I am Nox Tal, a folk / chaos practitioner. I am 20 years old and have been practicing for 8 years. I am studying and worshiping deities of the Greek Pantheon. Specifically, Apollon, Hestia, Tyche, and Mnemosyne. I work heavily with plants, animals, and ancestors.
My folk practices are deeply intertwined in Mexican and Appalachian practices and superstitions. I work closely with the land and as closely to my culture as I can get.
I hope to bring a bit of the knowledge I gain to the table as well as have some of my many questions answered. The point of this blog is to mark my journey and help me find community.
Hestia • Facts and Information on Greek Goddess Hestia
HESTIA - Greek Goddess of Hearth & Home (Roman Vesta)
Cultivating Domestic Harmony with the Goddess Hestia | by Deanna Riddick, PhD | Medium
Simple Ways To Honor Hestia – @hearthcentereddevotions on Tumblr
εὐήλιος — A guide to worship of Hestia- cheat sheets
Hestia (deity) | Research Starters | EBSCO Research
Hestia's Origin - The First and Last
Born first of Kronos and Rhea, Hestia is a goddess of the home, and all involved within. Her siblings Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, and Hades followed in that order. Each swallowed by their father, who was worried of a prophecy that said he would be overthrown by one of his own children. Zeus, the youngest managed to escape this fate thanks to their mother Rhea. After Zeus freed his siblings from their fathers' stomach, Hestia came out last. Making her the oldest and youngest; the first and the last.
Hestia's Virginity - The Pursuit of Lovelessness
The virginity of goddesses is something widely discussed in myth. It has often been the publics main wonder as to why these gorgeous, all-powerful, lively goddesses would WANT to remain virgins. In all reality, especially in the case of Hestia, there was no love to give to another in her heart. Not in that way of course. She was one of the few goddesses that did not feel compelled by the shackles of intimacy and thus went about keeping her virginity despite the protests and pursuit of suitors. Specifically, Lord Apollon and Lord Poseidon. When Hestia placed her hand upon Zeus' head and declared she would not be taking a man and would remain a virgin by the will of Zeus she was safe from their advances and has been a virgin goddess since.
Hestia's Domain - The Devout and Humble
Hestia rules over the home and family. She embodies the more domestic tasks such as cleaning and cooking. She represents chastity, femininity, modesty, and purity. She rules over the sacred fire within a home or within a city. An ever-burning fire that is shared amongst neighbors. She is in my opinion deeply connected to community as her fire was shared and feasts and festivals were among the entirety of a city, not simply a solitary person.
It is her that is given offerings first and last. Meaning the steam as the meal cools or the first bite, and the last bite or the leftovers. She is offered the first prayer and is mentioned again at the end, eternally honoring her role as the eldest and youngest of her siblings.
Hestia's Lessons - The Need and Desire
From Hestia I have learned a handful of things. I have learned much more than what I will mention but I do not wish for my practice to influence or contradict other experiences, making others feel lesser because you are not lesser.
The first thing I learned from her rather quickly was the separation between need and desire. Things that offer stability, safety, and add to my sanctuary versus things that offer satisfaction, simplicity, and add to my surface level desires.
The easy way is not the way to go. It is a path of doubt in one's abilities. What I think she means by this is my personal journey normally offers multiple pathways, some easy and some hard, and while the easier pathways may offer me something I value (speed, simplicity, satisfaction, etc.) there may also be a doubt in myself and my abilities. I may not be seeking that simplicity I may just not believe I am good enough at my job to get that promotion.
Offerings are not just physical. Yes, yes, I know. What a strange thing to say when people have been saying that for years now. Well, it took a goddess telling me.
Devotions and Offerings to Hestia
The basic offerings of water, milk, honey, bread, meat, first harvest, etc.
TLDR: If you practice witchcraft and/or are a pagan and also work with Mother Mary, Please DM me because I'm working on an art and research project and want to interview you.
Hello everyone! This post is a call for any type of witch, pagan, or other magical practitioner who works with Mother Mary.
I am working on an art research project about witchcraft, paganism, and Mother Mary and how/why people work with and connect to her in their magical practice. So weather you work just with Her, Her and other deities, or have some sort of syncretistic situation, I would love to hear all about it for my project. Also please reblog this so I can reach as many potential interview subjects as possible
(description under the cut bc I don't want to clog up anyone's feed with the project description)
The project: I will be casting Mary statues out of plaster and then decorating them to go with a matching mini altar based on the different ways people I talk to work with Her. I will then be writing a paper about the experience of creating this and the subject of the work.
If you decide to contact me, I will generally be asking about your history with Christianity, your methods and procedures with worship/working with her, if you incorporate other deities into your practice, and other information about your practice. You can give as much or as little information as you want. I will ask if I can directly quote our conversation in my paper, if you are uncomfortable with this and do not want to be quoted or want your quotes to be anonymous, that it completely ok. You do not need to be comfortable being quoted to participate. I am looking to publish this paper in an academic journal (if they'll take me) or on it's own public website so keep that in mind.
I am looking for personal experiences and personal gnosis! You do not need to be some sort of expert in Mariology or paganism or witchcraft!
We will first talk over tumblr to make sure you qualify for this study and then move on to a Zoom interview if you are comfortable with that or email interview (email because it is a better medium for longer responses and easier to cite and look back on than social media chats)
Thank your for reading to the end and entertaining my crazy project idea. Please message me if you would like to participate and if you know someone who might by interested please send this to them.
Good timezone, everyone! And thank you for the participation from last week! I quickly learned that reblogging this post means your post won't appear under the hashtag? Even if you use it? So moving forward, use the hashtag and just tag this account if you'd like to be reblogged!
This week's topic:
What lesser known / underappreciated deities do you worship, and how?
This topic was submitted by one of you! So, thank you for the submission :)
I'll go first!
This isn't a deity, unfortunately, I don't quite... worship any lesser known deities? But I do worship heroes and the lessons they teach. I worship King Odysseus of Ithaca. I worship him every now and again in prayer, but mostly through action. I devote my problem solving to him, my time at the gym will occasionally be devoted to him, and I have a bottle on my nightstand full of sand and shells that I picked up at the thrift store that I devote to him, as well.
Now, he is a very humble man. Wise, knowledgeable. Always eager to help me learn. I love having conversations with him. And there is much to learn from him, of course.
I look forward to everyone's responses! And remember, don't reblog, just tag me and use the hashtag. If you don't want to be reblogged, you do not need to tag me.
I'm not entirely sure how lesser known Mnemosyne and Tyche are but I worship them.
Lady Mnemosyne is like a history teacher to me. One of the ones who is super loud and her voice echoes against the classroom walls. Quiet any other time except when speaking of her passion. She's graceful and knowledgeable and ancient. I work with her in daily life, and she helps me connect with my ancestors.
Lady Tyche is like a smaller energy. Quite with words and loud with actions. She reminds me of a politician though. Never really answers the question. It's always a dance with her and it's lovely. I work with her for business, finances, luck, prosperity, and anything in that area. She is the sun I get to wake up to in the morning just as much as she is the dollar bill I find on the ground.
I see her in the braids that hang loosely from my head.
I see her in ribbons, twine, and thread.
I see her in steam flushed against a window.
I see her in the embers of autumn leaves dancing low.
I see her in songs sung by windchimes.
I see her in midwives.
I see her in dandelions and dragons' breath.
I see her in hot meals and whatever is left.
I see her in meadows and corn fields.
I see her in the way new memories feel.
I see her in the shadows my plants cast.
I see her as the first and the last.
Lady Hestia – @sunlight-and-calliopes on Tumblr
εὐήλιος — A guide to worship of Hestia- cheat sheets
Robert Garland’s “Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks,” is a favorite of mine. It covers a wide range of topics and aspects of Ancient Greek life that you probably hadn’t thought about. “Religion in the Ancient Greek City,” by Louise Zaidman is always a really good read.
If you’re looking for a more modern reconstruct, the LABRYS’ “Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship,” is a great starting point too. If you want to cut all the fluff and get straight into it, Walter Burket’s “Greek Religion,” gets cited in just about every book ever about Hellenic Polytheism. It’s tackles a broad range, but dry imho, so I’ve never read all of it.
Honestly, I could recommend a lot more, but then we’d be here forever. If you need the links, lmk! I’ll probably reblog this with them later when I get the chance too.
Good timezone, all! To kick off this project, here is our first topic!
What initially brought you to Hellenic Polytheism?
I'll go first :)
I was drawn to Hellenic Polytheism in the Sixth Grade after we read The Lightning Thief in class. My group was assigned Hermes for a tri-fold presentation we needed to make, and that was how my research began. I thought the world of Ancient Greece was interesting and wanted to learn more. And while I didn't know the label was Hellenic Polytheism, in my sixth-grade brain, I could just honor the Gods and thank them whenever I felt like.
Feel free to reblog this with your answer or use the hashtag! And remember to mention me! If you don't want it reblogged, please specify in your post!
I began my journey last year sometime in August. I believe I started with Lady Mnemosyne and have since broadened my horizons and started deep diving as much as I can. I was looking for community and found a not so positive one, but the Gods were there and in them I have found comfort and safety.
While still searching for community I have begun to understand some people are just meant to be solitary and have accepted that. The gods are here with me; they are my community.
Deities in general. There is this deep feeling of dread when trying to honor them because of the buried fear that I will disappoint them or that they are already, in fact, disappointed. Also, the overwhelming feeling of actually trying to sit down and give them an offering/devotional act. Worried that I'm always doing it wrong or if I miss a day, I'm less devoted. A lot intimidates me about them.
