Aphrodisia 2017

Khairete!

Today, we observed the Aphrodisia, however the lovely New England weather required us to "practice apart together."

The ritual, written by Scarlet Rose, can be found here.

Pictures will be added as they are shared by Temple members.

Our next festival will be the Eiarinia as well as the Diasia, currently scheduled for March 19.  Considering one is a festival thanking Zeus for getting us through the winter and the other is the festival of spring, let's hope we are past these winter storms by then!

May the blessings of the Gods be with you.

Anthesteria 2017

Khairete!

So on the 5th of February, we celebrated the Anthesteria.

As we've done in the past, we compressed the traditional three days into three rituals throughout the day celebrating the birth of Dionysos, the marriage of Dionysos and Ariadne, and Dionysos' rescue of Selene from Hades.  The abridged version of the rituals, written by Peregrine Ursano, can be found here.

During the "birthday" portion of the day, we shared various hymns and songs, including the Hymn to Dionysus performed by the original Broadway cast of The Frogs:



and I Am What I Am as performed by John Barrowman:



For the second portion of the day, we were each given a length of yarn that we put several knots into, which were blessed by Dionysos and Ariadne.  The intent of these is to undo the knots when we need help overcoming blocks or barriers.

For the last portion of the day, we offered libations to our ancestors, our Heroes and Beloved Dead, and finally to Hermes.

Our next festival:  Aphrodisia

May the blessings of the Gods be with you!