What defines Hellenismos?

Where does Hellenismos fit in? Are we part of the Pagan banner? Is there a 'we'? I tend to believe in the awesomeness that is a unified Hellenismos; I tend to believe that we all believe the same thing. But we don't, do we? There are so many labels, so many terms, just to figure out a way to tell someone else what you believe in, in a way they might just possibly relate to.

I tend to generalize a lot; I assume everyone thinks about Hellenismos the same way I do, even though I know that's rubbish. Being aware of this flaw, I go out of my way not to impose my views on others. It's a bit of mental gymnastics I don't expect you to even try to follow, so let me suffice with saying that I respect everyone's views on Hellenismos--or anything else--equally, and would never force my opinion of it onto anyone. Then again, this is my blog, so I will share with you the labels I associate with Hellenismos.

Supernatural: supernaturalism is the belief that events and values require supernatural powers or authority for their explanation. It is opposed by naturalism, which is the belief that all objects, events, and even values can be fully explained in terms of factual and/or causal claims about the natural world. Naturalism is on the rise in Paganism and I have no problem with it. I just do not think it has any place at all in Hellenismos. As a religion, I feel it is required to believe in the Theoi as actual being who have actual influence on your life. Else, you are just going through the motions. To put it bluntly: the ancient Hellens believed, thus so should the modern reconstructionist practitioner. Starting out with a shaky faith is fine; you can grow into faith. Going into it with a set mind that the supernatural does not exist? Not so useful, in my opinion.

Hard polytheistic: I'm not sure how, exactly, a soft polytheistic or even monoistic/monotheistic vision on Hellenismos would work, but it doesn't for me. To me, being a hard polytheist is pretty much the only way to believe if you're Hellenistic. A belief that the Theoi are all fragments of a single divine source (monotheistic), or that They can be conglomerated into a set of archetypical deities that span the entirety of the divine world (soft polytheism) is a wonderful thought process and belief system, but I don't see it working in Hellenismos, where worship is based on ancient sources who clearly show that's not how it works.

"Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them."

Pantheism would be another option, were it not for the fact that the Theoi are just as much a part of the world as we are--as Hesiod shows above--not the world itself. They, too, exist within a world frame; They were born into it, and are not part of it. They are a part of everything else that exists within the world frame. I can see, however, that this is a matter of interpretation of the term, and I could be able to understand a pantheistic view of Hellenic Divinity.

Immanence: the Theoi are immanence; partakers of the same world as we reside in. Like us, They make changes to it, steer the course of its development and interact with it constantly. They are a part of it, like us, just on a far larger scale. Some of the Divine are more involved with it than others--those who represent abstracts like Chaos, versus Theoi like Zeus, for example--but all of Them are as much part of the world as we are. Does this mean that the top(s) of Mount Olympus house the Theoi? Yes, in my opinion, it/they do. We just don't have the ability to perceive the world as the Theoi do, and so we can not see it.

Literal: this one is related to the previous three and is probably the most controversial one; Hellenists are called to see the myths of the Theoi as a literal interpretation of the nature of the Divine, as well as history as a whole. What happened in the myths, literally happened. It's called living with the Theoi on a daily basis. It means seeing the divine in everything. Lightning is just as much a scientific phenomenon as Zeus' mighty weapon cast down upon the earth. The little girl who guided Odysseus to the palace of Alcinous was just as much a little girl as the personification of Athena. The two overlap and co-exist. And as such, Hēraklēs' madness was brought on by Hera, and--at an even more basic level--Hēraklēs existed. He may have existed in multiple men, but there was once a man so powerful that he could only be the child of Zeus, and the many extraordinary things he did could only be attributed to a man aided by the Theoi. Literalism is tied to supernaturalism in a way that can not be untied, and as such, I feel it is part of Hellenismos. To chalk the myths up to metaphor is to deny the Theoi.

Orthopraxic: Hellenismos is a religion focussed on orthopraxia; the correct performance of the rituals associated with the religion. Yet, you can not have orthopraxia without orthodoxia; the correct thoughts behind said rituals. And so, it is both, but it is true that great focus is placed upon the proper performance of rituals, devotionals and other practices related to the Theoi. This is why I have portable shrines, so I can do my daily rituals, and it is why I honor the festivals in a way that the Theoi can relate to. What we do, matters, and I still feel very strongly for a standardized Hellenismos. This is also why I don't celebrate modern Hellenistic festivals, but more on that soon.

Reconstructionistic: If you're not doing it like the ancients did it, you're not practicing Hellenismos. Although we're still trying to draw a line where--exactly--the practice loses its reconstructionistic status, a good indication would be the pillars of Hellenismos, and all the above. Just worshipping the Theoi is not enough to adopt the label. I used to 'work' only with the Theoi, but as long as I was still drawing circles and calling quarters, I simply had no business calling myself Hellenistic. And I did not. Again, I call for standardization, in the knowledge it will not happen.

There are so many more terms and thoughts to get into, but they mostly serve to differentiate between the many varieties of Pagan out there. A few examples: I believe that within Hellenismos, humans should not be seen as divine, or holding a spark of the divine. We should not consider ourselves priests and priestesses of our religion, we are simple worshippers. Our lives should be dedicated and ruled by the Theoi, because we believe in Their divinity and feel They deserve our worship simply for being what They are. The list goes on.

Not agreeing with this interpretation of Hellenismos is perfectly alright. It was written to convey my firm belief of the religion, but--again--as we lack standardization, there is no 'right' or 'wrong', nor do I feel my way is the only 'right' way. If Hellenismos was standardized tomorrow and changes were made to any of the above, I would adjust my viewpoint(s) to fall in line, for the greater good of the religion. Until that happens, though, I stay with the terminology that makes the most sense to me. I wonder if it does to you as well.

• Monday, September 10, 2018
  community Hellenic Reconstruction Hellenismos 101 Hēraklēs Pagan Blog Project Paganism polytheism Zeus

REL117000 and REL118000: The Big Move

Over at Llewellyn, Senior Acquisitions Editor for Witchcraft, Wicca, Pagan, and magickal books, Elysia has written a fantastic post on a recent change in the BISAC category codes used to index books by genre. Books on the religious side of Wicca have recently moved from 'Body, Mind, & Spirit / Witchcraft & Wicca' (OCC026000) to 'Religion / Wicca' (REL118000). The BISAC code for 'Body, Mind & Spirit / Spirituality / Paganism & Neo-Paganism' (OCC036020) has also moved into the 'Religion'-section, under 'Religion / Paganism & Neo-Paganism' (REL117000). The code 'Body, Mind, & Spirit / Witchcraft' still exists.

This is huge, people. Especially with that the discussion on 'Pagan vs. Polytheist' raging in the blogosphere, this news has cemented a belief I've held forever. This belief is also the reason I'm staying out of the debate, thank you very much, and it is:

"(Neo-)Paganism is an umbrella term, applied by those inside it, but defined by those outside of it, covering only those paths and religions to whom the following two attributes can be applied: relatively new, and considered 'fringe' by the general population."

Paganism has been around for such an amount of time, the term is no longer new. We've come together and put the label out there. People might still consider us fringe, and they might still think we're a little bit weird, but there is a distinction being made by the BISG, who maintain these codes, and thus by the general population, that we are not New Age. As a whole, we are religious. The term 'Paganism' has been--and I think it always was--defined not by those in it, but by those passing judgement upon it from the outside.

The people over at BISG must also have looked at the current Pagan landscape and thought 'Wicca has become household'. It's no longer new. It might still be fringe, but people know about it and think they know what it's about. It's proved itself to the general population, and as a reward, it gets to move out of the wonderfully murky waters of Paganism and move in with the big boys of Religion as a religion of its own.

I seriously feel this news should be celebrated with a coming of age ceremony.

Read the whole article, please, because Elysia lists a couple of very good points and fears about this move. Next, however, she lists something I wanted to talk a bit about. It concerns the polytheists (in the Pagan vs. Polytheist debate) but it got me thinking:

"In light of the ongoing and recently refreshed division of polytheists who shun the word Pagan*, well… um… hate to tell you all, but there is still no code under Religion or under Body, Mind & Spirit for Polytheism. There is Atheism, Theism, and Deism under the Religion category, but they have no room for polys. Where do polytheists see themselves five years from now?"

Well, there is always 'Religion / General' (REL000000) or 'Religion / Ancient' (REL114000) but, again, this is one of the major reasons I still call myself Pagan: others see me as such. Not what I wanted to discuss, however; I have another request: can we get a 'Religion / Reconstructionism', please? As much as I adore finding the hand full of Hellenistic books out there under 'Religion / General'--where they have always been, I might add, with books on ancient Hellas located at 'History / Ancient / Greece' (HIS002010)--I would love it even more if there was a 'Religion / Reconstructionism', or even a 'Religion / Paganism & Neo-Paganism / Reconstructionism' category for us to develop into. This seems like a realistic five year goal.

As a ten year goal, I'm setting my sights on 'Religion (/ Paganism & Neo-Paganism) (/ Reconstructionism) / Hellenismos). In order to get that to happen, though, we're going to have to churn out a lot more books, and we have to buy them as well. We need to publish at the major (Pagan) publishing houses. Above all, we need to get our religion out there so the non-Hellenist and the non-Pagan knows who we are and what we do. We need to become validated, connected, and synched--in the eyes of the general public, just as much as in our own eyes.

I, for one, and happy for the moves. Those who consider themselves 'spiritual but not religious' might not be. As Elysia writes:

"[P]erhaps we need to take a step back and define whether we [as Pagans] are, in fact, practicing religions vs. practicing spirituality?"

That, my dear readers, might be the crux of that other debate out there, the debate on defining Paganism. The general population sees us as religious, but a good bunch of us do not. If paganism does get torn in the middle, shouldn't that middle be defined by this debate, instead of the 'Pagan vs. Polytheist' one? And if so, who should move out? To stick to the BISAC codes: do we want to move (Neo-)Paganism fully back to the 'Body, Mind, & Spirit'-section and give religious Pagans spaces of their own under 'Wicca', 'Polytheism', 'Reconstructionism' and/or 'Religious Paganism', or keep the 'Paganism & Neo-Paganism'-code for the religious Pagans and create a separate code for the non-religious folk?

Also, isn't that what has already happened with this move? Under 'Body, Mind, & Spirit' are still: Afterlife & Reincarnation, Ancient Mysteries & Controversial Knowledge, Spirit Guides, Astrology, Channeling & Mediumship, Crystals, Divination, Dreams, Entheogens & Visionary Substances, Feng Shui, Gaia & Earth Energies, Healing, Hermetism & Rosicrucianism, I Ching, Inspiration & Personal Growth, Magick Studies, Meditation,  Mysticism, New Thought, Numerology, Occultism, Parapsychology, Prophecy, Sacred Sexuality, Spiritualism, Shamanism, Supernatural, Extraterrestrials, Unexplained Phenomena, and Witchcraft. 'Neo-Paganism & Paganism' has--for all intents and purposes--been removed from this category, although the category is still there; the code has been removed and can thus not be used.

We'll see how this plays out. I'm sure it will provide plenty of fodder for the Pagan debate cannon for a while to come, though. As stated, I am happy for the move, and grateful to Elysia for bringing it to my attention. I doubt much will change in the Pagan community, but it's a nice philosophical change, none the less. How do you feel about it? Will it have ramifications for Paganism in any way, shape or form? I would love to hear your thoughts.

• Saturday, January 19, 2013
  bloggers I admire coming out community current affairs Hellenic Reconstruction Paganism polytheism

Prayers and vows

A few days ago, I was discussing prayer with a friend and we came to a valid point, namely that you should only pray for things you really, really want. Because when kharis is strong, you will receive what you have asked for, and you are obligated to make good on your prayer. In short, a prayer is a vow to deity.

An example: I have a lot of deadlines in my future, and I know that I don't deal so well with those; I tend to shut down and do nothing at all. Besides the blog, a new issue of Little Witch magazine is coming up, and I haven't written my articles yet, let alone the articles of the writers who'll undoubtedly pull out at the last possible minute. As it's a labor of love, it happens every single time. I don't mind, but it does mean I need the time to get it all done before the magazine goes live. I'm also working extra a lot this month and next month, so there are really too few hours in the day for everything.

Since more hours in the day is a tall order, I petition the Muses with offerings of sweet wine and incense, begging for inspiration, instead. When I'm inspired, it doesn't matter how tired I am, I can write, work or do anything else. I tend to do this on the eve of the day, so it comes into effect--when granted, of course-- the following day. That means that the following day, no matter what, I need to have the time and space to write, to make good on the divine inspiration that the Muses may or may not grant me. I can't book it full with other things: I have made a vow that--should They see fit to grand my prayers--I will make the most of the gift They have given me.

If I break my vow and play video games instead, I can be sure that the next time I petition the Muses, They will not grant my request. I have broken kharis, and misused Their trust in me. The Muses, in my experience, are mild, but not forgiving. They rarely punish after a vow is broken, but they can withhold Their favor for ages.

So, this is a small reminder to be careful what you vow, especially when you petition Deities who may not be as kind as the gracious Muses. Even the ancient Hellens knew this; from the Delphic Maxims:

"Flee a pledge (Εγγυην φευγε)"

• Thursday, December 13, 2012
  ancient Hellenic culture daily practice Hellenismos 101 Paganism polytheism Star Foster's Delphic Maxims

Religious differences

A few days ago, my girlfriend and I celebrated the eight year anniversary of our relationship. We met when she was fifteen and I was sixteen and although we fell in love at first sight, we were both too young to be in a long-distance relationship. A few years later, when she was eighteen and I was nineteen, we met again and fell in love all over in that first moment. We promised each other we were going to fight for it this time and here we are, eight years later.

We work well because we are different but have enough commonalities to function together as a family unit. 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.

When I still practiced Eclectic Religious Witchcraft, it was easier to live around my religious practice. I never did my rituals when she was around, and I didn't have a very strict daily practice, although it took up a lot of my computer time and witchy books could be found all around the house. I founded Little Witch magazine in that time. So while my practice took up a lot of my time, it was an issue she could turn a blind eye to. 

My progression into Hellenismos has made turning a blind eye pretty much impossible. I have a strong daily practice, I read, research and write a lot about it, and I have most certainly changed since I started practicing. Letting go of many conventions from my Witchcraft days has freed me from a lot of shackles I was unaware I was opposing at the time. Hellenismos functions so well with my world view and ethical code, I have fallen into it without much adoption time at all. 

The transition has been fluid for me, but my girlfriend--with whom I discuss very little about my religious practice unless she brings it up--has seen me practice one way for over seven years and now I seem to have turned on a dime. I don't blame her for being confused.

My girlfriend worries for me a lot. She worries that I am spending too much time on a construct--if you will--that does not exist. There is no proof of the Theoi, the Underworld or anything else that I believe in, yet I spend hours every day researching, writing, offering, and making sacrifices. From her point of view, what I do must be nuts. When I put myself in her shoes, I can see where she is coming from.

Quite recently, we got into a discussion about religion. She voiced these concerns to me. She told me that while she loves the kind of person my religion has made me and continues to make me--the person who is open, inviting to other, who has a strict moral and ethical code, who has a dedication to something that she loves, a person who would never compromise her believes for anyone or anything--she can't wrap her head around this major influence in my life and these beings I tell her are real but with whom, she feels, she will never bond.

She worries that, one day, I will ask her to participate in ritual for these beings she doesn't understand or believe in--something she won't be able to do--while I worry that one day, she will not be able to put up with my religious practice any more and I have to chose between my religion and our relationship. That's a Sophie's Choice I hope I never have to make. 

Right now, my religion (or her atheism)--thankfully--does not wreck the foundation of our relationship, but it is a point that we tip-toe around as much as possible. While it is still just the two of us, this is an arrangement that works relatively well, but should we ever have children together, our religious differences will most certainly become a challenge.

When we get married, I want--need--a religious ceremony. It doesn't have to be a public ceremony, but I want to ask for the blessings of Zeus and Hera when we marry. I want to offer libations to the Theoi to ask for Their blessing. while it doesn't have to look like this video at all, I do want something that conveys the gist of it.

Should we have children, I will want to present them to Hestia when our miasma wears off. I want to give them the protection Hestia offers to new members of the household. That child will be part of our family--our oikos--and I can't willfully withhold them the religious ceremony to make that a reality. I will want to read our child bedtime stories about the Theoi, and tell them about the Gods of other pantheons. When he or she gets older, I want them to be able to choose for themselves if they are religious or not. While my girlfriend is willing to indulge me in most of these issues, I also know that she is slightly embarrassed about sharing my religious views with anyone.

Hellenismos--while she is interested in Hellenic mythology and art--is something she doesn't understand. Why would you want to worship Gods that no one has worshipped in ages? Why specify which Gods you worship at all? She didn't get the Lord and Lady idea very well either, but at least that was relatively modern, and archetypes make much more sense to her than individual Gods somewhere up a mountain, cloud, or other mythical location.

Our religious differences will divide us at least for the foreseeable future. While she fully respects and encourages me to practice my religion, she does struggle with it, and I do not think I will ever become less religiously active. For now, it's not a problem, but it might be in the future. That thought is worrisome, to say the least, but it's comforting to know many families struggle with this situation, or a situation where two religions are actively practiced. I have no solutions. An open dialogue is encouraged, but I don't even have that myself. The situation is as it is, unfortunately, but when there is love and a willingness to compromise, major problems should be avoidable. Hopefully. 

• Wednesday, December 12, 2012
  daily practice personal polytheism

PBP: Words to explain ourselves with

Where does Hellenismos fit in? Are we part of the Pagan banner? Is there a 'we'? I tend to believe in the awesomeness that is a unified Hellenismos; I tend to believe that we all believe the same thing. But we don't, do we? There are so many labels, so many terms, just to figure out a way to tell someone else what you believe in, in a way they might just possibly relate to.

The Allergic Pagan's John Halstead wrote a fantastic piece about terminology that can mean something for one person that totally does not mean the same for another. A quote from the post:

"The problem is not just a difference in definitions, it’s a problem of false dichotomies, the dichotomies that we use to distinguish self from other. Now I’m not so naive as to suggest that we should stop using these dichotomies to distinguish ourselves from others. Our lives are full of them: male-female, homo-hetero, patriot-terrorist, Christian-bad person, and so on. The problem is that, whether we realize it or not, these dichotomies are not self-evident. We may choose to define ourselves vis a vis others using any of the dichotomies above, but we should not think that any of these natural opposites. And we absolutely cannot assume that other people are using the same dichotomies."

I tend to generalize a lot; I assume everyone thinks about Hellenismos the same way I do, even though I know that's rubbish. Being aware of this flaw, I go out of my way not to impose my views on others. It's a bit of mental gymnastics I don't expect you to even try to follow, so let me suffice with saying that I respect everyone's views on Hellenismos--or anything else--equally, and would never force my opinion of it onto anyone. Then again, this is my blog, so I will share with you the labels I associate with Hellenismos.

Supernatural: supernaturalism is the belief that events and values require supernatural powers or authority for their explanation. It is opposed by naturalism, which is the belief that all objects, events, and even values can be fully explained in terms of factual and/or causal claims about the natural world. Naturalism is on the rise in Paganism--a fact Halstead is well aware of--and I have no problem with it. I just do not think it has any place at all in Hellenismos. As a religion, I feel it is required to believe in the Theoi as actual being who have actual influence on your life. Else, you are just going through the motions. To put it bluntly: the ancient Hellens believed, thus so should the modern reconstructionist practitioner. Starting out with a shaky faith is fine; you can grow into faith. Going into it with a set mind that the supernatural does not exist? Not so useful, in my opinion.

Hard polytheistic: I'm not sure how, exactly, a soft polytheistic or even monoistic/monotheistic vision on Hellenismos would work, but it doesn't for me. To me, being a hard polytheist is pretty much the only way to believe if you're Hellenistic. A belief that the Theoi are all fragments of a single divine source (monotheistic), or that They can be conglomerated into a set of archetypical deities that span the entirety of the divine world (soft polytheism) is a wonderful thought process and belief system, but I don't see it working in Hellenismos, where worship is based on ancient sources who clearly show that's not how it works.

"Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them."

Pantheism would be another option, were it not for the fact that the Theoi are just as much a part of the world as we are--as Hesiod shows above--not the world itself. They, too, exist within a world frame; They were born into it, and are not part of it. They are a part of everything else that exists within the world frame. I can see, however, that this is a matter of interpretation of the term, and I could be able to understand a pantheistic view of Hellenic Divinity.

Immanence: the Theoi are immanence; partakers of the same world as we reside in. Like us, They make changes to it, steer the course of its development and interact with it constantly. They are a part of it, like us, just on a far larger scale. Some of the Divine are more involved with it than others--those who represent abstracts like Chaos, versus Theoi like Zeus, for example--but all of Them are as much part of the world as we are. Does this mean that the top(s) of Mount Olympus house the Theoi? Yes, in my opinion, it/they do. We just don't have the ability to perceive the world as the Theoi do, and so we can not see it.

Literal: this one is related to the previous three and is probably the most controversial one; Hellenists are called to see the myths of the Theoi as a literal interpretation of the nature of the Divine, as well as history as a whole. What happened in the myths, literally happened. It's called living with the Theoi on a daily basis. It means seeing the divine in everything. Lightning is just as much a scientific phenomenon as Zeus' mighty weapon cast down upon the earth. The little girl who guided Odysseus to the palace of Alcinous was just as much a little girl as the personification of Athena. The two overlap and co-exist. And as such, Hēraklēs' madness was brought on by Hera, and--at an even more basic level--Hēraklēs existed. He may have existed in multiple men, but there was once a man so powerful that he could only be the child of Zeus, and the many extraordinary things he did could only be attributed to a man aided by the Theoi. Literalism is tied to supernaturalism in a way that can not be untied, and as such, I feel it is part of Hellenismos. To chalk the myths up to metaphor is to deny the Theoi.

Orthopraxic: Hellenismos is a religion focussed on orthopraxia; the correct performance of the rituals associated with the religion. Yet, you can not have orthopraxia without orthodoxia; the correct thoughts behind said rituals. And so, it is both, but it is true that great focus is placed upon the proper performance of rituals, devotionals and other practices related to the Theoi. This is why I have portable shrines, so I can do my daily rituals, and it is why I honor the festivals in a way that the Theoi can relate to. What we do, matters, and I still feel very strongly for a standardized Hellenismos. This is also why I don't celebrate modern Hellenistic festivals, but more on that soon.

Reconstructionistic: If you're not doing it like the ancients did it, you're not practicing Hellenismos. Although we're still trying to draw a line where--exactly--the practice loses its reconstructionistic status, a good indication would be the pillars of Hellenismos, and all the above. Just worshipping the Theoi is not enough to adopt the label. I used to 'work' only with the Theoi, but as long as I was still drawing circles and calling quarters, I simply had no business calling myself Hellenistic. And I did not. Again, I call for standardization, in the knowledge it will not happen.

There are so many more terms and thoughts to get into, but they mostly serve to differentiate between the many varieties of Pagan out there. A few examples: I believe that within Hellenismos, humans should not be seen as divine, or holding a spark of the divine. We should not consider ourselves priests and priestesses of our religion, we are simple worshippers. Our lives should be dedicated and ruled by the Theoi, because we believe in Their divinity and feel They deserve our worship simply for being what They are. The list goes on.

Not agreeing with this interpretation of Hellenismos is perfectly alright. It was written to convey my firm belief of the religion, but--again--as we lack standardization, there is no 'right' or 'wrong', nor do I feel my way is the only 'right' way. If Hellenismos was standardized tomorrow and changes were made to any of the above, I would adjust my viewpoint(s) to fall in line, for the greater good of the religion. Until that happens, though, I stay with the terminology that makes the most sense to me. I wonder if it does to you as well.

• Friday, November 9, 2012
  community Hellenic Reconstruction Hellenismos 101 Hēraklēs Pagan Blog Project Paganism polytheism Zeus

The catch 22 of Pagan festivals

It's the festival season and I just spent the weekend at Castlefest. Castlefest is not, exactly, a Pagan festival but it was--and probably still is, although they're fading to the background--the festival Pagans flocked to. There is a Pagan corner of the festival terrain, a wicker burning of which the Pagan gang is in charge and many Pagan supplies can be bought there. Incense, clothing, tools, you name it. Even statues of some Pagan Gods. It sounds like Pagan heaven and in a way it is. Yet, I don't feel at home there.

I wrote yesterday that the biggest difference between me and any other Pagan there, seems to be in our views about Deity and how to approach Them. As I said then, any Recon tradition forces you to actually believe in the Gods, not as just handy tools to get your own needs fulfilled. Cara Schulz, in the very post I went off on before, but explained why later, recognizes that very problem:

"I live in a catch-22. I love going to Pagan festivals and gatherings as I love the people there and greatly enjoy the general vibe. I highly recommend them and I have a great time when ever I attend a community event or Pagan festival or Con. Yet when I attend these types of gatherings, that is when I feel the least like part of the Pagan community. I attend the workshops, the rituals, and listen to the conversations and I have almost nothing in common with any of it. I can’t relate. Casting a circle has as much in common with my religion as walking the Stations of the Cross. We have no common connection. The lovely maiden Hekate I worship that grants our family prosperity little resembles the Crone Hekate that many neo-Pagans work with for magic. The very things that should draw me closer to the Pagan community are the very things that tell me I may not belong."

Schulz describes exactly my thoughts on the situation. Walking around a Pagan festival makes me realize how much I have removed myself from the Pagan banner. This change happened long before my actual progression into Hellenismos. It happened when I couldn't get through a ritual without shutting down my mind about the Christian elements, it happened when I tried to strike up meaningful communication with Pagans about their practice and found no link at all, it happened when I felt myself getting annoyed at the casual 'use' of the Gods so prevalent in some Witchcraft Traditions.

Lauren DeVoe, fellow PaganSquare blogger, coincidentally picked a related topic to blog about today. In her post 'Approaching Deity', she talks about the vows we make to Deity and the ease with which some break those vows when they no longer fit comfortably in the (religious) life they had envisioned for themselves. When things get dark and scary and demanding--a clear sign you may have gotten in over your head--it's easy to try and get out. But you can't. Because these are Gods and Goddesses and although you might not have actually believed They existed, They have taken an interest in your life, just like you asked for.

In my life, I have only broken a single vow to a Goddess; I parted ways with blessed Brighid. It took me a year to do so and I cried, felt guilty, and would only accept this break to be happening when Brighid herself gave me some very clear signs. I was released, in love, at a point in my life where we both realized we could not be there for each other anymore. And it hurt. It hurt more than almost anything else has in my life. I can still feel that hollow space where Brighid's presence used to be, but it still feels right to have done what I did and, at the risk of hubris, I feel Brighid still mothers over me from afar.

Sometimes, the general response I feel from the Pagan community when I express my devotion to Deity, is a raised eyebrow and the feeling I'm taking this whole 'deity thing' too seriously. It's exactly that feeling that intensifies when I go to a Pagan festival; I feel like an outsider because I can't relate to the worldview and view on Deity. I don't care about meditations to 'discover the Goddess in you' or a workshop spell pouches making. They are wonderful for a good few other Pagan Traditions and I like watching people enjoy themselves with these activities. Watching them come out of meditation invigorated and strengthened is a glorious sight to behold. But it does nothing for me. It never really has, although I tried really, really hard in the past.

I will still go to Pagan festivals, and next year, I will go to Castlefest again. I'll go for the atmosphere and the friends who I can hang with there. But I won't hunt the shops in the hopes of finding anything Hellenic, I won't hang around the Pagan part of the festival in the hopes of finding anything to relate to. I'll listen to the music I never listen to, I'll hunt for food I like and gawk at the outfits. I'll try not to feel alone. And I'll enjoy it, just like I did this year, when I focus on my friends and leave my Pagan soul at the entrance gates.

• Wednesday, August 8, 2012
  bloggers I admire festivals Paganism polytheism

On epithets and polytheism

I wanted to write about mythology today but then I got caught-up reading Hómēros, got stuck on the idea of epithets and I couldn't get off it again. So I'm saving mythology for tomorrow and today, I'm writing about the many, many epithets of the Gods.

An epithet is an attachment to the name of a God or Goddess, used to indicate either a specific domain of the Deity, a specific origin myth or region from which the Deity came, or an entirely different entity, through either domain or origin. 

An example; Aphrodite is the Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She's either born from Zeus as His daughter or from the sea foam after Kronos castrated His father Ouranos. In the latter case, Aphrodite is the daughter of Ouranos, a Titan and a half-sister to Zeus. some historians claim Aphrodite was actually an imported Goddess (hence the different creation myths) and used to be a Goddess of war. Some of Aphrodite's epithets include:

Aphrodite Paphos - Aphrodite of Paphos

Aphrodite Diôniaia - Daughter of Dione, daughter of Zeus

Aphrodite Anadyomenê - Risen from the sea Aphrodite 

Aphrodite Philommeides - Laughter-loving Aphrodite

Aphrodite Areia - Warlike Aphrodite

Epithets serve(d) either a ritualistic function or a literary on; hymns and chants are used in both aspects of Hellenismos and in both, destinctions are made between the various epithets of the Gods. 

Within ritual, epithets are used out of respect, devotion a out of practicality. It's seen as respectful to address the Gods by their various names. It shows you are aware of the names of the Gods as well as the domains They influence. As for the practical; well, some Gods rule over a variety of domains. Zeus, for example guards travelers in His epithet of Zeus Xenios but is seen as the bringer of storm-clouds in his epithet of Zeus Ombrios. It's rather obvious, but getting rained upon is probably not what you were after when asking Zeus for aid on your journey.

Within poetry, epithets are used out of respect, as clarification and to add some flair to the poetry written. Certain forms of poetry relied on a set amount of syllables or words to work. Inserting and epithet helped fill the lines so they adhered to poetic rules. When reciting poetry, poets also added epithets to fill in a part of the poetry they had forgotten or to give them some time to remember the next line. 

Within polytheism, epithets are of great interest. A short introduction on polytheism for those who are unsure of its meaning; there are two, or three, branches of polytheism; soft polytheism, hard polytheism and somewhere in the middle, is middle polytheism. All believe that Gods exist as actual beings and influence our lives. Soft polytheists believe that Gods with similar portfolios are the same God(dess). An example; Athena, Brighid, Sarasvati, Neith and Minerva rule the virtue of wisdom in their respective pantheons. For soft polytheists, this means they are the same Deity with different faces for each pantheon. Middle polytheists believe that some of these faces belong to the same Deity but definitely not all. Athena and Minerva are the same Goddesses but Brighid, Sarasvati and Neith are so different from each other, as well as from Athena and Minerva, that They can't be the same. Hard polytheists belief that each and every God and Goddess is a separate entity with His or her own powers, lives and story.

Epithets within polytheism pose a challenge; are all epithets different Gods or different faces of the same God(dess)? I belief Aphrodite Diôniaia and Aphrodite Anadyomenê are different Goddesses but the epithet Aphrodite Philommeides could be applied to both and is not a distinct Goddess. I have no set rule for this; it's a matter of feeling. Practically, this destination would mean I would say either this:

"Oh, blessed Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite Diôniaia, Aphrodite Philommeides, I call on you, ruler over pleasure, oh, ever-laughing Goddess, now I struggle with love in my life. Aphrodite Diôniaia, Aphrodite Philommeides, daughter of Zeus the all-wise, if I have offered to you once, hear my plea and grant me aid."

or this:

"Oh, blessed Aphrodite, born from the foam of the sea, Aphrodite Anadyomenê, Aphrodite Philommeides, I call on you, protectress of those who take to the sea, oh, ever-laughing Goddess, now I journey over water to destinations at great distance. Aphrodite Anadyomenê, Aphrodite Philommeides, destined daughter of Ouranos, the primordial father, if I have offered to you once, hear my plea and grant me protection."

but I would never combine the two.

I'm fairly certain this destination is either completely unimportant, mildly important or critically important to other practitioners within Hellenismos; there is no set opinion in the Hellenic community on this as far, as I'm aware. Yet, if you are on this path, it might be something you want to get a clear opinion on.

For me, the use of epithets is important. They teach me a great deal about the Gods I worship and help focus my prayers and rituals. If you have an opinion on epithets, I would love to hear about it in the comments. 

• Sunday, July 22, 2012
  Aphrodite daily practice epithets Hellenismos 101 Hómēros Kronos Ouranos polytheism Zeus