Hidden Hellenic Secrets: The Mark of Poseidon's Trident

Like many other religions, Hellenism is filled with its mysteries, perhaps housing among the most of the world's religions. As a constant student of ancient Greece, and of course, a modern ancient Greek worshiper, I am always on the lookout for truths of our spirituality and people, things surfacing to show the powerful reality behind Hellenic Polytheism. Mostly all religions do this. Whether they have sacred artifacts, or like in this post, an actual imprint of a God's staff, the mysteries of the Divine are numerous, and I simply love exploring them. I am equally excited that you, the reader, have decided to join me on this particular exhibition.

We probably all know of the ancient Athenian myth concerning the contest between Athene and Poseidon, both Gods battling it out for control of the new city. Poseidon struck the earth with His trident to produce His gift to man (some say a horse, others a spring), and Athene then raised Her own (the olive tree). Athene's gift was determined to be the most useful and She was awarded the Patronage of Athens.

I've been reading a book recently called, The Parthenon Enigma, by Joan Breton Connelly. The Parthenon, as we all know, was the Temple of Athene that stood atop the Acropolis. I think it's important to remember, as well, that Connelly presents historical and unbiased research. She is a classical archaeologist, and gives very good information from what I can tell. On page 109 of her book, I found something extraordinary to say the least. Placing the contest between Athene and Poseidon on or near the Acropolis, she says that even now, an indention of a trident is visible in the bedrock below the Erechtheion temple (also on the Acropolis), marking the spot where the God hit the ground.

Since ancient times, this eternal scar upon the surface, left over from Poseidon's mighty staff, still speaks to us now of the wonder of the Gods. Certainly, it's no less than a holy place for Hellenists like myself. In school, many of us were taught a number of things about special places and objects concerning the world's religions, but how many of us were told where we could find the place where Poseidon struck the earth? The answer is, none of us. That is one of my main points in this post. Our modern society has only recently begun to treat Hellenism as a legitimate religion in the world. For years, we were blanketed with ignorance by the educational system, teaching us little to nothing about ancient Greek spirituality. Only when we reached adulthood and entered the religion, did we understand for ourselves the immense beauty, truth and magnificence of it. I'm not saying that the school system should teach a religion. I am saying that Hellenism should be included in teaching about the religions of the world. Teaching the facts of a religion is not the same as telling students what to believe or how to live. Furthermore, I want the educational system to treat Hellenic Polytheism as a legitimate religion the same as it would the mainstream belief systems.

As someone closely tied to the element of water, I am close to Poseidon, and consider Him one of my Patrons. But to read something this profound honestly gave me a new sense of holiness with my religion. In the past, I've even thought about writing a book concerning the truths and wisdom of Hellenism. I see such books on mainstream religions, but none on the ancient. That needs to change, and even if in a small sense, this publication in question concerning Poseidon has started to turn that tide. For us Hellenes, it speaks truth to the presence of our Gods, that they are here within the universe and the lives of mortals.

In closing, I hops this post gets people thinking and interested in studying the history of Hellenic religion and culture.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.

Source

Connelly, Breton Joan, The Parthenon Enigma, New York, Vintage Books, 2014. Print. (pp.109)

Interpretations or Common Sense - Which Rules Morality?

Recently, I talked about how I have adopted the Tenets of Solon as my guiding values in life, and I said that I don't see how anyone (using common sense) could go wrong by following them. Now some might argue that some of the Tenets are unintentionally flawed, because, for example, to "Do Good" could mean a vast array of things to different people, as everyone has their own interpretation of what is good. After all, even Hitler thought he was "doing good works" and "what was right." No one ever sees themselves as the bad guy. That leaves an uncertainty, the question of whether or not someone can follow the Tenets and actually be doing evil or wrongful deeds.

But the great thing about the human mind and soul is that we know when something is right and when it's not. Chances are, if something is wrong, we will say and do all we can to justify it. We could actually end up spending more time trying to convince ourselves of our righteousness than actually doing the act itself. Either that, or we'll just ignore the question all together. In other words, all people know right from wrong, it's just that some people care more about their own ambitions and agendas. Someone who murders another, for example, knows it's wrong. They just care more about their own goals and their own means to an end. Deep down, we all know what is good and evil, ethical and unethical. We know the wicked from the wellness. The problem is that some people make the wrong choice by making friends with evil and immorality for whatever reason. Evil in the name of good is still evil, but sadly, that's not a universal agreement among humanity.

The only real reason we like to think that morality is universally relative is because we don't want to hold ourselves accountable for our wrongs. It's true that morality is indeed relative in certain cases. Some people might consider me to be immoral because of my lifestyle, but that's their own personal opinion and not a truth. However, when it comes to the broad range of things, morality is not relative. Unless they're severely mentally ill, everyone knows full well that it's wrong to kill, lie, steal, sleep with someone's spouse or significant other without the consent of their partner, and cheat and swindle others to name a few. So why do people still do these things in great number when they know it's wrong? Because, as I said, they care more about what they want to accomplish. It's all about their agenda, their wealth, their pleasure, and their success. 

If you look inside yourself, you'll see the light the Gods put there.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris. 

The Jews & Christians Forgot To Add Water

Many stories of creation fill the religious books of humanity, but none quite as well known as those of the Jewish and Christian religions. The Judeo-Christian story says that God created man from the dusts of the earth. Some may interpret this as saying that humans were created from the surface, and that is correct. Many things in our bodies can be found above the ground. However, the ancient Greek version of creation is more accurate, and so many people in our time don't even realize it.

According to at least one of the ancient Greek creation stories, Prometheus made man from mud. Now this is still the surface of the ground, but it adds a key element that the Jews and Christians forgot; water. Most of our body is composed of water. When you add water to dust or dirt, what do you get? You get mud. Therefore, the ancient Greek version of creation is the more accurate.

I really can't believe I lived this long as a Hellenist without realizing such a fact in the mythologies. I bet there are even others in my religion who have never come to it, but as a deep-thinking Mythologist, I suppose it was only inevitable that it eventually occurred to my mind. Ancient Greek religion, belief and myth is so elaborate that one could endlessly think of interpretations and rationalizations with them. I think it's time people started realizing that the ancient Greeks were brilliant in religion and theology as well as everything else. To conclude that they were advanced and intelligent geniuses in everything but religion, is just silly.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.

How Do I Love Myself?

Many people ask this question unsuccessfully, pondering to themselves how they can love who they are instead of living in a state of self-loathing. And I think a lot of people confuse an attempt to love themselves with an attempt to love everything around them, or everything that is part of their life.

I don't know if we're necessarily meant to love ourselves because everyone has things about them that they dislike. The idea that you should try to love something that you, in fact, don't love, is absurd. Besides, having an over abundance of self-love results in arrogance eventually. Having a head that's too big can and does bring out the worst in a person. What we're meant to do is a system of weights and measures.

From the years 2009 to 2012, my entire life completely changed. My grandmother lost her beautiful home in Thomasville, North Carolina, a house I had grown up in during my teenage and young adult years and come to love as my true place of belonging. I also ended up leaving my home state and immediate family entirely and moving half way across the country. The choice now is simply that I can either choose to dwell on something that will never be again, or I can look at what has happened in my life as a result of the tragedy or the change. In other words, can I place parts of my life on a scale and either balance them out or make good things outweigh the bad? And if so, can I love those things instead of hating the others? When it comes to my life personally, one thing I certainly dislike is the fact that I spent so many years wasting time instead of making a future for myself. A lot of pain and dead ends have resulted. But the choice is to either hate myself for all that, or focus on the life I have now and what I am doing in present time to indeed obtain a better life. And, most importantly, am I grateful that the opportunity still exists and will I now take it as far as I can?

The reason so many people have no sense of self-love or self-satisfaction, is because they base their self-worth on all the things they don't like about themselves, and/or on the opinions of others concerning them. We may not be meant to love ourselves as much as we're meant to love the lovable things about our lives. Many things can't be loved, but love can be found in many things.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.

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.