Can A Hellenist Use Runes?

There are many forms of divination that people use to communicate with their Gods, Spirits, Heroes and other Divinities and the question surrounding the use of runes for the Hellene obviously comes from the fact that they originate in another culture. However, as we all know, the ancient Greeks sometimes adopted things from other cultures, so in this post, I will give my opinion on the question, Can a Hellenist use runes in their religious practices?

The short answer would be, I don't see why not. Runes, while they come from another culture, are very basic and general forms of divination. The meanings on the stones are extremely general. They mean things like humanity, wisdom, prosperity, victory, inheritance, etc. None of these things would be something not found in Hellenic culture, nor anything that would contradict Hellenism in and of themselves. Unless someone can find a credible source which says that divination through stones or rocks was strictly forbidden in ancient Greece, I don't see any logical or reasonable argument against the practice. It's just as much a general form of divination as anything else, such as tarot, palmistry, bibliomancy, aeromancy, etc. I see no problem, especially if the rune set is Hellenized. For example, I sometimes use the tarot for divination, but it's The Olympus Tarot, which is a completely Hellenized version of the deck. I'm not sure how you'd find a Hellenized rune set, but in the event that you could, that would make it even more appropriate of course. In fact, I find that some runes just as they are have similar markings compared to the Greek alphabet, and some historians argue that the Greek system of lettering might have been the inspiration for those who originally created the rune system.

We live in such a diverse world today where our knowledge of things has greatly expanded, and therefore I don't think it's wrong to adopt things into Hellenism within reason. By within reason, I mean things that would not contradict or have conflict with Hellenic theology, piety and worldview, of which there are many out there in my view. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris.

Learning From The Greek Gods: Hera

In continuing my series Learning From The Greek Gods that has been ongoing since at least 2015, I would today like to talk about lovely Hera, our beautiful Queen of Heaven and Gods. Symbolized by the gorgeous peacock of earth, She is the wife of Zeus and the Goddess of Women and Marriage. Sometimes, Her name is also spelled HERE. Being Queen, She is also known as the Goddess of Goddesses, just as Her husband is known as the God of all Gods. Since ancient times, Zeus has been addressed as Father because of His Supremacy, and therefore, I also refer to Hera as Mother in Her Supremacy. However, the marvelous Queen was worshiped for far more than just Her typically-known attributes. In the Orphic Hymn, She is prayed to as a Goddess of rain, wind, pleasant breezes, and a giver of life whose presence is in everything, without whom life does not exist.

Taking in all of Her extreme importance, I composed a new prayer to Her last year that I think is my best and most heartfelt to the Goddess since I became Hellenic. 

O' noble and heavenly Hera,

our blessed Queen of Heaven,

how I stand in marvel of you,

struck with glorious intrigue,

for you give life to this world,

and all that live upon it.

Our Mother of starry heights,

may you pull us close,

giving us your nurturing love.

Within us, place the milk of life,

the breath of Olympus,

and the Maternal comfort immortal.

What can we, in general, learn from such a great Goddess as Hera? There are many things to consider in Her lessons for humanity. She is fiercely loyal to Her husband, which teaches us the value of being honorable and devotional toward our spouses or significant others, and as a Mother, to show dedication, love and good parenting toward our children. A protective and loving parent is among the most loved and respected, and also among the most to be feared, for they will protect and defend their children however they must and to whatever end necessary. Housed in Hera's Being and Divinity is a facet of the most noble of qualities; She is a lover to Her husband, a nurturer of Her children, and a giver of life as a Mother possesses in a great multitude of ways, which She fulfills as part of Her natural powers and duties. For men as well, but most notably for women, we all posses those abilities within our mortal limits and understandings, and Hera can most certainly help up perfect them, for She is their highest and Divine level of perfection.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.

Source: The Orphic Hymns, translation, introduction and notes by Apostolos N. Athanassakis and Benjamin M. Wolkow, 2013, (Hera, pp. 17, hymn 16). 

America's Pagan Heritage

While many either like to ignore, or simply don't know its reality, America's Pagan heritage is abundantly clear. In this post, I hope to reveal that reality to a wide range of American readers. This is a topic I have wanted to cover and share for a very long time because I hear so many people in our country trying to say that America is only meant for one kind of people and culture, when in fact we have always been a pluralistic nation for everyone from everywhere.

Take a look at the picture to your left. What is that? That's the US capitol. In fact, the House of Representatives, White House and many other government buildings and courthouses have this ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and the reason we mirror it is because ancient Greece was the first democracy and ancient Rome was the first republic. If you take a stroll inside our House of Representatives, you will see the faces of many historical lawmakers throughout the world's history on the wall where our lawmakers meet, among them being the Greek Polytheists Solon of Athens and Lycurgus of Sparta. The cradle of Western Civilization has always been in the hands of the ancient Greeks in so many ways.

What about this picture to your right? Surely you know what that is, right? It's the Statue of Liberty. But have you ever asked yourself, who is the statue depicting? The person you see is Libertas, the Roman Goddess of liberty. Speaking of New York, have you ever been to the amazing Grand Central Station? If not, pictures of it can be easily googled. Above the entrance, a God stands with a winged hat and a caduceus. He is Hermes, the Greek God of Travel and the Patron of Travelers. Some would also interpret Him to be Mercury, the Roman God. Several other statues of Greek Gods can be found at notable places around our nation, such as the golden Prometheus at Rockefeller Center.

Take a look at the picture to the left. Recognize that? It's the famous Washington Monument, which was built in honor of the commander of the colonial army against British tyranny in the American Revolution, George Washington. He was, of course, also our first official president of the new United States nation. It stands amazingly over 500 feet tall. It's definitely not something that would be easy to miss, but a lot of people probably don't know that the structure is an ancient Egyptian obelisk. The ancient Egyptians were among the most religious people in the world's history, and they worshiped the well-known Egyptian pantheon. The obelisk is considered one of ancient Egypt's most popular religious structures, one of their functions being to commemorate Egyptian spirituality and religion. 

Many Americans and westerners don't realize it, but if all of the Pagan heritage was taken away, there would be very little left. We stand upon the values and images of the ancient world, and I think it's time to, one, realize that truth, and two, understand that we can all live together without trying to push one another out for the sake of dominance. America is for you as well as me and everyone else. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris.

Artemis Is Not A Vegetarian, An Abortionist, or A Man-Hater

Some people in the modern Pagan community (though not the norm), are ripe with their own versions of the ancient Gods, which in itself isn't a bad thing. But when they basically create their own Gods and give them ancient names and images, that's when I find myself compelled to say something. One of the most common of these has to do with Artemis. She's one of the most commonly-adopted Deities by Neo-Pagans and Wiccans. While these people are a minority in the community, there are still Pagans who want to start a culture, gender or race war within Paganism. Therefore, being a historical Hellenist and someone who has worshiped and studied Artemis since 2009, I want to set the record straight about the Goddess. These are not opinions, these are facts of religious and cultural Greek history.

Claim #1 - Artemis Is Against Hunting

The argument that Artemis is against hunting or meat eating should, in and of itself, be an obvious ridiculousness from the start. She's the Goddess of the Hunt. The first sentence of the Homeric Hymn to Artemis calls Her the "slayer of stags," and talks about her chasing and striking down the wild beasts. To say that Artemis rebukes hunting or opposes the consumption of game that was killed in ancient times specifically for eating, is a blatant historical falsehood.

Claim #2 - Artemis Supports Abortion

Whatever your views on abortion are, that's not the concern here. Not everyone has the same beliefs on the issue. Some are pro-life, some are pro-choice, and some are moderate; I understand that. But to say that Artemis revels in abortion, is simply not supported by anything other than someone's own personal theory. Artemis is the Goddess of childbirth and the protector of infants and children. She carries no historical epithet that refers to Her as an abortive Goddess whatsoever. She fiercely protected the weak and vulnerable. When Atalanta's father threw Her away at birth, it was Artemis who came and saved Her life. Another manifestation of Artemis is the legendary Artemis of Ephesus, which is a multi-breasted form to symbolize Her as "the Great Mother." The ancient Greek religion, in many cases, took a stance against abortion itself in some of its main cultural declarations. For example, the famous physician's Hippocratic Oath, which swears before "all the Gods and Goddesses" to not give an abortion. People in ancient Greek myth who harmed children were also dealt with very severely by the Gods. A good example would be Lycaon, who dismembered a young boy and tried to offer the remains to Zeus, who was so repulsed and offended that He wiped out the entire Bronze Age of Greece.

The historical fact of the matter is simply that Artemis never possessed a title, epithet or function even remotely similar to abortion. Quite the opposite, actually. 

Claim #3 - Artemis Is A Matriarch Who Hates Men

This idea mainly comes from a misunderstanding about Her refusal to take a husband and the death of Actaeon. While She did not marry, She always remained in recognition of the Supremacy of Zeus, the King of all the Gods. In fact, She sought His permission to remain chaste. She did not take it upon Herself to make the decision without Him. She also never decided that She was going to run everything. Zeus was always Her dear Father and the Ultimate Authority. All of the Gods, male and female, called Zeus the King. It wasn't as if the male Gods weren't expected to revere Zeus. The King was the King because He was King. It's that simple. While women worshipers today can find a great deal of independence in Her Divinity, She does not think of Herself as the ultimate ruler, or that She has a natural right to be at the top of the rule because of her gender, as a Matriarch would. The fallacy that people have here is the idea that one must be a gender-supremacist in order to be free, strong and independent. Nothing could be more untrue. One can be those things without crushing the opposite sex. Artemis is strong, powerful, wise, free and independent, but She doesn't try to usurp Zeus as we would think a Matriarch would, nor does She feel that He is a threat to Her own greatness or Her own rule over Her domains. There is no competition or war. To call Artemis a Matriarch, is to basically call Her a sexist, and the Gods are far above such human pettiness. 

As far as the man-hating label She routinely gets tagged with, this comes from the myth that the hunter Actaeon secretly spied on Artemis naked in the forest, and after She spotted him, turned the hunter into a stag and his hounds attacked and killed him. This probably had a far broader ancient meaning. Artemis didn't like sex, and therefore, did not want to be sexualized, and sexualization in those days was largely portrayed between male and female. But Artemis had and still has many male worshipers who show Her proper respects and don't end up on Her bad side. In fact, I built a sanctuary to Her in my yard and She was one of the main Gods I prayed to for help in saving my son's life when he was born prematurely. I am doing fine and so is my boy. I don't think we need to get so caught up in gender that we make everything about gender or sexism. Why can't we be great together?

Conclusion

There's nothing wrong with having UPG in your own private religious life, but to make it a universal declaration of the religion or the Deity, is quite another matter. In closing on this issue, I think back to something Susan B. Anthony once said. "I distrust those who know so well what God wants, because it's always the same as their own desires."

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris.

I Met The Black Ranger Yesterday!

I was around 9 when the original Power Rangers first aired in 1993, becoming one of the most popular tv shows in superhero history. I was among their biggest fans. Like all young men, I wanted to be the male rangers and date the females, especially Kimberly, the pink ranger. In fact, I remained a fan of Power Rangers until Lost Galaxy, and after that, the series just got boring or silly. I didn't really like Turbo either, and apparently, neither did a lot of other people. I mean, an Astro van and go-karts? Really? The original rangers always remained the best. When they made the new movie this year, of all the seasons they could have picked, they went with the first original theme and story, because everyone knows the originals are the real Power Rangers; loved by all fans. And trust me, that admiration has not died.

I went to Chicago this past weekend with my wife on vacation for our 8th year anniversary, remembering the day we first met each other back on May 8th, 2009. Upon her suggestion, we went to the C2E2 event that was happening at the McCormick Place, which is basically like a Comic-Con. My area of interest in attending was the fact that three of the original Power Rangers were going to be there, those being Walter Jones (Zack, the black ranger), David Yost (Billy, the blue ranger), and Jason David Frank (the green, white, and later the red Zeo and Turbo ranger).

The original rangers were my childhood heroes, and anytime I could get my hands on their toys or videos, I grabbed and growled. However, I never thought I'd meet any of them in real life, but around 25 years later, that changed at the C2E2 event. I could only meet one, and I didn't know which I wanted. So I picked the shortest line at the time, which happened to be Walter's, although that line grew very rapidly. I shook his hand with one of the biggest smiles I had ever made, and said, "I watched you when I was this tall," showing how little I used to be. He smiled, "I think you've outgrown me just a little bit." He signed an autograph for me that featured him with the other rangers in uniform, and then we had our picture taken together with the black power morpher. I really loved that thing. It almost felt like iron. You really felt like you were holding the morpher that would turn you into a ranger. Afterwards, I shook his hand one last time and said thank you.

At first, I wasn't going to stand in line to meet him. I had been there for a while and was tired. I didn't feel like waiting, but then I realized that I had wanted to meet the rangers 25 years ago, and if I didn't do it now, I may never get another chance. So I decided to finally fulfill my childhood dream after so long. It was certainly something I will always remember, and will always keep framed above my desk.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.

Affirmations of Happiness

So many people are looking to find happier lives, or ways to live happier. If you are friends with me on facebook, I recently released a video where I talk about my own former struggles and how I came to find happiness in life. There are many ways to achieve this. As I said in the video, some people may need medication and therapy to get better of mental disorders like I did, but I have also found that generating a consistently positive attitude toward the world and your own life can greatly increase one's happiness, and one good way to do this is by reciting daily affirmations, which could be better-suited for morning religious or spiritual practices. Although it may seem small, you would be surprised what a world of difference it can make in your day when you are determined to have a positive and happy attitude about things, and you can do this, in part, by reciting daily affirmations, which are basically declarations to yourself.

Each morning before you start your day, try reciting the following affirmations aloud. As I said earlier, it's probably best done in a religious or spiritual setting, but as long as you can speak, you can do them in any case so long as you are serious about it.

I am grateful for another day of life, 

and all good and beautiful things in it,

paying no attention to anything bad.

I (state your name) hereby and forever shun all evil and negativity,

and I will only focus on that which is good and positive,

for I am loved by the Gods who also love good.

In so many ways, the only route to being happy is to realize what these affirmations state. Basically, a negative and evil life is not worth living. The good news is that it's a choice to live by it. You can just as easily choose to be positive and focus on the good. By being grateful and deciding to shun all things negative and evil, you are choosing to turn away from and avoid everything that makes you sad, angry, depressed and/or generally upset, and instead you are dedicated to looking at the good in life only. Not only can it make you happier, it can keep bad things from happening to you. Before I began medication and started looking at life better, I was consistently negative about almost everything, and bad luck was a constant companion of mine. My new car was banged up twice, and things generally produced negative results for me. However, once I started living a positive life, misfortune became far less common. Why? Because believe me when I say, like attracts like.

In our time when negativity and depression is a household item, you have to be a warrior for peace and happiness in your own life. Otherwise, the opposite will eventually overtake you. You must always guard your borders.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris. 

The Ease of Constructing a Basic Greek Altar

One thing I love to teach people as a Hellenic priest and writer is how to construct places of worship and carry out rites. One of the reasons I enjoy teaching this is because it's not as hard or costly as some people might think or portray, especially if you're creating what I call "natural altars." It is not a complicated trade whatsoever. Lots of practitioners have really beautiful and elaborate shrines and altars with numerous statues and the like, but these things are not needed to carry out Hellenic worship. All you really need is a basic altar where you can pray, make offerings and sacrifices, and carry out ritual work. The fancy things are nice, and can indeed help with focus, but it's important to remember that the niceties are not what you're worshiping. The Gods, Spirits and Heroes are not statues, temples, or elaborate tapestries and pottery. To connect with the Gods simply because they are the Gods, is the greatest achievement.

As you can see in the picture above, the main altar of my own shrine is a simple stack of stones, which is a traditional structure of the Greek altar. It's a very simple design. These earthly pebbles were purchased for less than $1, but you can also find natural stones probably out in your yard or driveway. You only need to properly wash and cleanse them before making into an altar. Upon this stack of simple natural stones, once dedicated to your worship and the Gods, you can carry out any kind of religious practice that needs or involves an altar or a worship space. Incense can be burned upon it, libations poured, and general offerings placed. It's also very appropriate to recite prayers, hymns and practice worship here. 

So if you want to make a genuine Hellenic altar right now, find yourself a proper and safe surface, go get some natural stones, and cleanse and stack them there. This simple, virtually cost-free method is all you need to begin practicing Greek Polytheism. Everything else can come later in good time as you are able, should you choose. 

To dedicate and officially "open" your natural altar, you might recite a prayer along these lines and light a cone of incense as your first offering to The Dodekatheon at this structure,

Upon this sacred structure,

I request the blessings and recognition of the Gods of Olympus,

that it may now be a holy altar in their honor and glory.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris.