Practioner Red Flags
It’s hard to navigate who you should take information from and who you shouldn’t in Hellenic spaces. And of course there’s no one way to tell wether or not someone knows their shit, but here are a few red flags I’ve personally come across. If you don’t agree or have different experiences that’s 100% okay!
1. Oracles
A lot of Practioners consider themselves to be oracles. This isn’t inherently problematic but the practice of being an oracle is completely dead; an oracle was an elected position, so a modern day oracle is impossible because who the hell is electing you? There are other labels for seers / clairvoyant practioners, so the usage of the word oracle usually indicates a lack of historical understanding, and therefore cult understanding.
2. Zeus Haters
If you are a Hellenic polytheist, you cannot hate Zeus. If you hate Zeus your entire practice is invalid tbh. He is the king of the gods and the heavens, He is the father of the majority of the olympians He keeps balance and order and should be treated with nothing but respect. I can’t say this enough. Hatred of Zeus usually stems from mythos, therefore this hatred indicates a gross misunderstanding of the religion as a whole. This goes for anyone who “beefs” w any of the gods tbh. They all deserve basic respect and if you disrespect one of them you disrespect all of them.
3. Those Who Take Mythos Literally
Adding onto my previous point. The Hellenic religion is not centered completely around mythos. A lot of times mythos where entertainment; literature, plays. Not to be taken literally, not to be used to demonize the gods or other chilidish misconceptions. I have very little tolerance for this honestly.
4. Lore Olympus Stans
I don’t mean this literally. I mean the Hades and Persephone followers who say things like “Hades would never cheat on Persephone” or “Persephone had to escape her overbearing mother” or “She chose the underworld” etc. etc. etc. These practitioners have very little understanding of the gods they worship because these are very common statements that are very false and come from modern misconceptions. But also, literal Lore Olympus fans. The webcomic is just sketchy 😭
5. High Priestess / Priest
Again this is NOT inherently problematic but if someone’s best argument is “I’m a high priestess/priest of >deity< and they told me-“ everything that comes out of their mouth is going to be bullshit. A title w very little relevance does not give you the right to talk over other Practioners (see: Oracles)
6. The Conversationalist
Anyone who claims they are having full in-depth conversations w the gods should be handled w caution. Godphoning and clairaudience do not work like that & dramatized portrayals of those things are pretty harmful imo.
7. “Medusa was blessed”
Also known as “The Ovid Apologist”. This is a huge red flag & shows that the person in question is not critical of where they get their information. This myth was used to demonize Athena or Minerva plus it’s Roman; in the Greek myth, Medusa was born a gorgon. This applies to the Arachne myth as well, it’s Roman and was made w the intent to demonize Athena or Minerva.
8. Labeling the Gods
The gods are gods. They cannot be confined to labels. None of the maiden goddesses where aro, ace, or lesbian. none of the gods are gay or bi, they are all divine beings beyond these very human concepts. They do not have gender or sexuality because those are distinctly human things. Additionally these are modern labels being thrust upon ancient gods. Just an overall no.
9. TERFs
Men can worship any of the goddesses and, historically, have. Women can worship any of the gods and, historically, have. The gods do not confine themselves to gender and therefore aren’t invested in exclusionist bullshit. There are certain goddesses who protected women specifically (Hera, Artemis, Hestia, etc.) but they still had male worshippers and will continue to. The gods love their Trans and GNC followers and TERF rhetoric directly contradicts Hellenic practices, they cannot coexist.
10. Gate Keepers
Or fearmongerers. Deity work IS beginner safe, Hellenic deity work is open and Greek or Roman ancestry is not a requirement. Don’t let anyone scare you into delaying your path. You are the only person who knows what you’re ready for.
11. Triple Goddess
Hekate was not a triple goddess (in the mother/maiden/crone sense). but She most commonly is worshipped as such. She was a goddess of the crossroads and was commonly portrayed w three faces so she could see every direction. Hekate has many epithets and is the goddess of several things. She’s often reduced to the “mother of witch craft” which is. Sad tbh. She’s such an interesting goddess and Wiccan concepts have definitely watered down historical worship of Her. The Mother Maiden Crone thing is originally Diana, I believe.
12. Wiccans
Wicca is full of cultural appropriation & often times Wiccans convince themselves that their way is the only way. In general I personally avoid Wicca praticioners because it’s largely a cluster of practices from different cultures and it’s racially insensitive. It’s also a relatively new religion & I just don’t trust it honestly. Not all Wiccans are pushy about their practice, but it’s hard to seperate the cultural appropriation from Wiccan practices hence the red flag.
13. Rome Apologists
Dramatic title. In general people who don’t differentiate between Greek and Roman gods concern me. Some Hellenic Practioners completely divorce themselves from Roman influence and a common misconception is that all the gods are the same; they aren’t. Again this just indicates a misunderstanding of historical context in my opinion, but depending on how one incorporates it into their practice it’s not always a bad thing.
14. Anti-God spousing
When done right God spousing is a beautiful and personal practice. There’s a lot of people who take it out of context and turn it into a LARP kinda thing, but it’s easy to get information on what God spousing actually is so people who are adamantly against it make me side eye a little ngl. Especially because there is so much misinformation about god spousing, I think it’s important that Practioners push the correct narrative surrounding it instead of buying into the stigma.
15. Classicists / ~”Intellectuals”~
I see a lot of classicists thinking they have some authority over other Practioners but a good understanding of the classics does not equal a good understanding of the religion. Hellenic polytheisism is constantly reduced to its mythos and thats an oversimplification of what this religion and practice is. Classicists who want to have authority over the theological aspects only push this narrative. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer getting my information from classicists who study the religion, but not all classicists do. And being a classicist does not give anyone the right to talk over or down to other Practioners.
16. Twin Flames
Anyone who talks about soul mates and twin flames are concerning to me. A lot of times this narrative is used to make spirituality more marketable, a commodity to be bought and sold. “For $20 I can tell you who your twin flame is”. Point bank, I believe that everyone who needs to be in your life will be, and they’ll be there at the right time. The idea of a chaser and a runner or whatever normalizes abuse. It’s often used to excuse people’s shitty behavior. And don’t get me wrong, this definitely stems from TikTok, but at this point I just consider it a red flag. Don’t worry about the importance of the people in your life; let your relationships eb and flow naturally.
17. Manifestation
Personally I do believe in manifestation, but I don’t think it gives you power over other people and I see this common notion (on TikTok) that it does. I also think that it only works to an extent; the idea that reality is 100% in your control all the time can be harmful and contribute to delusions. I also don’t think u need to write down certain phrases 77 times or whatever. I’m very skeptical of new age manifestation I suppose.
18. Reality Shifting
I hate reality shifting. Honestly. Point blank it’s just lucid dreaming and like manifestation, it’s harmful to the mentally ill. Genuinely stay away from anyone who promotes it as reality shifting and not lucid dreaming. They have not done their research & clearly don’t care how the misinformation on reality shifting affects children & mentally ill people.
19. Star seed
The idea of Star seeds comes from new age spirituality I believe and has less presence in Hellenic spaces but it’s also ableist & often talked about in spiritual spaces so it earns a spot on this list. Like reality shifting, no one who preaches about Star seeds can be taken seriously. Or anyone who tries to tell you that you aren’t “from” earth. None of us are “from” earth, but all of us are supposed to be here in this life time and the idea that you aren’t is harmful.
20. Soul Contracts
The concept of soul contracts is the idea that we agree to every single thing that happens to us before we get to earth. And this is just victim blaming honestly. As humans we desire control over these things. We want to believe we agency but the hard truth is that we do not. And that’s okay. We don’t need to micromanage everything all the time. Not everything has to make sense. Sometimes fucked up things happen and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. The notion that we not only know these things are going to happen but that we agree to them or even decide they happen is disgusting. You did not bring your pain onto yourself and any one who tells you that you did shouldn’t have a tongue tbh. I hate the concept of soul contracts above all.
Please note, again, it’s okay to disagree. These are red flags in my experiences, and that could definitely be unique to me. It’s important that everyone makes up their own mind surrounding these issues. And just because these things make me question someone’s authenticity does not mean I actively dislike many of these qualities or beliefs (save for the TERF thing; if you’re a TERF or exclusionist fuck off).
