…sacrifice to the deathless gods purely and cleanly, and burn rich meats also, and at other times propitiate them with libations and incense, both when you go to bed and when the holy light has come back, that they may be gracious to you in heart and spirit…” ~ Hesiod, Works and Days
Hellenismos.us
The Hellenic Polytheist Website
excerpt from Greek Popular Religion, by Martin P. Nilsson (1940)
A great scholar has graphically described Artemis as the goddess of the outdoors (Göttin des Draussen). Untamed nature may be lovely and beneficent, but, on the other hand, it may be terrible and frightful. The desert wilderness, the rugged mountains, the deep ravines, the precipitous torrents, and the thick forests inspire awe in man. Among them he feels himself subject to unknown and dangerous powers. There the wild beasts which attack him and his herds roam about, and robbers may lurk in the glens. “It is better at home, for it is dangerous outdoors” is an old Greek saying, found in Hesiod and in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. 1 Within the walls of his house, man feels himself secure, protected from dangers which threaten without. The ancient Greeks would have understood what we mean when we say, “A man’s house is his castle.” In the beginning of the work of Thucydides there is a vivid description of how unsafe life was in early times because of robbers and pirates.
In our continuing dialogues we have covered the importance of honoring the Twelve, appropriate patron relationships within a Hellenic paradigm, virtue and vice, personal deities are personal daimons and tutelary spirits, and the Hellenic religion overall. Today, I wish to discuss the Household Gods and everyday practice. Many new to Hellenismos seem to focus only on the grand festivals and large public sacrifices of the city-states, which in some respects is understandable, but this focus leaves large and empty gaps. In many respects, a practitioner of Hellenismos who places their main emphasis on festivals is like a Christian who only sees the inside of a church on Christmas or Easter.
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