On Coming Out

I've found that "coming out" as anything controversial or against what consensus reality would label as "normal" is pretty much the same across the board. (this is coming from a Thelemic Pagan Polyamorous Lesbian, so trust me on this.) There will always be people who get their feathers all ruffled just because someone is doing things differently than they choose to. The thing to remember is ultimately these people don't matter. What matters is that you are being your honest authentic self, the person God/dess created you to be. If you do this you will find that your life opens up, and that you find the people who are your real family.  These are the people who will love you for who you really are.  They are out there waiting. Your life is out there waiting for you to grab it and own it!

Words to Live By

I've been pondering the attributes that I takes to be a good Hellenic Polytheist, and the attributes that I value most within myself. Some practitioners of Hellenic Polytheism subscribe to the Metron, an ethics system of "Seven Pillars" which has been reconstructed in various forms. One of them follows:

• Ethike Arete - the practice of habitual excellence (ethics)
• Eusebia - reverence, loyalty, and sense of duty toward the Gods (of Greece)
• Hagneia - the maintaining of ritual purity by avoiding miasma
• Nomos Arkhaios - observance of ancient tradition, (religious) law, and customs
• Sophia - the pursuit of wisdom, understanding, and truth
• Sophrosune - the control of self through deep contemplation
• Xenia - adherence to hospitality and the guest-host relationship

Laurelei has proposed a system of ethics for the Temple of Aphrodite that I find inspiring:

• Kharis (grace and reciprocity)
• Sophia (wisdom and understanding)
• Eusebia (reverence and piety)

I've been involved in the Caliphate Ordo Templi Orientis for years and as a Thelemite I have some pretty strong Greek ideas of what is right and ethical:

• Thelema (True Will)
• Agape (Fraternal Love)
• Eros (Romantic Love)

Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God.
- The Book of the Law, Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, as delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI, Chapter I, verse 57

And then there are the roughly 150 Delphic Maxims, most of which are reasonable, some of which are excellent, and a couple of which are patently ridiculous in modern society.

The good:

8. Be Yourself (Σαυτον ισθι)
15. Help your friends (Φιλοις βοηθει)
23. Long for wisdom (Σοφιαν ζηλου)
24. Praise the good (Καλον ευ λεγε)
25. Find fault with no one (Ψεγε μηδενα)
38. Nothing to excess (Μηδεν αγαν)
55. Give back what you have received (Λαβων αποδος)
56. Down-look no one (Υφορω μηδενα)
62. Praise hope (Ελπιδα αινει)
73. Be happy with what you have (Κτωμενος ηδου)
84. Make just judgments (Κρινε δικαια)
90. Live without sorrow (Αλυπως βιου)
93. Deal kindly with everyone (Φιλοφρονει πασιν)
106. Be grateful (Ευγνωμων γινου)
107. Pursue harmony (Ομονοιαν διωκε)
117. Acquire wealth justly (Πλουτει δικιως)
118. Do not abandon honor (Δοξαν μη λειπε)
124. Love whom you rear (Ους τρεφεις αγαπα)
126. Respect the elder (Πρεσβυτερον αιδου)

The bad:

9. Intend to get married (Γαμειν μελλε)
91. Live together meekly (Ομιλει πραως)
95. Rule your wife (Γυναικος αρχε)
132. Die for your country (Θνησκε υπερ πατριδος)
137. Grieve for no one (Μη επι παντι λυπου)

So how do I synthesize all of this into a workable system that won't drive me crazy? Here then is a personal Metron that I am trying to live by:

1. Kharis - grace and reciprocity
2. Sophia - the relentless pursuit of wisdom and understanding
3. Eusebia - reverence and piety to the theoi
4. Arete - excellence in deed, thought, word, and action
5. Thelema - the pursuit of my life's purpose and my Will
6. Sophrosune - moderation and temperance
7. Hagneia - ritual purity and avoidance of miasma

I think of Xenia as being a part of Kharis, and, as a Hellenic Polytheist rather than a reconstructionist, I hold no truck with Nomos Arkhaios. Rather, I value Thelema, which can be viewed as an outgrowth of Arete, but it has been so central to my own spiritual development that I've given it a pillar of its own. I believe that most of the Delphic Maxims can be sorted into one of these categories, and I'm pretty comfortable with holding myself to these standards.

Miasma, Katharmos, and Womanhood

"Never omit to wash your hands before you pour to Zeus and to the other Gods the morning offering of sparkling wine; they will not hear your prayers but spit them back"
Hesiod 'Works and Days'

Birth, death, sex, murder, foreign influences, impiety, and certain bodily fluids all bring about miasma, pollution. This pollution can be of the body, soul, household, family, city, or land. The job of the purification [katharmos] of family miasma ultimately fell to the women of the family. Women were the washers of corpses, and the bearers of children. Women themselves were not viewed as harbingers of miasma, on the contrary, whereas semen seems to have been the pollutant that caused miasma during intercourse, there is no evidence of menstrual fluid having properties of miasma. Of course, there is still some debate about this (see comments section of link) in the Hellenic community.

Special rites of katharmos fell exclusively to women, such as the pinning up of hair during most rituals (women typically wear their hair down in ritual only if in mourning, or in certain orgiastic rites, such as those of Dionysus). Purification could also take the form of dancing, which is often associated with women.

The most common form of katharmos today is the preparation and use of khernips. Khernips is created by adding a smoldering brand, such as lit incense or a leaf of smoking herb to salt water. The khernips is then used to wash the hands of supplicants before a ritual takes place or an offering is made.

I have heard some individuals argue that katharmos is nothing more than good hygiene. While I agree that hygiene is a valuable element of working within a Hellenic worldview I see katharmos as something deeper. Katharmos could be achieved by music, tragic theater (k/catharsis), and dance in addition to the more common act of washing. Even medicine itself is a form of katharmos, something to bear in mind when considering the placebo effect.

Likewise, some people equate miasma with sin. Miasma does indeed seem to be related to primal cultural taboos concerning power and transition, but it is not sin. Sin is "the concept of acts that violate a moral rule" Miasma makes no moral judgment except in the case of murder. Confusion can stem from the idea that murder is the greatest form of miasma and carries the most severe consequences. Wikipedia wrongly states that the miasma of murder can only be purified by the death of the murderer.

On Sallustius and Virtue

 Sallustius wrote:

Those who make the world are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hephaestus; those who animate it are Demeter, Hera and Artemis; those who harmonize it are Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hermes; those who watch over it are Hestia, Athena, and Ares.

These are not the assignments I would have given these powers myself, but I trust that Sallustius knows more about the subject than I do. Especially interesting to me is the grouping of those who watch: Hestia, Athena, and Ares.

Athena is my dearest Goddess. After Athena there is no Deity I admire more than Hestia. Sure, I am closer to Dionysus, Aphrodite, and Hermes, but Hestia has more than her earned place of first reverence in my heart. I aspire to be like Hestia: gracious, contemplative, and as eternal in spirit as the flame. So it is interesting to me to see Ares in this triad.

I wonder who Ares is beyond the scant myths that exist of him. I wonder what names he bears beyond the epitaphs we are familiar with. I wonder if Ares would speak to me as do Athena, Hera, and Hermes?

I recognize that of the Hellenic virtues of temperance, prudence, fortitude, and righteousness I am sorely lacking in fortitude. I avoid conflict when conflict is necessary, even when I care about the matter at hand. I struggle to follow through on my commitments. My mind is strong, but my will is weak. Could my estranged relationship with Ares be the key to finding my inner strength?