Tag Archives: ritual

Who is a “Recon”?

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The dictionary defines reconstruction as:

1. to construct or form again; rebuild: to reconstruct a Greek vase from fragments
2. to form a picture of (a crime, past event, etc) by piecing together evidence or acting out a version of what might have taken place
[World English Dictionary]

It can therefore be fair to say that Religious Reconstruction is hardly the act of making something exactly as it happened or was done before. That’s not to say that reconstruction is not sometimes meticulous, but it’s also not the act of making a broken vase unbroken — after all, more often than not, you can see the glue holding the fragments together, and most significantly, you can almost always see that there are fragments being held together. Another popular analogy is to take a house that has been damaged by flood or by fire and rebuild it. You’re not going to make it exactly as it was before, you know this. If the house was old enough to have lead paint in it, well, good luck making it exactly like it was before. If it was that old, then there was probably some electrical wiring and water or heat piping that would not fit with modern codes — again, good luck with that. A thing that is reconstructed is never exactly the same as it was before — if it was, then it wouldn’t need to be reconstructed, that’s just basic facts.

Furthermore, how to reconstruct, say, ancient art is often debated by art historians, art restorers, and archaeologists. A basic Google search for “reconstructed Venus de Milo [Aphrodite of Milos]” will turn up many different ideas of how the statue’s arms should be positioned and what, if anything, she’d have in her hands. Some of these ideas are obviously not supported by easily sourced evidence of how the statue was originally found and what she was found with, but some of the photo-manipulations obviously show skill and knowledge (albeit, knowledge of basic art) that these would be fair hypotheses if there was no other evidence.

Religious reconstruction is nothing more than forming a hypothesis, an educated guess, and more often than not, forming several hypotheses of what could have been, or what upgrades to the electrical wiring would need to be made. While there is a wealth of evidence in existence of what the ancient Hellenes (and other tribes) did and did not practise and believe, there are still a lot of gaps that could use some putty, a lot of corroded pipes that need replacing, and a lot of questions whose original answers have long crumbled away into dust, but those questions still need answers.

The long and short of it is that arguing over who is and is not “recon” is no less mental masturbation than any other mental exercises that have no real-world applications. It’s not as important as actual practise; if you’re actually practising your religion in a form and spirit consistent with that of ancient Hellas, then this will speak for itself. If you are not, then that is between you and the Theoi to judge whether or not it is improper or impious.

After the shower

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shower prayers and ritual

The following came to me, pretty much as-is, fresh from my shower:

I shave my face in honour of Apollon
Preserving the face of an eternal kouros
Keeping the passions for life and art and love
Eager to learn the wisdom of self-betterment

I, too, care for my hair in honour of Apollon
Its strands long in honour of The Eternal Kouros
May its length take my passions and desires
On the breaths of the Anemoi to yourself
And the Mousai, high on Mount Helikon
And may you all instruct me how to mould my passions
In the ways that best honours You.

I perform these tasks daily before my mirror
Which reminds me of how the Thespian youth,
Narkissos, finally wept, and may He, as a beautiful Daimon,
protect me from destructive self-love.

[extinguish candle lit before shower]

Begin Again

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So, now is the time I’ve come to observe as the Boeotian New Year (just downloaded hella PDF files, both something called The Boeotian Project and The Ancient Boeotians, if I can find anything more about the calendar, this may prove different next year). I realise it’s technically long into the AM hours for me, but considering the hours I’ve been keeping lately, it’s actually still kind of like late last night.

The “festivities” began with cleaning up the apartment for the previous two days and part of earlier today. This took the time that it did for a lot of reasons, but mostly 1) I like to do a lot of Noumenia-related cleaning during Hekate’s Depinion and 2) I have serious allergies and keep forgetting to buy face masks — this means I end up needing to take a break every twenty minutes to let the dust settle and to clear my head of snot. In this, i also ended up doing my laundry, including a bunch of things that probably didn’t need it, but the Theoi only know how long these things had been on the floor.

So, for Mnenosyne and Hai Mousai, who boasted a large cult in their own right in Thespiae, I’ve both acquired a rosemary and now it’s festive:

Do you know how hard that key pattern is to do by hand? :-p guh… like stringing pearls, man, I swear.

…and, because I’m a dork, I’ve strung lights around the laurel — pretty much because i can:

Actually, the plants were decorated last week, but whatever.

As I finished up today’s cleaning, I asked the Theoi for their blessings upon the household in the coming year. Afterward, I showered (cos I hadn’t yet — and even if i had, I was suddenly covered in cleaning dust and stuff. I’m still not completely done with cleaning, but it’s clean enough in here for most rituals.

Then onward to the Ultra-Traditional New Year’s Meal™ (hint: I jest) of Whatever Crap i could Find In the Fridge. Actually, i had a rough idea of what i was going to do, but I ended up doing some scrounging to complete the meal.

Often are the times I just decide to throw a bunch of crap onto a pita, toss it in a 400°F oven for ten minutes, and call it a meal. This time, I found a little left-over thing that seemed to contain a tappenade, i think from Macaroni Grill, and so that means, if I think right, this little single-serve portion of finely chopped olives and other stuff cost about $4 — now that’s class:

I then crumbled a bunch of feta on top, halved some pitted kalamata olives, sliced some roasted, marinated garlic i get in this jar in the produce section (this garlic, I swear — almost as good as sex), and chopped up some leftover turkey. Threw some parmesian and the last 1/4oz of shredded Swiss on top so that it all sticks to the bread, and then….

As the timer tick-tick-ticked away ten minutes, I even dished out a festive holiday meal for the kitties:

OK, it’s the same crap they get every night when i have dinner, but it’s not like they know what day it is! [taps nose] I sort of wish i had some of the fancier wet food for the cats, but considering that I didn’t even have the money to throw myself a meal any fancier than Crap I Found In the Fridge, I’m not too worried.

Ding! Dinner’s up, and I settle in with tasty food and libate to the Theoi in gratitude and kharis, then wash my hands for ritual.

Honestly, this was completely unscripted, and I found myself offering praise to Theoi I typically don’t offer additional cultus to, such as Herakles, and whom I have not in quite a while, like Dionysos. And as I scooped up portions of pomegranate with my hand, praised the nymphai Whose springs have founded cities, and the heroes who founded Boeotia, Hesiod whose words influenced the whole of the Hellenic religions, all of Hellas, and even my own family line, both ancient and current generations.

I still have some divinations to perform, but here’s once last photo to satiate you people:

(the far-left dish contains both pomegranate arils and pieces of quince — both of which i only seem to get around this time of year)

Bedtime prayers

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I have my evening devotionals, which are taken partly from the outline offered by Drew Campbell to Hellenion (link); the slight changes i have made are:
1) where is says “Hymn to patron/matron deities, I keep it simple: Eros and Apollon. Apollon was the Theos whose reverence “brought me back” to Hellenic polytheism, and Eros is He whose cultus I feel ever so slightly closest to. If this makes Them “patrons”, then fine, but there are several reasons i don’t apply that word to my relationship with Them.
2) at the point in the outline for “supplications and thanksgivings”, I first offer a simple praise to many Thespian and Theban deities and legendary kings.
3) I don’t offer the Orphic Hymn to Zeus, but instead a prayer of my own device to Zeus, as king of the Gods and thus God of kings, and to Posiedon, the mythological father of Boeotus, for whom Boeotia was named.

As I crawl into bed, I turn on some music (an old habit going back to my childhood; when i was very young, my mother used to sing me to sleep, and later she got in the habit of putting on a record or turning on the radio), and then I wind my watch and my alarm clock. As I wind them, I say this prayer:

Holy Khronos, Father of Time, I ask that you see these ieces run as they should, and not a minute too fast or too slow,
And I ask that The Most Revered Moirai, Mothers of All Destinies, please see that i may have the honour to wind them again.

Shower Prayer to Asklepios & Hygaeia

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So, here’s my shower ritual — everybody has one, mine just involves lighting a candle and saying a prayer:

*procession (head into bathroom)
*light candle at shrine to Asklepios & Hygaeia
*turn on water, sun a bar of strongly scented soap under tap to fill the room with the scent of lavender & anise (serious, that Zuma(?) slice-off stuff from Whole Foods is not only expensive enough to serve as an offering, but it’s got a strong enough smell that this is all you need to do to make the whole bathroom perfumed for hours)
*step into shower
*recite prayer as I wash

O Athanatoi,
Praise of the highest to Apollon, His son Asklepios, and to Hygaeia and Her sisters, daughters of the first doctor,
As I shampoo my hair, i ask that it be free of grit, superfluous oils, and excess dander,
As I condition my hair, I ask that it shine and be full of body, attractive enough to approach the Theoi who preside over the aesthetic arts,
As I wash my face, I ask that the pores be free of grit and excess oils, and that the hairs of my jawline and brow be pleasing to the Theoi of the aesthetic arts,
As I cleanse my body with mildly-scented soap, I ask that my skin be free of grit and excess oils,
I ask that my arms and shoulders be strong enough to display my virility when needed but yeild to the embrace of a lover,
I ask that my belly become full at no later than the necessary moment,
I ask that my back stand up to the demands of the day,
I ask that my legs and feet be strong enough to carry me on the day’s journeys,
And I ask that my groin and arse prove fulfilling to what-ever mortal man may lie with me, and even more so if he should prove a god in human form,
As i stand and rinse my body clean, I ask Hygaeia to kiss the water with her blessings,
And I ask the Moirai to see that I may enjoy this pleasure again tomorrow.

Miasma & Menstruation

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This topic comes up pretty frequently, so I’m going to make a post about it that hopefully covers everything in the best ways possible:

Long story short, it’s actually been concluded that —while unusual for the Mediterranean in ancient times— the ancient Hellenes didn’t appear to consider menstruation as a producer of miasma, in and of itself. In fact, there are very few mentions of menstruation at all, outside of medical texts — one of which even suggests sex during menstruation to aid erratic periods (and while this may have nothing to do with irregular periods, many doctors now suggest that sexual intercourse, or at least masturbation during a woman’s period may relieve cramping). In fact, some regions even had a girl’s coming-of-age rites to include sacrificing her first menstrual towels to Artemis.

Now, that said, some women have incredibly painful periods, and that painful cramping, headache, nausea, etc…, may, in fact bring miasma in and of itself, as it’s a physical ailment that has a more concrete effect on the mental / emotional and therefore spiritual self. But the uterus performing its regular function? Apparently not so much. And as others have noted, unwashed hands, on their own, are not miasmic, but disrespectful to approach Ta Theoi with — so I figure women who are experiencing an especially “heavy flow” day but are otherwise fine may not wish to approach the altar or shrine on account of it simply being “less than fresh”, not because of the (apparently false) notion that “menstruation = miasma”.

That aside, ancient Hellas is, as I said, rather unusual for the ancient world, especially the Mediterranean regions, in that there is virtually nothing suggesting that menstruation (and thus all fertile-bodied females, inherently speaking) as being somehow “unclean”, spiritually or otherwise — or at least no more so than any other day-to-day thing that can cause physical uncleanliness.

As for it being “miasma” in that it’s “contact with blood” — well, it’s mostly a mix of placental tissues and and uterine and cervical mucuses, and thus not technically blood — the average menstrual cycle contains maybe a teaspoon of blood from torn capillary veins (as the endometrial tissues slough off); I furthermore have it on good authority from women who’ve actually tasted menstrual fluid as well as actual blood that “blood tastes metallic, menses does not”, so if you have the ability to try it out yourself and wish to test their assurance that “menses ≠ blood”, then by all means, do so — or you can just do what I do, as a non-menstruating human, and take the word of doctors who ought to know these things.

And basically, I’ve had paper-cuts that produced more blood than the average woman’s period. My solution for a paper-cut before ritual? Rinse it in salt-water (my mother was a nurse and says it can actually be helpful, so even pre-polytheism, I’ve always done this), say a prayer to Asklepios, slap a bandage on it, and forget about it. My suggestion for menstruating women? Take a relaxing bath in some bath salts (this can also help relieve cramping) and then change your pad / tampon / cup / towel / whatever before ritual, offer a prayer to Hygaea and Rhea (as menstrual blood seems sacred to Rhea), and forget about it (well, until you need to change your stuff, obviously). The act of menstruation itself is not miasma, the menstrual fluid itself has about as much a taint of “miasma” as a paper-cut — the ancient Hellenes didn’t see menstruation as spiritual uncleanliness, and I see no reason to change this model just because a dozen centuries of Judeo-Christian influence have women running around screaming “UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!” more-scarier than Diamanda Galas once a month.

If a woman still wishes to abstain from ritual during your period, well, that’s hewr prerogative, I suppose (and I’m just a guy who doesn’t bleed down there, so feel free to not listen to me all you like), but it’s not spiritually necessary in Hellenismos for menstruating women to abstain from anything.

Eros & Psykhe statue on eBay

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link: Eros & Psyche Forgiven Santini statue

$99. Free shipping.

I think I need this more than the last statue I wanted to get.

This would look excellent as a part of my shrine.

I’m kind of debating whether or not I should paint my blank statuary. On one hand, I rather like the look some painted statuary has (some other paint jobs, honestly, I think looks rather tacky), but on the other, I like the sometimes simple, almost Modernist beauty of the blank white alabaster or resins that my table-top statues tend to be. If I ever found a statue that I liked better (which happened at least once already, with my Hermaphroditos statue to the left on the shrine, it’s a replacement of one that didn’t “match” Narkissos on the right), I can sell a blank statue more easily — unless, of course, this novel makes me famous, and my hand-painted things end up fetching “one-of-a-kind” prices or some shite. Pretty much only another Hellenistos would buy a statue painted an amateur, and only a well-painted statue.

Tough decision, indeed.

When I make little crafty things for shrines, I definitely believe that I put quite a bit of “my own energy” into the work, that the Theoi can feel the love and devotion, and maybe even guide my hands as I work. Still, it’s a tough decision to paint a statue or not.