Wrestling with Terms: Hellenismos or Hellenic Polytheism?

I have been struggling to define or label the religion that I practice (in regards to the specifically Greek path that I walk). Where my Witchcraft practices are concerned, I am clear. (Traditional Craft -- Robert Cochrane style.) But I keep that very separate from my Aphrodisian practice. And my Aphrodisian practice has blossomed into a relationship with many more of the Olympians than I had ever thought it would. Dionysos, Athena, Ares, Hephaestos, Hermes, Pan, Hestia. Non-Olympians, too -- Persephone, the Muses, the Graces.

Furthermore, I strive to work with and honor these Deities in a Hellenic manner. I've researched ritual practices, from ancient to contemporary, and I use them instead of the Craeft or Neo-Pagan structures that I originally used.

But what is it called? Is it Hellenismos? Is it Hellenic Polytheism? Or is it something else entirely?

I shy away from adopting the term Hellenismos, and the following is a bit of my recent reflection on why that is:

There is a lot of history to choose from, and a wide variety of city-states. Practices *and* beliefs evolve with time, distance and usage...

My research on Aphrodite alone (which has been fairly extensive) shows that she was worshiped in widely divergent ways in different parts of the Greek world. Her worship in Paphos doesn't look a lot like her worship in Athens or even Corinth. There are festivals to her that are called by the same name, but that are practiced entirely differently depending on locale. She has epithets, attributes and myths that seem local and unique to certain venues. Foreign influences made their marks right from the beginning.

Place and time, even within Hellas, alter both practice and belief.

... But I have the sense that "Hellenismos" is both a "rigid and exclusive" (see note below) term that perhaps might be rooted in a specific time and place within Greek history that cannot, therefore, also include other times or places within the larger scope of Greek history.

Re: "rigid and exclusive." I know that many people use these words with a high degree of negative connotation. I do not. I simply pose them here as being opposite to "flexible" and "inclusive." Hellenismos does not seem inclusive, and I don't think it should necessarily strive to be so.

Though I understand that the term "Hellenic Polytheist" is also debated, I think it has the flexibility and inclusiveness to apply to me. The noun fits. (I worship multiple Deities.) The adjective fits. (Those Deities are from the Hellenic pantheon, and I strive to work with them in a Hellenic way.) Therefore, the term fits -- for me.

Menelaus-Helen-Paris= Ares-Aphrodite-Ankhises???

I just wrote this in the Hellenismos.us forums, but I want to pose this idea (and its questions) to several sets of folks. Please forgive the cross-posting, my loves....

I have a thought/idea that I would like to explore in fiction, and I want to get some input from folks who are well-studied in such things.

Let me preface this by saying that I am a historical fiction writer, and I am primarily concerned with the Universal Truth that underlies a story -- and a little less concerned with the absolute historical truth.

I also ought to confess that I harbor some resentment toward Homer. I feel that he has done some disservice to Aphrodite (and others) in his codifying of the myths. She, in particular, had been a foreign goddess -- and an old one, at that -- with a fairly well delineated set of traits. He stripped her of her war-like aspects and demoted her by re-creating her birth story.



I wrote the following in my writing journal tonight...

“She loved Menelaus like no other. History and myth haven’t told that portion of my sister’s story well. For Helen, the Spartan queen, her strong war-king was a far greater prize than a pretty shepherd. Paris was her duty, as the golden goddess of love made clear, and Helen loved him as much as her body would allow. Her heart, though, had been wedded to the towering, thundering, iron-hardened warrior who swept across the sea to reclaim his beloved queen.

“If she was Aphrodite made flesh, he was Ares.”

I’ve written Sappho as a priestess of Aphrodite, and now it is Helen’s turn. She was the queen of war-like Sparta, a city-state that honored the goddess of love equally as a goddess of war. This comes truer to Aphrodite’s original nature, born to the Hellenes by the sea-faring Phonecians who knew her as Astarte and Ashteroth. To the Sumerians, she was Ishtar, a lady of love and war whose myth includes an important romance with a shepherd.

Aphrodite’s dual nature was split in Hellenic myth. She longed to be reunited with her war-self, always taking risks to connect with war-like Ares. The pastoral affair was kept, though, in the tale of the goddess and her own Trojan shepherd.

That’s fantastic! I’ve never read anywhere that the love triangle underpinning the Trojan War (Menelaus-Helen-Paris) was a shadow image of the love triangle that the Greeks made of the original Ishtar/Tammuz myth (Ares-Aphrodite-Ankhises). In the Homeric version, Ishtar is separated into Aphrodite and Ares (Love and War). But the story wasn’t originally a conflict. From this basic conflict, though, the Trojan War springs – with Aphrodite’s own war-like nature and her need to support and nurture the agricultural elements featured center-stage.

Maybe someone else has written about this. I need to see if I can find a treatment on this concept.
*****

My questions to you learned folk:

Have you seen this concept elsewhere? (If so, where? Sources, please, so I can follow up with my own research.)

Does it ring true? (It certainly did for me, but I think that is obvious.)

New York Greek Drama Drama Company: Sappho

Birth of Venus

How to Become a Piestess of Aphrodite

One of the Thiasos Aphrodite members asked the question, "How did you become a priestess of Aphrodite?"

This idea of becoming a priestess is one that I have been reflecting on a lot lately. How does one heed the call to service? More than that: I know *I'M* doing it, but how do I help others who want to walk this path? I mean, not everyone wants to reinvent the wheel, blaze their own trail, or ... other metaphors for "recreating the same training process I've already put myself through." And why should they? The historical precedent for priestly training is that you are taught by someone who has been there already.

So, I've been thinking a lot about how to help aspirants become priest/esses. And the first part of that reflection is, "How did I get here?"

My answer:
My first experiences as a priestess of Aphrodite were within the structure of my witchcraft coven, actually. At 2nd Degree, I was ordained as a "Simple Priestess," and this involved dedication to a specific Deity. I had been working heavily with Aphrodite already for several years, so it was a natural fit.

I would say my becoming a priestess was very much a multi-part journey. I started this list to connect with others who felt drawn to Her. I read everything I could find. She inspired me to write Temple of Love, and I swear that She stood at my shoulder during certain parts. I went to a sacred sexuality conference (Qadishti Fest 2) and had more direct experience, leading to my becoming an active member of the Qadishti Movement. I felt nudged to write Aphrodite's Priestess, which began as _In Her Service: Reflections from a Priestess of Aphrodite_. The act of writing is a part of my own growth, I find.

I've soaked up books, websites, and conversations about history, mythology, sexuality, ritual, and personal growth through the qualities She embodies (love, beauty, pleasure, grace). I've sought out experiences in all those areas, and I've done a great deal of reflection on each piece of work.

Actually, I have been working for the last several months on a book or a training system of some sort for this priest/ess-hood. I've been collating the content -- and creating new content to fill in some gaps -- but I have been stumped about how to make it available to men and women interested in this path. I think I may have recently come up with a couple of viable solutions, though. [Stay tuned for more details.]

I was Her priestess early in this process, but my learning, service and growth continue all the time.

Aphrodite Needs a Temple Like THIS

I'm not saying a modern temple built in honor of our Golden Lady needs to be as big as the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee. I mean, even the original Parthenon was a giant among temples. I am saying, though, that I most heartily believe that Our Lady of Delectable Beauty deserves a contemporary temple worthy of pilgrimage and celebration.

I'm putting this intention out to the Universe, because it is a goal that I want to see realized before too many more years have passed. I believe that a replica of one of Aphrodite's temples could be both a tourist destination and a site of religious observance, just as the modern Parthenon is. Of course, I am more interested in a center for the cultus than I am in establishing a money-maker, but I would be open to compromise if the latter funds the former.

Being entirely in my hands, I would recreate something akin to the Cnidos temple -- an oval shaped area rimmed with a colonnade, a floor mosaic of the Aphrodite Acidailia (of the Bath), a reflecting pool, an incense altar, and a remake of Praxiteles's bathing Aphrodite.

Yep. I want it to exist.

Temple of Love is READY

My novel is finally ready! It's been six years in the making, but it is now available for purchase through this e-store (and soon through Amazon).

From the back cover:

Laura Britton is a teacher of literature and creative writing in the Midwest, where she lives with her family. This offering in historical fiction is her first novel.

Sappho of Mytiline is the earliest female poet from the Classical world whose writings, fragmentary as they are in their current condition, have come down to us. Precious little is known about the true historical life of Sappho, except what we can glean from poetry written by and about her.

Sappho was hailed as the Tenth Muse, and her poems of love and longing were directed at the men … and women … whom she loved on her island home of Lesvos.

Britton, in this debut title, offers readers a peek at the life and loves of a priestess of Aphrodite – a priestess so notable that she is responsible for our modern understanding of the word “Lesbian.”

Read an excerpt here!