#kronia

Today is 12 Hekatombaion, and it is the festival of the Kronia! On this day, in ancient times, slaves dined with masters, masters served their slaves, and the world reversed to remind of the time when Kronos ruled over a Golden Age of Man.

Today we praise Kronos!!!!

~ 12 Hekatombaion ~

In honor of Lord Kronos, Kronia was celebrated throughout Attica. As Kronos' worship varied throughout historical eras; we can assume the earlier celebrations of this festival focused on him as a god of Grain Harvest, and the latter that of him being Zeus' father.

Roman playwright Accius detailed the festival as a time "all fields and towns...happily feast upon banquets" (Kronia Accius) this source is the greatest uphold of the festival to modern times. Along with the great feasts, citizens also were stripped of title. Most well known about the festival was this: all dined together, played together, no matter rich or poor, slave or free.

This social freedom highlighted the Golden Age, the time in which Kronos still ruled. Earth supported humans, labor was unthought of, and slavery was nonexistent.

Modern Hellenic Polytheist might find this day a good one to not only pray to Kronos, but take a look back on history. We mortals have committed atrocities throughout time. Our hope is to learn of these pains we have committed to others by those we have hurt. Take this day to learn of uncomfortable topics throughout the world such as slavery, exploitation and war. Commit yourself to betterment of not only yourself, but humanity.

Traditional Offerings:

Feasts to Kronos

Grains, wheat, bread

Reaping hooks/Imagery of field tools

Hymns to Kronos

Traditional Acts:

Holding a feast

Hymns to Kronos

Offerings to Kronos

Hestia should be celebrated on Holidays.

I know it's not Christmas/Yule/Kronia/ any Winter Holiday Eve yet, but the freezing weather from here made me thought (again) that it's an Eve with Hestia's vibes because many people are homeless, hunger or they're having bad times with their family, they need her help and we can be thankful for what we have and support the ones who suffer if we can. On the bright side there are delicious food 😝.

I found some references to Kronos' veneration in Chaironeia, Pelion, Thebes, Arcadia and Minor Asia coast. In Olympia there was Kronios Hill, where they did sacrifices, and in Athens there was the sanctuary of Kronos and Rhea next to Zeus' temple.

We have information that the Athenians celebrated Kronia (Κρόνια), which later became the Roman festival of Saturnalia. It was at the beginning of the year (in the Εκατομβαιών month), towards the end of our modern July. It commemorated the time Kronos and Ilios (the sun) reigned upon the earth, the Golden Age of the Human Race, when there were no slaves and masters. That day the slaves could sit on their masters' tables, and sometimes the masters served the slaves. It was a festival to give thanks for the fertile earth and ask for a good harvest for the year to come. It's very possible that some of the Greek New Year traditions like singing kalanda and using/breaking pomegranates for good luck and fertility hail from the festival of Kronia.

The Kronia was held on the 12th day of Hekatombaion and honoured Kronos. Aside from the date, reported to us by Demosthenes, details on this festival come from later sources. Therefore, we only know how the festival was celebrated during the Roman era.

The festival commemorates the mythical Golden Age, a primordial time where labour was unnecessary, as the earth provided for life without restriction and where Kronos ruled. The festival was one of reversals, where social rules and restrictions would be ignored for the time of the festival, especially during banquets.