News on the Hellenic Revival Festival in Louisiana, USA

Anyone with half an ear to the ground in the Hellenistic blogosphere must be aware that Thessaly Temenos is planning a Hellenistic festival next year. The Temenos is located in Louisiana, USA, which makes it impossible for me to attent due to finances, but who knows? I might make it work somehow? No matter if I make or do not make it, There will (amost certainly) be a Hellenistic Festival organized by the Thessaly Temenos on November 8 and 9, 2014. That is epic!

Let me start off by saying that, although I have never actually spoken to anyone who is part of the Temenos, I have been following their progress on Echoes From the Temple. Their temenos is extensive, with temples, shrines and statues littering the fields, and it would, indeed, be a perfect location for a festival.

Their reason for putting forward this plan is simple: Standard Neo-Pagan festival is wonderful, but many Hellenists find they do not belong, wether they try to fit in or not. From their blog:

"To clarify, at the pan pagan event we attended, there were no bad touches and no one tried to kill us.  The problem was simply that we just did not fit in. [..] Our Hellenic Revival will revolve around all of our worship of the Greek Pantheon. Our activities will revolve around Greece and Hellenism and how we, as individuals and groups, honor and worship our Pantheon. Everyone is allowed to present if they choose, speak if they choose, recite poetry, orphic hymns, play music, pour libations, wear Chitons and represent yourself and your tradition and not be shunned about it. [...] This is not a hug the earth event. When Hellenists hug the earth, so to speak, it is to pound it with our fists and summon the Lord of The Dead. Obviously there is a cultural difference here!"

Gods, this sounds so good! People in America and Canada, I do not think I can explain to you how envious I am of you all. Yet, I wish you two fantastic days as well, because it is going to rock! On the itinerary so far:

1.) Poetry recitals
2.) Music – if you have instruments or a good singing voice, bring them and be prepared to show your skill!
3.) Competitive games – If you or your group would like to sign up for competitions, please contact Charles.of.Thessaly@gmail.com
a.) Archery
b.) Bocci Ball
c.) Spear Throwing (BYOS – bring your own spear…LOL…Just kidding)
d.) Night time Torch Races
4.) Lectures and workshops – for those wanting to present, please contact Jessica Cutrer, our activities director at stolistesofthessaly@gmail.com and she will make the necessary arrangements.
5.) Rituals – for those individuals or groups who would like to present a ritual, please contact Jessica Cutrer, our activities director at stolistesofthessaly@gmail.com and she will make the necessary arrangements.
6.) Vendors & Volunteerism - for those wanting to sell items and have a booth for the weekend or to volunteer to help with the festival, contact Justin Cutrer, our merchandise coordinator at dadochousofthessaly@gmail.com
7.) Wine and Cheese tasting booth (all wines and cheeses will be imported from Greece)
8.) Food – This one is still a bit on the discussion board.  We have several people who are excellent at cooking Greek foods – it’s one thing that we encourage and train our members to do.  However, given our rather limited numbers, we may have to hire outside help with this.  Regardless…we’ll have food somewhere and somehow.
9.) We do have shrines for all twelve of the Olympians and a full temple devoted to Hekate and Hermes complete with life-sized statues.  If you want to bring offerings and libations, please feel free to do so.  This is a BYOL (Bring Your Own Libations) event!

I will leave you with the rousing words of the Temenos itself:

"[T]his festival will be entirely Hellenic. The primary focus will be on the 12 Olympians, Asklepius (because we do have awesome healers dedicated to him from around the world, they have emailed saying they are coming) Dionysus (We have a Lecturer and devotee of him presenting at the event) and Hermes and Hekate our Underworld deities, to whom our temenos is dedicated and to whom we have erected a fully functioning temple.  This is not an event to represent all walks of pagan belief, but rather to represent all walks of Hellenic, Hellenistic, Hellenismos and good old Greek practices, beliefs, ideas, concepts, philosophy, music, dance and of course…WINE!"

If I do somehow manage to make it there, I would love to see each and every one of you. These are the kinds of initiatives that are so incredibly important for our scattered community: a focal point to meet, share practices and compare notes. My only concern is if two days is going to be enough! The Temenos has already gotten hundreds of e-mail about attendance and speakers, so it should be interesting... and busy. Which is awesome!

For more information on attendance, such as locations, hotel information, restaurants in the area, etc. contact Mandi Kimble, the Thessaly Temenos Komastis at komastisofthessaly@yahoo.com.


Picture propery: Thessaly Temenos