I am sure we are all aware that Sarah Kate Istra Winter is planning to publish a second, revised, and expanded edition of her Kharis: Hellenic Polytheism Explored book in early 2008. While the original was only published a few short years ago, it was the only work on modern Hellenic Polytheism in print for a very long time, and probably warrants this second edition. It will be interesting to compare and contrast these two versions, and I encourage anyone who has yet to get it, to purchase the original while it is still available. It can be found through cafepress.com.

The original was a very good introduction to modern Hellenic Polytheism in the United States. The one shortfall was the survey presented in the book’s appendixes. I am hoping that this second edition will do a better job at presenting the information.

First, the original did not make it clear to the reader that the survey was not scientific. What does that mean? Well, there is no way to state that this information is of any statistical value. The survey is not performed through a controlled method, and cannot be said to be a representation of x% of all those who identify as Hellenic Polytheists. Therefore, one cannot assign a +/- percentage of accuracy of this being a true representation of beliefs and practices within the “community.” The best that can be said is the data represents the beliefs and practices of the respondents only.

The other shortfall is that the data was presented raw. This means that the 94 respondents’ data was given the reader as-is, with no real breakdown of who responded what way. For instance, the survey identified five major groups self-identifying as Hellenic Polytheists: Hellenic Pagan, Hellenic Polytheist, Hellenic Reconstructionist, Greek Pagan/Polytheist, and Hellenist. The ability to be able to compare how one group responded compare to another would be valuable, in my opinion, in understanding the thought process of the individual groups. How are they alike, and how are they different? We don’t know.

Another valuable piece of information would be the comparison of those who identify as Reconstructionist verses not (this was a separate question to the self-identifying label). Again, this would be a valuable insight into understanding the mindset of these groups. For instance, if we find that most Reconstructionists identify themselves as group x, and x group and recons both share similar beliefs and practices, this is important information for defining the individual movements under the title Hellenic Polytheism.

One large deficit, in my opinion, of the data itself is that it seems there was no weeding out of respondents. This means all respondents were included in the presentation. This would imply that there was no minimum standard for what a Hellenic Polytheist is and is not. Those who identify as Witch, Ceremonial Magician, Eclectic Pagan, Pagan, and Religio Romana had their answers included with those who where specifically Hellenic Polytheist. In this way, those who took the survey just to have something to do, and those that actually are Hellenic Polytheists have equal weight, and this causes the data to be skewed. More than a third of all respondents did not even identify as Hellenic. This statistic interestingly corresponds closely to the percentage of respondents that did not consider themselves Reconstructionists (36%). At this point we can only assume what that means, while better analysis of the data could provide a clearer picture.

Overall, though, that is my only major criticism of the book. It is a very good primer on the subject of Hellenic Polytheism. In fact, not only do I list the work on our recommended reading page, I also cite it on several occasions in the books I have written because, even though it is a general overview of Hellenic Polytheism, it has a very Reconstructionist slant. Kharis, therefore, is a good resource for practitioners of Hellenismos. I am looking forward to getting my hands on this second edition.

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Tags: 2008, book, Hellenic Polytheism, Hellenismos, Kharis, Sarah Kate Istra Winter