☀️Online Altar to Apollo☀️

He is somewhat of a curious, playful God, isn’t he? 

You twirl its clouds like locks between your fingers.

Sunshine spills from your lips like golden wine, overflowing,

And beads of morning dew line your neck; fragmented kisses.

You are a lithe, blemish-less god, and one I dare not find flaw in.

Even the marks upon your body, scars and bruises, and freckles galore,

Make you all the more enchanting,.

And yet, this is not what I find most lovely about you.

You, lordly Apollon, are a mind-healer for the hopeless.

I have seen the way you hold their hands,

Kiss the tears from their faces.

I have felt your gentle clasp on my arm as I longed to defile the body that you have told me is perfect.

I have known you, my god, I have known you like only your patient can.

And I have felt the healing light of your breath consume me from the inside out as you lit me like a match,

Dispersing my tired shadows like dust in the air.

I praise you, fine Theos,

Not because of any story I have heard or any poem I have read.

No, it is because you were my guiding candle in the darkest days I have lived to speak of,

And you carried me.

Sweet god, you carried me when I could not stand myself, let alone stand up on my own.

Blessed is the space between your fingers, because you use it as a work space to fashion recovery.

Blessed is the way you move so quickly, for you are always there to catch those that fall out of the healthy trees that disguise even the most evident of heartbreak.

Blessed are you, Apollon,

And your honeyed bandages that fit snugly over our hearts.

Amarantos Argyris

He is the joy of a trans boy when they get testosterone. He is the self-expression found in songs. He is the need to help a friend that is hurt. He can be found in the freckles on someone’s skin. He can be found in the beauty of the gold. He is the one that tells you to text him when you get home. He is every growing sunflower. He is your bright shield.

☀️ offerings:

citrine, sunstone, or yellow calcite; lain in the sun

chocolate

burying lemon or orange based products (zest, slices)

singing or playing music for him, especially in the sun

🌻 rituals:

spending time in the sunshine

playing music

listening to lyre music

putting lemon or orange in your food and drink

wearing a token piece of jewellery that symbolises him (i wear a sun pendant)

✨ small spells:

holding a piece of citrine/sunstone/yellow calcite, and letting the energy flow through you

creating a small tune or musical chant for him, and playing it when you feel his presence

lighting a yellow candle and letting it burn in your space when you are working or doing anything involving creativity and knowledge

making lemon or orange tea, and stirring it clockwise to bring his energy to you

🌟 his prescence:

when the sun comes out from behind the clouds

music that makes you tingle

art that brings tidal waves of emotion to you

the smell of citrus

Apollo stimboard for anon

cars zipping by with their windows rolled down, blasting the radio

the refreshing sting of burt’s beeswax chapstick

the comforting feeling that simply putting a band-aid on a wound gives you

rich yellows and oranges

warm fuzzy blankets

really catchy summer songs

glittery eye makeup

the soft, flickering light of a flame, the warmth it radiates, and the trance it sends you into if you stare for too long

the color combination of orange and turquoise

rising really early in the morning, and feeling at peace and rested while you drink coffee and admire the sunrise

singing a song with friends and accidentally harmonizing 

highlighter that perfectly illuminates someone’s cheekbones 

the golden strands of blond hair

the warmth and happiness you feel when you bask in the sunlight

acoustic guitar and piano

Door of Apollo's Temple at Naxos.

Aha, that's something I love to talk about. I was about to make a post about this anyway so: There's a lot of ancient greek vase paintings that show Apollo wearing feminine robes and accessories that were usually worn by women. For example,

a veil

(Heracles ascending to Olympus)

Multi pinned sleeve

(Apollo helping Hector in the Trojan war)

Cross sash

(The musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas)

Periskelis (the thigh band)

(Orestes seeking shelter at Delphi)

Here, he is wearing the chiton in a way that girls wore

And these lithographs of ancient art have him wear such pretty dresses

Since he is an eternal youth, 99% of the times he has long hair and youthful face - those are the very important physical traits of Apollo. There are many paintings where you will confuse Apollo for a girl.

Apart from these, I have found quite a few statues and marble reliefs too. Many of these are from Hellenistic Greece and Roman era:

As you can notice, most of these present Apollo as a musician, so maybe music played a part in Apollo being effeminte? Did the Muses have a lot of influence on him?Idk, food for thought I guess. Oh and there are a number of headless statues identified as Apollo Patroos (fatherly), where again Apollo is wearing long robes.

Lastly, some quotes from literary sources (FYI I have not included the hundreds of quotes describing Apollo's long hair and smooth chin):

"And ever beautiful is he and ever young: never on the girl cheeks of Apollo hath come so much as the down of manhood."

- Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.)

"Apollo puts his hair in order by shaping his flowing locks with soft foliage and braiding it with a golden diadem."

- Virgil, Aeneid 4.147 (trans. Ingo Gildenhard) (Latin poet C1st B.C.)

"These children Niobe placed above those of Latona [Leto], and spoke rather contemptuously against Apollo and Diana [Artemis] because Diana was girt in man's attire, and Apollo wore long hair and a woman's gown."

- Hyginus, Fabulae 9 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.)

[describing an effeminate man]: giving himself excessive airs of daintiness and indulging in all sorts of effeminacy; sometimes darting his eyes about; sometimes throwing his hands hither and thither...sometimes personating Aphrodite, sometimes Apollo"

- Tatian, Address to the Greeks 22 (trans. Pratten) (Assyrian Theologist C2nd A.D)

"[in the fragments of Lucilius' satires (C2nd B.C)]: Taking issue with Apollo, whom Romulus mocks as a pretty boy (pulcher) with a fondness for effete dance, Romulus rants against foreign luxuries"

- The Cambridge Companion to Seneca (ed. Shadi Bartsch, Alessandro Schiesaro)

“Plato’s Symposium (179D), for example, dismisses Orpheus as a typical citharoedus, that is, an effeminate musician and a craven unwilling to die for his wife.” Bisexual Orpheus: Pederasty and Parody in Ovid by John F. Makowski

The referrenced passage in Plato’s Symposium is this: