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The Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism

edit: I have just been told that the creator of these “pillars” was extremely bigoted and homophobic and that these pillars are not viewed in a positive light by many hellenic polytheists, so I would like to acknowledge that. I would like to apologize for not looking more into them but I will keep this post up in order to let more people know about the origins of these pillars as I’ve seen a whole lot of posts lately about them- that may just be me though.

Kharis:

Grace, Appreciation, Gratitude

Xenia:

Hospitality, Generosity, “Guest-Friendship”

(Deep Dive Post)

Sophia:

Wisdom, Knowledge

Eusebia:

Reverence and duty towards the gods

Arete:

Self-Improvement, Excellence, Brilliance

Hagneia:

Purity, Purifying oneself (Khernips, veiling)

Sophrosyne:

Self-Control, Sound Mind, Balance

guys how do I make a tag list. send help. I’m making fanfics on Thursday and I need a tag list. somebody pls. I’ll send you Olive Garden breadsticks. or wet hotdogs.

Praying to Asklepios that your doctors, nurses, specialists, etc. listen to you and take your concerns seriously, and that you’re able to get the help you need, and whatever answers you’re looking for.

⚧️ The Gods & Gender ⚧️

Discussing Trans-Exclusive Radical Feminism and the views of the Gods is not "speaking for the Gods,"—it is looking at facts and information and drawing completely reasonable conclusions that squarely put the foundations of trans-exclusion in opposition to the Gods.

(definitely not audio proof read, sorry for the dyslexia)

🌿Aphrodite & Venus🌿

Aphroditos (or Aphroditus) is Aphrodite with male characteristics including a penis and/or beard.

A cult of Aphrodite included a bearded Aphrodite at Amathus, Cyprus on a high cliff temple. [Wikipedia citing Macrobius, Saturnalia III]

Her relationship with bisexuality (referring to being dual sex not sexual orientation in this paper), androgyny, and transvestism is also documented in Cyprus:

— Aphrodite in the Theogony by William Sale in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association Vol. 92 X

(Sorry for the shitty screenshot JSTOR did not want to work with me)

This worship of Aphrodite with a penis was also seen as equal to Venus:

There's also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that's bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshiping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women's dress, women in men's, because she is held to be both male and female." — Macrobius (c. 400s AD), Saturnalia 3.8.2

🌿Hermaphroditus🌿

There is also the "intersex child of Aphrodite & Hermes" named Hermaphroditus.

I have seen many use Hermaphtoditus as an excuse to wipe away the Goddess Aphrodite with a penis that the ancients worshipped. Which doesn't even make sense because I hate to break it to you— Hemaphroditus also opposes TERF ideology by its nature. A God existing as bisexed/dual-sex/bigender (however you'd like to word it) negates the idea that the Gods somehow support the ridged biological essentialism and gender binary that TERF ideology necessitates.

There are different accounts of Hermaphtoditus' creation but one, Ovids, tells of him merging with a nymph and then asking his parents to make the water transformative causing men to have thr effeminate bodies like women:

Her prayer found gods to hear; both bodies merged in one, both blended in one form and face. As when a gardener sets a graft and sees growth seal the join and both mature together, thus, when in the fast embrace their limbs were knit, they two were two no more, nor man, nor woman--one body then that neither seemed and both. So when he saw the waters of the pool, where he had dived a man, had rendered him half woman and his limbs now weak and soft, raising his hands, Hermaphroditus cried, his voice unmanned, ‘Dear father [Hermes] and dear mother [Aphrodite], both of whose names I bear, grant me, your child, that whoso in these waters bathes a man emerge half woman, weakened instantly.’ Both parents hears; both, moved to gratify their bi-sexed son, his purpose to ensure, drugged the bright water with that power impure." — Ovid, Metamorphoses 4. 28 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)

🌿More on Aphroditos vs Hermaphroditus read @theoi-crow's excellent post about them here.

Also some lovely statues:

Marble copy statue from a fresco at Herculaneum, Italy. X (left)

Statue from Pergamum, Turkey. X (center)

Statue from Nymph Sanctuary in Lacori, Italy X (right)

Statue from Pompeii, Italy X

🌿Inana & Ishtar🌿

From a hymn to Inana

To open up roads and paths, a place of peace for the journey, a companion for the weak, are yours, Inana. To keep paths and ways in good order, to shatter earth and to make it firm are yours, Inana. To destroy, to build up, to tear out and to settle are yours, Inana. To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inana. Desirability and arousal, goods and property are yours, Inana. Gain, profit, great wealth and greater wealth are yours, Inana. Gaining wealth and having success in wealth, financial loss and reduced wealth are yours, Inana. Observation (1 ms. has instead: Everything), choice, offering, inspection and approval are yours, Inana. Assigning virility, dignity, guardian angels, protective deities and cult centres are yours, Inana. — A Hymn to Inana (Inana-C) ETCSL 4.07.3 in Lines 115-131.

This shows:

Inana has the power to change a person's gender/sex .... which means people can change gender/sex

This is listed among other normal things such as journeys, wealth, settlements so on. Suggesting that it wasn't super special, it was a part of Sumerian society that Inana was given power over.

This was written by Enheduanna High Priestess of Nanna, Ur's city God, and Inana. Inana was a popular Sumerian deity and Enhenduanna's father, Sargon of Akkad's, personal deity was Ištar. One of Enhenduanna's goals as a priestess was to conflate the popular Sumerian deity Inana with her father's Akkadian personal Goddess Ištar. Then raise Inana (and thus her father's personal Goddess Ištar) to an extremely high place in cosmology and explain just how much control she had in society— including over sex/gender.

Also from @sisterofiris's post on Inana's queer priests here.

🌿Nanaya🌿

In later times Inana/Ištar was equated with Nanaya but in earlier times they were worshipped side by side as separate deities. While Inana's hymn gives her rule of gender, a Nanaya hymn has her directly declaring she has breasts in Dadumu and a beard in Babylon. Leick also mentions here that Ištar was worshipped in both genders.

—Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology by Gwendolyn Leick. Page 125.

🌿Asūšunamir with Ereškigal🌿

In Ištar's Descent (not Inana's) Ea's plan to distract Ereškigal and get her to bring Inana back to life is to make a beautiful being. Ea makes an incredibly beautifully brilliant being that's mere aesthetic presence will make Ereškigal happy and let her defenses down. And Asūšunamir's beauty works..... and he is an eunuch, an effeminate male, potentially queer from the ancient's eyes. And yet he is so beautiful he distracts a Goddess.

— The Ancient Near East and Anyhology of Texts and Pictures, edited by Pritchard. Ishtar Descent translation by E.A Speiser. Page 80.

🌿Eštan / Ištanu🌿

The Anatolians (Hittite in particular) loved to both mix deities and keep them entirely dependent like 8 solar deities and 50 storm Gods. But sometimes Hittite, Hurrian, Hattic, Indo-European, Mesopotamian all meld together making the identification of gender ambiguous or even interchangeable.

Eštan is one example (who has numerous equatings):

—A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of The Ancient Near East by Frayne & Stuckey. Page 105

You can also learn more about the Ištanu and the Sun Goddess of Arinna and her gender from @sisterofiris in a post here.

__

I'm sure there are more! But this was my quick round up and sources I could put together. To all the trans & non-binary polytheists out there, you aren't abnormal and the Gods see you for who you truly are.

Edit: Want some more? Learn about the feminine qualities of Apollo

Tumblr wouldn’t let me add more!!! Please reblog when you answer so we can get an accurate picture :)

There’s a reason why gender nonconforming people in history have always held high positions; both spirituality and in general 😼

The Gods are not trans allies.

The Gods are not trans-friendly.

The Gods do not ‘support’ queer people.

The Gods ARE trans. The Gods ARE queer.

The Gods are transgender, They are transsexual. ‘Trans’ means ‘beyond, across’.

The Gods are beyond gender. Beyond sex. Beyond flesh. Beyond normality and norms— thus, They are queer. They are trans. They are on the other side of gender, of sex— on the side we cannot even begin to understand.

The Gods are transsexual and transgender and queer not (only) within our human understanding of transness— They are not trans in the way we humans are trans.

But They are still trans. They are the original transness. The ultimate transsexuality.

Transness as a transition from a state to another state, from a form to another form— from Their divine form to one we humans can behold without being consumed by Their inherent queerness. From Their divinity to words we humans can attempt to understand and think of without being utterly lost in the enormity and infinity of the divine.

Transness as a journey, a constant state of evolution within the world— evolution of the world itself, for the Gods are the world, are beyond time, beyond space, yet constantly changing.

The Gods do not love trans worshippers despite their transness, despite their queerness. The Gods love trans worshippers for their transness. They love us because we are trans. Because we are queer.

As we defy norms, we become closer to Them— trans people are humans, mortals, but I firmly believe that there is something inherently holy in transition. To change yourself, to think the limits of the body and to alter your own flesh is to create, is to destroy. To understand how limitless the world is— how flesh and sex and gender are human things, social things, that are made by us and can be expended and transgressed— is to take a step towards the Gods.

The Gods love you. You are made in Their image. Or maybe— you make yourself in Their image. And that is beautiful.

(reminder that this is my vision of divinity, not a definite fact, even if i think there are a lot of things (in multiple cultures/religions) that point to the divine being beyond gender)

Isn't it actually so beautiful that deities take the time to try and guide and teach us? How wonderful is it that they care for us so deeply that they'd share their wisdom, knowledge, and insight so freely? I think a deity's love is something to be cherished, and I cherish this. 🧡✨

As I’ve seen other replies say, ofc it’s different for everyone, but here’s what mine looks like! For the best example, it would by my relationship with Ares! I’m devoted to him and have been for over a year now (and I’ve been worshiping him for 2 years). I guess the best way to describe it is that he’s definitely closer to a father figure for me, but I also call him my best friend and also call him “God closest to my heart.” Ofc that doesn’t mean I pick favorites over my other Gods, but yknow. As I saw another person saying, it’s overall very mundane, kinda how you incorporate commitment with your friends, family, etc. Except ofc it’s with a god lmao. Since I’ve become devoted to him, we’ve gotten very close and actually, before I was devoted to him I was really worried that I was paying enough attention to him and not building enough relationships. He proved me wrong with that when he asked me to be his devotee. That kinda help summarizes our relationship. He’s someone that I can rely on and he’s always there for me. Ofc there’s more, but I don’t want to ramble too much. Lastly, I want to say some stuff on me and Aphrodite’s relationship. While I’m not devoted to her, I would say I’m equally close to her as I am ares. I basically started worshiping them at the same time, with Aphrodite coming in first. I would say our relationship is kinda similar to how me and Ares’ is, but also very different ofc. She is also always very supportive and always there for me.

Ok final point fr. I just want to say, commitment and closeness with a God is something that kinda sneaks up to you and feel like, it’s not something that you really need to worry about too much (ofc still put in effort, but don’t be freaking out about it like I was with Ares lmao). I really never thought I would be as close as I am now with Ares (and I definitely never thought I would be his devotee). So it kinda sneaks up on you and it’s not something that you “expect.” If that makes sense lol. I hope this helped!! Also sorry for any errors lmao 💀💀

I'm struggling with conceptualizing what a committed relationship with a deity is supposed to look like. (It doesn't have to be godspousery.) Would anyone mind sharing what that looks like to them?

(Ranting about a comment I saw on TikTok.)

I genuinely need people to stop blaming ancient Greek religion/the gods for ancient Greek societal conventions like infanticide, slavery, and misogyny.

Exposed infants were protected by Kourotrophos gods!

Versions of the gods exist who were liberators of enslaved persons!

Women undeniably found the most freedom in the religious sphere!

For all of ancient Greece's sociocultural conservatism, the gods virtually demanded that worshippers subvert customs. In the words of my professor, "The Greek gods are a lot more progressive than you'd expect from the conservative ancient Greeks."

Pre-transition hellenic polytheists: the gods love and will accept you

A question I have received multiple times was pre-transition and usually closested trans hellenic polytheists asking me if the gods will accept them. This question is most commonly asking about Artemis in particular, as modern media likes to portray her in a very ahistorical light.

Let us address Artemis first. She will absolutely accept you. Artemis rules over transitions, especially those from childhood to adulthood and such — these liminal spots in life are ruled over by her. Artumes (Artemis, Artumes being one of many translations of Artemis’ name into Etruscan) in Etruria could actually be a man himself. Yes, himself. Artumes in Etruscan religion displays a lack of determinative gender, much akin to the Etruscan gods themselves. While this may be confined to Etruria and therefore Artumes — this is still a part of Artemis.

Secondly, the gods can definitely help you with transitioning. Many relate to different gods for their transition in different ways (which is honestly beautiful and lovely), let us focus on the transitioning goddess of par excellence: Leto. I bring up Leto due to her favour of Leukkipos. Unfortunately the translation is rather insensitive, but here it is:

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 17 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

“When Galateia [of Phaistos (Phaestus) in Krete (Crete)] became pregnant, Lampros (Lamprus) [her husband] prayed to have a son and said plainly to wife that she was to expose her child if it was a daughter. When Lampros had gone off to tend his flocks, Galateia gave birth to a daughter.

Feeling pity for her babe, she counted on the remoteness of their house and–backed by dreams and seers telling her to bring up the girl as a boy–deceived Lampros by saying she had given birth to a son and brought the child up as a boy, giving him the name Leukippos (Leucippus). As the girl grew up she became unutterably beautiful. Because it was no longer possible to hide this, Galateia, fearing Lampros, fled to the temple of Leto and many a prayer to her that the child might become a boy instead of a girl …

Leto took pity on Galateia because of her unremitting and distressing prayers and changed the sex of the child into a boy’s. In memory of this change the citizens of Phaistos still sacrifice to Leto Phytie (Phytia, the Grafter) because she had grafted organs on the girl and they give her festival the name of Ekdysia (Ecdysia, Stripping) because the girl had stripped off her maidenly peplos. It is now an observance in marriages to lie down beforehand beside the statue of Leukippos.”

Leto has an entire epithet can be used for transitioning — Phytie. Leto is the transitioning god of par excellence and is the mother of Artemis and Apollon. If your parents are transphobic, Leto is your mum now.

One of Leto’s sacred animals is also noted for the gender duality that the animal possesses:

Aelian, On Animals 10. 47 :

“The Ichneumon (mongoose) is both male and female in the same individual, partaking of both sexes, and nature has enabled each single same animal both to procreate and to give birth … Ichneumons are said to be sacred to Leto and the Eileithyiai (Goddesses of Birth), and the people of Heraklepolis (Heracleopolis) worship them, so they say.”

Leto and the rest of the theoi will absolutely accept you. Feel free to come out to them — they are accepting. Your identity deserves respect. You are loved and if you need Leto, she’s just one prayer away.

The gods will accept you and will adjust to your pronouns. I’ve seen it happen many times, where a transguy for example comes out to Apollon and Apollon protects him. Apollon is the protector of young boys/men, after all. I’ve seen transwomen come out to Hera and Hera immediately protects and supports her as her own.

If you’re wondering if they will accept you, they will. They may even help you through the process. Especially Leto, but what matters is who you feel comfortable with. Many seek out Hermes, Artemis, Ares, Apollon, Aphrodite, etc. The gods will not reject you — they’ll take you as one of their own.

wordpress link

tldr; The gods will absolutely accept you. Especially Leto, the transitioning goddess of par excellence.

Isn’t it great to wake up and know that our deities see us, love us and care about us, just the way we are?

Isn’t it great that they help us become better people? and i’m sure majority of the time we don’t even notice it

Isn’t it great how out of all the people alive in this space rock we call earth, our deities chose us?

Isn’t it great to have a parental/friendly/warm/partner-in-chaotic-crime figure that will always understand you?

Isn’t it great how these ancient deities that have been existed for yonks, are pleased with trinkets and items that remind us of them?

There is nothing greater than the love between a deity and their devotees and i think that’s fucking gorgeous.

I almost went to sleep, but then Hermes said this:

"Avoiding your gods because you feel unworthy is the beginning of a downward spiral. We improve what we touch, and make worthy those whom we love."

So, if you got there in your head, too, just an FYI.

I’m most proud of having a consistent prayer schedule, especially since I think this is the biggest things that brought me closer to my deities. My prayer schedule used to be so inconsistent and for some months I used to go months at a time without talking to them 💀 now we talk everyday unless I’m like sick or smth like that

Secondly, being less strict with talking with my deities and being more “silly” ig?? After reading “supplicant women” (not the one by Euripides, the other one) and seeing how “freely” they prayed (well granted they were in quite the pickle) and I was like “I want to call out to my Gods casually like that” and I kinda started doing that, and my deities (ofc) reacted favorably to me doing this so :> But yeah praying consistently and being more casual with them!

Pagans and polytheists, what are you most proud of in your practice? Lessons you've learned, new methods of worship you've implemented, offerings you've given - that sort of thing. 🧡

I love the Gods

Yall I had the cutest experience, so this morning (it was at 2 am so yeah 😭) I was watching some edits of some group I like (don’t ask 💀) and all of a sudden, I started thinking about the Gods, so I went (out loud) “I love you, Gods” and did the half heart with my hands,, right after that, the next edit comes on, and in the intro, it was one of the members (my favorite one too 💀) reading a comment, out loud, that said “I love you darling” 😭😭 AND THEN, I was like “what a cool coincidence” and I like look away from the TV for a sec, and when I look back up, and the word “GODS” is there in big, bold, letters. And even then, that wasn't the lyrics, the editor changed it to that for the edit 😭 you can't make this up 🤍

When I’m reading mythology and someone is mean to Ares

i can't stop making these

Hello everyone, I’m back >:)

Anyway, this is a post documenting my experiences (again). And todays is that your deities care about you a lot, and that they are there with you, even when you don’t know!

Yesterday, I was on break and I was sitting in my car, and I was really upset (ngl I have terrible coworkers lol), so I was just being sad or whatever. (And for a little context, me and my deities, we have certain signs that they will show me, and I know it’s 100% from them, and it basically just means that they are there) and in that moment, I got that sign from none other than our good Lord Ares. Ofc, I was already emotional, but that made me break down in tears (in a good way this time lol). And actually, the same thing happened that night too after I started getting upset about work again.

So this is just to show you that your deities do watch over you and care for you! I’m pretty sure they don’t watch over us 24/7, but Idk I think they get like… little alerts when something is going on 😭

Anyway, the Gods are the best :)

The context here for this photo is actually a Coptic Christian woman thanking God and is talking about God in this clip (link to the video).

Which is cute AF, but honestly I’ve been kinda feeling this with the Gods rn. Like tbh, it’s been kinda wild in my life (and not in the Good way lol), but I can’t deny how blessed I am 😭 like I was complaining about some of my lessons which were gonna be annoying to do and the next day they get dropped 😭 and I have this thing that happens where I need to get something, but I don’t know where to find it it, I’ll randomly get an instagram ad (of all things lol) with the EXACT thing is need 😭 and once or twice is coincidence, but this has happened so many times 😭

And like even, when I want something in general, like one time I wanted to get more cute clips to wear, and the like very next day, my sister brought me some. And one time I wanted to get wool dryer balls and for my sister got it for me for my birthday. And with the clips, obv she knows I like to wear them, but with the dryer balls, she had NO idea. And I even asked her why she got them, she said like she just “felt like it” 😭

Anyway, shout out to the Gods (and the first part is a joke, obv the Gods love us all 🤍). It just reminded me of that and I think in the video she even said God answers her without asking, so yeah 🤍

So I haven’t prayed in 2 days (I know 😔) and for my other deities, it’s probably easier to “not notice” that I’m gone, but for Ares, I pray to him every day so like 😭 one time, I didn’t pray to him for 3 days, and on the 3rd/4th day, I got my stuff together and then got a message from him and literally the message was telling me to start praying again and I’m not joking, telling me how LONELY he was when I was gone 💀 Deities are wild 💀 so yeah I probably have only more day probably until he calls me out

(Obligatory “where the hell have you been, loca?”)

Love seeing this after praying to Aphrodite about my crumbling mental state lmao

Icon behavior 🤍

May Aphrodite take care of you in the darkest times, may she be a hand to grasp in the darkness.

You're stronger than you know.

Aphrodite will support you on your journey to know yourself, to heal what has been hurt.