As Above, So Below

a blog dedicated to the study of hellenic polytheism, metaphysical philosophy and esotericism

[obscurus568]

HI, ALL!

This blog is meant to be a journal as I learn more about philosophy, occultism and Hellenic Polytheism. My goal is to formalize my worldview into a coherent system that other people could use in their esoteric practice. Any advice is welcome!

[obscurus568]

HECATE OF THE THEOURGOI

Nowadays Hecate is most known for her darker aspects; She is a Chthonic Goddess of night, witchcraft, spirits and the Moon. But some scholars and philosopher-priests of Late Antiquity characterized her as an Ouranic, Celestial Goddess of Light, the source and engine of our ensoulment, as well a Salvific figure delivering the soul from the material world. I am referring, of course, to the Chaldean Hecate.

Hecate is mentioned in a myriad of neoplatonic, hermetic and even gnostic treatises, prayers and spells, most notably the Greek Magical Papyri and the Chaldean Oracles, and is even equated to Plato's World Soul, from which all souls split akin to a ray of light hitting a prism.

In this interpretation, she is understood as a mother of every idea(eidos), pregnant with forms which are then used by the Demiurge while fashioning our physical reality. She is comes forth from the transcendent fire of The One to ensoul and sustain all life.

With this understanding it's only right to not place her underground, but thrust her upwards, higher than the planetary heavens, as she precedes, drives and sustains them as the Cosmos' Dynamis, It's Power.

[hekateanwitchcraft]

Ancient Greek Religion & Hellenic Polytheism: A Reading Guide

I’ve been wanting to make something like this for a long while, and talking to my friend @olympianbutch today gave me the push I needed to do so. When I was starting out as a Hellenic Polytheist years ago, this is the kind of resource I needed. So I hope you all enjoy and find this helpful!

Introductory Reading:

Ancient Greek Religion by Jon D. Mikalson

Athenian Popular Religion by Jon D. Mikalson

Greek Religion by Jan N. Bremmer

On Greek Religion by Robert Parker

Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship by LABRYS

Comprehensive Guides:

Greek Religion by Walter Burkert

Companion to Greek Religion edited by Daniel Ogden

Understanding Greek Religion by Jennifer Larson

Rethinking Greek Religion by Julia Klindt

The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion edited by Esther Eidinow and Julia Klindt

Polytheism and Society by Robert Parker

The Gods and Theology:

Ancient Greek Cults by Jennifer Larson

Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion edited by Esther Eidinow, Julia Klindt, and Robin Osborne

Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion by Ellie Mackin Roberts

Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World (Routledge Series)

Offerings and Sacrifice:

Personal Experience and Materiality in Greek Religion by K.A. Rask

Singing for the Gods by Barbara Kowalzig

Smoke Signals for the Gods by F.S. Maiden

Sharing with the Gods by Theodora Suk Fong Jim

Primary Sources:

Theogony & Works and Days by Hesiod

The Homeric Hymns

The Orphic Hymns

Sources for the Study of Greek Religion by David Rice and John Stambaugh

Greek Religion: A Sourcebook by Valerie M. Warrior

Ancient Greek Religion: A Sourcebook by Emily Kearns

[obscurus568]

HECATE-ARTEMIS-SELENE IDENTIFICATION

There is a rather large number of modern pagans who worship Hecate, Artemis and Selene as a single goddess in three forms: maiden, mother, crone. This view is most popular with wiccans and wicca-adjacent witches, but the ancients had their own way of uniting these Goddesses. In Orphic hymns Hecate, Selene and Artemis share several epithets, tools, sacred animals and even areas of supplication. This view would become prominent in the Roman Empire as well, when each goddess, as a part of Trivia, represented her at a different layer of the cosmos: Selene/Luna was the Celestial hypostasis of Trivia, Diana/Artemis – the Mundane (as in walking the earth), and Hecate – the Chthonic. This identification is similar to what happened with Apollo and Helios, where cults influenced each other so much that the gods started sharing epithets and places in cosmologies/theogonies.

What do you think about such an identification and how does that affect your practice? I'd love to know more about modern hellenic polytheists and their practices.