hi everyone! so sorry i'm so late getting to this, I know i said i'd get to it a couple days ago but i've been SWAMPED with work and house renovations.
ALAS there is a fair going on that i have been dying to join, and join i certainly shall. in this post i will be doing multiple of the prompts, including the patron deity show and tell, path showcase, a poem, a tarot spread created by me, and my favorite myth! thus, the name "masterpost"!
thank you to everyone who worked on creating this wonderful event for us, and if you're seeing this i highly encourage you to join in!
MY PATRON DEITIES
at this moment i consider hades, persephone, and artemis as my patron and matrons. i've been working alongside them in this way for about a year now, but worshipping them for the entirety of my practice (about 7+ years).
i started with them because they were always my favorite when consuming media about greek mythology in the past (yes, i was a percy jackson kid). i have always felt a kinship towards gods of death, due to my career path (a coroner), and artemis resembles that spirit of wild nature that i have always been drawn to.
i think the first time i really felt their presence overwhelming me was when i traveled into the PNW (region of the U.S. with a lot of beautiful forests), and there was so many encounters with animals and supernatural forces that i just felt very in tune with them. there, the forest felt angry and oppressed, so the spirits of the forest (fae, faeries, nymphs, whatever you call them), felt borderline malevolent. i was warned of this multiple times and for that reason didn't travel outside at night and left multiple offerings. i should be clear that this isn't a common experience for most people, this place was unique in ways that made the spirits angrier than usual.
another time i acutely felt their presence and love was when my mother passed away in 2021. this isn't something i ever talk about on tumblr just because it's not really relevant, but it definitely shaped a lot of my religious experience. although i believe there was nothing my prayers could have done to outright prevent her passing, the comfort i was shown is more than i could ever ask for.
the final step of my work with hades i believe will one day be a formal contract, of which i will fulfill by being a coroner/medical examiner and working as his hands to nurture the dead. this isn't a step i've taken yet for mental health reasons, but it is one i plan to do in the future when life is more stable.
PATH SHOWCASE
ah, yes! one of my most common self-posed question: what the fuck even is my practice? in short i'm an omnist, i believe in the existence of all Gods and gods, although of course the doctrine i primarily subscribe to is hellenic polytheism, heathenry, kemetism, and a small bit irish/welsh polytheism. because of my atheist background i don't really believe in following a set of rules or practices laid out by other humans, although i do like doing research on reconstructive and anthropological insights on these cultures and will sometimes include them in my practice.
i worship deified mortals (psyche and ganymede), the egyptian gods bast and anubis, the norse gods odin, loki, freyja and freyr, and then a litany of other hellenic gods. i enjoy syncretism and include it in my worship, especially greco-egyptian ones like hermanubis or serapis. my practice also heavily features witchcraft, although i mainly do spells and rituals in favor of or under supervision of my gods.
gods i plan on including into my practice is isis-sopdet and perhaps thoth or horus. at the moment my biggest altar is dedicated to aphrodite, as i used to live along the coast and i have a lot of shells and pearls and such i devote to her. my smallest would probably be loki, since he's the newest to my shelf!
one thing that i really like including in my altars is crystals, and a majority of what i include is often that. they're somewhat of a collection i keep, plus they let me highly personalize each altar! other stuff i like to include is handmade art, random nick nacks, and bones (which are ethically sourced)
A POEM FOR DIANA
the moon,
my beloved sunset escape,
does she know
just how much i love her?
queen of the tides,
noble mother of the stars,
the gentle priestess of the sunset,
the humble object of my eye.
new,
full,
waxing,
waning,
oh, how i hope her image never falters.
oh, how i love her so.
TAROT SPREAD
remember that this is not at all a predictive reading. these prompts are just meant to be taken metaphorically--to give some insight into your life and your path!
MY FAVORITE MYTH
my favorite myths are actaeon's and atalanta's. actaeon was a son of aristaeus (the god of bee cultivation), who stumbled into the grove of artemis and her nymphs. upon viewing the naked form of the goddesses, he was turned into a stag, whereupon his hunting dogs turned on him and ripped him to pieces.
atalanta was a heroine who traveled with the Argonauts, a princess who had been adopted by Artemis after her father abandoned her. she was raised alongside Artemis and her companions and trained in archery and hunting, she was also said to be among the fastest and strongest of her compatriots.
I mainly work with Hera and Hestia, and sometimes Loki pops into my practice too! I also have an open door policy, which you can read more about here, so I interact with a variety of deities pretty regularly, but these are my three main ones.
Hera grounds me in strength, sovereignty, and commitment. Honouring her reminds me of the power of boundaries and the beauty of ritual devotion. She was the most prominent when I left my engagement last year (new lore drop), but has still stayed with me as I figure out boundaries and relationships.
Hestia is my hearth and home energy - she brings calm and grounding energy. She helps nurture the part of me that wants to build a community (more in the path showcase below), and likes to host events and feed the people I consider family.
Loki is the wildcard. He's very good at shaking things up in my life, and was the first deity I reached out to long ago (and then subsequently turned me away for not being ready yet). We have a bit more of a tumultuous relationship because I struggle with change and chaos, and that's really what he most represents to me.
🌿 PATH SHOWCASE
My path is a mix of (mostly) Hellenic polytheism and British folk witchcraft, but there are a bunch of other influences too. I live in Southern England and my family goes back generations here, and so I feel very strongly related to them and the land here, and the more English traditions (that often times don't read as necessarily "witchy" - especially with our history of the cunning folk).
I spend a lot of my time researching local history, developing a relationship with the spirits nearby. I also have the experience of seeing ghosts & house spirits, although that's not something I tend to talk about much as it's quite intense and difficult to explain over text. This means I tend to spend a lot of time cultivating my home too, and working with my deities.
As for the HelPol aspect - I've always loved myth (blame Stephen Fry for that). I studied it as my degree alongside classics and archaeology more broadly (and museums), and so I feel connected to the Greek gods in that way. I have a pretty solid academic basis, and couple that with my experiences, it builds in an incredibly interesting way. On top of that, where I live has a lot of Greek and Roman influence (Greek more so with the cultural ideas of the West (and imitative art), Roman more so with actual Roman sites), and so I feel that deep connection there too.
If you have any questions feel free to send me an ask, and please be sure to get involved with the Online Pagan Fair and keep it going! This was so fun! <3
This will mainly be a showcase of my path and part of my daily practice. If anyone would like to do the "Swap It Up" challenge where we swap practices/rituals for a day, please let me know!
As a little bit of information on my path, I am a Celestial Witch (I prefer practitioner though) and a Hellenic Polytheist whose learning to incorporate Roman Polytheism into my practice as well. I consider my path to be extremely lowkey, and low maintenance.
In the mornings (or whenever I first get the chance), I like to clean up my altar and give offerings.
I tend to offer incense, water, and perfume (mainly to Psyche). Any leftover ash from previous offerings gets swept up and turned into black salt for witchy purposes, while any leftover water offerings get to be used to water my plants. Once the altar is all cleaned up, I will light a new stick of incense. As I light it, I offer it up to my deities which usually goes something like this:
"To Hestia first and last (said while lighting the stick). I offer this to Zeus, Hermes, Psyche, Eros and Eos, Hades and Apollo, and all the rest of the divine. May they all receive some of these offering."
Then I pour water into a libation bowl and leave it besides the incense.
I don't usually do any special prayer or reciting while setting it out. As a final offering (usually done before I go to work), I will take a mini crystal statuette of a winged woman that I use in place of Psyche and I'll spray it with perfume. It's usually followed with something like, "and for you!" and that's pretty much it.
That's pretty much the bulk of my daily practice.
Some days, I need to refresh my nail polish which I do as a devotional act too (+ sigil and glamour magic).
Under my nail polish, I have written sigils for different deities. On my pinky is Hades, on my ring finger is Apollo, on the middle finger is Hermes, followed by Eros on my pointer and Psyche on my thumb. I consider the sigils as a way of keeping all the deities close to me, although I don't really work with them outside of Psyche and Hermes.
Once I've written the sigils on my nail, I paint them.
It's usually all black (for protection) with my pointer finger painted white, but you can paint them whatever color suits you best! If you're like me and work a lot, the nail polish only lasts a couple of days anyways, and you'll have to refresh it again so you can get experimental with the colors!
Here's my entry for the @paganblronlinefair Path Showcase! I'm a staunch hellenic polytheist (aka no syncretization or multi-traditionalism as of yet). I have several mental & physical health issues, so my practice is tailored around my shifting energy levels and making sure I don't end up just burning myself out.
~ Daily ~
At minimum, I do three candle offerings a week:
Hestia, on Monday
Hermes, on Friday
Apollo, on Sunday
If I go any further than the grocery store, I'll also offer to Hermes after getting back at minimum (though I try to offer beforehand, too, especially if I'm going on public transit). I'm trying to incorporate candle offerings into the other days of the week as well, in my attempts to offer more regularly in spoon-friendly ways.
If I have more energy than usual, I'll try to:
Do steam offerings after making certain meals (usually to Hestia, but I'll offer to other deities as well).
Do divination sessions, usually tarot. At the moment, I have an all-purpose deck and decks for Hermes and Aphrodite.
Do devotional activities. This may include research time dedicated to a specific deity, certain tasks like cleaning my room or cooking/baking, crocheting/knitting/weaving/spinning, sculpting, drawing, or doing things in video games that are relevant to a deity's domain(s) (ex knucklebones in COTL/gambling in SDV for Hermes, or deep-sea diving/fishing in ACNH for Poseidon). I'll usually listen to devotional playlists as well. If I'm working on an item for a specific deity, such as a votive offering, altar cloth, or artistic depiction, I may dedicate some of the time spent working on it to that deity as a devotional offering.
Burn incense. It takes more energy, usually, than candle offerings, especially because I have to do it outside (burning incense indoors gives me migraines 😔), so I don't do it as often as I'd like.
Do libations or offer food/wrapped treats. This takes more mental energy than steam offerings, so it's not something I can do as often. However, if I've dedicated cooking or baking as a devotional offering I'll also offer a portion of the finished item when I'm done. I clean edible, unwrapped offerings up at the end of the day, usually by eating or drinking them (sans chthonic offerings); water libations get poured onto the ground outside if they weren't at time of offering. Wrapped offerings will stay on the altars until the monthly refresh at Noumenia, at which point I'll move them to a specific jar and slowly eat them. This prevents the altars from getting too crowded, and imo is a good alternative to throwing them out afterwards.
~ Monthly ~
I...don't observe any of the monthly festivals or holy days except for Noumenia, and I don't follow a lunar calendar. Seeing other people do it is really cool, but it's not something I've been able to keep up with. I've noticed that I'll get a dopamine hit when planning for festivals & holy days that gives me a false sense of what I'll actually be able to do, only to struggle when the time comes because I, inevitably, don't have enough energy or am feeling unwell. I even tried to participate in a couple festivals a discord server observed recently, only to be unable to because of migraines (barometric pressure changes my beloathed).
Instead, I observe Noumenia on the first Friday of the month, and use that time to dust and refresh my altars. Cleaning is difficult for me to do both mentally and physically, so having that time blocked out has been a great motivator to, you know, actually get it done lol. Fortunately, the altars don't get dusty nearly as quickly as they used to, because they're safe and secure in my closet instead of placed around my room like at my last place. If I truly cannot do it on that day, I explain the situation to the Theoi and do it when I'm able to. I've found that this has created a good sense of structure without it feeling suffocating or overwhelming.
I do hope to be able to add more festivals and holy days to my practice as I feel ready to, but it will likely be similar to Noumenia: picking a time that seems right at a relevant interval, instead of trying to stay in lock-step with the lunar calendar.
Sopdet rose in my area this morning. Whilst I had to work, I work from home so I have had a bit of time to celebrate. Gemini (my oldest) was still home for the summer today as well, so no privacy meant no ritual. I'm also out of the habit of taking pictures - I do this with the kids as well; I'm trying to focus more on being present in the moment rather than worrying about getting the perfect picture of everything.
However!
It was a beautiful morning with the sun out and barely a cloud. Bast's statue had been in our room for a week or so (She was moved when we went away, for privacy from the cat-sitter) so She went on a small procession through the house and outside to sit in the sunshine for a few hours. Whilst She was out, I got Her shrine area cleaned up; threw out the old incense and the broken cat statue, reset a very basic shrine and brought Her back inside when it became overcast to offerings of perfume, natron, and clean water. We both felt better for it!
Yes, She is currently on top of the printer. Hence the need for the base plate for the shrine. Space is at a premium in this house!
Heka
As planned, after work I performed an execration Heka based on one of Devo's posts using red paper, and red & black pens. I wrote in the red pen a few things I want to be rid of this year, then scribbled over them with the black pen, ripped the paper to shreds, then soaked the paper in plain water until the paper broke down. Paper then went unceremoniously in the bin, and the water was chucked down the kitchen sink. Good riddance.
Heka is not my normal magic style - but thought I'd try it given the event. Forgive me any glaring errors and please do feel free to throw pointers my way!
