Hellenic Ideas: Low Cost Shrines

The more I practice my daily rites at my personal shrine and altar, the more I realize that you don't need massive temples or worship space to be a good practicing Hellenist. The large temples of course have their immense value, but you don't have to have one. 

In the picture on the left, I have put together a prayer space that I don't think has been shown before in modern Hellenism, at least not on my site. But I came up with the idea this past Saturday after visiting a new Pagan supplier in Freeport, Illinois.

This style of shrine combines some of Minoan, ancient Doric Greece, and some modern Spiritualism. The Minoan comes from the tree sanctuary, where a single pillar was set up in the precinct of the tree and surrounded by a wall. The column is from the Doric era of ancient Greece. And at the bottom are precious spiritual stones. One is Pink Mangano Calcite (which aids in a connection to Divine love) and Opalite (which helps improve spiritual communication).

And just to verify, the stones do work very well. Just by holding them, I felt immense peace and love flowing through me. In fact, it may encourage me to do more stone work in a Hellenic format in the future. There was most certainly such a thing as sacred stones in ancient Greek culture, religion and mythology, such as the Baetylus, which was a sacred stone pillar that was used as a specific cultic symbol of a God. Or my personal favorite, the Navel of the Earth stone at Delphi.

At this point, all one needs in addition is incense and an incense burner as a way to do daily offerings, and they can offer and pray here to any of the Greek Gods they so desire or need to; that's the first best part about it. The second best part is that it costs very little to construct. This column is held up by a wall niche, and is only a foot or a little over tall, and can be painted any color(s), and the stones were 90 cents a piece, which means you could probably buy as many or as diverse of a collection as you want, depending on your spiritual needs and focus.

Finally, it takes up very little room. I set this up next to my bedside for the photo, in the far corner of the room. It does not impose on anything at all. Literally, anyone can build a consecrate one.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Learning From The Greek Gods: Aphrodite

Most certainly, Aphrodite's name is as common to people as Her epithet of Pandemos. She's the great Olympian Goddess of love; who rules the realm of beauty, sexuality, pleasure, lust, and the life that it can and does bring. Born of the sea off the coast of Kypros through the remains of Ouranos, She existed before the rise of Olympos, which technically makes Her the first Olympian. While She is the Goddess of wonderful and joyous sexuality in general, She is also involved in the sexuality of marital unions and relationships themselves. She encompasses sexuality itself, whether it be married, unmarried, or simply friends with benefits. The joy, passion, eroticism, excitement and loveliness of sex is all Her. She is also a Goddess who prevents unscrupulousness, which means She is also not a Goddess without standards. Stories about Her are also rooted in a love and affection for humanity, such as with the tale of Pygmalion, the sculptor who created a statue of his ideal woman, and was turned into a real person by Aphrodite as an answer to his prayer to find true love. He named this woman Galatea, and they both lived happily ever after.

So what can we as adults learn from Aphrodite? Firstly, we should realize and accept the fact that sex is a part of nature and the human makeup. Our sexuality should not be something to be ashamed of, for it is blessed, not damned. Nothing which brings so much pleasure, happiness, satisfaction, and life can be anything other than a Divine blessing. Sex is Godly. It is not Her desire that we put ourselves in sexual misery, or fight against our natural states and instincts. She wants us to enjoy life, and therefore it's alright to be sexual, to enjoy it, and to be attractive and attracted to others. Science has proven time and again that a regular sex life is healthy for the mind and body, and of course it is, because it comes from heaven. Now does that mean we should sleep with everyone we meet? No, because as I said earlier, Aphrodite is also a Goddess of standards, and those are partially found in being safe and healthy with your sexuality. But within those bounds, sex is immensely healthy and beneficial to us as human beings. That's not simply my own personal belief, but scientific fact. 

I think Aphrodite also encompasses love for ourselves. In other words, She doesn't want us to be self-loathing, but to love ourselves in that we realize we are loved and worthy human beings. I also think She wants us to spread love itself to others, in that we treat our fellow human being with compassion and care, not coldness and hatred. We are loved by ourselves if no one else among mortals, and we should help others realize that they are loved as well through our actions. I learn many great things from Aphrodite as Her devotee, two of the most important being that sex is natural and good, and that we are not living in a universe where there's no love. It's abundant.

In the Goodness of The Dodekatheon,

Chris.