#laurusamystic

Hestia is the ancient Greek goddess of home and hearth🔥 and here are some simple offerings for her:

• Olive oil 🫒 A traditional ancient Greek offering for protection, peace, and nourishment.

• Honey 🍯 Represents sweetness and the warmth of the hearth.

• Bread 🍞 Freshly baked or simple loaves as a symbol of sustenance.

• Wine 🍷 A small libation of red or white wine, symbolizing celebration and hospitality.

• Candles 🕯️ To honour her as the goddess of the hearth flame.

• Flowers 💐 Fresh flowers or faux flowers for simplicity and calm.

• Cooked meals 🍲 A portion of home-cooked food, especially soups or stews, as a gesture of hospitality.

• Incense 🪔 Frankincense, myrrh, copal, or sandalwood for purification and devotion.

• Simple tea 🫖 Herbal teas like chamomile or peppermint, representing warmth and welcome.

• Homemade crafts 🧶 Knitted or sewn items, representing the domestic arts.

• Grains 🌾 Barley, oats, or rice, offered raw or as part of a meal.

• Clay or pottery 🏺Small handmade items symbolizing the home and stability.

• Clean, well-kept spaces 🧹 Tidying and maintaining a clean altar or hearth area in her honour.

There’s something in that continuity that makes my chest pull tight. To know she’s still here, listening, and beautifully wild. And I get to be part of that… one voice in a long, uneven line of devotion. It humbles me in ways I can’t explain. I have a hard time articulating the feeling.

Like touching a thread that runs all the way back.

My collage for Apollon Phoibos, the radiant and pure light that shines for us all. 💛

Happy Elaphobolion!🏺

Elaphebolion was the ninth month of the ancient Attic calendar, roughly aligning with March and early April in today’s Gregorian calendar. The month was significant for the celebration of the Elaphebolia festival, dedicated to Artemis Elaphebolos, meaning Artemis the Deer-Slayer.

The Elaphebolia festival was marked by offerings and rituals to honour Artemis for her role as a huntress and guardian. A key part of the celebration was the preparation of special cakes called “elaphoi,” shaped like deer, symbolizing Artemis’ dominion over wildlife and her hunting skills. These cakes were made from flour, honey, and sesame seeds, serving as both a symbolic offering and a way for the community to come together in worship.

In addition to offerings, the Elaphebolia festival likely featured processions, prayers, and other activities aimed at gaining Artemis’ favour for successful hunts and protection from wild animals. As part of the broader religious and agricultural calendar, Elaphobolion also marked the seasonal transition and preparations for spring.

This year, 2025, the festival of Elaphebolia falls on March 6th.

March 6th is also the day that pre-orders for my indie deck, Wisdom of Artemis Oracle, will officially open to the public. As a lifelong devotee of Artemis and a dedicated Hellenic Polytheist, I chose this date to align the deck’s release with one of her most significant festivals—one that is also a personal favourite of mine. The deck features 47 of Artemis’s sacred epithets, including Artemis Elaphobolos. 🏹🦌

Celebrating Thargelia

Thargelia was an important Athenian festival held in honour of Apollon and Artemis, celebrated on the 6th and 7th days of the month Thargelion, which corresponds to late April through late May in the modern Gregorian calendar.

The first day honoured Artemis, while the second was dedicated to Apollon. The festival included the offering of first fruits and a dramatic purification ritual where scapegoats, known as pharmakoi, were expelled from the city to remove collective pollution and ensure communal well-being.

In Delos, the birthplace of the twins, Apollon and Artemis received equal reverence during Thargelia, reflecting their shared divine status in local cult practice. In Athens, however, Apollon emerged as the central figure of the festival, especially in his role as purifier and guardian of civic order. But make no mistake, Artemis remained an essential presence in the rites—her day, observed first, emphasized protection of children, fertility, and the natural cycles that sustained the city. While Apollon dominated the public and political dimensions of the festival, Artemis embodied its intimate connection to life, growth, and renewal.

Happy Thargelia!

Hail Artemis & Hail Apollon

For more details on this festival, see my guide on my Instagram