iāll be honest learning about behaviour modification and canine psychology has really helped me process my own feelings and emotional responses
i find so much therapy talk aimed at humans has too much flowery abstract prose about mindfulness or whatever but for myself I really prefer an approach focused on hard science and what biochemical processes are responsible for me feeling this way, especially anxiety. Also why i prefer listening to lectures given by psychologists or counselors made for other fellow psychs and counselors.
But yeah I feel like thereās lessons anxious humans can take home from anxious dogs
reactiveness is usually the product of fear and unconfidence
when something becomes too overwhelming slow down, add more distance
every time you practice an avoidant behaviour it gets more ingrained and will take more effort to beak the habit once it has been well established.
try refocusing on something else when you feel yourself starting to get worked up over something
progress is slow and if you think you can fix things overnight you are setting yourself up for disappointment
donāt only correct mistakes, actively give praise as well
hi, i was wondering if maybe you could help / give me some advices ?
iām a hellenic polytheist but iām also disabled. because of that, iām always exhausted, and i have almost no motivation, so i tend not to worship. itās not good for me, because i feel better when i am connected to the Gods, especially when i have a daily routine. but i started uni in september and iāve barely been able to do anything because either iām busy, or my executive dysfunction stops me, or iām so exhausted and in pain that i get lazy and choose to scroll on my phone in bed instead of honouring the Theoi. i really need to find ways to go back to connecting with them and building kharis, but i donāt know how to build a routine for that, and how to manage to actually do it ?
Firstly, congratulations on starting university! Uni is a huge endeavour and it's important to focus on your studies and do the best you can. That is a priority, and you should not feel guilty or torn over dedicating time to that. Secondly, I want to add that it's not lazy to only do what you're capable of. You said yourself you're in pain and exhausted, I'm not surprised if at the end of the day you are not more active. Our brains need time to decompress just like our bodies, and scrolling on social media is a way to do both.
We are allowed to have hobbies and enjoy them!
Now. Habits. There is a technique called habit stacking which is where you use a current habit or behaviour and build another into that. Do you brush your teeth regularly? You could choose to add pouring out a libation of water to the gods while you brush (you're already at a water source after all). Do you like to sit in the shower and close your eyes, enjoying the water? You could say a quick word of praise or pray to the theoi while you do that ("Glorious theoi, givers of good things, thank you for your abundant blessings" etc.). As you walk to class is there a flowering plant or water feature, something that looks pretty and reminds you of their beauty? When you eat meals, could you portion off a piece first in offering to the gods? When we stop to think, there are a million moments in every day where we could add the gods to our lives, and you only need to pick one or two.
A reminder I needed too: you can ask the theoi for help in times of need. Attending university, you could pray to Athena, maybe Hermes, and/or any other gods relevant to your course. You could also pray to Apollo, Asklepios and Hygeia regarding your disabilities.Ā This may help with the feeling of connection since it will be relating directly to things you live with every day.
I also want to try a little mindset shift here. Try not to focus so much on the idea that you need to build the habit of devotion, and instead focus on your love for the theoi. From "I have to find more time for this" to "I want to show them my appreciation." It's a small thing, but the stress of 'I have to I have to' really sucks out the joy. You are already accomplishing so much and should be proud of that, donāt be hard on yourself for one thing youāre not doing.
I hope my babble helped in some way. I encourage people to reblog or reply in the comments with any thoughts!
This modern system of daily devotions blends material from two sources: Hesiod's sacred month, as described in his Works and Days, and the Orphic Hymns. The ideas in the Orphic Hymns sometimes don't match with more mainstream beliefs of the polis. But using these hymns is worth it because it helps us honor not just the main gods, but also many smaller ones. This way, we can pay our respects to a wide range of gods throughout the whole month.
Other hymns may of course be substituted at the individual's discretion. The numbers given for the hymns correspond to those in Apostolos N. Athanassakis, The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation and Notes
Thomas Taylor's 1792 translation of the hymns is available online, free and in its entirety, at the Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Here:
The Hymns of Orpheus, Thomas Taylor, translator
Morning and Evening Devotions
Morning
Wash hands and face
Light lamp or candle
Hymn to Hestia (#84)
Light incense
Hymn to Eos (#78)
Hymn to Helios (#8)
Hymn(s) to special god/dess(es) of the day (see chart)
Additional hymns as desired (see chart)
Pour libation
Make personal supplications and thanksgivings
"Orpheus to Mousaios" (pp. 2-5)
Extinguish lamp or candle
Evening
Wash hands and face
Light lamp or candle
Hymn to Hestia (#84)
Light incense
Hymn to Nyx (#3)
Hymn to Selene (#9)
Hymn to the Stars (#7)
Hymn(s) to patron/matron god/desses
Hymn to Sleep (#85)
Hymn to Dream (#86)
Pour libation
Make personal supplications and thanksgivings
Hymn to Zeus (#15)
Extinguish lamp or candle
A shortened version of the devotions may be done by simply lighting a candle, reading "Orpheus to Mousaios," saying any personal prayers, and extinguishing the candle.
Notes on chart:
Days mentioned by Hesiod as sacred to specific deities are marked.
Horkos is the god (or, if you like, personification) of Oath. Days sacred to this deity are considered difficult.
As the lunar calendar months range between 29 and 30 days in the Greek reckoning, it may be necessary in short months to recite all the hymns for both day 29 and day 30 on the day of the dark moon. As the last day of the month is sacred to Hekate, Her hymn should always be included.
About Incense
The Orphic Hymns specify particular types of incense to be offered to each deity. In cases where one is saying multiple hymns with differing instructions, one might either choose a single type or make a blend of all those indicated. Pure frankincense makes a good all-purpose offertory incense.
The incense specifications from the Orphic text are as follows:
Am I a reconstructionist? No. And I do think there is a difference between Recon and Revival.
Here is my feeling of difference, some are absolutely going to disagree with this but its my perspective:
"Polytheist Reconstructionism & Revivalism is the worship of a pantheon of Gods heavily influenced by the original religion that worshipped them. It is not a claim of continuity with that religion, or a desire to reinstate the ancient culture & its morals/laws. Reconstructionism attempts to be as close as possible to actual ancient practice without forgoing modern morals. While Revivalism attempts to remain close to the meaning of the ancient practiceā allowing for heavy modern adaptations while still fulfilling the ancient practice purpose."
My entire practice has to be modified for my disability, I had dreams of recon but the methods I can't preform.
My zero spoon praxis is all modern:
My method of low spoon / no spoon libations is entirely modern and not at all how the ancient people would do it. Purpose: Doing libations is better than not doing them.
The idea of just invoking them. Saying "Hygeia" before a shower. Saying Theoi's names before a sip or bite to make it an offering. Etc. Purpose: Again literally anything is better than nothing.
Watching TV "with" the Gods (no I don't believe they're sitting next to me or anything). Purpose: keep the Gods in my life and mind, as they were ever present for the ancient people.
Defining "purity" as being clean with the clear ability to focus on the Gods even if in PJs. Definitely not ancient standard. I'd worship if sick if I can get all the symptoms under control (like cough medicine for example), have clean clothes, wash hands and face, focus. I'd worship on a period so long as I was clean and could focus. Etc. Purpose: while it is not the ancient standard of purity, purity is important so I had to have some sort of bench mark (its even more important in Sumerian but thats outside scope of post)
New Festivals (I usually write low spoon versions). I'm trying out some ancient ones but I find them hard to connect to (or at least don't have energy yet to appreciate them), I make my own right now. Purpose: The ancient people really liked festivals
I could go on, point is adapting ancient practices to make an attempt to meet the purpose is my goal. I'm not focused necessarily on using the ancient methods (well not yet I take things as my disability allows)
But without reconstructionists (many of whom are classicists) I would not know:
Miasma vs lyma. And this is important because I had met people who head veiled specifically to protect themselves from miasma because they thought it was that common and bad
Different methods of purity: just washing hands face; barley throwing; fire extinguished in water; few others
How to structure ancient prayers if you want to write them in that way. And how it is interwoven with Kharis.
Literally any ancient Hellenic Festival outside the book by Labrys (and I suppose Kosmos but I don't trust the author)
Debunks of modern Hellenic Polytheist things people are claiming are ancient when they are modern
Anything that requires translation from ancient Greek to explain the concept because either no English language translation exists or more often the English translation leaves out significant valuable information for religious practice.
Explanations of ancient texts and their context
Epithet explanations
Explanations of various Theoi beyond the "God of ___" one finds in website info blurbs
Ancient Greek Calendars
Book resource recommendations and often free access.
Website resources recommendations.
Journal articles & authors recommendations
If I didn't know the ancient standards and methods I would not be able to adapt anything at all and meet the "purpose"
........ literally being able to ask questions from people who have actual knowledge of the ancient religion and are willing to take time out of their day to answer
Reconstructionists do so much damn leg work in Hellenic Polytheism. So much. And so many people seem to refuse to acknowledge that. We take it all but never appreciate their approach. And many reconstructionists have been run off this website for no good reason.
I have seen a grand total of one person claiming to be recon who disparaged non-reconstructionists, and he was a xenophobic douche regardless. Beyond that I haven't had any recon disparage revivalism [edit: as in disparage the fact that it exists or claim its not Hellenic Polytheism]. Correction on information =/= hate. Pointing out something is modern =/= hate. Having different opinions =/= hate.
So to all the Hellenic Polytheist Reconstructionists: Thank you.
Your Reddit occultist friends have mentioned it, itās popping up on all these Tumblr posts about banishing and stuff, but you still havenāt the foggiest clue: what the fuck is the LBRP?Ā
Fret not: hereās a handy guide. Warning: long post ahead!
Disclaimer: This guide represents the sum total of roughly thirteen years of on-and-off experience with the ritual and my own study and understanding of the Kabbalah and the Golden Dawn system, but emphasis is on the words my own. There will be points that Iām sure other occultists will disagree on, but Iām of the conviction that the principles underlying my understanding of the ritual are unlikely to be controversial among most ceremonial magicians.
I don't know when you made that post but are you still having that issue? I believe that I am also being followed by an entity that is killing me. From 2011 to 2013 it gave me strength in exchange for hurting myself but in 2014 it tried to get me to kill myself and after I didn't do it it stopped rewarding me and life has been becoming more intolerable every year physically and mentally.
You need to perform a banishing ritual. There are various ceremonies you can perform to achieve this. Variations of this will work:
What youāll need
-5 candles (two black, two white, one purple if you can manage it, but if no black is available, white and purple will do)
-Salt
-sage and or Palo santo
-Banishing herbs (mugwort, eucalyptus, peppermint, cayenne, etc) you can add as many or as little as you like. One will suffice.
-Herbs for protection (rosemary, basil, bay, cinnamon etc)
-dagger/ceremonial knife
-metal/glass bowl, cauldron, or abalone shell
-frankincense incense (optional)
1. Ring of salt
Find a clean area in which to perform the banishing spell. Draw a ring of salt around you, within the ring of salt, draw a pentagram. Make sure it has one point at the topānot two. (Upside down is used for dark magic, the opposite of what we are trying to achieve here).
2. Place candles at each point of the star
Generally I put purple at the top, purple is a dominating spiritual color, which forces the target to leave. Then place the black and white candles around the other four points. Black breaks the targetās will, casts it out. White is healing, cleansing. With each candle that you light, set your intention. Be firm and blunt, and say something along the lines of, āThis is not the place for you, and itās time for you to leave.ā You may wish to offer a blessing or well-wishes if it makes you feel better about things, and say, āIt is time for you to move on, and we wish you the best in your new place.ā Frequently, this will do the trick and eliminate whatever problems you may have been having.
3. Burn sage
After setting your intention and giving the entity its marching orders with each candle. Take a deep breath and light the sage. Once it begins to burn, wave it in a circle above your head, trace it all around your body, and say your affirmation and intention over and over. Variations of: āthis is not a place for you, itās time for you to leave.ā āYou are not welcome in this spaceā, āI banish you from this spaceā should be chanted over and over while you do this. Focus all your energy into forcing the entity as far away from you as possible. Do this part until you feel itās presence burning off.
4. Burn incense/herbs
Burn the incense and the dried herbs in a cauldron or glass bowl. Continue to chant, and be sure to bless each corner of the 5 pointed star. You can use pagan gods, archangels, or the elements. I use the elements personally. āIn the name of the divine spirit I banish thee from this space.ā āIn the name of the power of water, I banish thee from this spaceā, āin the name of sacred fire, I banish theeā earth, air etc.
5. Clearing/closing
After the herbs and incense have burned to ashes, you will close the circle. You can use crystals if you like in this ritual. Quartz and selenite are particularly good in this. You can hold each one and focus your energy on banishing as you hold the crystal. Once this part is done, you lift each candle in the palm of your hand and say your affirmations again. One for each candle, then blow it out. Do this one by one until they are done. With the last candle, be sure to tell it to go away and never come back, because it is no longer welcome. After the final candle is blown out, you can sit and meditate. Clear your mind, breathe deep and let it out slow. Once you feel relaxed, you may rise.
Here are some links to other rituals of this does not work or appeal to you:
Let's talk about Poltergeists and something rather similar.
So, poltergeists are manifestations of negative emotions, typically caused by intense trauma, fear, anger, etc. Most of the time these are formed by people with psychic or psychokinetic abilities that may or may not realize as much (usually the latter). These manifestations feed off of negative energy and can become their own entity with time. Which means that after the creator of the manifestation dies, leaves an area, breaks ties with it, etc it can latch onto other people or places. They're also not easy to get rid of but they're an Unconscious creation.
Now, what if we took this concept and flipped it? What if you took a positive, protective energy and Consciously shaped it into a manifestation or entity? Well, that's an interesting thought, hmm?
One of the principles taught in spiritual work, hedge witchcraft, and even mediumship is that what you visualize has a presence on the Astral plane. This is even a principle of quantum physics, in which every decision or thought creates an alternate universe in which that becomes true.
How is a manifestation actively created and to what end?
A manifestation can be created by visualization and meditation. Engaging in a trance-like state and visualizing the form, purpose, etc of your manifestation. Of course you still need to take great care to not be fooled by any other spirits or entities in your vicinity. So having personal protection is very important, and I do recommend cleansing yourself and your space before proceeding. The purpose of this manifestation is to act like a guard dog protecting hearth and home from negative or malicious forces. A great visualization in fact Is a dog for this reason.
So you want to treat it like any pet you'd have. Say hello to it when you come home, say goodbye when you leave and feed it the purposeful, positive intention. A lot of people that do this also create a totem or talisman to channel this manifestation into a space. If you want you can even carry the talisman with you. Bring it in your car on a long road trip. Carry the extra level of protection on the road.
Yell at everything you donāt want in your space to get the fuck out lol
Fill yourself with as much rage as you can, then, release it as you yell at everything to leave. You donāt even need to literally yell. A simple yet stern statement or two will suffice. Whatās important is that you feel that anger and release it into your space, and direct that energy at things you do not want in your space. Really mean what you say though. And donāt challenge anything either. āYou all need to get out of hereā, āAnyone who isnāt here to help me is not welcome here, leaveā, and āIām not dealing with anyone who isnāt here to help me, so get outā are all some examples of what you could say! Just donāt challenge anything or threaten anything. You donāt need these things to convince any entity that you donāt have the power to make them leave if they choose not to. In fact, when you do threaten an entity that you donāt want around, they often will see it as a bluff on your end. They wonāt take you seriously if you do this.
If you really want to, get a broom or a wand and wave that shit around your space as a secondary way of showing that you mean it. If you do use a broom or wand, make sure to get the entirety of your space while you yell at things to leave. Personally, I only get my broom out if I feel like something didnāt take me seriously and donāt leave when I first told them to. When they realize that Iām not playing games, then they get out lol
This sets boundaries for your space for things you donāt want to be there. It also shows that your patience and abilities arenāt to be tested with entities that you donāt want around. You should see them as pests at this point, nothing more. They arenāt worth your fear, energy, or your time in the form of a long and drawn out cleansing or banishing ritual. They should know that you only view them as an annoyance, only worth a minuet of your time at the very most. When you see these types of beings as something more than that, then they will feed off of you and grow more powerful over you. They will become bored, some may even become fearful, if you treat them in this way. They will leave and find something else to do with their time
Not a great idea to try this on powerful entities though, from my practice. This can either anger them or make them laugh. For more powerful beings, itās best to do a more detailed ritual, as they ARE worth your time and energy. Still important to never fear anything, but understand and respect how powerful they are.
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