We spend too much time with ourselves and not enough with the Gods.

Iridescent-throned Aphrodite, deathless
Child of Zeus, wile-weaver, I now implore you,
Don’t — I beg you, Lady — with pains and torments
Crush down my spirit,
But before if ever you’ve heard my pleadings
Then return, as once when you left your father’s
Golden house; you yoked to your shining car your
Wing-whirring sparrows;
Skimming down the paths of the sky’s bright ether
On they brought you over the earth’s black bosom,
Swiftly — then you stood with a sudden brilliance,
Goddess, before me;
Deathless face alight with your smile, you asked me
What I suffered, who was my cause of anguish,
What would ease the pain of my frantic mind, and
Why had I called you
To my side: “And whom should Persuasion summon
Here, to soothe the sting of your passion this time?
Who is now abusing you, Sappho? Who is
Treating you cruelly?
Now she runs away, but she’ll soon pursue you;
Gifts she now rejects — soon enough she’ll give them;
Now she doesn’t love you, but soon her heart will
Burn, though unwilling.”
Come to me once more, and abate my torment;
Take the bitter care from my mind, and give me
All I long for; Lady, in all my battles
Fight as my comrade.

~ Sappho, Hymn to Aphrodite

Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defense of Olympus, father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul.
Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death.

Glorify the name of Aphrodite Pandemos,

Who blesses all people who seek her,

Lady of lust and love.

🐚

Goddess Diana and Lion. Angelo von Courten (German, 1848-1925).

Holy Queen of Sanctity,
we hymn you, Hestia, whose abiding realm
is Olympus and the middle point of earth
and the Delphic laurel tree!
You dance around Apollo’s towering temple
rejoicing both in the tripod’s mantic voices
and when Apollo sounds the seven strings
of his golden phorminx and, with you,
sings the praises of the feasting gods.
We salute you, daughter of Kronos
and Rhea, who alone brings firelight
to the sacred altars of the gods;
Hestia, reward our prayer, grant
wealth obtained in honesty: then we shall always
dance around your glistening throne.

Aristonoos, “Hymn to Hestia” ( William D. Furley and Jan M. Bremer, Greek Hymns: Volume I)

Apollo and the Graces (Charites)

“He [Apollo] holds the Graces in his right hand and his bow and arrows in the left because he heals faster than he harms”

Marcobius, Saturnalia

Glorify the name of Aphrodite Philomeides,

Who is love bubbling within the chest,

Escaping in fits of giggles.

She is the love that warms the body.

💖

Daniel Ogden has been kind enough to elucidate the means of performing rites with the Dead in a Hellenic manner. Naturally, parts of this aren’t viable today, and may be illegal in your area. I don’t recommend all of it, but it could be handy for designing a modern equivalent. Some of the deities that are most likely to be approached in this manner are: Hekate, Hermes, Persephone, Hades, Zeus Chthonios, Kirke…

“These are its [necromancy] main features:

• The rites take place at night (in Homer night becomes a place).

• The rites are focused around a pit and a fire.

• There are libations of honey-milk, wine, water, and sometimes olive oil, together with sprinkled barley. These are identical with normal, nonmagical, tributary tomb-side offerings to the dead. They are of a nourishing, soothing, and propitiatory nature.

• Black cattle (usually sheep) are sacrificed, their color saluting that of the underworld and of night. As usual with offerings directed toward the underworld, as opposed to heaven above, their carcasses are burned whole (in ‘holocaust’), not eaten.

• The blood from the jugulated throats of the cattle is allowed to drain into the pit for the ghosts to drink. This restores to them, temporarily, an element of corporeality, and so aids their communication with the living.

• Prayers are made to the ghosts and the underworld powers that reign over them, in the latter case to secure the ghosts’ temporary release.

• The ghosts arrive in a pressing host and must be managed with a sword, since they remain frightened of bronze and iron.”  p. 179 Ogden Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman World, Oxford, 2009. 

~ nehetisingsforhekate

Apollo and the Muses on Olympus
By: William Adolphe Bourgeoisie

Apollo and the Muses on Olympus
By: William Adolphe Bourgeoisie
Details:

Poseidon, Amphitrite, Persephone, Hades, Muses, Apollo

Demeter, Artemis, Athena, Hepheastus Nike, Hera, Zeus, Hestia

Hermes with a nymph