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.

Therapeia 2015

Khairete,

Today Back in September, we celebrated the Therapeia, our healing festival to Apollon, Aesklepios, and Hygeia.  This post was written that day, but has apparently sat in drafts for the past month.  Sorry!

We actually celebrated this festival in two parts.  The first part of the day was spent at Southeast Massachusetts Pagan Pride, where we did a small ritual off by ourselves after the festival's main ritual.

We then returned to the main Temple space for the second part of the festival, which has traditionally been a Reiki share.  Today, we did this in the form of a Reiki circle, in which all practitioners are giving and receiving Reiki energy at the same time.  We humans sat in a semi-circle, with those nearest either side of the altar placing a hand on it to connect in with the Gods of the festival as well. 

No festival feels complete without Pagan Arts and Crafts (tm), so we made healing lotions which we then placed on the altar to be empowered until the end of the day.  Theoxenia was vegetarian pizza (as healthy as pizza can get) and fresh fruit.

Our next festival will be the Panagon on September 27.  Until then, may the blessings of the Gods be with you!

Anadikia 2015

Khairete!

This weekend, we celebrated the end of one year and the beginning of another. As has become our tradition, this was a three-day retreat at the Temple space.

Friday - Diisoteria & Deipnon

On Friday evening, we gathered at the Temple and lit Hestia's hearth, each "bringing our fire" from our homes.  We had a dinner of lamb to celebrate the outgoing year.  We shared our accomplishments from the past year and our hopes for the year ahead.

Once dinner was done, we did some "Pagan Arts and Crafts," decorating paper maché skulls with the names of deceased ancestors, to be used in another ritual later.  (Some of us may possibly have gone slightly overboard with the paint, with the result that not all were dry in time for the Deipnon.)

Diisoteria

The focus of this ritual was to give thanks to the Gods for their help in achieving all that we've accomplished over the past year.  Thusia was sunflower-honey bread and libations of wine. 

Deipnon

We then extinguished the hearth and processed to Hekate's altar. 

Here, we wrote down things we had intended to accomplish but did not for one reason or another.  These were burned and the ashes swept away with the old year.

Saturday - Anadikia & Hephaestia Part I

Saturday morning, we started the day with a breakfast of smoothies and muffins before our first ritual, in which we greeted the new year. 

We returned the fire from Hekate's torch to Hestia's hearth and wrote down our goals for the coming year.  These were placed in a mason jar to be stored until next year, so that we can either give thanks to the Gods for helping us achieve them or else, if they become goals that are set aside, sweep them away with the old year.

Thusia was a loaf of olive oil/rosemary bread with libations of lemonade.

Scarlet Rose offered a workshop on connecting with Pan through the Labyrinth.

Lunch was pizza, followed by a table-tipping workshop that involved communing with the Temple Patrons.

Late afternoon saw a Hellenismos class in Household Ritual.  There was a walk scheduled for after dinner but other events intervened, so dinner was followed by the first part of Hephaestia, and a movie which ran parallel with a second table-tipping session.  The last event of the evening was a brief meditation in preparation for doing dreamwork overnight.

Sunday - Hephaestia Part II and Agathos Daimon

This morning started with a trip to Hannaway Blacksmith Shop to complete our Hephaestia celebration.  Upon returning to the Temple, we offered a final libation to the Agathos Daimon and Hestia to close the retreat followed by a celebratory brunch.

New Year Divination

As is our tradition, we did a divination to determine the God who will rule the year and each month, as well as what message from the Lemurian Alphabet Oracle each God has for us.

Month	Deity	Message
Anadikion	Hephaistos	The strife-bearing gift fulfills the oracle.
Therapaion	Dionysos	The affair upholds a noble undertaking.
Panagonion	Hermes	Phoibos speaks plainly, “Stay, friend.”
Pyanepsion	Poseidon	There is sweat, it excels more than anything.
Panaion	Athene	If you wait a short time, you will go on more easily.
Kheimonion	Eros	There is no fruit to be taken from a withered shoot.
Gamelion	Hera	We desire to see the offspring of righteous marriages.
Diasion	Demeter	There are no crops to be reaped that were not sown.
Eiarinion	Ares	You will have a parting from the companions now around you.
Delphinion	Hekate	Gaia will give you the ripe fruits of your labors.
Thargelion	Aphrodite	Apollo says you shall do all things successfully.
Philokhoria	Artemis	The work is hard but change will be admirable.
13th month	Persephone	In customs, inopportune strength is weak.

 

Philokhoria and Adonia 2015

Khairete!

We did the Philokhoria a week before the actual Summer Solstice, so apparently it made sense to post that festival a week after?  Oops.

Helios was gracious enough to keep the sun out for us until after the ritual proper, after which Zeus, fittingly, let a bit of a storm roll in.  Very fitting, considering the underlying myth.

Today, we celebrated the Adonia at Scarlet Rose and Draconis Pyrozale's site, temple name still under construction.

Scarlet Rose led the ritual, which we celebrated in two parts.  The first part commemorated the mourning of Adonis' death, with offerings to Persephone and the heart-wrenching Lament by Bion.  At the completion of this part of the festival, we processed out of the temple and returned to celebrate Adonis' return.  This part of the day featured a group reading of the Orphic Hymn to Adonis.

Our next festival will be the Anadikia, at which point the next year of festivals will be mapped out.

In the meantime, may the blessings of the Gods be with you!