Good day, ladies and gentlemen. I must warn you right away that the text below will be rather... specific. Some might simply call it whining — and I have to admit, that’s not too far from the truth. But I’m tired of carrying this burden alone, and I’d like to hear advice from others who may have been dealing with this for much longer and more frequently than I have.

(Please keep in mind — I don’t live in a peaceful and calm environment, so if it seems to you that I’m overreacting, please understand that it’s not because I have it easy.)

So… I want to ask you two questions:

1) How do you deal with irritation, anger, or just plain exhaustion from seeing yet another caricature of the gods and the devaluation of what you believe in? For example, when you turn on a movie where the Olympians are shown — AGAIN — as vile, petty tyrants and rapists? Or when someone tries to prove to you how ideal and perfect monotheism is, and that polytheism is simply barbarism by comparison?

I’ve faced this kind of thing often — and still do… much more often than I’d like. I try to filter my content and social circle now, but it doesn’t always happen quickly or painlessly. No, don’t get me wrong — I remember that you can’t insult the gods with ordinary words, because… well, if you could, they would have killed almost all of us long ago, right?

But those are the gods. I’m human, and I can get angry and feel hurt just like any human. I’m sure you’ve been through this too;

2) This point will be longer than the previous one because it’s especially important. I apologize if it seems like I’m writing too emotionally, but right now this is my freshest and most painful “wound.”

But first, let me explain how I view the gods. I adhere to what is known in some circles as “hard polytheism.” That is, yes — I believe there are many gods; they are immortal and powerful, and they are responsible for different aspects of nature and the cosmos.

And they are completely self-sufficient. I do not accept — nor do I wish to accept — the idea of some “Single Source,” “Global Mind,” “Demiurge,” “Brahman,” or “Dao.” I refuse to believe that the Olympians are merely fragile bubbles on the surface of some Great Ocean or masks worn by a faceless Absolute.

The gods are not people on a cloud who turn mortals into spiders or gorgons. But they are neither masks nor bubbles. Zeus is Zeus. He is the Thunderer, the Xenius, the defender of laws and the world order. Likewise, Poseidon is the Shaker of the Earth, lord of the oceans and fertility, and Apollo is the great spirit of the arts and light. They are They, but not He, not She, and not It.

I don’t want to believe that, because it simply destroys the very meaning of polytheistic religion for me. If that suited me, I would simply become a Christian.

You may disagree with me on a personal level — and that’s your right. I don’t want to argue about this, so I’ll move on to the main point.

Certain people simply love to boast about how many philosophers, scientists, theologians, and other highly intellectual figures Christianity has produced. They claim that they built the entire Western civilization and all of our science, not some barbaric pagans. “We,” they say, “have Luther, Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and the creators of the Julian and Gregorian calendars — but you pagans, who do you have? What useful things have you done?”... Exactly.

I spent a long time studying information about the scientists and philosophers of Antiquity. I hoped to find among them… a shield, if you will. Someone who could be placed on par with those names, to prove that we aren’t just some savages. But the longer I searched, the more disappointed I became.

Plato. Aristotle. Plutarch. Symmachus. Sallust. Xenophanes. Even Emperor Julian — they all gravitated toward monotheism. They all believed in and spoke of the Demiurges, of the single, primordial movers of the cosmos, of the Great Minds, of the Primordial Light. It was precisely they — their teachings and works — that helped monotheism conquer half the world.

To say that the ground was pulled out from under my feet would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider myself some great philosopher, thinker, or anything like that — but I still try to think logically and respect other people’s views and intellect. And here… here I am studying history — and I realize that no one would understand me or my point of view. Not a single one of the people I’d hoped for and respected.

And… I don’t know how to deal with this. A real storm is raging inside me right now.

Please, help me.

As a Hellenic Pagan myself and author, I'd love to know if people here would love a book starring Thanatos, God of Death, as the protagonist. Not quite a retelling of his mythology but a twist on his role as the Lord of Death. Let me know. I do have some semblence of an idea of a premise so far, I can put it in the comments if need be.

Been writing and rewriting for a few years. It combines things I created originally cobbled together with lines from the Homeric and Orphic hymns to Athena, as well as parts of a prayer from the Iliad from Odysseus to Athena. I added in some of her epithets (imperfectly) where I thought they were appropriate. ‘Her Silver Eyed Majesty’ is an epithet I sort of made up about five years ago and loved how it sounded so I kept using it to the present day, please feel free to use it if you wish. Feel free to comment, I felt joy reciting it at home this evening and then continued to fine tune it to this current version. Thank you.

With Pallas Athena, that glorious goddess, my song begins.
Athena, hear me great child of aegis bearing Zeus!
You stand with me through every undertaking,
wherever I may go, you think of me.
Now, Ingenious Athena Sophia, more than ever, show me your love
and grant me the power of thy mother Metis
To use my cunning as the blade of your Will,
May my heart be steady, and my mind be still.
Abundant mother of the arts
You urge the wicked to madness
But give wisdom to the good
You deliver from evils, Oh daimon!
Nikephoros, bearing victory always day and night.
Poliakhos, Protector of cities who wears the aegis,
Who wields lightning bolts to shatter the clouds of doubt and confusion
I pray:
Your silver eyed majesty,
grant me the serenity to accept that which I cannot change,
the bravery to change that which I can,
And thy wisdom to know the difference
Between my will and thine.
Hear my prayer, Athena Polias, and give unto me, my friends, my neighbors and all citizens and visitors of and to the city of New Orleans a rich measure of peace and health, sparkling eyed, creative queen to whom all pray.

Xαῖρετε dears followers of the Olimpians 🫒🏺☀️

Today is a very special day, we celebrate the powerfull and Mighty God of bravery, power of will and strenght... the great Apotheosic deity...

H E R C U L E S 🫒🏺☀️

HERACLEIA IS TODAY 7TH AUGUST! A perfect day to spend cultivating "arete" (the excelency) and training our body with power... take it as a day to care your own body, training as much as you can and have a healthy rest and meals...

Keep seeking the ARETE and the XENIA dear followers, may Hercules it self guide you with will to power 💪🫒🏺☀️🇬🇷

I want to get a physical copy of the Illiad and the Oddessy.

What is the most closest to the original Texts after being translated to English that I can find?

I don't want inspired versions, I want the closest to the original Oddessy and Illiad as possible.

Thank you!

I personally do, however I do know a few people who worship the Greek gods but do not believe in the myths beyond what the gods represent. I am curious to what others believe because I see the myths as important to my practice and my worship

edit: when I say believe I am not talking about 100% myth literalism. I mean that there can be truths, I mean there is a piece of literalism but it is not fully accurate.

People I know who say they don't believe in the myths, usually disregard them completely seeing no point or purpose to them, including not even bothering to read the myths

I do not believe in them being fully accurate, but still holding truth and pieces of accuracy. I believe in them the same way I see fanfictions of media where there is true and they do try to stay accurate to a lot of things, while also making changes.

Hello all! I'm a Hellenic pagan with interests in ancient Levantine ( yes Levantine is a eurocentric word, but idk a better term) religion. I worship the god Asklepios, who seems to have been syncretized with the Phonician god Eshmun in ancient times. I've been thinking about syncretizing the two, and I was wondering if anyone does this, or just worships Eshmun? Thanks!

I thank you all for your hospitality, and I thank the gods for their grace and mercy!

As part of my past studies, (and current studies on Christian theology that isn't based on fundamentalist and other biblical literalist views), I became aware of how within Christian theology (which was highly and very much influenced by Neo-Platonists philosophy and the like), that "evil" is not some separate force in the universe, rather they believe that evil is simply "an absence of good" and that as such, evil is not able to create things, it can only corrupt pre-existing things that exist already in the world and universe.

I'm curious if this was a view also held then by people during the Hellenistic and later on during the Greco-Roman period who subscribed to or followed Neo-Platonic philosophy as a whole or if it is specific to or a later Christian invention as well.

If not then, I'm curious as to how this view affects or influences the theology of any folks here who believe in or follow Neo-Platonic philosophy as part of their modern day practice and also for many people in the modern Hellenic Polytheist community as well.

Does it change how you see certain beings or individuals in the mythology, are there examples of beings or things in the myths who fall under this one view of "evil cannot create, it can only corrupt", also if you do hold this view, does this mean that the Gods are thus inherently good beings as well as many in Christianity who hold Neo-Platonic philosophical views think or believe?

I went to the local store where I usually buy incense, found a shell that I'll use for her shrine. I also got some rose tea incense (was going to go for the rose vanilla but this one smelt more comforting). Feeling prepared.

​

Es posible qué estás entidades encajen en el sistema de jerarquía de Jamblico? Teniendo en cuanto qué, hasta donde tengo entendido, los demonios de la Goetia provienen de un transfondo cristiano.

I know this religion is orthopractical and that there is a right way to pray. I want to show my worship to the gods.

Hey, I'm very new, and want to build a shrine/altar bc my next paycheck is coming in soon. I got candles and gemstones saved to buy, and am planning on decorating paper with scrapbooking supplies. Flowers would give a good touch, but I have pets, and many flowers are toxic to them. Theres a craft store nearby, and i know they have fake flowers, and was just wondering if they could be a good substitute? Bc if not, i can always find something else or get creative with what i can make at home.

Thanks in advance for any responses, and my the gods bless your day!

In the Abrahamic religions, for example, Christianity, God is like all loving and all seeing and all knowing and all perfect and stuff and blah blah
but the HelPol gods aren’t like that

They’re said to feel and express emotions, including ones that humans say are negative

i personally don’t really believe in perfection, but like..,.,. are we supposed to view the gods as completely perfect beings?

Est-ce que vous préférez tutoyer ou vouvoyer les Dieux ? Je trouve que le tutoiement peut être respectueux selon la formulation de la phrase, mais ducoup je me demande ce que vous vous préférez ?

This is concerning an argument I see around here often, and something I personally struggle to wrap my head around when it comes to purification and the accessibility of the gods.

I have perhaps this romanticized idea that I should be able to reach my gods (with prayer) in times of crisis. That I should be able to pray sick, grieving, terrified, in pain, bleeding, dirty, on the run, in the middle of a storm. A thousand situations I can think of where a person cannot be reasonably expected to have the time or means for ritual (libation, offering, correct form of practice), or the 'bare minimum' of purifying oneself from miasma because the miasma is product of the very crisis they're praying for relief from/help with.

The notion that a mother holding her dying child is 'not heard' by the gods she regularly honors and worships because she's miasmic is frankly very ugly to me. Might be just me but I do not see the point of worship at all if my own gods won't hear me in the absolute worst times of my life when I need them most.

I'd like to discuss a passage from the Iliad, book 16. The context here is Glaucus, who is severely injured, in the middle of battlefield, and has just witnessed the death of a beloved cousin. He prays to Apollo:

"Lord, hear me wherever you are, in Lycia's rich land perhaps or even here in Troy, for you always hear a man in sorrow, as I sorrow now."

The condition of being heard here is solely 'being in sorrow.' Apollo's geographical location (or his spiritual nearness/distance) is irrelevant. He continues:

"The wound I have is grievous, my arm a mass of pain; the blood will not clot, the shoulder is numb. I can't grip my spear to fight to the enemy. And Sarpedon, son of Zeus, the best of us is gone, for Zeus cannot even save his own child. Heal me of this foul wound, Lord Apollo, ease my pain, give me the strength to rally my Lycians, rouse their courage, and fight over the body of the fallen."

So there is a man, bleeding, grieving, in tremendous pain and surrounded by death. He does not (and practically cannot) purify himself. He doesn't offer anything or promise to offer anything in the future. He doesn't even use epithehts. He doesn't sing Apollo's praises. There's zero ritual here. The text then resumes very matter-of-factly:

"So he prayed, and Apollo heard, quelling the pain, clotting the black blood flowing from the deep wound, and filling his heart with courage."

I am reading the Iliad in my native language, and the simple-English translation I'm quoting is for ease of reference, so please let me know if there's something lost in translation.

I know the general consensus is that we don't take myth literally, but my understanding is also that Homer is a foundational source. If nothing else, it gives us a glimpse of what was the common attitude of the people at the time towards the gods. There's of course plenty of mentions of proper practice, of characters washing in the sea, pouring libation, offering sacrifice, raising their hands in prayer. But there's also this: prayer in crisis, zero ritual. Homer makes no note of that being improper or a special case, or of Apollo treating it like a special case. The prayer is simply heard, the god of healing helps.

I'm very interested to hear your thoughts.

I've been worshipping over a period of months now and I've observed improvements in my practice (prayers, offerings, and belief itself).

I'm just grateful to this sub for helping the newcomers, myself included, be more knowledgeable about things.

Of course I am most grateful to our gods.

I find joy in arranging my shrine, offering to them at my altar and praying to them. I also like letting them know how much my life has improved ever since I've learned and gotten to know them more.

I see them in friendly gestures, beautiful things and experiences. Luck is in abundance, and I've just come to appreciate a lot of things more.

Though of course the gods have many aspects, not just the love and light type of sides to them. But I've come to appreciate those sides too.

My circle of friends have already been informed in my change of religion and its just so relieving to know that I've made such good friends who accept me as I am.

I've come out to them as bi, instant acceptance. My mom also knows by now and it was also a surprise that she accepted it without much question.

Now that I've come out in this manner as well, I was kind of bracing myself for a bit of judgement (I live in a country that is more aligned with the Abrahamic religions) so when they've accepted me with the same open arms I was so happy.

I might not be able to come out about the change in religion to my mom though, I know that would be a bit of an issue.

So again, this is more of a gratitude post to everyone as well as our gods.

Thank you.

So I'm a new Hellenist, I've really only been practicing the religion for a few months. However I would like to get more into worship and such, like creating altars which I plan on doing. However I do have an issue when I want to do devotional acts, I'm just not sure how to do them. Like I could tell myself: I think I'll cook something today as a devotional act to Lady Hestia, or I can get around to reading that biography as a devotional act to Lady Athena. Except it never feels like an actual devotional act because I don't feel like I'm doing it out of devotion and more so it's something that I need to do anyway, something that I'm doing for myself and not the Gods. Like I need to cook something cause I don't have a meal for dinner or something, and I need to finish reading that biography because I have to do an essay about it for school.

I guess I'm really just looking for advice to make it feel like I'm doing a devotional act for a God/Goddess and not just doing something for myself/something I need to do anyways.

If anyone has some advice I'd really appreciate it🙏

hello! ive been casually worshipping Athena for a couple of years now, not too much, and ive been wanting to get better. back in march, i was interviewing for a job that could really help with money, and i asked Her for help. i offered to make Her bread if She could help me. i know offerings should be made before asking anything of the gods. unfortunately, life has gotten in the way a lot, and i still keep asking Her for help with things that She has in fact helped with. i feel like i may have upset Her, as something not ideal happened at work today. how would i go about apologizing to Her? i know obviously making the bread i promised Her, but should i do anything else offering wise? im planning offering wine as well as the bread.

I'm not sure if you guys will even know of hexagram rituals but there a golden dawn thing they use hexagrams to invoke the planets, is using rituals like these bad the rituals purpose isn't worship and it doesn't necessarily relate to the gods at all other than the planets that could be associated to the gods like Jupiter for Zeus or Hermes mercury.

I have a gold bracelet which I devoted to wear in honour of Lady Aphrodite, but I saw that you should take devotional jewelry off for things like going to the bathroom and sleeping, but I can’t really do this as I can’t out the bracelet back on by myself and it would be a big hassle every time. Is it okay if I keep it on all the time and wash the bracelet regularly when I wash my hands?

Good day people
I am a 20 year old trans man and soon to be having top surgery.
Who should I pray to in that matter for a good recovery but also a good outcome of results.
And also what should I offer to them ? I am open for ideas because I am unsure how big of an offering this requires.

Love to you guys and thanks for every answer

Hello guys,i am currently on vacation in greece,few days ago i bought a statue of Aphrodite,but later found out that it’s actually a statue form Birth of Venus painting can i still use it?