Originally posted on Of Thespiae:
This topic comes up pretty frequently, so I’m going to make a post about it that hopefully covers everything in the best ways possible: Boeotian vase painting with Artemis Long story short, it’s actually been concluded that ?while unusual for the Mediterranean in ancient times? the ancient Hellenes didn’t appear…
Tag: ritual
Io Saturnalia! A ritual
Originally posted on Temple of Athena the Savior:
Yesterday was the first day of the Roman festival of Saturnalia, the holiday from which most Christmas traditions are taken. It was the most popular Roman holiday, and all business was suspended for the week. It was a time of celebration and joy, and also an upturning…
Appeal to the Gate-keeper Gods
I wrote last month about how I was thinking about adopting P. Sufanas Virius Lupus’s idea of using prayers to Wepwawet, Hekate, and Janus at the beginning of rituals to open the way for the other Deities being honored and to protected to sacred space. It has the added benefit of being another way to…
On the Importance of Ritual: Or, Why Taking Communion IS a Big Deal
Originally posted on Of Axe and Plough:
This previous weekend, I had the honor of attending the wedding of my first, and oldest, college friend. While the event is not the focus of this writing, it is a pleasant and enjoyable time where I was given a brief period to reconnect with my friend, meet…
GMC: Festival of Seshat re-post
I have not had as much time to research this month as I would like (something tells me that’s going to be more or less constant, especially in the summer months when there is so much to do on the homestead). So, I’m reposting this. It is from five years ago (October 2011) , so…
Isidis Navigium
I’m posting this late because I don’t have internet on the homestead yet. March 5th was the usually considered the date of the Roman festival of Isidis Navigium, celebrating the Egyptian Isis as the patron of sailors (although some sources seem to say that it fell on March 6th, so hey, maybe I’m not late!).…
Greco-Egyptian Noumenia Ritual
So, today is the Noumenia, the New month in the Greek Calendar. Although Noumenia means literally “New Moon”, it is not on what is astrologically called the new moon, which is really the dark moon. Rather, it occurs a few days later, when the first sliver of light appeared. It was considered one of the…
Starting Over
I’m going to start practicing rituals again, even if I don’t necessarily believe. I am comforted by the rituals and the symbolism. I recently traded bedrooms with my brother (we live together), because he may need surgery eventually, and if that happens I don’t want him to have to go up and down stairs every…
Io Saturnalia! A ritual
Yesterday was the first day of the Roman festival of Saturnalia, the holiday from which most Christmas traditions are taken. It was the most popular Roman holiday, and all business was suspended for the week. It was a time of celebration and joy, and also an upturning of the social order. More information is available…
the Festival of Neith
In ancient Alexandria, every year a great festival, called the Feast of Lamps, was held for Neith, the primordial Goddess of Lower Egypt. Herodotus tells us that the celebrants burned uncountable numbers of candles and lamps in an outdoor feast that lasted all night. This year that date fell on Wednesday (the 30th), but…