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Thursday, October 18, 2012

[VIDEO TUTORIAL] How to make a kathiskos

Alright, there is good news, and bad news. The good news is that I figured out how to kill the weird zoom thing the camera did. The bad news is that I only discovered this on the second day of shooting this video. Also, the first day, it was this sunny-but-cloudy day, so the camera had a bit of trouble with the light. Therefor, the first minute is a bit rough but after that, it gets lots and lots better. Next time will be perfect (and also better lit).

Alright, so on to the video tutorial. In the spirit of the Deipnon and Noumenia we have just celebrated, I am going to show you what to do with, and how to prepare, a kathiskos. As I will explain in the video, the kathiskos is a small jar filled with foodstuffs which is stored from the Noumenia (first day of the lunar month) until the Deipnon (last day of the lunar month) in a shrine to Zeus Kthesios. It's purpose is to protect the pantry.

The ancient Hellenic scholar I refer to in the video is Anticleides, and he wrote:

"It is necessary to make the symbol of Zeus Ktesios (Protector of the Household goods or He who cares for the prosperity of the Household). We take a new Kathisko with two ears (handles) through which we thread white wool and yellow thread which we take over the right shoulder so that it hangs in front. We put anything we find and ambrosia in it. Ambrosia is pure water and oil and all-fruit. This we put inside."

Enjoy! And remember, if you have requests, let me know. I'll gladly make another video.

1 comment:

  1. Would it be possible to transcribe your videos? It is wonderfully informative and articulate but the closed captioning (or subtitles) available on the video aren't correct/don't match up to your actual words. A paragraph or narrative beneath the video itself would make it more accessible to a broader audience and would be much appreciated. Thank you for your consideration!

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