🏛️ Wings 🏛️

It is okay for those who worship or work with Greek deities to want to do it in some reasonable different ways that reflect our modern understandings of things like respect, consent, permission, our understanding of the deities themselves, the sciences, energy, etc., and to acknowledge that even in their own time the deities changed and shifted in their domains with the times and the locations and cultures of their worshippers, so it's reasonable to say that some things could be done differently now, and to view that as respectful.

It is not okay for either side to insist that their way is the only way it should be done, or that the other side is inherently disrespectful for doing things differently.

🙏 - Which pantheon(s) do you actively worship?

🌞 - Which deity(ies) are you closest to/do you worship the most often?

✨ - Do you believe in patron deities? If so, do you have any that you know of?

🌍 - Which pantheons do you believe exist?

📜 - Have you ever made an oath, vow, or contract with a deity? If yes, how did it go (you don't have to share)?

📿 - What are three things you're grateful to your deity(ies) for?

🖋️ - If you could say anything to your deity(ies) right now, what would you most want to say?

💌 - What is your favorite form of deity communication?

🎭 - What is an emotionally impactful or a silly worship-related experience you've had?

❤️ - What's one memory of your practice that you reflect the most fondly on?

🥂 - What is your favorite devotional act or offering to give?

🎉 - Do you celebrate any festivals? If so, which ones?

🫂 - Do you syncretize any pantheons with one another? If so, which ones?

🔮 - Do you delve into topics like the occult or the mysteries? Do you do anything esoteric?

⭐ - What is something you wish people outside your practice knew more about?

📖 - Do you like the way your pantheon is most often portrayed in media? Why or why not?

🏛️ - Do you have a favorite statue or temple to your deity(ies)? If yes, what is it?

🔥 - Do you have a favorite myth or tale from your pantheon or others?

🧭 - What led you to your practice?

🧿 - Did you have any other spiritual beliefs before discovering your current practice?

🪽 - Do you believe in angels and/or demons? If yes, do you worship or work with any?

🪄 - Do you practice witchcraft? If yes, do you keep it separate from your deity worship?

🪦 - Do ancestors or human spirits play a big role in your practice?

🐾 - Do animal spirits play a big role in your practice?

🌱 - Does nature - plants, nature spirits, etc. - play a big role in your practice?

💀 - Do you believe in ghosts? If yes, have you ever had an experience with one?

Coming from a HelPol perspective (and I encourage other pagans to share their own perspective),

Akhillez and Patroklus were beloved as characters from the Iliad. Yet they had shrines and people payed respects to them.

Odyseus, Scylla, Asterius the Minotaur, too. Helen of Sparta, too. Even Agamemnon of Mycenae.

(I'm not counting Diomediz, he was a deity and Athene gave him immortality. But he, too, had his own cult.)

They would have been considered as 'pop culture entities'. They were loved, reacted in plays and drawn, yet they had sizable cults.

The idea of pop culture paganism being 'invalid' is plain wrong, it has historical context, and evidence.

left to right: A clay tablet stamped with 'Odysseus' found at a shrine, a death mask of Agamemnon (likely a replica), Akhillez Tumulus (Tomb of Achilles)

Hell, even philosophers like Socrates and Pythagoras had cults, like Sappho. Ask @/xenosaltar about that though. I won't be surprised if Homer himself had a cult!

The revival of polytheism is a revival of the ancient truths of our ancestors. This is doubtless. However we have taken the polytheism of our ancestors, and we have forgotten all of the rites and rituals which made it work and an actual belief system.

Instead, we have replaced it with hedonistic views of the Gods, a completely unfounded method of ritual and a lack of morality. This is a complete violation of the natural order and the honor of those gone before us.

A place in particular where this is increasingly common is in the phenomenon of 'Godspousing', where someone will, due to some type of 'mystical' experience, proclaim that they are in a relationship with a deity. They will do things like treat the deity as they would their husband or wife, and act as if the deity is on the same level as them due to their 'mystical' experience. I have even seen people who will 'offer' their own sexual pleasures to the deity they are 'espoused' with and their bodily releases.

It's shocking how distasteful and downright disrespectful this is. This completely anthropomorphises the Gods as simply beings made of some type of "spiritual matter" whom have debaucherous desires when they are the SUSTAINERS OF THE COSMOS. Having a deep connection to a certain deity is fine, but when you begin to just blatantly perform transgressions like offering your bodily products to the deity, and be delusional by romanticising the deity as someone with whom there is mutual feelings between you and them, or having inappropriate thoughts of them, you just crossed the line and have begun to just simply disrespect the Gods.

And quite simply, this is the problem with modern day polytheism. So many people going into it are going into it without ANY knowledge of the religion itself and are seeing it as some sort of antinomian counterculture to Christianity where you can practice and believe however and whatever you want, when it is an incredibly ancient set of belief systems whom never even interacted with Christianity for most of their history. They are failing to deconstruct their views on a personal, completely immanent and human god for the actual belief and due to their want for things which would be against Christianity, this lack of deconstruction manifests in sexualisation of the Gods.

Not only this, but the only interaction or education they will have had with Polytheism prior would be their 10th grade studies of religion textbooks and Percy Jackson, which obviously are unreliable sources that don't explain things properly.

This is why we, as people who are reconstructing Paganism and are actively promoting it, must educate these people on their errors and give them sources and things to read, so that they do not approach the faith wrongly and end up giving us all a bad name, because if we do not, Polytheism will not advance, our work to bring these faiths back into the realm of serious world religions will be effortless, and really, the 'religion' which supplants the culture, rites and rituals of our ancestors and which MADE polytheism what it was will simply be another gentrified, sensationalised trend which will die out in a matter of a few decades like we are seeing with multiple other religious revivals.

I genuinely do not think it’s that deep. I just don’t. Most of the people I know who practice godspousal have been of age, and have had a deep and profound respect for the religion. While I understand the frustration that arises from people who don’t research or treat our religion like a real religion, but I don’t think that has anything to do with godspousal. Of course, these same people who don’t respect or research our religion may end up practicing godspousal, but this isn’t the root of the problem.

I have been a hellenic polytheist for nearly six years now, since I was twelve, and yes, I did research beyond Percy Jackson. I would like to point out some key terms pulled straight from my university education (where i’m pursuing a history major and classics minor) that your post was missing.

Timé: Honour

In this post, without any sort of authority, you have attempted to strip many of their Timé, and as such have shown a lack of your own. In dishonouring these people’s practice, you yourself are practicing Atima (the act of being dishonourable, or stripping another of their honour), much like when Agamemnon stole Achilles war prize.

Sophrosune: Moderation, Self Control

You making this post at all is a demonstration of a lack of Sophrosune (though in this regard I am guilty as well). You are indulging incredibly strong feelings, perhaps with more vigour than they demand.

Arete: Excellence (Typically seen in a male context, though some women such as Clytemnestra have been seen to show Arete)

You have shown a lack of Arete in the way you speak of others, and in the way you seem to disregard many of the other standards within ancient Greek religion.

Beyond this, as we are both on Tumblr, we are both very familiar with Xenia and Kharis (which by the way, would’ve been personal in ancient Greece as well. Household worship was incredibly common), so I don’t feel the need to elaborate on those. What I will elaborate on is the history of our religion.

You say polytheism isn’t the antithesis of Christianity, and I fully agree. That said, we do not have a central authority, and the ancient world didn’t either. Different cults worshipped differently. Different people within the same cult would worship differently behind closed doors. We have evidence of the variation in household worship, and this variation was seemingly accepted (I say seemingly as there is a lack of evidence either way outside of Athens, contributing to things like the Spartan Mirage.) Having different people worship in different ways is not a new thing. There has never been one single belief system within Hellenic Polytheism (or any other if I’m not mistaken). We do not have a bible.

1. I’m not a Hellenic polytheist. If you looked at my description you would see that I am a Roman polytheist and we have, historically, possessed a different system to the Greeks regarding cultural morality. Telling me I dont have x greek virtue doesn’t mean much to me. Therefore, I will examine what you have pointed out via the Mos Maiorum.

2. This concept of me stripping away someone’s dignitas because I’m showing pietas in critiquing a blasphemous practice is bunk. Was it dishonorable for the Senate to restrict the Bacchic mysteries? Or for multiple authors of antiquity to critique practices against the Mos Maiorum?

If someone is able to critique an impious practice and it result in loss of the one practicing’s dignitas, I’d be asking why their dignitas is so built on being ‘espoused’ to a god.

Not only that, but this idea that just being against and speaking out against bad practices is a violation of that person’s dignitas would make ancient Romans literally the worst offenders. Whenever they conquered a region, the Gods who didn’t align with them would have their worship and practices halted. They would also suppress politically powerful cults which were threatening to topple the empire. Was this a violation of dignitas as well?

3. If you knew much about Roman society, feelings were very much a centre of Roman life. Crying, being angry, being happy, it was all expressed and on an exemplary level. While you could point to me not exuding gravitas, this would only realistically come from a misunderstanding of me using capitals to emphasise words.

4. I ‘disregard’ Greek religious standards because I’m not a Greek Religious. I’m a Roman Religious. The way I interact with the world and my mindset is not using Greek religious standards, it is by Mos Maiorum.

5. Once again I have been misinterpreted as a Hellenist. I am not. I am specifically speaking on Roman rites. But even then, household worship done by the greeks followed a similar pattern and structure, it wasn’t just totally unfounded and new. And you sure as hades didn’t have people violating the laws on ritual purity.

Not only this, but this ‘new-age’ way of doing things simply doesn’t work. If you aren’t following the tradition you aren’t going to communicate with the Gods when the rituals done are like phone numbers to call Them. It’s as simple as that.

I’m going to end with the fact that ‘Godspousal’ will make our religion die out. It is specifically against pietas and it makes outsiders have a poor view of us because we treat our divinities like husbands and wives. If that’s true, who is going to pass on the traditions of our ancestors?

and i do understand Ancient Rome, as i said, i am studying history in university, and am enrolled in a Roman History course! most polytheistic religions were allowed to continue to thrive, and religious tolerance was actually found in multiple edicts!!! (which again, i’m sure you know) It was mostly monotheistic religions that threatened the empire, as they (christianity especially) refused to take part in state rituals, which was not a problem among other polytheistic groups!

Let's decolonize November!

In the U.S., November is the month of Thanksgiving, a holiday that originated because European colonists wanted to 'give thanks' for their arrival in this country. The U.S. is a settler colonialist nation with a violent history of displacing, kidnapping, and committing genocide against Indigenous Americans, who are still among some of the most vulnerable people in our country

Additional reading: "Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving" from the National Museum of the American Indian

Land Back

I support Indigenous sovereignty and rematriation, reconnecting Indigenous peoples worldwide with stewardship over their ancestral lands. Land Back is a liberation and decolonization movement that aims to accomplish that mission

In this Article, Land Back is meant to refer to the literal 'undoing of the large-scale displacement of tribes from their lands' and the return of tribal ancestral homelands to tribal stewardship. . . When Indigenous peoples' physical relationship to the land is severed, so is the knowledge and practices that have sustained the culture and landscape, including the animals, plants, medicines, and traditional lifeways for millennia. Bringing back access to these sacred lands and spaces also facilitates peoples' access to their foods, medicines, ceremonies, and languages again. The idea of rematriation and rebuilding the peoples' relationship to the land is a relationship that not only benefits Indigenous peoples. It benefits everyone because it has proven to be an effective method of environmental stewardship for millennia (Racehorse and Hohag, p. 183-184)

Click here to learn more about Land Back from Indigenous perspectives!

How can you help?

From Nov 1, 2025 to Nov 30, 2025, anyone who donates $5 or more to one of the following Indigenous organizations will receive a 3 card oracle reading with Dionysus:

Gidimt'en Yintah Access

Kee Cha-E-Nar Corporation

Not Our Native Daughters

Orange Shirt Society

Unist'ot'en Camp

Anyone who is a member of my Dionysus server who donates $50 or more will receive my custom Dance with Dionysus spread

To redeem your reading:

DM me on Tumblr or Discord with proof of your donation and you will be assigned a spot in queue

3 card readings will be completed within 2 weeks in the order received

Dance with Dionysus readings will be completed in December or after I finish all smaller readings due to the time and energy they take

Review for my readings to show credibility:

The revival of polytheism is a revival of the ancient truths of our ancestors. This is doubtless. However we have taken the polytheism of our ancestors, and we have forgotten all of the rites and rituals which made it work and an actual belief system.

Instead, we have replaced it with hedonistic views of the Gods, a completely unfounded method of ritual and a lack of morality. This is a complete violation of the natural order and the honor of those gone before us.

A place in particular where this is increasingly common is in the phenomenon of 'Godspousing', where someone will, due to some type of 'mystical' experience, proclaim that they are in a relationship with a deity. They will do things like treat the deity as they would their husband or wife, and act as if the deity is on the same level as them due to their 'mystical' experience. I have even seen people who will 'offer' their own sexual pleasures to the deity they are 'espoused' with and their bodily releases.

It's shocking how distasteful and downright disrespectful this is. This completely anthropomorphises the Gods as simply beings made of some type of "spiritual matter" whom have debaucherous desires when they are the SUSTAINERS OF THE COSMOS. Having a deep connection to a certain deity is fine, but when you begin to just blatantly perform transgressions like offering your bodily products to the deity, and be delusional by romanticising the deity as someone with whom there is mutual feelings between you and them, or having inappropriate thoughts of them, you just crossed the line and have begun to just simply disrespect the Gods.

And quite simply, this is the problem with modern day polytheism. So many people going into it are going into it without ANY knowledge of the religion itself and are seeing it as some sort of antinomian counterculture to Christianity where you can practice and believe however and whatever you want, when it is an incredibly ancient set of belief systems whom never even interacted with Christianity for most of their history. They are failing to deconstruct their views on a personal, completely immanent and human god for the actual belief and due to their want for things which would be against Christianity, this lack of deconstruction manifests in sexualisation of the Gods.

Not only this, but the only interaction or education they will have had with Polytheism prior would be their 10th grade studies of religion textbooks and Percy Jackson, which obviously are unreliable sources that don't explain things properly.

This is why we, as people who are reconstructing Paganism and are actively promoting it, must educate these people on their errors and give them sources and things to read, so that they do not approach the faith wrongly and end up giving us all a bad name, because if we do not, Polytheism will not advance, our work to bring these faiths back into the realm of serious world religions will be effortless, and really, the 'religion' which supplants the culture, rites and rituals of our ancestors and which MADE polytheism what it was will simply be another gentrified, sensationalised trend which will die out in a matter of a few decades like we are seeing with multiple other religious revivals.

I genuinely do not think it’s that deep. I just don’t. Most of the people I know who practice godspousal have been of age, and have had a deep and profound respect for the religion. While I understand the frustration that arises from people who don’t research or treat our religion like a real religion, but I don’t think that has anything to do with godspousal. Of course, these same people who don’t respect or research our religion may end up practicing godspousal, but this isn’t the root of the problem.

I have been a hellenic polytheist for nearly six years now, since I was twelve, and yes, I did research beyond Percy Jackson. I would like to point out some key terms pulled straight from my university education (where i’m pursuing a history major and classics minor) that your post was missing.

Timé: Honour

In this post, without any sort of authority, you have attempted to strip many of their Timé, and as such have shown a lack of your own. In dishonouring these people’s practice, you yourself are practicing Atima (the act of being dishonourable, or stripping another of their honour), much like when Agamemnon stole Achilles war prize.

Sophrosune: Moderation, Self Control

You making this post at all is a demonstration of a lack of Sophrosune (though in this regard I am guilty as well). You are indulging incredibly strong feelings, perhaps with more vigour than they demand.

Arete: Excellence (Typically seen in a male context, though some women such as Clytemnestra have been seen to show Arete)

You have shown a lack of Arete in the way you speak of others, and in the way you seem to disregard many of the other standards within ancient Greek religion.

Beyond this, as we are both on Tumblr, we are both very familiar with Xenia and Kharis (which by the way, would’ve been personal in ancient Greece as well. Household worship was incredibly common), so I don’t feel the need to elaborate on those. What I will elaborate on is the history of our religion.

You say polytheism isn’t the antithesis of Christianity, and I fully agree. That said, we do not have a central authority, and the ancient world didn’t either. Different cults worshipped differently. Different people within the same cult would worship differently behind closed doors. We have evidence of the variation in household worship, and this variation was seemingly accepted (I say seemingly as there is a lack of evidence either way outside of Athens, contributing to things like the Spartan Mirage.) Having different people worship in different ways is not a new thing. There has never been one single belief system within Hellenic Polytheism (or any other if I’m not mistaken). We do not have a bible.