This morning while doing solstice offerings, I opened up Barbara Nolan's A Year of Pagan Prayer: A Sourcebook of Poems, Hymns, and Invocations from Four Thousand Years of Pagan History, turned to December, and found a beautiful prayer for Sunna sandwiched between a traditional Welsh folk song and a Wassail poem from the early 17th … Continue reading My (Preliminary) Review of Nolan’s A YEAR OF PAGAN PRAYER
Author: kaye
An average person blogging about polytheism and an aspiring poet-contemplative.
Happy Winter Solstice
Wishing you a blessed and happy Winter Solstice today. (Or, in the southern hemisphere, a happy summer one.) If you're interested in rituals, I have two in the post from last year — one solely focused on the Hellenic Gods, the other an example of a blended, mindfully eclectic personal practice because I also worship … Continue reading Happy Winter Solstice
Offering Cosmos Flower incense to Aphrodite and Eros
This morning, I opened new incense blend called Cosmos Flower and lit it for Aphrodite and Eros. I didn't have a lot of time, so instead of reading Aphrodite's Orphic Hymn, I read one of the ones written by Proclus. But Goddess — for you are far-hearingno matter where you are, whether you embrace the … Continue reading Offering Cosmos Flower incense to Aphrodite and Eros
For Apollon, the Mousai, Mnemosyne, and Hermes
In November (or possibly late October), I wrote this poem to offer to the Gods while doing exercises to improve my grasp of formal poetic meter and rhyme — sitting down at my dining table, noise-cancelling headphones filled with ethereal meditative cello music by the artist The Wong Janice. I was reminded in passing, through … Continue reading For Apollon, the Mousai, Mnemosyne, and Hermes
Seira, transformative experiences, and spiritual materialism
Several years ago, while reading Platonic works, I found myself wondering how I and another devotee of Apollon could have such divergent perspectives and how, both of us presumably having had some kind of experience at the root of that, such a divergence was possible. Later, and as a related question, I started encountering ambiguities … Continue reading Seira, transformative experiences, and spiritual materialism
Cutting Glass, Releasing Garments
The 'last' garment and the most difficult to cast off is, on the appetitive level, ambition, and on the cognitive level, imagination. §111, Damascius I, On Plato Phaedo On January 1, 2021, when I did my annual 12-card divination draw, it was a very dismaying experience because almost all of it was bad. It pointed … Continue reading Cutting Glass, Releasing Garments
Proclus, On the Timaeus of Plato, Book 5, 324.5-24
This very topic should be investigated from the very beginning, asking why it is that the soul comes down into bodies. It is because it wants to imitate the providential care of the Gods, and it enters into generation on this account, abandoning contemplation. For, given that divine perfection is of two kinds, the one … Continue reading Proclus, On the Timaeus of Plato, Book 5, 324.5-24
Two Pieces in Oscillations
I'm excited to say that I have two pieces in Oscillations now — "To Apollon of the Steep Cliffs" and "Pulsations from Cygnus." The first one is a prayer for Apollon originally published in Acts of Speech. I loved having the opportunity to broaden that poem's audience by having it reprinted in Oscillations. The other … Continue reading Two Pieces in Oscillations
Raising Kids in a Polytheist Household
Online, nobody argues with me about raising pagan kids because the first or second thing out of my mouth is usually "I was raised in Neopaganism and here is my constructive criticism" followed by "please give your child religious structure by raising them in the faith." Nobody seems to know how to respond because those … Continue reading Raising Kids in a Polytheist Household
KALLISTI 