Xenia, and why it is our duty as Hellenic polytheists/pagans to be anti-racist and anti-fascist

I want to take the time today to write a brief article about why as Hellenic polytheists/pagans, one of the fundamental customs the Theoi ask us to observe, Xenia, demands us to be anti-racist and anti-fascist. Anyone who is not actively anti-racist and anti-fascist is in violation of xenia. Xenia is incredibly fundamental and important to us; this cannot be understated.

What is Xenia? On a surface level, xenia means “guest-right”/”guest friendship”. In Ancient Greece, this meant that all those who came to your house must be fed before you could ask their names or where they were from. You were required to protect your guests from harm, provide for all their needs, treat them as friends, and when they left, give them gifts. In return, guests must also treat their hosts with respect, kindness, good will, and in friendship. The guest-friendship relationship is reciprocal. Furthermore, one must welcome all, no matter class, color, or creed. The consequences of breaking xenia are played out in our most foundational texts; the Iliad, the Odyssey, among others.

As most of us no longer live in city-states on islands, we are required to reinterpret how to act in the spirit of Xenia.

Racists and fascists do not act in the spirit of Xenia. They actively break it. Many of us are marginalized in some way, in ways that racists and fascists would use as reasoning to exclude us from their houses and tables. Whether that’s racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, classism, and/or xenophobia (which comes from xenos, stranger, and is related to xenia). They do not treat us in kindness or good will. They would not protect us; in fact, they would actively harm us. They would deprive us of what we need. We are all harmed by racists and fascists, no matter who you are.

In the Odyssey, the suitors of Penelope break guest-right through treating their hosts, Penelope and Telemachus, with incredible disrespect and harm, destroying Telemachus’ inheritance, disregarding Penelope’s wishes, and disrespecting Odysseus. It becomes a divine mission on the part of Telemachus and Odysseus to drive them from their house.

From this example, we can reconstruct that it is a divine mission to protect ourselves from those who do not come in good faith and with good will, it is divine to drive out those who would hurt, attack, and disrespect us. 

We are mandated by the Theoi to welcome all who come in good faith, to keep away those who would exclude us or others, and to treat those who do come in good faith with not just kindness in actions but kindness in intentions.

Even the Ancient Greeks did not view themselves as one nation, but many nations bound by similar customs. Those who did not observe similar customs were treated the same as those who did. Anyone who practices Hellenic polytheism is welcome; to deny someone the Theoi based on who they are and where they came from spits in the face of the actual values of the Ancient Greek peoples.

We cannot let ourselves be driven out from our religion because of people who break Xenia and disregard the gods and the customs of those who originally worshipped the gods.

Me: has completely known and expected symptom I have frequently

Also me: "What the fuck?"

Cottagecore this, goblincore that, no one seems to realize that the ideal is hobbitcore. I wanna be hairy and fat and well fed and happy about that, with a tidy and cozy home and garden, absolutely raucous parties, and a little bit of theft and vandalism, as a treat.

I’m looking into miasma again (previous research here, here and here) and the more I read, the more I’m struck by the gap between ancient texts and modern interpretations. Among Hellenic polytheistic communities, miasma is generally defined as the ickiness of mortal life, as in this explanation by Elani Temperance:

Or in this similar one by shipping-the-gods:

If these definitions were historically accurate, we would expect to find a number of ancient texts describing purification from miasma before a ritual. However, I went through all instances of the word “miasma” in ancient texts, using the TLG Text Search tool, and to my surprise, this usage does not appear a single time. Let me repeat that: there is not a single text in which a regular person purifies themselves of miasma before a ritual. All attested purifications from miasma are expiatory rituals designed for criminals.

Instead of miasma being “everyday things” of which the presence “holds no judgement from the Gods”, in ancient texts it has the following causes (excluding fragmentary texts and passages with vague context):

In the above contexts, miasma is often coupled with the words ἀσεβής (impious), ἀκαθαρός (impure) and ἀνόσιος (unholy). It’s also worth noting that there are no mentions of miasma in the poetry of Homer or Hesiod; its earliest appearance is in Aeschylus’ plays.

The only causes which overlap to some extent with modern understanding are the following:

In summary, what ancient texts tell us is that miasma is not a morally neutral and inherently human occurrence. Its most normal cause is death, and possibly also birth; but more commonly, miasma is caused by (what the Ancient Greeks considered to be) severe physical impurity and by crime, specifically crimes against another person, especially one of the same family or social group, and crimes against the Gods.

Nevertheless, as I’ve discussed in previous posts, the impurities described at the beginning of this post do exist in Hellenic polytheism; the term for them is not miasma but lyma, a mild form of spiritual (and physical) pollution that can simply be translated as “dirt”. From Homer onwards, it’s lyma, not miasma, that ancient people purified themselves of before ritual.

So how did this confusion arise? How did the current definition of miasma, as used by Hellenic polytheists, come to be? I would point in part towards Christian and Christian-influenced texts, which understand miasma as a softer, less specific kind of impurity; in 2 Peter 2:20, for example, it refers to worldly things, as opposed to the holiness of God. It’s also worth noting that of the 923 occurrences of the word “miasma” in Greek literature, over 600 are found in Christian texts.

But beyond ancient interpretations, I would also point towards the nature of the modern Hellenic polytheistic community. Since many worshippers don’t have access to scholarly resources, and even fewer can read ancient texts in their original language, much of the information found online is essentially from a handful of (often simplified) sources. As that information travels, it gets reinterpreted and expanded upon via UPG, while still being presented in an authoritative manner. Somehow, along the way, we decided to call all spiritual pollution miasma; somehow, along the way, we assumed that miasma was caused by mortality; somehow, along the way, we interpreted it not as a defilement but as a distraction from worship. In short, somehow, along the way, we created for ourselves a whole new definition of spiritual pollution which has almost nothing to do with the ancient understanding of it, and yet which is almost universally accepted among modern worshippers.

This is not inherently a bad thing; in fact, I find it quite fascinating. I would still highly encourage my fellow reconstructionists to use the ancient definitions of miasma and lyma in their worship - because we strive to be close to our religious ancestors, because these terms preserve a nuanced view of pollution which is lost in the all-encompassing “miasma”, and because they lessen the otherwise strenuous expectation that we should go through elaborate purifications before each ritual. But if the neo-definition of miasma, or your personal definition, suits your own practise better, I’ll not be the one to stop you from using it.

What this topic does highlight is how easy it is for what is essentially UPG to get widely accepted by the Hellenic polytheistic community. Our religion is growing and thriving, and as it develops, new understandings naturally arise - which is great! But it’s just as important that, as a community, we strive towards giving an honest representation of what is new and what is historical, so that each individual may make an informed choice of what suits their practise best.

Lyma is something I had never heard about before seeing you post about it, and to this day it is still difficult for me to remember to properly distinguish between lyma and miasma. This is such a good resource, thank you for sharing!

I like how nobody points out that Zeus spent his entire childhood training to go up against the king of the universe just to save siblings he doesn’t even know.

Masterpost of Shops for Hellenic polytheists

A collection of shops for hellenic polytheists: for worship materials, modern Greek culture, etc.

Etsy Shops

Blagowood - Pagan wood carving

EFIstore - (Edipsos, Greece)

FireFoxAlchemy - One Stop Shop for Magical Supplies & Devotional Jewelry

GreekMythos - Handmade Greek Museum Replicas Artifacts and Jewelry

Greek Artifact - (Agios Nikolaos, Greece) Ancient Greek Art

marblecreations82 - (Athens, Greece) Replicas of Ancient Greek marble statues 

HearthfireHandworks - Pagan Prayer Beads and Devotional Jewelry

TheHellenicHandmaid - Handmade spiritual supplies for Hellenic Polytheists

Thetis Treasures - (Athens, Greece) Jewellery inspired by Greek ancient history and mythology

Yliade - Art inspired by Ancient Gods

Instagram 

Other 

clarysageherbarium - witchy shop

mastic-mastiha-sales - Greek shop 

This not an exhaustive list. Expect more shops to appear or feel free to recommend more to be added to the list. 

I used to think the Deipnon-Noumenia-Agathos Daimon days needed to be this big deal. But let me tell you, my observance of these days over the past two years has become infinitely more consistent because I stopped making a big deal of them.

Deipnon, light some incense, offer to Hekate. Done. Clean out my fridge and pantry.

Noumenia, wrap a tiny cake or pastry for Zeus, put it in a container, and say a prayer. That's all.

Agathos Daimon, libations and a prayer. Dinner as a family if possible.

They're important days. They're consistent pillars in my worship. But they're simple. I don't need ritual garb, to recite the odyssey, or to spend ten minutes invoking deities. I was less likely to connect to the theoi through regular worship when I tried to make everything look like a city festival. It was exhausting, expensive, and frankly caused some burn out. Now, each of these days, my worship can be accomplished in five minutes. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're worshipping every day, it doesn't need to be a lot at once.

Hellenic Phrases - Basic greek for worship

 I like approaching the Gods utilizing the greek language for some expressions. Although the gods will understand you regardless of the language you use, using Modern Greek feels really good, specially if you’re a recon like me.

Before we start, just give a quick look on this art of Mnemosyne, Goddess of Memory and Inventress of Words, Mother of the Muses.

Let’s begin this list with some salutations and farewells, shall we?

Now some useful ways to call upon the Gods.

Regarding purification by usage of khernips (lustral water)

Oh, well. those are just some of the phrases me and my group use! We’re mostly related to the RHB - Brazilian Hellenic Reconstructionism and use it as a main source.

I hope you guys find this post useful, and may the Gods ever bless you!

Errosthe! (Be strong!)

Hellenic Methods of Veiling

This will be an on-going post where I’ll add more information as I come across it, but the point of this post is to try and define as many styles (and their names) of Hellenic veiling as possible. It’s as much for my own reference as for others. Because I’ll be adding, updating, and changing it over time.

The format will be:

Himation

The himation is a large, rectangular piece of cloth that is worn as an outer garment and can be used to cover the head and hair. Men and women both would wear himations.

Kekryphalos

The kekryphalos is a type of caul worn by women. It’s secured around the front of the head, and then has a looser “pouch” type area near the back where the majority of hair is tucked inside the cap. It could be made of a wide-woven material giving it a net like appearance, or more tightly woven material. The material was most likely slightly elastic in nature, having some stretch to it.

Kredemnos

The kredemnos is a wide band of fabric, leather, or metal worn across the forehead. It may also have been called stlengis.

Krobylos and Korymbos

Krobylos and korymbos were popular Athenian methods of hair binding used by men and women, respectively. Hair was rolled into a knot atop the crown of the head and fastened with clasps. Some scholars believe the style may have been closer to a chignon which was secured with clasps.

(I can’t find a good image, either historical examples or modern recreations, the closest example I have is a chignon)

Mitra

The mitra is a broad band, often colored and patterned, which can be wrapped around the hair in many ways. It could be wrapped to completely cover the hair, or left open at the crown of the head with hair hanging out.

Sakkos

The sakkos is a tightly woven material worn over the head, covering the majority of hair. It’s constructed similarly to a bag or sack, and secured around the hairline. It can be decorated with a tassel at the back. The sakkos most likely had some stretch to the material.

Examples of Men

Bust of Pythagoras wearing what appears to be a mitra

Headband style of binding hair for men

What Christmas means to me

I am a Reconstructionist polytheist in a Christian-majority country. Here are some of the things Christmas means to me:

I feel exactly the same. As a Jewish sister, I apologize and we could celebrate together?

You have nothing for which to apoligize, my friend, and it would be brilliant to celebrate together! Thank you! I look forward to it!

Types of Witches Masterpost

I’ve seen several of these passed around, but they always feel incomplete. I’ve decided to put together my own version.  I hope this is helpful.

Did I miss anything?

i was reading about the myth of prometheus today when the phrase “new liver, same eagles” popped into my mind, so i’m keeping that in mind for the next time someone asks me how it’s going

I see Hestia in these times.

I see Hestia in the smiles that reach beyond the masks, warm light within shared glances.

I see Hestia in the kindness and selflessness of others, those who choose discomfort in order to protect everyone around them.

I see Hestia in the homecooked meals, the savoring of a hot morning drink, the gratitude to be experiencing these things another day.

I see Hestia in the timeless days, filled with idle crafts and observations. In the quiet details of the day.

I see Hestia in those reaching out to others, supporting how they can. And I see Hestia in those trying their best to support themselves.

I see Hestia in these times. I see warmth and goodness through the hardship. I see the caring and the brave. I see Her standing with all of you.

sometimes ill be doing a bunch of housework and baking and suddenly have this feeling like holy shit, hestia has a LOT to watch over i can barely clean the bathroom how is she watching over the whole household?!

Hi yes this is how Reconstructionist work is actually supposed to be done.

I’ve said it several times and I’ll keep saying it again for Tumblr until they stop misunderstanding it: The only real, fundamental difference between a Reconstructionist and a Revivalist is their criteria for modernization, and their pace; both look at the historical precedence as their foundation. Both use intuition to guide their decisions. And both ultimately modernize… Recons are simply slower and more methodical, allowing historical precedence to guide them first and foremost- while Revives are much quicker paced and lean more heavily on intuition over precedence.

Neopaganism, on the other hand, just makes up all its own shit “in the spirit of” whatever old shit it feels like cobbling together, and there’s a lot wrong with that- which is exactly why Recon and Revivalist traditions came about in the first place. But whatever. The point is:

If a Reconstructionist hasn’t moved from the past into the present and begun attempting to understand them in relation to modern culture and landscapes? Then they’re still stuck on the first half of the process. And if they outright refuse to do so, then they’ve straight up just failed to understand the entire purpose of Reconstructionist work in the first place. Because that’s not how Reconstructionism is ultimately meant to work- and it never was.