Felt Like He Would Do Something Like This Maybe....

Last post before I clock out for the night 🫶🏾

you and me and the devil makes three

Hymn to Kirke, I

I sing now of the far-seeing Kirke, glamored daughter of the Sun, magic weaver of Aeaea

Born from the line of Okeanos whose waters nourish all the world, vast is her influence, reaching far from her enchanted isle.

I speak of a witch with braided hair, of a nymph-born Titan feared by wayward heros. Glorious and shining is she, the hawk-eyed Pharmakis.

She burns with passion, casts spells with every breath. She does as enchantresses are wont to do and spins a new world upon her golden loom

Come, great Goddess! Speak to me with your mortal-mouth. Whisper to me the prophecies I seek, blessed as you are with your father’s true sight.

Favor me, golden Witch! I should be honored to learn from your charms, to understand but a fraction of your wit, so I may hone my craft and forge my path.

Hail, Kirke, lady of Aeaea! Hail to the sorceress beyond the sea! I shall remember you and sing of your songs again.

fiddauthor request 🥰😚💕💞 what a buncha nerds ! ! !

DEITY WORK AND WORSHIP ARE NOT THE SAME

if deity work isn't the same as worship, what does the term actually mean?

according to some helpols, it means a worshipper who wants to feel special. someone who thinks the term 'worship' is degrading and hence chooses to use wording that suggests equality. it's a hubristic, elitist term that aims at placing the worshipper at the same level as the deity, which is deeply inappropriate.

i completely disagree.

now yes, of course there's people who choose to say they 'work' with a god because they view worship as beneath them. i of course also acknowledge that 'deity work' isn't an ancient concept; this is written from the perspective of a revivalist. but i do believe it is a thing, the term is just widely misused.

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THIS IS MY PERSONAL DEFINITION OF IT

deity work can be defined as working towards the betterment of yourself with the help of a deity. this is obviously not reserved to the greek pantheon, but being that i'm a helpol, those are the gods i'm gonna be talking about.

can you do it as a beginner? with a greek deity, no. kharis is still an essential !!! they don't have to care for your personal growth as an individual if they barely know you (regardless of how great and fancy your offerings might be).

do the gods have to accept you? yes. now now, i agree that gods don't reject worshippers, but i see deity work as a mutual agreement. so yes, the god in question does have to accept you. and yes, they may reject you. whether because you haven't been very successful in establishing the bond or because they simply think you're not ready/you should be working on yourself in a different way. don't push it.

does it have to involve an oath? no. i view it as a higher commitment, but it doesn't mean it has to last a lifetime.

if i'm partaking in deity work, does that make me a devotee? no. not inherently. i'd still put people who do it in the 'worshipper' category for the most part. (i'll make a post on the difference between worshipper and devotee in the future)

when do you cross the line between being a worshipper and doing deity 'work'? when you choose to. it's a conscious decision and not at all an inherent “next step”. you don't have to partake in deity work (if you believe it to be a thing) at all, ever. that's your choice to make.

do you have to do divination? nah. asking for a sign that they've accepted you is enough.

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SO WHAT DOES DEITY WORK INVOLVE, EXACTLY? again, this being stated purely as a matter of opinion:

active worship (obviously). as somebody who's on and off the practice constantly due to mental issues that drain me, if i were to do deity work, that, for me, would mean praying/offering almost every other day. probably reading a whole lot more as well. in other words, kinda 'stepping up' whatever you were doing already, in thanks for a god helping you in this way. you're asking for a big thing!

active incorporation of religious values in your life. you may argue that every helpol should be doing this already, and i hear you, and i mostly agree; however, as long as you're not going *against* values like xenia or kharis, you're okay as a worshipper. here i'm talking of making an active conscious effort to be an example of said values.

open permission for the god to more heavily influence your life. if they consider you have to be put through tough shit in order to grow into your best self, they will put you through tough shit. this isn't to say that a deity will choose to hurt you, let alone that you should blame everything bad that happens to you while you're doing deity work on the god; mundane before spiritual, you guys. but a lot of people describe deity work as having been incredibly taxing but worth it (similar to what others say about starting a fitness journey or going to therapy), and yeah, that's basically what it is. it may suck, but it's for your own good.

heavy work on yourself, whatever that means for you personally. do you have emotional baggage? could you be a better friend? do you want to better yourself academically? you feel like you're too much of a couch potato and would like to stop? imo, it's important to know exactly what you're aiming at. “i want to be better” doesn't really cut it. what do you want to work on?

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HOW DO I START DEITY WORK, THEN?

for the 2749292th time i'm clarifying that this is what i, me, sage would do; this ain't a rulebook, just a guide made by a rando.

i would prepare a fancy offering (a craft that took me a long while, a full meal, new items, an altar reset with oils and the nicest incenses i've got) and call upon whatever god in prayer. i would explain what i want to do and why, how i think it would benefit me and what i'm willing to do in return. probably praise the god a whole lot too; sure, this is about me, but also about them. one doesn't choose their god(s) based on what they can provide, but out of genuine connection and feelings of devotion. i'd talk about my goals and what i expect to grow into, and ask for a sign that they agree to help me with those goals.

if they accept you: hooray! brace yourself lol, this is gonna be a bit of a ride.

if you don't see any signs that they do: it's okay. and it's reasonable to be disappointed. give it a little more time; the sign may come even if not immediately. if something you have to work on is your patience, perhaps this is the very god testing you.

there's many reasons why a deity may choose to refuse you. trust their judgement, and trust that you didn't do anything wrong. you're not lesser, they don't hate you. you can still work on yourself by yourself, y'know. and if you do so as a devotional act, little snippets of their help may start to show up:)

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that's all for now! i love y'all x

🥰

Hello there! I am a person who was raised in a Jewish culture/religion and for quite some time I have been feeling a pull towards Hellenic Polytheism, I have been researching about the religion too, I have started worshipping Apollo, etc.

For a very long time I have wondered, do Hellenic people pray in different times of day? Do you pray before eating? In Judaism, we pray every morning, pray before we eat at Shabbat, etc. Do those customs exist in Hellenic Polythiesm? Are prayers a must?

If so, how are prayers/hymns constructed? Can a simple practitioner like me create my own prayer?

I apologize for so many questions, this religion is so interesting, I have never felt so pulled into something like this in my entire life.

Hi there! No worries! I'm happy to answer your questions. 😊

Just to preface, I will reference more traditional ways of worship and pretty much talk about how the ancients did it, as I personally rely on historical accuracy in my practice to a certain degree. You don't need to strictly do everything the traditional way, though! It might be a little difficult when getting started, so don't be too hard on yourself if you don't get some things or can't do some things!

How to pray

Perhaps you already know it, so I'll keep it short:

Ouranic [Heavelny] Gods - stand with hands outstretched in the air and palms facing upward

Chthonic [Underworld] Gods - hands mustn’t be raised, and the prayer should be murmured

Einalic [Sea] Gods, Nymphs and spirits of the earth - arms must be spread wide towards the sea; the hands are also be facing the cult image

If you happen to be in need of holding something, e.g. a text/prayer written down, keep it in your left hand and (if needed) outstretch your right hand. Kneeling wasn't very common, but clutching the knees of statues or touching its base might've happened at times.

There's also this somewhat mysterious thing called Proskynesis. I'm in the process of doing more research about it and I'll be writing a longer post about it. Essentially, it's like "blowing a kiss" to the god/gods". There were some accounts of people doing it for the Sun [Helios], e.g. in the morning or when approaching a statue in a temple, however, I'm not sure how common it actually was. It might've become more popular in the late classical period or Hellenistic period due to Alexander's The Great desire to popularise ruler worship but that's a talk for another time. I personally sometimes do it, e.g. perform proskynesis towards the sky/clouds for Zeus. It's not a requirement, though.

When to pray

When it comes to prayer, one would pray in the morning or even give an offering to the gods, e.g. pouring libation. One would also pray in the afternoon or any time prior to supper which was the most important and the biggest meal and in the evening at any time following the supper and before sleeping. Evening prayer might've been considered quite important (obviously, not everyone did all of that every single day; it was considered quite pious).

It was also customary to pray before meals and offer the first (and sometimes the last) bite of the food to Hestia, whether by burning it or placing it at the domestic altar. However, nowadays I've seen that some people simply dedicate the first and the last bite to Hestia by stating it's for her if they can't physically offer it.

Although prayer might seem quite important in Hellenic Polytheism, IMO it's not a MUST. No one will force you to pray and if you can't pray for some reason (e.g. a disability) there are other ways you can honour the gods, e.g. devotional acts or offerings.

Construction

You can absolutely create your own prayers and/or hymns and make them personal to you! They can be as simple or as complicated as you want them to be.

I write some of my prayers but I also find this website to be very helpful and I highly recommend checking it out! The author has written various types of prayers for plenty of the Hellenic Gods. It's quite easy to search for them, too.

Shameless self-promo but you can also check out my Hellenic cheat sheets. They include basic prayers and hymns.

Hymns

Hymns are usually used for praise and often accompanied by burning incense and giving offerings to the deity.

You begin by addressing the deity/deities. If you'd like to incorporate some Greek into your practice you could say something like:

(When addressing multiple deities)

Greek: Ἔλθετε, Θεοὶ μάκαρες, ἀθάνατοι! Εἰσακούσατε προσευχήν ἐμοῦ! [Élthete, Theoí mákares, athánatoi! Eisakoúsate prosefchín emoú!]

English: Come, blessed, deathless Gods! Hearken to my prayer!

(When addressing a single deity)

Greek: κλῦτε μευ εὐχομένου λαῶν ὕπερ εὔφρονι θυμῷ! [Klýte mef efchoménou laón ýper éffroni thymó!]

English: Hear me with gracious soul as I pray on behalf of mankind!

The Homeric Hymns and Orphic Hymns are probably the most famous and often are a go-to among Hellenic polytheists but they're by no means the only hymns out there! You can find those hymns and some other less popular ones on websites such as Theoi.com and Hellenicgods.org. I also recommend checking out@hymnstothetheoi on Tumblr for more wonderfully written hymns.

This great post, for example, explains how one could go about writing a hymn based on The Orphic Hymn to Pan, so it might be helpful if you'd like to write hymns yourself!

Prayer

But let's talk about what a potential prayer formula could look like.

Let's try to write a super simple prayer together:

1. Who & why?

First, you need to decide whom you'd like to pray to and why.

Since you mentioned Apollo, let's go with that! We'll pray to him for, let's say some artistic inspiration.

2. Appropriate attitude & posture

It depends on the "type" of the deity you'd like to pray to. I already mentioned it above.

Apollo is an Ouranic deity, so when praying to him, one should stand up with outstretched hands, palms facing up.

3. Identification and addressing the deity

This stage involves naming the god and listing some of his epithets relating to some functions of the deity or even family relations. You can find awesome info about that on Theoi.com.

So let's start!

Hear me, O Phoibos [Bright] Apollo,

Radiant son of Thundering Zeus and Blessed Leto,

Brother to swift-footed Artemis.

4. Mythology

Mythology is often mentioned in prayer. This can be followed by a recounting of some relevant myths, which act as symbola or attributes and the functions of the god.

Let's continue:

Leader of lovely Muses,

Apollo Khrysolýris [Of Golden Lyre] whose lyre plays the sweetest of songs,

He whose gentle voice soothes mortal ears,

Your skill is unequalled.

5. Justification

Here we could mention something to justify our intention of this prayer by establishing what you have already done to honour that god. It might feel weird at first but assure you, it's not guilt-tripping the god to help you and it was commonly included in ancient prayer!

Apollo Kharopiós [Bringer of Joy],

If I've ever sung You praises,

Hear my plea and grace me with your aid!

6. Petition or Praise

Now we ask for what we'd like to receive and state the purpose of the prayer (or just give praise).

In dance and song the artist and the poet pray to You for inspiration and for revelation;

And so now I, too pray You kindly bestow Your divine gift of inspiration on me!

7. Vow/Promise

Usually, prayers (especially those asking for a favour) involve some form of offering for the deity. Outright demanding something from Theoi is not exactly respectful. Reciprocity, or Kharis, is the foundation of our relationship with the gods. You give - they give sort of thing or Do ut des (yes, it's Latin and yes, it's a Roman phrase but it functioned like that in The Ancient Greek Religion, too).

Apollo Mousêgetês [Leader of Muses; as the preceding],

I pray for your favour.

As a token of gratitude, I will present you with an offering of frankincense!

And done! The whole prayer looks like this:

[3] Leader of lovely Muses,

Apollo Khrysolýris whose lyre plays the sweetest of songs,

He whose gentle voice soothes mortal ears,

Your skill is unequalled.

[4] Leader of lovely Muses,

Apollo Khrysolýris whose lyre plays the sweetest of songs,

He whose gentle voice soothes mortal ears,

Your skill is unequalled.

[5] Apollo Kharopiós,

If I've ever sung You praises,

Hear my plea and grace me with your aid!

[6] In dance and song the artist and the poet pray to You for inspiration and for revelation;

And so now I, too pray You kindly bestow Your divine gift of inspiration on me!

[7] Apollo Mousêgetês,

I pray for your favour.

As a token of gratitude, I will present you with an offering of frankincense!

Here's another link to a great explanation on how to pray, although this one is also about asking for something. I know it's a TikTok but Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts is an ancient historian and I think she explained it very well using an example of Chyses praying to Apollo in The Iliad making it a bit easier to understand.

I hope this clears some things up!

I think you might also find this post helpful. I talk there about some basic things, such as "the pillars of Hellenism", literature, clothing etc.

No Billy that's a bad word!!

odysseus from epic the musical? or polites from epic the musical? literally anyone from epic the musical

Odysseus hates trump!!

Don’t know why I wanted to draw this dumb, silly idea but here we are lol