Hellenic cheat sheets

In honor of the festival of Epidauria being today ⚕️🐍🤍

I wore some devotional clothing and read about the connection between Asklepios and the rooster. 🐔

Of Primordial Nyx, Subduer of gods and men, I begin to sing 

Oh dark-veiled goddess Who resides in Hades’ gloom, All pay homage to you.

 With sable-colored steeds You soar across the sky, Trailing stars in your wake.

 Oh goddess of cosmic eternity, With domain in the dark of space, You fill me with awe.

 Endless goddess, I light incense sweet and offer Darkest wine to you.

 Embrace me in your mantle Dark and covered in stars, That I may sleep in peace.

Incense for the Theoi

A collection of personal associations. You are more than welcome to add your own, but I don’t want to see any bashing of this list of PERSONAL associations. They work for somebody, deal with it!

General Incense for the Theoi:

With contributions from:

@fuzzynecromancer, @heatherwitch, @hellenicpagan, @hekatesstrygx, @jnet-erin, @katxnightwind, @myrtlerose, @nowgoesthesun, @pomegranateandivy, @pppcme, @studyhallcousins. 

Inspired by:

This lovely post!

Festival of Night

This is a festival many devotees of Nyx have made together. We felt She needed a special day to celebrate Her, just as many other deities do. This ritual is to be performed on the night of the last Full-moon before Yule.

Steps of the ritual:

Cast a circle, use a white candle for spirit and use the purple one in the center to focus on Nyx.

Ask her to be present in the ritual.

Say/ Sing this Hymn: It is of you I see the Night through. It is of you that I go to sleep every night, safe and sound. It is of you that I began to cherish the night, and the sleep that came with it. It was of you, oh Goddess of the Night, that I was able to rest easy when the darkness swallowed me at the end of the day. It is of you that gave me the sight to see in the darkest of times, when things seemed dim. It is of you that granted me the power to blast through the pain and misery. It is of you, my mother Nyx, that I was able to follow the path to success. I thank you, oh sweet Mother, for all that you grant me. I thank you for all you give, and for all you say. Nyx, Goddess of Night,  Mother to all her children of the darkness, I thank you for all that you do.

Give her an offering of your choice (remember she is a cthonic deity).

Take some time to think of all you want to accomplish with Her in the New Year, all your hopes and dreams.

Then reflect on what she’s done for you, what she’s given you, and how she’s helped you throughout your life.

End the reflection with this thank-full prayer: I thank you Nyx, for your wisdom and guidance. For keeping me sane when others drive me to insanity. I ask of you this night, to keep me safe while I sleep, And to help me ward off any nightmares that insist on coming. I also ask of you, sweet mother of the night, to keep those who wish to talk negatively to me from doing so. I thank you Nyx, the Goddess of Night, For granting me the strength and power to get through my bad days. For helping me along when I wanted to give up. You are an outstanding goddess and mother to your children. I thank you.

Close your circle.

A Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to this! @justyour-averagewitch @cordelia-nightsong @awh-nyx @lelxndi @thegirlwhoknewall  And thank you to all I didn’t write down!

Here’s a link to @cordelia-nightsong‘s original ritual

So happy!! @temples-wreathed-in-laurel @prayersfornyxanderebus

Happy holidays :)

Nyx!

oh nyx - how wonderful you are how you let the stars shine on me how you calm me down oh great night - I can’t wait to hold you close again until the next dawn

Nyx

Someone asked me what Nyx looks like today. The answer I gave is the form I see her in most often. She is a slender woman, not petite, but deceptive in her small stature. Her skin is pale as the full moon but her hair is long and jet black and twinkles with thousands of small silver flashes like it’s made of the night sky. She wears an old style Greek dress of black and her eyes are swirling purple galaxies. Her smile is the most beautiful thing to behold and to see it is to know you belong.

I wish sometimes I could draw her but I’m a crap artist.

Polytheist, pagan and witchy asks

1. How long have you been worshiping? 2. Do you have a deity that is particularly close to you? 3. Whats your favorite tale about your Gods? 4. Do you keep an altar? 5. Do you consider yourself an Oracle? 6. What brought you to your current path? 7. Do you believe in past lives? 8. Do you think plants, animals or stones have spirits? 9. What do you think your afterlife will look like? 10.Who’s your favorite divine power couple? 11. Do you listen to devotional music? 12. What are your views on virginity? Is it worth anything spiritually? 13. What deity do you turn to most in times of trouble? 14. What are your views on dreams? Have they anything to do with divinity or the future? 15. Do you prefer to party and celebrate or quietly observe holidays? 16. Which deity do you find has the biggest sense of humor? 17. What made you choose your religion over any others? 18. Do you have any food or drink that is spiritually important? 19. Do you have any numbers that are spiritually important? 20. Do you believe in fairies, nymphs or nature spirits?

Hey everyone, today I decided to give a little more information about me, my personal beliefs and my practice using this list of questions. Disclaimer: These are my thoughts, I do not speak for everybody in the Hellenistic or Elven, or faith in general. Everybody has different experiences and thoughts, let´s all respect that. 

If you have anymore questions to me about (my) faith, feel free to send them to the ask box. :)

1. How long have you been worshiping?

I have been ´pagan´ since I was 7 years old, which sounds young, but I was very busy with my own spiritual path at the time. Since then I became religious with the Elven faith, well there is no one Elven faith, there are many variations, but yes since I was 7 I am ´Elven religious´. Around the age of 12 I found out about Nyx (or she found me?) and since then I have been worshipping her and her family tree as well. I further expanded that as I grow older. Then when I was 17, when someone very close to me passed away, I started to dig into it even deeper on a more general scale. And so I focused even more on deities related to Nyx and I also become involved in Hellenismos. Since then I also refer to myself as a person who is in the Hellenic faith. As a result of that I also started to work with ouranic deities, mostly Artemis. 

2. Do you have a deity that is particularly close to you?

Yes. Although I have sought to create a better relationship with Thanatos for example, which didn´t really work out well, and I worship multiple deities my patron deities are Nyx (hellenismos) and Wolf (Elven faith). Nyx really feels like a mother to me and since I have been worshiping both deities since my childhood they really saw me and helped me to grow up so I feel very close to them because I have the feeling that they know me very well. 

3. What´s your favorite tale about your Gods? 

I don´t have a particular story or tale that I really like. But in general I like reading about creation myths. 

4. Do you keep an altar?

Yes I do (I actually have photo´s of it on this tumblr). It´s not that full and not 100% how I want it but I am happy with it and I like having it in my house. But in the future, if I have a bigger house, I defenitelly want to expand my altar and maybe even have a separate room for my religion. 

For the Elven faith, since it involves a lot of stories about wolves and our main deity can manifest himself in a wolf as well, I do often buy things that portray wolves as a way of honoring. (However it steel feels different since those are clearly human/ earthly wolves). But I would want a big statue of a Wolf. 

5. Do you consider yourself an Oracle?

Honestly I don´t know 100% for sure what an Oracle exactely is or does. However in the past I did have foreseeing dreams and I did talk to my deities in person (wow, that sounds off haha) a few times. But I wouldn´t call myself an Oracle. I´d rather name that as divination or magic, especially with the things I can do nowadays (since magic is changing, and so did my abilities over time).

6. What brought you to your current path?

Honestly my friend was reading books that mentioned Nyx and recommended me to do so too. Then later, Nyx actually came to me and it all just felt right. From there I have developed my relationship with her. Later I started exanding my faith by worshiping other deities in her family tree as well. And after high school I researched (ouranic) hellenismos online.

For the Elven faith, well I am Elven and I know other Elves who have the same faith so I kind of naturally grew into it. 

7. Do you believe in past lives?

No. I know of a theory about what you are before you´re born, and I think that´s possible. But I don´t believe in past lives any more than that. I think the main reason for that might be that I am quite confident with what the afterlife will be like, and that it exists. So it´s a place, where you´ll stay forever and so you will not be able to reincarnate into a new life on earth and thus past lives aren´t possible.

8. Do you think plants, animals or stones have spirits?

Animals, yes. Plants and stones, not sure. 

9. What do you think afterlife will look like?

Well in my opinion, I am certain that the afterlife will look like how it´s described.

In Hellenismos we have the fields of Asphodel, which is a rather peaceful and beautiful place although you´ll not be able to remember your human life.

In the Elven faith that I follow we end up in the mountains where you will inhabit the body of a young wolf and you will live on like that. After time you might pass onto the ´actual´ afterlife in that wolf shape (alone or with a loved one who has also passed away and who you were sort of waiting for). So the mountains are like an inbetween place but they are very holy and important. 

To be honest, both the mountains in Elven faith and the Fields of Asphodel in Hellenismos look quite alike. Both are filled with green and rivers for example.

10. Who is your favorite divine power couple?

In Elven faith we have deities that together created the Elven race so since they are our origin, them. 

In Hellenismos Nyx & Erebus. Although I also admire the fact that Artemis & Apollo are siblings and that I worship them together during Thargelia. 

11. Do you listen to devotional music?

Yes, I do, occasionally. Mainly songs about the night or that literally call her by the name Nyx. I do not really love listening to devotional music in ritual though. 

I listen to Elven music made by humans but it´s not really devotional more just for a cultural feeling (although it isn´t the same as actual Elvish music).

12. What are your views on virginity? Is it worth anything spiritually?

I am not aware of any rules about virginity in Hellenismos, I don´t think I have heared of them. 

I know for Elves, but it´s again more of a cultural thing, you are allowed to have sex with who (not after marriage though), whenever you want, but you do have to like that person and respect the other person. 

I don´t really, personally, see it as a spiritual thing (for the most part). 

However I know that some people offer it to deities connected to love. And having sex creates miasma in the Hellenistic faith, but it´s human so you can cleanse yourself and it isn´t a big problem. So in that way it can be spiritual. 

13. What deity do you turn to most in times of trouble?

My main deities so Nyx (Hellenismos) and Wolf (Elven faith). Usually I get indirect signs that show support or approval. If it´s something really serious going on or they feel like they need to give me a talk or advice or even a warning they sometimes let me know differently. Sometimes with a manifestation. 

14. What are your views on dreams? Have they anything to do with divinity or the future?

When I was younger I got foretelling dreams so in that case they had to do with the future. Sometimes the near future, sometimes longer away in time.

Nowadays I don´t really have them anymore. But nowadays I have quite some experience with dream communication. Sometimes with deities as well, because dreams are a way for deities to manifest in as well. Besides that, sometimes it´s hard to differentiate dreams from OBE (out of body experience) or Astral travelling. Usually I can tell the difference, but sometimes it´s a bit vague. 

So yes dreams are very important in my life and they can have things to do with future and/or divinity. 

15. Do you prefer to party and celebrate or quietly observe holidays?

Well since not many people know about my faith I usually observe holidays on my own and a bit quietly. However sometimes I plan a dinner with friends or family during the holiday (without them knowing) so I can celebrate with others. 

When I am in the Elven plane we do celebrate together and party.

I would like to celebrate more with others but since there is only a small number of people in the Hellenistic faith and not in my country I sort of have to observe those days on my own. There are celebrations for other more general pagan holidays but I usually don´t feel fully comfortable with how that is organized. But maybe I will attend those in the future.

16. Which deity do you find has the biggest sense of humor?

Honestly I don´t have a lot of experience with deities in connection to humor. However I do think when you have established a good relationship with a deity you could share a joke with them sometimes, or inform them about something funny that happened in your life or during that day. Just don´t over do it because it´s still a deity you´re talking to. 

17. What made you choose your religion over any others?

So actually I was a buddhist for some time, but I was quite young back then and I didn´t research it well enough. But there are still some signs of my past as a buddhist in my parents home, because I was serious about it. Then I looked into Wicca but that wasn´t something for me and Elves are not super happy with that either so that wasn´t it for me. Around the same time I found out more about me being Elven and met other Elves of my clan and so I enrolled into the religion as well. Which is a big and natural part of me. And the deities in Elven faith and Hellenismos have from the start really appealed to me. I felt comfortable with them from the first moment and just felt it was right. They always help me and I can always talk to them. And they helped through many hard moments in my life which made our bond even stronger. Ofcourse I have wondered about my faith at times but they always showed me signs that proof to me that all of this is real. Growing up with these religions since childhood, in which I faced several hard times, made me grow very close to these deities. And it just feels right and belonging. But honestly, I believe in the existence of every deity. I don´t feel like I have chosen a religion over another. I just follow this path in my life now, it´s just a part of me. Like it is also a part of me that I also believe that for example Allah exists. But I personally just follow this path at this moment in my life, and it brings me a hold on and joy. 

18. Do you have any food or drink that is spiritually important? 

Well, I am actually doing more research on this topic soon because I want to incorporate more ´spiritual important´ foods into my diet.

I know wine (and alcohol overall) is in both religions important and used during ritual, as an offering, and during (religious) feasts.

I know for Nyx eggs and dragon fruit are considered associated with her. 

And like this there are more foods associated with deities or festivals but I am doing more research on that soon and I think it also has to do with cultural and agricultural aspects of both ancient Greece and the Elven lands. 

19. Do you have any numbers that are spiritually important?

Well, I know the number 2 is associated with Nyx and since 2 is my favorite number since I can remember, I was really happy when I read that. 

20. Do you believe in fairies, nymphs or nature spirits?

Nature spirits is a bit of a vague and broad term so I can´t really answer that. I do not believe in ghosts if that´s what is meant with spirits in this case.

I have seen fairies and nymphs before so yes I believe they exist. Not super familiar with them though. And ofcourse they are somewhat related to Elves so, although opinions differ on this. 

Zoey, Destined (via stevie-rae-johnson)

O’ Great Nyx! First among Goddesses, borne of Chaos, Queen of Night! 

Great Mother who dwells in Tartarus, who brought forth Dawn and Death, and the irrefutable Fates; Hear us, Dark Lady, as our throats swell in song and praise of you. Hear us, O’ Nyx, as we sing your great name to eternity!

Nyx’s Protection Spell

Put all colored candles except for the purple candle in a box formation. Clockwise: Yellow, Red, Blue, then Green. Place the purple candle in the center. Call each element to the circle in Nyx’s name as you light the candles in clockwise order and then to the center. “Oh mighty air, that rushes its force through the trees and plants on a windy night, I call to thee!” “Oh mighty fire, that warms us and helps provide us with many comforts, I call to thee!” “Oh mighty water, that overtakes low land with great force and is essential to all life, I call to thee!” “Oh mighty earth, that we walk upon and must treat as we would our own kin, I call to thee!” “Oh mighty spirit, that rages through all of us, keeping us strong and healthy, in the name of Night and my goddess Nyx, I call to thee!” Lift your head toward the sky (Best during a full moon at the height of Nyx’s power) and call this prayer to Nyx. “Oh sweet Mother of Night, I call upon your name to bring me your protection in my troubles.” State what is bothering you and you may offer ideas for Nyx to help you fix it. “In Nyx’s name I call to thee, make my troubles disappear by three! In moon and pentagram and moon again, Please send your wisdom and protection!” Blow out the candles counter-clockwise. (Spirit [Purple], Earth [Green], Water [Blue], Fire [Red], Air [Yellow]) Thank each element as you dismiss Nyx’s prayer circle.

(via Legion Of Pagans)

Nyx ?

A couple of pages claim that Nyx is portrayed in this lekythos painting. I don’t know, but at least there is a chariot and the figure is also a bit gossamer, so perhaps this is Nyx.

looks like it’s written NYKS on the left, near the horses’ heads

Nyx Altar

☾moon imagery

☾night sky imagery

☾blue goldstone

☾yonic art

☾silver, white, and black candles.

☾representation of Her, a statue, a large candle, a painting, whatever

☾chalice

☾offering bowl

☾bloodstone

☾pictures of cats

☾pictures of bats or any nocturnal animal

☾black lace

☾garnet

☾poetry dedicated to Her

☾art dedicated to Her

☾devotional journal

☾offering bottle

Common place knowledge on Nyx

The Goddess Nyx, also known as Nux, Nox or Night is a primordial Greek goddess who is the personification of the essence of night and darkness. She is an ancient goddess of Night thus the meaning of her name. She is considered to be one of the most powerful divine beings who was born of the cosmic being, Chaos. Ancients believed that before the universe was created there existed only a void of “chaos” that was black and silent. From this “chaos” Nyx emerged into existence. She is often depicted as a great black winged spirit or seen riding in a chariot, trailing stars and bringing the night behind her, accompanied by her sons Hypnos and Thanatos. Nyx has always been presented as a figure of exceptional power and beauty. She who lives in the shadows of the world, only ever seen in glimpses by mortal eyes. According to myth, Nyx had conceived from the wind and laid a silver egg in the darkness (the upper part of the egg representing the sky and the lower section was the earth) She could be helpful or harmful to mortals, bringing either sleep or death with her. Nyx has many children. Most of her children represent the ‘darker’ aspects of humanity, such as the Three Fates, Nemesis, Sleep, Death, Doom, Misery, Deceit and Strife. Nyx possesses prophetic powers and is known to be affiliated with owls and bats. Her planet is the moon and the best time to connect with her is on Mondays, especially around Yule. Nyx is associated with the night; the color black; eggs and birth. Nyx is of good to call upon when you need to find yourself, reclaim lost awareness of your truest nature, for protection, cleansing and fertility. Nyx also represents nightmares, mystery, dreams, darkness and night. It is recommended to call upon Nyx after sunset. She can be invoked her for psychic dreams and astral travel and for rituals at midnight or when it is a moonless night. Offerings to this goddess could include libations of water from a natural source such as a river or a lake as well as red wine, honey, or oil. 

Some of her correspondences include:

Her children were believed to be:

Nyx can be called forth for Cleansing, Protection, Awareness of self and fertility

Eggs

Manifesto of a Night Priestess

I am trying- horribly so far- to write a heavily requested manifesto of sorts explaining my path as a priestess of the Night Mater, Nyx. It’s supposed to explain my beliefs, worship practices and rituals, and unique methods of witchcraft. This is the first paragraph and I already want to vomit. I’ve had too much wine to be working on this right now. 

“Before time, before even the first breath of creation, there was the Void. It was a great expanse of nothing, and was both endlessly vast and as small as a single molecule. In this Void there was no light, no color, no anything. Blackness is an insufficient word for the darkness that existed there. But stagnation never lasts, and the Void, in its chaotic nature, birthed into itself a spirit; a consciousness. She was the first Night, and we have called Her by many names. She is Nyx, Not, Nuit, Metztli, Nephthys,Artume, Ratri, and Nott. Nyx is the creative spirit of the Void, and born at Her side was a twin, Erebus, who is the spirit of the vast blackness of Her Night. From their union, and Nyx’s own creative whimsy, were born many spirits: first came Aether, the breath of creation; then Hemera, the Light. These were followed by many others, from Death and Fates to Love and Humor. Nyx gave birth, of Her own self, to the Earth Goddess Gaia, and to countless Night spirits that roam Her daughter’s body. The way this is done cannot be said in mortal words. It is like the birth of a star, or the swell of a song, or a dream. It cannot be known, and yet it is so.”

-Priestess Miakoda