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I wonder if Helpols who hate Zeus legitimately think they will have prosperous households

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Being home for the summer realizing I can stock up on the spell supplies form my moms spice cabinet

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If you're a kid, please take some time to disconnect from your phone today (and every day). Phones aren't necessarily The Enemy™, but I think you'll notice a positive difference in your mental health and overall well-being if you take time each day to read a book, go outside, play with any pets you have, etc. It might sound kinda silly, but I promise you that these things are helpful. Frankly, I wish I knew this as a kid, specifically as a teen. Be safe out there, and take care of yourselves. 🧡

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grug hate two factor authentication. first grug have to remember password. then grug have to point out which cave painting has birds. now they want grug to hunt and gather new thing called numbers. grug won’t do it grug miss the bird paintings grug was getting pretty good at birds.

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common origins of suffering, euphoria, and ferret

substack

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Lord Apollo, god of medicine-

Please heal my tummy ache.

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Hellenic polytheism - free (and reliable!) resources

Updated 23 February 2022

The Homeric Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns1.html              

The Homeric Hymns, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis are also available to read online for free: 

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00home 

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00atha

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns0000unse

The Orphic Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html

The Orphic Hymns, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis:   https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780891301196

The Delphic Maxims: https://www.scribd.com/document/186693295/Delphic-Maxims

Many other primary sources from ancient Greece can be found in English translations at theoi.com, which is a fantastic resource for information about the Theoi.

Modern prayers to the Theoi:

Hearthstone: https://greekpagan.com & https://greekpagan.tumblr.com/ Note: downloads of Hearthstone’s two books of Hellenic prayers can be purchased at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HearthfireHandworks

winebrightruby: https://winebrightruby.tumblr.com/devotional

Some of the best and most essential sources to start with - and for continuous reference, in my opinion:

Adam, John. The Religious Teachers of Greece. Clifton, New Jersey: Reference Book Publishers, Inc, 1965.  https://www.giffordlectures.org/lectures/religious-teachers-greece

Adkins, Lesley and Adkins, Roy A. Handbook To Life In Ancient Greece https://archive.org/details/handbooktolifein00adki

Betegh, Gabor. Greek Philosophy and Religion. https://www.academia.edu/4990433/Greek_Philosophy_and_Religion

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion  https://archive.org/details/greekreligionarchaicandclassical

Angelos Chaniotis, “The Life of Statues of Gods in the Greek World’” Kernos  [Online], 30 | 2017, posted on October 01, 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/2492 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.2492

Dignas, Beate, and Kai Trampedach, eds. 2008. Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Figures from Homer to Heliodorus.Hellenic Studies Series 30. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.  http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_DignasB_and_TrampedachK_eds.Practitioners_of_the_Divine.2008

Dillon Matthew. “Household, Families and Women” in Kindt, J. Eidinow, E. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Religion in the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015. https://www.academia.edu/7974646/HOME_AND_HEARTH._THE_CLASSICAL_GREEK_EXPERIENCE_OF_DOMESTIC_RELIGION_in_Kindt_J._Eidinow_E._eds_The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Religion_in_the_Ancient_World_Oxford_University_Press_Oxford_2015

Furley, WIlliam D. and  Jan Maarten Bremer. Greek Hymns: Selected Cult Songs from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Part One: The texts in translation.Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.  https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/uploads/tx_sgpublisher/produkte/leseproben/9783161586552.pdf

Garrett, Jan. Did Socrates ‘Teach New Deities’? Or: Homer’s Gods, Plato’s Gods  http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/pgods.htm

Hesiod. Theogany  https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html 

Hesoid. Works and Days https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html

Kearns, Emily. The Nature of Heroines in The Sacred and the Feminine in Ancient Greece edited by Sue Bundell and Margaret Williamson, Routledge, 1998. pp. 96-110.  http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1500680.files/kerns%20nature%20of%20heroines.pdf

Kindt, Julia. “Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion?” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 135, 2015, pp. 35–50., www.jstor.org/stable/44157346

Kitts, Margo. What’s Religious about the Iliad? Religion Compass 7/7 (2013): 225–233, 10.1111/rec3.12050 Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2013.  https://www.academia.edu/5744383/_Whats_religious_about_the_Iliad_Religion_Compass_7_7_2013_225_233_draft_version_

Koutoupas, A. “The Meaning of Reciprocity in Ancient Greek Religion.”  https://www.academia.edu/12126893/The_Meaning_of_Reciprocity_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion

Meyer, Marvin.The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World   https://archive.org/details/ancientmysteries0000unse_p7i2

Morford, Mark, P.O., Lenardon, Robert J. and Sham, Michael. “The student companion to Classical Mythology, Tenth Edition”: https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/

Otto, Walter.The Homeric Gods  https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4448/page/n5/mode/2up

Petrovic, Andrej, and Petrovic, Ivana. “Introduction” in Inner Purity and Pollution in Ancient Greek Religion Vol I.  https://www.academia.edu/30262742/Introduction_in_Inner_Purity_and_Pollution_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion_Vol_I

Pirenne-Delforg, Vinciane and and Francesca Prescendi. Feeding the gods? Sacrifice and representation of the divine.   https://books.openedition.org/pulg/1604

Rask, K.A. “Devotionalism, Material Culture, and the Personal in Greek Religion.”  https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/23

Seznac, Jean.The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art, Princeton University Press, 1953. Chapter One, pp. 11-36. http://people.bu.edu/bobl/paganchristian.pdf

Smith, William. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray, London, 1875. Articles on Greek and Roman religion, including divination, festivals, funerals, magic, priestly officers, and rituals: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA/Religion/home.html

Von den Hogg, Ralf. “Images and Prestige of Cult Personnel in Athens between the Sixth and First Centuries BC” in Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus, edited by Kai Trampedach, and Beate Dignas. Kolloquium. pp 107-141 http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/2166/1/vdH_Images_Prestige_2008.pdf

Webster, Michael. Reading Hesiod’s Theogany. 2005.   https://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Hesiod2.htm

Webster, Michael.

Ways of Interpreting Myths

. 2005.   

https://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/ways.htm

Weddell, Poly. Touching the Gods: physical interaction with cult statues in the Roman world. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/555/1/Touching_the_Gods.pdf?DDD3+

Whitmore, Emily. Personal Religion in ancient Greece.  https://www.academia.edu/8729313/Personal_religion_in_ancient_Greece

Woodward, Roger D. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology https://archive.org/details/TheCambridgeCompanionToGreekMythology/page/n1/mode/2up

____________

Find more information at my Masterpost of Resources for Hellenic & Roman Polytheism: https://honorthegods.tumblr.com/masterpost

Please feel free to ask me questions or contact me about books/articles on specific topics related to ancient Greek religion and modern Hellenic polytheism!

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been busy with school and the other half of my faith(for obvious reasons) so here’s some love for Apollon and Ares bc I don’t want them to feel left out

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Types of Divination

I recently saw my friend Dagan ( @olympianbutch ) respond to an ask about his forms of divination and thought it'd be fun to go over the ones I know of! A lot of people know of tarot and pendulum but there's so many more that deserve to be be tried and maybe someone will find a new method that works for them ♡

• 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 •

Tarot- One of if not THE most well-known forms of divination. Tarot typically consists of a 78 card deck with 22 major arcana cards and 56 minor cards. These cards typically have a set and known meaning universally across all decks.

Lenormand- A (usually) 36 card deck typically used for fortune telling. As opposed to tarot, lenormand is read in a sequence and is considered more straightforward than tarot. One of the most common readings for lenormand would he The Grand Tableau, which uses the entire deck to create a "snapshot".

Oracle Cards- Oracle cards vary vastly across different decks, as each deck has different cards with different meanings. They typically create a more specific answer than tarot.

Cartomancy- Tarot is often confused as cartomancy, but cartomancy is its own separate divination style. Cartomancy typically involves using a deck of playing cards for divining questions. It has its own reading system separate from tarot and usually involves some numerology in its deciphering.

• 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚�� 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 •

Capnomancy (smoke reading)- Divining messages and answers from smoke. Incense smoke is one of the most common, but other fire sources producing smoke can be used.

Geomancy- Divination done through identifying patterns created in the earth (or on paper). The diviner will create geomantic figures at random (with 16 possible combinations) and divine messages and answers from them.

Hydromancy- Divining through water by observing reflections and ripples (either naturally occurring or created.

Botanomancy- A method that involves burning herbs, plants, or branches and diving messages/identifying energies through the smoke and flames.

Cledonomancy- A method involving "overheard words". The diviner will cover their ears while asking their question or for advice, leave their location, and then unplug their ears. The words and sounds they hear will be their response. This was typically done while asking the Hermes Agoraios questions and leaving the agora/walking away from the statue.

• 𝐈𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 •

Pendulum (dowsing)- A form of divination that uses a pendant, typically on an evenly distributed chain or cord, to divine messages. The most common way it's done is by asking the pendulum (or spirits/entities etc) how the pendulum will swing for yes, no, and maybe answers. It is also common to use a pendulum board which has set spaces for yes, no, maybe, and occasionally letters for more refined answers.

Ouija- Also known as a spirit board, a suitable board consists of a board with yes, no, and alphabet, and goodbye at the bottom. A planchette is used to spell messages from the spirit/entity and answer auestions. It is known practice to always end an ouija board session by sliding the planchette to the "goodbye" section of the board.

Scrying- A divination method typically involving an obsidian mirror, a crystal ball, a pool of water in darkness, etc. A candle is commonly lit and the diviner falls into a trance-like state in which they'll see images and scenes depicted in the reflections.

Ceromancy (Wax reading)- A method that commonly involves the diviner pouring candle wax into water and deciphering the imagery seen above and below the surface of the water.

Tasseography (Tea reading)- Divination involving a tea cup and the leaves of the tea. The majority of the tea is drank, leaving just a small amount in the cup. The remaining leaves in the cup are interpreted typically for fortune telling.

Bibliomancy- The opening of a book to a random page and line/passage to divine messages and answers.

Astragalomancy (dice casting)- Throwing dice, typically to divine short answers. The reader will usually assign meaning to each number of the dice, the most common being yes, no, maybe.

I'm definitely missing more than a few, and several of these have been described to their bare minimum because they're fairly complex (ie, geomancy), but I had fun making this list regardless. Maybe I'll make in-depth posts about some of the more complex ones.

Regardless! I hope you found this informative in any way. Safe travels ♡

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Gods help me be an academic weapon- it's hard in these streets

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Hey so let's NOT do this actually!

No genuinely, wtaf don't do this. @thathellenicpolythiest shares an opinion that in no way impacts your worship and just sums up to "give meaningful offerings to your gods" and THIS is the response?

This isn't okay.

This isn't even remotely acceptable.

This isn't xenia.

You hate his opinion? Fine. Use the block button. You wanna give your gods a half eaten bag of doritos and the last sip of a redbull you decided at the last minute would make a great offering? Whatever. Weird but go off.

But harassing someone because YOU dislike their opinion so so childish and stupid and wrong, and it's very telling that you can only do it while anonymous.

At least do it with your whole chest and show your blog. So we can all block you properly.

Insanely ridiculous, it takes nothing to just scroll past a post.

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It’s the end of my semester, and I’ve been stuck in finals project hell, so I’ve been watching a lot of your video essay while I work, to the point you’ve started showing up in my dreams like some kind of strange nightmare witch. Here’s some visual representations of what that’s like

Awesome!! I've always wanted to be some kind of nightmare witch!!!

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"Un-uhlaive? UN-UHLAIVE? Ma'am, that man has been killed. He has been MUHDUHED. To DEATH."