Official Hellenic Round Table Blog

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but Stuff has been Happening pretty consistently lately and keeping me busy. In any case, here I am now with my answers to this month’s topic about household worship :)

@hellenicroundtable

What parts of your practice are related to the concept of household worship?

I don’t really separate household worship from the rest of my worship, actually. Most of what I do in the household relates to non-household things, and vice versa. So depending on how you look at it, my practise is either entirely centered around household worship, or not at all.

That said, there are a few elements I can pin down as distinctly household-focused. Cleaning my room and altar for the Deipnon. Honouring Zeus as a father and he and Hera as leaders of the household. Asking the Gods for their blessings on my family and pets.

Are there deities whom you worship specifically in their household-related aspects?

Yep. Artemis Kourotrophos, Zeus Xenios, Zeus and Hera in their role as family leaders (I’m sure there’s an epithet for that but I can’t remember it), Hestia and the Agathos Daimon.

What are some of your favorite posts and sources for household worship? Link or mention me in them and I’ll reblog them.

Offline, there’s the Labrys book, of course, which I highly recommend. Online, I can’t think of any off the top of my head but if I do I’ll link them.

Post a picture of shrines or offering places to household deities?

This is the space in my room I have set apart for the Gods. It’s not really an altar, because I mostly offer outside, but it’s not really a shrine either. The number of candles and the imagery depends on whom I am honouring. In theory, this space is for all the Gods, but given that it’s inside my house, the ones I honour there most often are household deities.

What goals do you have to increase or change the presence of household worship in your personal practice?

I’d like to focus more on Zeus and especially Hera. As someone who had a very unstable family life between my parents’ divorce and their founding of new households with new partners, I owe my current situation to Hera. I often feel like I don’t honour her as much as she deserves, and I’d like to improve on that.

Talk about anything you’d like in relation to household worship, in general or in your practice specifically!

Like I said, it’s hard for me to distinguish between household and non-household worship. But if I were to define them, in my own practise, the household is the heart from which the rest of my worship flows.

@hellenicroundtable                                                                                     

What parts of your practice are related to the concept of household worship? Are there deities whom you worship specifically in their household-related aspects? What are some of your favorite posts and sources for household worship? Link or mention me in them and I’ll reblog them. Post a picture of shrines or offering places to household deities? What goals do you have to increase or change the presence of household worship in your personal practice? Talk about anything you’d like in relation to household worship, in general or in your practice specifically!

Well hello y’all! It’s been a minute hasn’t it? I want to apologize to my followers who look forward to my posts, and want to say for the time being I am back at it! In the last month or two, my practice and religion have definitely taken a turn. Not necessarily for the worse. This post is about household worship, so maybe this is as good a time as any to discuss it. 

For me, Household worship isn’t just the idea that i do worship my gods in my home. For me, it’s the idea of worshiping the gods I have Kharis with, or trying to build kharis with other gods, who will in someway affect my household. For instance, I often times will ask Aphrodite to kelp both me and my fiance with our self-image problems. Being as we are the center of our home, that’s pretty big. I’ll ask her to help us to fight less, I’ve petitioned Apollon when we were sick, I’ve said prayers to Hermes begging for the ability to say just the right things when we are in an argument to end it. 

Outside of just the way it affects the people in my home, my worship also consists of other things. For instance, I have begun to worship both Zeus and Hera together as domestic theoi, as well as Zeus alone in his Ktesios aspect. I’m in the process of putting together my new Kathiskos on this upcoming Noumenia, which I keep on my household altar. 

Speaking of, this is my household shrine at the moment.

Ignore the poster and the personal mementos on the wall  xD This is set up on my desk, where I spend 90% of my time at home, so I have it right there in my face. On the left, I have a little area and candle for Apollon, with a statue of the Pythia. On the right, I have a jar full of feathers, poker chips, die, buckeyes, and other odds and ends, as well as a pair of dice I made myself as a devotional act, and a little Turtle statue. On the top raised platform I have my area for the Agathos Daimon, which includes a little plaque I made (which I will post about after this), a candle that smells like home, a rattlesnake statue, and this weird rock I found that I can’t explain to you it just belongs there. The space in the front that is empty is where my Kathiskos, as well as my other stuff for Zeus and Hera will go. 

Speaking of, Hera and Aphrodite have separate shrines from the others, because I am devoted to them. Aphrodite’s side is a bit more cluttered because I find it easier to fidn things for her that I want there. For Aphrodite, my shrine space is more relaxed and “go-lucky,” but with Hera, I feel a need for crisp, clean and proper, so it’s much more subdued. 

All of my Gods I worship have had little devotional crafts made for them. All of these things make up my household worship, and are especially important to me. Without these things, I would likely fall out of worship, because of a lack of spoons or motivation. Seeing these beautiful shrines gives me a kick in the rear when I need it the most. 

@hellenicroundtable 

Household worship! Kinda laughing to myself here because I think I’m one of the, like, four people who didn’t vote for this topic. Why? Because my “household worship” is probably the least reconstructionist part of my practice. 

What parts of your practice are related to the concept of household worship?

My daily-ish offerings are made on the household shrine, to the agathos daimon and all the other gods. In the sense that these prayers are simple and made in my home to the gods collectively, I consider it household worship. It doesn’t really reflect ancient Greek household worship, though, because I rarely if ever call on the household-specific epithets of various gods.

Are there deities whom you worship specifically in their household-related aspects?

Oh, oops. No, not really – the agathos daimon doesn’t seem to really have a non-household-related aspect, so I don’t know if it counts.

What goals do you have to increase or change the presence of household worship in your personal practice?

A lot of what I do is centered around household worship, mostly because I like to feel safe in my home and I hardly ever leave it. It’s important to me to have a safe sanctuary where I live, so praising and praying to the household theoi really makes me feel comfortable. Each morning I try to at least send up a good morning to the gods of my home, and offer a libation when possible. I love Them so much.

Are there deities whom you worship specifically in their household-related aspects?

Yes! Hestia, Apollon, Selene, Hekate, Hermes, and Zeus!

What are some of your favorite posts and sources for household worship? Link or mention me in them and I’ll reblog them.

Hestia

Household Shrines { @baringtheaegis​ }

Household Gods {@hearthfirehandworks​ }

What goals do you have to increase or change the presence of household worship in your personal practice?

I’m trying to create a friendlier and more adaptive environment to praise and pray to Them in, and I’m also working on being able to give offerings every single day. I don’t have much energy, but the gods deserve what I can give. 

Hello, all, and happy summer! Mod apologizes for the break in activity, but we’re back now!

For our first topic since I’ve returned, I’d like to do the most popular of the topics in the survey: household worship (20/24 people indicated interest). So, tell us about how you do household worship!

What parts of your practice are related to the concept of household worship?

Are there deities whom you worship specifically in their household-related aspects?

What are some of your favorite posts and sources for household worship? Link or mention me in them and I’ll reblog them.

Post a picture of shrines or offering places to household deities?

What goals do you have to increase or change the presence of household worship in your personal practice?

Talk about anything you’d like in relation to household worship, in general or in your practice specifically!

Tag your responses #hellenic round table, #hellenicrt, #hellenicroundtable, #topic10, or @ mention this blog or @hellenicappalachia! An @ mention will help to ensure I see and queue your post in a timely fashion.

You have all month (and all the months after this one) to respond, and if you’re late joining the Hellenic Round Table, feel free to jump right in! You can start with an intro post and do all the prompts, or just start with us on this one. 

@hellenicroundtable

How do you define miasma, how does it relate to your Hellenic practice, and how do you deal with Miasma?

So, miasma is the ancient greek idea that because you’re human, you inherently get this funky stuff attached to you. It’s not sin, or anything BAD. It’s literally just what happens because we’re human, like getting dirt on you when you garden; You can’t help it, and it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong, you were just gardening and that’s what happens when you do that! 

Miasma is incurred from doing normal stuff, like eating, sleeping, working, etc. It also comes from things like death, birth, sickness, and menstruating. When you’re “covered” in miasma, it can be seen as disrespectful to the Gods to approach them. This is because they’re divine beings who are “above” things like that. 

Now, the way to combat this, besides for mundane cleaning like showers, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, and generally being clean, is khernips. 

Khernips is the lustral water that can be made from taking fresh spring water, (or generally i use bottled water) and dropping a burning match, or smoking herbs like laurel (i’ve also hear rosemary, and I use lavender for personal reasons) into the water. You would then wash your hands, and face in the water and it would cleanse you of your miasma, and make you suitable for approaching the Gods!

Now there are some questionable things relating to this at least for me personally. Because I experience periods, and I generally not only feel icky during this time but also am sluggish and generally listless, sometimes even depressed or I experience more severe mood swings than normal. Because of my special circumstances surrounding this time for me, I’ve decided that even with purification, I don’t feel right approaching the Gods, and so for that week, I refrain. This works great for me, because I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’m offending them, and it works great for Them, I think, because they don’t have to worry about being offended!

Now, I’ve often wondered just how far we should take the concept of miasma. Many people will bring up questions like, “Haides is the lord of the Underworld, wouldn’t it be okay to interact with him at funerals?” or “Artemis, and Hera are all associated with childbirth, wouldn’t it be alright for me to talk to them?” etc etc

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This topic is a fairly simple one. How do you go about making your own sacred/temple space to worship? Do you even do this at all? If not do you just set up an altar wherever you can and call it good enough?

I’m really excited about this one omgomgomgomgomg

Okay so. I almost always clean myself up first, shower, brush my teeth, etc. Depending on who it’s about, my hair is  up. If it’s for Dionysos, I leave my hair down. Historically however, I read somewhere that having your hair down can attract miasma, and be seen as disrespectful. (I’ll source that once I find the place I read it from) I believe vehemently in putting yourself “in the mood,” or getting into the right mindset. I think it really helps with connecting to my Gods, and with taking my practice more seriously. 

I have… 5 shrines. My biggest, most elaborate one is for Aphrodite. Now, I like the idea that shrines are not only places to worship and honour the Gods, but also a place for them to basically “live” in. I think of them as…little motels for the Gods, and they stop in when they feel like or when you offer to them or recite prayers and hymns. So I treat their spaces as such. I clean them often (at least once a week i dust everything off, rearrange or get rid of any old offerings or trinkets, etc), i move stuff around, I add things and take them away. I believe 100% that a shrine should be a living, breathing, active space. And personally I find that incredibly beautiful. 

(no but really I’m gonna write a separate post about the whole motel/living place thing because I’ve got some serious feels about it)

@hellenicroundtable

In your Hellenic Practice do you worship all the Gods/Goddesses or just a select few? How did you decide which Gods/Goddesses to Worship? And, if you only Worship a few, do you honor and give thanks to all the Gods at some point or just stick to what you know?

Generally speaking, I worship a select few Gods, namely Aphrodite, Hera, Apollon, Hermes, and Dionysos. I don’t necessarily think I chose to worship these gods specifically, at least not all of them. Aphrodite, for instance, wasn’t really a choice. It was like She showed up one day and never left. I’ve never been able to have a shrine for any other Gods without having one for Her too. I think this is mostly because I depend on Her a lot, and relate to Her various aspects really well. Hera appeared in my life for sure about a year ago, and I basically ignored Her until just recently, I decided to get more serious with my practice, and opened myself up to Hera; I haven’t regretted it since. Apollon and Hermes literally came as a fucking pair and I had no choice whatsoever. Apparently These two and Dionysos are three peas in a pod, apparently. But Dionysos, I like to think I chose to worship him. I needed a way to connect to the frenzy i’ve felt inside of me, and I truly couldn’t understand why i shouldn’t. I felt extremely drawn to him…and now here I am!

@hellenicroundtable

Do you involve any sort of witchcraft into your practice/do you think it belongs in Hellenismos? Should you practice in certain clothes, or with certain tools, or use certain HP specific spells if you do practice?

Or is witchcraft ,like other things, YMMV, you do you and I’ll do me?

(bear with me while i learn how to use all the neat buttons for when you write posts)

So this is gonna be interesting. Like many people I first was introduce to the “paganverse” through NeoWicca. And for a long time the practice stuck with me. I adore herbs and learning about their different “attributes,” but I also love using them for REAL medicinally. I am obsessed with crystals, I have a huge collection that I am still adding to. I do believe in using them to help with healing and energy and the like. 

Generally, witchcraft has no place in my life anymore. I do enjoy it very much, and I’m very…attracted? to it. But for the most part I hardly ever practice anymore. Part of this reason is because I became more busy with real life. When I was in high school, it was easy to have all that freetime and so all kinds of cool witchy stuff. But once I graduated, and started working real jobs and having real bills,  I didn’t have as much time and effort to put into witchcraft, and learning about it. Learning is something I (unfortunately) take very seriously. It is my all time favorite thing in the world to do. And for me, when I can’t put all of that effort that I know something DESERVES into learning about it, I figure it’s better to wait than to do it an injustice. That’s how I was with witchcraft.

For the most part, I don’t have any objections to other people practicing witchcraft. I do believe everyone has the right t practice whatever makes you feel spiritually fulfilled, within reason. Now when it gets into things like culturally appropriating from Native Americans, or other closed traditions, I hate to sound like a song you’ve all heard before, but i do think that’s wrong. On a personal level, because knowledge is something i value very much, and so is freedom. And it’s just not right in my book to practice something that you have no right to. 

Now, from what I understand, the Ancient Hellenes didn’t really practice much witchcraft. I know a tiny bit about curse tablets, but as far as anything else, my mind draws a blank. So because of my limited knowledge (so far) on the topic,I would say that for anyone who wanted to be more recon in their practice shouldn’t really practice witchcraft without some serious research. For people who are more on the Neowiccan side of the spectrum, you do you because I don’t know a thing about that anymore. 

@hellenicroundtable

Everyone has dry spells in their religious practices. How do you handle the fallow times in your religious practice?

You are looking at the Queen of Fallow Times. When I lived in kentucky and was forced to choose between my beliefs, and having a roof over my head, I stopped practicing for the most part, for 6 months. After that I had a hard time getting back into the game, but somehow I managed it! (Honestly I think it’s Demeter and Persephone, I always come crawling back around the time for the Eleusinian mysteries)

Dry spells in your beliefs are almost a 90% chance of its-gonna-fuckin-happen-so-dont-worry-so-much. I think humans, especially those of us who are pagan, and especially those who CHOSE this religion, are more prone to it. This is because I wholeheartedly agree that because we willingly entered this belief system, and in a sense, chose our gods, that we love them more. And i mean that in no disrespectful way to any other members of any other belief system. I simply mean that because we got a say in who we worship, we are more likely to struggle and bend over backwards for our Gods. At least, i know i am. And because we put so much time and effort and heart into our religion, we get burnt out. Like a lightbulb that’s been on for weeks, sometimes even months, he’s gonna explode and die out sooner than later because hes working a lot harder than he normally should be. 

When i feel this starting to happen to me, my first step, is not to freak out. Your gods aren’t going to desert you. You won’t be smited (smote?) out of your chair or anything. It helps me to start analyzing what’s going on. If I think the problem is I’m getting overwhelmed, I start stripping my practice back to it’s basics. I stop pushing myself so hard to do nice rituals every day, and go for maybe once a week. I start limiting myself and what I do on purpose. If I am having low spoons, I find other things I can do that don’t require as much energy, like lighting a candle, or saying a quick prayer or hymn, even just reading myths or scrolling through some of my favorite informative blogs on tumblr. 

@hellenicroundtable

For the month of December, when many cultures have festivals and other celebrations, the Hellenic Round Table is going to talk about holidays! Specifically, new holidays created and celebrated by modern pagans.

How do you build these celebrations? Tell us about your process for developing a holiday.

How do these celebrations fit in to the rest of your calendar? If you celebrate Athenian festivals as well, how do they interrelate? What is the reasoning behind the timing of your festivals? Do you share these holidays with other Hellenic polytheists, or even with non-HP family members? What are their roles in the celebration? What do your celebrations entail? RItual, offering, merrymaking, food, etc–tell us about how you celebrate!

This is unfortunately going to be a short post because as of yet i don’t celebrate any festivals whatsoever yet. I don’t feel like i know enough to start participating in them, although next year I plan on doing something for the Eleusinian Mysteries(because I’m obsessed with Mysteries).

@hellenicroundtable

Do you ever feel inadequate in your practice/personal devotions, and of so, why? How do you handle these feelings? […]  I know I personally struggle with getting rid of miasma a lot because I usually have no spoons to do such things as showering and cleaning […]. Do other people deal with this, too?

So, here are some things to consider:

Do you ever feel inadequate in your practice or devotion? If so, why? What kinds of situations or “offenses” cause these feelings? How do you handle feelings of inadequacy? What are your coping mechanisms, religious or nonreligious? If you are mentally or physically ill, how do you deal with these issues in relation to your religion? If you have low spoons, how does that affect your practice? Do you have any tips for Hellenic polytheists who deal with illness?

Do you ever feel inadequate in your practice, and if so, why?

YES. I. DO. 

Like all of you, I follow a lot of people on here who are pagans. Not all of them are Hellenic polytheists, but many are. And many of them also have beautiful, wonderful practices that I wish I had. If only I had more money, to buy beautiful statues, or good books, or fancy offerings. If only I had more time, to write poetry, to read historical articles, to devote to my Gods. If only, if only, if only, if only.

But guys, you know what? Living like that SUCKS. Like really, it’s exhausting to never feel good enough. So I try to make myself feel better by reminding me of the things I have achieved or the things I can achieve. Usually though the reason I feel these ways is because of the following reasons; 

I see someone’s beautiful awe-inspiring shrines

I see someone’s incredibly well researched post

I realize I have zero money for anything I want

I don’t have all the nice things for my shrines or gods

But then I look at my shrines! And how beautiful and personal they are. I have things on my shrines I’ve made myself, things that have memories attached to them, and NO ONE’s shrine looks like mine! That’s a wonderful thing right there. I look at my binder full of notes and research and poetry and I look at all my books I’ve read and my books I still have to read, I look at the list of things I’m interested in learning more about, I look at the things I’ve already learned… I enjoy seeing my own progress, and I really love seeing how much I still have to go. 

I have Bipolar Disorder, and some days are better than others. Lately, i think because the weather is turning brighter and warmer, and I’ve been more busy, I’ve been having more good days than bad. But on my good days, I usually stay away from the Gods, if only because I feel that this kind of miasma is something I ca’t necessarily “cleanse” away. If I’m feeling a certain way, I don’t approach them at all. But some days, I don’t feel AS bad, or I make special exceptions, and I try to push through it and do what I can. 

As Hellenic pagans/reconstructionists/wiccans/revivalists/whatevers what is our place in the wider religious world? What can we do to create better bonds with those of different paths?

So, I personally believe 100% that as pagans, while we may not agree on everything, and we might not see eye to eye on certain things, and some of us are better informed than others, I do believe we should stand together, if only because we are pagan and we need more visibility. 

This may seem silly, but i do believe that we should be able to have our own places to worship, just like Christians, Catholics, Jewish people, Muslims, etc. To quote one of my favorite bloggers, 

“I want a temple to worship at SO badly. I want to be able to throw myself upon its steps, leave offerings in the halls, and weep with thanks at the foot of an altar”          - yonic-water

@hellenicroundtable Ok so this is obviously way late but I want to contribute anyways plus it gives me something to do!

Anyways my names Chelsea, I’m 20, and I’m a Hellenic Polytheist. At first I thought i would be a reconstructionist, but i have a habit of straying from the path no matter WHAT i’m doing, so I’ve adopted a little more loose standards.

Let’s see…Like just about everyone else I have always loved Greek mythology, and it inadvertently led to me discovering there was such a thing as modern worship of the Hellenic gods. And after a lot of deliberating and issues both personal and otherwise, here I am! :)

I worship Aphrodite, Hera, and Dionysos generally, with a lesser focus on Apollon, Hermes, and Hestia. I’m also beginning to get into worshiping Zeus since I figure it might be a little disrespectful to worship one without the other.