On the 6th and 7th day of the month Thargelion in hellenic polytheism we celebrate Thargelia, the main festival that the month is named after. This is how I celebrated this year (2nd year of the 700th olympiad):
On the first day I honored Artemis by:
Undergoing catharsis (spiritual cleansing of oneself, ones surroundings, body and mind). I took a shower, washed up, wore symbolic clothing and jewelry, veiled and abstained from sexual activity (and thoughts for the most part). I also fasted for about 24 hours, not consuming anything in order to detox my body.
I then poured a wine libation in honor of Artemis and recited homeric hymn #9 & #27 and Orphic hymn #35.
I also recited Orphic Hymn #34 in honor of Leto since Thargelia celebrates Leto giving birth to the twin goddess Artemis and god Apollo.
I also listened to devotional music in honor of Artemis.
After I finished the prayer I quickly realized that I forgot to cast out the scapegoats or Pharmakoi. So I wrote down two things that I wanted to leave my life namely negative nagging & struggling to communicate and form friendships within the physical religious community. I ripped these papers and threw them away to banish these things.
Then I watched a video about the mythos behind the birth of Artemis & Apollo and another mythos of Artemis (about her virginity and staying pure, fitting to the theme of Thargelia of course which is all about cleanliness and not having impure things). And looked at some social media posts of others about Thargelia.
Before going to bed I did my night prayer like every night, but payed some extra attention in that prayer to Leto, Artemis & Apollo in particular.
On the second day I honored Apollo by:
Undergoing catharsis again by washing up and putting on a sunny outfit to honor him, it was also really sunny during Thargelia this year so that was a good sign and nice to feel extra close to Apollo.
I then went to the grocery store to get all the ingredients for the dinner and offering and started cooking Panspermia and Manna, which turned out looking really nice and tasty this year! So I was really happy with that. I also bought a strawberry cake since it's traditional to offer the first fruits of the season to Apollo, which in my region are strawberries, and since strawberries are also associated with Apollo.
I put part of the Panspermia, Manna and cake, including an actual strawberry, in an offer bowl and placed it, along with the red wine libation, in front of Apollo's picture on my desk.
Then I veiled and recited Homeric hymn #3, #21 & #25 and Orphic hymn #33 in honor of Apollo.
I also recited Orphic Hymn #34 to Leto once again, like the previous day.
In honor of Apollo I also listened to a devotional song.
Then I broke my second fast which lasted for about 17 or 18 hours by eating the Panspermia, Manna and drinking the red wine.
Before going to bed I did my nightly prayer, again paying some special attention to thank Leto, Artemis and Apollo.
I honestly wanted to do more and spend even more time on Thargelia, cleaning the house among things, but due to busy work and such I didn't get around with doing so. I also intended to fast for 1,5 day but when I got a little headache at 2 AM I decided the time had come to eat something small in between, but after that I fasted again. I still enjoyed Thargelia, mainly because my cooking turned out so beautifully and I felt proud and by focusing so much on what Thargelia, Leto, Artemis and Apollo stand for, and tried my best to focus on cleansing myself physically and spiritually.
Kala Thargelia to all of you who celebrated!
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