here lives 🍆 good fortune

quotes & writings related to hellenic polytheism & other traditions from antiquity

[theoxenia]

michele or michela · xe/xyr this is a religious blog; fans of greek mythology are welcome to interact, but please be respectful. when i talk about the gods here i am doing so in a theological/theopoetic way; i am not making headcanons and i am focused primarily on the gods themselves as Divine beings who are part of our world, with mythology being only one small part of who they are. myths do not play a central role in how i see and interact with the theoi.

all kinds of mediterranean paganism here, but im especially interested in traditions from campania & magna graecia, as i am italian american & that's where my family's originally from. i LOVE mystery cults as well!!!! my approach to helpol would probably be considered revivalist, but i care a lot about understanding the way the ancients thought and practiced, hence why i post a lot of quotes from academic sources. more on my approach here. religiously i do not identify exclusively as helpol, nor am i a hard polytheist (meaning i do not see the gods as entirely discrete, separate entities from each other or gods of other religions). my core and most important religious/spiritual/existential identity is as an Estamanto. however, i have been involved with helpol and the theoi on/off for nearly ten years, and it still matters a lot to my heart! particularly with Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hekate, Apollo, and Hermes. i'm a sociology major with a focus on religion & philosophy, and eventually hopefully to go into spiritual/existential counseling :] feel free to ask me about any of this stuff!! more of my religionposting @mangxakorado, personal spiritual/existential project @estamovojo, & historyposting @h1sstoria

[bodhi-devotee]

had my first non-family house guest over and we made cupcakes! the first was offered to Zeus Ktesios, Agathos Daimon, and Apollon as He who wards off sickness and disease. it’s not the prettiest cupcake and i don’t have my altars set back up, but i hope it pleases them! my friend was so chill about me stepping into another room to pray and give the offering and asked a couple respectful questions!

[artemis-potnia-theron]

An offering of quail eggs and a rose-scentled candle. I present this to you tonight and you give me the universe. Artemis, I love you so much my body and soul ache with it.

~ Taylor 🌙🏹🦌

[temperamentalgreen]

🪞🐐 Laughter-Loving Aphrodite 🦪🕊

"Of Cytherea, born in Cyprus, I will sing. She gives kindly gifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the brightness that plays over it. Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Cyprus; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and another song also." -Homeric Hymn 10 to Aphrodite

"Heavenly, smiling Aphrodite, praised in many hymns, sea-born, revered goddess of generation, you like the nightlong revel and you couple lovers at night, O scheming mother of Necessity. Everything comes from you; you have yoked the world, and you control all three realms. You give birth to all, to everything in heaven, upon the fruitful earth and in the depths of the sea, O venerable companion of Bacchos. You delight in festivities, O bridelike mother of the Erotes, O Persuasion whose joy is in the bed of love, secretive, giver of grace, visible and invisible, lovely-tressed daughter of a noble father, bridal feast companion of the gods, sceptered she-wolf, beloved and man-loving giver of birth and of life, with your maddening love-charms you yoke mortals and the many races of beasts to unbridled passion. Come, O goddess born in Cyprus, whether you are on Olympos, O queen, exulting in the beauty of your face, or you wander in Syria, country of fine frankincense, or, yet, driving your golden chariot in the plain,you lord it over Egypt’s fertile river bed. Come, whether you ride your swan-drawn chariot over the sea’s billows, joying in the creatures of the deep as they dance in circles, or you delight in the company of the dark-faced nymphs on land,(as, light-footed, they frisk over the sandy beaches). Come, lady, even if you are in Cyprus that cherishes you, where fair maidens and chaste nymphs throughout the year sing of you, O blessed one, and of immortal, pure Adonis. Come, O beautiful and comely goddess; I summon you with holy words and pious soul." - Orphic Hymn to Aphrodite 

I was heavily inspired by @ombrokharis beautiful drawings of Kypris. She's still unfinished, but I wanted to post her before the file corrupts. Im planning on switching to a new drawing program soon, which will relieve the worry about that happening again. I would've loved to add more ornamentation and trinkets

[theoxenia]

“The Greek-Egyptian god Serapis likewise was thought to afford protection. On one side of a gem functioning as an amulet, the figure of Zeus Serapis is displayed, with the inscription on the reverse reading nika ho Serapis ton phthonon (“Serapis conquers envy/the Evil Eye”). Another glass amulet is inscribed with words, Me[g] a to onoma Sarapis (“Great is the name of Serapis”). The inscription, Eis Zeus Serapis, Baskanosdarêsetô (“Zeus Serapis is unique, let the Evil Eye be flayed”) protected a house. A similar inscription affixed to a house read, Eis Zeus Serapis, Baskanoslakêsetô (“Zeus Serapis is unique, let the Evil Eye be banished”). The gods provided charis, “generous benefaction,” which was the opposite of baskania and phthonos. Charis originally meant “emanation from God, human, or animal bearing blessing” which was the antithesis of an Evil Eye and envy. The gods effected good fortune through their blessing glance of charis. The eyes of Zeus, Apollo, and the Muses brought light and blessing. Minerva in particular, was considered the goddess of the blessing look, which baskania could not endure.”

Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World, Volume 2 by John H. Elliott

[bodhi-devotee]

i love how my father protects (+ Apollon and the Muses mentioned!!!!)

[fierysword]

Source: The Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, and Sages by Judika Illes

[sobekettemsa7]

Something something if you're going to engage with mythology you should also probably engage with the rest of the religion tied to said mythology (especially if it's still around) so you could not only gain a deeper understanding of myths but also out of basic respect for the people who believe in them

[sabazium]

Bronze Hand of Sabazios

Roman, 2nd-3rd century A.D.

Heavy bronze hand with a serpent and a ball, which was used in the Sabazios cult. The serpent with a finely engraved skin winds around the wrist and rests its head on the thumb. It is closely associated with Sabazios, who is considered as the representative of the circle of nature, which every year blossoms and withered and re-blossoms. The serpent is the symbol for the constant renewal of life and nature. The finger position with the bent small, and ring finger, as well as the stretched out middle, and index finger, as well as thumb correspond to the “Benedictio Latina”, the blessing gesture, which is typical for Sabazios hands. It holds the globe, representing the cosmic omnipotence, which was associated with Sabazios. The gesture's role within the cult was blessing, healing, providing divine help and protection.

[tridentandtales]

Roman anatomical votive of a left leg. The inscription reads: Tyche [dedicated this] to Asklepios and Hygieia as a thank offering

ca. 100 - 200 CE

British Museum 1867,0508.117

[star-of-zeus]

Zeus Konios

This epithet of Zeus is definitely interesting as it isn’t one you would typically expect be an epithet of a rain god. Some translations of Konios that I’ve seen include “of the dust”, “who makes dust”, “who excites dust”, “dusty”, etc. So yes, we now have Dusty Zeus as a counterpart to Murky Zeus.

As always, here is the Theoi.com quote:

CO′NIUS (Konios), the god who excites or makes dust, a surname of Zeus, who had an uncovered temple under this name in the arx of Megara. (Paus. i. 40. § 5.)

You see, this temple was a temple without a roof! Since it didn’t have a roof, that allowed dust to be stirred up by the wind and the rain, so as such it was seen that Zeus was the one doing the stirring since he controls weather as a whole.

So the next time you see dust being stirred up from the wind or rain, you have Zeus Konios to thank!

[7pleiades7]

Nymph in the Bath (Badende Nymphe) (c. 1855) by Carl Spitzweg, oil on canvas, approximately 54 cm x 40 cm (21.2 in x 15.7 in), Private Collection

[morphic-mythos]

We find the gods in the external world because we have placed them there. By doing so, we are telling them, "I want to find a home for you in my life." Even if we accept the existence of all gods, we deliberately choose to animate the world with the ones who resonate most closely with us. We could choose to see Geb in the earth instead of Gaia, for example, or Inanna in the expression of love instead of Aphrodite. It's completely up to us, and our unique perspectives allow us to form deeper bonds with the deities we worship. By instantiating them into the world, the gods come alive through us.

—Excerpt from a public essay on Patreon: "The Gods Within Us"

[philosophybits]

“What is divine deserves our respect because it is good; what is human deserves our affection because it is like us.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (2.13)

[arrowoferos-deactivated20230502]

𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐈𝐀

The homeromanteion, or the homeric oracle, is a form of dice divination using fragments of homeric verses to get oracular answers by lot. According to the oxyrhynchus papyrus, it could be also called ‘the scimitar’.

To perform the homeromanteion, first, you need to check that the days and hours (see below) are favourable for divination.

Once the timing is favourable, you then recite a set prayer to Apollo (see below) while thinking of the question you want answered. The prayer is made of five lines from homeric verses. The first three are consecutive lines from the Iliad (Il. XVI 514-516), then two seperate lines from the Odyssey (Od. I 147; Od. XVIII 173).

Then, a dice has to be rolled thrice (or three die once); the three digit number obtained will correspond to a homeric verse, which will be the oracular answer. Below is a list of the possible results and their corresponding fragment. (Excuse the text size, for a list the clearer, see: this pdf – you have to scroll a lot though soz.)

For an online homeromanteion, see: here.

Sources:

PGM VII 1-148

P. Oxy. LVI 3831

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. 56 (1989)

[sag-dab-sar]

In the PDF its on page 170 (page 122 of document). Its from the Greek Magical Papyri c. 100s BCE to 400s CE.

[bodhi-devotee]

SO COOL!!!

[divineaphrodisianmagic]

Hermaphroditos~

God of effeminates, intersexuality, and genderfuckery (official term). Depicted as a winged youth with both male and female features, this is my imagining of him! I really loved working on this piece, and may do more in the future, as I really feel he is underappreciated <3

[bodhi-devotee]

i found this beautiful post reflecting on the writer’s experience mixing greek religion with their own native cultural practices (by @jingjean). it’s such an interesting discussion but because of the length, i worried many people would scroll past if i just hit ‘reblog’.

jing expresses a desire to respect and immerse herself in ancient greek culture and reflects on how to draw the line between doing so and adopting a ‘pseudo-greek’ identity. i think this is something many, many of us can relate to. how do we immerse ourselves in the origins of the religion we so deeply love without placing ourselves in the center of a narrative that isn’t about us? when does religious practice and appreciation veer into appropriation? can one go the opposite way and be too apathetic about greek polytheism’s roots? can you disrespect your culture of origin in the process?

the post doesn’t give a clear answer to any of these questions, only explaining how the poster herself goes about making these distinctions. i think it’s worth looking internally and seeing how your views compare and contrast (respectfully, of course!!!) it’s a vivid thought experiment!

[brarchives]

iemanjá: winy fabiano by márvila araújo