So You Wanna Be a Hellenic Polytheist? - July 31, 2020

So You Wanna Be a Hellenic Polytheist? - July 31, 2020 2:13 PM / Jessie

The question I get asked the most (other than communication questions) is “How and where do I start?”

The answer will always be RESEARCH

An important quality of Hellenic Polytheism that rarely gets emphasized is the fact that it’s ultimately a study. Much like how when a student declares a major they are committing themselves to learning and absorbing as much information about that area of study as they can, being a Hellenic Polytheist is the same kind of commitment.

There is no Ancient Greek equivalent of the Bible. No sacred texts or doctrine that lists everything you need to know about being a Hellenic Polytheist and worshiping the Hellenic gods. So in order to understand the religion you have to put in the effort and go find the information.

Research is also vital because unfortunately a lot of the information spread through the mainstream is either inaccurate or doesn’t tell the entire story. This is especially the case for the gods. Between the misunderstanding of mythology and the influence of fictional works such as the Percy Jackson series and Lore Olympus, the true nature of the gods has been extremely warped.

Mythology is its own beast of a topic that I will be discussing in a future blog post or podcast episode, but for the purpose of this post let me just clarify that mythology is NOT the end all be all of the gods and the Hellenic Religion. It is a small piece of the puzzle and much like all the other pieces, it’s complicated. Much of the Hellenic Religion is complicated, so I urge you to approach it as such.

The misunderstandings surrounding the role and purpose of mythology is one of the many reasons I call Hellenic Polytheism a study. In order to fully grasp what function mythology served to the Ancient Greeks and what it serves now to the modern worshiper, you actually have to understand Ancient Greece. Its history, its culture, its beliefs, its religion, its values, etc. You can’t just look at one small part of it and think you learned all you need to know. Each aspect is connected and informs the others. Focusing on one piece means you’ll never actually put together the puzzle. You’ll never see the picture being created.

Research is not only essential in order to understand Hellenic Polytheism, but it’s actually part of the religion itself. The pursuit of knowledge was an important value in Ancient Greece, something you can clearly see in not only the Delphic Maxims but also in the fact that two of its most significant and beloved gods, Apollo and Athena, are associated with knowledge and wisdom.

Now I know it may seem overwhelming given the amount of information out there. We are fortunate enough to have a ton of knowledge available to us, more so than most pantheons and ancient civilizations, but I want to stress that this isn’t a race nor is it a journey with a fixed destination. While at the start of this post I compared Hellenic Polytheism to being a college student, the benefit here is that there are no deadlines, due dates, or grades. You work completely at your own pace and based on your own goals.

I know also for a lot of you the overwhelming amount of resources available makes it difficult to decide what to start with. Making decisions is stressful especially when you’re a perfectionist with anxiety (psst I’m talking about me!). But I assure you there really isn’t any right or wrong decision to make here. Regardless of what resources you choose you’re going to gain knowledge from it which is the ultimate goal. Treat this like an all you can eat buffet with zero consequences. Indulge your interests without hesitation and grab whatever entices you without question. Knowledge is a hunger you should always try to satisfy but you should never actually be satisfied.

It’s crucial that you do not rely heavily on social media platforms for gathering information, as I said before there is a lot of misinformation being circulated so it’s best to focus on the actual ancient sources as well as academic writings. Doing your own effective research allows you to notice the inaccuracies being spread around and question more of what others are sharing. This protects you from falling victim to fear mongering and possible cult leaders. Sorry Ares, the weapon of choice here isn’t a spear but KNOWLEDGE!

With all that said though, I am going to help make the decision making a lot easier by providing you with a list of resources that I personally find important and a good place to start.

Some of these might be available free online or through your local library so do some searching before you open your wallet. If you prefer physical copies or can’t find a free version I recommend Thriftbooks.com

Remember this is just a starting point and in no way a comprehensive list of what you could read. I actually like to recommend people take a peek in their local libraries (or even used bookshops) and see what they have available. Pick up anything that seems interesting to you. As I said before this isn’t about the right or wrong way, it’s about putting in the effort. It’s showing the gods that you’re serious about this. That you’re ready to give them your all because trust me they are going to give you theirs.

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