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hey, if you claim starving yourself is worshipping aphrodite, get the fuck out

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The Iliad is probably one of the funniest books I ever read

Like I'll be having a not-so-good day, then remember how Hector had given himself an entire pep talk to fight Achilles. He saw Achilles running full speed towards him and proceeds to just book it.

Or when Menelaus got shot by an arrow in like in an ultimately nonfatal spot, and Agamemnon begins prematurely mourning him while he's standing there like 🧍‍♂️” you're scaring the men.”

Or when Odysseus is walking around the camps with a royal scepter and is just beating people with it if he finds them packing or suggesting to leave.

Or when Hector is brainstorming on how to face Achilles and for a moment goes, “Maybe I could talk with him, we’re both princes, we can both be rational, I could reason with him… that's a horrible fucking idea.”

I have more, but these, in particular, really tickle me.

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Artemis would shoot ICE agents for how much they disrespect everything her father stands for.

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Also man,

Can we stop watering down and misidentifying what tf psychosis is- as someone who is very close with family and friends who have psychosis and schizophrenia- like can we please for the love of fuck stop calling everything psychosis. Can we please actually try to understand what these mental conditions are? Can we please for like 5 seconds?

The thing that irks me the most is pagans and witches being accused of having psychosis because they simply experience the Gods. Y’all seem to forget that religious psychosis is deregulating. Loss of reality testing, distress or disorganization, functional impairment in daily life, paranoia, anxiety, depression, isolation etc. It is a crippling condition that causes real tangible harm.

Everyone who describes something you don’t understand isn’t immediately suffering from religious psychosis, and if someone’s deity work isn’t causing them actual harm, it isn’t inherently wrong or harmful just because you cannot attain it.

“You have psychosis because you did hydromancy and actually saw something in the water. You have psychosis because you spoke to the Gods and they spoke back.” - Define psychosis for me right now.

I’m so sick of the delegitimization of people with psychosis from all spiritual circles in general. And I’m really sick of people who have absolutely no respect for those with neurodivergencies blankety slapping the label “psychosis” on every and any damn thing. It is a massive disservice to every demographic you claim to be protecting.

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Updated Altar!

Sorry for posting about this so much, but I do love changing my altar around and making it pretty since it's such an important space between me and Apollo.

(ps. the altoid tin is a pocket altar)

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i’m so grateful to hermes for helping me with my job. i’ve given him a couple water libations but i really wish i could make him an altar. i never get the really good delivery orders like the ones i get when i ask for his help. and he keeps me safe driving, and all my interactions go smoothly. praise hermes 💕

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you cannot be anti-immigrant and a Zeus worshipper.

being an anti-immigrant hellenic polytheist is directly against the Gods, and you are not welcome to my blog.

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♡ Looking for Helpol moots ♡

I started tumblr last month and wanna become a part of the pagan community! My intro goes over a lot, so feel free to look at it :)

Ft my cat, Nova 💙

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Just a little something I wrote:

"It is foolish to believe the Gods, being transcendent as they are, would be overly concerned with our mortal affairs. It is equally foolish to believe the Gods, being immanent as they are, do not concern themselves with us."

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"When you make an offering, you pray with objects. When you assume a position, you pray with your body. When you speak, you pray with your mind. When you pray with objects, your body, and your mind, you pray with your soul. Your soul rises up into the presence of the gods and communes with them; you speak, or just rest in their presence. It's a beautiful thing."

-A Book of Pagan Prayer, Ceisiwr Serith

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Looking for book recommendations and showing the books I've read!

I'm just posting this to see if anyone has anything to say about these. Of course, I did my research before or after buying them, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Issues with the translators or authors are welcome, I don't want to support anyone controversial.

The only book I'm actually worried about is "Athens: A Portrait of the City in Its Golden Age." It was an impulse buy at a random book store, and I haven't read any of it yet.

The last image is coming in on Friday, which is why it's not a picture of the physical item.

Anyone with books to recommend, I would love to know more! Religious, historical, mythological, or just fun reads are all appreciated. Feel free to leave a comment 💙

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LA PROTEST - ANTI ICE

I know this isn't what I usually post, but that doesn't matter.

TO THE HELLENIC POLYTHEIST COMMUNITY

Ice goes against what we directly practice in this religion. If that's not enough, it is a crime against humanity. Go to protests, be loud, please do better.

(Tw: smoke, firearms)

Our gods have domains that reside over and support immigrants.

That is something that cannot just be forgotten in times like this.

The men here are quite literally pointing across the bridge to protesters on the other side, aiming their guns at them, and taking pictures/selfies. IS THIS NOT INSANE???

I would like to make it clear- I don't fully support riots or protests that are similar to them, but my time at this specific one was mostly peaceful. The only harm done was to cars that belonged to a large brand and had no drivers in them being lit on fire. Breaking into stores, looting, that's where the line should be drawn. There are other ways to get the attention of others that don't put innocent in harms way.

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Sometimes I give my gods offering that doesn’t make sense to anyone. They find it weird or disrespectful. But lot of them have deeper meaning.

For example I put dried rose on lady Aphrodite’s altar. Maybe she would prefer fresh rose, which I will get for her one day. But this dried rose holds memory from my prom. I felt beautiful and I spent that night with people I loved. This rose keeps that precious memory forever. It makes this rose my favorite one. So it’s very personal offering. Whenever I look at this rose I remember the night full of love and beauty. That’s why I think I should put it on my lady’s altar.

It feels like telling her “look at this, my lady! I love this rose. For me, it’s the most beautiful rose in this world. I would like you to keep this rose and the memory she holds, because I trust you. Thank you, my lady.”

So offerings don’t have to be traditional as long as they are offered with respect. The meaning behind them are what matters.

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Stop policing other peoples practice.

I got a helpol "tutorial video" against my will on my tiktok for you page this and I have to rant about, but I believe this is very important.

This person said in their comment section that hellenic polytheism IS ONLY a reconstructionist religion and someone who isn't a reconstructionist shouldn't be in the religion. And their post was about offerings to the gods and in their caption they implied that any offering that wasn't in the video (those being common offering like milk, honey, bread, hymns, etc) wasn't valid.

Here are my thoughts on that:

That's an opinion, not fact, and that opinion can fuck right off. The claim that Helpol is only a reconstructionist religion is fucking stupid, and that's coming from someone who's a borderline reconstructionist. I don't call myself that because I have to adapt to a modern way of practicing to make practicing more accessible for myself. Everyone has to. Including the overconfident poster who said that stupid thought. Unless that poster is currently building temples for the community, they can fuck off. They even told a commenter on their post who challenged that thought that they shouldn't be a part of the religion. It's fucking disgusting. Everyone also shows their love to the gods in many different ways. Just because someone decides to offer the gods something over another something does not mean they do not actually love the gods.

Now in these pictures, there are a good amount of things that I agree with. Yes, people shouldn't treat this religion like some game and treat it seriously. Yes, there is more to this religion than altars. Yes, TikTok has done a lot of damage to this community. But that includes this person's post. Stop speaking for the entire Helpol community. Stop gatekeeping. Stop policing shit that does not affect you.

I'm stressed right now and i don't know if this is a rational crash out💀 If I'm acting crazy, please tell me

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"Zeus is objectively evil" I had the greatest conversation with him last night where I felt so much more safe than I remember having felt in a long time and if you think that's evil then off the blog, shoo. respect my king

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I GRADUATED YESTERDAY !!

It feels weird to think about because I ended up going to an online school for the last couple of years due to personal issues. Being online wasn't nearly as challenging, so I didn't see a point in celebrating after actually finishing. Yesterday, though, my family took me out to eat and we had fun, so I'm happy that they were able to enjoy the day with me.

Now, I have to actually get a job and think about college. I don't know if I should be scared, but I know I really don't want a job lol

Before I went to bed last night, I made sure to say a prayer to Apollo and share the gifts I got with him. It was sweet, and it was also my sisters first real impression of my religion. (I moved out and she doesn't come over often.) She didn't react negatively, which I had been a little worried about. My family is sweet and understanding, but she was the only one who got a little confused when I first told her. I think that's because she's always known and been sort of interested in the Greek gods, mythology wise.

Just wanted to write about it on here, since I don't post literally anywhere else on the internet. Congrats to any other graduates!! May Lord Apollo grant you good health, and may Lord Ares grant you the courage to continue!