#ouranic hellenism

On the 6th and 7th day of the month Thargelion in hellenic polytheism we celebrate Thargelia, the main festival that the month is named after. This is how I celebrated this year (2nd year of the 700th olympiad):

On the first day I honored Artemis by:

Undergoing catharsis (spiritual cleansing of oneself, ones surroundings, body and mind). I took a shower, washed up, wore symbolic clothing and jewelry, veiled and abstained from sexual activity (and thoughts for the most part). I also fasted for about 24 hours, not consuming anything in order to detox my body.

I then poured a wine libation in honor of Artemis and recited homeric hymn #9 & #27 and Orphic hymn #35.

I also recited Orphic Hymn #34 in honor of Leto since Thargelia celebrates Leto giving birth to the twin goddess Artemis and god Apollo.

I also listened to devotional music in honor of Artemis.

After I finished the prayer I quickly realized that I forgot to cast out the scapegoats or Pharmakoi. So I wrote down two things that I wanted to leave my life namely negative nagging & struggling to communicate and form friendships within the physical religious community. I ripped these papers and threw them away to banish these things.

Then I watched a video about the mythos behind the birth of Artemis & Apollo and another mythos of Artemis (about her virginity and staying pure, fitting to the theme of Thargelia of course which is all about cleanliness and not having impure things). And looked at some social media posts of others about Thargelia.

Before going to bed I did my night prayer like every night, but payed some extra attention in that prayer to Leto, Artemis & Apollo in particular.

On the second day I honored Apollo by:

Undergoing catharsis again by washing up and putting on a sunny outfit to honor him, it was also really sunny during Thargelia this year so that was a good sign and nice to feel extra close to Apollo.

I then went to the grocery store to get all the ingredients for the dinner and offering and started cooking Panspermia and Manna, which turned out looking really nice and tasty this year! So I was really happy with that. I also bought a strawberry cake since it's traditional to offer the first fruits of the season to Apollo, which in my region are strawberries, and since strawberries are also associated with Apollo.

I put part of the Panspermia, Manna and cake, including an actual strawberry, in an offer bowl and placed it, along with the red wine libation, in front of Apollo's picture on my desk.

Then I veiled and recited Homeric hymn #3, #21 & #25 and Orphic hymn #33 in honor of Apollo.

I also recited Orphic Hymn #34 to Leto once again, like the previous day.

In honor of Apollo I also listened to a devotional song.

Then I broke my second fast which lasted for about 17 or 18 hours by eating the Panspermia, Manna and drinking the red wine.

Before going to bed I did my nightly prayer, again paying some special attention to thank Leto, Artemis and Apollo.

I honestly wanted to do more and spend even more time on Thargelia, cleaning the house among things, but due to busy work and such I didn't get around with doing so. I also intended to fast for 1,5 day but when I got a little headache at 2 AM I decided the time had come to eat something small in between, but after that I fasted again. I still enjoyed Thargelia, mainly because my cooking turned out so beautifully and I felt proud and by focusing so much on what Thargelia, Leto, Artemis and Apollo stand for, and tried my best to focus on cleansing myself physically and spiritually.

Today (elaphebolion 8th) in the hellenistic calendar marks Asklepia, a sacred day to honor Asklepios, the god of healing.

I recited four hymns including Homeric Hymn 16 & Orphic Hymn 67 to Asklepios and poured a wine libation. This day is also good for dream communication and divination.

So today and tomorrow, May 18th & 19th, or in the Hellenic calendar Thargelion 6th & 7th in the 4th year of the 699th olympiad, mark the festival Thargelia which honors Artemis and Apollo. 

Due to the ongoing pandemic I was at my parents home and couldn’t freely or to full extend celebrate Thargelia, however I still tried to do as much as possible, without a real celebration or libation. 

So on the 6th of Thargelion, Artemis day I

- Started the day by undergoing catharsis or cleansing, took a bath, put on fresh clothes, took out the trash, to cleanse myself of miasma. 

- I couldn’t fast due to eating with/at my parents, but instead I avoided every unnecessary food or drink, so I only ate and drank during lunch and dinner when I had no other option. 

- In the afternoon I put on some symbolic clothing and jewelry that portray deer, which are associated with Artemis who is also named the huntress goddess.

- Then I wrote down two things I wanted to get rid off on paper, representing the pharmakoi or scapegoates, and ripped those to ward bad energy concerning these points off. 

* Due to the ongoing pandemic and Thargelia being associated with warding off illness, I wrote illness down as one of the things that I wanted to ward off.

* For the second pharmakoi, last Thargelia I wrote down self doubt about choices regarding the future. Through the past year that has indeed become less however it’s still not fully gone, well the doubt about choices is kinda gone but regarding future work I just really want a specific job and a lot of future choices depend on that so that’s why this year I wrote down ‘not working at my dream job at ...’ to cast out, in order to channel positive energy towards that goal and ward off negativity and unluckiness regarding getting that job. It sounds a bit selfish maybe but since it’s like a second part to the pharmakoi from last year it’s also about personal growth and asking the deities to help me on that part, it’s not like directly asking them for the job. 

Anyways so that were my two pharmakoi for this year.

- Then I recited some prayers/hymns. I did it in a weird order, which was kinda wrong but it doesn’t matter that much, but next year again I would like to just do it in the numerological order since it makes much more sense, I don’t know why I didn’t do that this time. 

* I started with reciting Orphic Hymn 34 to Leto, then Orphic Hymn 36 to Artemis (two versions of that hymn) and Homeric Hymn 9 and 27 to Artemis.

Thargelion 7th marks Apollo’s day, so then I will

- Cleanse myself (catharsis) and put on fresh clothes.

- Listen to a song called ‘Apollo’ to honor him. 

- Recite Homeric Hymn 21 to Apollo and Orphic Hymn 33 to Apollo.

- This is also a day to spend with family so I’ll go with my mom to the grocery store to get some nice foods, break ‘the fast’ during lunch and make a nice dinner with her. 

Mabon is one of my favorite holidays, since for me it symbolizes a time of positive change and being together with loved ones such as family and friends. Unfortunately due to the situation that has been ongoing this year in 2020, my family and I can’t visit each other. It feels very weird for me since this is the first time in 5 years that I am not spending Mabon celebrating with my family. Luckily I can still celebrate with friends and by myself. So in this post I am going to talk about how I celebrate Mabon and all the other festive days that happen in my religion at the beginning of Autumn. 

A tip to feel more connected to Mabon and Autumn when you can’t gather with, for instance, family would definitely be to wear clothes in colors associated with Mabon like Red, Green, Yellow, Gold and Brown and to incorporate associated flavors and foods, like pumpkin, apple, corn, carrot, potato etc. in your meals.

Ofcourse on september 21st it’s Mabon time. In the weekend leading up to this day I am cleaning my house thoroughly and preparing outfits and groceries associated with Mabon and autumn for the rest of the week. On the day itself I am also going to bake a Mabon/Autumn inspired Apple-Cinnamon-Caramel cake. At night I will do a religious circle to honor Mabon. Besides I am just going to a little cafe during the day with my friends from school to spend some quality time together and enjoy their company.

During the following weekend the Enderi are happening which last from september 25th to 27th, and are in the Elvish calendar the three days to make a trip before the cold of winter sets in. I am spending these days by traveling to my friends and spending a nice weekend with them. 

The 25th of september is also a day to honor Apollo.

During this week in the Elvish tradition it’s also the first week of Autumn which is a time to think about and honor ancestors and loved ones that have passed away. With the most important one being Day of Victory. Festivities ‘end’ on september 30th. 

 The following week on October 1st there will be a full moon.

So due to the circumstances we face in the year 2020, or year 3 of the 699th Olympiad, I have been partially unable to celebrate Thargelia nor Beltane. I couldn’t veil, couldn’t bake things, couldn’t wear my symbolic clothing, fast, or offer things. 

However, instead of focussing on what I couldn’t do, it’s better to focus on the things that I did do. 

I was really excited because this year Beltane and the second day of Thargelia fell on the same day. However due to the circumstances my plans kind of fell apart and honestly for Beltane I didn’t really do anything, except for reading about Beltane and thinking about it throughout the day to still honor it. 

Beltane is also celebrated by the fae and other species of the fair folk. I couldn’t go out and buy flowers so I couldn’t really do anything. But since it’s seen as the start/ high point of spring and I was outside in the garden, to be honest only for a few seconds but okay, it’s still good that think about it. 

For Thargelia:

On Artemis’ day I started off by undergoing catharsis (purification) by washing up and putting on clothes. Then I created pharmakoi (representing the two scapegoats) by writing down the two things about me and my life that I wanted to get rid of. For this year particularly I wrote down

- selfdoubt about choices I make regarding the future, since that had been bothering me a lot, especially this year, now that I had to make some important decisions in university, and in general I had been plagued by self doubt, specifically regarding my future and future related decisions. 

- sickness, which I wanted to get rid of for myself and the entire world with the situation we’re facing now, and my personal health had been a bit bad this year so I definitely wanted to get rid of that. 

Then I also recited some homeric and orphic hymns to Artemis and Leto. 

On the second day of Thargelia, Apollo’s day:

I listened to music, as I usually do, but today especially I thought of Apollo whilst listening to and enjoying music since he is a deity associated strongly with the arts including music, so in order to honor him and as a sort of offering. Besides that I recited hymns to Apollo. 

So although unfortunately this Thargelia was how I had imagined it, I did do things that were possible for me given the circumstances and I did it with a sincere and devoted heart and mind, so I am happy about it. 

On both days I also studied religious things, about paganism, beltane, holidays and dodekatheism/ hellenismos which is always a good thing to do in order to grow as a person in your religious devotion and knowledge and also as an offering and honor to the deities.