I Faced My Minotaur

It has been said that bravery doesn't mean you're not scared, it just means that you do it anyway. So I hope this story will be a help and inspiration to people on how to cope and face their worst fears. 

Since childhood, I have been terrified of needles. Shots no longer bother me, but one paranoia I still have to this day is blood drawing. So much so that I have refused medical treatment in the past. The last time I had to get it done was 2013, and I went into shock and had to be placed on a hospital bed for several minutes. I would not go through it again until 7 years later, last Friday. As I started with my new doctor in the area, she reviewed my medications and said she wanted to take blood to monitor how they were effecting my system. I didn't want to. In fact, I informed her that it would be best to put me to sleep during the process, because there would be a serious chance I would pass out or become unresponsive. "I can give you something to make you calm and tired, but they won't put you under for a blood draw because it's too big of a risk, " she informed. 

To be blunt, I thought she was a quack, because I had been on this medication for years and no doctor had ever told me that they wanted to monitor my system because of it. However, there were some other health issues I wanted to get checked out just to be safe, all of which could not be done any other way than through blood analysis. So I had a choice, a trial even. I could refuse the blood work and risk my health, or I could do what was needed by fighting one of the greatest monsters of my life. I knew the latter was the bravest and most responsible, but considering my previous results, the real question was, how?

"I'd rather fight a Minotaur," I said to myself. Soon I realized, maybe I was. Perhaps I could do this like a Greek Hero, and fight the monster. It may put a hurting on me, but I decided I would refuse to run from it. I would confront it like a Hellenist. Before leaving that morning, I made sacrifice to Athena for strength. Then I placed my necklace from the Parthenon with Her image around my neck. My wife also volunteered to come with me. I decided not to take the sedative, and not to have the blood taken from my hand instead of my arm, even though I thought this would be easier. I wanted to be brave and have my senses, for only then could I truly say I faced it.

When I entered the clinic, I didn't see myself as walking into a doctor's office. Instead, I was entering a cave where the monster lived. The arts on the walls were cave drawings left by ancient men, and when I approached the lair where the beast resided, I could hear it roar and that was when I was most afraid. But fortunately, a nearby sink provided a natural spring through the cave that I used to calm my nerves and purify myself by running the waters over my hands and arms and praying to Poseidon. Afterwards, there was nothing else left to do but go face the inevitable. 

When I sat down in the chair, I didn't try to see a nurse and a needle before me. Instead, I fought the Minotaur of the lair, and in my mind's eye, I punched him as hard and as many times as I could. When it was over, I fell into my wife exhausted and shaking all over. I had to drink water and hold on to the image of Athena around my neck for a while, but eventually I centered and didn't pass out like I feared. The trauma was over. While I faced much difficulty going through it, I still accomplished the goal by keeping my mind in an ancient Greek mindset. Success doesn't mean you never encounter trouble. It means you make it.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

A Greek Sets Medusa's Story Straight With New York

I saw the latest political and social statue to be unveiled in Manhattan recently, sparking news coverage from the New York Post and other outlets. A statue dubbed Medusa was erected, with a sword in one hand and the severed head of a man in the other, dubbed Perseus. This design, apparently, was done to represent the Me Too movement. 

As there are those of us, many of us, who still worship the Greek Gods and follow ancient Greek religion, this story naturally made its way around online Hellenic groups for all to see, including myself. At first, I thought about ignoring it, but later realized that it warrants a response from a Hellenist as well as an American man.

I've done posts on the story of Medusa in the past, mainly concerning the idea of the vilified rape victim she is often portrayed as, pointing out that so many people don't realize that this version of the story isn't Greek at all, but Roman. It was not said that she was turned into a Gorgon. It says she was born among the Gorgons, of which there were three. They were winged spirits. 

In Hesiod (the Greek version), it never says she was raped by Poseidon, or raped at all. It never even says the sex took place in a temple, which was said by Romans to be the reason for her punishment. It says in the Greek Theogony that Poseidon laid with her in the spring flowers. That's it. Then it immediately talks about her destruction by Perseus. There is not a single word of rape, a temple, or being unjustly punished for it. 

Again, I will say, Medusa was NOT a rape victim in Greek myth, which by the artist's own admission, is what the statue is based on in Manhattan. I would also like to add that Gorgons aren't always portrayed as destructive or chaotic in Greek religion. Their images are used as well for protection. Alexander the Great wore one on His armor. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Hesiod: Reconsider Before Calling Him A Woman-Hater

When it comes to ancient Greek religious literature, for some reason, I have always found Hesiod to be one of my favorites. I suppose the love I have for the Archaic Period and the mysteries therein contribute to the admiration. I enjoy many of his philosophies and stories about the Gods, including his guidelines for living a happy and productive life. However, not everyone shares my sentiment. Pointing out seemingly very negative things he said about women in his writings, some modern female Hellenists I know of have chosen to shun him completely in their life. I think we should take a closer look at Hesiod before making such assumptions, though.

Firstly, we must acknowledge the fact that Hesiod's original work and the work we have today, is probably not 100% identical. Quite likely, throughout the ages, the works were edited or changed in certain amounts to conform to the time periods it passed through. So we don't actually know if everything we read of Hesiod today is actually what he said entirely. 

The main contempt some Hellenistic women today is an incredibly small part of his writings, not even constituting 1%, which says that a man is a fool for trusting women because they are "after your barn" and nothing more. However, this is not what Hesiod actually said, at least not in every translation. In some, it says, "Do not trust flatterers." From Hesiod's perspective, the only flatterers he would have known of would have been women, because heterosexuality is the most commonly exhibited courtship, just as a woman would mostly know men as being the flatterers. Hesiod may have simply been saying to not allow lust to endanger you. 

When hearing the idea that Hesiod was a woman-hater, not only do I bring up this idea, but also the fact that he said that a man "finds no greater treasure than a good wife." 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

The Shrine That Wouldn't Fall

I often spend time thinking about all the ways the Gods have either intervened or proven themselves in my life and my family's. In fact, I have written blogs and books on the topic. However, when we think about the big miracles of life, we tend to forget the small things that the Gods used to comfort and strengthen us. 

In late 2014 through late 2015, my family and I lived in a small apartment in a very small village nestled in the western Illinois hills called Elizabeth. Our residence was on main street. In fact, we lived in Elizabeth until 2018. There were pros and cons to the town. On the good side, it was safe, quaint, had a surprisingly vibrant spirit, the people were very nice, and the countryside was breathtaking. On the bad side, utilities were very high and there were virtually no employment prospects. Your best bet was to open your own business, which we actually did for a short time, although it didn't turn any profit. We mainly stayed for the superb school district my son attended. 

The apartment we had was advertised as an apartment with a storefront, but it was actually an office space that we managed to make into a living area. In our living rooms, we would normally erect our family shrine in the apartments and homes we rented before we bought our own property in 2019. We did the same with the apartment in Elizabeth. The structure itself was made of solid wood and stood about 7 feet in height. It had a top chamber for statues and a lower chamber for an altar, plus a storage cabinet on the very bottom. All of our main statues and altar tools were placed on it. The biggest problem with the building was that it wasn't entirely structurally sound. The upstairs neighbors had a leaking problem with their pipes, and water would drip down and stain our ceiling in certain places. Although, we never expected what would happen when we returned from vacation in April of 2015. 

During our absence, the leaking from upstairs must have worsened. Our living room ceiling collapsed, leaving water and slushy debris everywhere. When I walked in, I thought I was stepping in milk and graham crackers all over my floor. The collapse got all over everything and soaked the carpet. One thing it never touched, however, was the shrine. There wasn't a single scratch or drop on it even though it was right next to an area where the ceiling fell. Mostly everything in that living room had been slammed, but the shrine was still there, just as beautiful as it was when we left. We didn't have much in the way of material at the time, and I think the Gods knew that the shrine was our most prized possession. But also, to me, the event demonstrated the fact that the Gods have never, and will never, be taken out of this world or this universe. For many centuries, haters have tried, but ultimately failed. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

How Do I Tell If It's A God, Mental Illness or Something Else?

Throughout human history, and even today, the Gods speak to us in a variety of ways. But such a claim isn't always perceived in our time as being something normal, when in fact it very much can be. Many years ago when I began seeing a psychiatrist for my depression, I mentioned to her that the Gods give me comfort and that comfort helps me battle the depression. She wasn't hostile or disrespectful, although at one point during the conversation, she asked, "But you don't hear Gods talking to you and telling you to do things, right?" I replied no, because that was the truth. The Gods have never spoken to me in a human-like voice, as my wife or a friend would. The Gods have spoken to me through my emotions, instincts, dreams, and at times, omens. I think this is probably the way they communicate dominantly with most people. Can the Gods speak to us with a human-like voice? Of course, because they can do whatever they want, but perhaps these days they refrain from it because they don't want someone being locked up for insanity when they're not. In the old days, people understood that the Gods are real. Today, many people have been taught that there's no way a sane person could hear a Deity. It's just not the case, however rare it may be.

But what if someone does indeed hear voices talking to them, claiming to be Gods? And what if that person is of sound mind, or at least appears to be? What do we make of it? How do we know it's a God talking to us or if we may be having mental health issues? For that matter, what if it's neither? Is there something sinister, like a haunting or a spirit with negative intentions? To me, the answer is simple. If it's a God talking to you, they're not going to instruct anything bad or harmful, because the Gods are always good. The Gods aren't going to tell you to kill yourself, cut yourself, hurt another innocent person, or anything which is negative or filthy. Miasma (pollution) is not of the Gods.

I think back to the ancient proverb, "If the Gods do evil, they are not Gods." Meaning that if something or someone is telling you to do evil, or is doing evil, they are not Gods, even if they claim to be. So to my mind, that's how you know. It's understanding the difference between good and evil, negative and positive, and the nature of the Gods themselves. Therefore, if you do hear a voice(s) driving you to do the bad things I have talked about, you should probably seek mental healthcare and spiritual counseling from your clergy. A good dose of both will do wonders for you.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

The Cult: Modernly Misconstrued

When most people today hear the word cult, they immediately think of those like Jim Jones and David Koresh.

But when we look back to the ancient historical concept of the cult, we see a far different picture. A cult was simply a private group of worshipers who practiced apart from the mainstream society. The Mystery Rites of Eleusis, for instance, would have been a cult, but they were just a private Order, dedicated to the understanding and preservation of a specific sacred knowledge. They believed in the same Gods as everyone else even, but they were still set apart. A cult is therefore just that, a group or religion outside the mainstream society. One might even argue that all minority religions are cults because of this definition, but minority would depend on the kind of religious society one lives in. In a Muslim country, for instance, Christians would be a cult, whereas in the United States, they wouldn't be. The early Christians of Rome were most certainly a cult. 

I'm not suggesting that people should join openly known cults. This post is merely about historical honesty and examination. In my own religion, there were numerous cults throughout history, but I have always shied away from that word in any context because of the modern stigma, even when I am just talking about historical record. So I want people to understand that some of the things we think of now as bad, were never meant to be that way. For instance, the swastika predates Hitler and the Nazis and goes back to many ancient cultures, even ancient Greek ones, as a symbol of motion and flow. But you can't use it today because of the Nazi stigma and the great harm that has been done to people under its banners. I think it's important we understand that humans can take anything and make it good or bad, it all depends on them, and I think understanding this will make us better thinkers. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Preordained Death: Feelings of Fate

The ancient Greeks, to a good extent, believed in Fate, as is evident in their mythologies and religious beliefs. Homer, the ancient Greek Poet, once said that no one can send Him into the Underworld until it is His time, but that when it is His time, nothing can stop it either. So the question begs, are our lives preordained in the sense that we have a time to live and a time to die? I talked with my wife about this idea briefly last night. I myself have always believed the words of Homer concerning the situation, but through philosophy, I think I have been forced to add something onto it.

I do think that most people will not die until it is their time. How many brushes with death have people had and missed it? There are lots of people in the world today who should be dead, but they're not. So it's clear that there was an aversion to the end of their lives at that point. However, we must also consider another fact. Nature always has anomalies. So when we ask ourselves, can someone die before their time? In some cases, the answer would have to be yes. Because if people couldn't die before their time, the Gods would not acknowledge such a thing as murder. A human life could not be taken unjustly if no one died until their time. So the fact that the opposite is true, shows that not everyone will make it to their destined time, whether it be because of murder or a natural cause of death. However, I do not think that's the norm. I think the vast majority of us will not die until our time, or for that matter, experience anything we are not supposed to.

But at the end of the day, I know the Gods are good, and along with Homer's words, I live my life in a state of comfort.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.