Salem's Pagan Corner

Because my old one is like approaching two years old now.

Hi! My name is Salem, my pronouns are they/them, I’ve been a practicing revivalist Hellenic Polytheist since the summer of 2019 (which as of writing this is about six and a half years ago). The primary focuses of my practice are deity work and divination, and I love helping others with their connections to the gods!

I work exclusively with the Greek gods now, but I’ve worked with other pantheons in the past and I still regularly communicate with them on behalf of others. That said, if anyone ever needs help or guidance on their path or needs a particular history nerd pagan divination reader to give their opinion on something, my ask box is always open!

My team of deities that I work with is:

- Zagreus, the chthonic Dionysus and god of the hunt, nocturnal rites, life, rebirth, and the capture of live prey

- Hades, King of the Underworld, god of the dead and the riches of the earth

- Persephone, goddess of springtime and Queen of the Underworld

- Melinoe, goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and offerings to the dead

- Makaria, goddess of pleasure and blessed death

- Athena, goddess of wisdom

- Dionysus, god of wine, plenty, and theatre

- Apollo, god of light, archery, healing, etc etc

The first five are ones I communicate with most closely and represent formally in my own religious community (a title I call Emissary to the House of Hades). I’m also godspoused to Zagreus, and have been since the spring of 2024.

Athena and Dionysus are deities I worship due to my study of law and my love of theatre; plus, I see a lot of my best qualities in their domains.

Finally, Apollo was the first deity I ever worshipped and he’s back in my practice now!

I AM SO HAPPY WITH THE ADDITIONAL ZAGREUS CONTENT IN THE NEW GAME, and i have no one to be feral about it with because my pagan friends don’t want spoilers and my nonpagan friends don’t get why i am so exceedingly Normal About Him. He is PERFECT to me and I love the interactions he has with Melinoe!!

Now I can't see or hear the gods, I was wondering if you can describe what Zagreus looks like? (Examples like: hair colour or eye colour) or any details that I should know about. I apologise for bothering you, have a good day or night.

Hi there!!

Absolutely, I'm happy to help. Very few visual references outside of the Hades game exist for him. Thankfully I have a really solid sense of what he looks like and about a million picrews! (Most of which have me in them too, because I'm his wife and I love doing duo picrews, so I'm limiting my selections to the best ones for your purposes).

The main details I always point out to people are that he's tall, has short-ish, smooth, black hair, and has green eyes.

(That third image is by Morningstar Witchery on Etsy, she does custom deity art and candles and is a total icon)

For me, he dresses mostly in all-black formalwear, but usually just a button-up and slacks so he still has the benefit of comfort and ease of movement. If you're wanting to get more creative with the outfit, black, dark red, and gold are your best bets for colors.

Despite his parents actually being ZEUS and Persephone, he looks a decent bit like what I imagine Hades looked like younger and clean-shaven. 😂 And he pretty much considers Hades his dad in all senses anyway.

Been seeing some traction on my posts about Zagreus, which is very exciting for me because I love talking about him! I did that first post of correspondences and offering ideas when I was only a week or so into working with him, so here's an updated list of stuff I know for a fact he likes / are associated with him.

Incense: frankincense, sandalwood, cinnamon, copal

Food: Pomegranate, chocolate, anything cinnamon-flavored, spicy things

Drinks: Campari, dark or gold rum, good whiskey, red wine, pomegranate juice

Plants: poplar, cypress, pine, eucalyptus, mint

Animals: crows and ravens, but I also associate him with bones of most animals

And here's some of my favorite offerings to him that anyone can do (not just me, his wife, haha):

Burn incense

Invite him to sit with you while you read or play video games, ESPECIALLY if you're gaming with friends

Drink (responsibly!)

Share some food with him

Play Hades (even if he doesn't look like that, he still enjoys the game)

Engage in your passions, or communicate about them! He has big Wands and Swords energy -- he wants you to be excited about life and gain eloquence in speaking your heart to others.

Learn about his siblings, Melinoe and Makaria, who also tend to get forgotten about.

Figure out how you feel about death and the afterlife. Talk to him about it. He can help you parse your thoughts!

Discernment is key here. I make jokes about my husband being really obvious and me not taking the hint because I didn't want to be presumptuous; I still stand by that waiting and being sure and making tons of checks and avoiding being presumptuous is better. Not only does it save you from situations where parasitic entities can pose as gods and lock you into oaths only to abuse and degrade you, but it also just avoids hubris in general which is always a good way to operate.

It's harsh, but I've started saying this because of Shadowheart BG3: you aren't god's favorite princess just because you think you should be. The gods are, at the very least, more perfect than us (less petty, less vengeful, less... human) and make their choices regardless of what we think or believe should happen. While you absolutely can and probably should be more informal with your spouse than you are with most gods, remember that spousal is an honor for which you are chosen. With that comes oaths, and expectations, and those things should hopefully bring humility.

Yeah basically! Also FELT on the not very consistent but trying, I've been practicing for like six years and i only just now feel good about how consistent I've been 😂

Basically it's a permanent, close devotional relationship with a deity. I usually use the example of how nuns are "married to Jesus" but it appears in lots of cultures! Godspouses are a representative of their immortal spouse in the world. It's a very rare and sacred practice and I'm HONORED to be chosen for such a path. My godspousal is romantic bc Zagreus has said so, but not all of them are (there's platonic and parental godspousals too that I should point out because I feel like they don't get talked about enough). But as far as mine goes, yes, I am for all intents and purposes marrying this deity because he proposed to me.

It sounds a little batshit insane at first, so I don't blame people whose first reaction is "that seems not real" (because I was once like that) but if you think about it from a theology perspective, who are we to tell the gods what is and is not "proper"? They are incomprehensible beings who are at the very least more perfect than us, and I can't claim to know a god's mind or desires (even my spouse, and he's very open with me!). Obviously you have free will, so engaging in a spousal relationship is still your choice, but it is a thing and it is valid.

Last night I learned that cypress and poplar are both commonly associated with chthonic gods and energy. I already associate mint with most underworld gods, but:

- Orphic and Eleusic texts cite cypress trees as landmarks in the Underworld for their initiates to look out for.

- Those completing a Dionysiac (Orphic or Bacchic, the details are lost or hazy) induction would be wreathed in poplar, and Herakles was given a crown of poplar upon returning Cerberus to the underworld.