Heliodites and Red Wine

I did my first Hellenic ritual in quite a long time today. This ritual was a modern ritual, not a reconstructed one, but since it was from the book that Labrys put out, I felt it came from a reputable source. (Buy this book! It is wonderful!) Plus, it was a beautifully written rite.

The one I did today, as by the solar calendar it is Sunday, was the Heliodites ritual. It consisted of an opening prayer to welcome the Gods, a prayer by Plethon, hymns to Apollo, Helios, and a chosen protector God/Goddess, followed by a closing benediction (for lack of a better word.) Each section was accompanied by an offering, Labrys recommends red wine for the offering, in addition to honey for Helios. I'm going to do more divination to find out what each of the Gods would like as an offering, but for now I am going to go with the red wine.

I did a divination with my Alphabet Oracle tiles I made after the ritual to see if my offerings were accepted and if the Gods had any guidance for me. I drew Pi, Omicron and Iota as my three tiles. These meanings are from both the Greek Alphabet Oracle website as well as the Grammantis application on the Google Play Store.

Iota says
“There is sweat {Hidrôs}; it excels more than everything.”

Omicron says
“There are no {Ou}crops to be reaped that were not sown.”

Finally, Pi says
“Completing many {Polus} contests, you will seize the crown.”

From my analysis, these three tiles together mean that I have to work harder to achieve my goals, nothing will come without that hard work, but if I put in that hard work, as Pi states, I shall achieve my goals.

I need to get a lot more red wine though, I don't drink alcohol but I went through a lot of the wine today. At least a solid glass was offered to the Theoi. I'm going to have to keep buying wine if I'm going to start following the lunar calendar.

Hail the Theoi of Hellas. Hail!

Druids....?

So, last time I wrote about religion I was discussing my exploration of Wicca. I've been going to a Wicca 101 class at my local pagan temple and while it's interesting, it's interesting from a purely academic perspective. It's not what I want to do. I felt a little sad learning that, as I thought Wicca was going to be it.

After going to Wicca 101 for a couple weeks, I was fortunate enough to attend ConVocation in Dearborn, MI, last weekend. It was amazing. I had a blast, met some wonderful people, and took some awesome classes. I also had the chance to witness a ritual to honor Athena and welcome wisdom back into the world, celebrating Her birth from the forehead of Zeus, with Hephaistos wielding the axe that broke great Zeus' head open.The Ar nDraiocht Fein (ADF) ArchDruid was the one who led the Athena ritual.

Everything that the ADF ritual did spoke to me on a deep level. I was enthralled, and the husband said I was glowing after it. It was amazing. Previously that weekend, the Senior Druid for my local grove led a class on Hellenismos, the reconstructionism of the ancient Hellenic religion, and what he said made me question whether or not I wanted to continue with my current path or go back to Hellenismos. He was very frank in laying out what Hellenismos was and what it believed, and how kharis (reciprocity) was very important, which is something I truly believe in and can get behind.

That class, coupled with the Athena rite, have decided it for me. At least for the present, I am going back to Hellenismos. I am going to work tomorrow to develop a practice that I can do at home, and instead of following a dogmatic ritual that someone else set up, I will research and write my own.... or at least, use some language from Homer and the Orphic Hymns. I will do the work this time, rather than just taking a ritual and saying it.

I need to write a series of daily prayers, one for morning and evening, as well as a blessing for meals... lots of prayers to write! I also need to structure what I'm going to do according to the ancient Hellenic month. Perhaps I'll throw it in my Witches Datebook and make note of what happens when in there. Lots to do!

Back to Druids for a moment. I think I'm going to join ADF. I went to their coffee hour this week to meet up with them and see what they are like. They're nice people! I was very nervous going in to Olga's to meet up with them and I was able to have dinner with three of the Druids, before going down the plaza for tea with more people. It was a nice evening, everyone was incredibly sweet to me. They seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say and liked my set of Greek Alphabet Oracle tiles that I made.

Greek Alphabet Oracle

Well, that's a lot of information for one night. I'm exhausted and I'm going to crash. Good evening, folks.

Farewell, 

Lyssa

Going Home?

My last serious religious topic post was about my search for a new religious path. I discussed Judaism, the possibility of blending paths with Paganism, but the more I thought on it, the more a blended path did not make sense. I then decided to write down what I believed, without any preconceptions and without trying to shoe-horn them into a path. These are just my personal beliefs, crudely shoved into words.

I believe in a divine spirit that permeates everything, beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. That divine spirit manifests itself in many forms to people across creation, with distinct masculine and feminine aspects. These divine aspects can be known as Goddess and God, but also through other deity names. 

My husband, Rune says that I definitely fit the mold for Paganism, and I’ve been reading into Wicca quite a bit lately. Everything I’m reading is making sense, a lot more sense than everything else I’ve been reading. I think I am much more a soft polytheist than a hard polytheist, despite the fact I tried to force myself to be a hard polytheist for ten years. it’s taken a lot to reconcile that belief, to accept that I am not a failure for stepping back from Hellenic Reconstructionism. It’s not me anymore, and now that I think on it, I don’t believe it ever was. It took major effort, not good effort, to do the whole Reconstructionist thing, and that was something that I tried very hard to do well. I observed the holidays, did the rituals, honored the Theoi, but it felt false. I finally admitted it, and now here I am.

I’m looking at the pile of Wicca books in front of me and remembering my first introduction to the Pagan community: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham was the first book about non-Abrahamic Religions that I ever read, about fifteen years ago, and now it’s become the book I’ve gone back to for a refresher course in what I started out in the Pagan community with. I’ve also been reading the Farrar’s books The Witches’ Goddess and The Witches’ God, in addition to their Witches’ Bible.

I’m currently figuring out where I fall in things. As I move closer to this Wiccan path, it makes more and more sense. I just need to let go of my conscious brain and let my subconscious feel. Where do I feel the most at home?

It might be Wicca. We’ll have to find out. It’s time to go home.

Ritual to honor Hera Telkhinia

Hello everyone, as of this first post I would like to talk about a ritual my husband and I did to honor Hera Telkhinia, Hera the Bringer of Rains as she was worshipped in Rhodes. The group Elaion runs what they call 'Practicing Apart, Together' rituals, and tomorrow one is scheduled to honor the Queen of all Gods. Unfortunately, my husband Rune was not going to be home tomorrow during the scheduled time, and I really wanted to honor the Queen of Marriage with my husband. He was also interested in participating in a Hellenic ritual, even though his path is nowhere near Hellas and their Theoi. To make things a bit simpler, I did the ritual today with Rune. 

The ritual went quite well. I split up the parts so that one person wasn't reading the entire thing and it was really nice to share some sacred time with my husband. Standing before our working altar, lighting incense and candles, making wine offerings and jointly reciting hymns.... it was a wonderful way to start the day. 

I look forward to the day that we are officially joined together in ritual before Hera Gamelia, the Goddess of Marriage. We are vaguely planning a ritual for our first mundane wedding anniversary, and having the chance to have the Queen bless our union would be wonderful.