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💀 Subtle Haides Worship 🐕‍🦺

If you have a dog (or any pet), play with them

Volunteer at an animal shelter

Donate dog supplies to animal shelters and places who help families in need

Feed neighborhood dogs, cats, or birds

Start a coin collection with the intention of souls who need payment at the Underworld's gates can use those coins

Keep a picture of him in your wallet

Have a candle that reminds you of him (no altars needed)

Wear jewelry that reminds you of him

Have a stuffed animal owl, dog, or black ram

Have imagery of a bident, Cerberus, or ancient Greek helmets around

Drink coffee or a soothing tea to start your day

Honor your ancestors/souls that have passed; learn about your family history

Hold onto any family heirlooms; keep items from people who have passed in your life

Eat pomegranate seeds; drink pomegranate juice

Support suicide prevention or funeral funding organizations

Visit cemeteries; if allowed (get permission first please), leave flowers at graves; visit loved ones' or family members' graves

Collect animal bones (please thank the animal's spirit after doing so; I just think it's respectful to do so)

Learn about death; acquaint yourself with the idea of death; figure out what you believe happens after death

Take care of yourself physically and emotionally

Work on learning to let go of the past; forgive yourself for past mistakes, and release past regrets

Start a garden or tend to plants

Save your money, if able; work on spending it wisely

Practice patience, understanding, and gratitude

Be a good host to all who enter your space; Haides is the ultimate host, the Ruler of All

Take a walk during a new moon (if it is safe to do so in your area)

Bury a time capsule

Honor old family traditions; dig into your heritage and find pride in it

Learn to find simple joys in life; make a list of things that bring you joy in your day to day

Meditate in nature; ground yourself often; practice mindfulness

Visit/explore caves (please do so safely!!!)

Visit ancient ruins, ghost towns, and any place where people used to be but are no longer

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Hope this helps someone! I may add more later on. For now, this is my list of discreet ways to worship Haides. Take care, everyone! 🩵

Link to Subtle Worship Master list

Yuletide

Khaire and Good Yule Saturnalia to all syncretic Hellenic polytheists! Wassail!

🔥 Praise be to Hestia the First and Last at the Feast who protects our homes and keeps them warm in the coming winter months.

🐍 Praise be to Zeus Ktesios the Good Spirit and protector, who blesses us with his favor and protection in the new year.

🗝️ Praise be to Hecate Trivia who watches over all crossroads, including the change of seasons. May her magic and blessings be felt throughout the new year.

☀️ Praise be to Apollo Apolysis who brings the light of the returning sun to redeem the earth from these short dark days.

🌌 Praise be to Aphrodite Melaenis of the night, who watches over us and protects us on these long cold nights and always reminds us of the warmth of love.

🌞 Praise be to Helios Isodaetes Invincible Sun, who divides all seasons into equal portions and blesses the southern hemisphere on this first day of their summer season.

❄️ Praise be to Lady Khione who blankets the earth in snow, driving away all pests and protecting our gardens as they rest through winter.

⚡️Praise be to Zeus Charidotes increaser of joy and abundance, who joins us as our families gather, protects our beloved family, and brings us Yuletide cheer.

🍷Praise be to Dionysus Hestius Lord of the Feast and giver of plentiful bounty, who joins us in our Yuletide feasting, and who we graciously honor with our jolly wassail.

🎄Praise be to Dionysus Endendros who dwells within trees and blesses our Yule tree, keeping our homes joyful in these days of bare trees and whose baubles hold years of joyful memories.

💸 Praise be to Hermes Empolaios of commerce and travel who we honor with our purchase of gifts for our loved ones, and who protects those who are traveling this holiday season.

🐐 Praise be to The Yule Goat whose generosity and whimsy have blessed my family for many years, a very hearty “Oh Hell Yeah, Witches!” to him and his beautiful wife this Yule!

🎶 Praise be to Apollo Mousigetis Leader of the Muses who bless us with the joy of music, as we honor them with our Yuletide carols.

✨ Praise be to our household Tomte Ed spirit of the previous owner of our home, who protects our home, animals, and child and whose influence as a teacher in life are still felt in the world.

🌲 Praise be to the ancestors whose spirits protect this land as it slumbers in winter. Our gratitude to you always for your stewardship.

🔥 Praise be to Hestia the First and Last at the Feast we dedicate these days of feasting to all of the gods and to you, in honor of you!

You are not a bad worshipper for forgetting to pray.

You are not a bad worshipper for not having enough time to worship every day.

You are not a bad worshipper if giving offerings is inaccessible to you right now, no matter the situation.

You are not a bad worshipper for not being able to worship every god you have interest in.

You are not a bad worshiper for being imperfect.

You are not a bad worshipper.

What my deities see on a daily basis (I’d say several times a day and I’m beyond happy they tolerate me ) 😄

HP 101: Where to start

Hellenic Polytheism can be a bit daunting to start off - and it’s hard to know where to find the right information or what to research! Hopefully this post will help to give you a starting point - but please don’t base all your information off of one person! NOTE: I may link posts with conflicting information/methods. I leave it to you to decide what feels right and fits for you!

Websites, book lists and PDFs:

Theoi.com

Library Genesis

Hellenism resources

PDFs of myths

HP online accurate resources

Classics, mythology and modern worship

HP book list

Accurate resources

Book recommendations and online resources

Bibliography of Black-Centered Resources for Ancient Mediterranean Studies

The types of HP:

Recon vs. Revivalism

Reconstructionism vs Revivalism

The basics of practicing HP:

Making libations

Introduction to epithets

Veiling basics + a veiling primer + basic hair binding and veiling + hellenic hairstyles in religious rites

How to write a prayer

Daily prayer journal

How to pray, praise and worship the Theoi

Homeric hymns - helpful for writing devotionals, hymns, etc. (external site)

The Delphic Maxims

Basic Hellenic supplies

Oaths

Sacred places

Offerings (and whether or not to eat them)

Hellenic khthonic ritual

How to honor Ouranic and Chthonic gods

Hellenic Calendars and when to worship deities:

The days of the month

Devotions for the last day of the month

A Hellenismos calendar 

Hellenion.org calendar (external site)

Hellenic festival year (external site)

About the Hellenic calendar of festivals

Pronunciation and terminology:

Hellenic pronunciation for the Theoi + Hellenic pronunciation pt. 2 + article

Khernips + Khernips pt. 2 + pt. 3

Miasma, khernips and katharmosis

On Lyma

Hellenic terminology (external site)

Finding / Information on deities:

Sacred animals of the gods 

Theoi.com (my go-to)

Household gods

The Nymphai

Odds and ends:

On household worship

Other resources:

List of devotees on tumblr

Practical practicing of HP

This wonderful resource masterpost!

Masterpost of Hellenic polytheism and Roman polytheism resources

Shops for Hellenic polytheists

Introduction to Ancient Greek History - open Yale course

Note: Some areas are certainly lacking in the information department, please add resources if you have them! I’ve included all I could find as of mid 2020.

Links updated June, 2020. Please inform me of broken links via askbox!

Honestly, the deities I worship and work with their energy feels like home.

I feel safe and like any and all worries just disappear in an instant. I feel like I can breathe when I sit at their altars. Especially Hades. I feel the most safe around him and that I can tell him everything. I feel I can just be me. Idk how to explain it.

Can people reblog this post with descriptions of what your deities’ energy feels like? I’m so curious.

Does anyone else’s deities get really aggressive with ya when you are sick and not resting when you should be?

It’s like guys I know but most meds don’t work for me and I can’t sit down for more than 5 minutes without having to always be constantly doing something.. 

The Gods love you.

Even when you spend days without lighting up their candles.

Even if you don't have an Altar.

Even if you don't feel their presence yet.

Even if you're not at tarot.

Or doesn't have prophetic dreams.

They still love you. And you know why?

Because you're you. And that's enough for them, your presence, your devotion, your well-being, is what truly matters for them.

So don't you feel pressured or sad, lovebug 💜💜

i think it’s very important to be at least be a little playful with your own religion. feeling comfortable and safe enough in your own faith to have fun with it is genuinely so, so important to me. it takes some of the pressure off of always ‘getting it right’. and besides! i like to think that the gods really do appreciate the trust we place in them when we allow ourselves to be truly ourselves—with all our vulnerabilities and flaws—in their presence.

don’t get me wrong; reverent, formal, ceremonial, worship is beautiful!! but so is being able to drop all formalities and just talk to your deities… telling them everything that’s on your mind when you need to, or maybe when you’re just too overwhelmed to worship more traditionally. it’s about being able to pray formal hymns and prayers at their alter (if that’s something that feels right for you), but also feeling comfortable enough to simply reach out and talk to them as if they were an old friend or family member that loves you dearly.

cultivating balance is so important for maintaining a healthy relationship with your religion! so just make sure you don’t forget to actually enjoy your practices. at the end of the day, worship should feel fulfilling, whatever that means for you. ♡

Today I was telling my nephews myths about the Greek gods (they're really young), and one of them said "I think every time we talk about the gods, they listen to us." And that really, really maked me emotional. I just love sharing this part of me with them, even if they don't know that i'm hellenic.