I take my practices from a variety of sources I'm still learning from. Celtic, Hellenism, and Wicca. Those are my main sources of inspiration for my pagan practice.
How I Incorporated the Greek Gods into the Wheel of the Year - Neopagan
Welcome back to my page. Today I'll be discussing how I embraced neopaganism and revivalism to create my own Pagan path. This was really difficult for me to do but I'll link and write as much as I can to tell you how I got where I got.
Sources
The History of Samhain
Samhain Facts
Samhain Correspondences
Samhain Crystals
Samhain Colors
Samhain Plants
Samhain Incense & Oils
Sa
History of Imbolc and Celtic Goddess Brigid in the Wheel of the Year
Ostara happens on March 20, 2022. It is the Pagan holiday that we now know as Easter. Find recipes and celebrations for Ostara, including a
Celebrate May Day with Beltane in 2022, the pagan celebration of springtime and fertility. Find Beltane celebration ideas, recipes and more
Litha happens June 21, 2022. Celebrate Midsummer Night, or Litha, the pagan holiday celebrating the summer solstice. Litha is one of the e
How to celebrate Lughnasadh 2022, Lammas is the first harvest celebration and part of the wheel of the year, celebrated by wicca, witches, p
Mabon 2022 Celebrates the Autumn Equinox and is the second harvest sabbat of the pagan wheel of the year
How to celebrate Samhain, History of Samhain and how it relates to Halloween, Tips for Celebrating Samhain, Samhain 2022 and free Samhain p
Yule is the second pagan holiday in the Wheel of the Year. Grab your free 2022 yule planner printable for the wheel of the year and pagan pl
Holidays, Dieties, etc. Notes from Book of Shadows
What is Imbolc?
Celebrated either Feb 1st or 2nd -> marks the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox -> marks beginning of spring -> pagan fire festival -> time to honor fertility -> associated with pregnancy and cleaning
How to celebrate
-> light candles in every room
-> plants seeds
-> bake oatcakes
-> make Brigid dollies or crosses
-> decorate altar with symbols and colors for imbolc
Gods to worship (only Greek ones)
-> Aphrodite
-> Athena
-> Hestia
What is Ostara?
Marks the beginning of spring -> March 19-23 -> good time to literally and figuratively plant seeds for the future -> good time to start new goals and ideas you thought about on yule and imbolc -> good time for spring cleaning
Ways to Celebrate
-> spring clean the house
-> decorate altar with ostara colors and symbols
-> take time to meditate and journal and think about your intentions for the next few weeks
Gods to Worship
-> Aphrodite
-> Athena
-> Persphenone
-> Apollo
What is Beltane?
Mark of returning summer -> may 1st -> lighting of bon fires -> time of courtship rituals and celebration of one's fertility -> about casting out darkness and introducing light to the world
Dieties of Beltane
-> Artemis
-> Hera
-> Aphrodite
-> Apollo
What is Litha?
Marks summer solstice -> between June 19-22 -> believed to be where fairy folk come out at twilight and offer blessings -> time to celebrate the abundance and beauty of Mother Earth
Time to acknowledge your success thus far that you've built over the course of the wheel of the year -> good time to align yourself with the powerful energies of the sun and summertime -> expand on ideas, businesses, goals or desires -> thank all for successes so far
Ways to Celebrate
-> make floral wreaths for front door
-> host a bonfire and potluck for family and friends
-> gather and dry herbs to use throughout the coming year
-> take time to meditate and give thanks for the blessings you have in life
-> build a fairy house in the woods
Dieties
-> Hestia
-> Apollo
What is Lughnasadh and Lammas?
The first of three autumn celebrations -> August 1 -> marks the first harvest of the season w/ gathering grains and baking bread
Ways to Celebrate
-> bake bread from scratch and incorporate seasonal herbs
-> make fruit preserves
-> make beer or enjoy artisan beer
-> make corn dollies
-> host a family and/or friends dinner and bonfire
Dieties
-> Demeter
What is Mabon?
Known as the pagan Thanksgiving -> marks autumn equinox -> a time of balance, equality and harmony -> celebrates the second harvest -> celebrate and give thanks for the abundance both literally and spiritually -> good time to reflect on the wheel of the year, recognize successes and letting go of things that no longer serve you over the year -> set intentions to end bad things in your life, let go of unhealthy relationships, unhealthy habits, or self destructive beliefs -> Sept 21 to the 24
How to Celebrate
-> decorating home with fall decorations
-> host a huge meal if you can - take turns saying what you're grateful for and what you hope to accomplish this year
-> if it's by yourself, try and find a quiet space outside to meditate and journal before treating yourself to a nice meal
Dieties
-> Perspehone
-> Demeter
-> Hermes
-> Dionysus
What is Samhain?
3rd and final fall festival of the year -> witches new year -> veil between the worlds is the thinnest -> Oct 31 -> celebrate the dead, while celebrating the end of the harvest and comeback of the darkness and cold
How to Celebrate
-> leave offerings out for fae folk
-> do protective magic
-> feasts and suppers on the eve of Samhain
-> celebrate ancestors and embrace the passage into a more introspective season
-> cover clocks
-> carry nails in pocket for protection
Dieties
-> Hekate
-> Demeter
-> Perspehone
-> Hades
-> Dionysus
What is Yule?
Celebrates winter solstice - is one of two solstices - summer and winter -> Dec 20-23 -> celbrates shortest day of the year, midwinter, return of the sun and festival of rebirth -> time of reflection and celebration
How to Celebrate
-> give mistletoe
-> light lights on a yule log
-> have a feast, ale involved
-> wreaths
-> think about resolutions, intentions for the coming year, light a candle speaking those out, let it burn as you visualize it coming true, then write down actionable steps to get your wishes to come true
Ancestor work doesn't have to be "your direct ancestors" like your grandma or something. It can be ancestors of your specific identity. Ex: trans, gay, hispanic, etc. All of them you could worship.
Just here to drop a friendly reminder to clean your house, do your laundry, and stock your pantry before the new year! Not only will it bring better luck and prosperity, but you won't be going into the year with lingering, stagnant energy. This is a southern thing for me so there are superstitions around various components to how you clean your house. But hey, the one year I didn't do it, I noticed its influences!
1. Caenis, a Thessalian princess who was Poseidon’s lover. The god granted him the wish to turn him into a man and as a gift gave him impenetrable skin. He changed his name to Caineus.
2. In the island of Cyprus some statues were found that depicted Aphrodite with a penis, these were called ‘Aphroditus’. This figure was believed to avert evil and bestow good luck.
3. Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite and the god of intersex people and feminine men. He was depicted as a winged teenager with both male and female features- usually female thighs, breasts, and hairstyle, and male genitalia.
4. There’s a myth where Prometheus was creating humans, got drunk and accidentally placed male genitals in a female body and viceversa.
“Aphroditus is the same as the later god Hermaphroditos, whose name derives from his being regarded as the son of Aphrodite and Hermes”
The Wikipedia article does not consistently use either he or she, god or goddess. Maybe a Classics expert can help us with what (if anything) we can make of that. But this statue is Aphroditus, not Aphrodite. Let’s not give the TERFs an excuse to crow about “invented” facts or whatever
Hi, I’m actually going to school for this exact thing (Classics).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a lot of information because this version of Aphrodite is a part of a non-Athenian cult so we don’t have a lot of information on him (as is usually the case with most non-Athenian cult deities) but we do know he existed and he was definitely a version of Aphrodite that was popular to this cult (they even had events where men and women wore clothes of the opposite gender) but this version of Aphrodite eventually got re-invented as Hermaphroditus since Aphrodite was more popular as being portrayed with a AFAB body outside of this small cult.
But the true essence of the gods are all a conglomerate of all of their cults put together because they were worshipped by so many different kinds of people not just Athenians and most of the information we have comes from Athens because Athens was one of the few places that both documents and were also admired by the Romans so the Romans helped preserve their cults, customs and myths.
Athens also insists Aphrodite does not have a war epithet called Areia but because she was popular with Sparta (and again, Rome admired Sparta because of its very intense training routines and customs) the Romans also documented and preserved the Areia epithet for Aphrodite.
There were a lot of Greek places that were not Athens or Sparta that Rome did not care for whose customs are now being contested because of the lack of preservation like Aphrodite’s Aphroditus form. If we can agree that Areia is just as valid despite not being acknowledged by Athens, we must agree that Aphroditus is also another version of Aphrodite otherwise it’s just another Roman influenced preference that is discounting ancient authentic places that lived and honored an actual form of Aphrodite before her form was reassigned to Hermaphroditus.
It’s not about giving Terfs ammo, it’s about stating facts about underrepresented forms of gods just because they don’t fit the very curated Roman influenced mythical forms we are now culturally familiar with.
Edit: the names of Aphrodite and Aphroditus are based on technicalities but Aphroditus was used to slightly differentiate Aphrodite’s male form since -US suffix was often attached to male names in order to make them sound more masculine. The names being different does not discount that they are still the same god.
One of the questions I get asked the most is “What *insert topic* books do you recommend?” so I decided to finally make an official post! Here you will find all the books, on a variety of topics, that I have read, enjoyed, and would recommend to you! I plan on updating this list as I come across more books (and maybe even other resources) to add so check back often!
Most of the links provided will be from my Bookshop, but please feel free to purchase these books from whichever shop you choose or read them however way you can! Anything not available in my Bookshop will have its own link.
I’m no longer writing reviews, at least for the time being, since they take up too much of my energy and time. However, please don’t hesitate to ask me directly about any of the books I listed or even ones I didn’t. Id be happy to give you my thoughts!
Hellenic Polytheism
The Iliad by Homer (Robert Fagles translation)
The Odyssey by Homer (Robert Fagles translation)
Theogony by Hesiod
The Histories by Herodotus
Greek Religion by Walter Burkert
Ancient Greek Divination by Sarah Iles Johnston
Ancient Greek Cults by Jennifer Larson
Delphi: A History of the Center of the Ancient World by Michael Scott
Witchcraft and Magic
Rebel Witch: Carve the Craft That's Yours Alone by Kelly-Ann Maddox
Witchcraft for Everyone: A no-nonsense guide to creating your own magical practice by Sam Wise
Art Magick: How to Become an Art Witch and Unlock Your Creative Power by Molly Roberts
Divination
Wtf Is Tarot?: ...& How Do I Do It? By Bakara Wintner
Tarot 101: Mastering the Art of Reading the Cards by Kim Huggens
Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow
The Oracles of Apollo: Practical Ancient Greek Divination for Today by John Opsopaus
Fiction based on Mythology
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block
Want to see what I’m currently reading? Follow me on Goodreads and StoryGraph
How To Create Your Own Pagan Path with Just a Few Questions
Finding your own Pagan path can be as difficult as it sounds, and to be honest, I'm still new and trying to find mine. But I've come up with some easy questions with details to help guide you onto your own Pagan path.
Let's just jump right into it...
1. What traditions are usually found in religion? Usually things like holidays, rituals, how to cleanse ones self, what to offer deities.
2. How to incorporate beliefs you have with traditions found in other pagan religion? For example, how to believe in Greek gods and worship them and use the wheel of the year? What kind of aspects are related to one another, how are they similar or different?
3. How do you see the universe? Is it magical, do spells exist in your worldview for example? Pantheism? Animism?
4. What moral code do you heed by? For example, the rule of three. Or xenia in hellenism.
5. How was the world created?
6. Do gods physically exist, are they more mental states (), are they in nature as we mentioned, are they a general existence, how do you view the world and how they interact with the gods?
7. How do you set up your sacred space? How do you view this sacred space? Is it more this space is divine (embodiment of the gods) or is it just an altar and that's it?
8. Are traditions of the past relevant and important to the modern day, or should we interpret and structure the religion as we see fit to today? How do we structure religion around the days before us? Is the past relevant? Or is how we view the modern world more relevant? How do modern problems get solved when it comes to your religion? Ex: are past views on abortion relevant on to today's views religiously? Would you support gay rights based upon how the, for example, greeks used to support gay rights? Is there documentation and proof they used to view these issues as you view them?
Hellenic polytheism is a disorganized religion. We don’t have leaders, we don’t have bibles, we don’t have a central religious body. This means that everyone who is a Hellenic pagan will have a different opinion on how to worship. There’s beauty in that, but also strife.
Recently I’ve seen at least ten thousand posts on how Godspousing is either immoral/bad or great/fine. Let’s take the third option here; it’s none of your business. No one in this religion has authority over anyone else. Modern Helpol does not have elected religious leaders. When someone is practicing something that hurts no one, it’s irrelevant how you feel about it. I’m tired of recons and revivalists acting like Catholics vs Protestants.
You cannot make broad sweeping posts about what is disrespectful to the Gods or what isn’t. That is only for the Gods to decide. Focus on worshipping the Gods and shut up about other people’s practices. Stop trying to problematize something that isn’t a real issue. The end.
Hello! I was scrolling Tumblr and I saw something about the term Polytheist being offensive and the term Pagan more preferable. Is that true? If it is I apologize if referring to Paganism has been in any form offensive.
Hello, Anon!
I really wish you'd linked to the post you saw, because a little context would probably help me give you a better reply. As it is, this answer is going to be very general.
Practitioners of reconstructionist/revivalist historical polytheisms began to differentiate themselves from the term "Pagan" around 2012, for a number of reasons I won't go into here, since that's likely beyond the scope of your question.
Drama, as so often happens, ensued. (If interested, see "Your One- Stop-Shop for Pagan-Polytheist Controversy", "A Polytheist Primer", and "Paganism for Beginners: Controversy".)
Labels are useful in describing ourselves and for finding like-minded others. Furthermore, many people feel very strongly about the words they use to label themselves, and it's always respectful to use the labels people prefer.
The person who wrote that post obviously prefers the term "Pagan" and feels the term "Polytheist" is offensive. It would, therefore, be respectful, when interacting with them, to use the term "Pagan".
I prefer the term "Polytheist" for my practice. Having said that, since I feel Polytheists have had a part in the modern Pagan movement and I see some political benefit to maintaining ties with the modern Pagan community, I don't necessarily feel being described as "Pagan" is inaccurate or offensive. I absolutely detest the term "Neo-pagan", because I think it's condescending, but my opinion is insignificant and academics in the field of Religious Studies tenaciously insist on using it.
tl:dr: There is no general agreement as to the term "Polytheist" being offensive. It may be offensive to some people and preferable to others. Likewise, with the term "Pagan".
There is also no general agreement about whether people who call themselves "Polytheist" are also "Pagan"; some of us feel we are, some of us aren't certain, and some of us most assuredly are not.
I advise anyone engaged in writing about Pagans and Polytheists to exercise discretion in applying these terms to communities and people. It would be a good idea to have any person or group mentioned in your article or book take a look at your text before you submit it, to prevent errors on your part.
Deities and Deity Work:
30 Days of Deity Devotion
15 Days of Deity Devotion
Why does this deity want to work with ME?
“What I’ve learned from working with the deities”
Working with deities
Deity Communication 101
Communicating With Deities
Devotional Journal
Inexpensive Offerings
Some methods to bond with your deities
Working with Ancient Beings
Respecting the Gods
UPG, SPG, and VPG
The gods, your potential and limits
Deities, Worship, and Magic
Shrines: A Moderately In-Depth Look
How to write a letter to your deity/deities
Ways the Gods Can Contact You
Offerings aren’t nice tokens, and gods aren’t vending machines.
beginner polytheist tips
struggling polytheist tips
How to Tell if You’ve Received a Sign
Offerings for Deities
Godphone via Journaling
There are different types of deity work
Developing the Godphone
Easy Ways to Connect More Strongly with your Deities
Mythic Context Is Everything
A perspective on "signs;" internal rather than external.
spiritual veiling
“Does this count as an offering?”
"When trying to narrow which deities could be contacting you"
On Offerings and Altars
Offerings: Why, and How?
What Do They Want? Hints for the Headblind on Determining the Will of the Gods
Tips for Working with Deities
Deities, Entities & Spirits... Do you need them to practice witchcraft and magic?
How to Find a Patron Deity
Reciprocity
Paganism:
Choosing the right pagan path for you
What paganism is not
Coping with religious trauma
Reciprocity
Paganism and witchcraft
Neopagans, reconstructionists, and revivalists, oh my!
"To white people getting into paganism and such trying to find 'their culture'."
Ways to Celebrate Pretty Much Every Pagan Holiday
Christian Texts on Pagan Lore
Pagan Prayer Journaling Prompts
Religions:
The Layperson’s Guide to Online Research
“Witchcraft” and “Pagan” Aren’t Accurate Terms to Apply to Asian Traditions
"Being a magical practitioner or a polytheist simultaneously with practicing Christianity"
Everything You Want To Know About Lilith
Cultural Appropriation in the Wiccan Wheel of the Year
The Word “Cult” and its Usage
Lets Chat About Calendars and Holy Days...
Reconstructionism vs Revivalism vs Reimaginism
On Personal Religious Privacy
Individual believers are not responsible for the wrongdoings of religious institutions
So You've Been Contacted By a Closed Entity
On Christian Witchcraft
Things To Beware Of:
Beginner Caution About Wicca
Beware of Pagan Extremism
Stop Normalizing Abusive Relationships with Deities
“No, I do not like the Godspouse trend. Here’s why.”
"The difference between highly structured religions and high-demand religions"
Tips for shopping safely as a pagan
