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NEW SERIES! * The New Age of New Age *

http://cargocollective.com/chrismaggio/the-new-age-of-new-age

Why is Zeus the Supreme God, King of Heavens, Mankind and Gods?

Or my humble attempt at reminding Tumblr of Zeus’ legitimacy (jk)

Let’s focus on Zeus’ roles. His main attribute is the sky and the weather, especially rain. From a modern point of view, it almost sounds mundane but it is not. At all. You can’t grow food during a drought, rain is vital. Whatever falls from the sky (or not) has an impact for those who live underneath it. Zeus lives on the peak of a mountain because this is where the clouds naturally gather and we know that he was worshipped on mountain summits.  

Here are a few examples of epithets about his weather aspect:

nephelegereta “cloud gatherer”

kelainephes “black-clouded”

erigdoupos “very thundering”

terpikeraunos “rejoicing in lightning”

keraunos “lightning”

storpaos “of lightning”

keraunobolos “lightning thrower”

I’m not going to list them all, Homer used 26 epithets for Zeus’s link with thunder alone… But here’s where it gets interesting: In Ancient Greek thought that Zeus is also drought. This brings us to this conclusion: Zeus controls the weather on a given day, so changes in weather can have a significance and can fall under the category of diosemia “sign from Zeus”. Because our understanding of time is linked to the sky and the astronomical phenomena we observe, Zeus is seen as the one ruling over time. Aratus explain this idea in 3rd century BC: we watch the constellations, which Zeus has fixed in the sky as signs for humans.

This logic, which ties Zeus to the idea of day-to-day events, of fate and divine timing, is also what explains why the Ancient Greek considered him as the bringer of victory. More especially, he was the god who determined the point at which there would be a (fortunate) turn of events. The Greeks viewed the concept in the context of battle and called him Zeus Tropaios. Yes, the English word “trophy” comes from there.

To come back to my initial question, I will quote Ken Dowden: “There is no need to trace an evolution from a weather god to a supreme god – all that does is to work out the logical connections between the two, or worse to separate out the constituent elements of his supremacy.”

Part II will maybe be about the societal role of Zeus, his justicial aspects etc… 

Further reading:  Dowden, K., Zeus, Routledge, 2006 Larson J., Ancient Greek Cults: a guide, Routledge, 2007

Look, every time I find a vendor with stuff I like or a book that looks interesting, I have to play the “Are they legit or are they a nazi?” game, counting the number of times they use words like ‘ancestors’ and ‘heritage’ because those are both known dog-whistles and important parts of the religion. This game is not fun. And as someone who’s Latine, who works far more with ancestors of color than the white ones (largely because I don’t know much about the white ones, save the general regions they came from), I am frequently literally afraid of interacting with other Heathens in person without a shitload of googling beforehand, checking which runes people adorn themselves with, matching that to the potential dog-whistle count, and still never being sure unless I see them specifically denouncing racism/antisemitism/transphobia/homophobia/etc.

I am a part of this religion, and this is my experience. If I didn’t profoundly love our gods and traditions, I would’ve packed my shit and gone back to generic multi-pantheon polytheism. So if I feel this way, I need y’all to take a moment and think about what it’s like to someone who’s not on the inside, whose experience of us is basically just neonazis and the #notallheathens crowd, people who see our symbols being used by the ones emulating the fascist fucks who literally tried to exterminate people like them, and have not actually stopped trying.

And the neonazi Heathens are us. We don’t get to say they’re not, we don’t get to No True Scotsman them just because we don’t like how they’re doing our religion. They’re still doing it. We can’t point at the worst and most racist parts of Christianity and use them as examples of Christianity’s many flaws (which is a phase most pagan types seem to go through, myself included) and then act shocked and insulted when someone does the exact same thing to us.

Jewish people, Black people, LGBTQIA+ folks, and countless other marginalized groups have every right to be wary. They don’t owe us a fair hearing. They’re just trying to survive in a world where some of us are literally killing them.

Yeah, we have the right to be mad that our sacred symbols are being turned into instruments of hate, and that they’re inspiring fear in people who aren’t familiar with what we’re actually about. I sure as fuck am. But we need to be mad at the nazis, not their targets. And then we need to do something about it. If we do nothing, we’re complicit. Lecturing the people who are being hurt in this circumstance is not helpful, not sharing wisdom, and not creating frith* with people who are part of our larger communities. We create frith by listening, and by seeing to the comfort and security of our communities as best we can… and our communities out here in the Really Real World are bigger than just our co-religionists.

I find a job that is delightful, fulfilling, and financially stable. The hours allow me to continue focusing on my education, and I am able to have time for my health, family, and friends. It propels me forward in my career, and I am happy. This job arrives speedily.

Ingredients:

Herbs:

A sprig of peppermint

Basil

Coffee beans or ground coffee

A dried orange slice

A stick of cinnamon

One bay leaf

Crystals:

Tigers eye

Aventurine

Pyrite

Citrine

Optional clear quartz

Other:

A yellow candle

A bowl

A dollar bill

5 coins

Instructions:

Cleanse everything first. Then light the candle. Lay your herb ingredients (minus the coffee) into the bowl as a sort of bed/foundation, with the orange slice in the center.

On the dollar bill, write the paragraph I have below the picture above, or write the specifics of what you're looking for in the new job. Do not write what you are NOT wanting. On the bay leaf, write a simplified version of this- just straight up one to three words of what you want. Wrap the dollar around the bay leaf, using wax from the candle to hold the fold down in place. Lay it over the orange slice in the bowl.

Place your five coins in a pentagram around the dollar bill in the bowl.

Sprinkle the coffee over everything in the bowl.

I have smaller crystals inside of the bowl, and bigger crystals outside charging it. But you can lay the crystals out in a grid around the bowl and later put those crystals inside the bowl.

Hello everyone! I’m so excited and pleased to announce that our community is coming together to be welcoming and uphold Xenia. Many of you know that I am an American, female, and LGBTQA+. While my country tries to limit rights I’m so encouraged to see this movement. 

I have proudly and a bit tearfully signed this declaration with my online names (since that’s how most of you know me) and have linked this blog. All to stand for equality and welcoming attitudes. 

Myself and “The Theoi Called” embrace Xenia and hope to see many of your names on the Declaration. 

We the undersigned resolve the following: In the spirit of xenia, all those who have differences from any one of us are welcome to honor the gods with us.

Those who are LGBTQIA+ are welcome. Those of all genders (including genderfluid, non-binary, agender, etc) are welcome. Those of different ethnicities, races, locales, and backgrounds are welcome. Those who are neurodivergent, including those who are autistic, are welcome. Those who have disabilities including mental or physical conditions, are welcome.

In the spirit of true xenia, all who act in guest-friendship are welcomed. We recognize that some people who have demonstrated problematic behavior in the past can be educated and change when made aware of the wider implications of their actions. But in cases of unrepentant lack of xenia we will not knowingly support, join, affiliate, or work with any and all groups as long as they have any discriminatory policies or practices, as such practices are not in accordance with the virtue of xenia.

all made by naive practioners who came into the movement for the wrong reasons & once something or someone breaks their already weak spiritual barrier & human psychology comes into play they’re claiming DEMONS & THIS IS NOW EVIL TO ME & YOU SHOULD REPENT TOO.

propaganda by telling the ppl they’ve gained trust that their practices r now sinful & demonic in ur eyes & posting info u found on sites like carm.org & that these ppl in the community that once trusted u need to repent & burn their tools like u have otherwise they will spend hell in enternity, nothing but fear tactics & uttering old thinking bullshit

Mortal: I’m gonna do arson!