Monetizing Hellenismos

Through a fellow blogger, I came upon an article about an author's loathing for the Pagan sellers of all the Witchcraft stuff one can buy. The post boiled down to saying that monetizing your faith takes power away from you, and simply buying your equipment will lead to hollowed out rituals. The post is here.

There is a long discussion in this from the Witchcraft perspective, but I'm not going there. I'm not going there because I left that path behind and the more I look back, I realize what a tangled--but beautiful--mess it is. Instead, I'm going to write about this from the Hellenistic point of view and take you back to Ye Olden Days when the Ancient Hellens still practiced their faith in their temples.

Religion was entwined with daily life to such an extend that you'd be hard pressed to find a pottery seller who had not depicted one or more of the Theoi on his work. Near just about every temple was a stand which sold small statues which one could sacrifice to the Theoi at said temple. Every temple complex had a treasury where the various gifts of the devoted were stored. Religion, back in the day, was big business--as it should be. It helped instill the presence of the Theoi in daily life.

I have said before that I wish more people would turn to monetizing Hellenismos. I'm still looking for that pendant, I still can't find decent statuary that I don't have to fly in from America or China, the thrift store is still my best friend in terms of finding items I can actually use in ritual, and I am still very happy for my semi-local new age bookstore annex supply shop, so I can at least find the incense I need for my daily devotionals.

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with making money from your faith. If you're good at writing, I encourage you to write. If you're good at dry-walling, I encourage you to dry-wall. If you're good at religion, make your money that way. I'm at the point where I'm saving up so I can ask a jewelry maker to make me that dodecagram pendant I keep being nudged about wearing.

I do understand the author's frustration, though. Witchcraft is becoming a sated market where a lot of stuff has little meaning to the actual practice. I think I would prefer being on that end of the spectrum compared to the black marketing hole of nothingness where Hellenismos is located. I'd rather wade through the crap than find myself in an extremely limited religious position where the tools I feel the Theoi deserve, are none-existent, improvised or too rich for my blood.

I make no money off of either Baring the Aegis or Little Witch magazine, and I'm okay with that. Making money off of your faith, I feel, should always be for the best interest of said faith. I won't cheapen Hellenismos by letting Google randomly place advertisements on this blog. I feel this may be where the original author is absolutely right for saying that The Stuff is becoming more important than the faith: making money from your faith in a way that is in line with your faith is fine. Using your faith as a marketing strategy? Not that great.

All in all, the issue is complicated. I may not agree on flooding the market with items that make money off of faith, but, like Jason at The Wild Hunt, I believe that good work deserves good pay. So here is to hoping the Hellenistic community raises its artists to a new level. And because I'm still so partial to her work, check out Esma Designs when you get the chance. She may not be Hellenistic, but she makes incredible Hellenic jewelry.

• Tuesday, October 30, 2012
  clergy community Hellenic Reconstruction Money Paganism

Musings on Hellenic priesthood

I think I mentioned before that priesthood in ancient Hellas was a lot different from priesthood as we understand it now. In the modern (Pagan) interpretation, priests serve a mostly spiritual role; they serve the religious community as a vessel for or to a God or Goddess. The primary tasks of a modern day priest(ess) seem to be to serve the community, to spread the gospel of the God(ess) in question and to offer access to the God(dess) in question.

In ancient Hellas, the role of priest(ess) was a largely temporary, governmental, function. The profession of priest could be bought, and usually only lasted a few years at best. Minding a temple was almost exactly like minding a house; clean-up, clean-up, clean-up. In fact, religious celebrations weren't led by the priest(ess), but by the magistrate or other high ranking government official. The sole task of the priest(ess) was the animal sacrifice, but that was vitally important.

During most festivals, an animal was sacrificed. It was the job of the priest(ess) to pick out the animal, lead it to the altar and bless the animal. Especially the latter was a job only a priest(ess) could perform, because they were especially well versed in liturgy, and because a failure to preform the exact rites would result in a failure of the sacrifice.

After the blessing, the priest(ess) would slaughter the animal, skin it, cut it up and distribute the meat between the altar and the participants. He or she would see to it that the meat was cooked up properly and divided fairly, although he or she might leave the actual butchering and cooking to the mageiroi, ritual helpers.

What stands out from this practice is that the priest(ess) is not a representative of the Gods, but of the supplicants. Because of this, his or her presence during the ritual was indispensable. Because of their dual task, the ancient Hellens used two words to describe priests: hiereus, meaning 'sacrificer', and arètèr, meaning 'supplicant'. One of the most beautiful examples of a sacrefice comes from Hómēros. In the Illias, we find this:

"Meanwhile Odysseus had touched at Chryse, bearing the sacrifice. Entering the deep harbour, they furled the sail and stowed it in the black ship, dropped the mast by lowering the forestays, and rowed her to her berth. Then they cast out the anchor stones, made fast the hawsers, and leapt on shore. Next, the offering of cattle for far-striking Apollo was disembarked, and Chryses’ daughter landed from the sea-going boat. It was Odysseus, that man of resource, who led her to the altar, and handed her to her dear father, saying: ‘Chryses, our leader Agamemnon commanded me to return your daughter, and make holy sacrifice to Phoebus for all the Greeks, and propitiate your lord Apollo, who has brought the Argives pain and mourning.’ With this, he handed her to her father who joyfully clasped her in his arms.

Swiftly now they tethered the offering of cattle around the well-built altar, rinsed their hands and took handfuls of sacrificial barley grains. Then Chryses raised his arms and prayed on their behalf: ‘Hear me, God of the Silver Bow, protector of Chryse and holy Cilla, lord of Tenedos. Just as once before when I prayed to you, you honoured me and struck the Achaeans a fierce blow, so grant my new plea, and avert this dreadful scourge from the Danaans.’ So he prayed, and Apollo listened.

When they had offered their petition and scattered grains of barley, they drew back the victims’ heads, slit their throats and flayed them. Then they cut slices from the thighs, wrapped them in layers of fat, and laid raw meat on top. These the old man burnt on the fire, sprinkling over them a libation of red wine, while the young men stood by, five-pronged forks in their hands. When the thighs were burnt and they had tasted the inner meat, they carved the rest in small pieces, skewered and roasted them through, then drew them from the spits. Their work done and the meal prepared, they feasted and enjoyed the shared banquet, and when they had quenched their first hunger and thirst, the young men filled the mixing-bowls to the brim with wine and pouring a few drops first into each cup as a libation served the gathering. All that day the Achaeans made music to appease the god, singing the lovely paean, praising the god who strikes from afar; while he listened with delight."

In this beautiful written piece, Chryses is a priest of Apollon. He had previously begged Apollon to curse those who had taken his daughter, but performed the proper rites to Apollon to appease him as his daughter was returned to him.

There were other tasks a priest(ess) or the mageiroi performed. Depending on the temple, examples include oracular practices, the singing of oracles (usually by a thespiode), and dancers (especially for Artemis and Kybele, known as melissai).

Priests and priestesses were drawn from almost every hierarchical position, but mostly came from royalty. Still, coming from high birth was not enough. The priest(ess) had to be without deformities and if they were of particular beauty, they had a better chance of filling the position. Votes or lots are cast in order to choose the right priest(ess) for the temple at that time. 

Clergy lived 'off of the altar'; from every sacrifice, they received a large, good, piece of meat. For their services, they often received extra gifts of bread, other baked goods, and wine for the libations. As a counter, the priest(ess) brought the wood, oil and honey for the sacrifice, but these were paid back to the temple with interest. This practice led to a society where temples slowly accumulated wealth and could expand, bringing prosperity to the city or town around it.

As modern Hellenics, we need to decide where we will place priests and priestesses in our hierarchy. Which tasks will they be charged with? Will we add animal sacrifice to our practice? How will be pick our clerics, then? Will our priesthood be automatically made up by those who are legally allowed to sacrifice these animals, or would they have needed to build a physical temple? If so, will we sustain these priests and priestesses with gifts or money, or will we only make use of them at festivals and leave them a nine to five job to fend for themselves? How many clerics do we need and for how large a group do we need them? These are the questions that come to mind when thinking about priesthood in a modern Hellenic context. I have no answers for these, although I have my preferences. I would love to hear about yours. 

• Friday, September 28, 2012
  ancient Hellenic culture Apollon Artemis clergy festivals Hellenismos 101 Hómēros Iliad kybele Paganism sacrifice Temples

PBP: Money in Paganism

[This post was first published in the Summer 2012 issue of Little Witch Magazine. Read the original version here.]

Pagans of all denominations seem to have a problem with money. We struggle to bring it in, don't like to give it away and, perhaps most importantly, we tend to ignore it until it becomes a problem. 

Most Pagans get by. They're not well off, but they manage. Authors, lecturers, workshop organizers, blog writers... all do what they do out of love, devotion and the crafting of skills, but very few actually pay their bills with their 'pagan job'.

There are a few difficulties in the Pagan community that make 'profitable Paganism' virtually impossible. For one, money is such a terribly mundane thing to be worried about, it takes away from the transcending nature of many (religious Witchcraft) Traditions. As Pagans, there is nothing worse than going to a retreat, fair or other religious even and coming home to debt. Yet, that is what many of us do regularly; we have our religious and spiritual awakenings somewhere else and then pay interest on it for up to several months. 

Money is a dirty word within many branches of Paganism. When you're striving to leave the toils and troubles of daily life behind and to focus, instead, on the Divine, nothing is more difficult than subjecting yourself to a job you might dislike just for the money to pay for your mortgage, your food, your utilities and still end up with nothing to spend on the things you like and a lot of time seemingly wasted. This is problem number two; most Pagans have no drive to get rich or even well off because it takes them away from the things they love to do; explore nature, participate in ritual, meet up with friends and the community, work in the garden, and so many other things.  

Issue number three comes in the form of guilt. As Pagans, those of us with a skill worth selling will have no problem charging the non-Pagan community but somewhere, somehow, it became a practice to identify with your Pagan patron's plight and knock a bit off of the price of a service of product 'because we practice the same faith and we should support each other'. It's a wonderful idea, and if everyone had money to spare, it would even work, but currently this just means that Pagan artisans, diviners, writers and healers are doing a lot of work for very little money. And they are supposed to be grateful for the little they did receive because it was a gift. Those who do charge a fair and universal rate for their work are often met with little patronage and judgment. They have broken the super secret Pagan code... because the want to stay out of debt. This code is especially prevalent in (Neo-)Wiccan circles and the majority of Witchcraft Traditions. It's rarely found amongst the Reconstructionist faiths like Asatru, Hellenismos and Kemeticism. In fact, the Reconstructionist faiths tend to be very open to a monetary reward for services rendered or items bought. That's what used to happen in the Olden Days; someone crafted a vase, another person saw the vase and liked it, so they bought it, or they traded it for something of equal value. Everyone went home better off at the end of the day. If the patron could not afford the vase, they didn't get to take it home. Priests in Ancient Greece oversaw ritual sacrifices and got to take home a share of the meat. They were paid for their services because priests, like anyone else, need to eat.

Paganism doesn't have paid clergy. This is issue number four and it's a difficult one to tackle. Research into the (American) Pagan community has discovered that the majority of questioned Neo-Pagans would like to have paid clergy available to them. Yet, they are are still not there. A major issue seems to be the fact that Neo-Pagans are scrooges when it comes to money. We don't have much of it ourselves and if we do have it, we will only spent it on things that will buy us something, be it an item or knowledge. Any money we part with needs to be met with an equal pay-off. This is in part to do with the fact that there are no Temples to tithe to. Most of us aren't raised with the request to donate money to a religious cause on a weekly or monthly basis. Those that were, often have turned away from those places and any tithing will leave them with a bad taste in their mouth. Because of this, there is no money to pay for someone to take up the role of community priest or priestess. Often, the closest we get to it is charging admission to public rituals and feeling guilty about it. But paid clergy can be so much more and there is no need to model the job the Christian way. 

Paid clergy is an ever-available listening ear to the beginning Pagan or the Pagan with (religiously fueled) marriage problems. Clergy can organize regular rituals, lectures and workshops which tighten the community and push Paganism forward. They can get certified to legally perform marriage ceremonies and can be hired to see to Pagan funeral rites, something that is becoming an issue now many of the first and second wave Pagans are reaching the age where they pass over. 

Money can buy a lot and it is not evil, or even mundane. It's part of our spiritual practice and should be seen as a blessing, not a curse. There is nothing wrong with striving for riches. These riches support your local Neo-Pagan shops, support the information sources you frequent but are charged nothing for, support rituals and fairs you can attend and, mostly, they help you invest in the future of Paganism. A future where skills and crafts are valued fairly so those who can do, get to focus on it full time and teach these skills to others so they don't get lost (again). Money helps us be better Pagans and it's time we started acknowledging that.

• Friday, June 29, 2012
  clergy Money Neo-Wicca Pagan Blog Project Paganism

PBP: Clergy

When I was in my teens, I discovered the wonderful world of Role Playing Games, and Dungeons and Dragons in particular. I think I may have spent more hours playing D&D than doing homework in those years and through it, I build a solid foundation for polytheism and Paganism in general for myself. In fact, long before I became an initiated Eclectic priestess, I was a priestess of Selûne, a paladin of Pelor and a loyal follower of Kossuth. I raised temples in Their name, held daily ritual for Them and spoke to anyone who would listen about their deeds and virtues. And I did it all around a table with awesome friends.

Taken from: Dungeons & Dragons wiki

I got used to calling on Gods for aid and became aware of Their power and influence over mortal races. Most of what I practice to this day has its foundation in what I learned around that table. About the nature of Gods, about the afterlife, about my need for Deity in my life and my willingness to submit to an idea(l) I can't prove to others.

So now I reach a point in my practice where I actively take up teaching and guiding others on their path, I consider my thoughts on clergy and how it applies to me. I feel like a priestess most days and I would love to perform that role in a community. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of network around me in the non-internet world. So for now, I have to settle for creating more structure in my own daily practice.

This is no punishment, really. I would love to become more active in my practice and not spent 80 percent of the time I spent on Paganism in my head. Somehow I never seem to find the time or privacy to do so. But there are small things I do, like have a candle lit on my altar at all times when I'm awake and in the house. I say morning and evening prayers. I try to meditate on issues I struggle with at least once a week and hold ritual on the eight festival days, as well as make a special dinner in Their honor. I try to hold ritual on the new moon (somehow full moon never speaks to me as much). If at all possible, I go on walks or bike rides to connect with nature. And, of course, I keep my mind busy with all things Pagan.

I'm not sure what more I would like to do in clergy to myself. I would like to be better skilled in the Hellenic feasts and habits. I would like to hold more regular ritual. I would love to spend even half an hour a day simply being in close proximity to my altar with my thoughts and offer libations. But most of the time I'm busy and tired and would rather take a nap so I can keep going the rest of the day instead of practice my religion.

Yet, I realize a cleric should be surrounded by their community. And I want to be. So this will be a focus in the years to come, although I do not know how this will evolve right now. All I know is that I feel clergy is or should be an important part of our community now Paganism is slowly settling into a framework which can uphold labels. As we struggle for more rights and freedoms, our clergy will become more important than it has ever been and I want to be a part of that.

• Saturday, June 2, 2012
  clergy daily practice Pagan Blog Project