THE ONLY GREEK GOD TWINK IS HERMES, APOLLO IS ON THE HUNKIER SIDE OF TWUNK AT BEST. DIONYSUS IS THE GOD OF FEASTING AND ORGIES AND PARTYING DUDE LOOKS LIKE JACK BLACK. HES GOT MEAT. HES GOT CHUB. STOP LYING TO YOURSELF.
Apollon in the building! (or shall I say the pantheon? I’ll go home)
I am so glad that I did a redesign for him and Artemis! I already had designs for them. They stayed the same for 3 years I think. But I wasn’t quite satisfied with them, because they didnt really look like twins. I made them as different from eachother as sun and moon, but I didnt like it anymore because of that. I’ll explain my vision on them more when I finish Artemis (she’s up next, and I am really happy with her design so far, so I cant wait to show you guys!). I’ll also do a comparison of the old and new designs. So keep an eye out for that!
Apollo: Son of Zeus, twin brother of Artemis. God of music, healing, light (sun) and truth, prophecy and oracles.
You’ll probably see a lot of ‘green flames’ with him. It is part of my vision on him as ‘the God of prophecy and oracles’. I’d like to pay as much attention on it as him being ‘the God of light (the sun)’
- From my own (greek gods) project: working title currently Theoi - Apollon, one of the twelve Olympians - Follow me on instagram and tumblr @pixielisje
The Θαργήλια (Thargelia) is a time for catharsis and for cleansing (inside and out) that takes place around next week of this month. For me, this festival is really about reconciling duality and is a chance to regain a sense of balance and calm. These past few months have really made a mess of my daily life and it’s time to reorient myself. This is a chance for spiritual rebirth! After all, the term “Thargelia” comes from the word “Thargelos” (a form of newly sprouted grain bread, most likely barley) and “Thallos” (any form of young, sprouting greenery). It is a celebration of the first harvest and is a chance for me to reap renewal.
For my purposes, I am choosing to only observe the second day (the 16th, I believe), which is allotted to Apollo, primarily. Therefore, my plans are adaptive and will not reflect the full, traditional version of the celebrations (that incorporates Artemis and Leto too).
To the best of my ability, I will…
Thoroughly clean myself as well as my home, including a massive overhaul of things I no longer need (I will not simply be doing my daily sweeping and washing).
Clean all food items (toss out things that are no longer fresh or usable. Restock. Clean the fridge).
Abstain from animal foods and animal-related products for the day.
Gather the “first fruits” from this region (if possible) as offerings.
Create φαρμακόι (pharmakoi) and ritually destroy them. These scapegoats, thought of as my accumulated faults and vices, will be effectively “driven out” by this act of “casting out” beyond my property. Usually, I make them out of paper and then burn them (rule of thumb is to never burn them at the altar - they should be removed from any sacred space).
Prepare sweetened barley porridge (with raisins, dates, nuts, and a little honey and milk). Share with Apollo after libation of wine.
Burn herb and incense offerings.
Read the Homeric Hymns to Apollo (3, 21, 25) and the orphic Hymn to Apollo (34).
Try to steer my mind away from “dark” or “unclean” things for the day. Try to speak with more kindness and good will. Reject hateful or selfish thoughts.
“Already this radiant four-horse chariot, the Sun, flames over the earth, and at this fire of heaven the stars flee into the sacred night; the untrod Parnassian cliffs, shining, receive the wheel of day for mortals. The smoke of dry myrtle flies to Phoebus’ roof. The woman of Delphi sits on the sacred tripod, and sings out to the Hellenes whatever Apollo cries to her. But you Delphian servants of Phoebus, go to the silver whirlpools of Castalia; come to the temple when you have bathed in its pure waters; it is good to keep your mouth holy in speech and give good words from your lips to those who wish to consult the oracle. But I will labor at the task that has been mine from childhood, with laurel boughs and sacred wreaths making pure the entrance to Phoebus’ temple, and the ground moist with drops of water; and with my bow I will chase the crowds of birds that harm the holy offerings. For as I was born without a mother and a father, I serve the temple of Phoebus that nurtured me. Come, new-grown, ministering bough, of loveliest laurel, you who sweep the altar under the temple of Apollo; you are from the immortal gardens, where the sacred drops water the holy foliage of myrtle, sending forth an ever-flowing stream. With this laurel I sweep the pavement of the God all day, along with the Sun’s swift wing, my daily service. O Paean, O Paean, may you be fortunate, child of Leto!” Eur. Ion 82- 112
I drew the King of Swords tonight, in communicating with Apollo and asking him about our relationship.
At first, I was dumbfounded. For some reason, I was struggling with what appeared at first blush to be an oddly obtuse reading. I even fleetingly contemplated the possibility that I did not shuffle my deck adequately. But after several long minutes of contemplation, I realized how striking this card appears for him, as a representation of him. This is a card of rationality, reason, and will, just as Apollo is prince of logosand rhetoric, didactic. And it is double sided, as Apollo is as well, both healer and striker. It is also card of “distance” in the same way that Apollo is known as the far-darter, the sender of obtuse prophesies.
…Sometimes these readings are so ridiculously accurate, it shakes me.
Apollo of the Arts, belover of the craft, refiner of technique, archer of precision, bestower of prophetic gift, radiator of epiphany, piercer of creative thought,
Hear me as I call to thee, Beloved Apollon, expert of precision arts, plucking lyre-strings, glowing sun-lit glory. Bless me with thy guidance, bless me with thy visions, and protect me with thy strong-arm graces from those impede my tekhne-crafts.
Hear me, O glorious and shining one, through the very aither ‘bove, golden haired and sun-kissed twice and many more, lover of the foliage-borne and the flora-died, epiphanic brilliance let me borrow for a time, bestow to me thy grace and glory, supplicate my arts for thee, improved and tempered nigh.
Hello it’s me again with a post I was meant to put online three weeks ago! I’ve done several of these: Artemis-Demeter - I also made one for Hermes during my 30 days challenge but I’ve just realized it’s quite short so I will be making a new one again at some point in the future.
What are devotional acts?
Devotional acts, or devotional activities/practices are things one can do in order to honor a deity, just like one would do with physical offerings or prayer. In short, instead of giving, say, wine, you will offer time and energy (the mundane one). You would typically look at a deity’s domains and pick some things related to them.
So here is a list of things you might do, in the hope that it would spark some ideas. Of course the list in non-exhaustive !
☀️Study academic fields (sciences or humanities) - dedicating your studies to him can be one of the easiest devotional act you can do. Can be for school/uni/work or simply your research related to the hellenic path. He’s all about the pursuit of knowledge so no matter the field, you can dedicate this time to him. It’s a side of him that is a bit forgotten as people will think of Athena first, but it is completely in line with his domains as a god of Knowledge and Education.
☀️ Art and Music making and appreciation - he is the god of music and all the fine arts so you can dedicate the practice of these things to him and call upon his aid to develop your skills and sensibilities. The mastery of Arts requires the combination of technical skills, emotional sensibility, the capacity to break down things mentally, and the creativity to bring out solutions, things that are his domains as a god of Reason and Expression. If you don’t make art, you can simply dedicate some time to your appreciation of those fields by going to an exhibition or a concert.
☀️Honoring the Muses - his epithet Musagetesmeans leader of the muses and is meant to connect him to the Arts, as previously mentioned. However, you could also take that more litteraly and devote your time forming a relationship with the Muses to him.
☀️Write and appreciate poetry - made this a separate entry for how important this was to the Ancients. Without judging yourself, write your thoughts and feelings freely and see it as an expression of your mind and soul. Alternatively, lose yourself into the writings of others.
☀️ Working around health - Apollo is the god who inflicts but also relieves plagues, and the father of Asclepios. He is thus linked to the medical field and any practice related to that would be a great idea. One of his epithets, Acestor, means healer.
☀️Philosophy- Apollo is the patron of those who seek truth and wisdom, so not only would studying philosophies and religions be a neat idea, the most important would be to adopt that mindset and make sure you reflect on your values, the meaning of your life, your place in society, etc… The delphic maxims can be a good place to start, not to use them as dogmas but rather to stimulate your own thoughts and spark questions. When I think of Apollo I think of a god who wants us to keep questioning the world and ourself and push us to a better understanding of things and to build our own sense of ethics.
☀️Introspection - As an extension of that, practising a form of introspection as a way to shed light on the most unknown parts of yourself and seeking understanding of your whole self. Keep an journal to write down your introspection sessions can be a great devotional act and would draw his good influence upon you.
☀️Pursue the best version of yourself (with kindness) - to some extent all gods want to see you become the best version of yourself, but I don’t know why, maybe it’s a bit of an UPG, but I see Apollo as the one who thrives for perfection the most and works hard for that. Just be careful that this doesn’t become unhealthy and that you are always doing this with kindness and love for yourself.
☀️Celebrate the blessings the light and the warmth of the sun gives us - he isn’t the Sun himself (that is Helios) but he is undeniably linked to the Sun and its light so he is the one I go to when I want to celebrate the bright season and its blessings. Personally I intend to celebrate the summer solstice with him.
☀️Practice methods of divination - he is the god of prophecy and oracles and one you can go to to improve your ability to divine. He isn’t the only god whose domain is of one form of divination (Hermes has ornithomancy and astragyromancy, and Zeus had oracles), but he was the one who spoke through the Pythia so you can dedicate the development of your psychic senses to him. Also, Tarot is a relatively modern invention but I link it to him due to the fact that it’s an elaborated system through which spontaneous insight arises.
☀️Teaching- giving a drawing or music class, or just anything really. The idea of transferring your knowledge and allowing someone else to become more skilled at something. Especially great with the youth since Apollo is one of its protectors.
☀️Crafting things for your altar - maybe you want to make a laurel wreath (his sacred plant) to DIY your altar, or what about a scented candle containing solar plants, you could also use clay to shape little elements that you will paint later as a decoration. The possibilities are endless!
☀️Note on donations: an alternative to practising the activities I previously mentioned, you could also give your money to those causes and domains. For example: by supporting local artists or health-workers.
Are there ANY witchy blogs out there that are still posting ACTUAL spells and witchy tips? Because i only see aes pics on my feed and as much as i care yall,,,,, i really want new content pls.
REBLOG IF YOURE A WITCHY BLOG WHO DOESNT POST AES PICS ONLY!
Looking for:
Aphrodite/Apollo devotees
Devotional act ideas
Spells
Spell jars
Sigils
Witchy tips
Dodekatheists
Spiritworkers
Divination work
Anything…… as long as its not ONLY aes pictures,,,,,
Απολλων (ah-POH-lohn) - Apollon AKA Apollo, Phoebus God of light, truth, prophecy, music, poetry, archery, healing, plague/disease, the sun, youth, young men, and those entering manhood Ouranic Olympian
Retinue: The Nine Muses Relations: Leto (mother), Zeus (father), Artemis (twin sister), Asklepios (son), Aristaios (son), Orpheus (son), Korybantes (sons), half brother to all children of Zeus Identified with: Helios (Hellenic), Apollo (Roman), Sol (Roman)
Festivals: Boedromia (7th Boe.), Delia (7th Thar.), Delphinia (7th Mun.), Metageitnia (?? Met.), Pyanepsia (7th Pyan.), Thargelia (6-7th Thar.), celebrated on the 7th of every month, Noumenia (1st of every month)
Epithets: Phoebus (Apollon as Sun God), Thearius (Of the Oracle), Proupsius (Foreseeing), Hecatus (Shooter from Afar), Agraeus (Of the Hunt), Musagetes (Leader of Muses), Paeon (Healer), Akesios (Of Healing), Alexicacus (Averter of Harm), Boedromius (Rescuer), Lykios (Of the Wolves), Smintheus (Of the Mice), Parnopius (Of the Locusts), Argyeus (Of the Streets), Prostaterius (Standing Before the Entrance)
God son of the terrible Kronides our great king and Leto the graceful titaness, Apollon of the golden lyre.
You who send forth honey-filled words in delightful song to us mortals, the miserable race of sufferers, hoping we can taste a little bit of the heavens.
Oh god, I praise and thank you for all the words of wisdom you’ve sent us since the ancient times, helping us to evolve by translating the flowing speech of Zeus, showing us what is true justice.
May you always be acknowledged and praised as you deserve, sweet Phoebus Apollon.
Poetry, music, letters, and/or hymns you’ve written
Art you’ve made
Photos you’ve taken
Golden jewelry
Lgbtia+ flags(especially bi or pan since he’s described as having female & male lovers)
Divination items(tarot, oracle, pendulum, etc)
21+ Offerings:
Wine diluted with pure water
Devotional Acts:
Read/write poetry, hymns, letters,songs, etc
Sing to him
Take care of your mental health, remember to take your medicine if you have any
Try and/or practice archery and possibly even compete in archery competitions in his honor
Try different types of divination
Watch the sunrise
Go for a walk in the sunlight
Let more sunlight into your home
Learn a musical instrument or learn how to sing
Learn simple medical care like CPR
Read his myths, hymns, & poems
Learn about his lovers
Attend pride
Support LGBTIA+ rights
Honor Leto & Artemis
Pray to him often, for guidance, healing, good health, inspiration, prophecy, or truth
Support LGBTIA+ owned businesses
Support small time and/or local indie artists, writers, & musicians
Donate to medical charities
Help street medics at protests
Digital Devotions:
Make an E-shrine
Make a moodboard
Write blogs on archery, medicine, music, arts, writing
If you have a divination service you can dedicate it to him
Altar/shrine ideas
Include a lot of solar imagery, bow & arrow statues & imagery, yellow or orange candles, statues or art of him & his sacred animals(snakes, wolves, foxes, deer, dolphins, crows, hawks), his stones, herbal medicines, musical pieces, divination tools, snake imagery, lyre statues & depictions
I got covid at christmas dinner with my fam, how’s that. Anyways, because of it i have connected more with Apollo because of his health aspect and after researching a bit for adding to my grimoire I read many posts saying how they couldn’t worship their deities properly because they saw everyone doing it in a certain way so that made them compare themselves with that certain everyone and made them insecure about their practice…
Which is a mood tbh.
And I feel I have said so many times the same thing on my posts but I will dedicate one just for this, do what it feels right for you and remember social media is fake. So, first, with the social media thing, some of your favorite bloggers or whatever you follow regarding your worship most of the times won’t tell you when they fuck up. I personally don’t sit everyday and say “oh this last month I didn’t move a finger for my worship because of x and x reason” because I don’t feel the need of sharing it, and I know many others who feel the same.
Imagine this hypothetical scenario. Your mom asks you how you’re doing at school, work, college, whatever and you’re doing really bad because of x reason. The probability you will open up and be honest is very low, we all probably want to say “i’m doing great, achieving all my goals, etc” so when we are not we just rather avoid it. The same happens with worship. There will be exceptions of posts in which we say we fucked up in certains ways, but that wont be constant because the human race has been known for not accepting their mistakes, who would be proud of them tbh.
This leads me to my next point which is don’t be scared to fuck up, the fact that you don’t see everyone messing up doesn’t mean it’s not common to do so… I’m pretty sure everyone has had their downs when it comes to worshipping, the important part is to be able to recover and do something about it. Find a way of worship you feel comfortable with, not a way of worship someone else feels comfortable with.
If there’s something I really like about Hellenism and Paganism in general is how personal the practice can be, there is not a book full of rules to follow, they are just some ground rules and from that you can create your own beautiful practice that fits into your lifestyle and way of living your religious aspect of life.
So please, don’t compare yourself to people on social media and the way they practice, that’s their personal way that fits into their lifestyle not yours.
Really short post but im sick so i would rather go to sleep, goodnight and trust your gut.
i don’t know whether i was drawn to lord apollon because of my love for academia or my devotion to music or my fondness of just sitting outside letting the light caress my face or my passion for learning history or my excitement towards art. but honestly, i don’t think it matters. i was captivated by him all the same.
Divine epithets crop up in even the most shallow dive into Ancient Greek religion and prayer. According to Merriam-Webster, an epithet is “a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing”. Most epithets come after the name of the god or goddess, but there are exceptions to this rule (like Φοῖβος Apollon, or Phoibos/Phoebus Apollon).
Types of Epithets
When it comes to divinities, there are two types of epithets: toponymic and functional. A toponymic epithet is a place-name (ex: Apollon Δηλιος, or Apollon of Delos). A functional epithet describes a specific aspect or association of the deity in question (ex: Apollon Αλεξικακος, or Apollon Alexikakos, who was called upon to avert evil).
How were Epithets Used?
Epithets were generally used during prayer and sacrifice to specify the particular aspect of the god one was sacrificing to- you wouldn’t want to call upon Apollon in his plague aspect when you were praying for healing! In The Iliad, we can see an example of prayer using epithets when Chryses prays to Apollon (1.43-49). He describes Apollon as “God of the Silver Bow” and “Smintheus, god of the plague”. Both of these are functional epithets that describe Apollon and his plague aspect.
Are Epithets Important?
Generally, epithets are heavily used in prayers. However, the Theoi will NOT punish or ignore you for using the wrong epithet. There is only one documented case in which someone suffers because they sacrificed to the wrong aspect of a god: in Xenophon’s Anabasis, Xenophon is warned by a seer that he is suffering bad financial luck because he is only sacrificing to Zeus Βασιλευς (Basileus) and neglected Zeus Μειλιχιος (Meilikhios).
Conclusion
Personally, I use the tricolon style of prayer prevalent in Ancient Greek literature. However, it is my personal opinion that you have the liberty of deviating outside the general “formula” of prayer, and this freedom is protected by the cycle of Χάρις that you have built with the Theoi.
Sources:
Besides the sources I mentioned in the post (The Iliad and Anabasis), I referenced Simon Pulleyn’s Prayer in Greek Religion (which I highly recommend for people interested in the subject), and the article “Epithets, divine (Greece and Rome)” by Sylvain Lebreton. In addition, I used the Theoi.com articles on epithets of ApollonandZeus.
I rework our Apollo’s design a bit! I love to change designs as I keep on improving it’s really is a good practice. But I am very happy with this current design I think we’ll stick with this!
![amazinglybeautifulphotography: Sunflowers at Sunset - Zamora, CA [OC] [1279x1900] - Author: Bearded4](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b1a91016596286c3ac004ee551cf0df0/72db61d866d4eff7-b8/s1280x1920/030df9f3e3640c41511c2a256499edfb881f8b5c.jpg "amazinglybeautifulphotography: Sunflowers at Sunset - Zamora, CA [OC] [1279x1900] - Author: Bearded4")
