Kheimonia 2016

Khairete!

So, our Kheimonia ritual was snowed out.  Hiereus Timotheos shared the ritual we would have done together so that we could perform it at our own homes.

Hiereus Terentios blogged and shared some pictures from his solitary celebration:

There are more photos and narratives at the blog post.

And here's a photo from the more familiar temple space:

Next up:  Diogennia!

May the blessings of the Gods be with you!

Panaia & Dendraia 2016

Khairete! 

Today we celebrated the Panaia and the first part of the Dendraia at HTAZP.

 

 

We processed to a chant of "Eo Pan!" while Hiereus Timotheos invoked Pan's many epithets.  After thusia, we had theoxenia with one of Pan's statues joining us at the table.

 

 

 

 

During the meal of gyros, we took turns reading various hymns and poems to Pan.  Some of the sources were The Homeric Hymns (translation by Apostolos N. Athanassakis), The Orphic Hymns (same translator), In Praise of Olympos - Prayers to the Greek Gods by Hearthstone, Out of Arcadia - A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Pan from Bibliotheca Alexandrina, New Prayers of Old Hellas by Chris Aldridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Hymn of Pan."

 

 

Afterwards, we pulled out Pan's tree and got it set up for the Dendraia (part 1).  The Dendraia, like the Panaia, is a modernly developed festival.  It has been split in two for a couple of reasons.  First, there was a feeling that the Panaia needed a bit more, as a birthday celebration, and decorating Pan's tree fit well for that.  Also, with the various secular pressures in December, we often would be lucky to meet once, never mind twice.  And the second part of the Dendraia is now merged with the Kheimonia in recognition of the fact that it originated as a December festival.

Dessert consisted of various cream-filled pastries, including eclairs, crème horns, and lobster tails.

Hiereus Timotheos also offered divination with Pan towards the end of the festival.

Our next festival will be the Kheimonia/Haloa/Rural Dionysia/Dendraia (part 2) on 11 Kheimonion/December 11.

May the blessings of the Gods be with you!

Genesia 2016

Khairete!

Today we celebrated the Genesia at HTAZP.

 

We did an ancestor ritual honoring Hades, Persephone, Hermes, Hekate, and ultimately all cthonic and psychopomp deities.  We made offerings of ribbons to the Gods, our deceased blood relatives, families of choice and kin, and heroes and teachers.

 

Our space was kept safe by our fierce Temple Guardian, Toby.

After the ritual, we processed to a local cemetery and left flowers at various graves that did not appear to have been tended to recently. 

Feasting included pork, cheesy mashed potatoes, corn, apple cider donuts, frosted brownies, and fruit.

Our next festival will be the Panaia on November 6.

May the blessings of the Gods be with you.

 



Fall Festival (and everything since Philokhoria)

Khairete!

So, since the last post, which was apparently in June, quite a few things have happened.

We had our annual Anadikia retreat back in July at the Temenos Retreat Center in Massachusetts.

We set up a number of shrine spaces over the weekend.  One to all the Theoi.

One for the Agathos Daimon of the Temple and one for the Ancestors.

And one for the Household Gods.

Others were set up at need for various rituals.  One ritual to Pan that we did outdoors utilized the already-present stone labyrinth.

It was a very intense and renewing experience for all.

In August, we celebrated the Founders Festival, which is now the time of washing the statues and cleansing the temple space as well as celebrating all the Gods.

A new priest to Poseidon was ordained at the Priest Retreat on Labor Day Weekend.  There was also some brainstorming amongst the priests about continuing their education and how that works post-ordination.

The following week, the temple was on the road to Lakeville for Pagan Pride Day, which included a small ritual to Pan, and a performance by our own Scarlet Rose with the dance troupe she has joined, Blue Moon Caravan.

And that brings us to today's festival in which we celebrated Demeter and Kore's relationship,

the wedding of Hades and Persephone (which took place in the Temple of Hera, Hermes, and Dionysos),

and Persephone's descent to the Underworld.

 

For a game, we chose The Game of Nasty Things in honor of the woman who attempted to cheer Demeter up through the telling of raunchy jokes.

Our upcoming festivals of Puanepsia and Oskhophoria will be on the 7th and 8th of October at another location, and the Genesia will be on October 30 back at the main temple.

Until next time, may the blessings of the Gods be with you!

The Revival of the Philokhoria Puppet Show!

Khairete!

Today we celebrated the Philokhoria.

The original paper puppets have been retired due to wear and tear.  So today, in the Pagan Arts & Crafts portion of our festival, we created their sock puppet successors.  Shown above left to right are Helios, the chorus (representing a stag, a beautiful youth, and a beautiful woman), and Zeus in the first row, and Pan, Apollon, and Artemis in the back.  The play was dramatized as part of ritual, complete with sock puppet Artemis and Pan dancing and Apollon playing the tambourine.

Next weekend is the Anadikia and Hephestaia, after which the calendar for the upcoming year will be posted.

Until then, may the blessings of the Gods be with you!

Thargelia 2015

  

 

 

Khairete!

 

 

Today, we celebrated the Thargelia at HTAZP.

 

 

 

 

 

After a pharmakos ritual, we went directly into thusia and theoxenia.  We offered thargeloi in the form of veggie calzones, garlic and herb Italian bread, cupcakes, and birthday cake.

Coming up

Festival	HTAZP Date(s)	Gregorian Date(s)
Panaphobeia	29 Thargelion	June 5
Philokhoria	21 Philokorion	June 26
Anadikia & Hephestaia	27-29 Philokhorion	July 1-3

 

 May the blessings of the Gods be with you!

 

 

 



Delphinia 2016

Khairete!

Today's Festival

 Today we celebrated the Delphinia, the festival honoring Apollon Delphinios, who sends his dolphins to guide travelers safely home.

We began with a brief centering and visualization of traveling flanked by dolphins as we circumambulated the altar. Thusia was a baguette, and theoxenia included (dolphin-safe) tuna casserole, fresh veggies, popcorn, and jelly beans.  Libations were made from fruit-flavored sparkling water.

Recipe

Dolphin-safe tuna casserole
Ingredients:
2 cans albacore tuna
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3/4 of a bag of egg noodles, cooked & drained
1 bag of frozen sweet corn
~ 1 cup whole milk
3 handfuls of crushed cheddar cheese & bacon potato chips

Directions:
Throw everything except the chips in a casserole dish. 
Mix well. 
Sprinkle the crushed potato chips across the top. 
Bake at 400F for 20minutes.

Activity/Class

After theoxenia, in honor of the modern tradition that today also marks Apollon's return to Delphi, we learned about tasiomancy using Greek coffee grounds. While this is a more modern practice than ancient, it is currently a common form of divination in Greece.

Notes from class:

·       Origins obscure (Turkish, Greek, Armenian)

·       Plain white cup & saucer

·       Papagolos coffee boiled in briki (βρηκη)

·       Querent drinks coffee down to sediment (never read for yourself)

·       Put saucer on top of cup, flip cup over, give it 5 min

·       Can put relevant items (ring for relationship, coin for money) on the bottom of the cup while you wait

·       Anything by the handle is the present for the querent

·       Beyond that lies the future

·       If sediment doesn’t fall off, you’re holding on to something too much

·       If it falls right off, your problems are leaving quickly

·       Shapes formed by negative space around the grounds are the divinatory message

 

Something learned from today's class:  The coffee had been boiled prior to ritual, and the class was done after theoxenia, so it had been sitting for quite a bit longer than it should have.  This resulted in the sediment not wanting to exit the cup in a timely manner.  The coffee should really be drunk by the querent while hot, and then read right away.
 

Sources:

Hiereios Timotheos' experiences in Greece.

Lyle, J. & Khan, A. (2000). The cup of destiny. London: Eddison Sadd Editions.

Coming up

Festival	HTAZP Date(s)	Gregorian Date(s)
Olympieia	16 Delphinion	April 24
Adonia	23 Delphinion	May 1
Thargelia	15 Thargelion	May 22
Panaphobeia	29 Thargelion	June 5
Philokhoria	21 Philokorion	June 26
Anadikia & Hephestaia	27-29 Philokhorion	July 1-3

Until next time, may the blessings of the Gods be with you.

Diasia and Eiarinia 2016

Khairete!

Today we celebrated the Diasia as well as the Eiarinia.

We began at the shrine to Hades, Persephone, and the ancestors, offering prayers and incense before Persephone began her journey with Hermes back to Her mother.

We stopped off at the shrine of Zeus Melikhios to offer Him animal cakes crackers and stuffed animals to be donated to children who are coping with the loss of a loved one.

And finally we processed to the main altar, where Kore joined Her mother Demeter amongst other Gods of the festival: Zeus, Artemis, Gaia, Pan, Apollon, and Hermes.

After thusia and theoxenia, we celebrated the end of winter and beginning of spring with planting some violas.

Given that Southern New England is under a winter storm warning tonight, there may have been a few prayers that such storms be a thing of the past season.

Upcoming Festivals

Festival	HTAZP Date(s)	Gregorian Date(s)
Delphinia	2 Delphinion	April 10
Olympieia	16 Delphinion	April 24
Adonia	23 Delphinion	May 1
Thargelia	15 Thargelion	May 22
Panaphobeia	29 Thargelion	June 5
Philokhoria	21 Philokorion	June 26
Anadikia & Hephestaia	27-29 Philokhorion	July 1-3

Also, while it looks like a full catch-up post is not going to happen, here, at least, is a long-overdue photo from our celebration of Panaia:

Until next time, may the peace and blessings of the Gods be with you!

Aphrodisia 2016

Khairete!

There will probably be a catch-up post at some point, but in the meantime, today we celebrated the Aphrodisia.

After thusia, Scarlet Rose guided us to wash Aprhodite's statue with khernips infused with rose and lavender, then led us in a heart chakra meditation on Aphrodite.  During theoxenia (which included pasta with a sweet sauce, shrimp cocktail, sausage, strawberries, as well as cookies and chocolate cake)

we also colored images of Aphrodite and related mandalas as another form of meditation and connecting with Her.

Our next festival is a joint one: the Diasia and Eiarinia on 11 Eiarinion/March 20.  For the Diasia, we will be holding our traditional stuffed animal drive, this one to benefit the Expressive Arts program for children at Center for Hospice Care in Norwich, CT.

Until next time, may the blessings of the Gods be with you.