#practical devotion

I planned some spell work for tonight, taking advantage of the power of the new moon and it being Venus' day and specifically in Venus' hour.

I decided that since I would already be pulling a bunch of stuff outside, and be in a more spiritually focused frame of mind, that this would be the perfect time to also make some offerings! I went pretty simple with it tonight, a libation of water into the planter box and lighting some incense in honor of my Lady Tyche and in honor of all the Theoi.

When I can, I like to use the time that the incense is burning to do other acts of worship or religiously focused things. But tonight I instead did my spell work as it burned.

I absolutely believe that the burning of the incense itself is a wonderful offering regardless of how much you pay attention to it as it burns, or if you meditate on the Gods you have offered it to. Were it safe, I think it would be fully fine to walk away from an incense offering to do totally unrelated stuff! The last of the stick of incense I offered is actually still burning as I write this. But I like to focus on Them when I can as it's a really nicely carved out period of time. I have to keep an eye on the incense for safety, I may as well make further use of this time.

World's smallest jar of lavender honey to go with the matcha bread I made a few days ago! Both are going with me to share a meal with some friends ^-^

Xenia is truly my most cherished tenant of my religion. Even before I began practicing Hellenic polytheism, I knew and adhered to the important social contract of being a gracious host and guest.

One of my friends is most often the host of our time spent together. She loves to host and to be perfectly honest my home is often not quite tidy enough to do so. It's something my spouse and I are working on ^^; So, since I do not often have the opportunity to properly reciprocate her hosting, I put all my effort into being an outstanding guest. I always bring something significant to contribute to our shared meals, I make certain to inquire about anything particular she might want us to bring, and while there I show the utmost respect for her home. I make an effort to minimize any mess I might make and I clean up after myself.

It is truly one of my favorite "mundane" ways that I honor the Theoi.

Today, my spouse is quite sick. Enough so that I absolutely was not going to let them do chores! But dishes still needed to be done.

On top of that, we may (if my spouse is feeling better) be going over to a dear friends home for games and dinner. Our friend is making soup, so I offered to make bread to go with it! You will never catch me showing up for a meal empty handed :3

So, once I got home, I lit up some incense for Lady Hestia and got to work on both bread and dishes. One of the things I truly love about making bread is that there is plenty of rest time, whether I'm resting with the bread or busy doing something else. Two devotional activities and a burnt offering in one day? I feel pretty dang good about that! Definitely not something practical to do every day, but these things needed to be done anyway ^-^

With dishes and bread all squared away, it was time for dinner. It's fiiiiinally starting to cool down a bit where I live, so I took the opportunity to make some hot tea and soup, offering the steam from both to Lady Tyche! My "practical devotions" lately have been pretty much entirely in the domain of Lady Hestia, so I wanted to make sure to make an offering to my Lady Tyche. I feel a little like I've been neglecting Her a bit lately...

Today, some practical devotion ^-^ I lit some incense for the Theoi, and washed some dishes while it burned in honor of Lady Hestia.

Something I have struggled with for the entirety of my worship of the Theoi is an ever present feeling of not doing enough. I think this is something that most people who honor gods, spirits, and other entities feel at least time to time.

I fell away from my practice for a long period of time because of this self imposed pressure. I am so grateful to my Gods for allowing me to return and welcoming me back as kindly as they have.

This time around, I'm trying to work with myself instead of toward a non existent and impossible "perfect" version of myself. Part of that is accepting that I have limitations, and helping myself instead of just criticizing.

So! Dishes (among other chores) needed done, and my time and energy today were limited. But I could light incense and think about and honor Lady Hestia while taking care of my hearth, my home.