i want to learn about hellenistic polytheism but i dont even know where to start. could you please give me a base? i know about gods deities n such, i know ill need to make offerings and id like to pray to the god(s) ill worship but i feel like im about to jump in the middle of the ocean without knowing how to swim so please help
Ofc!
Ive only been practicing for a few months but i can give my two sense.
A really great video series id reccomend for some more veteran help is Hellenism 101 from Fel the Blythe’s YouTube channel! I’ll like it for you here. Shes how I got started on everything.
Prayer
First thing I’d recommend is prayer! Since it’s the easiest form of devotion/communication.
Usually you start by mentioning Hestia, Goddess of the hearth who also allows us to communicate with the gods. So I tend to start by saying “to Hestia, the first and last I pray, I thank you.” And then i start praying to the gods I worship.
This can be you just thanking them for being there or for whatever they rule over. For example I might thank Apollon for my health, the sunshine etc. When you finish you thank Hestia the first and last again and then boom, you’ve prayed!
You don’t have to be formal in your prayers or you can be super formal, the gods won’t mind either way as long as you’re polite. And just by praying you’ve started to build Kharis, which is your relationship with the gods.
Kharis
You build Kharis by praying, offerings, and by dedicating things you do to the gods, for example I will just, in my mind, tell the gods that the food I eat is for them, and that counts as an offering. Or again; Apollo as an example, you can listen to music and dedicate that time to him, or for Hermes maybe you could go on a walk or write a letter to someone or even the gods themselves.
Building Kharis all comes down to setting the intention of giving to the gods, and in return they give back. You don’t even need to do physical offerings to worship. But if you’d like to, it’s good to research your gods for ideas on what you could give them. And don’t worry about not praying enough/offering enough etc. not everyone can pray every hour of the day or offer a million offerings a week, all that matters is you’re doing what’s best for you.
Other basics
- Divination is not required, you don’t need tarot a pendulum or any of that fancy stuff!
- We don’t really have sins in Hellenism!
However, on that note, it’s also good to cleanse before approaching the gods, washing off something called Lyma or general negativity that kind of builds up on the day to day. It just happens.
And how you cleanse?
You wash your hands and/or your face. Or even shower! As long as you’re clean then you’re pretty set.
- Xenia
Xenia is hospitality, which is a major benchmark in Hellenism. It’s what the religion is really based on. Basically, love thy neighbor sort of thing. Just be kind and courteous to those who are in your home and welcome those in need no matter who they are.
- What if I want to worship two gods who dislike each other in mythology?
Don’t worry about it. You can always pray to them and preface it before hand, but the gods know this is a polytheistic religion. They know you’re going to worship more than one and may end up praying to one more than the other. We’re human, and they understand that.
They won’t be mad at you for having multiple gods or prioritizing one over another at a certain time.
So what now?
I’ve thrown a lot at you, so where do we go from here?
Take your time.
Research, research, research.
Understand the gods you’d like to pray to, know their myths, read literature surrounding them.
I cannot say this enough but Theoi.com is a great resource for learning about the gods. Find any sort of book you can get your hands on. And take your time. I can’t stress that enough. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by offerings and things.
If all you can do to stay is pray? Then pray! Or even just talk to them. Just sit and tell them gods about your day either mentally or verbally, just talk to them.
Do what’s easiest and best for you and only move on when you can.
If you need help along the way, I’m always willing and there are plenty of other Hellenic polytheists who are willing to help! Everyone also has different practices and beliefs, so what I say may be different from someone else. Plus I’m still learning myself so there’s always things that I can improve on myself!
I’m so glad you reached out and I hope you enjoy the ride!!
okay because someone decided to be a jerk to my friend’s system and some others-
not so friendly reminder that if you don’t support systems/people with did or osdd please leave my blog. i personally am not part of a system but i have so many friends who are.
i’m fairly bored and found a new topic to research. THE BACKROOMS!!! if anyone would like me to post any and/or all backrooms research i find just lmk and i’ll post all the things i learn and figure out!! if there’s anything specific about the backrooms that you want me to research, please do let me know about that also and i’ll research it!!
Me and the bf <3 I tried looking at animal crossing characters to copy their proportions and they are so many really unique looking ones!! I feel like I need to practice getting more creative with character design, ahhhh..
I want to draw us together but it’s hard because our colors look weird together so there’s that… TwT
So the Cooks moved to Hartford, Van Buren County after the Civil War, which Sullivan fought in. Also Laura Cook is the wrong Cook daughter because she wasn’t 12 in 1860, bloody Ancestry.com transcribed it wrong. She was 8/12 -- 8 months old. The Cook daughter from Sullivan’s article is probably Alice, who was born in 1855.
