I: Taper this candlethe color of meadblooming with morning lightmellow-sweet fragrancecotton wick yet whiteits sooty blackness divinedlong before my lighterhums electricto offer oil to Hestiato tip frankincensedrop by drop for Zeusas the wick keepsthe beeswax tameits fuel bridledby tight weave II: Jarred a wood wickflat as a fingernailthe candle's flesh whitestudded with fragrancewhen I lit … Continue reading Candles
Category: polytheism
I Pulled the Prayers to All of the Gods Into eDevice Formats for Free, In Case You’re Interested
This short ebook (is it actually a zine? is that how those work?) contains the three prayers to all of the Hellenic Gods that I published on this site in January and February (a modified version of I, the compact II, and the very Platonizing III). The prayers draw a lot of inspiration from Plato … Continue reading I Pulled the Prayers to All of the Gods Into eDevice Formats for Free, In Case You’re Interested
Two Quotations — van den Berg on Proclus not being Athenian and what that means for sympatheia and Proclus’ prose prayer to the Gods in the Parmenides commentary
This week, after over a month of waiting, my Brill MyBooks came in. One of the books was Iamblichus' De Anima — or, after the front cover, shall I say <html>Iamblichus' De Anima (yes, literally, I guess he was in fact Very Online) — and the other was a MyBook print-on-demand of Proclus' Hymns by van … Continue reading Two Quotations — van den Berg on Proclus not being Athenian and what that means for sympatheia and Proclus’ prose prayer to the Gods in the Parmenides commentary
Prayer to All of the Gods III
This is the last of the three prayers that I wanted to write in 2021 — hopefully, a decent enough go at it. It's the most Platonic of the three (but, let's be blunt, that's all of them), and it was a good exercise in hammering out where I solidly understand Proclus' Platonic Theology and … Continue reading Prayer to All of the Gods III
It’s Proclus’ Birthday
@barefootwisdom blogged today that it is Proclus' birthday, which was a great reminder. I'd been thinking about the Life of Proclus last night for what I thought was no reason whatsoever, so it's great to have that reminder! Click through below (the "Happy birthday, Proclus!" is hyperlinked) to read some great and inspiring pieces. Today … Continue reading It’s Proclus’ Birthday
I updated my About Me page.
I updated my About Me page, just as a quick FYI. Apart from that, here is a photograph of the tree that I often look at when meditating, adorned with still-falling snow.
Apollon and Plague
So [Khrúsēs] spoke in prayer, and Phoibos Apollo heard him, and strode down along the pinnacles of Olympos, angered in his heart, carrying across his shoulders the bow and the hooded quiver; and the shafts clashed on the shoulders of the god walking angrily. He came as night comes down and knelt then apart and … Continue reading Apollon and Plague
My Personalized Version of the Prayer to All of the Gods I
Over the course of the past week or so, I have been using "Prayer to All of the Gods I" as my main shrine prayer, albeit with some modifications to incorporate a few other deities beyond the scope of the original prayer. It's a lot of libations, a lovely smattering of incense, and ... you … Continue reading My Personalized Version of the Prayer to All of the Gods I
Healthy Reverence and Ancestral Traditions
In Plato and the commentators — and in people talking about them — I've often seen positive language about people observing their ancestral traditions, especially as Late Antiquity gets under way and doing so becomes dangerous to one's personal and political safety. In some places, there are remarks that so-and-so is from x place, but … Continue reading Healthy Reverence and Ancestral Traditions
KALLISTI 