Category: festivals

Khairete!

Today we celebrated the Hermathlon in honor of Hermes’ birthday.

Once again, this was a ritual celebrated using Zoom to bring the participants together.  Our general technological ritual template can be found here.  This time, one of the participants launched the Zoom meeting from a pro account so that we didn’t have to organize break points every 40 minutes.

This festival involves playing games in Hermes’ honor, so for our game, we played Pagan Jeopardy, which you can experience here.

The divination today was, “Concerning that which you intend, make haste; all will be yours afterward. Those things that until now brought you sorrow, will be directed to your advantage, says the God. Be at peace, there is no evil ahead for you” (Dervenis, 2014, p. 125)

We also prayed to Apollon for help with this pandemic.  The healing altar at the main temple can be seen here, with Apollon, Asklepios, and Hygeia:

Our next festival will be the Elusinia, on Sunday, April 19.

Until then, stay safe, stay well, and may the blessings of the Gods be with you.

Reference

Dervenis, K. (2014). Oracle bones divination: The Greek I Ching. Destiny Books.

Khairete!

Today at Temenos Oikidios, we celebrated the Aphrodisia.

We opened with a reading from Aphrodite Made Me Do It that spoke of the scope of Aphrodite’s domain and influence, reminding us that even though we celebrate Her festival during the month of Valentine’s Day, She’s more than just hearts and flowers.

The divinatory reading was

“It is not possible to fulfill your desires, the God judges;
Nor will it benefit you to journey far from your home.
Nor through payment will you find anything beneficial” (Dervenis, 2014, p. 107).

We then drew cards from our Delphic Maxims deck to clarify what this meant specifically to each of us.

For theoxenia, we offered Her tuna salad (in memory of Her ocean birth), bread, salad, pecan bars, and Boston creme danish. Our conversation during theoxenia included our concepts of the Divine in general and Aphrodite in particular.

Our next festival will be Therrosian on March 8.  This is a festival for Ares that we’ll be celebrating for the first time.

Until next time, may the blessings of the Gods be with you!

Dervenis, K. (2014). Oracle Bones Divination: The Greek I Ching. Destiny Books.

Mateer, T. (2019). Aphrodite Made Me Do It. Central Avenue Publishing.

Khairete!

Today was another first as we celebrated the Kthonic Gods with a modern just-invented festival called the Kthonian.

Since we were honoring the Kthonic Gods, this ritual took a somewhat different format.  We began with processing to and around the altar and lit Hestia’s hearth, then offered barley to the Gods of the Temple, the Gods of the year, the God of the month, and the Gods of the festival.  You might notice at this point, there has been no purification.  That part came later.

We invoked and made offerings to the Gods and then held our feasting apart from Them, as one does not dine with these Gods while physically incarnate. The prayers used for invocation were written by Hiereios Peregrine Ursano.

We did divination, using both the Oracle Bones and the Delphic Maxim cards.  The group Oracle Bones reading was:

“Concerning that which you strive for, be patient, it is not yet time.  And should the Gods present you with sadness, They will redeem you willingly.  He who is in foreign lands will complete his journey, says the God” (Dervenis, 2014, p. 87).

We then had a lively discussion about how our individual divinations (the Delphic Maxims each of us drew) related to or individualized that reading for each of us.

Then we made final libations to the Gods, to Hestia, and to the Daimon, and purified.

Our next festival will be the Anthesteriaon Sunday, February 9.

Khairete!

Today, we celebrated the Olympia.

This festival to all the Gods of Olympus is not one we have celebrated quite like this before.  It will be mirrored on January 19th with the Kthonion, which, as the name implies, is about honoring all the Kthonic Theoi.  This was something requested by the Gods at the AnadikiaNew Year’s retreat.

After paying our respects to the Gods of the year, Artemis and Herakles, and the God of the month, Ares, we took turns saying prayers written by Hiereios Peregrine Ursano and collected in the booklet In the Name of the Gods.

The divination with oracle bones resulted in two messages, due to the way one of the bones landed.

First, we received Prometheus, “If you act wisely on what the divination tells you, stranger, you will succeed; From the Gods, you have approval for that which you seek” (Dervenis, 2014, 93).

Second was The Supplicant Deity, “I see no safe path for you. Be patient. Events will favor you after this, but for the present do nothing. Have faith in the Gods, and remain hopeful.” (Dervenis, 2014, 109).

After this, we drew from the Delphic Maxim cards for individual guidance.

Thusia was pita bread, and theoxenia included pizza, fresh vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, more mini pita bread, hummus, and an assortment of cookies, donuts, and chocolates.

As mentioned above, the next festival will be the Kthonion on January 19.  Until then, may the blessings of the Gods be with you!

Khairete!

Today at Temenos Oikidios, we celebrated the Kheimonia, a modern festival of the turning of the seasons in which we honor Helios, Selene, Zeus Melikhios and Maimaktos, Hera Chera, Pan Dendraia, Demeter Haloa, Dionysos Dionysia, Apollon Iatros, Asklepios, Poseidon Poseideia, and Hermes Taxidios.

The ritual we used can be found here. The main prayer is below:

Prayers from the Oikos

Zeus Meilikhios, be kind to us, and protect our homes from winter’s storms
Apollon Iatros, may You and Your son, Asklepios keep away the season’s ills
Hera Chara, keep away the dark of depression as the days are dark and short
Hermes Taxidotis, keep our cars safe as we journey perilous and slippery roads
Pan, lover if Selene, let your daughter Pandia shine brightly over the dark nights.
Dionysos, bring to us joy and revelry as we taste the first fruits of the wine harvest
Poseidon, keep the seas fertile and safe for those who are to travel upon it
Demeter Haloa, be of good cheer as we await Your daughter’s swift return
And Helios Heliogenna, bring us joy as the days become longer and full of light
Come to us, Oh Blessed Gods with joy in Your heart and grant us your blessings.

After thusia and theoxenia, we decorated Pan’s tree.

This year, for some reason, Pan’s tree has a Mini Me.  Because why not?

Our next festival will be the Olympieia on January 5.  Until then, have a wonderful turn of the secular year, and may the blessing of the Gods be with you.