Looking for a little love, a little peace, and a little enlightenment. I blog about Hellenism, Hard Polytheism, Journeying, Tarot, Taiwan, and the specific entities I work with: Dionysos, Hekate, Hermes, Hestia, and Apollon.
Hello! I saw your tarot post and was wondering what an 'oracle card' was.
Hello! An oracle card us a card from an oracle deck as opposed to from a tarot deck. There are many different know of oracle decks, and many are listed on the Aeclectic Tarot site, so you might think about looking through some there. :)
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Exagnisi Thoughts (Hellenic Chinese New Year 2016)
This post covers the first three days of this festival, the cleaning parts. Next post will go over our "claiming" of our home and then the night we spent in the living room and likely the feast after the end of Hekate's Deipnon.
So, I'd planned to keep a notebook of all my thoughts and impressions from this festival. I didn't do that very well. I do, however, have the first several days written down. This is going to be a short series of posts that include what the plans were for the festival and then how those days worked out.Spouse and I were able to celebrate this as a multi-day festival as we both got 9 days off for Chinese New Year. Taiwan mandates at least 5 days for the new year holiday, and both of our works gave us a few extra days to have the long "weekend" stretch from Saturday to the Sunday of the next week.
Original Plans (Days 1 - 3 (daytime))
By Saturday (2 days before the new moon) -- Theme: Preparation/Cleaning
Get into the right mood and mindset by cleansing with smoke and fire
House clean, purged of stuff we don't need, and tidied.
Do grocery shopping as needed for baking projects and such for the coming festival.
Sunday, February 7 (Day before the new moon) -- Theme: Cleansing
Techno music playing in the house
Cleaning and washing. Use the baijiu in washing water and in a spritz bottle and bell and drum? to loosen the energy in the home
Sing and dance?? Rattle the energy in the house loose
Monday, February 8 (New Moon) -- In US, Take day off -- Theme: Purification
Smoke the house then fan the corners
Before nightfall, open all windows and let sunshine and clean air come through the house. Spend the day with all windows and doors open to allow for everything clean out. Fans running and everything moving.
Sweep the corners with the broom and push the energy out the front door
Burn lemon and mint oils in khernips? -- Make khernips early on
Play music (woodwind music) throughout the house during daylight hours
How Those Days Played Out
These two days were originally going to be two days of different kinds of cleaning. One was going to be a day of cleaning the house (picking up) and then one of washing and then one of purifying. Instead, we spent Saturday and Sunday cleaning and cleaning. That mostly meant sweeping, moving furniture, and putting everything away. There was a lot of sorting and organizing that happened, and it definitely took two whole days to do.Ā
One of the big things we did was set up a proper working altar outside. Spouse cleanedĀ everythingĀ and put together all of the stuff we'd need for it. They lit candles everywhere outside and burned lots of incense. It was beautiful.We got up and went running most of these days as a way to get our heads "into the game," as it were. Then we got to work and cleaned during the daylight hours and often into the evening. Getting enough sleep was important for both of us, although we didn't eat quite enough or well enough during the process.Ā
We started fasting just before sundown on February 8 - the beginning of Hekate's Deipnon.
Journal Excerpts
Feb 6 - Hestia: "Sitting near the stove, I anointed the range with wine and felt a sweet homeyness wash over me from Hestia's corner."
Feb 6 - Fire: "While I was putting together some laundry stuff outside, having meditated with Hekate, Skye's (Spouse) notes that were hanging up at one of the shrines caught on fire. Three of his masks were fine, and the closest one was only singed. However, the fire felt like a big message to both of us." We proceeded to divine the meaning of the fire and then called it a night as we were both really rattled by the event.
Feb 7 - Clean: "The house is not clean. There are a few things not done, but we've done what we can with the energy we've had. Rooms are organized and replanned and structured such that the energy moves through them cleanly."
Going to sit down tomorrow (probably) and type together the day-to-day that was our festival during Chinese New Year. Iāll stick it up soon. If I can keep things short enough, Iāll even post it all as a single post. :)Ā
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Just got the call from work. I don't have classes today because students have fallen ill. I'm off for the next 10 days! Exagnisi commences!! There'll be fireworks in the park tonight, and I won't even have to put them off myself!
Building on what I said about getting to be somewhere that celebrates alongside me, here's a little coffee mascot all dressed up as a lion, ready for New Year!
Almost time! Almost time! Chinese New Year is coming!!
The other day, someone Iāve been emailing a bit with reminded me that I have such a wonderful experience happening right now. I get to live in a country that runs on a lunar cycle. When I leave offerings and do rituals for the new moon, I get to see others around me doing the same (albeit different offerings). When the full moon rises, things come to life here. Iām preparing for a festival that will be 5 days long, and I donāt have to ask for vacation. I automatically get those days (at the new moon) off from work because itās a national holiday. The world around me is abuzz with excitement and happiness building to the local holiday that is the height of the year here. Itās amazing, and I feel so incredibly blessed.
On top of all of this, I live in a place where the majority religion (and itās a HUGE majority) is polytheistic. I get to walk past temples every day that are alive with people and life. Inside those temples are statues and representations of local deities and spirits. People pray and leaving offerings and incense to those deities, spirits, and their own ancestors.Ā
This place is magical. Thank you so much to all the Powers That Be that brought me here, most especially to Dionysos and Hermes for their hands in my life and at my back ever pushing me forward!
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Getting ready for Hellenic Chinese New Year (Exegesis! It has a name!). Spouse and I cleaned the shrine weāve been using for a year and upgraded it from a three shelf table to two side-by-side bookshelves. Itās lovely and puts Hestiaās lamp at eye level (weāre short). Thought Iād share.
I keep feeling like somethingās missing here for me. I want a prayer or invocation or something. You know, something short and to the point but powerful and such. So, question!Ā
Anyone say anything particular when youāre making khernips?Ā
@winebrightruby and @falanx, thanks both for your thoughts. This was something Iād seen before. Trying to find a square between my practice and Spouseās so everything can be somewhat streamlined in our religious worlds. Iāll let people know if we come up with something other than a basic imperative (āxerniptosaiā as you both suggested) or something else.
Also, if anyone else has thoughts, Iād still love to hear them! :)
I keep feeling like somethingās missing here for me. I want a prayer or invocation or something. You know, something short and to the point but powerful and such. So, question!Ā
Anyone say anything particular when youāre making khernips?Ā
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I love cooking and Iām pretty great at it when following recipes. The problem with this growing up though, was my Mother is a Dragon in the kitchen and doesnāt play well with others and she doesnāt go be recipe or direct measurements. So I gave up on learning to cook for a long time (a few things here and there, more with my Dad than her). Iāve slowly started picking things up over the past year or so and Mother is better about sharing the kitchen and weāre working on getting some of herĀ ārecipesā down on paper for me, but itās still a rare thing for me to go in the kitchen and just cook.Ā
Iāve been eating a lot of quick-prep meals lately because of everyoneās schedule and was settling in to do the same tonight. Itās depressing, to be honest, eating mediocre food alone almost every night. I see why so many single folk eat out a lot, sitting by yourself with dinner is sad and lonely.Ā Ā But tonight I felt the uncontrollable urge to go cook. It was as if Hestia was dragging me by the ear into the kitchen and telling me to actually cook myself a homemade meal.Ā
I didnāt have the ingredients for anything I had recipes for and I was increasingly discouraged (and strongly eyeing the Stoufferās lasagna in the freezer) until I opened the cabinet one last time and saw a jar of pesto and a box of noodles. Sure, I could throw some noodles in a pot and stir in pesto and call it a meal but there was that tugging again.Ā
So for the first time in my life, I experimented in the kitchen. I mixed spices, I mixed sauces, I grumbled and prayed, until I had found a flavor I liked. So I sauteed some chicken, boiled some noodles, prayed some more, put my sauce together and by the Gods it was good.Ā
More importantly? It didnāt taste lonely.
tl;dr Hestia made me take care of myself and I made my first successfully experimental dinner by myself