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thepaganraccoon · 5 months

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Status of the LGBT+ people in pre-Christian Slavic communities?

I’ve prepared this post because recently I answered an ask in Polish to a similar question ( @nickbreadart ) and later on got a request to translate the informations I’ve included there into English ( @vveze ), so we might hopefully create a brainstorm with other tumblr users. I’m a native Polish speaker, so there might be some terminology (or grammar) I might stumble over - please show me the correct direction in case there are better or more suitable English words I can use below.

What I must write first: this post will most likely not satisfy your curiosity. It is, sadly, impossible to answer the question with the current knowledge and historical sources that we are aware of, to put it simply into words. We all know very well that there are huge problems with reconstructing the old Slavic pantheon, rituals, lifestyle, worldview (and so on) altogether precisely due to the lack of original resources. There are no historical sources from the first perspective. The strict censorship and teachings of the church over the centuries erased most of the remaining informations, just like it happened with lots of other pre-Christian cultures (here, I’m thinking about our Baltic neighbours in particular).

What we deal with, is a reconstructivist modern Rodnovery based on basically only two branches of knownedge: 1) the old medieval resources written primarily by Christian missionaries or Muslim traders, 2) the continuous customs known from Slavic folkore where parts of the 'paganism’ prevailed over the centuries on the course of the syncretism. I’m not afraid to say that both those factors are biased to some extent in the context of our question, and there’s a lot of codes in them just waiting to be properly analyzed.

So, is there anything we might analyze here at all? Is the Rodnovery community open enough to at least discuss this topic?

To the point: there are some details regarding gender, sexuality or relationships that I think we might at least analyze and discuss. I won’t be able to provide you any definite answers (even though I’d love to). What I can do at the moment is to point out a few things that you might filter through comparative studies:

In many (if not all) Slavic countries that accepted Christianity, there was a custom of making vows called ‘bratotvorenie’ or 'pobratymienie’ (their name vary just a little between the various Slavic languages). To understand what they are, you should read about the Greek term for that custom: adelphopoiesis - the 'brother making’ ceremony. According to the informations I’ve found, they were popular up until around 14th century in some European Catholic countries, and prevailed as long as until 18th century among some Orthodox Christians. In the Polish sources I’ve managed to find online (example here in the tables of contents), the vows for ‘bratotvorenije’ appear indeed as late as in 18th-century Orthodox prayer books for example from the Chełmskie of Przemyskie regions. That topic is still highly controversial, as many theories interpret them as a 'homosexual marriage of men’ (be it platonic or not). Christian theologians naturally reject that idea. What makes me wonder: as far as I know those vows survived the longest among some Slavs and Greeks - please correct me if you have better resources. What we all know, Greeks were acepting homosexuality in their own pre-Christian faith. Then, what about the Slavs?

Lots of Slavic rituals seem to follow a pattern known from many other primeval cultures in which a person dresses up as an opposite gender in rituals meant to evoke fertility. In many articles and research papers I’ve stumbled across, these practices are called for example a ritual transvestitism. In the case of Poland, this is the most common during the season of the kolędowanie that spans roughly from Christmas up until the first days of spring (depending on a region). It is a still-practiced custom in many rural areas, and it shows clear remnants of old rites where the spring was evoked and the winter chased away. People dress up in various kinds of symbolic clothing. It includes for example men dressing up as babushkas or brides. I’ve been posting lots of various pictures showing that custom in different corners of Poland, and you can see the ‘cross-dressing’ costumes e.g. here, here or here. Keep in your mind that this is only a syncretized version of a much older ritual. Similarly to the case above, there was for example a spring ritual that was noted e.g. among the Belarusians in which a woman was dressed as the god Jarilo and rode on a horse to announce that the spring had come.

In many primeval cultures the divine powers had to be in balance within the stereotypically ‘male’ and ‘female’ gender aspects - some gods were even presented as hermaphrodites for ritual reasons. That was often coming with certain religious respect towards non-binary people. Among the Slavs, there are at least two things that come to my mind at the moment. 1) First one is the multifaced statue of the Zbruch Idol of the god Svetovid that has both ‘male’ and ‘female’ figures carved on its sides. Even though the statue itself might be much younger that it had been initially believed after its discovery, the case is still worth analyzing. Some modern Western Rodnovery communities partly follow that concept by creating a multifaced statue which sides represent different gods and goddesses. 2) Second one are cases of ritual effigies prepared for spring or summer rites among the East Slavs. The effigies were sometimes decorated with both the ‘penis’ and the ‘breasts’ made of fruits and vegetables. In the past I’ve seen many pictures of such effigies online but unfortunately can’t find any atm - the current Eastern Rodnovery communities seem to stick to an effigy with a ‘penis’ only.

There are some legends that might be worth analyzing. For example the popular Polish legend about the pagan Queen Wanda who didn’t want to get married. You might’ve heard about this legend before in its version popularized during the era of the Partitions of Poland: Wanda refuses to marry a German (Alamann) prince and performs a suicide by jumping from a cliff to a river. However, in the oldest-known version of that legend (coming from 12th-century chronicle of the prelate Wincenty Kadłubek) Wanda simply wins over the Alamann troops and lives happily until the old age, never marrying anyone. Other legend I know about comes from Czechia, originally from the 12th-century Chronicle of the Czechs by the priest Cosmas of Prague. It tells about three wise daughters of the ruler named Krok. One of them was Tetka who spread the pagan faith among the common people and who 'didn’t know a man’. The chronicle of Cosmas mentions also a tribe of women who he calls ‘Amazons’, living in a fortress Devin (named after a Czech word for a maiden) somewhere near Prague. I can also recall reading that some researchers located one of the ancient tribes of Amazons on the territory of modern Ukraine - I need to go back to that and find out more. Here I want to add that a concept of a woman living umarried or an Amazon was quite often an old Christian code for a lesbian person, what some of you also pointed out after reading my post in Polish. Note also that both Wanda and Tetka are presented as highly respected by the community.

The matters of tolerance? I can speak here only about the history of Poland which I’m the most familiar with. Historically speaking, there had never been any official Polish laws of persecution towards the LGBT people since the creation of the Polish state that came with its Christianization (I’m obviously excluding those laws that were imposed by foreigners during the periods of occupation like for example the Partitions or the World Wars). Speaking about the times that interest us the most, which is the furthest to the past we can get, the only historical cases - not many of them - documented during the times of the witch hunt were happening in certain Polish cities that were re-founded under the Magdeburg Rights (historically known also as the medieval German Law or Magdeburg Law) that included various punishments based on the medieval interpretation of Bible. Dr Piotr Oczko even states that 'Magdeburg Law was merciless to homosexual persons’. Thing is, the Magdeburg Law was implemented by some Polish cities during the centuries that followed Poland’s Christianization primarily in order to gain the trade rights with the Western European cities. Afterwards, the Magdeburg Law was rarely followed in the local private relations (with exceptions of some witch-hunt-era cases in cities that had a large foreign minority). Instead, the people continued to practice the old common law of Poland that had been based on older Slavic tribal traditions in many aspects and which apparently didn’t include any such laws of persecution to be carried on.

I’m really counting on fellow users from other Slavic countries to share similar cases that might be worth analyzing. Maybe more legends? More customs that might hide something undercover? Maybe some historically documented stories (as far back into the time as we could get)? Or maybe I forgot to include something else that is known from Poland? Please comment!

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thepaganraccoon · 5 months

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Status of the LGBT+ people in pre-Christian Slavic communities?

So, is there anything we might analyze here at all? Is the Rodnovery community open enough to at least discuss this topic?

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thepaganraccoon · 1 year

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Highlighting LGBTQIA+ spiritual traditions.

youtube

This is from Candelora 2023, held at the Sanctuary of Montevergine in Avellino, Italy in honor and invocation of Mama Schiavona who protects the Femminielli. The Femminielli are their own gender, native to what is now Southern Italy. They bring good luck and have been a part of the sacred landscape of Southern Italy for pretty much all of recorded history. Naples itself never historically persecuted homosexuality, even when many other parts of Europe did the opposite.

In addition to Candelora, the Femminielli also participate in the feast of la Madonna dell'Arco and the Easter Monday tradition of the matrimonio dei femminielli--a magnificent ritual wedding celebration.

There are some very old non-binary genders in this world, particularly around the Mediterranean. Some Femminielli may identify as Trans Women while others may not. Gender is complicated. The Femminielli serve a vital spiritual role to the religious hygiene of their communities. Bringing good luck, joy, and blessings to all from the depths of time itself.

In the video, I think I hear the familiar voice of Roberto de Simone--the very same musical legend responsible for the Neapolitan Opera, "La Gatta Cenerentola," which also features Femminielli in the cast. I did a dive on that one a while back. You can also see musicians gathering to sing and drum for Mama Schiavona. The music they are singing for her is a Tammurriata. Tammurriata refers to the rhythm as well as the dance of the same name that goes with it. The giant tambourine you see in this video is called a tammorra and that rhythm is absolutely ancient. These are extremely devout lay people who are performing this invocation. They have processed here through the city to the sanctuary and this is just how it is done. They have come to pray for protection of the marginalized and to celebrate everything Mama Schiavona and the Femminielli stand for. This is what folk religion looks like.

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thepaganraccoon · 1 year

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Happy International Women's Day!

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thepaganraccoon · 1 year

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Protec the community.

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thepaganraccoon · 1 year

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Blog Masterpost

Introduction

Hellooo. My name is Kallisto Aglaia-Salaam. I am a Muslim Hellenic Polytheist and Neoplatonist. If you have found yourself here, I am so sorry. I'm mostly here posting my various essays about ancient Pan-Hellenic Polytheism, Philosophy, general Mediterranean history, and Western Occultism. I am also the founder and Archon of Eiresione Iketiria and Xenodokos for Hellenion.

Here is a link to my Discord!

Blog Masterpost

Ancient Athenian Festivals

Prayers

Personal

Orphic Hymn to Athênê

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thepaganraccoon · 2 years

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Nowadays, most wood is harvested by killing trees. Before the Industrial Revolution, a lot of wood was harvested from living trees, which were coppiced. The principle of coppicing is based on the natural ability of many broad-leaved species to regrow from damaged stems or roots – damage caused by fire, wind, snow, animals, pathogens, or (on slopes) falling rocks. Coppice management involves the cutting down of trees close to ground level, after which the base – called the “stool” – develops several new shoots, resulting in a multi-stemmed tree.

[…]

Because of the short rotation cycles, a coppice forest was a very quick, regular and reliable supplier of firewood. Often, it was cut up into a number of equal compartments that corresponded to the number of years in the planned rotation. For example, if the shoots were harvested every three years, the forest was divided into three parts, and one of these was coppiced each year. Short rotation cycles also meant that it took only a few years before the carbon released by the burning of the wood was compensated by the carbon that was absorbed by new growth, making a coppice forest truly carbon neutral. In very short rotation cycles, new growth could even be ready for harvest by the time the old growth wood had dried enough to be burned.

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thepaganraccoon · 2 years

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Roman Halloween

The whole month of February, aka Wolfmas.

There are many days on the old Roman calendar that are devoted to different types of dead--the ancestral dead, the manes, the lemures, and the wolf-men. But February really stands out from the rest as a non-stop tour de force of death but it is easy to miss if you do not realize that there is some cultural coding involved. Especially if you are not aware that the bread of the dead is a huge thing. So, let's take a moment to go over some of the things that stand out to my eyes that help put Ovid's Fasti, Book II into context.

February is the month of the dead. First, a little context. In the old Roman calendar, February is the last month of the year. It is the month when the storehouses are running low and there isn't much by way of fresh produce anywhere. It is cold, food is running out, baby animals are being born, the weakest of society are dying, and there is a lot of anxiety about what the coming year will be like. Planting is not allowed to begin until after the rituals to Mars and Ceres in March so February is the time when fields are being prepared for seed. To reset the soil, deadfall needs to be burned and wood ash compost needs to be spread over the fields. Fire is needed to build up the soil for a proper harvest but since life is at its weakest and the year is dying, several complex rituals need to be performed that tie fire, the future harvest, baby animals, and the dead together. This is our setting. Now let's explore the calendar for the month of February as if we lived in Pre-Augustan Rome.

First we start with the Kalends and the name Februa, from which we get February. Februa means "to purge" or "to purify." The entire month centers on daily rituals designed to get us through the darkest time of the year. There are a few things that have to be settled to prepare for the new agricultural year (March 1st)--namely, the dead must be fed and cared for. February is the month when the spirits of the restless dead are at their most hungry, which is saying something because it is believed that the dead are always hungry. The type of cleansing and purging that goes down in February makes certain to allot offerings for the dead so that they will not sate their hunger upon the meager food of the living.

The Kalends (the "first") of each month are sacred to Juno but the Kalends of February are doubly special because they are set aside to burn the fields for Juno Februa. While Ceres is the goddess of the fields, Juno is an ancient woodland divinity. The woods had to be cleared to make way for fields so this territory belonged to Juno before it belonged to Ceres and this time of year honors that. Juno is responsible for making milk sweet and for issues relating to animal husbandry. This is a vital time for domestic animals like goats, pigs, cattle, and sheep. For the next few days, weather willing, garden fires should be burning. This will reset the soil and prepare for the planting rituals of March. It is a solemn time to be pious and thankful for the wilderness that Juno gave up so that Ceres could feed the people.

Speaking of which, February 2nd marks the joint festivals of Ceres and Juno for this very reason. Shifting the focus to Ceres for a little while, this day begins a grain fast in honor of Ceres that serves several functions. 1) This is a lean time of year, there is not much left to eat. Fasting will get the body used to less food and it will prepare you to eat the last of the grain until early spring foods become available. 2) It will also save more grain for the second half of the month, ensuring that there is enough to go around.

The fast will last until the start of Feria Fornicalia when the ovens go into full-bake-mode to convert raw grain and flour into a food that can be preserved for several months before it goes bad. February brings rain and snow and with that moisture comes mold which can ruin flour. Baked goods last longer and so the Feria Fornicalia is a traditional method of survival. Feria Fornicalia lasts for another ten days. Every baker and every kitchen will spend the next ten days baking as if all life depended on it--because it does.

In between the Fast of Ceres and the start of the Feria Fornicalia rests the first of the wolf-days on February 9th. This day is dedicated to Apollo the Wolf (Apollo Lyceus) and three days later, on the 12th, he will be joined by his wolf-sister, Diana. Apollo and Diana are twins of the wilderness and in this aspect they are jointly represented as wolves. The number 9 features prominently in Roman lycanthropy traditions. It represents the number of months in human pregnancy. There are nine months between June and February--both months dedicated to Juno and that is no accident. Remember that Juno is a wilderness goddess and is responsible for the domestication of animals. A bride who marries in her sacred month and conceives immediately will give birth in February--a very dangerous and wild month filled with the wolves of the dead. And why is February the month of the wolf? Well, because Juno is also the mother of Mars, the wolf-god himself. Apollo and Diana fit the theme of the Roman wolf-cult (being wilderness twins) so they have been honored with a part in the festivities. (I elaborated more on this in another blog post).

Parentalia begins on February 13th and will go for 9 days. Again we see the number nine in connection to the month of the wolf and to the dead. Parentalia is a general name for nine distinct days of rituals spent "honoring" the spirits of the ancestral Roman dead. Every kind of death spirit there is will be honored on one of these days. Some of the dead are beloved and some are feared. The living must pay their due either way. With all the baking that is going on and this month being a month of death, it is expected that it will arouse the appetite of the restless dead and they will want their share.

Mars is the wolf-god and the mate of Ceres. March is his month but he hangs out in the background of February quite a bit. Juno is the mother of the wolf-god, Mars. Mars is the father of the wolf-twins, Romulus & Remus. Rhea Silva, a name that basically means "Earth Mother of the Woods," was their mortal mother--who was also a Vestal Virgin. Rhea Silva's name carries a meaning that is vital to the consciousness of Roman folklore. Her role as a Vestal Virgin is no accident either. It not only makes her an important woman, it makes her an agent of divine fire. Fire has a very special meaning as regards the dead and it plays several important roles in the month of February--as a purgative for Juno Februa, to reset the fields, to clear the woods, and to drive away the malevolent dead. Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf, Lupa, who was the companion animal of Mars. When the human infants drank the milk of a she-wolf, they became part wolf and thus part dead, not fully human. Remember that Juno is also the goddess who protects the sweetness of milk. This is important so hang onto it.

Children who drank milk from the same woman, even if that woman was not their birth mother, are considered milk-siblings and are not permitted to marry each other. The act of drinking milk from a wolf made Romulus and Remus different from other humans. This brings us to Lupercalia on February 15th. Lupercalia occurs seven days after the day of Apollo the Wolf. Seven being the most auspicious number. The most important days come in relation to the number seven. Private rituals involving the wolf-cult have been going on for the last six days but Lupercalia is a public day when the wolf-men come out into the public for a very special ritual. They come to sacrifice the he-goats to ensure the fertility of the land and to return the milk to sweetness for humans and their herd animals. Juno gave this power to the sons of Romulus and his grandsons have it to this day.

This is a bit of agricultural sympathetic magic. He-goats are always horny and it makes them stinky. The stink of a he-goat will turn a she-goat's milk sour and her babies will stop nursing and starve to death. A he-goat can also make human milk turn sour just by being near a nursing woman. This sacrifice provides needed meat for women who have just given birth at a time when the storehouses are running low. It also removes the stink of the he-goats and returns all milk to sweetness so the babies of both species will drink and the life-cycle will continue. The wolf-men do this as agents of life and death.

Keep in mind that all the while, bread is being baked throughout the city and the dead are being honored in many different ways. Fires have been burning in the country fields and everyone is preparing for the arrival of the new year (March 1st). Ceres loves her living and dead children fiercely and wants them both to eat. The dead do this through their agents in the mortal world--the lycanthropes of the wolf-cult who are neither fully alive or dead. The wolfmen and wolfwomen straddle the world of the dead and the living, occupying both at once.

Next comes Quirinalia on February 17th, which celebrates Romulus' ascension to godhood. Quirinalia is known as the day when sadness is not permitted. It is a day of celebration and joy right in the middle of a massive funerary month. Later, this day would come to be "the feast of fools." A day when professional proto-clowns dressed as grinning corpses would entertain the public to keep them "smiling." Thus I have rendered it on the calendar as the "Feast of the Rictus Grin." Romulus became Quirinus, the red champion who protects Ceres in several rituals in March.

The 18th brings Tacita, the day of silence. The quiet of the grave. This day is led by the young women of the house who use it to ritually tie the tongues of those who would whisper against them.

The 20th marks the end of Feria Fornicalia. All flour and grain has now been converted to bread, given to ancestral spirits or saved for the upcoming Feralia.

Feralia, the most terrifying day/night of the year, occurs on the 21st of February. If all has gone well, the city will be ready to host the restless dead as they raid the homes and pantries of the living for a day and night. The cremation pits and gates of the necropolis are opened and storehouse doors are left unlocked to allow the dead to come in and take whatever they want from the homes of the living. The wolves of the dead do this--they are the grandchildren of Remus, Romulus' twin brother. They come to eat and drink with undead fervor. If the grandchildren of Romulus are the wolves of the living, the grandsons of Remus are the wolves of the truly dead. Both serve a purpose. Fires are not permitted on this day. Everything is dark and the wolves take what is offered them. If a house has been too stingy in their offering, they will break in and take more. It is in everyone's best interest to be generous with the wolves of the dead.

The Feralia passes and peace sets in with the Carista--a picnic with one's living family members near the tombs of the ancestors. The worst is behind and the remaining days of February are not so bad. Terminalia celebrated the boundaries of the lands where one property ended and another began. Visibly marked by where the burn line ends between properties. Garlands are laid, offerings made, and songs sung to honor Terminius--the boundary god. Regifugium celebrates the end of the line of Roman Kings, the "flight of the kings." Timely for the end of the year.

Equirria is then like New Year's Eve. The day before the end. Celebrated with horse races to please Mars and the gods of death. As it is the Kalends of March, is is sacred to both Juno and her son. This closes out the wild month of February.

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thepaganraccoon · 2 years

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Great Goddess Ariadne most high;

The spider's web you weave into tapestry

As glowing and vibrant as your spirit.

Every where you go, joy and abundance blossoms.

From the lands of the living, where you kiss the scythe that feeds,

To the lands of the dead, where your honey-sweet nectar nourishes.

Love and light are your cape

That guides you through the labyrinth.

Wrap us with your blessings too,

And we shall give thanks everlastingly to you.

- HP Oboyski

#ariadne #medpol #hp oboyski #devotional poetry #hellenic polytheism #mmp #modern minoan paganism

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thepaganraccoon · 2 years

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The Cult of the Winds

An adaptive or reconstructive overview from a Hellenic Polytheist perspective.

The Cult of the Winds: An Overview

There are a lot of variations to the Cult of the Winds, and I may be the only person who refers to them collectively as the Cult of the Winds so keep that in mind before you try to google this stuff. I will mark commonly used keyword terms in bold italics so you can better identify which terms are more likely to yield search results. I have my own jargon so it can get a little confusing. Usually people refer to each individual cult by its proper name, if it has one that marks it as something distinct from another. Zar & Gnawa are examples of living Cult of the Winds traditions while the ancient cults of the Kouretes & Koryvantes were also a part of that family tree in the past. For example, the Zar cult has a few different named variations like: Zar-Hadra, Zar-Bori, Zar-Tumbra. But the vast majority of variations to Zar do not have special terms demarcating them as variations. They are all perfectly equal and valid. The named spirits and their personalities change from region to region and there are some color variations used to represent the courts, and threads (spirit songs) used to call the spirits can also be different from place to place.

All variations in the wider scope of the Cult of the Winds form what I like to call the spectrum of normal. There is never just one right way to do something. Regional variations are all perfectly valid and help complete the picture of what this cult is all about and what it was designed to do. Having multiple variations of this cult to compare provides stable ground for establishing patterns.

Background Information

Before I get too far ahead of myself, a little background on what the Cult of the Winds is and what the general associated classical Hellenic micro-pantheon is…

The Cult of the Winds spun out of the likely Bronze Age or even Neolithic ecstatic cave-based practices of a goddess that I usually refer to as the Mountain Mother. She has a lot of names and regional variations but the ones you would probably be most familiar with are Kybele, Ida, Rhea, or Magna Mater.

A while back I created this little image to show the relationships and divisions between the 5 major ecstatic cults of the classical Hellenic world–as they appear to my eyes. The Cult of the Mountain Mother is the starting point for both the Cult of the Winds & the Cult of Divine Madness. And there is a very good reason for that. Both have features and ideological technologies that came directly from her cult practices. Features like using cymbals and clackers to control spirits. It is from the Cult of the Mountain Mother that we get the idea that spirits can be controlled by ringing metal against metal. This is still a major underlying principle in many ecstatic and even shape shifting traditions today and it is the reason that Christian churches ring bells and at least partially forms the underlying belief that fey or other types of nature spirits are repelled by cold iron.

In the Bronze Age, the spirit weapon of choice for her cult would have been either clay or Bronze, depending on exactly where and when we are talking about. With the Bronze Age Collapse came some very serious changes to the spiritual landscape of the pre-Hellenic world. The Mountain Mother had always had sons and daughters. One of those sons was an Eagle god who ruled over the sky and specifically the Winds. With the rise of iron technology, and the spiritual properties associated with iron, that god rose to prominence above the others. This would one day be Zeus.

The Storm God's father was a lightning god, associated with snakes in iconography. Snakes being code for so-so-so many spiritual concepts but in this context, largely the patterns that lightning and static make. That serpentine electrical arc. Eagle Storm God Son overthrew Storm God Snake-Dragon Dad and took his place in both sacred legend and in life. This granted him a very specific spiritual authority over pretty much everything--at least in the minds of his sorcerer priests. Ringing metal against metal was the method for establishing that spiritual dominance. Instead of using a sistrum or hand cymbals to do it, his early cult made the adaptation of using what we would recognize as gongs or shields.

This is where the cults of the Kouretes of Crete and the Koryvantes of Samothrace, Phrygia, and Euboea come into the story. The very early micro-pantheon of the god that would one day be popularly known as Zeus, was largely sky based. He ruled over the Winds as his own domain first and then eventually his priests used the same techniques to extend that influence and control over the other gods. The only deity he never really outranked, as far as these early cults were concerned, was that of his mother, the Mountain Mother.

The early Kouretes and Koryvantes practiced what would eventually come to be seen as sorcery and are pretty much the fathers of many, many later magical traditions. They were metallurgists, blacksmiths, who closely guarded the recipes and techniques used to smelt iron and various other metals and create alloys. At first these secrets were kept in the family, which allowed this to be an extremely exclusive closed practice. Eventually the technology did spread around and when they no longer had the monopoly on it, their practices lost some prestige.

They were an ecstatic cult that compelled Wind spirits but they also provided spiritual services to the public to diagnose which god was cheesed-off at a human being whenever someone felt spiritually tormented. They beat shields together to create a rhythm and danced wildly with swords and knives. Often taking injuries--a feature pulled directly from the practices of the Cult of the Mountain Mother. They chanted hymns to the gods in a special order of strict hierarchy, the same as they would have done for the Winds. Everything was about strict hierarchy with this cult. Everything in order, while the entranced dancers themselves whirled around in chaotic patterns.

By the classical Hellenic period, this wild cult had largely died down but was still held in very high esteem--same with the cult of the Mountain Mother. The ecstatic techniques and ideological technologies that it planted in the population also splintered off in different directions, working their way into the many cults of Dionysos. These cults of Dionysos existed from at least the Bronze Age onward so, to be clear, it was not the cult itself that came later but some of the adapted ecstatic practices that were brought in. The Cult of Dionysos shares a lot of features with the Cult of the Winds, including musical diagnosis and wild dancing to relieve spiritual torment, the use of cymbals--though some branches of Dionysos’ cult used metal while others used wooden clackers. Just an honorable mention for the Cult of Divine Madness before getting back to the Cult of the Winds.

Winds are demons. And I am not talking like the general daimon that could refer to nearly any kind of spirit. I mean a very specific type of bodiless spirit that is generally not the most helpful thing to humanity, yet they absolutely love to mess with humans. Like can't get enough. The idea is that since Winds have no bodies of their own, they like to inhabit the bodies of mortals that they take a liking to--usually someone that they think could give them the experiences and physical sensations that they crave. These mortals are referred to as Brides.

Bride is a genderless term. The closest word I could compare it to in modern English would probably be "bottom." Another code word that was fairly popular for this relationship in the classical Hellenic period would be translated as "horse." Horse is still used today in that same context in various languages where the Cult of the Winds can be found. So, when you go on Theoi in a minute and start looking up the Wind Kings and you see them mentioning horses, they're being very clever and whoever did the translating maybe did not understand that this was a code word for something. Double and even triple meanings to various terms were pretty popular in the classical Hellenic period. The stinkers.

When covertly speaking about the Winds, because talking about them directly is kind of seen as bad luck or an invitation for them to visit, they are usually described as being "above" and their mortal Bride as being "under" them. Which is why horse works so well. And you can see how this cult has influenced so many other spirit traditions in and adjacent to the Med by really exploring this concept. You see these key words used in spirit threads a lot. References to going underground, to diving down below, to being under water, to falling from somewhere. The act of trance itself is described this way, same with hypnosis and anesthesia. You are being "put under."

Not everybody who trances is automatically a Bride. A Bride is someone who has been through a ceremony that formalizes the relationship between mortal and possessing spirit. Those who are taken by a spirit are said to have been bitten, pricked, or pinched. The Bite is the vector of possession. It is how we go from happily lil mortal doodle-dooing through life to BAM!--married to a Wind (or to Dionysos. Similar concept but different cult).

In the Cult of the Winds, this relationship is largely not considered sexual or even romantic in any way. Winds just want to play with human bodies and have adventures while pretending to be human. A lot of them are not super smart and they don't fake being human very well. (You didn't hear that from me.) It would be cute if it wasn't also sometimes very dangerous. A Wind cannot be other than they are. Their nature is a set thing, it never changes. They may not be mean-spirited but they just do not comprehend the limitations of a human body. So the spirit-marriage ceremony is a way of keeping the wind from destroying their Bride. In between the Bite and the marriage ceremony there is a period of drama referred to as spirit sickness or possession illness. This represents the time frame when the possession has been introduced but there are not yet any restraints placed on the Wind so the mortal host's body suffers.

Possession illness is not just any ol’ thing. It is not a disability or a neurodivergence. It is a very specific thing and it is tightly regulated to prevent people who need medical and mental health care from being misdiagnosed. The very first thing a spirit master is going to ask when someone comes to them with their symptoms is, "Have you been to the doctor? Have you been to several?"

There is a chain of operations here. This cult is all about hierarchy and doctors are always at the top tier. A potential Bride should do everything in their power to get licensed medical help first. Then licensed psychological help. If both of those fail to yield a solution, the next step is to go to your official religious authority and see if they can help. Spiritwork is always a last resort. It is a lifelong commitment and a very big deal. Doing this also helps to provide proof of state through a process of elimination. If nobody else can figure out a solution to your ailment, then it improves the likelihood that the cause is a Wind.

No spirit master of any repute is ever going to sit down with a person, listen to their story, and tell them, "Yes, you have a spirit and this is their name!" That curdles my blood just thinking about it. That violates the heart of how these rituals function. Even the Kouretes & Koryvantes would never say such a thing right off the cuff. The afflicted must go through the diagnostic musical ritual. The afflicted is expected to lie completely still in a catatonic state until they hear the music of their possessing Wind (it is the same in Tarantella, which is a part of the greater cult of Dionysos, btw).

The living traditions surrounding the Cult of the Winds tend to be a little more old fashioned and stodgy than their Dionysian cousin traditions. They have their spirit threads (chants) and each one is tied to a named spirit. Tarantella is more of a musical free-for-all. There are no spirit names, just an ever-growing repertoire of spirit songs. Any new song that enters the Tarantella repertoire is fair game. So, there is so much more music to learn for Tarantella than for any of the Cults of the Winds.

If you are a lead musician for a variation of either tradition, you are in for a lengthy period of study. Say a prayer for your poor hands and voice. I'm kidding. It is actually a lot of fun to learn. Not everything serious in life is serious all the time. Well, I think it is fun. If you give it a shot and you feel your body fighting against it, it may be a sign to try a different role. It takes a whole team of people to effectively pull off these rituals. This is definitely not solo trance time…

Onward to the Winds!

Time to introduce these guys. As I have already said, the Winds have a strict hierarchy. The cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) are considered the royals or kings of their respective directions. Just about every language has their own names for these beings. The kings do not take Brides very often and are sometimes barely involved in the rituals directly. This image here also provides 4 more names for the Winds who rule the directions in between (NE, NW, SE, SW). These are also nobles but they rank underneath the 4 kings.

Some traditions include nobles and some don't. Some have just the 4 kings. Some have 4 kings and 4 nobles. Some have 4 kings and 8 nobles. Something you may notice pretty quickly is the symbol that emerges from them. The compass. This compass will change design depending on which version of the cult we are looking at. It will have either 4, 8, or 12 spokes to the wheel. Later nautical traditions got really carried away with naming the Winds and you can find maps with all kinds of names. Way more than 12. All are valid but not all are part of a known ecstatic Cult of the Winds. But if you were to reconstruct something like this on your own, whatever traditional names you would want to put in there should be within the spectrum of normal. At least from my perspective. Each cardinal direction is associated with a greater court and a color. This is where it starts to get tricky. Different traditions use different colors.

Speaking of confusion, the Winds who take Brides should not be thought of as directions. The directions are what rule, govern, and inspire them. The directions are their Lords--who they have to listen to and obey. Winds don't listen to just anyone. They only listen to their direct superior in the hierarchy. So, when you are reading a sacred legend about a Wind and the author describes them listening attentively and doing what they are told, whoever gave them an order is higher ranking than they are. (In classical Hellenic texts this is usually Iris and the author is displaying her rank in the spiritual hierarchy by describing how the 4 kings respond to her.)

Instead of directions–which are the nobles–think of the average Winds as a collection of passions taken to an extreme. Each cardinal direction has their own type of extreme passion. It is a bit more nuanced than what I am presenting here but this is a good starting guide for building some understanding.

For the North it is Fear.

For the East it is Distraction.

For the South it is Obsession.

For the West it is Lust.

There can be any number of Winds in each court. They do not have to be evenly matched with each other. Since they do not represent directions and instead represent extreme passions, there can be quite a lot of them. In more modern traditions like Zar and Gnawa, Winds are born, live, and die just like people do. I don't know if that was the case in antiquity. Basically if it is a passion that exists and someone created a name for it, there is probably a corresponding Wind.

As I stated in the very beginning of this, Winds are just largely incompatible with human bodies. So, when I'm describing the worst of what they are and what they do, understand that this is what they would be like in their natural state before a Bridal ceremony. This is how they make their Brides sick and it is why these ceremonies exist to begin with. The ecstatic rituals are designed to bring harmony and peace to all involved. Once a potential Bride has gone through the Bridal ceremony, their Wind will be at peace within them. Each will have rules to follow in life to keep the other safe and content.

These rituals come from a time before Christianity took hold anywhere. And some aspects of Christianity evolved as a direct response to them. When early Christian writers talk about people trafficking with demons, this is at least a good chunk of what they are talking about. They viewed the propitiation of these types of spirits as evil and wrong and they presented an alternative to spending your life in a spirit marriage. That alternative was and still is exorcism.

THE WINDS/ ANEMOI/ AETAI

The Winds are the living spirits of the wind itself. They represent pure thought, ideas, and whisperings of the mind as much as they represent the directions, gusts, and seasons they are tied to. The Winds are assembled into a strict hierarchy of Courts with each Court ruled by a King of that direction. The Four Wind Kings are the sons and subjects of Eos (Dawn) and Astraios/Aeolus (Prophecy/Astrology). Beneath them are the High Nobles and under those are the Low Nobles.

The Kings: Boreas= North, Notos= South, Apeliotes= East, Zephyrus= West

High Nobles: Kaikas= North East, Eurus= South East, Skiron= North West, Lips= South West

Low Nobles: Meses=NNE, Euronotus= SSE, Libonotus= SSW, Thrasias= NNW

In each of the cardinal directions there are varying named and unnamed lesser winds who constitute the Court of that direction. Winds are closely associated with horses. Horses are often code for gods and spirits who take Brides (possess mortals).

Each tier in the hierarchy of the Winds must answer to the tier above it. The Wind Kings themselves will answer to their parents, Eos & Astraios, as well as Iris on behalf of Hera, Zeus, & Zeus’ Mother (Rhea, Ida, Kybele–traditional names vary). In this they are compelled by the crashing of metal against metal, such as used in ritual music composed of metal bells, cymbals, sistrum, and shields.

BOREAS is the King of the Northern Winds. As the North Wind, Boreas is associated with the Winter season and chill, icy winds that blow down from the Thracian mountains. Boreas is also associated with knowledge, fear, contemplation, leadership, and authority.

OFFERINGS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Symbols: Conch shell.

Colors: Purple or White.

Animals: Horses. Winged Horses.

Plants/Herbs: Root vegetables, purple winter flowers.

Food/Drink: Mountain tea (Τσάι του βουνού).

Offerings: Frankincense/ Livani.

NOTUS is the King of the Southern Winds. As the South Wind, Notus is associated with the Autumn drenching rain and cruel storms that blow towards the Aegean from Ethiopia. Notus is associated with darkness, obsessions, deeply rooted passions and is closely tied to the traditions of Rhea/ Ida/ Kybele.

OFFERINGS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Symbols: Knives, metal spade.

Colors: Black or Dark Brown

Animals: Horses. Winged Horses.

Plants/Herbs: Rosemary, dark colored flowers, fragrant herbs.

Food/Drink: Blood or wine.

Offerings: Frankincense/ Livani

APELIOTES is the King of the Eastern Winds. Sometimes the name Eurus is used. The name of this Wind King is not as firmly fixed as the others because the Eastern Wind was added later. Originally there were only 3 Kings and the East was ruled by the Dawn or the Sun. As such, the Eastern Wind King is still associated with fire, warmth, and the plenty of the summer months. Apeliotes is also associated with mischief, distractions, pranks, daydreams, and leisure time.

OFFERINGS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Symbols: Cornucopia.

Colors: Orange-Red.

Animals: Horses.

Plants/Herbs: Harvest fruits and grains.

Food/Drink: Spicy foods, hot drinks, beer, cider.

Offerings: Frankincense/ Livani.

ZEPHYRUS is the King of the Western Winds. As the West Wind, Zephyrus is associated with the thaw of spring, youth, love, and the first flowers of the season. Zephyrus is also associated with love, lust, jealousy, romance, music, and pleasant things.

OFFERINGS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Symbols: Spring Flowers.

Colors: Warm Blues.

Animals: Horses, scorpions.

Plants/Herbs: Crocus, Hyacinth, Daffodils, and other spring flowers.

Food/Drink: Sweet beverages, occasionally alcohol.

Offerings: Frankincense/ Livani.

*Winds are an integral part of spirit possession traditions of the pan-Mediterranean. Associated with disquieting passions that cannot be ignored. Surviving traditional practices relating to the Winds involve complex rituals of musical propitiation and spirit marriage wherein the Winds and their Courts take mortal Brides.

Arlechina Special Notes:

The offerings and associations provided are just for the Wind Kings. The High and Low Nobles were not included in this write up because so much of the material available on them comes from living traditions and those really vary a lot from region to region, as we went over a bit previously. Some traditions include them and some do not. Offerings, associations, and names were also not provided for the spirits of each Court for similar reasons. Those will be similar to the Kings of their respective Courts BUT not identical. Each spirit has something very particular that they like and that literally can vary from Spirit House to Spirit House.

A Spirit House is an individual group of humans who gather together to perform musical rituals of propitiation for the Winds and their Brides. For example, if we were to get together and go through these rituals, our individual group would be a Spirit House and we would have our own variations on these traditions for spirit names, threads (spirit chants), offerings, and associations based on how the spirits interact with their Brides in our specific house. Variation is normal but it does follow a spectrum of things that make sense and form unity with other Spirit Houses. This is why, even in antiquity, there would be many different names for the individual lesser Winds as spirits from place to place.

General Info on Spirit Possession

For those who are not familiar with what spirit possession traditions look like or how they function, it is a pretty consistent thing all over the world so there is a method/ series of techniques to doing it well. These same techniques are found in all of the Mystery Religions of the wider ancient Mediterranean as well as living traditions of that same region today. This makes it easier to understand the methods because there is consistency and continuity involved.

Firstly, these rituals are musical. There is a thread (spirit song) for every spirit that compels them to rise up in their mortal Bride and dance/ move. They go from dormant to suddenly very active when they hear their thread. Through their dancing they will portray who they are and what they desire. The Bride will wear the colors of their Wind groom (still a term linked to horses), and partake of the offerings the spirit has requested. So, while their music plays, they will eat and drink, use the tools associated with their Wind, and move in such a way as that Wind is known to move.

Spirit possession is not considered rare at all. It is in fact quite contagious and all gods and spirits who take Brides can and will take many at once. This includes the Cults of the Winds as well as the Cults of Dionysos and any other that follows this sort of format. Multiple spirits may even claim the same mortal Bride. Every single spirit marriage requires a separate contract/ agreement made between the Bride & the Wind. So, if you have three separate Winds over your head, you are going to have a very busy night during the course of the ritual.

These rituals are usually done at night in the living traditions that I am familiar with. And I seem to recall it was a complaint raised by detractors of spirit possession traditions in antiquity because, at least in a few hoity-toity minds, proper people don't get up to wild dancing shenanigans under cover of darkness. If it is truly good, then it should be done in the daylight! Eff that. The night time is the right time.

This means that participants stay awake all night doing this. If you are a musician, gods help your poor hands and voice. This is partly why the living traditions are most active in the summer months--shorter nights! There is a practical reason for everything. It is also meant as a sort of catharsis--to journey into the darkness, confront spirits, and emerge in the dawn whole, healed, changed. This concept is reinforced in the classical Hellenic Cult of the Winds with Eos (Dawn) as their mother who compels them to step back and surrender their mortal Brides to their own lives, until the time comes to dance all night again. We dance under the stars of Astraios until the Dawn brings spiritual clarity and unity.

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