Sex and the Gods

I know I have talked of this before but it seems that this issue like to rear its head every now and then, and when it does it makes me want to reiterrate these points. In fact I am going to be more blunt in this post than I have been in the past, just because I am tired of hearing the argument.

There seems to be a mistaken belief that is floating around that the Hellenic gods champion, patron or are linked to specific sexual identities. Therefore you end up having some members of the LGBT community celebrating certain gods as homosexual deities (examples of this would be Dionysos, Apollon—especially in regards to the Hyakinthos myths, and Artemis, among others), and then you have some heterosexual screaming their heads off that such and such a god isn’t homosexual, and at times even aggressively ignoring the myths (and associated festivals) in which a god appears to be having a homosexual (or in reverse for the other side of the fence…heterosexual) relationship when this was never an issue for the ancient Hellenes. It really is a sign of the modern culture in which we can be so obsessed with sex-identity that we feel a need to *claim* gods as being a part of our own sexual identities.

Yet when it comes right down to it, it doesn’t make sense on either sides of the fence. The gods don’t possesses biological bodies, they don’t possesses chemical hormones, they don’t literally have forms in the way that we think of it….therefore claiming any specific sexual orientation is rather ridiculous. The gods love, they experience attraction through Eros, and the love and union is going to be carried out on a spiritual level. The soul can’t be said to be strictly female or male, for which I think hermaphroditic images is more closely related to our spiritual existance. Truly though when you get right down it to the souls are aligned, in relationship to the gods, with having a receptive nature (therefore being symbolically feminine as we see in the myth of Psykhe) because we desire to receive the union with the gods. Otherwise I must say that we have no spiritual sexual orientation, and we possess many lives in which we may experience life as male or female, and probably a variety of sexual orientations over the course of our lifetimes.

As such to ignore male or female loves of the gods (depending on your stance) is just a matter of cutting off the nose to spite the face. Those of Kyrene, who celebrate the nupitals between the nymph Kyrene and Apollon were known to celebrate in the Hyakinthia. It is a testimony that the gods were not divided upon lines of sexual preference, and I really don’t see why it should be such an issue today that people feel the need to do so. The myths in which the gods love mortals (regardless of the biological gender of said mortal in myths) are those which worshipers should take in delight and reverence because they serve as messages to our own souls. The gods love humanity.

Art

Just a quick note here to say that I have a blog up as my “sketchbook” for my drawings, paintings and other art. I figured since I had something set up for my poetry that it didn’t hurt to carry on the idea. check it out!

http://hellenicspiritarts.wordpress.com/

I am starting with only my more recent work, largely because I don’t feel like going through and adding pictures everyone has seen a million times. So it is more convenient to start fresh with the two sketches I finished yesterday. Enjoy!

Worship on the go

Whenever I am in a position of moving there is something that I miss about not being settled and that is that I do have the full access to my religious belongings. That is not to say I can’t make due on very little. In fact all of my small statues fit quit snuggly in a small bag together without an issue for worship on the god, but rather I miss the small things that one takes for granted…the sturdy altar, the beautiful adornment of the shrines. The things that really make a home a home. Instead I have an assortment of small statues I can bring out and whatever small items that I have space to accompany them and make a worship that by necessity tends to be fireless, and settling for libations rather than the perfumed smokes of frankincense raising on the air. On the other hand there is something quite nice to having your worship with you…statues that can be set out lovingly with prayers offered and then packed again when it is time to move on. In some respects this makes me wish that I had more metal statues rather than just the iron Apollon I got from Delphi and the small bronze Hermes. I do have twinges of anxiety that perhaps one of the other statues didn’t get wrapped well enough and possible broke…though it has yet to happen. It is almost a marvel though when I can see the very essentials of my religious life fitting quite portably in a mini-backpack. And for this purpose they are always present with me.

poetry blog

Due to fact that it appears to be preferred that I keep my poetic work organized seperately from the essays of my blog, I have created a blog specifically for storage of my poetry. Feel free to visit!

http://lykeiapoems.wordpress.com/

Of fish, dolphins and frogs

Once again please bear with me since I am still doing this via phone.

Since I have been speaking recently of liminal animals, particularly that of goats, dogs, and wolves in recent posts, I thought I might take a moment to address another that is perhaps often overlooked…and that is the aquatic animals and their relationship to various gods. Poseidon as the god of the sea (and thus also the space in between the extremes) is most notable for being associated with such creatures in everything from fish and dolphins to mythological creatures such as seamonsters and hippocampi (seahorses in the most literal sense). These creatures are as such associated with the boundary between the world of men, and the unknown world as expressed by the unfathomable depths to which men did not (and still to some degree do not) have access. As such we see also dolphins carrying Proserpina in Italian art depicting her return, and we have images of Aphrodite riding upon a dolphin as she emerges in her birth from the sea. And we have Apollon who takes the form of a dolphin as a guide and is honored as Delphinus in respect to his dolphin form that he takes. This similar idea can also be expressed by the fish oracle of Apollon at Patara, Lycia. The presence of the dolphin in the cult of Apollon is fairly well known, and it is unsurprising that a god connected as he is with ports/harbors, mariners etc would not have strong aquatic associations in the means of sacred animals and even oracular forms if the sea is the liminal point between between worlds and Apollon is a god which traverses them both easily and illuminates the unknown. And then we have goddesses we take finned forms themselves such as Aphrodite Syria, and Artemis Eurynome of Arkadia.

Though Pausanias expresses some doubt as to how Artemis Eurynome can actually be Artemis, he does remark that the people of the area are quite firm in their belief that this is Artemis, and thus we can see that the name Eurynome is an epithet of her in this capacity which assigns attributes of the sea goddess specifically to this inland cult of Artemis where two important streams met. Euyrnome is by and large associated with the parallel functions of Artemis at the aquatic level over “pastures” as well as functions as a kind of divine nurse wherein Eurynome literally receives and nurses the infant Hephaistos after he was flung from Olympos. This daughter of Okeanos may compare in some fashion with the version of myths in which Artemis is attributed to parentage of Demeter and Poseidon…which though most strongly attested at Eleusis, is also evident symbolically by the close association with the horse that the goddess enjoys through the Pelponnese and her close association with particular rivers and springs in myth can reflect this alternative parenthood that clearly serves a very strong symbolic purpose. Thus it is of little surprise that she is thus honored at the meeting place of the Lymax (After-Birth…the source of which is the place where the infant Zeus was delivered and Rhea was bathed after his birth) where it falls into the Neda. Though Artemis is considered mythically a daughter of Zeus, we often see Artemis and Apollon, and Athena too in some myths, attributed to pre-Olympian manifestations…thus Apollon as a father of the Korybantes who cared for the infant Zeus it is not difficult imagine Artemis, the divine nurse, associated with the river related to the birth of Zeus. Especially as the Okeanid Neda was specifically one of the nymphs who cared for Zeus, which likely made this spot where the worship of Artemis Eurynome carried related to this connection of receiving and “nursing” the god. Kallimachus specifies how Neda secreted the infant Zeus away  to place him in the care of the Melian nymphs and the Kuretes that would raise him. Overall this place is then associated with two things…the delivering of Zeus after his birth and the purification of the mother by bathing.

Lewis Farnell in his The Cults of the Greek States talks briefly of the cult of Artemis under the Lacodaemons which honored Artemis as the nurse of the hyacinth, for which we may also see a parallel worship with the festival celebrated by the nurses of boys in secrecy in the same land every year…which again connects with a liquid, fluid nature of the goddess which nurtures even as she is the goddess of the wooded pasturelands. Likewise as a goddess of mariners she bringer of all to haven, or port (something which is specifically attributed to Apollon as god of ports) even as she may hunt her prey through her woods…she brings all to their destination. Therefore there is likely some very important association with the destination of these two meeting of springs that is being here honored which is connecting with the fluid nursing character of Artemis. And yet a nodd to her woodland aspect as cypresses planted all about the temple to Artemis Eurynome, the mermaid formed Artemis wrapped in golden chains. Such similar associations between the woodland and the aquatic realm is the device of the net which is used to secure both prey hunted on land, and fish hunted from the depths of the sea for which have other associations of Artemis with epithets of Dictynna and Britomartis.

And that finally brings us to the frogs. Aristophanes has a chorus of frogs, caretakers of the reeds, that praise in their song the following liminal gods: Artemis, Pan, Apollon and Dionysos from where they dwell in the underworld (perhaps another association of frogs inhabiting lower levels of water that may be associated with the underworld). These are the same animals which are renowned in myth in which Leto, in her travel through Lycia, transformed shepherds (or in some version villagers man, woman and child all) into frogs for rejecting her attempts to bathe her children there in their waters. This bathng of Artemis and Apollon by this myth is of particular importance, and we see it too in that Xanthus, in whose water Apollon is bathed is held in high esteem and all of Patara is honored. As Leto also has strong associations with the underworld in Lycia and Asia minor it carries a strong portal symbolism too between life and death, which brings to mind the Egyptian frog goddess Heqet who presided over births. Likewise the symbolism of the bathing carries further in which we see both Artemis and Athena exacting punishment for being spied upon in their baths, for in which case for Artemis is one of her most commonly known myths that it resulted in the death of Actaeon whereas for Athena the blinded violator was given the gift of prophecy. Therefore we see the watery realm symbolism further associated with this idea of foresight (for which we can understand Poseidon’s oracles as well), purification (on the part of the goddesses in myth), and transformation as typically the water is what is used as the vehicle of delivering the punishment. Frogs are very important to this transformative nature of water because it is in the water that this transformation occurs that allows them to go from living solely beneath the water to be able to emerge from it. This naturally brings to mind Plato’s Phaedo I believe it was in which our heavens are described as being like the sea of a higher world (my paraphrase here)…and therefore this transedence can also imply emerging into a higher state too. Which may explain in part the importance of the frog symbolism that it was carved on the doors of Delphi according to Plutarch.

Thus whether it is possessing a fish’s tail, or taking the form of a marine creature, as symbolically related to specific aquatic animals, it delivers a wealth of meaning potential within it.

ladies of the veil

(once again courtesy of the cellphone)

It has come to my attention that more and more polythestic women are coming out and proudly incorporating headscarves into their wardrobe. An activity that has a long recent history of being associated with Islam and strict sects of Christianity and Judaism is now being reclaimed by many ladies who honor the gods. It is all so very exciting really, especially considering how in this day and age the practice of veiling is looked down on as an activity of supression by so many people, and as a relic of the past. Yet the headscarf has a beautiful and noble history worldwide in its various fashions (and is so much more comfortable than a hat which covers less and doesn’t let the scalp breathe so well) that can be embraced by any woman who desires to take up the cloth whether it be for modesty, personal privacy, or spiritual reasoning. We know among the romans that veiling for spiritual purposes was under taken by men and women…the former of which would fold the end of their toga over their heads when engaged in prayer. Likewise in Hellenismos it was rather common for the hair of women to be bound up, and loosened under conditions which are called in specific rites of mourning.

Therefore polytheistic ladies should not feel afraid to veil their hair if they are called to do so (amittedly perhaps only a few in any sizable population may feel such a need) out of some misplaced idea that they are stealing another religious and cultural identity…for that is not the case.  It is not a practice restricted to any of the Abrahamic faiths. There is a long history of women covering their heads in various parts of the world from ancient times into more modern eras (let us not forget that the wimple was used not THAT long ago). This is because it is a practical application of clothing that has evolved which serves a purpose. First it is a protective peice of clothing, this is especially important in the summer when the sun is beating down..and for us fair skinned ladies it is also helpful in avoiding more painful sunburns. Second, it is clean. Despite what some may think headscarves are clean and kept washed and laundered. It is not only more sanitary for our daily activities which may require the handling of food, but also keeps the hair cleaner. This would have been particularly important when washing one’s hair didn’t occur as often as one would have liked.

Therefore ladies, if you feel the desire to veil your hair know you are in perfect right to do so, and do so proudly!

Persephone’s Descent and Return

Bear with me..I am typing this from a mobile phone heh.

There is a fairly widely supported theory that Persephone’s time in the underworld is concurrent with the summer during which the heat reaches its heights during which, supposedly the earth would have lain fallow until planting resumed in the autumn. In this theory then Persephone is rising in the autumn. However there are several problems with this idea, and reasons why I don’t accept it into my own worship.

1. There is no festival anywhere near the beginning of summer which would indicate the descent of Persephone. There are those who suggest that the Lesser Eleusinian Mystery in the spring is the descent of the Persephone however this falls out of alignment with other festivals. For instance it is so closely placed to the Anthesteria, a festival of flowers, that it generally conflicts with the nature of Anthesteria. Likewise this disregards that Thargelia in May was celebrated with green unripened wheat in Athens, and that Rhodes had festivals for Apollon and Dionysos Smintheus in which they killed rats that would eat the plants, as well as a festival to Apollon to prevent “rust” from attacking wheat. It also startlingly conflicts with other ideas that scholars have that Apollon brings the wealthy of grains from Hyperborea in the summer.

2. This theory of wheat harvest in spring assumes that the ripening of wheat occurs in a period with rain. This is not true. Wheat needs considerably amount of rain to begin growing but they also need a dry period in which to ripen. Festivals to prevent “rust” (a micoorganism which attaches itself to grain plants) occurs in unseasonably wet environments. We see this is in the above mentioned festival to Apollon, and in Rome there was a similar festival in the summer for Mars who likewise protects the grains. Wheat has a fairly long growing cycle, but like most vegetation one that is thankfully sped up in northern climates due to longer hours of sunlight that the north has in comparison to more southern climates, so that grain can be grown anywhere.

3. This idea also assumes that harvest and planting does not occur, more or less, side by side…which is rather daft. One can harvest, and in some instances burn the reminants of the feilds (such as seems to occur with sugarcane harvest), and then go back over a couple weeks later and start planting. In many subtropical climates there is a very fine line between harvesting and sowing seasons. I once had a friend from Nola who said that her figs, and other trees, she would shake in the autumn to help speed along the dropping of the old leaves and within a very short period there would be new leaves emerging.

4. This idea also ignores that the symbolism involved in autumn planting…the seed is going into the earth…the grains from the harvested/sacrificed ear of wheat is going into the earth where it may be fertilized by the rains of Zeus and bring blessed prosperity upon us all. Whether this sprouting occurs in winter or spring in cooler climates matters not. We set the seed into the earth (just as the flowers and trees let loose their seeds naturally to lie dormant in the earth until the appropriate season comes) with the hope for growth and a new harvest.

So here we have celebrated the return of flowers with Anthesteria (not ignoring the fact that there are hardy plants that may have blooms in winter such as violets..and even the crocus was said to bloom in the winter) in which all the beautiful flowers of spring have colored the world. We see the poppy blossom in opposite of the wheat ear. The tender young growth of wheat is growing for certain, drinking having drunk and still drinking the rains of winter and those of the approaching spring.

So whereas some will hold to the idea of Persephone’s time in the underworld during a fallow summer, I see no reason to adopt this idea.