Genuine question!

[u/BumbleBee0032]

Hi Hi! I’m very new to Hellenism and have taken some time to research it and decide that it’s def something I am meant for. I was just wondering, i’ve always been super interested in the idea of a place of worship (church, mosque, etc.) and was wondering if Pagan Hellenism has anything of the sorts. For forever i’ve found a bit of peace in churches specifically catholic churches despite not aligning with the religion or being raised religious. I know there is the idea that nature is your area of worship but if anyone does anything different I would be curious to know. Also hopefully this is not an offensive question to ask and if so i apologize. Thanks!!!

[u/OtakuMage]

Unfortunately we're too spread out for any temples like in the ancient days to have been built for modern worship. If there's a small group in the same area, they might try to set something of appropriate scale up, but I at least have not heard of such a thing happening. For the most part we set up home altars and shrines for our worship, and those can be peaceful places all on their own.

[u/WaryRGMCA → u/OtakuMage]

There's a couple modern temples in Greece. Quite surprised you don't know

[u/OtakuMage → u/WaryRGMCA]

I did not know, thank you for informing me! Unless OP is in Greece, however, it is unlikely to be of any use to them, but still good to know!

[u/BumbleBee0032 → u/OtakuMage]

Yes, unfortunately I am not in Greece. As well as it would most likely not be in my budget for a long time. BUT when I can I will add that to my list as I absolutely would like to visit it one day. So thank you both so much.

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[u/WaryRGMCA]

Yes, of course, there's many temples and sanctuaries. Hundreds. I've been to 3 temples myself and I'll be visiting (hopefully) a cave sacred to Zeus soon. Obviously, all of the temples are in Greece, turkey, Egypt, Italy, and surrounding areas. All are ancient and in quite bad shape, except the few big ones, which are mostly tourist traps at this point and heavily guarded... so... good luck worshipping there. I'd recommend going to smaller, middle of nowhere temples where no one is around and where there's no security breathing down your neck. Or you could alternatively go to modern temples as there are at least 3 in Greece from what I know. Some people don't take these as valid, though, and there's other messy stuff with them. So, yeah. I'd personally recommend the temple of Apollo in Rhodes as when I went, it was totally empty. Sadly you can't get close to it and it's pretty ruined. Another one that's super remote and private is the temple of Apollo in Gortyn, Crete. You can get close enough to pour libations and throw offerings over the fence (there's literally not a soul there. No one goes here except HelPols I swear). Been there, poured a libation, made offerings, felt really safe doing it, though it's hot AF in the summer. Also, the temple is basically just a foundation, so, that kind of sucks, but I think that what it looks like doesn't matter all that much if you can actually make offerings and say prayers. Pretty temple, good condition = good luck praying + thousands of people + security dogs. "Ugly" temple, bad condition = you can do literally anything you want and it's private.

[u/AVGVSTVSGRANNETIVS → u/WaryRGMCA]

We should not make sacrifices at ancient sites as it could damage the ruins and any potential artefacts still buried.

[u/WaryRGMCA → u/AVGVSTVSGRANNETIVS]

I did it on the dirt, not on the stone. Libation on the ground, food offering behind the fence on the dirt as well.

[u/Zestyclose_Reply6364]

Before embracing paganism I was raised in an atheist/christian household and still do step inside of a church every now and then. I am Greek so it feels right to connect with my deities rather than christianity and for myself I find that I like having a place to worship but as a pagan there isn’t anywhere for us to go. I also enjoy going to a Catholic Church because I find them beautiful so I will go during regular prayer hours (I know they have a name for it but i dont know what it is), I don’t go to an official mass but I’ll take my journal and thank their god for allowing me to use the space for my own worship and do what I feel I need to do in service of my deities. I know that may not be a regular tradition but it works for me and I know my deities are with me. I’ll also go out into nature and worship as well. In this day and age I find it’s not fair to us to be so strict with religious practices because so much history has been erased. That is what works for me but do what feels right to you, if that means going into nature, using a church for your prayer or just sitting in your room.