records (birth records, death records, immigration records, etc.)

Writing utensils

Quills

Ink

Clay tablets

Newspapers/articles

Political memorabilia 

Library cards

School IDs

Artifacts from your culture

Laurels

Globes

Maps

Life mementos

Old coins/bills

Old stamps

Devotional Acts

Visit/volunteer at a historical society

Go to the library

Learn local history

Learn world history

Teach history

Keep a  personal journal

Keep a journal of current events and your reflections on them

Write poetry about history or current events

Write your life story

Take a history class

Read

Write

Write the story of your family

Learn about different creation myths

Learn how myths developed in history

Study archeology

Study anthropology

Keep up with current events

Study politics

Preserve items that could be historical

Cook popular meals from history

Go to a museum

Go to historical reenactments

Make clay tablets

Learn about historical technology

Learn about historical medicine

Study geography and how territories have changed over time

[starry-polytheism]

Beginner’s Guide to Hellenic Polytheism

I KNOW this is a really long post but my intention was to just note down everything that I think is important for beginners and that’s A LOT. It took me forever to learn some of these things but they’re so important, so buckle in. I hope this helps some people.

If I’ve missed anything, please feel free to let me know what you’d like me to add. I’ve been working on this for two days, so if there are typos, I’m so sorry.

The sections I cover here are key terms, mythic literalism, deity work vs deity worship, FAQs and General Advice.

Some Key Terms

Hellenic Polytheism: Hellenic means Greek, and Polytheism means worshipping multiple gods. So, Hellenic Polytheism is the worship of the Greek Pantheon which is also referred to as the Theoi. The religion is also referred to as Hellenism, Hellenismos, or abbreviated to Helpol. The people who practice could be referred to as Hellenic Polytheists, Hellenic Pagans, or Hellenists.

Hellenistic: you may see the term ‘Hellenistic Polytheism’, but this is my PSA to ask people not to use that, as it’s incorrect. Hellenistic refers to a specific period of Andient Greece, from 323-32 BC, and your worship is almost definitely not specifically focused on that period.

Ouranic: this is the term for the heavenly gods. Be aware that there is some overlap between Ouranic and Chthonic deities. Whether a deity is Ouranic or Chthonic will effect things like prayer position (palms up for Ouranic) and whether offerings can be eaten or drank (yes for Ouranic)

Chthonic: this is the term for the underworld gods. Be aware that there is some overlap between Ouranic and Chthonic deities. Whether a deity is Ouranic or Chthonic will effect things like prayer position (palms down for Chthonic) and whether offerings can be eaten or drank (no for Chthonic) side note - when it comes to hero worship, I personally treat them as if they’re chthonic.

Kharis: this means reciprocity, and also refers to the relationship formed between us and the gods. Arguably the most important aspect of Hellenic Polytheism is that when you ask something of a deity, you must give an offering in return. Size of what you’re asking for should correspond to size of the offering, or if you’ve given many little offerings without asking for anything you can use that as why you should be given the Big Thing.

Xenia: guest-friendship, hospitality. The idea that any stranger could be a God in disguise, so treat everyone respectfully. It’s an Ancient Greek social custom that a lot of Hellenic Polytheists see as important today. Simply put, in modern times this most often just means being kind to strangers. There’s a lot more to it than that though, so look here. Know that Xenia is a two-way thing, so you have to be generous to your guests but they must also respect your home.

Eusebeia: basically, piety. Respecting the Gods. This is really the only ‘rule’ of Hellenic polytheism. There’ll be different ideas of what is considered respectful, but as long as you have good intentions and don’t do anything you KNOW would be offensive, you’re okay. Don’t insult the gods (any of them), don’t ask for anything without offering something else, and don’t treat yourself as equal to or higher than the theoi.

Hubris: excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often the fatal flaw of a lot of Greek heroes in mythology. Specifically, this is when you act better than or equal to the gods. You are not.

Libations: a type of offering, in the form of a liquid. Usually poured on the ground but can be drank (unless it’s to a chthonic deity) if you’re a closeted Hellenic polytheist who can’t just pour some liquid on the floor every time you want to offer it. My advice for food offerings/libations to chthonic deities if you’re not openly a hellenist is to offer leftovers, rotting food, or something you otherwise know will go to waste.

Altar: traditionally a place used to put physical offerings and food offerings for deities. Some people have an altar to each deity, some people have one altar for all their deities. These can be as big or as small as you want. People may use shelves, drawers, boxes, windowsills, etc, and I don’t even use mine for food offerings, only for physical ones because I usually eat the food offering (I don’t like the idea of wasting food). My altars also just serve as a dedicated space for that deity in my life.

Hero worship: this is the worship of ‘heroes’ in Greek mythology, which includes literally any mortal. For example, I worship Odysseus of Ithaca, Penelope of Ithaca, Helen of Sparta, and Tiresias of Thebes. I’ve been asked a lot about how hero worship differs from deity worship, and you can find that answer here.

Devotee: there is a lot of disagreement on what the difference between a devotee and worshipper is, but for me, I’m devoted to Athena as I feel I have the closest bond with Her of all my deities and I honour Her the most. This partly comes from my feeling that She has been with me for much longer than I’ve been aware of Her presence, and that also so much of who I am and what I value comes under Her domains.

Patron: this basically means that if part of your identity comes under the domain of a deity, then that deity is your patron. There can be occupational patrons (like Hermes is the patron of merchants) or to do with things like gender (Hera is a patron for women. Yes this includes trans women, transphobes are not welcome here.) You can have more than one patron, and you don’t need to worship all of the deities who would be considered your patron.

Epithets: these are titles given to deities. There are two types - cult epithets, which describe the aspect of a deity you’re focusing on (like Athena Ageleia, meaning ‘Protector of the People’) since they have a lot of domains and it’s important in prayers to specify what you want. Then there’s poetic epithets, which are adjectives, often used to compliment a deity. I like using these to make my prayers seem more sophisticated to be honest (example: white-armed Hera)

Unverified Personal Gnosis: gnosis is spiritual knowledge. If it’s unverified, that means that it has no basis in historical sources as far as the person is aware, and they don’t know anybody else who has the same experience. You will often see this abbreviated as UPG. Personally, I think UPG is really valid, considering a lot of things are unknown to us due to the loss of sources overtime.

Shared Personal Gnosis: gnosis is spiritual knowledge. Like UPG, Shared Personal Gnosis (often abbreviated as SPG) doesn’t have any historical backing as far as the people who believe it are aware, but it is shared by multiple different people and therefore seen by some as more valid than UPG (though I’d argue that all SPG is UPG before you know that other people agree)

Verified Personal Gnosis: gnosis is spiritual knowledge. It being verified means that there are historical sources to back up the belief, and this is commonly abbreviated to VPG. You are more likely to come across the terms UPG than SPG or VPG, and most of what Helpol people on tumblr discuss is UPG, even if they don’t state that directly.

Reconstructionist: these are people who try to ‘reconstruct’ the ancient religion, recreating ancient rituals as best they can and doing things as close as they can get to how the ancient Greeks did based on our historical sources. An important note here is that we will never be able to do this perfectly and that’s okay. For example, I would hope none of us are making animal sacrifices.

Revivalist: these are people who try to recreate the ‘spirit’ of the religion, though not with the exact practices that the Ancient Greeks used. Revivalists are more concerned with the values and beliefs of the ancient religion than they necessarily are with how it was practiced. I personally feel like I fall somewhere between the two, but I also think both are really valid!

Mythic Literalism

Mythic Literalism is the idea that the stories we see in any mythology actually occurred. In Hellenic Polytheism, this is not how we tend to look at the Greek myths. And it’s not how the ancients saw them either.

Greek mythology has always been interpreted as symbolic. For example, Hades kidnapping Persephone is mostly accepted to be about mothers in Ancient Greece being separated from their daughters once they marry. It does not mean that Hades, the God, kidnapped Persephone, the Goddess, and that people who worship Hades are evil because Hades is a kidnapper. This myth can also be interpreted through the lens that death separates families.

This is important because the Gods all do things that are, by today’s standards, incredibly immoral - and a lot of them were even immoral in antiquity. It is important to not take the myths literally to avoid feelings of guilt over worshipping something horrific.

And yes, this applies to Zeus. He is not a rapist, He’s a male fertility god. In myths he does bad things because he represents kings and kings can abuse their power. Things like that.

But it’s still good to research the myths! It’s good to understand the ways in which these deities were understood and what their domains can represent. Additionally the myths tell us not to be hubristic, and things like the Iliad tell us about Oaths and Offerings and Xenia. These are important parts of helpol.

Deity Work vs Deity Worship

I’m going to preface this section by saying that I worship deities, I don’t work with them, so even though I’m doing research on this please take everything I say about deity work with a grain of salt and note that the rest of this post might apply more to worship, because that’s what I’m familiar with. Lastly, my intention here is not to place a value judgement on either type, I just want to try and make a full explanation for anyone out there looking for one, since I’ve found it to be kind of difficult to find.

From my understanding, deity work is common among witches, and usually involves asking a deity to help with your spells or other forms of magick. When you work with a deity, you are asking them to mentor you in a sense, and there’s often a specific goal in mind that they’re hoping to achieve with help of the deity. Additionally, because of that goal-oriented relationship, deity work has deadlines(?). Like, once you’ve achieved the goal you had, the deity will stop working with you

There are similarities, as both seem to involve reciprocity and offerings, and both involve cultivating a relationship with deities, even if the nature of that relationship and the reason for offering is different.

Deity worship doesn’t have a set end-goal. You CAN stop actively worshipping a deity, but this doesn’t usually come after a specific goal is achieved because there isn’t a goal in mind. Worship is more about honouring the deity. Khakis is built out of admiration, respect and love for the deity. This is why we pray, make offerings, etc. it’s all to honour the gods. We do ask for things in deity worship, but that’s not the entire point like it is for deity work.

FAQs

Do I need to be called to worship/work with a deity?

Nope! You are 100% allowed to reach out first. You can do that by praying or making an offering. Remember to research the deity first, so you know what epithets to use, know what symbols they’re associated with, have ideas for offerings, etc.

Where can I find information on deities?

The main site that I think everyone uses is theoi.com, which has really in-depth pages on a lot of deities, with their myths, lists of epithets, family trees, etc. it’s a really useful resource!

Do I need an altar?

No. They’re nice to have but you don’t need one straight away. It took me two years of worshipping to get any altars, and even now I don’t really use them how you’re ‘supposed’ to.

Are there any sins in Hellenic Polytheism?

No, just don’t disrespect a god (don’t disrespect any of them, even the ones you don’t worship should be respected). Also don’t show hubris.

Deity X and Deity Y don’t get along, but I want to worship both, what do I do?

Disregard mythic literalism and remember this is a polytheistic religion. The gods know they are not the only god you will be worshipping, and they are chill with that. If you really want, you can separate their altars if you have an altar per deity, but it’s up to you completely.

Other General Advices

This post is a starting point, nothing here is very in-depth. Do more research if anything on here is still confusing to you. Feel free to ask people here on tumblr, I’m sure most of us would be happy to help.

Don’t believe everything you see on tiktok/tumblr. We’re all still learning, a lot of us are wrong about stuff. Do other research and let yourself form your own beliefs. As I’ve said, even this post should be taken with a grain of salt. I’m no expert, I just want to try to help.

If you’re going to make your own posts about helpol stuff, advice I’ve seen before that really stuck with me is ‘keep some things scared’. You don’t have to post everything. I, at the moment, don’t post my prayers or photos of my altars. Those things are what I keep scared, you should have your own things. They don’t have to be the same as mine.

You have nothing to be afraid of. The gods can be intimidating when you’re starting out, but they know we don’t have as much readily available information about this stuff as the ancient greeks did. They also know you’re new, and they will be patient with you. Don’t be scared.

You can offer anything. Digital offerings are as valid as physical offerings. Devotional acts are valid too.

Know that you will never be done learning. Accept this and commit to trying to learn anyway.

Know how to tell signs from the gods apart from just General Happenings of the world. Here is a good post on that. I have a series on my blog tagged #signs from deities, to show the kinds of things I personally recognise to be signs and to show how frequently/infrequently those can occur. I would suggest keeping your own record of those, whether or not you share it is up to you. The reason is to reflect on your journey and, if you ever doubt your gods, you can look at those lists to remind yourself of how they’ve been there for you previously.

Doubt is healthy, it’s okay to doubt things. Don’t feel bad for this, the gods understand. Let yourself question everything you feel the need to question.

Similarly, anger is healthy. It’s okay to be angry at the gods, but don’t disrespect them because you’re upset. Handle your anger well. You won’t get punished for being upset.

The Hellenic Gods aren’t generally believed to be all-knowing, however it is believed that they can hear us when we call their names, which is why prayers start with invocation of a deity’s name and an epithet.

[starry-polytheism]

Books for Hellenic polytheists! 📚

For an easy overview of ancient Greek religion, read Jon D. Mikalson’s Ancient Greek Religion and Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide by Jennifer Larson.

For a complete overview of the key concepts of ancient Greek religion, read The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion and A Companion to Greek Religion.

[starry-polytheism]

hi, if i may add a point to the "praying to heroes differently than to gods"?

i find that when i pray to say odysseus or penelope, im less asking for something and much more asking for guidance or advice? which i guess is just another way of phrasing what youve said-

for example, i was planning on asking odysseus about advice on my relationship* but he won me to asking him through the cards by using shufflemancy- which i believe i elaborated on in discord dms with you, mells

if i were to ask odysseus and athena for help with an exam, odysseus would get a prayer more asking for him to guide me to the right answer, while athena would probably be a "HI ATHENA CAN YOU MAKE THE TEACHER NOT TO TO SCHOOL? (<- didnt study for the exam)"

so yeah!

(*the relationship is a long distance one, so it felt appropriate to ask him)

I was wondering if hero worship (like worshipping Odysseus and Penelope etc) is any different from deity worship.

If so could you explain it a little for me? I’m really interested in worshipping Odysseus specifically and already worship a few Olympians. Tysm <3

Of course! So as always if anyone else has anything to add or any differing opinions, please do add on!

I have answered a similar ask before, also with some stuff about Odysseus, so here is that post. I think it would be helpful. I don’t think I articulated the role mode point very well but I also don’t know how to re-word it so we’ll just have to live with that.

I think the thing I see the most often in hero worship is that it’s really important to treat them like humans. You still have to be respectful towards them like with deities, but you can relax. I personally feel at this current time that my relationships with the heroes I worship feel more ‘casual’. Things that you might not say to deity, you could say to a hero (as long as you’re not insulting them or anything). Like I wouldn’t really call any of my deities my friends, but I do feel like my relationship with Helen is a friendship. That might not be true for everyone though! I think a lot of people do feel comfortable calling deities their friends, but still.

I guess on that note another thing to remember is that it looks different for everyone, so whatever feels right to you, do that.

Take this part with a grain of salt because I think other people would likely disagree and I don’t think this is historically accurate, but I pray differently to heroes than to deities. I don’t really ask things of heroes in my prayers? They’re not gods so I don’t believe they have the divine power to actually grant me things. Instead, I pray to heroes for inspiration from them with something that relates to their myths. So for example, a prayer I have to Odysseus asks him to remind me that my long-distance friends love me and to help me remember that I will see them again. Whereas if I was praying to Aphrodite, I would ask Her to give me an opportunity to meet up with or call that friend again. It’s different. I hope that makes sense? I guess a simpler way to put it is that I ask deities for concrete/physical things whereas I ask heroes to help with my mindset. I guess? It’s complicated. I’m really not great at articulating this stuff, but I hope that helps!

[starry-polytheism]

while apollo isnt as central in my practice right now, i do have some experience and thought i might try to offer you a hand here:

if you just wanna start praying, thats okay, but if you wanna do an offering and introduce yourself thats okay too

as for altars, you don't need to have them out on the open, you can put them in a box (like a shoebox or an altoids tin, depending on how much space you want), if you wanna be discreet

as for what you could offer him, here are some ideas: flowers (even more those associated with his lovers), music or related things, sun imagery, raven and swan imagery, your art! also any divination tools you intend to use with him are a good idea to put on his altar. he is god of divination, after all!

also if you take any meds, a prayer to him is probably a good idea before taking them :]

as for what you need to know more generally, i would recommend checking out fel the blithe's youtube channel and her hellenism 101 series!

Would it be okay to just start praying and talking to Apollo? If not, what do I need to do in order to begin a relationship with him?

I've been thinking of making him a sorta discreet alter in the form of a shelf with some nicknack and stuff. I can't have anything too particularly obvious. Would that be alright? And how do I go about maintaining it?

Lastly, is there anything else I need to know?

[starry-polytheism]

BIG shoutout to those who are practicing in secret

y'all don't get enough recognition because leading a double life is exhausting (i know because i'm one of those people leading that very same double life)

shoutout to those who can't tell anyone about their practise

shoutout to anyone who can't own tarot or oracle decks and so use household items to do divination

shoutout to those who can't have candles or fancy altars

shoutout to those who practice in secret.

[starry-polytheism]

i dont have any altars set up right now nor do i worship melinoe, but if i did i probably would put odysseus and penelope nearby/sharing with athena?

for some general ideas off the top of my head (not sorting them by who is who because some apply to several and im a bit half asleep still)

a paper copy of the odyssey, or just some favorite quotes from the book if you can't have the whole book there. or just books that might interest them generally?

a small sewing kit or like any fiber art materials you may have

small toy weapons, specially bows for odysseus and spears for athena, but swords would probably be easier to find

owls!!! and dogs and horses for odysseus

honestly anything handmade, origami things might be a good idea for cheap and easy to justify if hiding it is an important thing

fake olive branches

any trophy or rewards from academic stuff, or just generally

self defense items like pepper spray

but thats just some ideas, hopefully theres something useful for you here!

Guys if anyone has altar ideas for Melinoë, Athena, Odysseus, or Penelope, please send help. I want to fill up their altars more but idk what else to put on them

[starry-polytheism]

for my spanish speaking helpols (because I CANT BE THE ONLY ONE ON TUMBLR, RIGHT?), may i kindly point you towards the channel "archivo mitológico"?

while good at explaining and summarizing the myths, the lady is also fairly good at explaining the cultural context of the stories, and tries to put as many sources as possible in her video descriptions, so yeah! i would recommend!!

[starry-polytheism]

here's a lil easy offering idea ive noticed odysseus likes: paper boats! made two for him, seemed to like them :]

- @starry-polytheism

So real!!! I feel like he likes handmade offerings a lot more :D

[starry-polytheism]

one detail i do want to add- i personally find heroes easier to "reach", unsure how to phrase it, if the devotional act is something that involves or produces a physical item, rather than just no material anything? so if you wanna read the odyssey as a devotional act, you might rather pick up a paper copy/borrow one from a library, for example

also this is probably obvious but- even if you have no plans of worshipping penelope, he will most likely appreciate if you acknowledge her or give her offerings if you do things she would like, or at the very least expect her to pop in her head to say hi every so often

as for ideas for more specific offerings, any horse/boat/owl imagery is appreciated, so is anything to do with archery, and honestly he appreciates strategy and trying to use the braincell to be smart about problem-solving

(he has heard So Many rambles from me about dnd, about potential uses and ideas for the tools i have at my disposal and how to solve potential problems with them, even if fictional problems to think about-)

how do you go about hero worship? i'm also interested in reaching out to odysseus so tips about him would help , but i'm also interested in hektor ^_^ i've only done worship for deities so far

Hi! I didn’t get a notification for this ask so I apologise if this response is kind of late, I don’t know when you sent this ):

But! This is a really good question! For me, hero worship really isn’t that different from deity worship, though I’m sure for others there’s more of a distinction between the two and that’s valid, I’d love to hear people’s opinions on that!

The main difference for me is that, while the deities are where I go for advice, and They help me in my goals and in my life, the heroes I worship feel more like role models than deities do? Probably because it’s much more attainable to be like them than it is to be anything godly. If that makes sense? Of course I still look up to the deities so much! They’re amazing! But I’m never going to be like Them. And that’s okay! Idk though, that’s a personal thing. Everyone’s relationships with their deities and heroes are different.

But yeah, other than that distinction of how I view them I really wouldn’t say there’s much difference in the worship itself. I still have Altars for the heroes I worship, I still give offerings, pray (though my prayers to heroes tend to be a little shorter than the deity ones) etc

As far as tips relating specifically to Odysseus, when I first reached out to him I got signs from Penelope a while before actually getting any from him, even though I’d started worshipping both at the same time. I think it maybe took a few weeks?

I mostly feel his energy when I’m talking about him or his family. I mainly feel him as like a pressure on my left shoulder? Which I can feel right now. As I said, it’s when I talk about him lmao-

I associate him a lot with the band The Amazing Devil. Specifically the songs Welly Boots (which reminds me of him and Telemachus), Battle Cries (him and Penelope) and The Horror and The Wild (him and Athena). Another song that reminds me of him and Penelope is Home To Me by Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Idk if that’s helpful but. Yeah.

If you have dogs (or any pets really!) you could invite him to play with them/care for them/take them on walks with you. He’s got animal lover vibes.

If you have any hobbies that seem like things he’d be interested in, they could be devotional acts!

I pray to him a lot when I need guidance or comfort on topics relating to long-distance friends of mine. I’d imagine he’d also be a good person to pray to in relation to travel.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any other questions! If anyone has any additions, feel free to add on, and if anyone worships Hector, feel free to also add on with stuff about him, I’m sure that’ll be helpful!

[starry-polytheism]

i personally prefer to use waxed thread for bracelets, feels a lil bit more sturdy, but embroidery thread works perfectly fine too!

as for tutorials, i will point you in the direction of masha knots on youtube! she's pretty good at explaining giving the basics and for more patterns, a personal favorite channel is aillin, but it does assume you know at least some basic knots

I also worship Penelope and Odysseus! I’d love to know what things you associate with them or any experiences you’ve had with them!

- @wisdom-devotee

i need you to know i saw this immediately after answering to your post- so I'll add whatever i forgot to add to yours!

as for associations, penelope is associated to white, blue, and purple while odysseus is associated with black, blue, and yellow for me!

my main devotional act for penelope is friendship bracelets, and i was having a real rough time trying to figure out a pattern i liked for odysseus' bracelet... until i realized im a fool, that odysseus wanted the same matching pattern that penelope has, just in his colors

penelope is quite a motherly presence, odysseus is not quite fatherly but im also much closer to his wife than i am to him, so we'll see on that!

i also really wanna make them a more proper shrine someday, but no luck with that yet :(

[starry-polytheism]

I also worship Penelope and Odysseus! I’d love to know what things you associate with them or any experiences you’ve had with them!

- @wisdom-devotee

i need you to know i saw this immediately after answering to your post- so I'll add whatever i forgot to add to yours!

as for associations, penelope is associated to white, blue, and purple while odysseus is associated with black, blue, and yellow for me!

my main devotional act for penelope is friendship bracelets, and i was having a real rough time trying to figure out a pattern i liked for odysseus' bracelet... until i realized im a fool, that odysseus wanted the same matching pattern that penelope has, just in his colors

penelope is quite a motherly presence, odysseus is not quite fatherly but im also much closer to his wife than i am to him, so we'll see on that!

i also really wanna make them a more proper shrine someday, but no luck with that yet :(

[starry-polytheism]

... i forgot to sign the ask with my helpol blog. i am very smart-

anyways! yeah, for me it was too a "reached out to penelope first and then odysseus followed", and while i don't do as much divination with them, and my preferred method of divination is cartomancy and not tarot, i do personally associate them too with king of spades/swords and queen of hearts/cups too

as for experiences with them, penelope enjoys sitting with me when i do fiber arts stuff, and odysseus really likes the song "welly boots" by the amazing devil (looking at the lyrics, i think the song reminds him of telemachus and that's why he likes it)

also! both of them are Very Fond of my long-distance qpp, and songs about long distance relationships in general too they seem to enjoy? which i know why that is, but i still find interesting!

i do wanna do a post with suggestions for offerings for them at some point, but yeah! thank you for sharing about them :]

ANOTHER ODYSSEUS AND PENELOPE WORSHIPPER!!

sorry for the caps- but! hi this is a free ramble card to talk about them :]

OMG HIII okay I would love to talk about them

So I started worshipping them both at the same time, but Penelope was the one who responded first in a tarot reading. She was very friendly and felt warm. The colours I associate with her are white, purple and pink.

After Penelope contacted me, Odysseus actually did follow fairly soon after! He talks about his family a lot.

I get them to pick tarot cards to represent themselves, and I haven’t had the chance to do that with Penelope yet but I have done it with Odysseus. He chose the Chariot (very adamant about this one), the King of Swords, and the Ten Cups.

I did ask him if he wanted to pick out cards for Penelope, and I asked for three but he only gave me one - Queen of Cups. I asked if he wanted to show me more and he said no. It felt like he wanted to give Penelope herself the chance to pick the other two. Which is sweet.

Odysseus finds it funny when I’m being clumsy. It’s like I can feel him laughing at me. Sometimes I get this pressure on my shoulder that feels like his hand. It’s comforting. Penelope I haven’t gotten feelings like that from yet, but when we do tarot readings together, knowing I’m talking to her feels warm. And I associate her with bright smiles.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with Odysseus and Penelope too! They’re quite lovely. Feel free to send more asks about them or you can DM me :D