I get a lot of questions from readers, and most of the time, the answers are fairly short. When I feel the question or the reply would be valuable to others as well, I make a post with a collection of them and post them in one go. Today is one of those posts.


"Do you know if there is a specific rule what you can libate or offer a God or Goddess. Like Water for Demeter and Semele. If you could answer, that would be great."

There is no rule, but there are some guidelines. Ouranic deities tended to receive wine libations that were mixed with water. Khthonic deities received either wineless libations (water, milk, and honey, usually), or wine libations of unmixed wine. 'Ouranic' is a term that applies to Theoi and practices who reside or that are associated with Mount Olympos, home of many of the Theoi. As such, Ouranic deities are also referred to as 'Olympians'. 'Kthonic' refers to deities or spirits of the Underworld or the earth, and the rituals associated with Them. Then there are some we know from the ancient writings.

So, some examples: Apollon (ouranic)? Mixed wine. Gaia (kthonic, earth)? Water (usually khernips), or milk, or honey. Water for the nymphs (kthonic, earth), unmixed wine to Persephone (kthonic), milk (usually kykeon) to Demeter (kthonic, earth), etc. Does that make sense?

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"So I really want to celebrate the traditional festivals. What do you think of the idea of starting them on the days they take place on this year, and doing them on that same day onwards. I know it actually changes each year, but I feel like it would help me be a better worshipper to just have a set date each year."
 
I believe everyone should do as they feel called to do. But I do want to make a case for sticking to the traditional lunar calendar isntead of the solar calendar that was introduced in Roman times. For one, the major monthly festivals (Hene kai Nea (Hekate's Deipnon), Noumenia and Agathós Daímōn) would no longer fall around the new moon--which is Hekate's time and would make celebrating those festivals... not useless but most certainly less valuable. The other festivals are also linked to days sacred to the Gods being worshipped, or connected to a certain phase of the moon, or to a certain time of he year. All of that would shift if you connect the festivals to the solar calendar.

An example: the Elaphebolia takes place on the sixth of Elaphebolion. Elaphebolion relates roughly to March/April, so it would stand to reason to then celebrate the Elaphebolia on March 6 with the above reasoning, right? On the lunar calendar, it would be celebrated on the 14th and 15th of March (note that the ancient Hellenes started a new day at sundown the day before).That is not a major difference, right? Just a few days? March 6, however, would be 26 Anthesterion, the last day of the Lesser Eleusinian Mystries, an impure day and right before the Hene kan Nea--definitely not the right day to commemorate a Phocian victory over the Thessalians, which is what the Elaphebolia celebrates besides honouring Artemis.

There are many people who struggle with keeping up with the ancient Hellenic calendar. That is why Elaion (with whom I am associated) organizes rituals you can perform at home (we call them PAT rituals--Practicing Apart Together) for the major festivals and many of the smaller sacrifices. That is also why I keep a Google calendar you can load into your phone calendar or access online to take all the thinking and math out of it. It doesn't have to be difficult to keep in tune with the lunar calendar, and personally, I have always found it very rewarding to do so.

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"I was wondering if you have any books or e-resources on Asclepius. I've been looking everywhere and I can really only find bare basics."
 
Not much, I fear. Many sources have information about Him, but they are often about the same things: That He is the God of medicine and reputed ancestor of the Asklepiades, the ancient Hellenic doctors' guild. That He is the son of Apollon and the Trikkaian princess Koronis. That His mother died in labour and was laid out on the pyre to be consumed, but his father rescued the child, cutting him from her womb. That He recieved His name from this: Asklepios means 'to cut open'.
 
He was then raised by the kentauros (centaur) Kheiron who instructed Him in the art of medicine. Asklepios grew so skilled in the craft that he was able to restore the dead to life. However, because this was a crime against the natural order, Zeus destroyed him with a thunderbolt.
 
After His death Asklepios was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Ophiochus. Some say His mother was also set in the heavens as Corvus, the crow /raven (korônê in Greek). Asklepios' apotheosis into godhood occurred at the same time.
 
For more reading, please turn to these sources:
 
Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
Hesiod, Catalogues of Women - Greek Epic C8th-7th B.C.
The Homeric Hymns - Greek Epic C8th-4th B.C.
Pindar, Odes - Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
Greek Lyric III, Stesichorus - Greek Lyric C7th-6th B.C.
Greek Lyric IV Sophocles, Fragments - Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
Greek Lyric V Cinesias, Fragments - Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragments - Greek Lyric B.C.
Hippocrates, The Hippocratic Oath – Greek Medicine C5th-4th B.C.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
Plato, Republic - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
Isyllus, Hymn to Asclepius - Greek Poetry C4th-3rd B.C.
Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
Aristophanes, Plutus - Greek Comedy C5th-4th B.C.
Lycophron, Alexandra - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History - Greek History C1st B.C.
Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
Pausanias, Guide to Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy - Greek Epic C4th A.D.
The Orphic Hymns - Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.
Aelian, On Animals - Greek Natural History C2nd-3rd A.D.
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana - Greek Biography C2nd A.D.
Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.
Hyginus, Astronomica - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.
Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
Ovid, Fasti - Latin Poetry C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
Propertius, Elegies - Latin Elegy C1st B.C.
Cicero, De Natura Deorum - Latin Philosophy C1st B.C.
Statius, Silvae - Latin Epic C1st A.D.
Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.
Suidas - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.

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"This is a stupid question but I don't have a fireplace or hearth and right now I can't practice out in the open but I still want to give offerings to the Theoi. What can I use instead of burning something?"
 
Burning, obviously, is the Traditional way to go about things. The smoke is what carries the offerings up to the Gods, after all. But if you can't do that, then the next best thing is probably to simply lay out the offerings on the altar and remove them once you are done with the ritual. Focus on the act of giving.
 
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"How did you explain your beliefs to your girlfriend? I always struggle with how to tell people because so many have false ideas of hellenismos is because of what they were taught in school."
 
My girlfriend is the sweetest, most beautiful woman I have ever met. She is an incredibly skilled artist and painter, and a fantastic teacher. She is the only woman I see myself marrying and possibly having children with. She is also the most religiously-skeptical atheist you could ever meet. My girlfriend finds it incredibly hard to believe in anything that is not proven by science or in another way quantifiable.
 
My girlfriend knows about my practice and she supports it as much as she can. Because she went to artschool, she is aware of Hellenic mythology and appreciates it, but she views it simply as stories. We have religious conversations sometimes but since we will never agree, they are usually short-lived. So how do I explain them? I don't. We've gone over the most important bits in the past and beyond that, we let each other be. We both get the freedom to believe what we want and it works. Some battles you can't win, I fear ;-)