💭Cecropia Den💭

𓍊𓋼𓍊𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊𓋼 fig | 23 | they/he hellenic witch ⊗cultural appropriation free zone

[cecropiaden]

Simple Bonding With Your New Deck

A straightforward guide for understanding and bonding with a new deck

⋆ ｡˚۰ ˚☽˚ ⁀➷ ｡˚ ⋆ ༄ ☼ ➶

❶ Cleanse your deck

This can be done with numerous methods. Saining ritual, Crystals (like selenite or salt), Sound, Knocking, Moonlight, Sunlight, etc Choose the one that you like best, whichever feels right to you, or use a combination of these that feel good for you!

❷ Explore your deck

Before reading the booklet that comes with your cards, flip through the deck card by card and explore the imagery and symbolism of each card. If you can, journal down your initial thoughts for each card, including how each card makes you feel. Is there a specific card that you're drawn to? Why?

❸ Read the guide book

Repeat Step 2 while reading through and referencing the little white book. How do the author/artist's intentions line up with your original intuitions about each card? Do they conflict? If so, look deeper and try to figure out where your view of the card differs. (this does not necessarily mean your intuition is wrong)

❹ Spend time with your deck

This can include sleeping with your deck next to you/under your pillow, travelling with your deck on your person, carrying around and focusing on a specific card each day, spending time shuffling the cards to mix your energy, or any other ideas you can come up with that allows you to keep the deck, the cards, and the imagery/symbolisms on your mind throughout the day.

❺ Interview your deck

This can be done at any point, but often it’s the most rewarding after you understand the cards to a decent degree. At this point, you should have a good feel for the deck's overall energy and a general idea of what each card represents and why. You'll be able to understand what the deck is trying to tell you much better than if you did this step at the beginning.

❻ Start using your deck

When you feel like you understand the cards and feel comfortable using them for readings, go for it. From this point on, it's going to be growth via experience. Continue to grow your intuition and personal associations with the deck, as well as remembering how the guidebook describes their meanings as that will be different from deck to deck, even if they’re all still tarot cards. Journaling, taking notes, or even just photos of your readings will be super helpful to build an understanding of the decks personality and to see where you might have previously misunderstood something.

[zal-cryptid]

Tuesday and Wednesday (Hellenic)

[lockettopia]

Hermes is one of my favorite gods, as I'm a world traveler, and he's the patron god of Travelers. I think he embodies the joyful, serendipitous nature of wandering and discovery in a new land. Hermes, God of diplomacy, commerce, travelers and trade. He was the only one with the power to enter the underworld. Initially he was portrayed as middle aged with dark beard and long locks, but later he was portrayed as a beardless youth, which is what i went for. He created the first musical instruments, the LYRE and FLUTE, and, interestingly, was the father of Goat legged PAN. He also invented the alphabet and numbers. He was also the god of sleep, and could put mortals to sleep or wake them up with his wand.

The son of a celestial goddess Pleiad, he has connections to astronomy, (as can be seen in the constellations above), and astrology, (as can be seen in the zodiac signs surrounding his herald’s wand). As a psychopomp, he is tasked with leading dead spirits to the underworld, making him a true ally to humankind. His golden wing-tipped helmet and sandals, fashioned by Hephaestus the weaponsmith god, allow speedy travel on his errands. On the earth below are stone landscape markers, called Herma.

[theoi-crow]

Do you think it's possible there are newer generations of Theoi? Younger, unrecorded gods that didn't make it into myths? The idea keeps haunting me lately.

Sorry for the late reply! This ask is absolutely fascinating but the answer might seriously break your heart so please proceed with caution!

Yes, I do think we have lost a lot of gods we will never get to know.

Unfortunately this didn't just happen to new, younger gods, but all kinds of other gods as well. These gods were either unrecorded, had written myths that got sucked into the sands of time, or got absorbed by a bigger more popular god and are now forever lost to us.

I will break down this explanation using two main points: Lack of Documentation and god-absorption.

1. Lack of Documentation:

A lot of places in Greece did not write things down. Unlike Athens, these places primarily focused on oral traditions. The unfortunate side effect of oral tradition is that when Greece changed religions and banned pagan traditions, they lost a lot of gods who were never recorded making them vulnerable to the false idea that "these gods never existed."

Another form of lost gods were the non-oral focused gods who were indeed recorded but whose records were lost to the passage of time. Usually Losing recorded documents and images of these gods to events like the burning of the library of Alexandria, the targeting of pagan temples, religious wars and politicians who changed their names in surviving documents or outright destroyed their documents. The gods who were especially susceptible to this were those that specialized in a specific region that we no longer have a name for because their legends were absorbed by the religion that ended up dominating the region or by another pagan god (usually an Olympian) that entered the region.

2) God-absorption:

A lot of minor gods were absorbed into other gods. Sometimes these gods belonged to a whole new religion like the non-Greek monotheistic god that took over after the Roman period. But more often than not minor gods would be absorbed by the Olympians themselves, (especially Apollo who is theorized to have absorbed a lot of gods): (LINK)

As an example of how easy it is for a god to absorb another god, I want to show you three gods currently in the process of absorbing another god or being absorbed themselves. (This includes them losing a domain because it is more popularly associated with a different deity)

Note: These gods won't fully succeed because we live in a time where we can easily access well preserved research and their followers are advocating for them. But imagine if we didn't have access to this information or have very limited access to this information like how it was in ancient Greece, then can you see why it was easy for a god to absorb another god back then?

The three gods I will be using for this example are Helios, Apollo and Athena.

These three gods are in the process of absorbing each other's domains as we speak. The way that a god absorbs another god is by taking on their domain and erasing the original god like how many people assume Apollo is "The God of the sun" (LINK)

even though in ancient Greece that role originally belonged to Helios:

Helius was the ancient Greek Titan god of the sun, the guardian of oaths and the god of sight. He dwelt in a golden palace located in the Ri

As for Athena and Apollo...

Many modern devotees associate Athena with school, education and knowledge because Athena is the goddess of wisdom. However, the original god of school and knowledge in ancient Greece was Apollo because he is the god of Philosophy which is what the first professional teachers in Athens (the sophists) taught: (LINK).

Wisdom and Knowledge are very different but many people often confuse them with each other and assume the role of education belongs solely to Athena. Here's more information on the history of Education in Ancient Greece (LINK)

While wisdom can help you strategically tackle tests, you still need to acquire knowledge in order to absorb educational information, which is why even in modern times, the Academy of Athens in Athens, Greece has the statue of BOTH Athena and Apollo: (LINK)

I hope this helps!

[wildlifegermany]

[the-purvashadha]

Loving yourself, nurturing yourself and taking care of yourself, is one of the greatest offerings you can offer to the deities. They all want to see you happy, healthy and cherished.

[screeching-0wl]

A guide to worship of Ares - cheat sheets

Hellenic cheat sheets

[s-c-r-ee-ch]

Apollo and Hermes

Statues at the Sansoucci Park

[mooncandysmagic]

Digital Shrine for Mercury.

[niuniente]

Traditional European Christmas time monsters, photographer across the Europe by Charles Fréger.

[wilesandsmiles]

“Remember why you became a polytheist. Perhaps you prayed and Someone unexpected answered. Perhaps a Goddess tapped you on the shoulder and said “you’re mine.” Perhaps you realized that the world is better explained by many Gods of limited power and scope than by one all-powerful God and you decided that following Them was the best way to order your life. It’s hard to be spiritual when your roof is leaking. If your current situation has dampened your enthusiasm for the Gods, Their virtues, and Their work, it’s understandable. And usually, They understand too – They tend to have a longer and wider perspective than we do. But whatever your reason for becoming a polytheist, it was valid then and it’s still valid now.”

—

John Beckett

“Polytheism in Difficult Times“

(via

intaier

)

[medeatheewitch]

Xenia, and why it is our duty as Hellenic polytheists/pagans to be anti-racist and anti-fascist

I want to take the time today to write a brief article about why as Hellenic polytheists/pagans, one of the fundamental customs the Theoi ask us to observe, Xenia, demands us to be anti-racist and anti-fascist. Anyone who is not actively anti-racist and anti-fascist is in violation of xenia. Xenia is incredibly fundamental and important to us; this cannot be understated.

What is Xenia? On a surface level, xenia means “guest-right”/”guest friendship”. In Ancient Greece, this meant that all those who came to your house must be fed before you could ask their names or where they were from. You were required to protect your guests from harm, provide for all their needs, treat them as friends, and when they left, give them gifts. In return, guests must also treat their hosts with respect, kindness, good will, and in friendship. The guest-friendship relationship is reciprocal. Furthermore, one must welcome all, no matter class, color, or creed. The consequences of breaking xenia are played out in our most foundational texts; the Iliad, the Odyssey, among others.

As most of us no longer live in city-states on islands, we are required to reinterpret how to act in the spirit of Xenia.

Racists and fascists do not act in the spirit of Xenia. They actively break it. Many of us are marginalized in some way, in ways that racists and fascists would use as reasoning to exclude us from their houses and tables. Whether that’s racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, classism, and/or xenophobia (which comes from xenos, stranger, and is related to xenia). They do not treat us in kindness or good will. They would not protect us; in fact, they would actively harm us. They would deprive us of what we need. We are all harmed by racists and fascists, no matter who you are.

In the Odyssey, the suitors of Penelope break guest-right through treating their hosts, Penelope and Telemachus, with incredible disrespect and harm, destroying Telemachus’ inheritance, disregarding Penelope’s wishes, and disrespecting Odysseus. It becomes a divine mission on the part of Telemachus and Odysseus to drive them from their house.

From this example, we can reconstruct that it is a divine mission to protect ourselves from those who do not come in good faith and with good will, it is divine to drive out those who would hurt, attack, and disrespect us. 

We are mandated by the Theoi to welcome all who come in good faith, to keep away those who would exclude us or others, and to treat those who do come in good faith with not just kindness in actions but kindness in intentions.

Even the Ancient Greeks did not view themselves as one nation, but many nations bound by similar customs. Those who did not observe similar customs were treated the same as those who did. Anyone who practices Hellenic polytheism is welcome; to deny someone the Theoi based on who they are and where they came from spits in the face of the actual values of the Ancient Greek peoples.

We cannot let ourselves be driven out from our religion because of people who break Xenia and disregard the gods and the customs of those who originally worshipped the gods.

[cecropiaden]

Greek gods by neural blender! more to come

[cecropiaden]

[cecropiaden]

Greek gods by neural blender! more to come

[screeching-0wl]

A guide to worship of Hermes - cheat sheets

[reallytinydragon-blog]

Easy Ways to Connect More Strongly with your Deities

Say Good Morning when you wake up, say Good Night before you fall asleep

Share your food with them. If you’ve ever wanted some of your friend’s french fries, you know how they probably feel. 

Donate to causes that fall under the jurisdiction of your deity. Are they a goddess for women? Donate to a women’s shelter or Planned Parenthood. Is your deity a patron of the arts? Give to PBS or local theatres.

Cook a full meal in honor of your deity. Seriously. It sounds silly but you can definitely find a regional cookbook based on your pantheon to cook a full ass feast for them.

Write them letters or notes. Keep a little notebook of notes and letters to your deity. Did you see a cute cat that you think Frigga would’ve liked? Maybe you saw a girl’s outfit that would’ve made Aphrodite drool. Let them know, or give yourself a reminder to tell them about it later.

Change your phone background. Does your deity have a temple or built pantheon? Put that shit as your wallpaper! Did you find a picture that so perfectly captures the spirit of your deity? Make it your lock screen.

Make them a Mix Tape. You know, so you can belt out songs in their honor while making your way downtown. Faces pass. And you’re home bound. 

DIY your Altar. I’m not going to lie, I’m not to altar type. However, it is a fantastically personalized space that you can do anything with. So don’t let anyone stop you from knitting that mini statue of Hecate a scarf. 

[lesbf]

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