Aidonian's blog

for more than 20 years I’m a polytheist who worships the Hellenic Gods. My devotion is high, even though I don’t practice every day, I do give cultus to the Theoi because for me They are worthy of it. Plouton and Hekate were there at a time in my life where i needed them. They in a way saved me from my most destructive impulses. I guess that the Moirai decided that my time wasn’t up then. Don’t get me wrong here. I don’t have a divine mission here on Earth. I lead a normal life. I live my life. While I do get criticism for being both a polytheist and a marxist, I don’t see any discrepancies between the two. Marxism and religion can co-exist so long as religion is thought of as a personal matter, not a state matter.

When religion and state mix, the people will suffer for it. During social injustices religious institutions looked the other way because it was in their interest that the status quo was not challenged or disrupted. In ancient Rome, the title of Pontifex Maximum was more a stepping stone for a political office instead of a honoury position to serve the Gods. In ancient Hellas, priests were not a class on itself. Any head of the family could be a priest. There were official priests who maintained the temples, shrines and oversaw public rites. But they had no real influence like in ancient Egypt was the case. Though the king could claim to be a descendant of a God or a hero like Herakles to gain public support and use religion for his benefit.

While the last couple of years I did have religious experiences, does that mean that you need to have them to be religious? I think not. Its a plus to have them. But I went years without them and was devout to the Theoi. It is more important to give cultus to the Theoi than to expect something in return. The Theoi don’t have to do that. Reciprocity is nice and cool to experience when the Gods give it, but They can do it in small ways as well as in big ones. Like for example when arriving safely at your destination, you can thank Hermes Enodios for that. At first I thought it was Pallas Athena but turned out it was Hermes’ domain of communication in the sense of learning new languages as well. Which helped me to ask His help for mastering the languages

One thing that bothered me, is seeing how many turned to look to exclude others from their religion just because they weren’t born in that country where their Gods herald from. Its folkist and racist. The Gods don’t care about such triviality, only humans do. I know some Hellenes complain about the term “Hellenic polytheist” that some non-Hellenes use for themselves. They consider it cultural appropriation. Its true that the religion of the ancient Greeks don’t have a name like ancient Romans had, but to attack others for using the term is foolish.It only divides polytheists even further. A division that weakens us and is only beneficial for those wanted to either exploit it or seek to destroy us. We should come up with alternatives for “Hellenic polytheism” and vote on it so that it reflects all believers, not just Hellenes. There will always be racists who want to use religion as a excuse to excluse others. We will not be able to convince them to let go of that petty convinction. We can try and we certainly must try but we will not convince all of them.