Honoring the Theoi from the comfort of your spice rack

Many of us are aware of the Orphic incenses used to honor the Gods, but what if you don't have the money for expensive incenses? What if the only thing you have to offer is what is in your kitchen's spice rack? Most spices that were used in ancient Hellas were imported from the near East, or were traded through the region, and these spices are the ones we tend to have lying around our own homes at far cheaper prices.


Basil: The ancient Hellenes knew it as 'Ocimum', although the word 'basil' comes from the Greek 'βασιλεύς' (basileus), meaning 'king'. In ancient times, basil was placed in the hands of the dead to guide them safely to the afterlife and ensure that the gates of heaven opened for them. Also basil was commonly hung on doors, to bring good luck and wealth. It was never eaten,

Cinnamon: known as 'kasia', or 'kinamomon', cinnamon was well known to the ancient Hellenes who imported it from Egypt and other Near Eastern countries. Theophrastus, Herodotus, Galen, Dioscorides, Plinius, and Strabo all mention it, and it ranked in value with gold, ivory, and frankincense. It was among the most costly offerings in the temple of Apollo in Miletus in 243 BC: According to Plinius, a Roman pound (327 grams) of the precious bark could cost up to ten month's wages for a regular worker, or as much as five kilograms of silver. Sappho included cinnamon as an appropriate herb to burn at wedding ceremonies. From Sappho's poem:

"And myrrh and cassia [cinnamon] and frankincense were mingled..." [28]

Dill: was known as Anithos, and it's used in many modern and ancient dishes including salads and the famous Greek spinach pie known as “spanakopita.” However, it was also used for its medicinal properties such as healing wounds, and burns, and to help promote sleep when placed over the eyes before bed. Most likely sacred to the Gods of sleep and healing.

Mint: I have written about this one before. The mythology surrounding the mint plant is well known: it's tied to the beautiful naiad Minthê, who caught the eye of Hades and suffered either Persephone's wrath over it, or that of Demeter.  kykeon (κυκεών)--the barley beverage preferred by Demeter, and drank by peasants--was made with mint, and used to break a sacred fast within the Eleusinian Mysteries. Kykeon was also used in preparatory rites for some of the most sacred--and secret--rites within Eleusis. As if this connection to Persephone, Demeter and Hades was not enough, mint was also used in funerary rites, along with rosemary and myrtle, to mask the smell of decay, but also--it seems--as an offering to the Lord of the Dead.

Myrthle: In Hellenic mythology and ritual the myrtle was sacred to Aphrodite and Demeter. Pausanias explains that one of the Graces in the sanctuary at Elis holds a myrtle branch because

“[T]he rose and the myrtle are sacred to Aphrodite and connected with the story of Adonis, while the Graces are of all deities the nearest related to Aphrodite.”

Oregano: or Rigani, as the Greeks call it, was one of the most popular herbs in the ancient Hellenic kitchen, but it was also said to bring good luck and good health as well as symbolize joy. The ancient Hellenes would plant oregano around their houses in hopes to ward off evil spirits. They would also wear a wreath of oregano on their head during sleep to encouraged psychic dreams, and we can thus assume it was sacred to Hypnos and Morpheus, along with hops and verbena.

Verbena: verbena, or vervain, has longstanding use in herbalism and folk medicine. In ancient Hellas is was considered sacred to Eos and may have been used to prepare khernips for (public) rituals. It was also used to promote sleep so it may have been considered a fitting offering for Hypnos and Morpheus.

• Wednesday, June 7, 2017
  Aphrodite Apollon Demeter Hellenismos 101 household worship Hypnos Morpheus Mythology 101 Plinius Sappho Temples

PBP: Zythos, the (undrinkable) beer of ancient times

I'll be taking part in next year's Pagan Blog Project (I signed up yesterday, so it's in print!), but for this year, there are still two posts to go. The first of the 'Z's goes to ancient beer. There was a special recipe for beer that the ancient Hellenes called 'zythos', and which was imported from Egypt. Most ancient Hellenes thought the barley beverage was absolutely undrinkable and only fit for barbarians, but some made use of it anyway.

Beer has been around for a very long time, at least six thousand years, although the art of beer-making could date back as far as fifteen thousand years ago. The ancient Hellenes certainly were not the ones who invented it. Most likely, it travelled to them by way of the Egypt, but the Egyptians could probably trace the art back to Mesopotamia. A four thousand year old seal to the Goddess Ninkasi--the Goddess of beer--has been found, which is as well a hymn to Her as a recipe for beer.

Also from the Mesopotamians comes one of the early literary works, the Epic of Gilgamesh. In it, one of the two main characters encounters beer for the very first time:

"Enkidu knew nothing about eating bread for food,

and of drinking beer he had not been taught.

The harlot spoke to Enkidu, saying:

"Eat the food, Enkidu, it is the way one lives.

Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land."

Enkidu ate the food until he was sated,

he drank the beer-seven jugs!-- and became expansive and sang with joy!

He was elated and his face glowed.

He splashed his shaggy body with water,

and rubbed himself with oil, and turned into a human."

The beer that was drunk by the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks--or anyone else, really--had very little to do with the beer we pick up at the grocery store today. They share the same base component--fermented barley--but that's about it. Ancient records ascribed to the following method of creating beer, which is somewhat similar to modern day practices, but vary greatly in execution:

According to Athenaeus Naucratis, a Hellenic rhetorician and grammarian, a grain, typically barley but also millet, rye and wheat, was malted. The grain was dampened with water and allowed to germinate. Nature took its course to converted some of the starches into fermentable sugars and the resulting malt was heated to dry it. The dried malt was often shaped into loafs which were then backed for a small amount of time. These loaves were crumbled, mixed with cereals, and then soaked overnight. To add flavor, spices, honey, dates or other types of sweeteners were used. After the mash had fermented, the liquid contained roughly six to twelve percent alcohol and was sucked out of large bowls with straws, because the gruel-like mash was left in.

Depending on the country or region of origin, the ancient Hellenes knew a wide variety of beers, all mixed slightly differently. Zythos (ζῦθος) came from Egypt. The beer or barley-wine of Crete was known as 'korma' (κόρμα) or 'kourmi' (κοῦρμι). A similar beverage was known in the north of Hellas and in Asia Minor under the name of 'βρῦτον', which simply means 'fermented' or 'something brewed', being made of barley by the Phrygians and Paeonians, of barley or of roots by the Thracians, while the Paeonians also made another mixture which they called 'παραβίας' or 'παραβίη' from millet and fleabane for which I have no translation.

The Roman Plinius reported of the popularity of beer in the Mediterranean area before wine took hold, but the Hellenes were much bigger fans of the fermented grape than fermented barley. Still, the ancient Hellenes associated beer with the Theoi. Dionysos was lauded for the drink, but the prime Theos of beer was (and is) Seilenos (Σειληνός), foster-father of Dionysos and son of Hermes. Please note that the preferred drink of Demeter, Kykeon, which is also made with barley, was not fermented and does not contain alcohol.

Within modern Hellenistic practice, beer is most likely not a suitable offering for the Theoi, and should not replace wine offerings. Even in ancient Hellas, beer was viewed as inferior and barbaric. Peasants drank it, as it was a lot cheaper than wine, but that's about it. On principle, I'm against offering anything sub-par to the Theoi, even if the modern process has made the drink a lot more palatable. Still, it's good to know the ancient Hellenes had options, although getting drunk was frowned upon even if you drank beer.

• Saturday, December 22, 2012
  ancient Hellenic culture Athenaeus Dionysos Hellenismos 101 kykeon Pagan Blog Project Plinius Seilenos