Monthly Archives: June 2011

30 Day Paganism Meme: Day 15 ~ Pantheon – Every-One Else

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I’m at a loss for words on this one, so I’m going to do a run-down of as many Theoi and Titans as I can think of, and a quick line or two (or possibly three) on how I see Them, my thoughts, etc…:

Zeus: Mythologically, He’s the God who puts his dick in everything. In real life, He’s a multi-faceted Father God who can be The Stern, Mean Judge one minute, and then crack bad Dad Jokes the next.
Hera: She’s a goddess of marriage, of fidelity, and of traditions. I get the impression that She’s more of a monarchist than Zeus.
Athene: Athene is like the Cool Older Sister who goes to political rallies and fights for civil justice. People who aren’t close to Her also seem to think She’s “kinda butch”, but I get the impression that She doesn’t see Herself that way. I tried to forge something with Her, but it was never meant to be that deep, apparently.
Aphrodite: As I said in my Eros post, I see Her bond with Eros as familial in spirit — They share a lot of common ground, but I’ve never seen them as mother-and-child deities. In fact, that one picture I added to yesterday’s post, with Eros comforting an exhausted Aphrodite, I think that says a lot.
Hermes: A god of the in-betweens: Travellers, story-telling, commerce — which is the exchange of money rather than the acquisition of said. A protector of thieves, but specifically those who are so out of necessity, not sloth.
Dionysos: Patron of theatre, wine, and all in life that proves delicious.
Hephaestos: God of smiths, craftsmen, labourers, the blue-collar working classes. A patron of those who overcome obstacles.
Ares: God of war, fighting for self-protection (rather than sport), and machismo.
Poseidon: Rules of the seas, bringer of earthquakes, creator of horses. A protector of many Hellenic cities.
Demeter: Goddess of the corn (grains), harvest, agriculture. She who prepares for the changing of the seasons.
Artemis: Goddess of the hunt, archery (for necessity, rather than sport — which is Apollon’s domain), protector of children (especially young girls) and all wild things. Always struck me as a bit of a wild thing, herself, and the glimpses of Her I’ve had, She struck me as all but feral.
Hestia: Goddess of the hearth and home; “the rock” that holds families together. Her givt to humanity are the domestic arts, especially cooking and baking.
Hades: Lord of the dead and ruler of all places inside and under the face of Gaea. Perhaps not the cuddliest deity, but certainly not the Hollywood “substitute Satan”.
Persephone: Goddess of changes. She turns winter into springtime, She transforms girls into young women.
Asklepios: Son of Apollon the Healer, and patron God of medicine and doctors; according to legend, He was the first.
Pan: God of shitting in the woods. God of wild things, shepherds, mountains, primitive musics. Consort of Kybele.
Herakles: Steve Reeves. Theban heros. By Thespian tradition, He is the father of all fifty grandsons of legendary first king of Thespiae, Thespius, by each of Thespius’ fifty daughters. By the account of Parthenius of Nicaea, He is also the father of the Keltoi via the daughter of “Bretannus” (though this story is apparently one of backward-etymology, considering that Hellenes had referred to the British Isles [including Ireland] as “Βρεττανίαι (Brettaniai)” for about three centuries prior to the appearance of this story). Herakles is a deity of responsibilities, physical greatness (as opposed to mere fitness), and obstacles.
Ganymedes & Hebe: God and Goddess of youth. Cup-bearers of Olympos.
Moirai: The fates. They Who spin the threads of each individual’s life and then weaves it into an immense tapestry of humanity.
Horai: Two sets of goddesses; the eldest keep the seasons, and the youngest keep the hours
Kharites: The three goddesses of Beauty, Merriment, and Festivities.
Hekate: Goddess of magics, witchcraft, ghosts, nighttime, necromancy; and according to Hesiod, “Hekate whom Zeus the son of Kronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods”. Protector from bad omens and harmful spells. Eternally youthful, but mother of
Kirke: Goddess pharmakeia — often translated as “witch” or “sorceress”, but is the root for “pharmacy” and means “user or giver of drugs and medicines”. Wife of Odysseus. Her cult seems to have been rooted in herbal magics and medicines.
Hypnos: God of Sleep, protector of insomniacs. Older brother of
The Oneroi: The givers of dreams and omens. Older, but only very slightly, than
Thanatos: Bringer of death, typically a peaceful death.
Helios, Eos, Selene, The Asterea: Celestial Titans of The Sun, Dawn, The Moon, and the Stars.

I may add to this later, but for now, will close with a quote from my favourite science fiction series:

“Gods by the bushel! Gods by the pound! When every day is a fight for survival, you need all the gods you can get.” — Londo Mollari, Babylon 5

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Pond, Garden, & Lansing

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The pond is… coming along.

I started digging it out on Friday (24 June 2011), and am only kinda-sorta along on it. My main issues are:

  • When I started this, my friend Chris and I initially estimated that, an average-sized man, in good physical condition (like, between “decent condition” and “prime athlete condition”) might be able to dig out this pond in a day or two, and that I might be able to do it in about a week. I now realise this is a complete fantasy, on both counts.
  • It’s become apparent to me that this entire residential property has been built on a claybed. Which is good for the integrity of the pond, but a real pain to dig out, and it really puts a damper on my plans for the dug-out soil.

The wide abundance of clay around here had pretty much given me another expense to worry about — on the good side, we live right near Michigan State University, once-upon-a-time known as Michigan Agricultural College (and still home of the state’s best Agri programs), and despite living in what is undoubtedly an urban area, the city limits are literally surrounded by farmland — manure is cheap and easy-enough to acquire (to fertilise the clay), so while an unexpected expense, it really could’ve been worse.

I also don’t think that Chris and I really *grasped* how deep thirty inches is — nor do I think he and I realised that the outline of the old wading pool that I’m using as a guide for the perimeter of the pond is at least as wide as I am tall — maybe even a full six feet (so over ten inches wider). While it’s clear that digging this out is definitely going to take me the better part of two weeks (at the very least), I now seriously doubt whether or not an average-sized man in much better physical condition than the short fat man writing this would be able to get this done in a day or two. On the good side, at this point, I’d decided that if I could at least dig out the pond hole, I could easily budget for putting it all together next year.

There’s also a LOT of wild brush now grown out in the farthest part of the back garden, just before the alley. This pisses me off, and I have half a mind to just go out there with Roundup or something before the end of summer, and then just start new, next year. On the other hand, I’d still have to cut down most of it before putting herbicide to it all, and at that point, is it really that much more inconvenient to just take the tiller to it all? Either way, I’m really wishing there were more Hellenists out this way — or at least that my friend Colleen would hold up to her promise of free child labour, cos there’s only so much that I can do on my own. And yes, I have a house-mate, but I’m essentially doing this all myself, cos he’s working third shift and is basically asleep during the prime daylight hours there are to do this.

The worst part? I’m not sure if I’m feeling overwhelmed by all this or not. On one hand, when I come in, I’m kind of energised by all the work, in spite of being already incredibly sore after maybe only two hours of digging, and that’s good. On the other hand, when it hits me how much more money is still needed, I can’t help but feel like maybe I should call it quits. When I think of the big, beautiful gesture this will be for Eros, I’m energised and motivated again — indeed, I can’t help but see little omens in everything out in back, from the butterfly that sat watching my from the tiller to birds that will be silent until flying directly over the back garden. Then I remember the lacking of local community, and start second-guessing whether or not this was that great of an idea, after all — like, if I’m not doing this for a definite community, but only a potential one, isn’t all just really for my own ego? And no matter what I’m actually thinking, I always find myself wondering if I really believe those thoughts, or if it’s just the humidity getting to me.

I’m really trying not to let the low amount of money bother me, cos if I do, I tend to remember that the sorry state of the wildflowers out in the front garden bothers me even more. This soon after those idiot groundskeepers cut them all down, it’s clear that a significant amount of them are not going to come back. See, that’s because the morons cut them down before seed pods could form. It’s also pretty clear, at this point, that their machinery pretty deeply gouged up parts of that half of the front garden, which literally tore plants up and out of their roots. I’ve told property management about this, and I’ve told them that I want groundskeeping to buy me new seeds for next year.

It’s also seriously bothering me that, pretty much since that part of the front garden was torn up, my house-mate has stopped paying attention to where he walks out in front to get to his door on his car. I mean, it’s not like anything might still be alive on that quadrant — obviously, if you ask him, I’m being unreasonable and I, the one who has been gardening since he was eight years old, took horticultural classes in high school, am the one who can’t tell the difference between clover and juvenile Nasturtium (hint: they’re pretty easy to tell apart even if you’re a novice who is willing to pay attention to where you’re stamping your size 14 work-boots). At this point, I’ve kind of given up reminding him not to cut corners on the path I marked out MONTHS AGO, an which he was perfectly fine on keeping to until about two weeks ago. At this point, it’s clear to me that he’s just going to keep killing things on that quadrant of the front garden until next year, when I get my new seeds and tear it all up again.

New Goal for the Garden

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I found out about TerraCycle.net cos I love Method brand cleaning products and their refill pouches. The only downside to the pouches is that Lansing doesn’t accept plastic bags of any sort for recycling, so while it’s nice that they provide a significant reduction in waste and resources, before I noticed the url for TerraCycle on a new pouch for dish liquid, my only option was to throw them out.

TerraCycle basically collects hard-to-recycle waste items and in exchange for you sending them in (usually at no cost to you, either), they’ll give you at least 2¢ or two “points” to put toward a charity or school of your choice. At 400 points, I can donate bees to an impoverished family through Heifer International.

So, I’ve signed up for several “brigades” (all stuff I use — Method refills, candy wrappers, hair product & make-up packaging and tubes, cheese packaging, old keyboards & mice, old cell phones[50pts], old digital cameras[250pts]) to save up for and send in; I’m also wait-listed for several others. It looks like items can be combined into a single box and sent in together, which is good, cos that makes for less boxes used at any one time.

I have my heart set on bees specifically because of Trophonios, and because bees are pretty essential to gardens. If you’re in the Lansing, Michigan, area, feel free to contact me (ruadhan[at]peacockfairy[dot]com) if you have anything to donate to the TerraCycle box.

Also, since I’m still pretty low on money, I’m going to point everybody to the donations button again, cos it’s absolutely necessary, still.

Now I’m off to put on some work jeans and my Crocs [shudder] and go dig a hole for Future Goldfish Pond™ — my goal for the hole? Not my pole, but a depth of at least thirty inches; considering that full-grown shubunkins can be about sixteen inches long, I’d really rather not have to bring them inside during the winter, so this will allow for hibernation. This is also a sacred garden feature. Plus, it also makes more sense that, if I’m going to have narcissus poeticus surrounding the pond, to dig the pond first, so as nothing gets destroyed later.

Good news for Hellenic women and “teh dredded m00nbl00dz”

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It’s not miasma.

I’ve reasoned this before, but didn’t feel arsed to citing a source before.

Today, I was looking through old threads in a LiveJournal community, and came across a thread discussing this topic, and some-one in the comments said they could cite quotes from Walter Burkert on this, that menstruation ≠ miasma. I had Greek Religion literally sitting in front of me as I came across that, so I decided to look it up.

Interestingly, the index contains no reference words to “menstruation”, so I decided to search Google Books for this keyword, and there is very little. Indeed, the most direct reference is AN ENDNOTE. The note is to the following passage on page 78:

The Indo-European word for sacred, hagnos29 is defined and narrowed down in Greek through its opposition to defilement, mysos, miasma. The conception of specifically cultic purity is defined by considering certain more or less grave dislocations of normal ife as miasma. Disturbances of this kind are sexual intercourse,30 birth,31 death, and especially murder. … Curiously, the hagneia may even involve a prohibition on bathing: the contrast with everyday life or some future act of cultic purification is more important than obvious cleanliness.

That last part included for what should be painfully obvious reasons.

Endnote #31 references a German essay (“Die Gebrauche der Griechen nach der Geburt”) and summarises:

Menstruation is understood — even medically — as purification (katharsis); the cult take notice of it only insofar as a number of priesthoods are expressly reserved for older women.

I was able to find the original German essay, but since I don’t read German (and only have the vaguest comprehension of spoken German in art films) I relied on Google’s translation abilities, and needless to say, Google borked it up good, so I’m going to take Burkert’s summation of this as it is. After all, Greek Religion was originally published in German, and with English being a Germanic language, this arrangement of nouns and such is not something that can be easily borked in translation by a human translator. So, yep, menstruation is the vag washing its hands, as it were.

So, there you have it: Menstruation is not, Not, NOT “miasma”, and anybody who says it is obviously hasn’t even cracked open what’s generally regarded as a definitive text for Hellenic reconstructionists — or perhaps just never read it thoroughly, or is just too stupid to understand what he read.

And for those of you who didn’t gather from the last part of the quoted passage, “ritual purification” isn’t merely approaching the Theoi with a physically washed body — indeed, ritual purification varied by cult, so while mainstream poleis cults had khernips stations at the front of the temples for suppliants to douse their hands and faces before entering the main area, this is but one example of what hagneia entails.

Quick Garden Update

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Thanks to donations, this last week I picked up a small coconut hanging basket for the porch, a Greek oregano, a rosemary seedling, a new bag of potting soil, a large garden spade, a packet of anemone poppy (wind flower) bulbs, and a packet of hooks for the porch. If a friend follows through on her pledge to donate some more money this coming week, I hope to get a few things for the birds. Also, today, broke one of my shoe and clothing rules and grabbed a pair of Crocs from Big Lots (name brand, even) — but only cos, if the front garden has taught me anything about shoes, it’s that for gardening, you really need something you can hose off — at least I didn’t have to pay full price for them.

Before it started raining this evening, I also dug up some of the wild strawberries in the back and transplanted them to the basket (if only cos I intend to eventually clear out that area to make an unobtrusive parking space for a Stella — and why lose perfectly fine strawberries?).

It’s supposed to thunderstorm again tomorrow, but I still hope to get some digging in for that pond. At this point, I doubt that I’ll be able to complete the pond before the end of summer, but at the very least, I can dig it out and be ready in time for spring again.

Photos will come when flowers happen out front again — or, at least, I can get some more landscaping work in.

Again, donations are always appreciated, and (at least this year) absolutely necessary — as I’ve noted, I need new glasses this summer (though this is mainly my own fault; I got in the bad habit of wiping this pair with a paper towel, assuming that Viva “cloth-like” paper towels would leave my lenses unscratched).

I’ve also written up a draft of garden rules for visitors.

I don’t do this proudly

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As those of you who read my more personal diary may be aware, I have high generalised anxieties (though, being an extrovert, I’m pretty low on social anxieties), and money is one of the things that I get especially anxious about.

Now, DreamHost, my server provider, is actually pretty good on bandwidth and such, and I’m thankfully not popular enough to make site functionality an immediate danger, but the last few days, I’ve noticed a huge spike in hits — mostly concerning my Adonis post, for reasons I can’t figure out.

Then there’s the fact that this garden project is obviously very important to me, and money has so far been very short all year, so far. I’ve been made a generous donation offer by one of my best friends (for the near future — long story short, she’s feeling rich and is waiting for her next paycheque), and it’s clear to me that this is only a very small amount of what I need to bring the garden up to the point that I had hoped it would already be at this first year.

So I’m selectively signing up for advertisement space on this blog. I’ve enrolled in AzureGreen’s Affiliate program (an on-line store I’ve used for herbs and incenses and Wendy Rule CDs) and am considering signing up for others. This is all pretty much with intent to help fund the garden project, and could use some advice on where to look for other sign-ups. I don’t intend on using Google AdSense or similar services, cos I like a level of control over who and what I’m selling out to.

Now, the AzureGreen Affiliate program isn’t terribly great: While I like the 15% referral commission from all completed purchases made from my affiliate link, they only pay out after I’ve earned $100. So cos I can’t rely on it for needed garden funding, I’m obviously leaving the Indie GoGo campaign going. Also, you can click on the donations button under “Tip Jar” in my sidebar and donate directly.

I wish I didn’t have to do this, but AdFree Blogging can only go just so long until you realise you’ve got bills to pay. :-(

30 Day Paganism Meme: Day 14 ~ Pantheon – Nyx & Kybele/Gaia

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I tend to regard Nyx and Kybele not as two names for the same Goddess, but as two distinct types of Mother Goddess. Whether “Kybele = Rhea”, I really am not sure, but I know that those who dismiss Kybele’s cult as “foreign” carefully don’t mention that Rhea’s cult is of Minoan origin. There’s also the fact that in Boeotia, Kybele in specific was regarded as a wife or consort of Pan — and if getting a Husband Whose cult can be traced to the Hellenic mainland is good enough to make the Kypriot Aphrodite “Hellenic enough”… Really, some people are major weiners about this, when it’s all really quite logical.

My comprehension of Kybele is also a tad outside the modern “Hellenic mainstream”, and (at least based on what I’ve s-far concluded in my studies of Boeotian traditions), probably closer to an ancient Boeotian understanding — if not a perfect match to Boeotian thought (at least for some poleis), then close enough to be likely accepted, should I finally get that phone booth back in working order. I don’t see Kybele as a match to Rhea, but Gaia, though I honour Gaia and Kybele differently. Let’s compare this Goddess to a a sort of Borg-like entity — They are distinct, but clearly share a consciousness. Where Gaia is the literal Earth, and a living organism, and a Goddess, She’s also rather impersonal1 — this is where Her Kybele form is necessary and also a distinct form for Her consciousness. As Pindar reports of Thebes, I too see Her as a mate of Pan.

As much as Kybele is a nurturing and deeply feeling Mother Goddess, one Who will cuddle you into Her many bosoms, She will sit you down and tell you very frankly what it is. She’s a Goddess of opposites — She’s both a physical and spiritual being, She’s a Goddess of wild things (and indeed, mated with a god of wild things) but Her crown is a city’s walls, and (perhaps most tellingly) Her mythos tell the story of the first surgical “correction” of an Intersex infant because a few gods were offended and disgusted. In part for Her origin mythos, and in part for the story of Attis, Her son, going mad and ritually castrating Himself, Her cult, in ancient times, maintained a priest/ess caste of biological men who willingly submitted to a ritual castration and adoption of feminine identities (and, in modern times, this is often interpreted as having been a haven for trans women and male-assigned genderqueer people — but this is a modern Anglocentric culture’s interpretation, I know of nothing that survives of writings from this priestly caste that articulates their own gender identities), which has given Kybele a special reverence to many transgender and intersex individuals. Unlike Eros, Hermes, and many other Trickster deities, She doesn’t exist in the liminal, in-between spaces — she simultaneously exists on both sides of a divide. Like all mothers, She can be both your greatest ally and worst enemy.

Many modern Pagans and Polytheist have this ridiculously romanticised vision of “nature” and the “natural world”. This idea that an untamed forest is a place of kindness, that the planet will just “give” everything needed to Herself and the creatures that live on Her surface. They forget that Gaia throws tantrums — or, if those fits are acknowledged, it’s always with the adage that “we humans deserve it” — forgetting the ill impact these fits have on other living things. While Gaia tends to eventually sort out Her droughts, and blights, and hurricane devatstations, these events still have impacts on plant life, animal life, human life, and even Her own face. It seems only logical to me that Gaia and Kybele are the same soul — They’re clearly a Goddess of opposites.

Nyx, too, is a Mother Goddess, but also not. She’s the mother of Eros, a creative force, mother of Eris, The Oneroi, the Moirai, Furies and so many other Daimones, but this is not a mother Goddess as we mortals understand the concept.

Queen Alexandra (1844–1925) — widow of Edward VII and mother of George V.

Queen Alexandra (1844–1925) — widow of Edward VII and mother of George V.

It’s like the difference between a fan (short for “fanatic”) and one who just likes something. She’s a goddess Who’s a mother, and She is of great importance to the Gods (on what I gather is a personal level for Them), but at best, we can only catch glimpses, occasional nuggets of how amazing a force She is. She’s a deity for deities — She will graciously accept our worship and sacrifices, but the greatest title Hellenes have ever had for Her is a Goddess of Night — and yet, poetry and hymns exist, and continue to be written for this other Great Mother, whom we’ve only seen in snaps. In comparison, She’s like the Queen Mother to most Amerikans — obviously, she’s of some great importance to some people, obviously a mother, but damned if anybody but very few will ever figure out exactly what she actually does and why she’s treated with such reverence, since she’s clearly not the same as the Queen Regent (reigning queen).

That said, I obviously lack a personal relationship or deeper understanding of Nyx — and unless Eros changes His mind, I won’t need to know any time soon. She’s His mother, via parthenogenesis — She was born with his zygote already inside Her when She and Erebos were formed from Khaos. She’s a Deity that all other Deities hold in great esteem. She inspires the occasional mortal burst of insight to Her nature. That’s good enough for now.

1: But as with all polytheist topics, your mileage may vary.

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