winter melon's soups

they/them | 19 *･:*.*:✧.*･:*.✧.｡*:.*･:*✧.*:.✧.｡･:**｡ aphrodite devotee, hellenic polytheist, lesbian, singer

[wintermelons0up]

χαιρετε! hello!

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introduction 🦢

hellenic polytheist/hellenist blog my thoughts, opinions (or just rants), and experiences with helpol and the theoi i am an aphrodite devotee however i pray to many of the gods and will reference them! please ask me anything/share! i love this little online helpol community

about me 🦢

i'm a college student studying voice and classics (wonder why), non binary lesbian, 19, and from the us. I love so many genres of music, gardening, reading, crochet, and hiking. i speak english and i am proficient in mandarin as well，但是我需要联系哈哈。 i have a blend of reconstructionist and reformist views - i try to base practice and belief in what i can gather from historical evidence, but i am thousands of years away from the ancients, so modern practice and adaptations are a part of it for me :O

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[greekdelusion]

would someone be nice enough to teach me some things about Greek Mythology, somehow I’m a Hellenic polytheist and I KNOW NOTHING. It’s annoying and agonising because I don’t know where I could learn it.

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https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html this is a good place to start! hesiod's works and days, the first few parts of it is the story of prometheus :)

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lady Aphrodite, I feel you in my frizzy curls and flushed cheeks. in the layer of sweat i earned from running down your beaches, as the cold waves chased me up the sand.

lord Hermes, I feel you every time I drive, your protection extending over me: a blanket of safety and security. patron of travellers, I feel you guide me.

lord apollo, I feel you whenever I make music: the way the notes run through my bones and my soul feels like beams of sunlight from your smile.

lady hestia, I feel your presence in the calming rhythm of my home. the cycles and patterns that ground me and bring me peace.

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I HATE THE WORD PAGAN

((disclaimer: i am a pagan, specifically a hellenic polytheist))

Pagan is a nothing word. Historically it means any religion not judaism, christianity, or islam. Not always, though. Muslims and Jews have also been referred to as pagan, along with some groups of Christians who didn’t subscribe to the orthodox. In more recent history, like twentieth century, I’ve seen pagan used to mean any religion not part of the Big Five, the three previously mentioned plus buddhism and hinduism. In short, my analysis of the word “pagan” is that it essentially means whatever is not standard to the speaker, a catch-all term like heathen. That’s why I don’t like this word. It doesn’t mean anything, only that you’re not subscribing to a certain standard. While the feeling of rebellion associated with that is alluring, I think that religion is far too diverse a category for this. A comparison I’ve used before is to imagine the sciences were divided into biology and not-biology. It doesn’t really make sense to treat physics and environmental science like they’re the same thing, so why do we use “pagan” to describe the witchtok girlies and also indigenous folk traditions? (no shade to the witchtok girlies tho lmao)

To me personally, it just feels like it means Not part of one of the main religions. It only defines me as opposed to the “big” religions. I don’t want my religious beliefs to be defined by what they're not. I also don’t think it’s fair to treat the thousands of minority religions, new religious movements, indigenous practices, folk traditions, and literally every religious movement besides the “popular enough to be regarded as normal” ones. I believe that religious traditions, especially from peoples and places that have faced colonization and extreme discrimination, deserve to be talked about, honored, and analyzed in a category that isn’t just “everything else.”

Basically, I think it would be better for most people of minority religions to shed the term pagan in favor of something more specific that reflects the nuances of that tradition. I understand pagan is also an easy blanket label for eclectic practices that don’t neatly fit into a box, but I implore people to think of a term that highlights the beauty of their own practice, or just fuck labels all together and say you’re a witch, or spiritual, or on your own path!

At the end of the day I am simply a nineteen-year-old with probably too many opinions and too much confidence. If you want to call yourself a pagan, that’s fine. Just be aware of the history and malleability of the word.

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flowers in my hair

i used to think that autumn was my favorite season but i can't deny my favorite is spring. just the feeling of lady persephone coming back to the earth, reborn in every single little flower.

hellebore, daffodil, hyacinth

these pics aren't the best but some flowers on my campus that have cheered me up over the past few weeks. seeing them makes me so so so happy. i had a little pink flower in my hair today!

i am so so glad persephone is back.

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slump

wow i have not posted in a minute!

for a few weeks this was a really nice journal for me and then, uhhh, life got all the way in the way and I was in survival mode. i'm embarrassed to say that i fell out of routine with my practice and i've not felt as connected to the theoi on a daily basis, only at certain times.

now that i'm stable again (lmao) i wanna try to be more active in my spiritual life again because it does make me really happy. I always focus on not feeling shame or guilting myself into practicing, but I'm gonna try to be more intentional with my practice over the next few weeks.

🌹🐚🦢

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the theoi are always there

the theoi are always there. no matter what i’m going through right now, i know they will be a constant in my life, no matter what else changes around me. the world ebbs and flows, relationships of all sorts start and end, but eos brings the dawn every morning. helios shines during the day, and selene guides me at night. laughing aphrodite comforts my soul while phoebus apollon sings through my voice. i’m scared, i’m confused, i don’t know where to go. but wherever i end up, they will be with me.

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HAIL LORD DIONYSOS

praise to lord dionysos, creator of theatre, father of performance. i have never felt more alive as when i’m onstage, and i am eternally thankful for the theatre as one of the most beautiful forms of expression. under your gaze i become art, i become an extension of you, swept up in the act of making art. i believe with all of my heart that you watched over me while i performed, i could feel your presence within every note i sang. i can’t wait to do this for the rest of my life.

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Zephyrus - a devotional poem

i wrote this poem last year as a devotional to aphrodite. it references the myth of zephyrus, hyacinthus, and apollon, but it's more meant to be a fictional interpretation of the myth than an actual statement about the truth of apollon. :)

How the gods mocked ancient Aphrodite,

When her piercing gaze and deathless face softened for Adonis.

I stood with the others: You forget your divinity! He is a mouse among the grasses!

Laughter ringing, nectar flowing -- how could a god truly love a mortal?

Nymphs gossiped: you can gaze upon a flower while it blooms, 

But how would you ever adore something that must die?

But here I am, breathing in the last shred of warmth from your honey curls

Here I am, clawing my face until red and gold stain my jealous hands.

My fierce winds used to cast down her fragile anemones,

Her last memory of his fleeting touch.

I raise my own flowers up from your now cold figure,

Bless them with your gentle scent and beauty death will never steal.

How cruel are the Fates, how horrible is the world that I might fell my own heart.

My intoxicating love for you poisoned me, shattered me, killed you: half of myself.

How I wish I could give up my golden blood -- trade my place for yours,

But Death’s wings will never cast mercy upon my tattered eternal soul.

Most primeval Olympian, born of the sea.

Your most gentle gift could cause no greater pain.

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happy (belated) noumenia and agathos daimon!!

its now the third day of gamelion, one of the lunar months of the ancient athenian calendar. i'm a little late to posting but it's been busyyy

i really love the ritual of noumenia. to be honest i haven't done it before, but asking for protection from the household (dormhold??) gods really gave me a sense of peace. i made a small sacrifice of bread with honey and fresh water. i think lady hestia and the household spirits enjoyed it.

agathos daimon! the traditional sacrifice is wine, but i don't have any so i just did water. in ancient greek agathos daimon literally just means good spirit/good luck, and i hope this gamelion goes well.

happy gamelion, glory to zeus teleios and hera teleia. may lady hestia and the household gods fill my space with safety and peace.

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aphrodite and vanity

it took me a long time to accept the fact that i had a connection with aphrodite. i wasn't raised religious, and i didn't know where to start or where to turn for any sort of belief. i felt like i was lost in the middle of the woods, unsure of where to turn.

but there was another layer to my hesitation. i was embarrassed, somewhere deep in my subconscious, that i had this connection to the goddess of love and beauty. i felt so vain! in most popular media, aphrodite is either a mean-spirited beauty queen, or a ditsy bubblehead. i knew the presence i felt wasn't either of those archetypes, but the shame of connecting with such a "shallow" goddess made me uncomfortable.

let this be a reminder that the theoi are often nothing like their portrayals in media. personally, i'm a big percy jackson fan, but the characters of the gods aren't representative of the theoi, they are characters based of certain traits for a novel.

zeus is not completely evil and manipulative. hera is not only jealous and vengeful. dionysos is not simply drunk and fun. aphrodite is not simply vain. the theoi in their entirety are more complex than anyone could conceive, and while the traits of each god i mentioned before might be a part of their larger personality, each god and goddess is so much more complicated and faceted than any children's book or other media can portray.

maybe i'm the only one who needs this reminder, but we're not worshipping characters from percy jackson or l*re ol*mpus. your connections with the theoi are beautiful and real and meaningful, and we should all be proud. :)

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learning ancient greek!!!

last semester i started learning ancient greek, specifically attic greek. (this dialect is specific to attica/athens, roughly from the 8-5th centuries bce.) it's so much fun, and i really love praying to and addressing the theoi by their ancient names.

i know this is one dialect from one time, and i also know the gods can be reached through any language. but for me, putting in the effort to learn ancient greek makes me feel closer to my practice. not necessarily the theoi, i feel more connected to all those ancient people who believed similarly to how i do.

plus speaking an ancient language makes my nerd heart so happy :D

τιμαω Αφροδιτη ουρανη (very rough: i honor heavenly aphrodite)

i still have a really long way to go, my greek is at an !!elementary!! level, but i'm really proud to be on the beginning of this journey.

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I just read through the few posts on your blog and the way you talk about Lady Aphrodite is so beautiful I am genuinely tearing up. I've only very recently started worshipping Her and She has been such a wonderful presence and I was so surprised by how easily we connected. Anyway I just wanted to say hello and I love your vibes already.

this is making me so happy i'm gonna cry too 😭

i started my blog partially just for me to vent/yap about my religion but i was also hoping to find some community on here. welcome to aphrodite devotion, it's a wonderful world <333

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aphrodite everywhere

i feel her in my rose quartz necklace that i always wear. in the playful seafoamy waves that chase me up the beach. in the marble gardens at my school. in my little altar in my room. i feel her in the breeze in the springtime, when the whole world smells like new love. i feel her in the calm after i cry, when im putting the pieces of myself together again. i feel her in chocolate and raspberries and sweet wine. i hear her in laughter, my own and others. when i need her, i feel her embrace.

she is everywhere, she is in my veins, she is in the sky, she is the air that i breathe and the joy in my soul. 🌹

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i envy one thing that christians have

i'm so happy i am a hellenist. this religion is a really safe, happy place for me, and i've grown so much.

but there is one thing that i wish i had. i outlined christians specifically because i live in the us, and it's the dominant religion here. i don't necessarily envy organized religion, as i believe that can lead to a lot of harm, at least it's much more likely than solo practitioners. i am envious of their sense of community.

i've only met two other hellenists in my life, and i haven't had the chance to participate in rituals or anything with either of them. we've barely talked about it. i've met more individuals online, but it's just not the same. i don't have a bible study i can go to with close friends, I don't have elders who can guide me in questions about my faith. sometimes i feel like it's just me and the theoi.

being part of a small religion has absolutely beautiful aspects to it, and being part of a huge world religion has a LOT of downsides. i wouldn't change my faith for the world. but it would be nice to have a community built around the gods.

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cw: talking about body image type things

i remember scrolling on pinterest one day and seeing a photo of the statue above. it's called "crouching venus." i stopped and looked at it for a while. she has a soft stomach with rolls when she crouches like mine. she has a smaller chest like me. she has strong legs like me. i remember my eyes filling with tears - i had spent years at that point disappointed with how i look, but i looked the same as the goddess of beauty? in that moment i felt the goddess' presence around me like a hug. that day was the beginning of my confidence in myself, which i'm proud to say has really improved over the last two years. i'm truly happy with not just how i look, but how i am on the inside as well. i'm truly thankful for how lady aphrodite helped to guide me there.

ω Αφροδιτη φιλομειδη τιμαω. I honor you, oh Laughter Loving Aphrodite. (apologies for the imperfect ancient greek. i'm still learning!)

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different gods i've worked with! :D

Aphrodite: I consider myself a devotee of Aphrodite, so I connect with her most often (nearly daily) and consider that relationship to be the strongest. My favorite thing to do before going to sleep is to do a yap sesh with Aphrodite :3

Hermes: He really helped with some specific parts of my anxiety, specifically around driving, so I invoke Hermes, protector of travellers. (Of course, religion of any kind can't fix mental health, and I love my medication and therapy. My religion is a little cherry on top.)

Apollon: I'm a musician, so I often pray to him while singing and dedicate musical exploits to him! Apollon is a many-faceted god, and I'll admit I haven't interacted much with his other sides, but his musical side is so wonderful.

Artemis: I love to hike, so while I'm out in nature, I often pray to her!

Hestia: I don't connect with her as often, but when moving into a new place, I dedicate the space to her and ask her to watch over my home.

Hera: I don't interact with Hera often, but when I've had problems in my family, she has been really helpful.