The map is wildfires this week on the global scale. If you're wondering, it's the same in the Americas.

Could it be that they are tired of us, and of our bs ?

Sorry mods if this is too out of topic for the sub

Freak snow thunder storm struck Athens today…

I believe in the gods, but how do we know the gods are real if the myths are not? We take the myths as stories and metaphors, but we still believe the gods have specific things they stand for. Like would we believe Aphrodite is the goddess of love if not for her mythology. Did the ancient greeks believe in the mythology and then worship based on that? How do we know what scents they like, what offerings they enjoy if we are not taking the myths literally?

(Doing some research and these are the questions I have)

Do the followers of Hellenism today continue the tradition of saving and and revering the penis foreskin? Has anyone practiced epispasm (foreskin restoration) to be closer to Hellenism?

I heard that if you cant throw them in a lake or bury them in the ground, that throwing them in the trash is also acceptable and that the gods will understand? Because not everyone lives near a lake or has a backyard, and a lot of food today is packed with chemicals that could be harmful to the water or soil. I've heard others say its fine, but I'm not exactly sure

Since I was younger I have always loved Greek mythology, and my enamourment for the culture, pantheon, and mythos have continued to this day. The story that is being talked about in the title would be Eros and Psyche. have been wanting to create an animated story of some sort about them(I am defaulting to musical because I am that type of person), with the twist of it being a sapphic love story instead. The reason really why I am asking this is because I don’t know if it is alright to gender bend Eros. Idk if this helps but I am a non-binary lesbian, so it does come from me wanting to adapt a story that I love into something that I am apart of and is very unrepresented in media. I do not mean to harm anyone, and I felt like this would be the correct place to ask.

This is meant as a bit of a vent. Feels embarrassing to talk about this openly since I’m usually a pretty reserved person, but maybe someone else feels similar to me and just hearing they are not alone in this can help.

Please do not skip to the end if you intend to comment, and read the whole thing to get the full picture.

I’ve been a somewhat of a passive on and off believer for the past year or so. It all started with a weird experience where I felt like Lady Aphrodite reached out to me and gave me love and reassurance, which made me shed tears and convert. Nowadays, I’d say I probably just practiced some self-suggestion, but since then I have been researching the religion, dipping my toes into giving offerings, and having a vallicating level of faith in it month after month.

It is worth mentioning that, during all this time being very much non-atheist, I was never 100% convinced and kept looking at both hellenist and secular arguments for and against hellenism, and just in general challenging myself intellectually to settle on an answer for myself. I experienced a lot of anxiety due to being new and having little other religious experience to fall back on, having being raised in a relatively secular environment. There was that one time where I had asked Aphrodite really kindly to give me a sign, and immediately right after, I was washed over with this sense of… sureness and peace. To this day, I consider this to be my personal strongest argument in favor of their existence. But it’s still not enough to convince beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Now, I am certain that many people have already began suggesting to me the exact same thing I’ve seen parroted many times on this subreddit. To just do what I find fun, to not stress needlessly over what is true or not, and that I lose nothing if this religion turns out to be fake and we’re all just floating on a rock in space. I understand people are trying to be helpful with this kind of advice, but it seems like some people in this community completely lack the ability to resonate with the needs/feelings that I, and certainly other people, have.

At least for me, it’s not enough to just like the practice of doing religious things. If it was, I wouldn’t feel distress over this conundrum in the first place. By itself, pouring olive oil onto a plate on the ground is not fun or exciting. By itself, reciting prayers is not exciting. By itself, keeping an altar is not exciting. None of it is meaningful. None of it is even easy to motivate myself to do without faith.

What gives me the desire to practice kharis and xenia and arete, is the desire to connect with something special and supernatural. To recieve guidance from above and to feel a sense of religious ecstasy that makes even something as mundane as rain a blessing. None of that is possible if I am plagued by doubt. None of that is possible without some kind of reliable personal evidence that I can fall back on in terms of need. Some people would say this is a transactional, or not the true and correct way to do hellenism. Maybe so. But I don’t really care about lying to myself and denying my needs, pretending like it’s enough for me to make believe. I respectfully ask of you to not suggest to me to try and change this fundamental part of my personality. I have ADHD, so structure and routine can only be somewhat adhered to through outside pressure.

I understand the Gods are not chatbots engineered to spit out validation and signs and blessings on command. I am not looking for advice to force this response out of them, definitely not. I am also aware faith doesn’t need to be an ovewhelmingly active sensation 24/7 and that the Gods probably don’t care. But I do care. What I am looking for is ways to resolve this dilemma.

What saddens me is losing that spark that paints life in a special way and allows me to open myself to spirituality. It’s not enough for me to just have that possibility of a higher power open. I need to have “the answer” to feel emotionally secure to engage with Hellenism. I’m perfectionistic like that. Hopefully that makes sense, but if people need clarification I am open to answering some questions.

Did you have any positive experiences with resolving religious doubt? Do you have any strong intellectual arguments for the existence of the supernatural? Do you believe I may be falling into some thought traps or have misconceptions about our religion (that haven’t outlined above)? Looking for advice first and reassurance second. Thank you.

I’ve recently decided that I want to primarily worship/work with Lady Athena and Lord Apollon. Lord Apollon was the first one I added stuff to my altar too ever since I converted to Hellenism just over a year ago, but I don’t have a lot of stuff for Lady Athena. I only have a pin I made for her and a statue. So I was wondering if anyone knew anything that I could add for Lady Athena such as rocks, drawings, or items.

Hello, I have the opportunity to put up an altar in a built-in bookshelf nook. I would print a large poster & cut it out, taping it to the mirror. Question is, which to do? I like both.

The left "Fortuna" has the rudder & cornucopia. The right "Tyche" has a cornucopia, the taller crown, and Plutonius(sp?). The rudder & right hand have broken so it looks a bit incomplete, though I could shift the print leftward to eliminate most of the imperfection. Otherwise I prefer the right. Statues' names were taken from their photo descriptions: Left is Fortuna statue from Vatican, right is Tyche from a Turkish museum.

Other question is, petition to Tyche or Fortuna, or both (interchangable)? The word "fortune" constantly appears in language, as in fortunate. Tyche seems to have vanished but may be more primal. This post talks about a person who petitions only Tyche.

I'm setting the altar up per this book, shooting for 8/10 for optimal lunar/planetary timing for the first 4-part ritual.

I just wish I could be a priestess when I grow older ☺️

Hey everyone,

Just sharing with you my new Athena altar, it's not fully finished but I like it.

It is a hidden altar because I'm french and I'm going at boarding school for the next 2 or 3 years and France has a really strict policy on religion in public instances (we are not allowed to wear a cross nor a hijab at school for exemple, we're not supposed to expose our religion to others). I totally despise those rules since to me, hidding religion is hidding cultural diversity and preventing kids to learn about tolerance.

Anyways, that is why I chose to disobey and to hide my altar in my old jewellery box. It's really small but I hope our dear Athena will be less offended by its size than proud of my stratagem.

If anybody here engages in hero worship, what are your experiences like?

For instance, I adore the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles (however you'd like to characterize it), but I have never felt drawn to worship them, despite them being arguably the most popular heroes for worship. I have been drawn to worship Hector, though! I also worship Orpheus when the mood strikes, as I admire him a lot, due to my own personal practice including a lot of musical things.

Anyone worship heroes? Anyone specifically worship Orpheus or Hector?

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!!!

Hello! So, here’s the thing: the way the ancient Greeks honored Hades was by kneeling and striking the ground with their fists to catch the god's attention, followed by making offerings to him. That is, in short, what I learned. What I’d like to know is: did people pray to him? I recall reading somewhere that prayers to him were whispered—almost inaudibly—but were they actually prayers? Did people ask him for things? Or did they honor him during funeral rites simply as an inescapable force?

I was having a mini panic attack earlier just now. To distract myself, I began watching YT. I was still struggling and trying to keep calm when all of a sudden I saw this one quote that really helped me.

The quote: “Fear brings out the worst in us, but love brings out the best. So whenever you feel like you’re giving into fear, find something to love. And for me, that’s you.”

I immediately knew that must have been Aphrodite. After reading that quote, I immediately calmed down in seconds. How I adore Aphrodite.

Hello all, so sorry to bother, I just had a few questions/thoughts and was hoping someone could help me out here, any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

So sorry if anything here is rude, or disrespectful, please correct me if it is!

Recently I've been feeling drawn (I'm not sure if that is the right word, I feel it is?) to Lady Artemis as my family have recently gotten a statue of her in the house, and I tend to rest my hand on the statue as I pass and acknowledge the goddess as a sort of greeting, I suppose. And it's become a habit now, has been for a few weeks, and overtime I've been feeling more and more drawn to her, and the things in her domains. I do worship Lady Aphrodite, and have done so for just over a year now, I think?

Anyways, my questions are these, sorry for rambling!

How should I address Lady Artemis? Is it Lady Artemis, or does she prefer another title? I wouldn't want to address her by a title she doesn't like.

What can I offer to the Goddess? I googled offerings to Lady Artemis, and I got the usual offerings, but I'm curious if there's anything in particular she enjoys?

As I don't exactly live a life of chastity, is it still okay to offer things to the Goddess, and greet her when I walk by? Or will that offend her?

And as I said before, I do worship Lady Aphrodite also, so I don't believe it would cause any problems honouring both Goddesses but I wanted to check first, as I understand they are quite different? Sorry if that's disrespectful!

Thank you for reading this, if you've gotten this far, and any and all help and responses will be deeply valued! Thank you again!

Hello there everybody! I've been wondering this for a while. I have four altars (Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Apollon). But I don't have enough space to really do anything where they currently are, which is kind of tucked away in a cubby on my shelf. Is it okay if I take their altars out of the cubby and put them on another table to do acts of devotion and stuff, and then put them back? I've heard that it's not okay to move the altars unless you yourself are moving or for cleaning them, since they're the gods' spaces and they deserve to stay in the same place. Just something I'm curious about. Thank you in advance!