The autumn seems to be flying by quickly. On October 28, we celebrated the Genesia, a holiday of the honored dead.
This was also the first festival in which the individual shrines for all the Gods were unveiled, so here is a brief pictorial tour. First there is Hermes (first shrine as messenger/guardian, second dedicated to the Thrice-Blessed Hermes and set aside for magical work)
and also Hecate, guarding the entryway to the main temple space,
with a shrine to the ancestors at the base.
Next is the Agathos Daimon's shrine.
To the left, upon entering, is a reading area that includes several shrines.
Here we have Athena, Hephaistos, and Aphrodite,
Pan,
Dionysos,
and Hestia.
Adjacent to the reading area is the healing and divination area, featuring Apollon and Artemis.
Next is Demeter's shrine.
Zeus and Hera.
Poseidon.
Chthonic Zeus.
And the main temple space, dedicated to the three Patrons of the temple: Apollon, Zeus, and Pan.
As you turn back towards the entryway, there is a shrine to Ares.
A supply of various incenses for offering.
And a final one to Hecate.
Today, November 11, we celebrated the Panaia, Pan's birthday with various offerings to Him, including ribbons used to decorate both a pine branch in His honor and a representation of Him.
Food offerings included kielbasa with peppers and goat cheese, a vegetable dish made to look like sheep grazing in pasture, wine, and of course, birthday cake. In addition to the ribbons, non-food offerings included several sticks of pine incense and a goat donated through Heifer International to a family in a developing country.
As today is also Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day/Armistice Day, we included a libation to Ares at the end of the day, asking for His gifts of war and chaos to be kept from us when possible, but to be accompanied by courage and strength when conflict is necessary.
The next festival will be the Pompaia on November 25, and the projected December festivals are the Dendraia on the 9th and the Kheimonia on the 23rd.
As always, if there are any comments you'd like to share, ideas that our rituals have sparked for you, or questions about why we do things the way we do, we'd love to hear from you, so feel free to hit the "comment" button!
Until next time, peace,
Diane
