I have made some changes to the "New to Polytheism?" tab up at the top: I removed the sidebar and added six posts that have appeared on my blog over the past few months. My hope is that the additions further clarify things for new polytheists and provide support as you learn. As the text … Continue reading I Updated the “New to Polytheism?” Helpful Blog Post List
Tag: ritual
Prayer in Under 5 Minutes
The past few weeks have been a blur of activity, from academic article-writing to running an internal conference at my workplace to managing an annual meeting for the local chapter of my professional association. However busy I am, I carve out time for praying, but it wasn't always that way. Especially now, with the pandemic … Continue reading Prayer in Under 5 Minutes
Honoring the Moon
The ad hoc ritual space at the beginning of the ritual. There's a passage in Marinus' Life of Proclus, the hagiography in honor of Proclus' life, that really struck me because it made me nostalgic for lunar rituals when I first read it, and often near the full moon, I'll remember it because it was … Continue reading Honoring the Moon
A Complete Thargelia Ritual
Next Thargelia isn't until May 17-19, 2021. In 2020, I used a ritual outline, and I'm uploading it today so it has enough time for Google's crawlers to find it in time for people frantically searching for a ritual outline next year. Some Background As I said in a previous post, my ritual outlines tend … Continue reading A Complete Thargelia Ritual
Linking Out to a Few Blog Posts I read, With Some Added Comments
While I rarely ever post link roundups, there are a few posts floating around the blogosphere this week that I think are worthwhile shares (especially now that I'm making an effort to be quieter). First, John Beckett wrote "What to Do When You Make a Mistake in Ritual." It is a useful post because we … Continue reading Linking Out to a Few Blog Posts I read, With Some Added Comments
An Etiquette of Crowns, Floral and Verdant
At the beginning of Plato’s Republic, specifically at 328b-c, the elderly Cephalus is wearing a wreath upon his head because he had just finished offering divine sacrifices in the courtyard. In addition to generic ritual wreaths, ones that use specific materials — laurel, bay, rosemary, olive, oak, and so on — have been used for millennia … Continue reading An Etiquette of Crowns, Floral and Verdant
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
My Biggest Takeaways from the Chaldean Oracles
At the close of August, after reading Proclus' Parmenides commentary, I spent a few days with the Chaldean Oracles fragments as translated by Ruth Majercik. The ChalOr¹ are quoted a lot by Proclus and other Late Platonists — I read the last third of the Parmenides commentary in the span of about two and a half weeks, and the … Continue reading My Biggest Takeaways from the Chaldean Oracles
