Monday 3 March 2014

Fervour Ekstasis




A whisper, like ivy tendrils
Caresses my mind
And makes me shiver.

I see the God in his eyes,
Smell Him in his sweat,
Taste Him on his skin.

I feel Him in his fingers.
My sight turns to mist
And drum beats echo from far away.

I slip, slide from his embrace 
And fall into His
Through smoke and wine and madness.

In frenzy, I feel the need to scream,
To dance, to roar – We are lions! –
The need to tear flesh and wash it down with blood.

I fall from myself
Deeper and madder and to a darker place;
I fall into silence.

I fall before Him,
Desire set upon the altar of my flesh;
My thoughts of Him alone.

My obsession, my dream, my Muse-man.
In bondage to His glorious call
I drink of His inspiration -

Fill me, O God, with Your heat
And when the flames consume me
Lead me to be reborn. 



Horned is the hunter



Horned is the hunter
And horned is the prey
For he who takes the offered life
Is also he who’s slain

He who is the offerer
Is the offering
and the prey’s blood dripping on the ground
In the hunter’s veins does sing

Crowned is the victor
And crowned in defeat
For the life that leaches from the prey
In the hunter’s heart does beat

Summer’s Lord and Winter’s
Death and life, night and day
The cycle carries on and on           
The hunter is the prey

Divine Irony



The gods do dream in mortal shape
And walk among us while we’re awake
Yet while we sleep we yearn to be
Like those who crave mortality
The sorrow we shun within our lives
Our pain, our fears, our hopes and lies
The gods seek out and they embrace
All that which we fear to face
The pain of love, of birth, of death
They yearn to feel with every breath
And while we long like them to be -
They envy our humanity.

Fridge Magnet Anthesteria





You whisper;
       And I -
Joy drunk,
Fall from your mad embrace
Through milk and honey and warm ecstasy.
My blood trembles
And fevered visions flood from your fierce worship

Prayer to the Muses




Sisters of the spoken word
Ladies of all artistry
Nymphs of Mind who ride ones thoughts
Who give and offer, tease and taunt
Born of storm and memory

I call thee Ladies, to inspire
The graceful, glorious, gifted Nine
I Name thee Muses and call ye forth
To imbue my Craft with creative force
To give shape to what I can’t define

A Dream of Apollon



I dreamt last night,
Of hazel eyes
And the smell of bay leaves burning.

You knelt above me
Music in your touch
Playing upon me like on the strings of a lyre.

Blazing like the sun,
Your golden gaze drew me forward
Like a bloom searching for heat.

You tasted of honey,
Parting my lips with your tongue
And setting my flesh aflame with your kiss.

I dreamt of you,
Lying with me in a noon-warmed field,
As sunlight chased patterns over our glistening skin.

I dreamt of you
And woke with the warmth of sunshine
Clinging to my spirit

Medusa, My Love




My Lady of the oceans' steep
High cliffs;
Those built up with
The bones of all who've
Looked upon and seen
Thy face alight and shining bright
With terror,
Beautiful and fair;
And whose eyes that hold
Reflections now of me.
I stare as though, I've turned to stone
Enthralled;
In thrall to thee
I give myself, breath and soul
To thee in offering.
And offer forth my life, my flesh
My joy and suffering,
To gaze from now
To the end of time
Upon thy mystery.

Memories of the Stag King – Ostara Ramblings

 
The snow falls and magic stalks the Young Stag

He lifts his head, smelling Nature stir

Too young for battle, to old to not attempt

He chases, never catching his quarry

The hunt becomes eternal, replayed in dreams and whispers and half-real remembered scenes

Young Stag becomes King Stag, forever searching for his first spring. 

Know this – I died for you



(An offering for Remembrance Day)

Whether I rest ‘neath the poppies of Flanders Fields,
Or in an Unknown Soldier’s grave;
If my bones are dust under Marathon’s plain
Or I lie below Acteon’s waves
            Know this – I died for you

If I fought with shield and blooded spear
Or with the cannon’s mighty roar
If stalked through burning jungles growth
Or on jet-wings fiercely soared
            Know this – I fought for you

Whether it was freedom we were fighting for
Or land or goods or love
My opponents were as flesh as I
Made of bone and breath and Blood
            Know this – I took life for you

When war is fought and blood is shed
It is no ones victory
But we must protect all that we love
Safeguard home and family
            And I would die again for you

You need not know why I fought
Or where from which I came
You needn’t know how I died  
Or even know my name
            But remember what I gave for you

I traded in my dreams for death
Left behind husband, child, wife
In order to uphold your chance
To live a free and peaceful life
            Be worthy of what I gave for you

It is up to you now to hold the watch
To wage war against tyranny
Weather with weapons or words or protest
You must struggle to remain free
            Do not give up what I won for you

Litha



Sun stands stock still like a forge blazing in the heavens
The colours of fields and flowers woven out of its light
Where sea meets sky a heat haze hangs on the horizon
Teasing with glimpses of faeries flying just out of sight

The sun rises strong, but knows its strengths fading
The Horned One accepts His own death with His crown
For from now on till rebirth, the Sun God is waning
To the life of the land the life of the God has been bound

So jump the bonfire and burn away evil
Carry a torch in procession and bless land and home
Gather the garlands and deck all with flowers
Celebrate beauty for its sake alone

Sing of Midsummer's wonder in play and in pageant
Sing of the eternally conquering light
But never forget that the longest day’s laughter
Always lead us back into the dark of the night

Autumnal God



Blood, red upon the leaves of brown
And red leaves lie upon the ground
A crown of oak and berries wound
Upon His head held high and proud
His feet, firm upon the hallowed road

His cloak cast over the glades and fields
It’s shadow causing life to yield
And strength within the seeds to seal
And like the power that He wields
Be kept safe deep within the earth’s abode

Balance never does last overlong
Winter’s silence gives to summer’s song
And summer yields when winter’s strong
The Old God rules now and not the young
And the Young God shall be reborn from old

Lammas Sacrifice



 The corn is cut with a crescent blade
As summers strength begins to fade
The god fulfills the pact he made
For his sacrifice to end his reign

The scythe that brought the harvest in
Cuts his neck and cleaves his skin
Yet he offers it with a willing grin
For by his death shall life remain

His blood seeps thick into the ground
From his hands falls a golden crown
His fate to the fate of the crops is bound
As his strength is passed into seed and grain

Sun-King once, now ghostly pale
We send him off with a mourning wail
Yet too with joy, for his fate entails
That like the seeds he will rise again
 

Samhain




            A cheshire smile made of moonlight
            The sound of bones beating the drums
            The hiss of the winds in the willows
            The fading light of the weakening sun

            The wail of the ghosts of the Fallen
            The wail of the Goddess who mourns
            The wail of the Horned One who's offered
            Merge with the call of the Wild Hunt's horn

            Jack o lantern lights flicker in darkness
            The smell of rotting leaves fill the night
            The veil is torn all asunder     
            Giving glances and glimpses of Sight

            The dead and the gone walk among us
            Those who we honour and grieve
            We revel in the grace of the darkness
            During this All Hallowed Eve

A Prayer to Dionysus



Dionusos, send your blessing
Relieve me of my mortal pains
Fill me with your healing madness
Before I drive myself insane

Blessed Bakkhus, bring oblivion
Let me sleep a dream-filled sleep
Send your wisdom-laden liquid
To drag me down into the deep

Eleuthereus, emancipator
Relax my body and my mind
Fill my lungs up with your visions
Show me what I need to find

Nyktipolos who prowls the night
Drown out my hurt with ecstasy
Through lust and pain and violent loving
Set my mind and spirit free

Kharidotes – who brings grace
Inspire me in words and rhyme
Ease the passage of my thoughts
And turn them into flowing lines

Dionusos send your blessings
Let me see with mystic sight
Let me wander in your shadows
Until I’m ready for the light


Storm Crossed




(a poem for Zeus)

A deep-throated rumble stirs the heavens
And with a nod, the earth shakes
His storm grey gaze summons me
And I surrender.
I fall, as so many before me have
Into love, lightning-quick.
My will, my reason,
Brushed away by the barest hint of his lips against mine. 

A Heart to Cleave To



(A poem written for the beautiful wedding of two friends)

To find a heart to cleave to
A soul to delve within
Warm flesh to lie beside at night
To stare into anothers eyes
And see yourself therein

To find heaven in a simple touch
And hell within goodbye
To hear your name upon their lips
Be greeted with a single kiss
And feel your soul take flight

To have fasted your fate unto another’s
To have two lives merge into one
What other blessings could I offer thee,
Greater than what you share between,
Greater than the beauty of your love

I Want




I want to hear what darkness sounds like.
To see the shapes that silence hides.
To feel caresses of the hurricane,
Walk beneath receding tides.
Everybody’s secrets are the same ones,
Deep down we share the lies.
You can tell another’s deepest feelings
If you would listen to their eyes.
I want to see the setting sun
Drift down into the east;
See waves erupting from the mountain
See flames upon the seas.
Our desires are not different
Childhood fantasies though were grown.
The faces that we see of other’s
Are reflections of our own.
I want to dance upon the clouds,
And feel the coldness of the flames;
To hear the song the stars do shine
And feel the dryness of the rains.
We scream our fears aloud in whispers
And disguise our pain in sight.
We see ourselves as clothed in shadow-
Where others see our light.
I want to taste the rainbow’s colours,
To see the breath inside the gems,
To climb the ladder made by moonlight.
To be known for who I truly am.
We all want to be ourselves,
To love and to be loved,
Want to feel that feeling- that elation-
When the impossible is done.


By Red and Green and Sacred Things

 
By red and green and sacred things,
Through wine and weed and words -
A call that only I can hear,
My thoughts within me churn.

A deafening silence within me rings,
Words tumble from my lips,
The spirits of the world draws near
And hold me in their grip.

By sounds and signs and images
Transcribed upon the page,
Of ecstasy and love and lust
Of sorrow, pain and rage.

The liquid passes o’er my lips,
His red-blood fills my veins,
The smoke expands within my lungs;
And reality does wane.

I spin and dance and leap about
And yell and prophesy;
The veils of space and time grow dim
And rend eternity.

The worlds collide and overlap –
Heaven, Earth and Hell.
I walk on old and shadowed roads
Ones that he knows so well.

Truth and lies and in between
Twist and fuse and merge,
Whispers shout into my ears,
And fantasies emerge.

My body aches and yearns and longs –
I hunger for his kiss.
His scent excites my flesh and soul,
His touch brings fear and bliss.

These gifts given from my Lord
Teach of secrets and unseen
Granted by the power of
Words and red and green.


Elemental Prayers



Earth and Stone
Bread and Bone
Kin and Kind
Hearth and Home
To Earth I call
Uphold me
Grant me strength
And prosperity

Sea and Wave
Love that Saves
Hope and Heart
And all we crave
To Water I call
Purify me
Grant me grace
And beauty

Wind and Air
Thoughts we share
Life and Light
Youth so fair
To Air I call
Advise me
Grant me truth
And the gift to See

Heat and Hate
The need to create
Flame and Fire
Passion Great
To Fire I call
Consecrate me
Grant me power
And nobility

Hellenic Prayer Beads and Prayers for Each of the Gods Represented



This is my set of prayer beads; each bead represents a deity in the Hellenic pantheon (and Inanna, who is Sumerian).

This is which deity each bead represents, starting with the bead symbolizing Hestia (Hestia, thine is always the first and the last)



Inanna of the Thousand Offices



The name Inanna is one of the oldest known recorded names for a divinity worshiped by human kind and the figure of Inanna is one of the oldest and most influential goddesses in human history.  She is the holy virgin and the sacred whore and may have initially been named Nin-anna, which is translated as ‘lady of the sky’; she is among the earliest divinities to be associated with the planet Venus, in both the Morning Star and Evening Star aspects.

Inanna is the Sumerian "Lady of the Thousand Offices", a goddess of love and sexuality, of war and bloodshed, of magic and ritual, and of the qualities that define culture.  In fact many of her primary sites of worship were centered in the earliest sites of cities and civilization – Uruk chief among them, and her temples there were sites of commerce, craft and worship

Dionysus



Though known primarily as the god of grapes and wine, Dionysus or Dionusos is a god of many functions and forms.  He is the (semi-) respectable patron of the theatre and actors, as Greek drama developed out of the masked rituals and celebrations in which his life was acted out by and for his followers.  (In fact a mask was often used as an idol for this god, carved out of vine or fig wood).  In this guise Dionusos is a god of civilization and peace and community.   Dionusos is also the effeminate yet phallic, savage mystery-god who leads his followers – the wild maenads (the ‘raging ones’) – in blood thirsty festivals, ripping animals to pieces with their bare hands and dancing all night within the flames.  Dionusos is also a fertility god, worshiped along side Demeter; where she is the solid, receptive force of nature he is the liquid, active aspect.  Dionusos is a divine saviour who dies for mankind and is reborn, and through eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood humanity is granted eternal life in paradise.  Dionusos presides over communication with the dead, over euphoria, insanity, fear, liberation and intoxication.  Dionusos releases from the mundane and allows the breaking of society’s rules and through his intoxicating possession he grants his followers the ability to perceive the world from a divine point of view. 

Athene



Athene, favourite child of Zeus is the goddess of wisdom and wits and cunning, of war and warriors and of invention and homecrafts.  Athene was the weaver of the gods as well and took great pride in her skills and abilities even punishing mortals who had the hubris to compare their work to her own.  Athene also is credited with many inventions that ease the work necessary for survival, including the bridle, trumpet, flute, pottery, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot.

Aphrodite




Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, is possibly the most well known and most worshiped of all the Greek deities.  There are two stories of her birth, the first calls her the child of Zeus and Dione, the second a foam-born child of the surging sea and the severed genitals of Ouranos – the heavens.  Aphrodite’s cult began around 12-800 BCE, the child-of-Dione tradition is present in Homer (c. 800) and perhaps is the original story of her birth as understood by the Greeks.  But as exposure to the older cultures of the near-east increased Aphrodite seems to have been greatly influenced by the powerful goddesses who ruled there and began to acquire some of their titles and events of their own myths.

Ares



Ares, handsome and cruel, often depicted carrying a bloodstained spear or sitting upon a throne in Olympos that was covered in the skin of men he had slain in battle was the god of war, raw masculinity and warlike frenzy.   Though counted among the ruling council of the gods, he had a very poor reputation among the Olympians and the ancient Greeks. Worshiped in places such as Sparta and Thrake, Thessalia and Thesprotia, he was hated by many of the city-states because of the blood lust and slaughter that he brought to mankind as he rode upon his chariot accompanied by Eris the goddess of discord and Enyo, goddess of slaughter

Hephaistos



Called the ugliest of gods, Hephaistos is the god of the forge and fire and patron of craftsmen and was often associated with volcanoes which were seen as great primeval work rooms in which treasures and miraculous devices were created.  In particular Mt. Vesuvius, which devastated Pompeii and Herculaneum, was linked with him. 

Hermes



One of the youngest of the Olympian gods, Hermes is the son of Zeus and the Pleide
Maia (who herself was a daughter of the Titan Atlas).  Hermes is a playful, free spirited god and very much a trickster; he represents the ability to put aside instant gratification for long-term gain.  Hermes was born within a cave in a mountain near Kyllene and as his mother slept after labour, before he was even a day old Hermes snuck from his crib and performed his first theft.  He came across the cattle of Apollon and took a number of the herd and putting boards on their hooves, drove them backwards to his home so that none would be able to follow their tracks.  Helios spied the infant god and reported to Apollon who tracked down the child pretending to sleep and mimicking innocence in his cradle.  Apollon demanded the cattle back but twelve were missing, Hermes had sacrificed one for each of the Olympians (at this time there were only eleven Olympians, Hermes was counting himself as the twelfth).  He had also created the lyre from the shell of a turtle and gut from one of the slaughtered cattle and the music it produced soothed Apollon into forgiveness.  

Artemis



Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and the titaness Leto was worshiped from very early times as the (sometimes winged) goddess of nature, birth, the hunt and all things wild – including young girls.  Later, in classical times was added her association with the moon.  Artemis is the twin sister of Apollon and is one of the few deities of Greek religion who are described by their filial relationships.  Artemis was born two days before her brother on the isle of Ortygia and developed her midwifery skills early in her life helping Leto to deliver Apollon on the isle of Delos.

Apollo



The son of Zeus and the titaness, Leto; Apollo or Apollon is best known as god of the sun, and though he became this in late times (originally it was Helios who was the sun god) that is not what was meant when the ancients called him the lord of light.  Above the temple of Delphi, the seat of the prophetic cult of Apollon were written the words ‘Know Thyself’ and Apollon is the light that seeks out knowledge of the self: deep, rational, true meanings; the light that burns away the shadows and lies and reveals the very core of our Selves. 

Persephone



The maiden of life and the queen of death Persephone is not a true Olympian but as the daughter two Elder Olympians and the wife of a third she is a very powerful and prominent goddess in the ancient Greek religion.  Persephone is the daughter of Zeus (though there are some hints that in earlier, Mykenean times it may have been Poseidon who fathered this goddess) and Demeter – the goddess of the earth’s fertility and distributor of the crops grown from it, though in the Orphic telling of her birth she is the daughter of Rhea who takes the name ‘Demeter’ after giving birth. 

Demeter



One of the six original Olympians, Demeter is the child of the King and Queen of the Titans - Kronos and Rhea, and of all the Greek gods of the earth it is she who is paramount.  Demeter rules over the fertility and lifespan of the fruits and vegetables of the earth and especially of the grain, she is however also a patroness of human and animal reproduction as well – the life force of all living things.  Demeter is also the goddess of the harvest and it was she who taught mankind how to sow and tend crops so that they could settle land and end their wandering nomadic lifestyle.  She is also a goddess who takes great care in the preservation of the ‘natural law’ and tradition (whatever the society may see it as being); this is partly due to her popularity among rural populations (who most directly benefited from her attention) which are often more conservative and cling to older ways long after their urban counterparts.  Demeter is a pre-Olympian deity; her worship extends far, far back into the times of Mycenaean Greece and their nomadic forbearers; votive offerings of clay pigs (an offering unique to Demeter have been found dating to Neolithic times).  Her name probably in Greek means ‘distribution mother’ and is likely derived from the name of the Pre Indo-European mother-earth goddess *dheghom *mater (the astrix indicates that this is a reconstructed word and not one found in literature or modern languages).

Poseidon



As changeable as the sea that he rules over, Poseidon is a moody and sometimes dark god filled with an awesome depth of power and one who places great value on tradition.  Poseidon dwelt deep within the Aegean in a palace on the sea floor made of coral and gems and filled with all manner of treasures salvaged from shipwrecks.  He rode upon the waves in his chariot pulled by foam-white hippocamppi (horses with the tails of fish), brandishing his trident, the three pronged fish spear, and acompanied by dolphins and okianids –  the beautiful sea nymph daughters of Okeanos, an ancinet sea god.  Poseidon likely started out his existence as  a god of rivers and springs and fresh water, one possible source of his name is Poti-don – ‘river lord’ while another possibility is ‘husband of the distributor’ and could connect him to Demeter in early cult.   Poseidon is also known as the god of earthquakes (‘Enosides’ is one of his epithets meaning earth-shaker) and a bringer of madness (he was considered to be the source of certain types of epilepsy).  He is also the lord of horses; horses and the sea have a stong connection and it is not so odd that he would have dominion over both.  Both horses and the sea are forms of travel, carriers of communications and sorces of food (horse meat and fishing) both transporters of colonists (Poseidon  was also a patron of colonization) and in the ancient world horses and herds were and traded by ship.  One of the most famous pan-hellenic games was held in his honour, the Isthmian games held in Corinth and featured horse and chariot races. Sailors would pray to Poseidon for safe travel and calm seas and would often drown a horse in supplication.  Poseidon was also the guardian of navies, including the one of Athens even though the people of that city chose Athene to be their patron valuing her gift of the olive tree over his of a salt water spring.  Poseidon also lost patronage of another city to a goddess when Hera won Argos as her own.

Haides




Haides is the son of the titans Khronos and Rhea, and along with his brothers Poseidon and Zeus, is one of the Three Kings of the Greek Pantheon.  With their defeat over the titans the three drew lots and Haides received dominion over all things under the earth, including metals and precious stones, planted crops and of course the land of the dead – and the very dead themselves who inhabit it. 

The Daimones



 The Daimones are a strange class of divinities in the Greek religion, they are like immortal spirits or conscious personifications more than ‘gods’ or ‘goddesses’; this is not to say that a Daimon could not be classified or worshiped as a god as well (like all categories in Greek myth, there is a lot of leeway). Daemons can be male or female (Daimonoi) and are considered good (Daimones Agathoi) or harmful (Kako Daimones).   Many of the Kako Daimones were the spirits released from the jar given to Pandora.
Daimones can be personifications of emotions, or actions or of places.  The Nymphoi and male nature spirits such as the Satyroi could also be classified as types of Daimones. 

Many Daimones came into existence shortly after the creation of the universe, far before the Olympians and even the titans were born.  Daimones were not usually worshiped by the ancient Greeks though they were often called upon in ritual and day-to-day life and were often given offerings and poured libations, asking for blessings to the avoidance of ills.  Daimones also appear in poetry and writing where they are often used as literary tools and descriptive devices.

Hera





The daughter of Khronos and Rhea, wife of Zeus- Hera is the Lady of Heaven, the Mistress of Olympos and the Queen of all the Gods; she is a Great Goddess in the sense of being a universal mother.  And as any child can tell you- a mother is not always kind.  But Hera is a goddess who always has a purpose to her actions, even if those actions are viewed by others as petty or cruel. 

Zeus



King of the gods and lord of the heavens, Zeus is considered the most powerful of the Olympians and indeed often considered the most powerful of all the gods. Born to the titaness Rhea, she hid the infant Zeus from his father Kronos who had devoured their previous children in order to prevent loosing his throne to succession as well as to take their powers as his own.  A swaddling wrapped stone was given to the titan-king and Zeus was hidden deep within a Kretan cave on Mt. Ida, there he was raised by a goat/nymph named Amalthea (whose horn became the Kornukopia) and protected by the Kouretes (or Daktyloi) who covered the infants cries with their dancing and by banging their spears and shields.  Other versions have Zeus raised by Gaia, or a nymph named Adamanthea who hid him by suspending him from a rope so that he hung between earth and sky and sea and not in any part of Kronos’ kingdom. 

The First Borns




The Protogenoi were the first beings existent at the dawn of creation; they are in fact, the very fabric of existence, the forces that created the physical and spiritual worlds that we live in.  Where Demeter is a goddess of the earth, Gaia is the earth itself; Poseidon the ruler of the oceans, Pontus is the ocean. The protogenoi were for the most part not dealt with in day-to-day Greek cult or worship, these are primal and primeval forces even further beyond the realm of man than the gods.  They were however respected and in some instances did have rituals and celebrations in their honor.  

The Nymphs



Nymphoi are female spirits of the natural world and considered minor goddesses by some.  They are the guardians and sculptors of nature and are responsible for not only the growth and well-being of the earth, but its beauty as well.  Streams, caves, valleys, springs, groves; even individual trees are said to have a residing Nymphai; and though not immortal, they are very long-lived and often reside on Mt. Olympos with the heavenly gods. The word ‘nymphe’ means bride, still Nymphoi are rarely described as being married, it is perhaps a reference to their potential at becoming the wives, nurses, lovers and mothers of gods and heroes, many of whom  and are of great importance in Greek myth, religion and genealogy.  They are also the companions and counterparts to the wild male nature spirits such as the Kentauroi, Satyroi and Panes who are near-constantly chasing after them.  They are often depicted or referred to as bees and honey is one of their favorite offerings.  They are well known for their healing abilities, gifts of inspiration and eloquence and their prophetic and divinatory powers. 

The Titans


The titans are the sons and daughters of Gaia and Ouranos and were the first rulers of the earth; their leader, Kronos, was the ruler of the entire universe after they castrated their father who kept them imprisoned deep within the underEarth.  The Titans were the parents of the eldest of the gods including Zeus and the first generation of Olympians. 

The origin of the titans is not know, they may be related to other Indo-European cultures’ primordial beings (such as the Norse Jotuns) or they could be the remnants of a pantheon worshiped by peoples indigenous to Greece (such as the Pelgasians) before the coming of the Mykeneans.  New evidence in early Kreaten writing by an archaeologist named Paul Faure suggests that there was a deity named Ttan, perhaps he was the original ruler of the group which took his name collectively.  Another theory traces the name to the word for ‘white earth’, referring to clay or gypsum.  In this context it could refer to statues sculpted of the material or even the use of clay as a make up in early ritual.

The protogenoi, including the parents of the titans, are the actual beings the universe is created from.  The titans are the powers of time and fertility, the stages of chaotic growth that the younger gods tamed and brought order to. 

Assemblies of Gods in Greek Myth




There appears in Greek mythology a number of groups made up of deities that share a specific function or activity.  This goes beyond classifications such as ‘titan’ or ‘olympian’ or ‘nyphmae’ and represents small (often no more than three) groups of divinities that work together in a single or related task.  Often these groups grew from the same stock as the myriad of nameless or barely-formed nymphoi but through cult became more specialized and Pan-Hellenic. 

About the Goddess Hestia



Hestia is the eldest of the six original Olympians, the six children of Khronos and Rhea and her cult is probably one of the oldest of all the Greek gods, going far back into the time of the wandering Indo-Europeans.  Hestia is also the youngest of the Olympians, she was the last released from Khronos’ grasp, the final of the civilizing Olympians to be freed from the chaotic powers of Titan-ruled earth. 

The fire, the central hearth seems to be a defining characteristic of a people- ‘we’ use this fire, the ‘others’ can not share in ‘our’ flames.    Perhaps that is one reason why Hestia is a virgin goddess- if she took lovers, one might be a god of another people, another culture the way Zeus found conquests among all the people the original Hellenes encountered.   In ancient Greek thought, as in many other cultures, females were subordinate to males, and in many cases this was no less true of gods and goddesses.  If Hestia took a husband, her ‘possessions’, her power would, in some way become his.  Hestia’s fire is the fire of the community, the kingdom, the city-state- the symbol of unity and the physical reminder of who a people are.  That symbol could not be risked passing into the hands of one outside the community.