Skirophorion updates

On the day of the Hene kai Nea, I post a monthly update about things that happened on the blog and in projects and organizations related to it. I will also announce Elaion's coming PAT rituals.

Changes to the blog:

• The Elaion PAT rituals calendar is now a permanent fixture of the right hand bar, under "go to".

Statistics:

• A little over 918.000 views right now!
• 12.000 of those hits happened in the last month
• The top five most popular posts were: Herkyna, the naiad of Livadeia (160), PBP: Symbols of Hellenismos (160), The Beginner's guide to Hellenismos: Introduction (152), The Beginner's guide to Hellenismos: The daímones (152), The importance of Dionysos as Zagreus (142)

PAT rituals for Hekatombaion:

• 4 Hekatombaion - 28 June 2017 - Aphrodisia - festival of Aphrodite and Peitho (Persuasion), where the temple was purified with dove's blood, the altars cleansed, and the two statues washed
• 12 Hekatombaion - 6 July 2017 - Kronia - festival in honor of Kronos
• 16 Hekatombaion - 10 July 2017 - Sunoikia - community festival in Athens. Sacred to Athena. Two-day celebration every other year
• 21 Hekatombaion - 15 July 2017 - Sacrifice to Kourotrophos, (Hekate &) Artemis at Erkhia
• 23 Hekatombaion - 16 July 2017 - The Panathanaia (First day) [nighttime]
• 30 Hekatombaion - 24 July 2017 - The Panathanaia (Last day)

Anything else?

Mission Blue has become Pandora's Kharis' Skirophorion 2017 cause. The earth's oceans are the largest ecosystems on Earth, they are the Earth’s largest life support systems. Yet, we're systematically destroying them. Pollution, logging, dredging, draining of wetlands, and coastal development are all factors that lead to marine habitat destruction and the death of entire species of marine life. We're reaching a tipping point. Before long, the oceans won't be able to sustain our way of life anymore. Once this happens, the earth's atmosphere will become incapable of sustaining us, and we will all die. This says nothing about the billions of animals dying a year, the tons of junk we drop in the oceans, leading to dead zones where nothing can grow, and on, and on, and on.

Mission Blue hopes to preserve the healthy ocean we have left, and restore dead zones by creating Hope Spots. Hope Spots are special places that are critical to the health of the ocean — Earth’s blue heart. Hope Spots are about recognizing, empowering and supporting individuals and communities around the world in their efforts to protect the ocean.

The deadline to donate is today, June 24, 2017. You can do so by using the PayPal option to the side of the Pandora's Kharis website or by donating directly to baring.the.aegis@gmail.com. Thank you in advance!

Are you looking for an online shop to buy incenses and other Hellenistic basics from? Try The Hellenic Handmaid on Etsy.