the gods love you

The Bacchae

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Ahem, artistic nudity

Heres the references

Hmmm Wip

i’m happy to report my faith flourishes every day. my online presence, however, is suffering. that’s okay! Selene teaches that things ebb and flow.

Very proud of you for the house. I just came home from a sleepover with my partner who I love dearly and hope to live with one day as well.

When you are depressed, Dionysos is with you

When you are delusional, Dionysos is with you

When you are euphoric, Dionysos is with you

When you are splitting, Dionysos is with you

When you are in a rage, Dionysos is with you

When you are struggling with your mental health in any way, Dionysos is right there with you. He will never be angry about your mental illness.

(Nota Bene: I am largely a Hellenic pagan, but I will take Roman paganism into account where it seems relevant. For a deeper analysis, go here:)

Apollon seems to have been one of the most widely worshipped deities - possibly THE most widely worshipped deity - in the Hellenic world. He was a god with a temple cult, and his temples spread across the Hellenistic world from Anatolia to Magna Graeca. He was also a god honored in private, in the home and on the street, represented by an aniconic cone thought to ward off pestilence and harm.

His widespread cult is surprising given that he wasn't originally a Greek deity. He has certain things in common with Hittite and Semetic deities, so a Near Eastern origin is probable. He is not found in the linear B tablets of the earlier Mycenean era, though one of his epithets regarding healing is, so it seems likely the earlier Greeks had a healing deity that was absorbed into the cult of Apollon.

Apollon is leader of the Muses. He presides over music, poetry, dance and graceful athletics. These things would have all blended together into the curriculum of a young Greek, and particularly those males about to enter military training. Jennifer Larson of _Ancient Greek Cults_ points out there wasn't a specific cult of Apollon as the god of music and poetry, but music and poetry are a conspicuous feature of his worship.

Apollon is god of Oracles and Healing/Purification. These two things go together because disease and impurity were often thought to have divine origin, and an oracle was needed to discern the supernatural cause and thus the supernatural solution of the problem. Apollon has numerous oracles, with Delphi being internationally famous. In myth Apollon often prophecies the future, but in cult the individuals and governments who consulted Apollon were often looking for answers to pressing daily problems.

Flowing from his oracular powers, Apollo was the god who laid out the civil constitutions of new cities. And so, he can be regarded as the god of law, or at least _a_ god of law for Zeus and Athena also share some power in the civic realm.

Flowing from his sponsorship of the arts, Apollon is the god of Architecture. Myth speaks of how he designed his own temple at Pythia.

Finally, I've come across some scholarship that notes Apollo had many sacred groves. He just wasn't a god of temples or the household. He had tree lined sanctuaries on the outskirts of cities.

Apollo was known to Romans as both a god of prophecy and healing. He was brought into Rome in the latter capacity, but was initially not an exceedingly important deity in the state cult. This changed when August, the first Emperor, came to see Apollo as his patron deity and built him a glorious new temple. Apollo became the patron of the poets of the early Roman Empire.

Apollon retains his popularity in modern Hellenic paganism. Music and poetry draws the artistic types. His Oracular powers attract mystics. And his healing powers invite those who need healing or who take up healing arts. Finally, those inspired by the Athenian household religion pray to him to ward off disease and harm from the oikus and its inhabitants.

Let me tell you how I relate to him. I have little talent in music and poetry, but like most thoughtful people I enjoy these things nonetheless. And I perform divinations before him, and I entreat him to ward off disease.

Apollon is a god to me who seems intimately connected to civic life. He is a god of law (and I am a lawyer, by the way). He is a god of the architecture of the city skyline. He is a god of the finer arts that flourish within the city. And he is the god of healing and medicine, for in crowded cities, disease breaks out often.

But he is also a god of sacred groves. So many people in Hellenic paganism want to build grand temples. I'm thinking it would be a lot easier to build a grove to Apollon with a small shrine. Perhaps some day I will.

(Nota Bene: I am largely a Hellenic pagan, but I will take Roman paganism into account where it seems relevant. For a deeper analysis, go here:)

Apollon seems to have been one of the most widely worshipped deities - possibly THE most widely worshipped deity - in the Hellenic world. He was a god with a temple cult, and his temples spread across the Hellenistic world from Anatolia to Magna Graeca. He was also a god honored in private, in the home and on the street, represented by an aniconic cone thought to ward off pestilence and harm.

His widespread cult is surprising given that he wasn't originally a Greek deity. He has certain things in common with Hittite and Semetic deities, so a Near Eastern origin is probable. He is not found in the linear B tablets of the earlier Mycenean era, though one of his epithets regarding healing is, so it seems likely the earlier Greeks had a healing deity that was absorbed into the cult of Apollon.

Apollon is leader of the Muses. He presides over music, poetry, dance and graceful athletics. These things would have all blended together into the curriculum of a young Greek, and particularly those males about to enter military training. Jennifer Larson of _Ancient Greek Cults_ points out there wasn't a specific cult of Apollon as the god of music and poetry, but music and poetry are a conspicuous feature of his worship.

Apollon is god of Oracles and Healing/Purification. These two things go together because disease and impurity were often thought to have divine origin, and an oracle was needed to discern the supernatural cause and thus the supernatural solution of the problem. Apollon has numerous oracles, with Delphi being internationally famous. In myth Apollon often prophecies the future, but in cult the individuals and governments who consulted Apollon were often looking for answers to pressing daily problems.

Flowing from his oracular powers, Apollo was the god who laid out the civil constitutions of new cities. And so, he can be regarded as the god of law, or at least _a_ god of law for Zeus and Athena also share some power in the civic realm.

Flowing from his sponsorship of the arts, Apollon is the god of Architecture. Myth speaks of how he designed his own temple at Pythia.

Finally, I've come across some scholarship that notes Apollo had many sacred groves. He just wasn't a god of temples or the household. He had tree lined sanctuaries on the outskirts of cities.

Apollo was known to Romans as both a god of prophecy and healing. He was brought into Rome in the latter capacity, but was initially not an exceedingly important deity in the state cult. This changed when August, the first Emperor, came to see Apollo as his patron deity and built him a glorious new temple. Apollo became the patron of the poets of the early Roman Empire.

Apollon retains his popularity in modern Hellenic paganism. Music and poetry draws the artistic types. His Oracular powers attract mystics. And his healing powers invite those who need healing or who take up healing arts. Finally, those inspired by the Athenian household religion pray to him to ward off disease and harm from the oikus and its inhabitants.

Let me tell you how I relate to him. I have little talent in music and poetry, but like most thoughtful people I enjoy these things nonetheless. And I perform divinations before him, and I entreat him to ward off disease.

Apollon is a god to me who seems intimately connected to civic life. He is a god of law (and I am a lawyer, by the way). He is a god of the architecture of the city skyline. He is a god of the finer arts that flourish within the city. And he is the god of healing and medicine, for in crowded cities, disease breaks out often.

But he is also a god of sacred groves. So many people in Hellenic paganism want to build grand temples. I'm thinking it would be a lot easier to build a grove to Apollon with a small shrine. Perhaps some day I will.

as someone who does not syncretize Apollon with the Helios, i love to explore His wide array of non-solar aspects; in this, i can perfectly understand why people have come to view him as a symbol of radiance/the Sun. Apollon is the embodiment of what makes life more than survival. He represents civilization and the further refinement of this civilization. He is the light-bringer, enlightening and furthering society with both his artistic and civil aspects. art, music, and poetry move people to explore the social systems they live in; graceful athletics asks us to be in our bodies in a meditative, controlled way instead of relying on pure instinct; divining asks us to tap into a world beyond the here-and-now, beyond reactivity; health and the decline of it causes us to cherish our time.

these qualities shine brighter when contrasted against His twin sister. Artemis' influence over the hunt, wilderness, and Her refusal to settle into a typical family dynamic seems to directly counter Apollon's affinity for social order. you can view it as a push and pull, or as a coordinated dance— either way, both are critical and worthy of our worship. where Artemis runs in the woods, Apollon plans the city infrastructure. while Artemis slays beasts, Apollon acts as an oracular political advisor. Artemis is grounded, Apollon elevates.

『 Psychopomp 』

Inspired by Souls on the Banks of the Acheron by Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl