Things I wish I'd known when I started out in Hellenismos

When I first started out, I dove in head first. For me, that works: I take everything I know I should be doing and do it to the best of my abilities and knowledge. Along the way, my practice got refined, and slowly, I start taking out some things that were not Recon enough and added others in their place. I don't like starting slow. That said, in a way, I have done that: I keep adding Gods to my daily prayers as I learn more about Their influence on my life and household worship in general, and I slowly reach out more and more to the community that is available to me on-line. That said, there are a few things that I wish someone had told me when I started out, and that I would like to tell you today.

• Practicing Hellenismos as a lifestyle is easy. There are few new ideas to wrap your head around--the most important being arête, kharis, and xenia--and then you can basically live a Hellenistic life.
• The ancient Hellenes used things in their household worship that were available to them. When you start out, you don't have to invest big money: take two bowls from your kitchen, one for pouring, one for pouring into. Buy wine if you can, use water for libations if you must. Burn what is in your spice rack for incense. Money should never be a reason to delay your active practice.
• Focus on your household worship. This is the cornerstone of our faith. Routinely sacrifice to the Theoi, say a few words to Hermes as you leave the house, provide all your shrines with regular offerings. Practice the Hene kai Nea, Noumenia and Agathós Daímōn. Find a routine, and stick to it.
• The festivals are great, but it took me a while to realize that most of us are not part of a large enough community to reconstruct the festivals. We can, however, celebrate household versions of it by pouring libations to the Theoi honored during them. Join the Elaion Pat rituals if you want to feel more connected to the community.
• You don't have to be a scholar to practice Hellenismos: others in the community will be scholars for you, and most of them will be wiling to share. Frequent blogs, join groups, ask any question that comes into your head. Many of us, myself included, are willing to help you if you ask nicely.
• Philosophy is an important part of Hellenismos, but if it doesn't appeal to you, leave it be for the time being. Get back to it when you are ready.
• Mythology is an important part of Hellenismos, but if it doesn't appeal to you, leave it be for the time being. Get back to it when you are ready.
• There is no 'wrong' or 'right' way to practice Hellenic Polytheism, only people who think there is.
• There are, however, guidelines to practicing Traditional, or Reconstructive, Hellenismos. Anything with watchtowers, athames, or other Neo-Pagan influences is not part of Traditional Hellenismos. If you don't follow the basic ritual structure, your practice might not apply either. that said:
• There is nothing wrong with a non-Traditional practice. Period. And let no one tell you otherwise.
• 'Community' is not just religious. Get involved in your city. Do volunteer work. Pick up litter. Keep your city and the people in it in your prayers.
• Never forget your immediate family in your prayers. The people who are actually part of your oikos should be on the top of your prayer list.
• Pray for your friends and family. It's a big no-no in the Neo-Pagan world, but your friends and family are part of your extended oikos, and you can extend your kharis with the Gods to them.
• No matter how passionately you feel about your viewpoints, be a good person. Practice arête in your religious community. Don't be a jerk.

• Tuesday, May 15, 2018
  Hellenismos 101 household worship

Drought confirmed as cause of the end of the Mycenean era, research shows

The Bronze Age civilization of the Mycenaeans collapsed due to an extended drought in the western Peloponnese, according to a study conducted by researchers Martin Finne and Karin Holmgren of the Navarino Environmental Observatory in collaboration with archaeologist Shari Stocker. The researchers drew their conclusions after examining a stalactite from a cave on the uninhabited the islet of Schiza off the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese which yielded precise information on the weather conditions that prevailed in the region from around 1200 to 1180 BC.

These researches are not the first to come to this conclusion. Back in 2013, a study of fossilized pollen particles taken from sediments at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee brought researchers to the same conclusion. By studying pollen samples taken at 40-year intervals, the scientists were able to monitor changes in the vegetation. Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, who was one of the lead scientists in this earlier study notes:

"In a short period of time, the entire world of the Bronze Age crumbled. The Hittite Empire, Egypt of the pharaohs, the Mycenaean culture in Greece, the copper-producing kingdom located on the island of Cyprus, the great trade emporium of Ugarit on the Syrian coast, and the Canaanite city—states under Egyptian hegemony—all disappeared and only after a while were replaced by the territorial kingdoms of the Iron Age, including Israel and Judah."

Wars, pestilence, and sudden natural disasters have all been postulated as possible causes, but thanks to sophisticated pollen-sampling techniques and advances in radiocarbon dating, Finkelstein and his colleagues believe they know the primary culprit: drought, or rather a succession of severe droughts over a 150-year period from 1250 BCE to about 1100 BCE. These fairly precise dates come from core samples drilled into the sediments at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee. The drill cores extended 18 meters into the seabed and cut across a range of sediments deposited over the past 9,000 years. Dafna Langgut, a University of Tel Aviv palynologist (one who studies ancient pollens) states:

"We focused our study on the time interval between 3200 BCE and 500 BCE. Pollen grains are the 'fingerprints' of plants. They are extremely helpful in the reconstruction of ancient natural vegetation and past climate conditions."

The scientists noticed a sharp decline around 1250 BCE in oaks, pines, and carob trees—the traditional flora of the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age—and an increase in the types of  plants usually found in semiarid desert regions. There was also a big drop in the number of olive trees, an indication that horticulture was on the wane. All are signs, say the researchers, that the region was in the grip of regular and sustained droughts. The most crucial years of the collapse were probably between 1185 and 1130 BCE, says Finkelstein, but the entire process extended over a longer period of time. Finkelstein:

"I think that climate change can be seen as a sort of a 'prime mover' that initiated other processes. For example, groups of people in the northern regions were uprooted from their homes because of destruction of the agricultural output, and [they] started moving in search of food. They could have pushed other groups to move by land and sea. And this in turn caused destructions and disruption of the delicate trade system of the eastern Mediterranean."

The dates the researchers came up with via pollen analysis correspond nicely to the few remaining historical records of the period, which mention shortages of grain, disruption of trade routes, civil unrest, and pillaging of cities as people began to fight over diminishing resources. The Late Bronze Age was also a period when marauding bands known as the Sea Peoples raided coastal areas in the eastern Mediterranean.

The tumultuous period ended only when rains returned and uprooted groups began to settle down again.

• Monday, May 14, 2018
  archeology current affairs Mycenae Mycenaean

What Turkey is doing to protect its historical relics from treasure hunters

I'm very short on time today, but I have found other people to talk for me, thankfully! More tomorrow!

"Motivated by potentially huge financial windfalls in the underground market, amateur treasure hunters are illegally digging ancient sites with little regard to Turkey's historical claims. As Aadel Haleem explains, this is much to the disappointment of archaeologists who are trying to piece together Turkey's rich history."

• Sunday, May 13, 2018
  archeology current affairs Turkey

Megan Fox’s new TV show draws archaeologists' ire

I came across an interesting opinion piece yesterday, about Meghan Fox's upcoming show. Travel Channel is, apparently, funding a show which she presents, produces, and co-creates. "Mysteries and Myths" will research some of the most tantalizing myths from human history. The press release for the show reads:

“Now she is embarking on an epic and personal journey across the globe, where archaeologists and experts will re-examine history, asking tough questions and challenging the conventional wisdom that has existed for centuries. The series will delve into some of the greatest mysteries of time, including whether Amazon women really existed or if the Trojan War was real.”

They’re fascinating subjects, buried by centuries of myth and storytelling. They’re also the focus of real research. Flinders University archaeologist Dr. Alice Gorman is not amused by the pitch.

"The irony is that these sorts of shows are peddling exactly the ‘conventional wisdom that has existed for centuries’ — and archaeologists and historians are the ones challenging it!” 

But it’s a challenge not unique to archaeologists. ANU Research School of Psychology’s Dr Eryn Newman points out scientists the world over are worried about similar attacks on expertise:

"Things that are very well understood are being upset by people who may not have all the background knowledge, or an agenda or spin, they want to get across."

As the op-ed states, Fox argues that a lack of qualification is an advantage. And a lifetime of experience and accumulated knowledge merely a burden: 

"I haven’t spent my entire life building a career in academia so I don’t have to worry about my reputation or being rebuked by my colleagues, which allows me to push back on the status quo. So much of our history needs to be re-examined. History only gives us a one-sided view of the truth. That’s something I know from personal experience. My own history has been rewritten by other people who had a vested interest in changing the narrative.”

Ancient America’s archaeologist and anti-pseudoarchaeology campaigner Dr. David Anderson says:

"Fox is clearly engaging in an anti-academic or anti-authority stance in that her lack of training, lack of the bonds of the academy, is what makes her qualified for this position. There are plenty of people with whom that argument will resonate. We should never be so closed minded as to think that experts are infallible, but if we don’t even give the barest spread of trust to experts, we are literally doomed as a society."

Academics have been attempting to put Fox's words into context: Would you want an unqualified airline pilot? An unlicensed driver as your chauffeur? A dentist as a brain surgeon? Doing this leads to a spread of disinformation — especially where it concerns Fox's claim that academia isn't doing everything it can to reevaluate assumptions.

Dr. Anderson gives an example: For decades it was believed the Maya had a ballgame reserved for the elite as a form of political theatre, where they could prove their prowess to the masses. But a project Dr. Anderson was working with found 20 new ball courts at sites including the smallest of villages. Clearly, the mock-combat game had a much broader community role. “New data, new interpretation — it happens all the time,” he says.

Dr. Newmann agrees.

"We know from cognitive psychology research that people often take familiarity as a queue for truth. They’re more likely to believe a message that sounds familiar just because the message has been repeated over and over. But familiarity has no bearing on the truth."

Megan Fox isn’t the first famous face to embrace pseudo archaeology. In the 70s, it was Leonard Nimoy — of Star Trek Spock fame with his show "In Search Of." More recently, it’s been Robert Clotworthy’s "Ancient Aliens."

Dr. Gorman doesn't oppose these shows on principle; they have great uses.

"I was obsessed with Chariots of the Gods as a teenager. It probably was part of the impetus that led me to archaeology to begin with. The mysteries of the past — especially if aliens are involved — make the world seem so much more exciting than mundane everyday life. It’s enticing to think that you can understand this by yourself, that the secrets of the world can be coaxed out if you can just make the right connections. Later, you realize that the real thrill is in the science."

The devil is, as always, in the details. Dr. Anderson explains:

"Fox and those of her ilk think that archaeologists are narrow-minded because they will take one object out of its context and offer interpretations that make no sense if we simply return that object to its context. Ultimately, the substance of these shows comes down to the quality of the experts they interview, and how much attention producers pay to them."

ANU Research School of Psychology’s Dr Eryn Newman says that when it comes to communicating science, style can triumph over substance.

“When people are assessing the credibility of information, most of the time people are making a judgment based on how something feels. Our results showed that when (something as simple as) the sound quality was poor, the participants thought the researcher wasn’t as intelligent, they didn’t like them as much and found their research less important. To combat the ever-increasing popularity of fake news, alternate facts and pseudoscience, researchers must consider the delivery — and not just the content — of their message. Our results show that it’s not just about who you are and what you are saying, it’s about how your work is presented."

There is much more in the piece, and I'd like to direct you to it. How does this sound to you? Will you tune in for "Mysteries and Myths?" Why yes? Why no?

• Saturday, May 12, 2018
  archeology current affairs

May the books pardon me.

Marcus Tullius Cicero (3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman politician and lawyer, who served as consul in the year 63 BC. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history, especially the last days of the Roman Republic. I don't usually feature Roman words on my blog, but I have a desperate need to spend some time reading today--so I will. May they forgive me for my absence!

“Know that since I got back to the city, I have renewed my relationships with my old friends—by which I mean my books. It is not as if I avoided their presence because I was judging them, but because they filled me with shame. For I believe that since I submitted myself to events with the most turbulent and faithless companions, I had insufficiently obeyed my books’ commands.

But they have pardoned me. They welcome me back into that ancient communion and they tell me that you were wiser than I was because you persisted in this practice. But this is how I have achieved an understanding with them and why I think I am right to hope that should I see you again it will be easy for me to manage whatever is happening and whatever threatens in the future.”

[Letters to Friends 175 to Varro] 

Source.

• Friday, May 11, 2018
  Cicero personal Roman

Repost: Hellenismos 101 books

When I started out, I had no idea there even were Hellenismos 101 books and went straight to academic texts. It proved a steep learning curve, but I did rather enjoy the sudden submersion. In general, that is the way in which I take on any new subject: go straight to the hard stuff and let myself be overwhelmed until things click in my head.

Once I finally discovered there were 101 books, I was beyond them and found most of them to be biased towards personal preference and low on general information on ancient Hellas to explain why our modern practices are as they are. Because I had my own personal preference by then, going through modern texts about Hellenismos became grating really quickly. I only read Timothy Jay Alexander's 'A Beginner's Guide to Hellenismos' fully. I have some others but I only leafed through those.

It is my firm belief that when you start out, you should invest in neutral sources. Hellenismos is not standardized. There are huge differences in belief and practice between practitioners from various countries and even between various groups. Learn about ancient Hellas and the ancient practices, then get in touch with the community--perhaps through 101 books--and merge the two. I gave out my source book list a while back, and it's not odd my favourite '101' books are on there as well. Personally, I would say invest in three books (in this order) when you think this might be the religion for you:

Kindt, Julia - Rethinking Greek Religion

Who marched in religious processions and why? How were blood sacrifice and communal feasting related to identities in the ancient Greek city? With questions such as these, current scholarship aims to demonstrate the ways in which religion maps on to the socio-political structures of the Greek polis ('polis religion'). In this book Dr Kindt explores a more comprehensive conception of ancient Greek religion beyond this traditional paradigm. Comparative in method and outlook, the book invites its readers to embark on an interdisciplinary journey touching upon such diverse topics as religious belief, personal religion, magic and theology. Specific examples include the transformation of tyrant property into ritual objects, the cultural practice of setting up dedications at Olympia, and a man attempting to make love to Praxiteles' famous statue of Aphrodite. The book will be valuable for all students and scholars seeking to understand the complex phenomenon of ancient Greek religion.

Mikalson, Jon D. - Ancient Greek Religion

Ancient Greek Religion provides an introduction to the fundamental beliefs, practices, and major deities of Greek religion. It focuses on Athens in the classical period, includes detailed discussion of Greek gods and heroes, myth and cult, and vivid descriptions of Greek religion as it was practiced, ancient texts are presented in boxes to promote thought and discussion, and abundant illustrations help readers visualize the rich and varied religious life of ancient Greece. The revised edition includes additional boxed texts and bibliography, an 8-page color plate section, a new discussion of the nature of Greek “piety,” and a new chapter on Greek Religion and Greek Culture.

Burkert, Walter - Greek Religion

In this book Walter Burkert, the most eminent living historian of ancient Greek religion, has produced the standard work for our time on that subject. First published in German in 1977, it has now been translated into English with the assistance of the author himself. A clearly structured and readable survey for students and scholars, it will be welcomed as the best modern account of any polytheistic religious system.

Kindt's work is easily accessible and is a venerable fount of practical information. 'Rethinking Greek Religion' will help you form a realistic image of ancient religious practices and give you the understanding you need to get through any further scholastic reading. It doesn't tell you much about modern Hellenism, but once you have read this book, you should be able to understand why certain modern practices exist. Mikalson's text is more linear and condensed. It attempts to explain the whole of ancient Hellas in one breath. You could switch between reading either Kindt's or Mikalson's work first, but I have found that it's much easier to nuance Mikalson's words if you have read Kindt's work first.

Burkert is a phenomenon and 'Greek Religion' is quite a step up from the previous two works in complexity and academic speech. Still, in his attempt to make an exhaustive whole out of the ancient Hellenic religion, Burkert provides a framework to base a practice off of like no other has managed to do before or since. It's a hard read, but so worth it.

All in all, this collection will set you back about $100,-. That's a fair investment, but well worth it, I promise you. 

• Thursday, May 10, 2018
  Hellenic Reconstruction Hellenismos 101 personal requested post

The Letters of Pliny The Younger, read to you

Pliny the Younger was born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo. He lived from 61 to 113 AD. Pliny was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him. Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survive and are of great historical value. Even though it's a Roman piece of writing, Pliny's words are of great importance to us Hellenists as well. Since they are quite the read, it's quite an investment to. Luckily, there is always someone willing to put over twelve hours (!) of letters online. Enjoy!

• Wednesday, May 9, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture Pliny the Younger videos