A few years ago, I wrote a post about menstruation and miasma after combing through sources trying to identify pieces of evidence about it. Unsuccessful in this search, I wrote a post about menstruation in which I discussed the lack of mentioning it in any written documents that I had seen. I have since been … Continue reading More On Menstruation and Miasma: Turning the Mirror Red
Tag: purification
Drying Rosemary for Purification Water
Back when I wrote some basic guidance on how to do no-frills worship (and a follow-up one on doing quick worship), I said that one could easily buy rosemary to make purification water. I had occasion to buy a lot of fresh rosemary, and these are 6-8" sticks. Fresh rosemary leaves — some in bloom … Continue reading Drying Rosemary for Purification Water
In Which Some Comments Are Made About the Word Theurgy
In my blog post about reading Iamblichus’ On the Mysteries, I said that theurgy is “basically a fancy word for traditional cultus.” The post has gotten a lot of reach, with most referrals from Facebook (where I can’t see anything), but it was also posted to a Reddit board called r/Occult by someone. A Reddit … Continue reading In Which Some Comments Are Made About the Word Theurgy
Slowing Down
This post is about self-care, and how we do (or don't) keep it up. On Saturday, I watched the film Aniara with my GF, a scifi horror piece about a marooned passenger ship. It's a fabulous film, but one of the side effects of a film that is that good (and about what it is … Continue reading Slowing Down
Purification and How We Talk About It
Today is a purification day, so it's the perfect time to talk about purification. Because I often do long posts with a bunch of headers, here's a guidepost: I'm going to (a) talk about what I do on a monthly basis for purification just in case you haven't read anything else I've said on KALLISTI and (b) … Continue reading Purification and How We Talk About It
Catharsis
A poem for Thargelia.
Eumenideia 699.2 Starts Soon
The Eumenideia is happening in a few days, on 27 Anthesterion (the night of March 3rd into the day of March 4th). For Internet impermanence's sake, here are all of my posts about the Eumenides on this blog to date. Coda: Blood Crimes, Purification Ceremonies, and the Eumenides Happy Eumenideia (2017) Poetry for the Eumenides … Continue reading Eumenideia 699.2 Starts Soon
Menstruation is not miasmic.
When I posted "On approaching polytheism as a system," I promised that I would start with a post on menstruation. This is that post, and its structure is as follows: Some term definitions and history Source materials and process Comparative praxis A look at the source materials Positional statement Note: Since posting this, I've found … Continue reading Menstruation is not miasmic.
On approaching polytheism as a system
Systems science is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand the world as a complex network of systems. As polytheists, we must often translate practices from ancient cultures to the present day, and this allows us the flexibility to maintain core traditions while engaging proactively with modernity. American cultural attitudes towards antiquity, polytheism, and mythology feed into negative attitudes towards (primarily Hellenic) ritual practices for purification and prayer. Addressing things like feminism and patriarchy head-on can help improve this situation, and that's what I'm going to do.
