#ttcjournal

[talkingtocandles]

Earlier this month, the edges of this lake were stripped of all trees and grasses. Went running today and saw everything covered in a rush of green again. I gave her a prayer in thanks.

Mama Gaia is resilient. May she prosper 💚💚

[talkingtocandles]

Happy Thargelia!

Celebrated 6 and 7 Thargelion according to the Attic Calendar this year. It's my 2nd time celebrating! 🎉

I offered Lady Artemis and my Lord Apollon a water libation and homemade apple tart 🍎 as thargelos/first fruits - made them myself and they include seasonal fruit and "grain" 😊

Got some aunt-like encouragement and advice from Artemis, who I haven't interacted with much before. "You are just beginning and have so much ahead of you. Rise through the system and you will achieve your dreams."

Apollon seemed to be livin it up. "Yeah, you've come a long way kid. Learn from your past but let it go eventually. Enjoy your self-crafted paradise, you deserve it. Also, you can eat the thargelos. I know you want to. Eat it." 😂

I celebrated over 2 days, the first being purification/Artemis and the second for Apollon.

Hymns I used:

Homer's 9 & 27 (Artemis)

Orphic hymn 37 (Artemis)

Homer's 3rd and a recount of his birth for Apollon

I use tarot and visualization to receive messages from the gods!

5.14.2024

[talkingtocandles]

when advertisers (Apollo & Athena) interrupt your regular scheduled programming (a tarot reading) with an informercial (joint lecture on Poise and Rationality)

[talkingtocandles]

#ttcpoems 1.29.23

Poem for Apollon ☀️ regarding his epithet Dionysiodotes, or "giver of Dionysus" 🍇. As the god of music and song, Apollon provided the atmosphere for Dionysus' rituals, trances, and drunken parties.

Kind of...blended that with ideas about frenzied artistry lol

Oh Mousagetes, send me

one of your maidens dear

to infect me with expression

like Maenad's madness

Invoke in my veins

scrawling text, scrawling

arteries, thousands of words

and ink for blood

Graphite soot line my lungs

for hacking onto bone-

white pages, make a smoker

out of me

How much of you is Reason,

really, Dionysiodotes?

should Kalliope bury all of Homer

in my throat, if Kleo forced my hand

to hold all of history, would I not stumble,

drunkenly hit the ground for another sip

from your katharos?

[talkingtocandles]

Thargelia Celebration!

First year celebrating 🥳 I missed the first day but figured a good setup on one day is better than slapped-together ritual over two.

Made Bulgarian medenki as an offering - they're honey-based cookies 🍯 I thought would be nice as thargelos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How I celebrated:

Showered/cleaned up for Artemis' purification aspect 🚿

Homeric Hymns 9, 27 and Orphic 37 to Artemis. I think they liked this, especially when I got into the storytelling with hand gestures 😊

Homeric Hymn 3 to Apollo & the story of his birth 📜

Offered medenki and water libations to both siblings 🍷 🍪

Praised select epithets for happiness, good fortune, good health 🙏

Given my constraints of space, time, and keeping my practice secret, I think they enjoyed it ☀️ 🌑

[talkingtocandles]

1.29.23

Devotional Poem for Apollon, who has been granting me guidance and truths as of late, that I feel ill-equipped to return in kind.

To Say χάριν (Thank you)

What am I meant to say

When Helios breaks from Lady Eos:

from a cracked eggshell his rays --

your light -- pours down my head,

gracing my pan with molten yolk?

What Kharis can I return in Hemera's

brief hours -- before Phaeton hurtles down

to Iapetus, before You whisper Nyxian

Truth to me, Phoebus?

Your pierce my heart with light,

Fair Archer, and once again,

to say χάριν is not enough.

Khaire Lord Apollon!

[talkingtocandles]

Painting Apollo by the Beach 🎨

Khaire Mousagetes!

[talkingtocandles]

1.25.23

I've been journalling my (mostly) spiritual thoughts for the past 6 years. I start each with some kind of theme.

Journal 11 begins with Terpsichore, our beloved Muse of choral dance and song. I hope to bring her vivacious, lively energy into the new year!

"No hay que llorar

que la vida es un carnaval

es más bello vivir cantando"