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by Bacche
For many of us, Greek paganism was the first paganism we encountered, in books of myths at school. Nowadays, the Craft is nearly mainstream, but when I was a young girl, the idea that I could be a witch myself was outlandish, even a bit frightening. But Greek mythology had insinuated itself artfully into the culture. It was a little geeky to like the Greek myths, but not frightening.
I count myself lucky in junior high school to have read a lyrically written book of Greek mythology and felt one of the beginnings of my spiritual call. I remember a tale about Artemis that ended by showing how the print of a horse hoof on the beach echoed the crescent moon. I can still see the half-dark, cool, late-spring classroom where I read that. I feel that resonance still.
I don't consider myself a Hellenic reconstructionist, though my spirituality does incorporate aspects of Hellenismos; I honor several ancient Greek deities and have written rituals in Hellenic form. (The words "Hellene" and "Hellenic" come from the Greek word for Greece, Hellas; "Hellenismos" is another name for Hellenic spiritual practice.) But I've come to know more about Hellenic practice through my interaction with an online thiasos, or ritual group, dedicated to the Greek god Dionysos. The thiasos's participants range from people who identify only as Hellenic reconstructionists to those who do both reconstructionist and other ritual, like myself. Including lurkers, the list hosts more than 60 members, some of them from Britain and beyond.
Dionysos is far from the only Greek god with a following online or in the real world. Greek deities from Artemis to Zeus, and lesser-known gods as well, are to be found with a click on Google. Many Hellenic ritualists have shared quite beautiful rites on their Web pages. I list some online resources I've found valuable at the end of the article, but these are barely a fraction of those available.
The printed word on Hellenismos also abounds. Any reconstructionism I've encountered quickly requires a reading list, and Hellenic reconstructionism is no different. The core how-to book of the Hellenic reconstructionist movement seems to be Drew Campbell's Old Stones, New Temples. Published in 2000, it walks the beginning Hellene through the mythology and thinking of the ancient Greeks, including chapters on the underworld, mystery groups and divination. It introduces the reader to the ancient Greek approach to piety, to rites of childhood, adolescence, marrying and burying and to the Greek ritual calendar. I find it a pretty good starting point.
Moving to more scholarly work, I would recommend to the would-be Hellene the many works of Carl Kerenyi -- especially, for beginners, The Gods of the Greeks, which gives a much deeper and more nuanced look at the Greek deities than many -- and Walter Burkert. But one of the great benefits of Hellenic reconstructionism, compared to other kinds, is that we actually have the written words of the ancient Greeks themselves. Read Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, the Homeric hymns to the deities, Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days. Read the plays of Euripides, Sophocles and Aeschylus, and any other Greek playwright you can get your hands on. Read Herodotus and Plutarch. No book by a modern can substitute for an immersion in the classics.
The full reading list (if there is such a thing) is a long one, and I'm not going to attempt an extract here. You can find several good lists online. Going further, many if not most serious Hellenic reconstructionists are drawn to learn ancient Greek, which you can also do online. Even a little Greek can help you think your way into recreating ritual that calls the essence of the ancient practices.
To me, calling that essence is the point of reconstructionist ritual. If I get as close as I can to the actual words and gestures the ancients used to call the gods, as best translated to my understanding, maybe I can call up something like the feeling behind the ancients' rituals; maybe I can truly speak to those gods. We all realize that we cannot become the ancient Greeks, that our times and our culture remain far different, across a yawning gap of millennia. But if for one moment I can feel my way into a relationship to the gods and to the world that gives me a connection like that of the believers of ancient Greece -- that for me is the goal.
Scholarly study is not the center of my Hellenic religious practice. For me, as when relating to any gods, I believe the first thing in working with ancient Greek deities is to sit with them. I meditate and see what comes. When I feel called to a god, I create an altar for that deity, even just a small one. I begin devotionals, occasional or on a schedule, either based on historic precedents or on my own inspiration, whichever feels right. Only the gods can initiate a follower into Hellenismos.
If like me you want to perform ritual with others, you might seek a while. Hellenismos as yet is thin on the ground, and ritual groups are few. I've found that I need to either wheedle pagan friends from other traditions to practice Hellenic ritual with me, or seek out folks online. So far, geographically spread out as we are, the latter approach hasn't borne fruit.
Though I haven't worked with them myself, I see that the Hellenion, www.hellenion.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit out of Connecticut, is organizing demoi (religious groups) to offer local congregations, study opportunities and fellowship for those who worship the ancient Greek deities in traditional fashion. Their Pacific Northwest regional mailing list is found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hellenion_pacwest/, though as yet there seem to be no demoi or proto-demoi in our area. Other groups also seem to be forming.
However we approach them, the gods of ancient Greece have not yet lost their power to call us. Whether that power manifests as a whisper in meditation or the will to create a demos, if you feel the call you are not alone.
Online Resources: General
The Perseus Digital Library, with Greek classics and commentary online: www.perseus.tufts.edu
Daily Hellenic devotionals: www.ecauldron.com/dc-devotions.php
Hellenic polytheism explored: www.winterscapes.com/kharis/index.htm
One Hellenic bibliography: www.winterscapes.com/dionysus/biblio.htm
Hellenion hymns and prayers: www.hellenion.org/Hymnodia.html
Hellenion Pacific Northwest list: groups.yahoo.com/group/Hellenion_pacwest/
Hellenion: www.hellenion.org
Sannion's Sanctuary (includes a bibilography): www.winterscapes.com/sannion/
Online Resources: Specific Deities
Demeter: An online shrine: www.templeofdemeter.com
Hecate: An online shrine: www.hecate.org.uk/sacred.htm
Hermetic Fellowship's virtual shrine to Dionysos the Liberator: www.hermeticfellowship.org/Dionysion/Dionysion.html
Thiasos Dionysos: www.winterscapes.com/thiasos/index.htm
There are many, many more resources available. Just look!
Copyright © 2006 by the article's author