// About Me

🧄 // about me

My name is Barley, or Lee. I am seventeen and I use he/she/they pronouns.

I consider myself to be a dual-faith practitioner, as in I practice two faiths -- Christianity and Hellenic Polytheism. I am unsure which denomination I will be for Christianity, however my practice has Catholic and United Church of Canada influences.

I am the host of a DID system, and while I (Lee) mainly use this account, you may see Rue (she/they) showing up, too.

🧄 // q&a

Q: How can you be Christian AND a Hellenic Polytheist? What about Exodus 20:3?

A: Exodus 20:3 states that you should have no other gods before God, and I do it as just that. God comes first in prayer, devotion, etc. but I still include the Greek gods in my worship. Additionally, Exodus 20:4-5 states that you should not worship anything created in the natural world as a god. This simply means that you can't take a rock, for example, and say it is a god.

Q: You cant do witchcraft! Its against the Bible!

A: Most cases of witchcraft in the Bible are referring to very specific kinds of (usually) malevolent magic that simply did not have an accurate English translation other than "witchcraft". Additionally, I try to deter myself from the word 'witch' as a label. That isn't to say nobody should use it, if you do good for you for reclaiming it, I however am just uncomfortable with the historical connotations. I prefer the term "folk practitioner" or simply "magical practitioner". Additionally, magic is prevalent through pretty much every culture, whether it be prayers, incantations, physical charms, etc. It is there and it is beautiful.

🧄 // links

Palestine Masterlist

🧄 // my other blogs

@lee-hellenic-butch

@whimsical-butch-wizard

prayers don't have to be perfect by the way.

I pray to the gods in the middle of my classes, my shifts at work, and in the shower.

I pray waiting at the bus stop.

I pray looking for something I lost.

I'm not always the best at consistently praying and leaving offerings at my altar. most of my worship is quick prayers on the go and devotional acts.

that's ok. I'm trying and the gods don't hate me or anything.

they don't hate you either. practice in a way that fits into your life and your needs. that's enough I think.

🌿Plant Spirit Devotional: 15 Day Exercise

Here's my concept for a method to facilitate bonding with a Plant Spirit or Herbal Ally over the course of a month. Obviously this practice takes far longer than a month to create a lasting bond with a plant spirit but hopefully this exercise helps provide some structure to the practice of bonding with a Herbal Ally. Feel free to use this outline yourself or modify it to your own needs.

15 days of Plant Spirit Devotion. Day 1: Introduction to the chosen plant. Day 2: The plants native habitat. Day 3: Cultivation, Foraging and Preparation. Day 4: Mundane properties (Culinary, Medicinal, Poisons etc). Day 5: Art inspired by / incorporating the chosen plant. Day 6: Magical correspondences. Day 7: Folk names and their origins. Day 8: Folklore and associated myths. Day 9: Deity / Spirit associations. Day 10: Plant's role in ritual: Cultural and Spiritual Significance. Day 11: Tarot / Oracle associations: Card spotlights. Day 12: Personal Sigil for the Plant Spirit. Day 13: Current Relationship with the Plant Spirit. Day 14: Personal goals when working with the Spirit. Day 15: Exercise conclusion, Take-aways and final overview.

My current plan with this exercise is to complete it each month for a different plant spirit / herbal ally, starting with Rosemary during February. Generally my plan is to spend the first half of the month bonding with the herb and researching it and the latter half of the month completing this exercise.

This Exercise was inspired by this post: link by @noctivague about a 15 day deity devotional. Thanks for the amazing idea!

Anthesteria

History

Held annually in Anthesterion, Anthesteria was held in honor of Dionysus to celebrate the coming of spring and the maturing of the wine stored from the previous grape harvest. The festival was held from the 11th - 13th of Anthesteria, roughly the end of February. If you want to learn how to track the Ancient Athenian months, you can see this post I made about the Athenian Calendar! Or you could just see this calendar here, since it’s already being tracked for you. 

Anthesterion was a strange holiday, as it was a celebration of the coming spring as well as the dead. Though it’s uncertain whether the month was named after the holiday or vice versa, both derive their names from the Greek word Anthos, meaning flower.

Keep reading

Going to celebrate Anthesteria over this weekend, actually, since I had zero energy for the actual days and I have a Monday off from school.

Praise Dionysus!!

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?