Aidonian's blog

Edward Butler on his Twitter posted the following and it got me thinking. This is what he said. The “God of [x]” notion is a major obstacle, I believe, to engaging with the Gods. People should try approaching their Gods with problems that have *nothing* to do with Their supposed “specializations”, letting intuition be their guide. They will surprise you. The “God of [x]” notion is virtually only to be found in revivalist polytheists. People in continuous traditions (even, e.g., folk Catholic worship of saints) almost always think in terms of their proximity or relationship to a divinity, not stereotyped “specializations”.

He is not wrong there. In revivalists, people tend to focus to much on “the God of…” while it is know that the Gods are multifaceted and stretched over several areas, including overlapping on other Gods’ domain. When I say the name Zeus or Aidoneos, Poseidon, those who worship them might think of God of this and that and I think also about their epithets. I hope. Because that is why the Gods are multifaceted. The “God of…” which Edward Butler refers to is a small portion of what and who a deity like Zeus or Aidoneos is. I at one point was hung up on this thing. Almost 20 years ago, I came acros a man through Yahoo! groups that had a list of Titans and their respected titles and domains. Unfortuanatly it has been lost to me. Still. It was a starting point for me and I took it from there. In the beginning, I was leaning towards the Titans like Krios & Kronos. The Titans, Protogenoi, Khthonic Gods, Olympian Gods are all fascinating Gods to me.

It took me 20 years to realise this, but most epithets are interchangeable, by which I mean that you can easily attach certain epithets to certain deities who previously didn’t had those, well not found in any historical sources anyway. Its how I added “Soter” to the list of epithets of Aidoneos because of personal reasons.

If you want to start a connection or build upon one you already might have? Delve into the myths where the God you seek a connection with has a role in it. Read the hymns whether its Homeric or Orphic, doesn’t matter. They are tools to foster a connection with the divine. In the end, you have to pray. If you do it from the mindset that you wish to honour Them, a connection might come or not. You don’t need a personal connection with all the Gods of the Hellenic pantheon. That would be impossible to do. Just open your heart and the rest will follow naturally. Like Butler stated. Don’t focus to much on their titles. Focus on who the Gods are, their relationship towards eachother and to you. There are alot more resources available today than 20 years ago. A lot of polytheists have written books about their devotion to the Gods. Hellenion can certainly help you on your way to find what you need.