Happy new year, everyone! [+Noumenia video]

With Agathós Daímōn today, the celebration of the new month and the new year comes to a close. It was a very wild ride for me. Hene kai Nea was wonderfully cleansing, and I made it through a 28 hour fast on just water with only a minor headache. I remember the first fast I did very well, and it was far more of a challenge. Apparently, fasting is a skill.

Noumenia was of a whole different order: the entire mood was different; festive, light, exciting. I had a wonderful, wonderful ritual and I even built a temporary outdoor altar to honor the Theoi on! It was so wonderful to give sacrifice like it should be done: outside, on an altar, into a blazing fire. I have been managing in my own way, and it is very nice, but this feels right. It's going to be difficult going back to the old way, but unfortunately, this was a vacation situation which made it possible. Until I move, I will have to give sacrifice in my sacrificial offering bowl, but as soon as we find something new, I'm constructing an altar in the back yard.

These sacred days are all the more special to me because they are my first repeats. As the year has passed, I am celebrating the new year, just like I did when I was first starting out. I have come a long, long, way indeed, and yet--some things have not changed. The excitement, and the sense of completion is still there. I still perform the rituals to the best of my knowledge, and I am sure I will look back on them in a year and shake my head with a bemused smile, wondering how I could not have known some of what I did was plain wrong. It doesn't matter; religion is not a sport. Religion is freedom, excellence. To me, it's like the air I breath: it feels like I would die without it.

As I have said repeatedly on the blog, yesterday's ritual was practiced apart together with a wonderful friend of mine who lives in the United States, so I decided to record my ritual, just to show him some of it. Seeing as I had the material, I figured I would share it with you. My apologies for the sound issues--especially during the sacrifice to Artemis--it was supposed to be sixteen degrees Celsius and suddenly, my camera was out in 26 degree weather, full in the sun. Apparently, it will turn you into a smurf on speed when it overheats.

I had four cameras set up, but ended up using only three as one of the cameras overheated almost instantly. It was the first one I put up, so it had been sitting out in the sun for a while. I managed to cover the angles with the other cameras, though. The quality was decent enough, so I edited a few parts together, taking out a lot of the ritual, but trying to keep a sort of red thread going. I stumbled a few times and because I had to do it in English, I had to read off of the paper (something I never do when practicing alone, because I have the often-used hymns and prayers memorized in Dutch), but it didn’t hamper the experience in any way.

[will add subtitles shortly, see description on YouTube for text]

 

I hope you have all had a wonderful turn of the year and of the Olympiad. I'm really looking forward to another year of learning, sharing, and meeting wonderful people. May the Theoi watch over you and your oikos kindly in the coming year, and may They never forsake you. Gods bless!

• Thursday, July 11, 2013
  Agathós Daímōn Hekate's Deipnon Hellenismos 101 household worship Noumenia personal public ritual sacrifice video tutorials videos

Noumenia ritual for the new year

As mentioned a few days ago, I am going to hold a Practicing Apart Together ritual for the Noumenia today, which will at least be joined by one of my dear friends in the United States. I figured some of the readers of this blog might also appreciate reading how I perform this rite, and join in if they so desire. This is the ritual we will be doing at 3:30 PM my time (CEST). Note, that I will have laid everything out and lit the fire--I will be constructing a temporary outside altar for the occasion--beforehand.

• Procession to the shrine
• Strewing of barley groats on the altar
• Preparation of khernips
• Ritual washing with invocation to Okeanos

"Okeanos whose nature ever flows, from whom at first both Gods and men arose; sire incorruptible, whose waves surround, and earth’s all-terminating circle bound: hence every river, hence the spreading sea, and earth’s pure bubbling fountains spring from thee. Hear, mighty sire, for boundless bliss is thine, greatest cathartic of the powers divine : earth’s friendly limit, fountain of the pole, whose waves wide spreading and circumfluent roll. Approach benevolent, with placid mind, and be forever to thy mystics kind."

• Purification – water sprinkled from a bay branch

"Blessed Okeanos, may your bright waters purify this space, and prepare both me, and it, for the rites that are about to unfold."

• Homeric Hymn 24 to Hestia

"Blessed Goddess Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollon, the Far-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise—draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song."

• Libation of honey sweet wine to Hestia
• Sacrifice of Frankincense and honey
• Invocation to Apollon Noumenios
• Homeric Hymns 21 to Apollon

Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched lyre, always sings both first and last. And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favor with my song.

• Offering of honey cake and libation of wine to Apollon Noumenios
• Invocation of Selene, Titan Goddess of the moon
• Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene

And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.

Once the Son of Cronos was joined with her in love; and she conceived and bare a daughter Pandia, exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods. Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glories of men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Muses, celebrate with lovely lips.

• Libation and offering of honey to Selene
• Invocation to Zeus Ktesios, Zeus Herkios, Zeus Teleios, and Zeus Soter
• Homeric Hymn 23 + part of Callimachus hymn 1

"Of Zeus, best and greatest of the gods, I will sing, the wide-sounding ruler, the one that brings to fulfillment, who consults closely with Themis as she sits leaning against him. Be favorable, wide-sounding son of Kronos, greatest and most glorious."

"Hail! Greatly hail! Most high Son of Kronus, giver of good things, giver of safety. Thy works who could sing? There hath not been, there shall not be, who shall sing the works of Zeus. Hail! Father, hail again! And grant us goodness and prosperity. Without goodness wealth cannot bless men, nor goodness without prosperity. Give us goodness and wealth."

• Libation of honey sweet wine and sacrifice of Storax
• Prayer to Agathós Daímōn
• Magic Papyri - Poimandres

"May I have every grace, all accomplishment, for with Thee is the bringer of good, the messenger standing by the side of Tyche."

• Libation of wine to Agathós Daímōn
• Invocation to Hera Teleia
• Homeric Hymn 12 to Hera

"Of Hera I sing, the golden-throned, whom Rhea bore to be queen of the immortals, of supreme beauty, sister and wife of Zeus the loud-booming; glorious one, whom all of the blessed ones on long Olympus revere and honor no less than Zeus whose sport is the thunderbolt."

• Offering of wine and honey to Hera Teleia
• Invocation to Hermes
• Homeric Hymn 18 to Hermes

"I sing of Cyllenian Hermes, the Slayer of Argus, lord of Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing messenger of the deathless gods.  He was born of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, when she had mated with Zeus, – a shy goddess she.  Ever she avoided the throng of the blessed gods and lived in a shadowy cave, and there the Son of Cronos used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph at dead of night, while white-armed Hera lay bound in sweet sleep: and neither deathless god nor mortal man knew it.And so hail to you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have begun: now I will turn to another song! Hail, Hermes, giver of grace, guide, and giver of good things!"

• Libation of wine and offering of honey to Hermes
• Invocation to Artemis
• Part of Homeric Hymn 27 to Artemis

"I sing of Artemis with shafts are of gold, strong-voiced, the revered virgin, dear-shooting, delighter in arrows, own sister to Apollon of the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out grievous shafts. Hail to you, children of Zeus and rich-haired Leto! And now I will remember you and another song also."

• Libation of wine and offering of honey to Artemis
• Invocation to Athena Soteira
• Homeric Hymn 11 to Athena

"Of Pallas Athena, guardian of the city, I begin to sing. Dread is she, and with Ares she loves the deeds of war, the sack of cities and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go to war and come back. Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune and happiness!"

• Libation of wine and offering of honey to Athena Soteira
• Invocation of all the Gods
• Aeschylus – Libation Bearers – Chorus (adapted)

"Then may blessings go with you, and may the gods watch benevolently over you and guard you with favorable fortunes!"

• Libation of wine and honey to all the Gods with prayers
• Invocation to Hestia

"Blessed Goddess Hestia, Goddess of home and hearth. To you, I offer last of all, as a pious mortal should. Tend to those whom I love, and guard the houses of the pious. As the Gods will it, so shall it be."

• Extinguishing of the fire (if so desired)

• Wednesday, July 10, 2013
  Agathós Daímōn Apollon Artemis Athena Athena Soteira Hellenismos 101 Hera Hera Teleia Hermes Hestia hymns Noumenia Okeanos public ritual sacrifice Selene Zeus Zeus Kthesios Zeus Soter Zeus Teleios

Why I won't post a video of my personal practice

Every now and again, I get asked to share what, exactly, I do in my daily devotionals. I always, respectfully, decline, but I would like to take the time to share why I say no. The short answer is that I'm simply not comfortable sharing my personal--private--practice. I will gladly share an overview with you, either in writing or in video, but I won't put a camera on my time spend with the Theoi.

The biggest reason is that I'm simply not willing to put The Truth™ out there. I'm fine with giving a general indication of procedure, as taken from the various resources that are out there, but my personal practice is not the One True Way™. It's my way, influenced by the time I have, the place I live, the level of privacy I have (or don't have) and a mountain of other factors that have led me to this point. How you practice will be influenced by all those factors as well. We can both take the general way to prepare khernips and offer libations, but we will always do certain things differently. I encourage that, and feel that in putting my practice out there, I'm limiting you in finding yours.

Here, I must share that I'm not against someone video taping or photographing my rituals. I've performed public rituals where pictures were taken, and I've even held ritual for the sole purpose of getting pictures taken. In the latter case, a student from Belgium contacted a friend of mine with the request to photograph a witch's rite for an assignment. After a few e-mails with the student--who seemed genuinely interested and respectful--my friend contacted me and two others to do a ritual together that the student could photograph. We all agreed. One of the women got sick, but the other three showed up. While we drove to the location, I listed some clear instructions:

• We do our rite, and you get to take any shot you want, as long as you don't step into the circle
• After the rite, we will pose for you, if so desired, but during the rite, you need to be quiet
• No do-overs

The student agreed and as soon as the circle was drawn--this was in my Eclectic time, obviously--we forgot all about her. That was the key; we performed a beautiful and powerful ritual for the God and Goddess, and someone was there who took photographs from a distance. The focus was on the God and Goddess, not the camera. It's the same for the public rituals I've led; those who came weren't students, they were people who mostly came for the potluck lunch and the chance to talk to other Pagans. Most of them weren't even some flavor of Neo-Wiccan/Eclectic. There was no danger of spreading The Truth™.

I don't feel a camera takes anything away from the ritual at all; it's not some 'the energy will be sucked from the rite'-thing, but if I worry more about my posture and explaining what the heck I'm doing than about properly petitioning and thanking the Theoi, something is most certainly taken away from the rite.

I care about intention; if you're just going through the motions, it doesn't count in my book. That's why the ritualistic things I do in front of the camera do not count. As such, I can't show you more of my practice, because when I engage with the Theoi, I engage. I can't worry about a camera then, and I will if the sole purpose is to post it online. Going through the motions while involving the Theoi goes against my principles... and so I won't. 

That having been said, if I ever host a public, Hellenistic, ritual, I'll make sure someone tapes it for everyone to see. I'll be back with a video tutorial soon. I got sick and most certainly did not feel up to it. With life slowing down and my health returning, I'm good to go again. If you have any requests other than my step-by-step personal practice, I would love to hear it.

• Wednesday, January 16, 2013
  blogging personal public ritual

Competence vs. sincerity

A couple of days ago, Phaedra Bonewits, wife of the late Isaac Bonewits, tweeted a quote by her late husband:

"Sincerity does not equal competence."

The simple quote was picked up by Alison Leigh Lily and soon the entire pagan blogosphere offered their two cents on a single question; would you rather have clergy that is sincere or competent?

This is a difficult issue. The sad thing is, that you usually get one or the other. Very rarely does a priest or priestess inhabit both qualities in an equally high amount. As I am talking about this, I feel the need to offer my own definitions of the terms, in regards to this issue, just to avoid confusion.

Sincerity is the desire to perform a rite or ritual to the best of the priest or priestess' ability.
Competence is the actual ability to hold ritual and takes into account knowledge, experience and ability.

Sincerity is a heart thing, competence a thing of the mind.

For those who know me, or those who read this blog regularly, you probably know I value the heart over the mind, although I think education is incredibly important. But--and there always is a but--that is only in a Neo-Wiccan or Eclectic setting. If I'm going to a Neo-Wiccan or Eclectic ritual, I prefer to have a priest and/or priestess who is/are sincere instead of competent (if I must choose between the two). If someone is emotionally involved with the ritual, it's always a joy to watch them set up the ritual and I will forgive the things I would do differently, even if that means sitting through things like the (incorrect) invoking of Watchtowers and the mutilation of the names of the Gods and Goddesses.

If I'm going to a Hellenistic (or any other Recon) ritual, I will not be forgiving of the little things. For these types of rituals, I much, much prefer someone competent, even if he or she is just going through the motions. This is because Recon Traditions are Recon; they a) reconstruct an ancient ritual and b) perform this ritual in honor of the Gods; for Their pleasure, not ours. You can be as sincere as you like but unlike in Neo-Wicca or Eclecticism; you can get things wrong in Reconstruction Traditions. If you're doing things wrong in Recon ritual, you should not be hosting public ritual. Period.

Honestly, we need both in Paganism; sincerity as well as competence. We need competent people to build up organizations, to organize our financial situation, to perform rituals for large groups--especially for non-Pagans--and to educate the sincere. We also need sincere people; we need their energy, their passion for the Craft. We need them to poke the bear and get things done, get tongues wagging. We need them to bring in to lightness the competent folks sometimes seem to be without.

In the end, we need to foster both qualities in our community and members. Sincerity is definitely not the same as competence, but both have their pro's and con's. Both are valuable. The lesson here is to not lose your sincerity but to foster your competence. If you want to add to the Pagan community, that is probably the best way to go.

• Tuesday, July 10, 2012
  community Hellenic Reconstruction Paganism public ritual

I'm a little nervous

Tomorrow is the Litha celebration and I admit to being a little nervous. It's funny because until this morning, I wasn't nervous in the slightest. I've been too busy to be nervous. Besides the day-to-day stuff, there were the festival days, university stuff and days where I simply had to sit around in my PJ's so my head wouldn't explode.

Today I bought the last of the supplies we need tomorrow and I've been reading through the ritual. I have a couple of 'features' I need to pull off with verve for it to work and I haven't had a lot of time to prepare them. Today I got to do a walkthrough in my head and while I have it set in my head now, it has also made me more nervous.

I've been wondering where the nerves come from; if I'm insecure about my ability to lead the ritual or the fact that I'll be leading it in front of at least thirty people. I think it's the latter. I've done Neo-Wiccan ritual for years, although only one for a small group. I know what I'm doing. I can invite the elements, direct the cone of power. I have a good working knowledge of the Gods and am not afraid of public speaking. I have faith. I am a priestess.

And yet, I'm also just me.

Tomorrow, I will get up early, shower, dress in my ritual wear and haul the last of the bags to the car. I'll eat a light breakfast and meditate a little to settle my head. I'll get on the road at 9 am to drop off my girlfriend, get gas, and then I'll drive the hour it takes to get to the ritual site with the radio on blast setting. My friend and High Priestess will be waiting for me, as well as two of her first degree initiates who helped us set out the ritual. We'll set up the ritual site with flowers, lights and an altar. By then, the nerves will be gone and I'll happily slip into my priestess persona.

By the time the guests arrive, I will be ready to practice ritual; something I love dearly. Until then, I'll most likely be a bit of a nervous wreck, and you know what? That's alright. We're responsible for a good time for a lot of people, a lot of them first timers. There is a spectacular chance of rain. I have to start a fire--something I'm terrible at--and all kinds of unforseen issues can come up. Being nervous means I care. Being nervous means I understand the responsibility placed on my shoulders. Being nervous means I want things to go well, for the guests, for my fellow priestesses, for myself and the Gods.

I may be nervous, but I'm also greatly looking forward to it.

• Saturday, June 23, 2012
  Midsummer nerves public ritual