Eh No. Stop It

what do i do with food offerings? How long do i leave them out? Taking it away immediately feels wrong but i dont want mold

I have answered this before, but the answers are all in amongst a bunch of other questions, so I’m going to try to make this one more focused and detailed

It depends on the deity. There’s two categories when it comes to this — ouranic (heavenly, basically anyone not of the underworld) and chthonic (underworld). Additionally, food offerings to heroes would fall under the chthonic category in my opinion, since they’re dead.

When it comes to deities who have both ouranic and chthonic aspects (Hermes being the main one people think of for that, but also Persephone and Melinoë, and even Zeus) I’d say it depends on which epithet/aspect you’re offering to. If you’re offering to the deity’s chthonic side, do it the chthonic way. If not, do it ouranically. For Persephone, though, you could also do it depending on season/time of year as that dictates whether she is in the underworld or not at the time of your offering.

Now into why it actually matters.

You can eat offerings to ouranic deities. You can’t eat offerings to chthonic ones. The ‘why’ is not something I’m completely sure on, just that that’s the way it is. However my bestie did suggest this last time I mentioned not knowing why:

@under-their-light hi, I love you

With ouranic deities, I always eat it. I see it as sharing food with my deity. I pray before I do it, saying the following:

“With the first and last to Lady Hestia, and a portion to Father Zeus, <name + epithet of the deity I’m specially offering to>, this <name of food> is for you. Take your fill, and I’ll eat the rest.”

You don’t have to say it like that, but I think this nicely covers all the bases and it works for me. Let me break down the structure.

Hestia is historically first and last in (ouranic) food offerings from what I’ve heard, due to her being the first to be eaten by Cronos and the last to be set free. This would be especially important if the food you’re offering is homemade, id imagine. I’ve also heard that a portion of all food offerings goes to Zeus, which is why he is included also.

Then I say the name of the deity I’m specifically offering to, as they can hear us when we say their names, and if I’ve a specific reason for the food offering, there’s usually a specific epithet to go along with that, so that would be added here. If I’m just offering food for the sake of it, which is most of the time (if I want something in return I tend to gravitate towards non-food offerings) then I will still use an epithet purely to make it sound more refined, but I’ll use a poetic one instead of a cult one, so that I’m complimenting the deity, not calling on a specific domain.

Then I tell them what I’m offering.

The ‘take your fill and I’ll eat the rest’ also comes from my aforementioned bestie and it’s been really helpful in making me feel more confident about it as I’m informing the deity that I am sharing it with them, so it doesn’t feel like I’m just rudely eating the thing I just gave them.

All this to say, you don’t HAVE to eat the food from an ouranic deity, but I find it to be the easiest method as I don’t have to worry about how long to leave it on an altar, and I don’t have to worry about ‘wasting’ food, or feel bad when I do eventually dispose of it.

So, onto chthonic. We can’t eat food to chthonic deities. I also have a massive thing about throwing food away. I know if it’s offered to a deity it isn’t technically waste, but it still feels wasteful. So I offer food a LOT less to my heroes and chthonic deities, I must admit.

But I still do it. And that’s by offering food that I know won’t get eaten. Leftovers of a meal? Offer them to a chthonic deity or to a hero. Something will go out of date before I have the chance to eat it? They can have it. Someone didn’t finish eating something that they’d never tried before because they didn’t like it? Offer it to a deity. Ran out of time to eat a thing while on my break and I can’t take it with me? My gods can have it. There’s almost endless scenarios. It actually LESSENS any guilt about wasting food, because it’s not getting eaten anyway, so at least they can have it.

This is also the same for libations (liquid offerings) you can drink to ouranic but not to chthonic. Pour it on the floor for chthonic deities (you can do this for ouranic too, but again, I usually don’t waste it if I have the opportunity not to)

If you didn’t want to eat them for the ouranic deities, I’d say my only rule for how long to leave something on an altar is ‘don’t let it rot’. Leave it out as long as you want, as long as it remains hygienic. And when you do decide to throw it out, inform your deities that’s what you’re doing.

L A D Y N O I R  N A T I O N

Classics students are the most fucking insufferable people. You make one reference to mythology, and they jump on you like a pack of wolves, looking for one mistake that they can correct. If you tell them you like a myth retelling, they automatically tell you how horrible the research/characterization was. And God help you if you mention an Ovidism or some other Roman interpretation of myth and say it's actually how the Greeks thought.

-me about myself, a classics student

General Advice for Beginner Witches

A brief masterpost of some of my advice posts for beginner witches and the episodes of my podcast dealing with the same. (There is UPG here, particularly where marked, as I base a good deal of my advice on my own experience and observations of other witches.)

Hex Positive Podcast Episodes

Hex Positive, Ep. 04 - Advice for Beginner Witches (July 2020)

Hex Positive, Eps. 6-7 - Come In For A Spell 1 & 2 (Sept 2020)

Hex Positive, Ep. 12 - Witching From The Broom Closet (Jan 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 24 - Warding A Witchy Home (Dec 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 27 - When Inspo Takes A Holiday (March 2022)

General Tips & Advice

I Feel Like I Might Be A Witch...But I Don't Know

I Have Mental Health Issues - Can I Still Be A Witch?

Can I Still Be A Witch And Use Magic If I Take Medication?

How Do I Teach Myself To Believe In Magic?

How Does Magic Work? (upg ahoy)

Will I Be Possessed Or Haunted If I Try Witchcraft?

What Are Some Things I Can Do To Get Started?

How Can I Start My Practice If I Don't Have Tools Or Books?

How Do I Organize My Study Materials?

How Do I Contact A Deity?

How Do I Worship My Deity If I Can't Have An Altar?

Tips On Working With Deities And Spirits (here be upg)

My Intuitive Spark Feels Low - How Do I Get It Back?

I'm In A Slump - How Do I Get Out Of It?

I've Reached A Stopping Point - What Do I Do Next?

My Candle Is Flickering - Does It Mean Something Bad?

How Do I Make A Magic Circle For Spellcasting?

What Happens If I Get Interrupted While Casting A Spell?

Do I Need To Maintain Positive Vibes For My Spells To Work?

What Should I Do If I REALLY Want To Hex Someone?

How Do I Know / What Do I Do If I've Been Hexed?

How Do I Become More Skilled And More Powerful?

How Do I Know When I'm Ready For The Next Step In My Practice?

Additional Tips For Developing Your Practice

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Tips on How to Visualize and Construct Basic Wards

Practicing Your Warding Technique

Cleansing Before Warding / Warding A Shared Space

Refreshing / Patching Existing Wards

Non-Appropriative Herbs for Smoke-Cleansing

Smokeless Cleansing / Other Methods

Recommended Reading & Book Suggestions

I have no patience so I made one myself :p This is my take on a daily prayer journal for Hellenic Polytheists who want to keep track of things. Like me :p

Feel free to use it :)

THISS!! You can't tell me they weren't like this 🤞

childhood friends

recently saw a video on insta where a woman was talking about her acts of micro feminism (shaking hands with both women and men, asking women's opinions first, turning to female specialists). in the comments, men started writing that these were "rather acts of hatred towards men", that is, what men did and continue to do with women is normal, but asking women's opinions first and shaking their hands is hatred? wtf is wrong w men??

Here’s my Hellenic polytheism and witchcraft take. Witchcraft existed and was practiced in Ancient Greece. Point blank. We have evidence in literature of extremely detailed practices and spells that mirror that kinds of witchcraft that followed centuries later. We have Simaetha, Pasiphae, Medea, Kirke, etc, who used poppets, potions, wands, and herbs. These literary figures have similarities and consistency between them in terms of the kinds of enchantments they use. These things don’t just come out of thin air. They are embellishments of real fears, desires, and practices that existed historically. We also have physical evidence of magic other than katadesmoi like the use of poppets which are a staple of witchcraft.

Furthermore, Hekate is a goddess of witchcraft. Whether or not this was an original occupation of Hers is up for debate, but it must have been believed somewhere and sometime within the duration of Her worship in ancient society. There are plays and epic poems in which Hekate is directly mentioned as playing this part and being invoked in sorcery and magic that we would call witchcraft.

Lastly, to say that witchcraft is inherently impious opens up a threefold argument to me. The first point being that this statement is to adopt uncritically the social beliefs of a society that existed thousands of years ago. We do not live in the Ancient Greek world and our understanding of witchcraft and the Other has advanced signicantly. The second issue is that to say it is impious is to ignore the thousands of witches who do magic under the Theoi with the utmost respect, making transitional offerings, using traditional prayers and invocations, and who believe their power comes from the gods. As one of these witches, I believe in the concept of sympatheia and the idea that nothing happens that the Theoi do not permit. If the magic I use is effective and works, it is because the gods I have invoked and called upon to do my work have seen it as a just cause and have aided me in that work. No work I do is me claiming to have power over the gods or making them work for me. It is me calling on the aid of Hekate. But in all honesty witchcraft is perhaps always going to be feared and viewed as impious. And that’s okay with me. To really be a witch is to rebel and to be outside of the mainstream. If the witchcraft is palatable or mainstream, a large part of its power and authenticity is lost. So call me impious all you want, but I know that I love the Theoi and that my devotion to Hekate is unwavering and unquestionable. Finally though, I think there is a lot of valid criticism and issue with the way many witches, especially in Neo-pagan and Wiccan traditions, treat the Theoi and understand (or fail to understand) Their history or the practices surrounding Their traditional worship. This is a dissatisfaction I share and think needs to be addressed. But this is not a symptom of witchcraft as a whole, and witches who practice Hellenic Polytheism as a religion and are informed by Hellenic tradition within their magic are usually respectful and pious worshippers of the gods. The issue is not witchcraft, but the flimsy and almost neoliberal nature of many modern eclectic practices which do not have respect for the histories, contexts, or divinity of the gods they invoke.

Anyways. Witchcraft is a form of Ancient Greek magic. It is not inherently impious. And one can be a religious Hellenic polytheist and a witch without conflict.

the existence of "maybe", "perhaps", "perchance", and "mayhaps" suggests there should also be "maychance" and "perbe"

It genuinely makes me really sad that there's such a large group of women who not only believe it's acceptable but also relish being degraded, abused, and treated as an object. My heart breaks for these women, and I wish it was easier to help them understand how they deserve better.

I will always, always be anti porn, anti kink, and anti sex industry. I know some women feel that these things are "taking" something from them, but. I hope some day these women will see that liberation doesn't come from giving men exactly what they want.