I don’t know that I’d go so far as to call it different “kinds” of miasma, but it’s certainly different once you get into the details of it. For instance, say I spend a day outside, hard at work in my garden. The result is that I end up covered in dirt, so if I asked you to describe my state, you’d probably say, “You’re dirty.” True enough. But now let’s say I spend my day hunting, eventually killing a deer with an arrow to the heart. I field dress the deer and proceed to butcher the meat. This leaves me covered in blood and viscera. Then I ask you again, describe my state. And again, you’d probably say, “You’re dirty,” and again you’d be correct.
But then I ask you to go into detail. How am I dirty, in each case? The dirt from my garden and the blood from my kill aren’t the same sort of dirtiness, even though either way, I’m still dirty.
What I meant by my comment was that either way, I’m dirty. I’m miasmic. But if I present myself to Demeter in that field, covered in the dirt of my garden, I’m personally of the opinion that She’d be more willing to forgive it than if I presented myself to Hera in such a state. Or if I presented myself to Artemis covered in the gore of my kill, She’d be more likely to see it as an act that honors her as opposed to if I showed myself to Hermes that way.
It’s all miasma, but I’m personally of the opinion that the source of the miasma is important to understanding why the gods may not want it around them. Miasma is something that separates us from the Theoi; it’s the unshakable humanity we have that, as deities, they do not. Things they find distasteful or offensive about our humanity. Try to imagine being an immortal being and something comes to you, covered in death. A heaping pile of no thanks, right? But one of the things I love most about the Theoi is that They rule over these very human experiences, too. Artemis rules over the hunt, which inherently involves death by its very definition. Ares rules over battlefields, which are always covered in death, too. Demeter rules over the harvest which is dirty, sweaty work. And on and on it goes, because we are humanity and They are our gods. So I believe that They’ve got a bit of a…tolerance, if you will, for Their own areas of expertise. That’s why I think the source of miasma matters.
Tag: Hellenic
Sometime I want us to talk about how much we (and by we I mean hellenic polytheist I’ve seen here as well as myself) pressure ourselves so much regarding to religion. And I’m not talking about pressure in a healthy way, I’m not talking about Areté. For example, I’ve seen a lot of people scared and worried about how they’re not doing well enough if the Gods don’t talk constantly to them, or if they don’t feel Them every time they pray. Other worshipers of other religions don’t have that worry, I’ve never seen a Christian thinking God doesn’t love them because He doesn’t talk to them when they pray. We (sometimes, it’s happened to me) doubt ourselves if we aren’t 100% recon, even if we follow the core pillars of this religion. I’ve seen people on here pushing themselves really hard, I’ve pushed myself really hard, because I didn’t feel worthy or like a good worshiper. It’s sad and unnecessary. I don’t know, maybe it’s because we’ve interorized that “no, that can’t be a real religion!” idea. But we don’t need to prove anything to anyone. We believe in the Theoi, we offer Them the best we have. If, in order to do that, you think you have to do it in the most reconstructionist way possible, go ahead! But guys, it’s not compulsory, you don’t have to dress, talk and breath like the Ancients did. What you HAVE to do is respect the Theoi, pray to Them, make offerings, honour Them, you have to follow the core concepts (eusebeia, xenia, avoidance of hubris and miasma, etc), but you don’t have to prove anything. You can do it at your own pace. Religion doesn’t have to be a punishment or a suffering, you’re here because you love the Theoi and you want to do the best for Them, You’re doing okay. We’re okay.
This is supposed to happen the first time Persephone is back to the Underworld….so I went and made a sequel for a comic that hasn’t even happened yet. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey….
Did I regret anything? No. No I don’t.
on deviantart
._.
He kidnapped her
Against her will
Thanks fo her father after her father raped her
She starved herself to get out of his place
twhere do people read romance into this, where??ßß1ßewkofp *flops over*
Thanks for continue to focus on the kidnapping part which is not the point of this myth.
Life and Death, the balance between them and the changes they cause, and the origin and meaning of the seasons cycle, on the other hand, are the real points.
Thanks for also persisting in the idea of Persephone as a passive figure. Kidnapped, raped, silenced, with no saying or power over anything (except for maybe starved herself because there are so many different versions of this myth that it’s difficult to keep track of them, did you know that apparently there is a version where she and Hades plot together?)
Thanks for also forgetting that she’s a goddess on her own and becomes Queen and Hades’ equal and actually they’re most stable marriages in the myths.
Thank you, you’ve enriched this post by telling me things I already know but I don’t care about. (◡‿◡✿)
Reblogging for the bitchin’ commentary and also to add that if anyone wants to read the most current (and IMO accurate) studies on Greek mythology and women’s lives, Women in Greek Myth by Dr. Mary Lefkowitz is invaluable (and incredibly inexpensive for an academic book).
The confusion comes from “Zeus” which is almost a title for a supreme god (think of the way “Caesar” was used). So you have Heavenly Zeus and Infernal Zeus, and they are not the same god but rather the supreme ruler of the sky and underworld, respectively. Likewise Persephone became known as “Infernal Hera” and this naming scheme persisted well into the Roman Empire, where Pluto and Proserpina are referred to as “Infernal Juno” and “Jupiter of Dis” in Book 6 of the Aeneid as well as on many grave monuments and in spells.
Moreover, gods don’t need to eat. Persephone refusing to eat was her refusing to become a part of the Underworld, not her attempting to starve herself. The gods are defined as being deathless, and in Ancient Greek “deathless” is synonymous with “god”. (Cf. Theogony, Works and Days, any of the Homeric Hymns, etc.) The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is really clear about this. (HH 2 370-4, 393-403.)
The marriage of Persephone and Hades is actually the most loving and consensual union among the Olympian deities. Hades first offers a dowry designed specifically to please Persephone (HH 2 10-14.), then carries her off and keeps her as a guest of honour in his house. (HH 2 341-345) Persephone is referred to as αἰδοίῃ παρακοίτι – his reverent wife. “Reverent” here refers to a respect for one’s duty, and the similarity between the pronunciation of αἰδοῖος an “Hades” is deliberate and intended to show how well-matched they are. Persephone misses her mother, yes, but is not overly upset about her marriage to Hades. Even Anchises expresses more regret over his union with Aphrodite. (HH 5 185-190.) Finally, as a proper parent, Demeter is rewarded for giving up her daughter, and offers a gift to the other gods in turn. (HH 2 441-495.)
It is worth noting that Demeter is given a position of remarkable power in this myth and is in many ways treated as or better than a father would be. The focus of the hymn remains the relationship between mother and daughter, and emphasises that it is a bond that can endure even after a woman leaves to marry. More importantly, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter is an etiological myth for the Thesmophoria and the Eleusinian Mysteries, a woman-only festival and the most enduring mystery cult of the ancient world. HH 2 serves to anchor women firmly in religious and family life and sets some fairly idealised standards for husbands. Many issues arise when attempting to interpret this myth into a modern context, which is why it is so important to understand that the myth was created over three thousand years ago and is largely a historical document reflecting the mores of the time.
This is the last time I’m reblogging this strip. I edited the original post because I’m really tired of this discussion, but latining’s comment is just perfect and flawless and really educating and everyone interested in this myth should read it.
THIS IS FUCKING BEAUTIFUL AND IM SO GLAD THAT MY BOYFRIEND REBLOGGED IT FOR ME TO SEE AND TO READ THE COMMENTS OMFG
Also like to point out that Hades and Persephone were one of, if not the, most faithful divine couples in Greek mythology.
Compare that to Zeus, who slept with anything that moved.
This comic is beautiful and adorable, and the commentary is (if you’ll pardon the pun) divine. A++, FAVORITE MYTHOLOGICAL COUPLE, WOULD FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM AGAIN.
#seriously people please stop trying to paint her as too dim to remember that eating would keep her there #she was a freaking GODDESS SHE KNEW THE RULES #also who the fuck eats SIX pomegranate seeds unless it’s to make a point? #no one that’s who #[/rant]
Beautiful commentary. God, I love mythology.
Prayer & Prayer Beads
Some of us pray as part of our spiritual practices, and our reasons for doing so are as varied and numerous as the gods we pray to. We may pray for help, for guidance, for favor, in devotion, in greeting, in thanks, to feel closer to our gods, or just to talk. Prayer is our direct link to the divine – no tools are needed, and anyone can do it. I’m a prayer bead maker, and prayer beads are a tool, but they are not at all necessary to pray. All you need are your words, or even your thoughts and feelings. If they’re directed toward the divine in communication, to me that’s prayer.
So, what are prayer beads for? While they aren’t necessary to pray, and I say many quick prayers without them, in my experience they can be helpful. Prayer can be quick and easy and frequent, but I think prayer beads have a place too – when you want your prayers to be deliberate, to set apart time for them, to be rituals in themselves.
Unless you’re part of a specific tradition that uses prayer beads, there are no absolute “rules” for how to use them. Here are some ways I’ve personally found them to be helpful:
- Prayer beads can be an immediate, physical and visual, connection to a god. When I pick up my prayer beads, I physically feel them vibrating with energy. The moment I pick them up, I’m in a different head-space. Touching the beads can act as a cue to shift you into a prayerful mindset. When you pick them up, you are ready for communion with your god/s.
- The use of beads with repeated prayers can induce a trance or trance-like state. I’ve personally experienced states of rapture and trance while using prayer beads. Holding them and speaking simple, repetitive prayers can carry you away. The time can slip away, too. If nothing else, it’s relaxing.
- Prayer beads can be used to meditate on specific aspects of your god/s. With the use of colors and symbols that are meaningful, you can focus on aspects of your gods that you love and want to feel connected to, or aspects that you don’t fully understand and want to know better.
Okay, so you have a set of beads. How exactly do you use them? Again, there are no absolute “rules,” though different religions use them in different ways. If you are not part of one of those traditions, here are some ideas to get started:
- You can simply hold them while praying spontaneously.
- You can assign to each type of bead a different prayer, speak the prayer while holding the first bead, then hold the next bead and repeat. I have a different prayer for each “element” of my beads, with the majority black bone being a simple repeating 2-line chant; the flowers, skull and pomegranate being longer written prayers; and the garnet being a cue to speak spontaneously.
- You can designate different sections of beads to focus on different aspects of your god, holding that entire section as you pray.
- You can wear them to feel closer to your god/s.
- Example – of-the-eucalypts’s prayer beads
- Example – amethystbonesblackheart’s prayer beads (Hope you guys don’t mind me linking to you, I just really loved both of your processes.)
- Anything else you can think of – be creative!
In closing…I’ve always been amazed by how prayer works. I can’t count the number of times that the perfect answer to a problem has come to me mid-prayer, and how many times I’ve left prayer newly energized, happy, feeling connected to my god and knowing I’ve deepened my relationship with Her.
I wrote this post because I’ve had many people ask questions on prayer and on using prayer beads. Again, they are not necessary for prayer – but if you are interested in using or making them, I hope this has been helpful, or given you ideas.
So apparently none of you guys were joking when you talked about how unsubtle Hermes was
Yes, I’m officially creeping on you. I just remembered this thing I reblogged a few months ago, and I wanted to see what you thought:. Go to my blog, and after the dot-com part, put in /post/61080490743/i-dont-ship-hades-persephone
I wouldn’t consider this creeping!
Unless you’re outside my home/work right now with binoculars >.> <.< 0.0
Sorry it took a bit to respond— I wanted to make sure I had the right translation in front of me. All love to the publicly available version by Hugh Evelyn-White, but the most straight-forward language translated directly from ancient Greek to modern English is found in The Homeric Hymns, Second Edition by Apostolos Athanassakis (2004), and that requires being at home where the edition sits on my mythology and classics shelf. You can get the book online, much less expensive if it’s used, and I highly recommend it.
Before I go on, I’m going to start out by saying that I don’t have a degree in the classics, but in literature and literary criticism. That being said, my interpretation is going to be different that other people’s and everything written here is only opinion based on several years of study.
Fallacies of Modern Interpretation
I remember reading “I Don’t Ship Hades and Persephone” a few months back when I was reading asphodelon’s blog. Here are my thoughts on the original post and followup comments…
The fact that the original author got her impression of Persephone from the pop psychology book Goddess in Every Woman by Jean Shinoda Bolen is… telling. She uses a lot of very broad archetypes for the goddesses she mentioned in the book, and I feel that her interpretation is jaundiced by a thin understanding of the myths, and a 3,000 year pile-up of later-antiquity, Renaissance, and modern depictions of the gods.
TW: Rape and its Historical Etymology
It’s about to get triggery up in here, because I’m going to talk a bit about abduction and rape. So, fair warning…
The language and the original text should always be the first stop in interpreting myth, and the historical context should follow close behind.
Let’s take the word ‘rape’. I’ll use my preferred translation by Athanassakis. The actual lines from where Hades pulls Kore into his chariot are as follows:
“…Earth with its wide roads gaped
and then over the Nysian field the lord and All-receiver,
the many-named son of Kronos, sprang upon her with his immortal horses
Against her will he seized her and on his golden chariot carried her away as she wailed; and she raised a shrill cry…”Our definition of rape today is “any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person”. And the language used in the poem, though she was abducted against her will, and though he carried her away does not mean ‘rape’ in the modern sense. Rape was added later during the Italian Renaissance when “rape” depictions were given as wedding gifts to wealthy Venetian newlyweds. This is where we get Bernini’s masterful sculpture, The Rape of Proserpine. The entomology of the word ‘rape’ has changed since the Renaissance. It came from the word ‘rapt’ which means ‘to carry off’, not ‘to force intercourse’.
To a modern audience, though this is rape. The subtlety in the text is furthered when we see the Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld’s name in the poem change from “slender-ankled kore“ (maiden) in line 15 to “noble Persephone” near the end of the Hymn in line 336 (Athanassakis, 2004).
But the stretch of time between Kore’s transformation into Persephone is anywhere from a couple months to a year in the hymn— nine days between Demeter’s search and finding out from Hecate and Helios that Aidoneus had carried away her daughter, and the few months to a year she spends in Eleusis at her newly-built temple the Telesterion refusing to speak with the Olympians.
Within this stretch of time, intercourse between Hades and Persephone took place. Whether or not it was forcible rape is impossible to determine. We have no record of the story except through the perspective of Demeter as she searches for her lost daughter.
Context: Marriage in Ancient Greece
Something we’re not taking into account is that we are viewing the story of Hades and Persephone from a great cultural and temporal distance. 2,700 years stand between us and when the Homeric Hymn to Demeter was written down. Many things have changed in that amount of time, most specifically marriage traditions.
The reality was that up until very recently, women were property. In many areas of the world, women still are property, transferred from father to husband. This is why even today Western marriages feature the father walking the bride down the aisle and physically placing her hand on the arm of her husband.
Ancient Athenian wedding preparations began under cover of night with the bride being taken to the groom’s house in a chariot. The groom would give the bride gifts, and the families would feast together, the men easting the first and women joining later. During the ceremony, the bride would eat an apple or pomegranate, or other fruit to signify that her needs were coming from her husband now, not her father. The groom would then forcibly grab the bride by her wrist and take her into his house to consummate the marriage.
Sparta’s rituals were much simpler. The groom would challenge the father or brothers of his intended bride to a fight and simply carry her off over his shoulder once it was over. Usually, these were arranged and the fighting symbolic to show that the new groom would be capable enough to defend his woman.
The civilization that predated classical Greece was the matriarchal Minoan civilization. Persephone and Demeter are archaeological descendants of goddesses that were worshipped in that culture before the Doric ascendancy. But by the time of the Homeric Hymns, that civilization was long gone.
I have no illusions about what sex was in marriage in ancient times. It was done without the clear consent of the bride and that by modern definition is rape. Women were chattel. It is a sad fact in all myths about the gods. Zeus deceived and raped Hera to make her his wife. Cupid had sex with Psyche without her even knowing who was on top of her. Most women in mythology were maidens pursued unwillingly. It was written into every facet of the culture. Hades gets the bad rap in modern society even though he was the only Greek god who remained faithful to his wife because he became a Satan analogue after the rise of Christian monotheism and trinitarianism.
So bear in mind: almost ALL sex within marriage in the heavily patriarchal ancient world, across nearly every culture, was done with at least dubious consent. This was the case until ONLY a couple hundred years ago. The modern practice of having a “best man” goes straight back to ancient Athens when the groomsman would stand guard outside the door of the bridal chamber, not to keep people out, but to make sure the bride didn’t escape her new husband’s sexual appetites.
With all this context in mind, the “abduction” of Persephone to the Underworld by Aidoneus would seem almost common place to the ancient audience.
Hades and Persephone as a Parable for the Ancient Audience…
Zeus had earlier promised Hades his choice of wife since he was given the Underworld as his lot. Hades desires Persephone as his bride and arranges the marriage with Persephone’s father. He presents a gift to her (the narcissus flower in the field of Nysa) and after Persephone accepts it by pulling it from the earth, he takes her into his chariot to bring her with him to her new home. He gives her further honors once she gets to the Underworld to show his commitment and love for her Persephone eats the fruit of the Underworld, signifying that she is bound to Hades as his wife.
But if this is so commonplace, why did Demeter grow so angered and starve all of Hellas to get her daughter back?
The original myth was a warning parable and morality tale of sorts, meant for its ancient audience… a morality parable that doesn’t resonate today because women are no longer the property of their father or husband. The moral of the story is this: you should respect and consult with your wife and speak with your daughter before marrying her off, otherwise life at home will be a living hell, not just for the father, but also the new husband.
Demeter makes Zeus’ life very difficult because he did not consult her in his choice of husband for Persephone. She sends a blight on all of Zeus’ worshippers until he fixes what he did without her consent
Likewise, Persephone unwittingly accepted the marriage proposal of Hades without knowing that she had been given to him, and resisted being taken away to be his wife. She changes his outlook on life so much in the Underworld that he gives her the gift of equality in rule and a portion of his timai (honor) by the time the hymn ends. To go from patriarchal arrangement and carrying her away to saying:
“Persephone go to your dark-robed mother,
with a gentle spirit in your breast,
and in no way be more dispirited than the other gods.
I shall not be an unfitting husband among the immortals,
as I am father Zeus’s own brother. When you are here
you shall be mistress of everything which lives and moves;
your honors among the immortals shall be greatest,
and those who wrong you shall always be punished
if they do not appease your spirit with sacrifices,
performing sacred rites and making due offerings.”…where he confers upon her the honor of being “mistress of everything that lives and moves” says A LOT.
Persephone then accepts the pomegranate seeds in secret, thereby accepting his offer as a husband. The acceptance of the seeds in myth is tantamount to sexual intercourse, since this was the last gift offering by the groom before consummating his marriage with the bride. For Persephone, being given a pretty flower wasn’t good enough. She wanted to be respected as Hades’ wife. Her interaction with Hades in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter ends with him giving her his fucking chariot to go home in (steered by Hermes because they didn’t trust women to drive back then) and awaiting her inevitable return.
Back in the sunlit world, she lies to her mother about the seeds, saying that Hades forced them on her, when in fact, only several lines up we read that he slipped her the pomegranate and she accepted the seeds in secret before she was about to be taken away. She then changes the subject and calms Demeter down with a lyrical recounting of the Oceanid nymphs she was playing with in the field with before being taken away. She starts her tale by saying to her mother that she is going to tell her the truth, and ends with saying “I am telling you the whole truth” even though we as the reader know that what she is telling her mother is NOT the truth.
Persephone conscientiously accepted the pomegranate seeds and knew exactly what they meant. She didn’t eat them in an air-headed moment and knew that they were not only an acceptance of marriage, but that they would bind her to the Underworld forever. She was given a choice to leave and never see Hades again, but instead chose to come back to him. Eating the seeds was not the action of a victim, but of a wife victorious in getting exactly what she wanted out of her marriage.
And honestly, if you went through a great struggle for equality with your husband, and you enjoyed sex with him enough to make the conscious decision to go back again and again, to leave the sunlit world of your childhood behind and dwell amongst the dead to do so, you probably aren’t going to tell your worried mom all about it.
In conclusion, the abduction of Persephone is a tale about why we have winter. With a quick reading through modern eyes and without context, consent is non-existent. Persephone is carried away and raped in the Underworld until Demeter gets into a strop and gets her released.
-OR-
The tale is all about consent and hints at a new and revolutionary kind of relationship: that of equality between husband and wife. Persephone doesn’t fully agree to be Hades’ bride until he gives her all due respect and honor. And Zeus learns a valuable lesson about respecting the wishes of and consulting with the mother before giving away the daughter.
With interpretation and context, the myth tells us this: DO NOT FUCK AROUND WITH OR MISTREAT YOUR WIVES. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL SUFFER GREATLY.
That we have any emotional reaction whatsoever to the myth of Hades and Persephone is testament to the fact that it is still relevant enough and has enough of a human element to where it is relatable and real. It is why Hades and Persephone remain so popular. It is why so many modern tellings exist, and why those tales have millions of fans. Beauty and the Beast, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Labyrinth are direct descendants of the story of Hades and Persephone.
The historical facts are that Demeter and Persephone were the chief deities in what were arguably the most popular religious rites in the ancient world: the Eleusinian Mysteries. They were in existence from at least the start of the Greek dark ages through the end of the classical era. In case you’re keeping score, that’s 1,000 years longer than the current lifespan of Christianity.
Persephone features prominently after the myth, even more so than her husband. When Odysseus speak with the rulers of the Underworld, he speaks to Persephone. As does Orpheus, and Herakles, and Psyche, and others. In fact, Pirithous, the one “hero” who doesn’t give Persephone respect and instead tries to carry her away from her realm like a powerless little girl, never makes it out of the Underworld alive.
Given their reverence and worship, their significance and popularity, what better players to showcase the power of women than Demeter and Persephone: the goddesses who control the fertility and harvest of mankind?
The strength of the mother-daughter relationship between Demeter and Persephone, and subsequently the bond that Persephone forms with Hades and how she transforms him and his realm and becomes the powerful Queen of the Underworld is why I ship Hades and Persephone.
tl;dr: A response to “I Don’t Ship Hades and Persephone”. The myth of Hades and Persephone is all about consent, but it depends on understanding historical context and what the myth meant to the ancient Greeks.
Why do you feel like Aphrodite would be a fan of slashing men’s throats with a perfume bottle?
Aphrodite can be Aphrodite Eleemon, The merciful
But she can also be Aphrodite Enoplios, Bearing weapons
Aphrodite can be Aphrodite Pandemos, she who is of all people
But Aphrodite is also Aphrodite Androphonos, the killer of men
Aphrodite is the lover of Aries, Aphrodite Areia, Aries the god of war and bloodlust. She is Aphrodite Epitumbidia, the goddess who lays upon graves. She is Aphrodite Skotia, queen of the beautiful darkness, she is Aphrodite
Tumborukhos, the grave digger.
Aphrodite is the taste of the sweetest lover on your lips, and blood in the back of your throat. She is the the lightness and newness coming from the sea at dawn, and the darkest night on a moonless ocean.
She is so much more than the goddess of love and happiness. Just as easily as she can send you over the edge of joy, she’ll bring you crashing down on the bottom of heartbreak.
Practical tips for Hellenic Khthonic Ritual
- Khthonic deities are of the earth or ‘under’ it so offerings were made outside on low altars (escharai) or into specially dug pits.
- For libations wine was replaced with water, milk, honey or blood.
- Animals sacrificed were black in contrast to white, which were reserved for Ouranic (sky) deities.
- Rituals were traditionally performed at night.
- Seeing as animal sacrifice is frowned upon nowadays and not feasible for most practitioners, votive offerings can be offered instead, i.e. black animal figurines, predominantly sheep and rams.
- Other offerings may include coins as traditionally an obol or oboloi (plural) was used as currency in Hades.
- Epithets were used more than plain names. Persephone – Kore (Maiden,) Carpophorus (Bringer of Fruit), Despoina (Mistress), Praxidice (Exacter of Justice). Hades – Aidoneos (The Hidden), Necron Soter (Saviour of the Dead), Eubouleus (Good Counselor), Necrodegmon (Receiver of the Dead), Plouton (Wealth), Polydektes (Receiver of Many Guests), Theon Khthonios (God of the Underworld).
- Any food offerings were wholly burned or buried (holocaust), none of it was shared with the ritual attendees as with Ouranic offerings.
- Gods associated with or make the Underworld their home includes Hades, Kore, Hekate, Hermes Khthonios, Kerberus, Erinyes (Furies), Kronos, Thanatos, Charon, Hypnos, The Moirae and Nyx, among a myriad of others.
- Heroes and ancestors were also worshipped in this manner, thought to exert great power from their tombs and the Underworld. F’ex, Asklepios and Herakles.
- Caves or deep chasms were also thought to be gateways to the Underworld though mortals were discouraged from venturing there before their time.
Disclaimer – This is solely from personal research and in no way indicative of how everyone should approach Khthonic ritual. Feel free to omit or adjust anything you see fit.
Household Gods
We usually think of ancient Greek religion as taking place in temples, but there was as well a strong aspect of household worship.
For the most part, household gods were not only household gods–they usually had community temples and festivals as well, although the god was often known by a different epithet or epithets within the household.
The following is a short list of gods who were frequently worshipped within the home.
Hestia
Hestia is the household god par excellence. She is far, far more than that–she occupies a central role in the ancient Greek religion and plays a part in not only household worship but civic rites as well, and takes part in the offerings given in rites honoring most other gods–but she was a center of household worship. She received offerings at family meals, and each new child born to a household was presented to her.
The hearth of each home belongs to Hestia.
Hekate
The hekataion was the home of Hekate within the household, and stood before the door, at the threshold of the house. The many small Hekate triformis statues still in existence may have served to represent the goddess in this context.
Hekate protected the household from evil from outside the home.
Hermes
Hermes was represented before a home in the form of a herm, typically a four-sided pillar with the head of the god on top and an erect phallus on the front. The herms within a city brought good fortune to the city (the destruction of the herms in Athens in the 5th century BCE was a serious crime), as a household’s herm did to the individual home. The herm had a practical function as well, serving as a boundary marker for the property on which it stood.
The herm was a home’s guardian, and would be anointed with oil or draped with garlands by individuals before their homes.
Other herms stood by the side of country roads and thoroughfares, again providing both protective and practical functions for travellers. The earliest forms of these were simple piles of stones which served as road markers.
Apollo Agyeius
Apollo Agyeius was represented before the home in the form of a conical stone or pillar. He protected the household from evil.
Zeus Herkeios (Zeus of the Courtyard)
Zeus Herkeios had an altar in the courtyard of the home, out in the open, where he received his offerings. Possession of such an altar was the mark of a good citizen; without it, one would not be eligible to hold certain offices. It is probable that only households of a certain standing would be expected to have an altar to Zeus Herkeios.
While the precise realm of Zeus Herkeios is uncertain, it seems likely that he protected not only the physical house but the family within the household as well; he would be a protector of the family over generations.
Zeus Ktesios (Zeus of the Storeroom, Zeus of Possessions)
Zeus Ktesios was represented in the storeroom of the home in an interesting and unique way; the householder took a two-handled jar with a lid, wrapped it in white wool, and filled it with an “ambrosia” made from water, olive oil and fruits. The jar was closed and kept in the home’s storeroom or larder.
His concern was the prosperity of the household; the presence of Zeus Ktesios within a home would ensure its material security and wealth.
Zeus Meilichios (Kindly Zeus, Zeus the Mild)
Zeus Meilichios was a chthonic or chthonian deity, which is to say that he had power beneath and within the earth. While he could be dangerous, he could also provide great gifts and blessings if treated properly. He was a giver of wealth and abundance and was often represented in the form of a snake, underlining his association with the underworld.
Although Zeus Meilichios was primarily worshipped by individuals, in Athens he was honored with a community festival as well, the Diasia.
The Carving Witch 