Friday, April 19, 2024
Sword of Ares Will Again Shed Blood Across The World
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Rock & AI - Faces Frozen In Hubris
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Life's Altar Blocks Are Always Drenched In Blood
Friday, July 7, 2023
Difference Between A Sacrifice and An Offering
A sacrifice is normally something of exceptional cost or worth to you, that you give up to the Gods, and in so doing, make sacred.
In ancient Greek times, this would have encompassed livestock a lot, because they met the above criteria. Giving up sheep, goats, and cattle was, or could be, very costly to the livelihood of the average person.
Yet that willingness to still risk the loss in order to show love, admiration, and request favor from, the Gods, is what made it a sacrifice and a sacred act. The willingness to go long was believed to have grabbed the Gods' attention more.
Today, of course, it doesn't have to pertain to livestock because most people don't live that kind of life anymore. Now our costly sacrifices would be things like money, valuable properties, and our physical time and labor. Even large portions of food and drink, things that take a lot of effort to put together, would be sacrificial.
An offering, however, is a general gift, such as a votive statue, libation, a valuable, or some appropriate foods. They are things that are more readily available and not as costly; easy for pretty much anyone to obtain.
If I give a fresh bar of soap to Aphrodite for Her baths, a libation of olive oil for Athena, or burn incense to Zeus, those would be offerings. This is a bit contradictory to me, because I have normally called all of my burned offerings sacrifices, but to be more accurate, I should use the term offering: my burned offering.
Then again, if it were a huge portion of incense, it may be able to be called sacrifice, but that would take an almost comical pile. Not something normally done.
Often these days, I find myself paying more attention to how I term things, especially publicly. In many cases, I felt the term offering had been used in the religious communities almost to the point of being cliche or monotonous, so I didn't really like using it a lot.
But as a Reconstructionist Hellenist, I find myself more and more concerned with historical accuracy and appropriate piety on a regular basis. It's a lifelong learning experience. Do I think the Gods are petty and care about which term you use? Absolutely not. But the properness sets the human mind correctly.
In the Goodness of the Gods, I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,
Chris Aldridge.
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
In Another Solar System, Would I Still Call Him Helios?
Sunday, July 2, 2023
Pendants From Greece Hold More Natural Power
Thursday, June 1, 2023
What If Mount Olympos Is The Unknowable Center?
Sunday, April 9, 2023
It's The Size Of Your Devotion, Not Your Altar
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
How I Know The Gods Love Humanity
Monday, February 7, 2022
How Do You Release All Your Doubts?
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Ask and The Gods Will Tell You, Every Time
Sunday, October 13, 2019
The Gods Give Us Emotion To Make Us Moral
Let's start with an example from my own life, so that the reader may better understand this universal truth. I have a very cute cat named Rosie, who we adopted from a local animal shelter a year or so ago. She is a valuable asset to our family at times, but she also has her many problems. The trouble she gets into will sometimes make me incredibly angry to the point that I want to get rid of her, but here's the thing, I can't. No matter how much I want to pick her up and toss her out my door, my emotions create empathy and love, and make me realize that such an action is not only cruel, but very wrong and dishonorable. More so, the Gods are able to appeal that ethical side to me because of the fact that they enabled me with the emotional capacity for empathy and compassion. If I had no emotion, I could do whatever I wanted to other living creatures and indeed the world around me. No matter what the Gods or humans told me, I would be unable to feel or understand it, and that would be a recipe for disaster.
The same goes for other people. The reason we don't abandon our children, spouses or loved ones is because our emotional states will not allow it. Our ability to love and feel keeps us moral and honorable. If we didn't have that capacity, our species would de-evolve into extinction. The Gods gave it to us because it was necessary for our survival and the prosperity of everything around us. And if we encounter someone who fails to show emotion, such as a sociopath, we consider them to be mentally ill, not a natural production.
Realizing this about ourselves is crucial to beginning to understand the genius of the Gods and the intelligence behind our natural existence.
In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Why Is "Evil" Controversial In Paganism?
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Gods As Universal Consciousness
Sunday, June 24, 2018
How I Explained Polytheism To A Young Christian
And yes, I know some people might ask, "Can there not be one painter who paints many things?" Of course there can be, but is there just one painter in the world or many? Is there only one who paints all paintings? No, there are countless painters. So once again, all things exist in multiples.