Usually Epione Or Apollon, Since Apollon Is A God Of Healing And Epione Is The Goddess Of Soothing Pain!

Usually Epione or Apollon, since Apollon is a god of healing and Epione is the goddess of soothing pain!

question for my hellenic pagans with joint/chronic pain. is there a deity you like to pray to for comfort?

Jesus was really right when he said the poor will always be with us. A lot of christians have struggled with Matthew 26:11, and it has caused a lot of people to subconsciously justify a de-prioritizing of the poor; we can bedeck our churches in opulence while people starve. We can make priorities of everything that makes our lives easier, and leave the hard work of caring for the poor for later, for our "thoughts and prayers." The poor will always be with us, so they can wait while we attend to our internal hungers.

I think what Jesus meant is that human greed will corrupt every system, which will always result in poor or disenfranchised people. We've tried a bunch of different socio-economic structures since then, and not one of them has worked to uplift all people. The eternal struggle against evil isn't about fighting off intangible demons, it's about fighting off the evil in our own hearts. We are never going to construct a "perfect system" that eliminates poverty automatically because someone will always try to take advantage of it. Instead, we must work every day, even when things are good and people are taken care of, to make sure that we see each other as deserving of dignity. We are never going to be able to legislate, dictate, or delegate our way into perspective. We have to work towards it, consciously, to make sure those around us are cared for. Vanity of vanities, a generation goes and a generation comes, but the poor remain forever.

The poor will always be with us because someone is always going to try and profit by depriving others. It is our mission and responsibility to improve as much of it as we can.

me, sitting at the altar/desk: I want to go home.

God, picking me up like a lost kitten: Child, you already are home. The home is not where one sleeps it is where you feel safe enough to sleep. It is not where you eat, it is where you enjoy what you eat. It is not where you live it is where you thrive. You may not feel like it right now but the heart within you yearns to be set free and fly; is that not enough? The hope? Does the hope not fuel the fire that warms the home?

me, sobbing: i am home.

Daily Devotions with the Orphic Hymns

Today is 4th of Metageitnion (21st of August)

This modern system of daily devotions blends material from two sources: Hesiod's sacred month, as described in his Works and Days, and the Orphic Hymns. The ideas in the Orphic Hymns sometimes don't match with more mainstream beliefs of the polis. But using these hymns is worth it because it helps us honor not just the main gods, but also many smaller ones. This way, we can pay our respects to a wide range of gods throughout the whole month.

Other hymns may of course be substituted at the individual's discretion. The numbers given for the hymns correspond to those in Apostolos N. Athanassakis, The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation and Notes

Thomas Taylor's 1792 translation of the hymns is available online, free and in its entirety, at the Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Here:

Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning

Wash hands and face

Light lamp or candle

Hymn to Hestia (#84)

Light incense

Hymn to Eos (#78)

Hymn to Helios (#8)

Hymn(s) to special god/dess(es) of the day (see chart)

Additional hymns as desired (see chart)

Pour libation

Make personal supplications and thanksgivings

"Orpheus to Mousaios" (pp. 2-5)

Extinguish lamp or candle

Evening

Wash hands and face

Light lamp or candle

Hymn to Hestia (#84)

Light incense

Hymn to Nyx (#3)

Hymn to Selene (#9)

Hymn to the Stars (#7)

Hymn(s) to patron/matron god/desses

Hymn to Sleep (#85)

Hymn to Dream (#86)

Pour libation

Make personal supplications and thanksgivings

Hymn to Zeus (#15)

Extinguish lamp or candle

A shortened version of the devotions may be done by simply lighting a candle, reading "Orpheus to Mousaios," saying any personal prayers, and extinguishing the candle.

Notes on chart:

Days mentioned by Hesiod as sacred to specific deities are marked.

Horkos is the god (or, if you like, personification) of Oath. Days sacred to this deity are considered difficult.

As the lunar calendar months range between 29 and 30 days in the Greek reckoning, it may be necessary in short months to recite all the hymns for both day 29 and day 30 on the day of the dark moon. As the last day of the month is sacred to Hekate, Her hymn should always be included.

About Incense

The Orphic Hymns specify particular types of incense to be offered to each deity. In cases where one is saying multiple hymns with differing instructions, one might either choose a single type or make a blend of all those indicated. Pure frankincense makes a good all-purpose offertory incense.

The incense specifications from the Orphic text are as follows:

Frankincense: Apollon, Ares, Artemis, Asklepios, Bakkhai, Dike, Eos, Hephaistos, Herakles, Hermes, Hygeia, Kouretes, Muses, Nike, Satyros, Silenos, Tethys, Themis, Titans

Myrrh: Leto, Nereus, Poseidon

Storax: Chthonic Hermes, Dionysos, Eleusinian Demeter, Erinues (also frankincense), Graces, Kronos, Semele, Zeus

Aromatic Herbs: Adonis, Athena, Eros, Eumenides, Fates, Hera, Hestia, Horai, Nereids, Nymphs, Okeanos, Rhea

Various: Mother of the Gods, Pan, Chthonic Dionysos (any except frankincense), Gaia (any grain; no beans or aromatic herbs)

No Incense (underworld deities): Hekate, Nemesis, Persephon

Praise Dionysus, submitted things to Queering the Map for the first time, I love life.

I need to finish this 😭 it's fired now and okay, been avoiding glazing it (it's happening. Slowly)

Soon...

Unfortunately the altar cracked but I think it's still useable

It isn't fired yet but will be soon, right now it's at the green ware or bone dry stage

Anyways first post on my new account yippee