Thyrsos was formed by followers of the Hellenic Religion. They fight for its Restoration, its legal recognition in Hellas, defend the original authentic pre-Christian tradition, and contribute to the spread of the Hellenic Civilization worldwide.

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I think it is important for people to understand the different theological and cosmological opinions out there being called polytheism.  Polytheism, in its basic form, is simply the belief in multiple Gods.^[1][2][3] From this basic definition, modern practitioners, of various religions, seem to fall into several subcategories on a sliding-scale.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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