Media Monday #4: Hestia of Appalachian Hospitality

Sharing another piece of devotional writing, in honour of Hestia of Appalachian hospitality. [Image text:here sweet Hestia guides our hands.here a fresh pot of coffeeis brewed each meal andeach time a new pair of bootsis left in the mudroom.here GPS doesn't work and mapsare scarce, but the cashierat the gas station always knowsthe name of …

star-crowned Dioskouroi

we meet first beneath the waves,beneath a dark and dazzling sky.i do not yet know your names, buti do know the heavy quiet ofthe ocean floor, the way the pressuresettles upon my body like a mantle,comfortable and well-worn.it is here my mind slows and sharpens,finds safe mooring unreachableboth by day and by land.within beams of …

A Story of Dionysos and Madness

Once upon a time, years ago, I tried to offer my madness to Dionysos. I was very young and very sick and very tired. At 18, I had already experienced more madness than most people will undergo throughout their whole lives. I felt like I was living with one foot in the grave and the …

Anthesteria 2018: Whose Carthasis is it Anyway?

I celebrated Anthesteria last month but wasn't ready to write about it until now. For those unfamiliar, Anthesteria is the Festival of Flowers in Hellenic religion. It is set in the spring and involves opening the new bottles of wine that had been preparing over winter. Anthesteria lasts for 3 days, and each day honours …

Lenaia 2018!

Finally breaking my radio silence to post some quick thoughts about Lenaia! At the beginning of the year, divination + an educated guess told me Dionysos had claimed my festival calendar and practical focus for this year. Lenaia is the first major Dionysian festival I've celebrated this year - although January Noumenia was a doozy …

Full Moon Fun/Summer Update

Wednesday was the full moon, and I took advantage of the semester being over to hold a couple hours' worth of ritual. This semester was not great for me in terms of ritual, so it was good to do something longer. I started by joining in on Kemetic Orthodoxy's Tepy-Semdet Rite, which I dedicated primarily to …

Yearly Update (Or, the Vacancy Sign)

So I had a really long post written for this update, and finally, I intentionally deleted it all. This is a bit of a yearly religious update, if we’re calling Wep Ronpet the new year (we are). The quick and dirty: 1. I’ve been “officially” Kemetic for over a year now, marked by Wep Ronpet. …

Hermes: Master of Lions in Aphrodite’s Female Rites

I stumbled across this truly fascinating article on JSTOR the other day, and thought it would be worthwhile to type up my notes on it. The article is called "Hermes as Master of Lions at the Syme Sanctuary, Crete" (Lebessi 2010). (As always with my research posts, message/comment for a copy of the PDF.) So …

our lies are promises (for Hermes)

i. he comes in a slow burn: each drip of honey down the inside of my skull takes years. ii. the wings are on his feet his hands his eyes (no one warned me of the exhaustion of loving a god who never stops flying) iii. his fingers leave bruises on my shoulders and he …

Hermes Dotor Eaon

Since Thursday April 30 was my final day of exams for university, and I graduated that Saturday, I decided Thursday was finally time to hold a thanksgiving ritual for Hermes. As I mentioned in this post, I've been promising Hermes a formal ritual for a year, but had no idea what to do. A thanksgiving …