I have to make a public apology to Mano Madytinos. I, as many did who debate what is and is not authentically Hellenismos here in the English speaking world, misinterpreted some of the statement’s Mano made over the last few months.

Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who are too young to get the pop-culture reference, 7•UP was at one time marketed as the “uncola,” and it would seem there are those who are marketing Hellenismos as the unreligion. What does it say when certain individuals and groups will not even say that something as basic and essential as sacrifices and offerings were/are fundamental practices?

We had been talking about the fundamentals of Hellenismos on the Olympianism Yahoo Group, and one person expressed strong criticisms of Reconstructionists and Ethnikoi, stating not only were the definitions we use too narrow, but just flat out wrong. While she had a lot of unsupported opinions about how wrong Reconstructionists and Ethnikoi were, she did not once offer any real alternative. She used a lot of flowery words, but avoided making any statement as to what she considered practicing Hellenismos.

It took some prodding, but she finally stated that the Hellenic religion is “undefined” because it had no “systematic religion”.  She was, to a point, correct in saying there was no “systematic religion”, but she takes that soundbite to an extreme, and represents it to mean there were absolutely no systems in place, there were no traditions and customs, there were no identifiable ethics. She is an example of a certain segment that promote the Hellenic religion as the unreligion.

Read the rest of this entry »

First, before this discussion begins it must be noted that Hellenismos, as a religion, makes no statement to the validity of other religions and their practices. It also does not make a statement as to the validity of the beliefs and practices of the various Celebrants who may worship any or all of the Greek Gods in a non-traditional way. Hellenismos is the reconstruction of the traditional polytheistic religion of Greece. Those who practice this religion, and work for its restoration, are only making statements as they relate to Hellenismos. Therefore, those of you reading this who a Wiccan, Neodruid, Neopagan, or some other religion that may incorporate the worship of Greek Gods into your practice, the religious opinions expressed herein have nothing to do with you. If you want to find offense in them, look inside yourself as to why.

Read the rest of this entry »

Why has the term Reconstructionist become, to some, a problematic term that causes dissension and unnecessary criticism? I think the identifying of the problem is easy.

The most common definition found for Polytheistic Reconstructionism is a methodology to restore an ancient pre-Christian cultural religion as completely as possible, but within a modern context. That is easy enough to understand, but while many people can regurgitate this simple description, they argue against it from a position other than what it actually is.

Read the rest of this entry »

Because I am a regular schmo, and a Hellenic Reconstructionist, I decided I needed to delve more deeply into the philosophers, but develop a way to do so without my brain bleeding out of my nose.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism (also Hellenic Reconstructionism) refers to various reconstructionist movements that attempt to revive ancient Greek religious practices, emerging since the 1990s. Since 1997 the movement in Greece has been institutionalized under the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes. Polytheistic reconstructionism is not a religion itself, but is the methodology for re-establishing a historical polytheistic (or pre-Christian) religion in the modern world.

Read the rest of this entry »

A timeline, or chronology, is the representation of  sequence of events, a linear representation and outline of historical events and experiences. In order to be able to understand the Hellenic religion one must understand the timeline of the religion’s development. We saw this in our recent discussion regarding Emperor Julian. Once we have a basic understanding of who lived when, and what happened when, we can actually put to rest many of the sillier debates regarding the Hellenic religion occurring among English speaking polytheists.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am creating this post to show examples of authentic Hellenic rituals, as demonstrated by the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE). When reviewing these video clips, you should note the various aspects of Hellenic ritual we have discussed in other blogs, and within my books: processions, prays, hymns, offerings, and so on, even down to ritual clothing. Read the rest of this entry »

The accusation of the YSEE being anti-American, racist, or bigoted is one I have heard too many times, and it needs to be addressed. These inflammatory comments have been circulating for years among American “Hellenic Polytheists” and just needs to end. This is little more than an attempt to disenfranchise the leading edge of our movement, and the one organization representing the Hellenic tradition that commands real numbers.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a virus infecting the Polytheistic Reconstructionist world, and that virus’ name is Pseudo-intellectualism. The goal of any reconstruction of a polytheistic religion is to create a modern but authentic practice with, as its foundation, the accurate and genuine representation of cultural and historical examples of ancient religiosity. Reconstructionism makes use of the work being done in the fields of historical literary research, anthropology, religious history, archeology, forensic anthropology, and many other sciences, while pseudo-intellectualism makes use of rhetorical sleight-of-hand and ambiguities of language in order to deceive and support misleading reasoning. The pseudo-intellectual is not concerned with truth, but instead seeks power.

Read the rest of this entry »