Bedridden Worship: Apollon

So, I’ve had my sh*t absolutely rocked by a cold and it’s showing no sign of going. Huzzah. That does mean, though, I’ve had ample time to come up with creative ways to honor Apollon while I get over it, so here goes another installment of bedridden worship.

Here’s some of my handy ways to worship him from my bed and room.

Activities

• Listening to music
• Writing poetry (it doesn’t need to be good)
• Researching ancient hymns
• Researching medical history
• Sitting by a window or outside in the sunlight
• Eating honey
• Learning about bees (trust me, they’re cool as hell)
• Making devotional jewelry
• Drawing him or his symbols (snakes, the sun, crows, bow and arrow)
• Making a mini or online altar/shrine
• Decorate empty pill bottles

Habits

These should be done to the best of your ability in their honor.

• Taking medication (especially as-needed medication you’ve convinced yourself you don’t need)
• Eating when you can
• Daily prayers (I usually do them right before bed)
• Dedicating 5 minutes a day to learning about topics relating to him
• Offering the energy of whatever you’re drinking
• Meditation or just napping

Your Space

Things you can add to your room to make your space have more of his ‘vibes’

• Larkspur (what the Greeks called hyacinths)
• Beeswax candles
• Bee, snake, and crow iconography
• Crow feathers (for legal reasons, only fake ones if you’re in the US, but ;))
• Skulls and bones (real or fake)
• Art with bow and arrow imagery
• The colors yellow, white, gold, and green
• Keep a bay laurel–mine survived a while, I do think it might be dead though
• Amber in any form
• Suncatchers

Offerings

Note that any devotional activity can be an offering!

• Candles
• Incense or diffused oils
• Wine (if you’re of drinking age)
• Water
• Honey
• Flowers and herbs, especially bay laurel
• Donations to medical foundations
• Mutual aid for or in support of young people
• Artwork
• Original hymns, prayers, or poetry

Apollon loves you, and he understands that you need to rest. Your health and self care always comes before worship. Arete is your personal best, and your personal best is what you can do without hurting yourself.

Bedridden Worship: Nemesis

In honor of Nemeseia being today (5th of Boe.), I wanted to make a follow up bedridden worship for Nemesis, goddess of revenge and the forgotten dead.

Like Dionysos, I’ve worshiped Nemesis since the very start of my practice, and like them, she’s always been understanding of my disability. As I’m writing this, I’m celebrating Nemeseia while totally unable to walk due to chronic pain, and she’s fully accepting of that.

So, here are my practices to honor her from my bed and room!

Activities:

• Listening to music
• Donating to mutual aid
• Researching Nemesis and Rhamnous
• Researching civil rights
• Researching criminal justice
• Online activism (writing & sharing information on civil rights, for example)
• Learning about systems of oppression
• Reading the Iliad (in myths she is often the mother of Helen)
• Making devotional jewelry
• Drawing her or her symbols (wings, whips, geese, wheel)
• Making a mini or online altar/shrine

Habits:

These should be done to the best of your ability in their honor.

• Regular donations to mutual aid, ie monthly ones
• Daily prayers (I usually do them right before bed)
• Dedicating 5 minutes a day to learning about topics relating to her
• Offering the energy of whatever you’re drinking

Your Space:

Things you can add to your room to make your space have more of her ‘vibes’

• Feathers, especially goose feathers
• Daffodils/Narcissus flowers
• Leather items (jewelry, whips, etc)
• Chains
• Balance scales
• The colors red or black
• Art with wing imagery
• Skulls and bones (real or fake)

Offerings:

Note that any devotional activity can be an offering!

• Candles
• Incense or diffused oils
• Wine (if you’re of drinking age)
• Water
• Honey
• Donations to civil rights charities
• Mutual aid for or in support of marginalized people, ie to support BLM or disability justice
• Artwork
• Original hymns, prayers, or poetry

Nemesis loves you, and she understands that you need to rest. Your health and self care always comes before worship. Arete is your personal best, and your personal best is what you can do without hurting yourself.