Rey's Sinkhole

They/them, ix/ixs/ixself Honestly literally any pronouns but she/her he/him get creative with it if you want idrc. Hellenic polytheist, Christopagan, You can call me Actias, Moth, Hawk, Or Rey. They are all names I am trying out because I chose the name Rey not too long after realizing I was nonbinary and I'm not sure I am still a fan. Antixenogender dni. Well I have a seperate blog for it but if you're gonna be a dick here if it gets mentioned, DNI. I occasionally vent on this blog and those vents may involve mention of intense emotional and mental domestic abuse, and drugs/substances. If you are uncomfortable with that it's not a dni, but you may heavily consider blocking me for your own wellbeing. I do not always tag things well because I have to use my phone for this stuff in secret, when my husband comes in I have to put it down, so I do not always remember to tag well.

[lunamothedfae]

My Pinned Post

Intro

So, this is my main blog, it is centered around hellenic polytheism and christopaganism. I focus on anything and everything to do with the hellenic pantheon, from prayers to upg to informational posts. You WILL occasionally find vents regarding severe domestic issues, homelessness, and substance abuse, there will almost always be a trigger warning on these posts if they mention substance abuse. I may have forgotten to tw some of the earlier ones because when my husband was not in jail I had to be very careful and secretive about phone use and if i had to put it away or go do something or he asked me "who I was talking to" in the middle of writing that, I may have forgotten to tw it.

My beliefs are highly contradictory to 99% of people, I am a christopagan due to an experience I had during my first and only extended stay in the local holiday inn (Aka jail), and then a pull once again towards paganism upon getting out, but I refuse to deny or write off to myself what I experienced that day as unreal.

If you would like to know more about my ongoing story, message me, as I do not talk about it in hyperdetail all too often on here. I will not reply to you if you message me and I see that you are a minor. If you are interested in that story as a minor, come back when you are 18, I'm not corrupting some random parents' child with extensive knowledge where people on hard drugs end up at before they hit rock bottom. A lot of my vent posts here tell some details but yeah if you for whatever reason want your own personal dare program pitched to you in dms, yeah.

Name(s), Pronouns, Gender

Name(s): Rey or Actias

Pronouns: They/them/themself, it/its/itself, ix/ix/ixself

Gender(s): I primarily identify as agender but I also use xenogenders. I have a seperate blog I will not list here for gender related things and for the most part keep it seperate from this blog.

Sexuality: I am bisexual, I prefer women but currently am married to a man, and this is the only man I have ever actually found myself attracted to and not engaging with purely for their ability to provide me with drugs.

Deities I worship most often

🌑Hecate🌕

💐Persephone💐

🪙Hades🪙

🍷Dionysus 🍷

🔥Hestia🔥

I worship them but not as often:

🎻Apollo 🎶

🌹Aphrodite🐚

🐍Agathos daimon🐍 (Not an actual deity but a spirit, I know.)

🗡️Ares 🗡️

🛡️Athena📚

(Do I subconsciously have something against deities whose names begin with A? It almost looks like it. Wow.)

Deities and/or spirits and I am just beginning to worship/looking into more/would like to begin worshipping but honestly don't know how to approach it:

Freyja

Hermes

Pandora (Moreso honoring her spirit. I need to do a LOT of research on this one as I have never heard of anybody worshipping or honoring pandora. After research I may decide not to.)

Helios

Saints I want to learn more about and potentially incorporate the veneration of into my practise:

✝️ St. Dymphna

✝️ St. Benedict Joseph Labre (I am slowly learning more about the saints. I want to begin incorporating their veneration into my practise but am starting from 0 knowledge there as I was raised protestant, not Catholic.)

✝️ The Virgin Mary

✝️ St. Francis of assisi

✝️ St Therese of Lisieux

✝️ St Maximillian Kolbe

Hobbies:

Drawing, writing really bad poetry, drawing, playing minecraft, drawing, looking at cool ass rocks/walking in nature, cleaning up the fucking mess my husband and I made out of our lives via drug use.

DNI: Anti lgbtq+, intolerant of any religion, racists, maps and nomaps, ableists, MAGAs. I do not want you liking my shit. I do not want you reblogging my shit. I do not want you commenting on my shit.

Can interact but if you bring up your views on my blog or in my dms you WILL be blocked: Anti-xenogenders, antineopronouns, evangelical christians and/or catholics (I am fine with you, but don't come here preaching about there being only one God or trying to convert me or anybody else to purely practicising christianity. If you do this, you will be blocked. Otherwise I have no issue.) Pro-lifers.

I choose to allow the above here because I do not want to close those people out of the informational posts and resources and prayers on this blog, or discussions here related to hellenic polytheism, I do not consider any of these people to be such scum that I am unwilling to even speak to them, simply ask you to not bring your views here considering 99.9999% of the time it is irrelevant to anything I post here and you are simply bringing them up to argue if you do this. Basically yall can reblog my stuff but yall are on thin ice and if I look at your blog and find you vile I will block at my own discretion. Except christians. Yall aren't on ice at all just don't start preaching at me or anybody in my notes, I am literally just your crazy uncle.

Minors: You probably shouldn't be here. If you dm me, I will block you, I will not interact with or respond to your comments if I am aware you are a minor. Please stay away from any posts with which I have marked the entirety of it with a tw for substance abuse or domestic abuse at the very beginning as these are often more detailed and not appropriate for anybody under 18. If I catch you liking, reblogging, or commenting on these posts, you will be blocked. If I find out you are under the age of 13 you will be automatically blocked regardless and reported to tumblr.

[lunamothedfae]

So I ordered a variety bundle of incense off of temu (I know, I know.) without bothering to actually look because I just wanted to be surprised with whatever I got, and turns out one of them is white sage. Now I highly doubt it is REAL white sage as much as I doubt "rose" is real rose instead if sort of artificially made to smell that way because ffs it is Temu, but yall, I am not native american, I am the pastiest white of whites. What do I do with the giant bundle of white sage labelled incense I now have? Do I just throw it away? Do I give it to somebody else? Do I avoid using it in any type of worship or spellwork and use it purely for scent? What do?

[lunamothedfae]

Tarot Card Comissions

Hello,

this is my attempt to turn my interest in tarot into a small side business. I am choosing to do this because my family recently had to pay for a 15,000 dollar funeral and my job has barely been paying me (At the end of the month if I have not been paid I will be leaving. I have been paid $500 in the last two weeks.) and an extra bit of pocket money coming in right now, even if I only make $30 total, would be helpful. Feel completely free to ask me for single card pulls because while making a little money is a benefit, a large part of why I am choosing to do this is also to get better at reading for someone other than myself, as I know very few people irl who don't believe tarot cards are demonic. So seriously, PLEASE ask me for a 1 card pull I greatly appreciate the opportunity for practice.

Price + any completely non obligatory tips

1 Card Spread: I will do these for free up to 3 times per person, after that, $1 per 3 readings.

3 Card Spreads: $1

This includes things such as:

Past, Present, Future

You, Your Path, Your Potential

You, Relationship, Partner

Situation, Action, Outcome

Idea, Process, Aspiration

Strength, weakness, advice

Spirit/energy working for you, spirit/energy working against you, resolution between the two. This is my own spread which I have been using frequently as of late and is meant to be a reading covering a short period of time, a day, week, or maybe a month.

These are all $1. If you send me a tip of any amount, the next 3 are free as well. I will also reset this "Counter" for you if you make any other purchase. For example, if you have asked me for a free 1 card pull three times, and on the third you tipped me a single dollar, I will do 3 more for free. Or, if you had me do a 3 card reading for you, you can also get another 3 single card pulls for free.

 

5+ cards/any spread of your choice: $3

For the 5 card spreads I will gladly do an additional 3 card spread to answer any question regarding the 5 card spread with more depth without an extra charge.

Every reading will come with a picture of the spread.

Note that I use the pgm tarot. It comes with many major arcana add ons and is themed around the greek magical papyri, and incorporates a lot of greco-egyptian mythology and symbology. If I actually get a few people interested in readings, I will buy a classic rider waite deck and let people pick between the two (probably charging slightly more for the pgm because it is more complex/carries extra major arcana.)

Payment will be through my cashapp,

$TaraJSSpring

If I do a reading for you and it REALLY resonates with you or you really appreciated a free one I did, feel free to send me a tip for it, but these are completely unnecessary and any amount will be appreciated.

If I accept a request (I probably will) please give me at least until the end of the day to get back to you with my interpretation of it. If I am unable to do it within the day, it will be free.

Below are a few examples of what the pgm deck looks like:

Anyway that's that, and the research side of this blog will likely remain inactive for a while.

[lunamothedfae]

HUGE TW.

Seriously, huge. Suicide. You may not want to read this. I do spare the details but basically I may be inactive for a bit. This is not my typical whinging rant about my husband and has nothing to do with him.

Dividers and pictures to help give plenty of time to not read this if they don't want to. Completely unrelated but just wanted to add a solid barrier between the warning and the triggering stuff.

My grandfather has comitted suicide. By gunshot. I am the one who found his body. I will probably be inactive for a while while I mourn and simply spend a lot of time alone and speaking to him at the place I found him. I was already feeling depressed over the course of the last few days, but given everything, I am entirely unable now to focus on doing any serious research for this blog and it just feels wrong to focus on right now. I will eventually return. Pray for him to rest in peace.

[lunamothedfae]

Oh, you think YOU'RE indecisive?

Well I'm a fucking bisexual nonbinary christopagan and I dare you to try to beat that. I have 666 olympic gold medals in not being able to make up my mind.

And yes this is me joking about what I would probably be called if I were out to anybody irl. (I am out to my family and husband as bisexual irl but pretty sure they think that just went away after I got married to a man + at some point I started just telling my husband I didn't think I was really attracted to women because he kept suggesting threesomes constantly and then acting upset when I joked back about it. Turns out even when it was brought up in a joking way it was a test to see if I would take it seriously or joke back in anyway so that I could be demonized for trusting him to not be a manipulative sack of shit. Like YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE THAT EVER BRINGS IT UP WHY AM I A HO FOR JUST GOING ALONG WITH YOUR LONGRUNNING HALF-SERIOUS FANTASY OF THREESOMES WITH MORMON CHICKS?)

Oh and also unwillingly out to my husband as a hellenic pagan because he went through my journal and literally read nothing but the "Hell" in hellenic pagan and began using it against me in arguments/implying I'm a satanist (Which there is nothing wrong with if you actually have any clue what satanism actually is.)

[lunamothedfae]

Man I have been in a slump the last few days

tomorrow I will shower and pray.

That's it. Those are my two whole goals for tomorrow.

[lunamothedfae]

Delphic Maxim of The Day- May 9, 2026

While I try to find the motivation to actually research melinoe (Fuck that dryad thing kinda burnt me out I honestly haven't done that much research on anything since college + I am dealing with my husband being in jail/legal issues so patience please.) I am going to do this.

Φρόνει θνητὰ

Think as a mortal.

Delphic maxim #11

Bias, 600-530 bc

My interpretation: Do not go through life feeling a sense of immunity (Likened to that of a God). Do not go through life putting yourself above others. Remember that you are subject to the same flaws and tendencies that all mortals share, and be understanding of the presence of mortal failings in others, because you are one as well. Do not hold yourself to a standard you would expect of a God. Do not allow yourself to wither spiritually, but remember to take care of the practical concerns all mortals must be concerned with to have a quality of life.

Also here is a VERY cool website where you can search the delphic maxims by category, and also provides info on the Greek philosopher that wrote it. They have an app as well, which I will be downloading. I find this super cool because, while I feel like the website wasn't created with us in mind necessarily, Christians have Bible apps and now we have something sorrrrrta similar to that. It's cool, damnit. Also thank you to the person I reblogged talking about the pillars of hellenism for reminding me that the delphic maxims even exist, I never did focus on them enough.

https://share.google/EcZbjCUuuRCAPN7Qm

[blessednereids]

This is your annual reminder that “The 7 Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism” were not made in antiquity. They hold no true binding to Hellenic Polytheism as a religion as these Pillars were not followed in Ancient Greece—Or at any time until the last decade or so

They are, of course, nice to have in mind, and everyone should be kind and humble when necessary, but I’m honestly kind of tired of hearing that these Pillars are “foundational” to the religion or included in “Helpol basics” posts

A man named Timothy Jay Alexander initially created these Pillars, and while he took inspiration from Ancient Greek philosophers, he very much was not one himself

He’s known to be intolerant of Revivalist views of Hellenic Polytheism, and because of his strict Recon perspective, believes that queer, ill and disabled people cannot or should not be allowed to hold the title of Priestx (link)

You are allowed to hold yourself to standards like the Pillars, but acting as though they are actual rules of Hellenic Polytheism, or, Gods forbid, pushing them on others, is so disheartening to see

Just because something has a Greek name, doesn’t automatically make it authentically Helpol or from antiquity

The closest thing from antiquity that we have like the Pillars are the Delphic Maxims, honestly

Anyway. Do you what you like, but this is just some information for those of you who are unaware

[lunamothedfae]

I had no idea about this. Thank you.

[lunamothedfae]

My motivation for this is gone fuck it gimme a week anyway here is a poem about my husband's old drug dealer.

[crowdrinkingcoffee]

a petition against house bill 249, the bill designed to target drag performers and gender nonconforming people in ohio through the policing of what they wear

Ohio: Drag is not a crime

Hey! I just took action to stop a bill in Ohio that bans drag and could even label women in sports bras as felons. We need to stop this gove

please sign and/or reblog if you can. you can still sign if you’re not in the us as far as i know, although if you have a vpn you can switch your ip address if you’re worried.

tags (let me know if you wish to be removed): @zephyrofkindness @greeen-bean @sydthecalmearthling @winter-depressed-belle  @assignedchaosatbirth @thelocalidiot @ivanhoe1820 @tasty-cilantro @verylonedad @thegayfoxboy @justanotherbookwyrm @yourlocaltboy @poirolivia @here-for-the-vibe @iobsesswaytoomuch @mybedismytruelove @dysphoria-things @radiobeetle @looneytoonsboi @princess-milky-quartz @adora-your-trans-fox-goddess @rocket-amongst-the-stars @00venator 

[lunamothedfae]

So.

ik I only have like 4 followers so I may not get many responses to this poll, but I am hoping some random helpols or anybody with even a modicum of interest in greek mythology (My blog is for you, too, even if you don't practice any kind of paganism. Anybody who can respect my beliefs and isn't a part of my dni is welcome here, although I would prefer minors avoid posts that are vents or have substance abuse cw/tw.)

What should my next research topic be?

Nymphs in general

Sites of worship (Caves specifically)

Melinoe (Goddess of ghosts, daughter of persephone.)

The Agathos Daimon

A random legendary/mythic tribe of my choosing

Hekate

Kronos

Voting ended onMay 8

[lunamothedfae]

Let's Talk About DRYADS

So I think this is going to be a regular thing I do with this blog, posts about less talked about elements of Greek Mythology and Legend in helpol, both as a way to bring attention to them that they deserve and also as motivation for me to educate myself.

Here we go, it's long.

Dryads 

Intro: 

Dryads are a type of nymph in Greek mythology. What separates them from other nymphs is that their life cycle is considered to be tied to their own specific, individual tree: they are born with the tree, they flourish with the tree, and they die with the tree. Dryads are categorized by the type of tree their spirit is connected to. 

The name “Dryad” comes from the word “Drys” which meant “Oak tree”. They were called such because their original definition only encompassed spirits thought to inhabit oak trees, and the term later expanded to include all tree-inhabiting spirits.

Appearance

Dryads were normally depicted as beautiful women with flowing hair and clothing, although on rare occasion they were depicted as male.  Below are two more modern depictions of dryads. The picture with 2 dryads is from Howard Lyon Illustration, they have a page on facebook.

History and appearances in literature: 

The “Argonautica”,

 in this passage about a hamadryad (Later the specific term for the dryads of oak trees) cursing a man for felling the tree to which she was bound (Because this would eventually be the cause of her own death) 

“O my friends, not all men are arrogant, it seems, nor unmindful of benefits. Even as this man, loyal as he is, came hither to learn his fate. For when he laboured the most and toiled the most, then the needs of life, ever growing more and more, would waste him, and day after day ever dawned more wretched, nor was there any respite to his toil. But he was paying the sad penalty of his father’s sin. For he when alone on the mountains, felling trees, once slighted the prayers of a Hamadryad, who wept and sought to soften him with plaintive words, not to cut down the stump of an oak tree coeval with herself, wherein for a long time she had lived continually; but he in the arrogance of youth recklessly cut it down. So to him the nymph thereafter made her death a curse, to him and to his children. I indeed knew of the sin when he came; and I bid him build an altar to the Thynian nymph, and offer on it an atoning sacrifice, with prayer to escape his father’s fate. Here, ever since he escaped the god-sent doom, never has he forgotten or neglected me; but sorely and against his will do I send him from my doors, so eager is he to remain with me in my affliction.”

Hesiod's Theogeny (8th century bc)

Contains the first mention of dryads in ancient work. They were termed Meliae and considered offspring of Gaia (The primordial goddess of the earth.) 

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Ovid was not Greek, but a Roman poet. Describes dryads participating in group dances with linked hands around a central tree. This book is one where the myth of Ekho and the myth of daphne are found. 

Theological and worldview significance 

The existence of dryads within greek mythology points to the elements of animism that were present in ancient Greek religion. The belief that all of nature is a manifestation of the divine. This belief tends to show itself as people assigning the existence of actual spirits to different parts of nature. 

Dryads were often considered to be forms of minor goddesses, and cults for local nymphs and dryads did exist, and people were known to form close relationships with them. We know this because they had a name for these people: the “nympholept” or “One captured by the nymphs”. Often these cults were also associated with the God Pan, who I need to do more research on. Nympholepts were considered people of extreme devotion, and are described in the one source I found on them as being hermit-like, those so devoted to the nymphs that they “Withdraw” into the wild. (Hence the nymphs have “Captured” them.) 

The worship of dryads and nymphs are some of the first and only examples of highly solitary worship within ancient Greece. There is at least once cave in which a man WROTE on the side that he was instructed by nymphs, directly, to hollow out that cave, and to build a “Garden” for the nymphs. He wrote his name (Archedemos) and origin (Thera) on the cave as well. The dryads were also worshipped alongside pan in this cave, and archedemos carved a relief of himself as well, holding the tools he used to further hollow out the cave. It may have previously and later been used in cult worship and the worship of Apollo.

 We, as modern hellenic polytheists, have a lot to learn from people and instances such as this.  Like them, excluding online spaces, our practice is typically completely solitary, and so much of ancient greek religion centered around communal worship, which is simply not possible for most worshippers today. Obviously, we don’t have to go out into caves and live there and create “Nymph gardens”, but it makes sense to at least try to understand and learn about examples of solitary practice in history when almost all of us are solitary practitioners irl. 

Types of Dryad 

Meliai: Nymphs of ash trees. Believed to have been the mothers of mankind, marrying men of the silver age (Which took place before the creation of the first human woman. Maybe I should do research into the Hellenic conception of “Ages” next.

Oreiades: Nymphs of mountain conifers. 

Hamadryades: Nymphs of oak and poplar trees. Were believed to mostly reside near rivers and in sacred groves (where the theoi were worshipped)

Maliades: Nymphs of apple trees, other fruit trees, and protectors of sheep. 

Daphnaie: Nymphs of laurel trees 

Aigeroi: Black poplars

Ampeloi: Grape vines 

Balanis: Ilex 

Karyai: Of the hazelnut trees

Kraneiai: Of the cherry trees (I suppose this may be a subdivision of maliades as this is also a fruit tree?)

Moreai: Of the mulberry trees

Ptelai: Of the elm trees 

Sykei: Of fig trees

Notable Dryads in Mythology (Or just some stories I find cool.) 

Daphne: Said to be the daughter of a river deity (Or sometimes a Spartan king), who was known for being a virgin/rejecting the attention of men. She was favored by Artemis, another Goddess to whom virginity/lack of dealings with men is attributed, and was blessed with archery skills. She is the main figure (Other than Apollo, of course!) in the myth that describes how the laurel became Apollo’s sacred tree. Like many men, he pursued Daphne. To avoid the attention of Apollo, she transformed herself into a Laurel tree. While this story, like many greek myths, still has that element of the theoi pursuing a woman without consent, I do find it somewhat different and refreshing that Apollo did not punish her for rejecting his advances, but made the tree she turned into sacred to him and his worshippers for all time. So many times it seems women in greek mythology are punished or have horrible fates for rejecting the Gods’ advances. This story speaks almost of regret by Apollo for pursuing her so harshly that she felt her only way of escape was to turn into a tree. It can however, also be read as a refusal to leave her alone even when she has transformed herself radically to avoid his attention. 

Eurydice: Wife of Orpheus and the reason he descended into the underworld. Occasionally, Apollo is said to be her father, which would make sense because he taught Orpheus to play the lyre. Through his music, orpheus gained passage to the underworld from Charon, and even moved Persephone and Hades to such deep sorrow that they permitted Orpheus to bring Eurydice with him out of the underworld. He was instructed not to look at Eurydice until they had both left the underworld, but he looked back as he exited, and lost eurydice forever. (This somewhat reminds me of that part of the Bible where a guy’s wife turns back to look at the city they were fleeing and turns into salt.) 

Ekho: In mythology, she was a helper and assistant to Hera, but Hera became annoyed by her “Constant chatter” which took her attention away from Zeus (Who was using her distraction to, erm, “Play” with other nymphs.) She was cursed to only repeat the words of others (Aka echo). She attempted to gain the attentions of Narcissus but was rejected, and wasted away. 

Sources 

DRYADS & OREADS (Dryades & Oreiades) - Tree & Mountain Nymphs of Greek Mythology https://share.google/5Uky8lcAr216ntA4f

Argonautica Index | Internet Sacred Text Archive

 

Dryads: Tree Nymphs of Greek Mythology | History Cooperative  

 The Dryad Eurydice in Greek Mythology - Greek Legends and Myths

 

Daphne – Mythopedia

Daphne was a virginal nymph, the daughter of a Greek river god. In her most famous myth, she was desired by the Olympian god Apollo and was

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Metamorphoses, by Ovid  

[demigirl-in-christ]

i think part of the problem with Christianity in the US is that for many americans, being a Christian doesn't mean practicing or even believing in the teachings of Jesus, but rather adhering to the religion as a sort of political and cultural identity.

you see it in their sermons and the way they talk about their religion. it's all about abortion and same-sex marriage and nationalism and who you vote for. they only open a bible to justify their political opinions. Jesus and God are only mentioned to serve as an appeal to authority argument.

[lunamothedfae]

I have a post coming up about Dryads. I honestly think I am going to start using this tumblr account to motivate myself to do deeper research into Greek mythology (Specifically, the theoi I worship most often and any lesser talked about aspects I discover and find interesting.)

I find it difficult to get through scholarly articles about the subject but knowing my notes on it that help me to actually learn are going to be shared with others who search for it and help THEM learn as well, helps with the motivation. I am done for today but I guess I am posting this as sort of accountability to actually finish the damn thing. I will probably work more on it after work but I've already got all my sources and 800 words in this document so I am a little burnt out on it. (I wish I had a laptop but my husband fucked that up ages ago. I find this stuff much harder to do on a phone.)

Anyway yall dryads are super cool and provide extremely cool examples of how solitary and small group worship worked in ancient greece making it pretty relevant to today because most helpols are solitary and ALL of them are at most small group practicioners. Helpol simply no longer exists in groups on the scale it did in ancient greece so I find it super relateable to read about how they did worship alone or in smaller groups. Did not expect to realize how relevant dryads are to modern day practice anyway that is a summary of what I am learning so far I love this.

(The final post will have sources and will be pretty long for a tumblr post)

[lunamothedfae]

Ok yall, I think the tea thing was from the chlorine levels because I just drank coffee from a cup that I WASHED with that water (use bottled water now to make the coffee because the water here smells much stronger than pool water and you can taste the chlorine strongly even through coffee) and I THINK it may genuinely be the chlorine because my lips are tingling again. Not normal after normal coffee. How could the chlorine be so high just WASHING a cup with the water causes this though? This is insane.

[lunamothedfae]

Tea should not do that. It sounds like something is wrong with that tea or you need to avoid peppermint from now on.

Turns out the store water had levels of chlorine so high they shut down the BATHROOMS so I wonder if it could have been that.

[thecollectibles]

Artemis Leading the Hunt — MTG Style by Ivana Abbate