Delphic Maxims #3: Worship the Gods

This is the last one for this month.

So this is the third Delphic Maxims and one that I find very easy to follow. Worship the gods! It’s as simple as that but sometimes not that simple. When I talk about worship I talk about connecting to the gods and giving them their due. When you have someone that comes into any form of paganism, that has had worship thrown at them, it can be hard to worship the gods.

Sometimes they feel that their just going back to how they were force to be. That’s why, I think, that honoring or even working with the gods is sometimes used in place of worship. However this is a false thinking and one that doesn’t connect you to them. If you use your Christian, or any religion, baggage to come up with an excuse as to not worshiping the gods. After they have been denied that right for nearly 2,000 years their going to get your attention real quick.

Worship, to me, is a beautiful thing. It can connect us to something far deeper than ourselves. You see I don’t have Christian baggage and I’m glad that I don’t. But a lot of people do and it shows in their devotional work as well as their work period. Worshiping the gods is vital part of Hellenism and one that can’t be overlooked. Apollon intends us to battle through our own baggage so that we’re free to honor the gods.

Nourmia

Nourmia is the first observance during the first eight days of a new Athenian month. Once a month, leading up to the eight day, I will do a post to highlight a certain day. Nourmia is a time to honor the household deities like Zeus and Hecate, and other spirits that are important. I use a long ritual that I got from a Hellenic book that Labrys brought out last year. I do hope that you have a good one.

The Athenian Month of Skirophoria Begins

When the sun goes down the last Athenian month begins. Here's the list for those that don't know. Have a good one and may the gods bless you.

May 26: Nourmia
May 27: Agathos Daemon
May 28: Athena/ Arrophoria/Sacrifices to Kourotrophos, Athena Polias, Aglauros, Zeus Polieus, Poseidon, and Pandrosos
May 29: Honor Aphrodite, Hermes, Heracles, Eros.
May 31: Honor Artemis
June 1: Honor Apollon
June 2: Honor Poseidon and Theseus
June 6: Skira
June 8: Bouphonia
June 9: Full Moon (Honor Hecate, Selene, and Artemis)
June 10: (Daylight) Libations to Zeus
June 23: (New Moon) Honoring Hecate.

Have a good month.

New Moon (May 2017)

Tonight, when the sun goes down, it will be the end of another Athenian month. We honor the goddess Hecate and give her her due. We clean our homes, change things, and make sure that things are done. Let's have a good one.

Delphic Maxims #2: Obey the Law

This one is simple and something that many people out there fail to understand or disregard. Obey the Law! It means that you follow the laws that are out there. Laws are important and the gods consider those that obey them to be honorable. Not obeying the law causes all sorts of problems and it's not worth it.

Hellenic Holiday: Plynteria

The holiday of Plynteria is upon us, which is the annual washing of the statue of the goddess Athena during ancient times. In modern times I also wash my statue of Athena and also give her offerings and pour out wine to her. I don't spend any money or do any business. I just enjoy my time with her and do a small ritual in dedication to her. During ancient times the temple of Athena was closed and no business was done.

I do hope that you will have a good one.

Department of Justice Expands Religious List

Even though Hellenism isn't listed the Department of Justice has expanded the list of religions that they will recognize. Here's the link below.

http://religionnews.com/2017/04/21/defense-department-expands-its-list-of-recognized-religions/

Being a Hellenist in America

One of the great things about being born in the United States is that you have freedom of religion. Being a Hellenist in America is different then being a Hellenist in Greece. In Greece they had to fight for twenty years to be declared a 'known' religion. In the United States you do have to worry about it.  Being a Hellenist is easy when you live North but somewhat hard if you live in the South. Thankfully Christians don't know about Hellenism being practiced.

There are statues of the Greek gods almost everywhere, where you can leave a little something. So being a Hellenist is great here and I don't want that to change.

Why Wicca is a Joke

This is going to be a short post, since I have work. I just want to talk about why I believe that Wicca is a joke. One of the main reasons is the lack of any practice being based on fact. Wicca is a made-up religion that has no basis in historical fact. Of course people would like to say that Wicca is an ancient religion but that's not true. Wicca is a joke because it disrespects the gods and turns them into something the ancients would of never recognized.

At least the recons are trying to do it right. Once again, this is a short post and that's my views.

Hellenic Holiday: Festival to Honor Thracian Goddess Bendis

This is one of the posts that I deleted, so I'm re-writing it. I got this from Theo.com.

Bendis was the ancient Thracian Goddess of the moon and hunting who was worshiped with Bacchic-like orgies in the wilds of Thrake. The Greeks identified her with Artemis, Hecate, and Selene.

I hope that you enjoy your holiday and may the gods bless you.

Delphic Maxims #1: Follow God

I'm redoing them, sorry about that. This one is the first one and the tone that some that are against Monotheism is just shocking. The first one is Follow God. My view is follow the god of your town, listen to the gods wisdom, and understand how to honor that god. Leave your damn hate for your former religion out of your new.

Doing Daily Practice

So today is my day off, which I'm happy about, and that means that I don't have to get up so early in the morning. Each day I do a daily practice, though I try to also do them twice a day. The gods are important parts of my life, they give me strength that I need. My daily practice is saying a prayer, burning incense, pouring water, and purifying myself and my altar. Though the last one I do first. Giving an offering to Hestia and the other gods that are on my altar.

My altar changes with the month, a new god appearing on my altar and my offerings changing. This coming Friday I will be ordering my Zeus prayer card, candle label, and a blue candle. Personally I hope that it arrives before the new month begins. Anyway, doing daily practice had really helped me out and I'm glad that I decided to do it.

Libations to Apollon (2017)

Today will be libations to Apollon. I can't do this one because I have to work. Apollon is the brother to Artemis and the son of Zeus and Leto. I hope that you all have a good one and be well.

Work and Hermes

I'm writing this because I think that it's important to talk about this. Last week I started a job, which means that I can buy Greek goodies and I can do other things that are needed to function. Since I travel to and from work I need the protection of the god Hermes. Hermes is the god of travelers and he protects anyone that's using the road. Since I go to work during the morning there are all sorts of nuts out there.

Anything can happen, I'm not stupid in thinking that nothing will happen. So Hermes is becoming a very important deity in my life, since I go out and travel to make money for the family. Hermes gets honors and I carry his card with me for added protection. I say a prayer to him, I use the card, every morning and then say a prayer to him in the afternoon when I'm about to come home.

I really never connected to Hermes because I really didn't travel much. However, I'm doing that now and he's very important.

Greek Paganism Declared a 'known' religion

I posted this last month, which I was so excited when I heard about this. The link is below so that you can read it. I think that it's about time that this happened and I wish them luck.

http://wildhunt.org/2017/04/greek-paganism-legally-recognized-as-known-religion-in-greece.html

Redoing My Blog

First of all I would like to say that I'm sorry about deleting all my posts. I want to start off this blog with the ability to write down what I've written and not do double posts. I'm going to put down information, news events, things like that, that I think are important. Once again, sorry about doing this but I really need to get a handle on my blog.