Delphic Maxims #16: Control Anger

This is number 16 and this one is something that most people find very hard to do. Control your anger! Controlling your anger is something that we all fight with. People that are naturally angry really fight to control that thing that just comes out. Anger can cause you to do things that you don’t want to do. So controlling it, and using logic, can help you in the end.

Sacrifice to Artemis Agrotera (2017)

When the sun goes down this holiday will happen. Agrotera is a epithet of Artemis. Here’s some info about this holiday. Got this from Wikipedia.

Agrotera (Gr. Ἀγροτέρα, “the huntress”) was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis,^[1][2][3] and the most important goddess to Attic hunters.^[4]

At Agrae^[5] on the Ilissos, where she was believed to have first hunted after her arrival from Delos, Artemis Agrotera had a temple, dating to the 5th century BC, with a statue carrying a bow.^[6] During the Boedromia, on the seventh day of Boedromion (roughly, the beginning of September), an armed procession would take 600 goats to this temple,^[7][8] where they would all be sacrificed by the polemarch in honor of the victory at the Battle of Marathon. This rite derived from a vow made before the Battle of Marathon,^[9] which in turn derived from the custom of making a “slaughter sacrifice”, or sphagion (σφάγιον), to Artemis Agrotera before a battle. The temple was destroyed in 1778,^[4] when the Ottoman forces occupying Athens set about demolishing ancient sites for building material to construct a wall around the city.^[10] The ruins of the temple survive today on Ardettou Street, tightly surrounded by modern buildings. There is an ongoing campaign for the expropriation of adjacent buildings and the restoration of the temple.^[11]

Under this name she was also worshiped at Aigeira,^[12] Sparta, and elsewhere.^[13] The name Agrotera is synonymous with the epithet Agraea, but Eustathius derives it from the town of Agrae.^[14][15][16]

This epithet was also sometimes applied to the nymph Cyrene

Genesia (2017)

This is from the same site, Baring the Aegis.

Genesia – The Genesia seems to have been a festival of the dead–especially of dead parents. It was celebrated on the fifth of the month of Boudromion in Athens, but that is all we know for sure. There is reason to believe that the Genesia was panhellenic–although we do not know if all city-states performed the rites on the same day. We are also unsure if the Genesia was a set day for all children to visit their parents’ grave and perform sacrifices there, or if there was a public commemoration of all parents. The day is also sacred to Gaea, who housed the remains of the dead, and brought fertility and wealth to the living.

Sacrifice to Basile (2017)

I got this from the site, Baring the Aegis.

Sacrifice to Basile in Erchia – In the calendar from Erchia the heroine Basile was given a holókaustos on the 4th of the month of Boedromion. The sacrifice to Basile consisted of a white, female, lamb and was followed by a wineless libation. The colour of the animal is noteworthy, since holókaustoi have commonly been classified as khthonian sacrifices, and it is usually assumed that the victims used in such rituals were black. Basile was also worshipped elsewhere in Attica, but nothing is known of the kind of sacrifices she received at those locations. Basile seems to have been a local heroine. Nothing survives about her deeds, as far as I have been able to find, but she was important enough to warrant her own personal sacrifice–the Erchian calendar also makes note of collective sacrifices to ‘the heroines’.

Have a good ritual.

Athenian Month of Boedromion Begins

When the sun goes down it will be a new Athenian month. Here’s the holiday’s.

August 22: Nourmia
August 23: Honor Agathos Daemon
August 24: Honor Athena
August 25: Honor Aphrodite, Hermes, Heracles, Eros/Sacrifices to Basile
August 26: Genesia: Festival of the Dead.
August 27: Honor Artemis/Sacrifice to Artemis Agrotera.
August 28: Honor Apollon
August 29: Honor Poseidon and Theseus
September 2: Demokratia: Festival to honor Democracy
September 5-12: Eleusinian Mysteries
September 7: Epidauria
September 9: Libations to Demeter and Persephone
September 17: Sacrifices to the Nymphai, Akhelōos, Hermēs, Athēna, and Gaia.

I hope that you all have a good month.

Delphic Maxims #15: Help Your Friends

This one is very simple. Help your friends! Friendship, to me, is a very important thing. And sometimes things happen that they need our help. As long as the help that your giving isn’t hurting anyone, or causing you to break other maxims that Apollo states that you must follow, then there’s no reason that you can’t help out. Help your friends and your friendship will grow.

Hellenic (3 Years)

Today marks three years that I've been Hellenic. I might not of done everything right but my faith in the gods of Greece hasn't gone away. Thanks, everyone, for your three years of support.

Sacrifices to Zeus Epoptes (2017)

When the sun goes down we will be honoring Zeus Epoptes. Here’s some info about this holiday. Here’s the link.
https://sites.google.com/site/hellenionstemenos/Home/festivals/zeus-hepoptes

(25 Metageitnion) A sacrifice to Zeus Epoptes (the overseer) in the Attic demos of Erchia.

According to Sarah Iles Johnston (“Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece”, page 45), in the first line of the ‘Choephoroi’, Orestes invokes Hermes Chthonios, in his capacity as the god who controls the dead, precisely as”patroi’ epopteuon krate”, which means “‘watching [my] ancestral powers”, so perhaps the role that Epops or Epopeus, his “watching” hero, played in Erchia, like that he played in Sciyon, involved controlling the dead, and it was for this reason that he received special offerings at the festival of Genesia. If so, then this was a day during which the dangerous dead were controlled or averted.

 

 

Note: I didn't celebrate this because I was just too busy and too tired.

Delphic Maxims #14: Control Yourself

This is the next one for this month and it’s pretty simple one, ‘control yourself.’ The problem with today’s society is that we have lost this ability and it causes a lot of problems. From not being able to control how much you eat to how much you spend. People losing everything because they ‘just had to have that thing’ when they didn’t need it. Oh look, I really want that ring or oh I really want this or that. No control and society actually believe that this is a good thing.

Controlling yourself make things better for you. Not only are you not in debt but you’re not fat, have problems with booze, and living in a dump. So control yourself or work on controlling yourself. You’ll be happier.

Sacrifices to Hera Thelkhinia (2017)

Tonight is supposed to be a time that I honor Hera Thelkhinia, but I worked and I was dead tired. So here's some info about her day.

(Metageitnion 20) A minor sacrifice to Hera Telkhinia in the Attic demos of Erchia. The Greek title as commonly given, Thelkhinia, is probably a mis-spelling of the epithet, for there is no such word as “thelkhinia.”  Some writers prefer the word "thelxinoos," which means “charming the heart” and is appealing as an aspect of the goddess of marriage.  However, the epithet is more likely Telkhinia, which according to LJS, indicates a connection with the inhabitants of Telkhis, on Crete.  These were considered the first metal-workers and, later, as “sorcerers.”  The epithet is also bestowed upon Apollo and the Nymphs and there was a festival of Telkhinia at Delphoi, which already has a connection with Crete, through the Cretan sailors that Apollo selected to become priests of his temple.  Therefore, although the myth of the connection of Apollo, Hera and the Nymphs with Telkhis is lost to us, it apparently a reflection of bronze age interactions with Crete and not a reference to Hera as a “charmer.”

Today: this was a minor observance by a suburb of Athens, but anyone who has a particular connection may wish to honor Her on this day with a libation and incense and hymns, for Hera is Queen of Heaven who rules with Zeus and is honored no less than Zeus.

Libations to Hermes (2017)

Today was the Libations to Hermes and I didn't get to do this one due to work. When I got home I was dead tired and really didn't want to do anything. I hope that you all that was able to had a good one.

Hellenic Holiday: Sacrifices to the Heroines (2017)

This is another Hellenic holiday, but one that I don’t observe. I’ve talked about this holiday before, so I won’t be repeating myself. However, I do hope that everyone has a good one.

Sacrifices to Kourotrophos, Hecate, Artemis

Tonight will be this Hellenic holiday. However, I will not be observing it due to having to work. Hecate and Artemis both share the title 'Kourotrophos' and it means nurse. It's connected to children and taking care of them. Have a good one.

Delphic Maxims #13: Honor the hearth (or Hestia)

So this is the 13th Delphic Maxims and this one is pretty simple, honor the hearth or Hestia. Hestia was an important Greek goddess as she was represented by the flame. She was a need and a necessity in life. You can’t live without fire and you can’t live without the warmth. So honor Hestia and let her know that you understand why she’s here.

Eleusinia (2017)

Tonight will mark the beginning of Eleusinia. I won’t be celebrating because I’m just so busy working. Here’s some info about the holiday. Here’s the link if you want to read it yourself.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eleusinia

Eleusinia, ancient Greek festival in honour of Demeter (the goddess of agriculture), unconnected with the Eleusinian Mysteries despite the similarity of names. The Eleusinia, which included games and contests, was held every two years, probably in the month of Metageitnion (August–September). Every second festival had a particularly elaborate observance and was known as the Great Eleusinia. Its purpose was thanksgiving and sacrifice to Demeter for the gift of grain.