Aidonian's blog

Why I chose to worship the Gods? This is an easy answer, really. I believe in a higher power and in this case: higher powers. After the death of my maternal grandparents, I lost my faith in God but found it again with the Gods of ancient Hellas. I found solace there, peace that I didn’t had before.

Does that mean that im always at peace? No, im a nervous person. So i will be anxious at times. I still feel peace when praying and making offerings to the Gods.

I chose to devote my life the Gods because I feel peace when praying to Them, when making offerings to Them. I feel connected to Them when doing that, when read hymns to Them or read the stories about Them. I have been on this path since i was 13 or 14 and i don’t regret it at all.

Polytheism is the religious system for me. I say religious system because polytheism in itself isn’t a religion, but a religious system opposite of monotheism.

I don’t say opposite of monotheism as if they are enemies of each other. They aren’t. Does that mean that monotheism and polytheism can coexist? Sure. So long as monotheists drop the whole convert people to their religion thing. Monotheism can coexist with polytheism so long as both parties agree that their religion is their truth and not the universal truth. This would also be true for polytheists as well. But i digress.

I like history, i find the history of Hellas fascinating and i have read a lot of books on it. I also have many read books on the Gods as well, written by scholars but also by polytheists. Bibliotheca Alexandria has a collection of books devoted to certain Gods. I have read most of them, not all of them. I like to delve into the history of the cults of the Gods, how the ancient Greeks saw Them and worshipped Them. Its important information to know and have to know what and who you are worshipping. You need historical context in my opinion to know how and what they did and what you can do as a practitioner.

I find joy in learning new things about the Gods. When it was announced that fritz Graf would do an updated version of Walter Burkert’ Greek Religion, I was excited. For any Hellenic and Hellenistic polytheist, that book was a staple, one of the books you just had to read to know what the history of the religion was and the people who worshiped them.

I did have encounters throughout the years that are linked to the Gods, which proved to me without a shadow of a doubt, that the Gods are real and They took an interest in me. One thing we shouldn’t forget that They don’t need us, but we do need Them. Its through devotion, offerings, prayers that we build a relationship with Them. That is my truth. I believe in Them and I know that They are real. If someone wants to worship different Gods or doesn’t believe in a God or Gods, thats fine by me. I don’t feel threatened by other religions or by atheism. I chose the Gods because I felt drawn to Them. I found a religion that I felt comfortable with. While I have a strong connection to Plouton(Hades). He was there for me, all those years, guided me, helped me whenever He could. More on that later. I try to combat injustice whenever I’m able to. I devote my fitness to the Gods. I thank Them if im able to reach my goals in running and I have done that. They have given me the strength to continue when things get rough.