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Contemporary Hellenic Reconstructionist Offertory Rituals

Locate as many examples of contemporary Hellenic Reconstructionist offertory rituals as you can. Compare and evaluate them.

First some definitions to determine the focus of this article: contemporary "of the present time" (Dictionary, 142). offertory "that part of a service at which offerings are made" (Dictionary, 459). ritual "an established procedure for a religious rite" (Dictionary, 573). A large factor in determining if an author is Hellenic Reconstructionist is their ritual structure. Therefore, this discussion will focus on the portion of repeated procedures dealing with the giving of libations, sacrifices and offerings as defined by a variety of authors to determine if they are worshippers of Hellenic reconstructionist religions.

There are two types of offertory ritual structure that are considered Hellenic Reconstructionist. The first is the prayer formula with three standard parts: the invocation (invocatio), the narrative (pars epica) and the actual wish addressed to the divinity (preces) (Graf, 189). The second type is the large festival ritual structure which changes from one festival to the next but has some well-defined, common parts: shared meat meals (Burkert, 57), hearth fires (Burkert, 61), first fruit offerings (Burkert, 66), votive offerings (Burkert, 68), libations (Burkert, 70), and purifications (Burkert, 75).

In the ancient world, rituals varied by festival and by location. In our modern, fast-paced world, there is no time to learn new rituals for every festival. On the other hand, to have one fixed ritual structure, robs us of the rich diversity and meaning of the various festivals. The solution taken by many is what Flowers calls "frame rituals", common opening and closing rituals with variations in the middle. Due to our lack of knowledge of ritual structure and activities, variations are allowed using parts of other ancient festivals or reasonable additions. What is not allowed is the addition of parts of other modern rituals that have no relevance or historical evidence.

  1. Ashcroft-Nowicki's Greek Ritual of Spring (121-125) and Greek Ritual of Summer (143-146) represent the thoughtless mixing of cultures that many Hellenic Reconstructionist find offensive. The Olympians (Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Hera, Aphrodite and Demeter, Zeus) are mixed with Chthonic deities (Hades and Persephone), Roman deities (Flora) and quarter altars (which have no presence in the historical Hellenic rituals). There is a small amount of invocatio material with their parentage, no pars epica, and a preces that includes a vague request with no votive offering. They are concluded by the participants "blessing" the gods (which would be considered the height of presumption, or hubris, by most Hellenic Reconstructionists).

  2. Campbell's Devotional Ritual Outline (152) includes a number of the procedures of formal ritual (mentioned above) and none of the proscribed ritual elements. The only possible improvement would be a little more explanation of the meanings behind the ritual elements. His Amphidromia (160-162) contains many elements of both formal ritual and traditional prayer but lacks a votive offering in return for Hestia's accepting the child. The last line of the Coming of Age for Girls: Offering of Toys (170-173): "All: Houtos esto! (May if be so!)", is of questionable origin and may be from the neo-pagan "So mote it be!". Other rituals such as the Dekatê (162-165), Oath of the Ephebe (168-170), Ritual of Supplication to Aphrodite (195-197), Prayer to Apollon for a Prophetic Dream (200-201), etc. are complete without change. In spite of these very minor criticisms, Campbell appears to have made every effort to create rituals that are both historically accurate and technically feasible in the modern world.

  3. As with Campbell, my criticisms of Firethorn's online ritual are very minor. (There are no specific citations so I can't check the source of the included ritual elements.) The encircling and the concluding "So Be It" appear to be from other culture's rituals for the comfort of the pagan community. Using barley to purify an altar is from a ritual to Demeter (with no evidence of the same practice in general ritual structure nor an explaination of how this purifies the altar). The standard prayer structure (above) includes an invocation but I have never encountered evidence of evocation (as mentioned in this ritual). The restriction of the priesthood not getting any benefit from the sacrifice, may not be historically accurate. I strongly disagree with Homer's and Hesiod's writings being "Ancient Hellenic Scriptures" (but I've mentioned this opinion previously). Otherwise, this ritual includes many of the required elements and few of the proscribed ones. It should be considered very acceptable as a "contemporary Hellenic Reconstructionist offertory ritual".

  4. The first two rituals presented by Godwin are a copy of Ashcroft-Nowicki's Greek Ritual of Spring (38-42) and Greek Ritual of Summer (42-44) which are discussed above. Next is The Bornless Ritual (79-82), copied from Regardie (442-446), which is a mixture of Greek, Egyptian, Gnostic and Hebrew. (A similar mixture of cultures can be found in all Golden Dawn rituals.) The Bornless Ritual has an invocatio (which consists of most of the ritual), a brief pars epica (which is false as the ritualist presents themself as being others rather than presenting their own qualifications) and a preces (which has a request and no cooresponding votive offering). The rest of the rituals he presents are clearly labeled as being from other cultures (and copied from other authors). In conclusion, Godwin does not create any rituals of his own but presents the rituals of others. None of the rituals that he presents fit the criteria of Hellenic Reconstructionism as defined above.

  5. The first of Morrison's prayers that mentions the Greek deities is her Protection Against Computer Viruses (114). While it is acceptable to create new prayers when they are identified as new, mixing gods from different cultures, as this one does, is not accepted. As with other authors, this prayer includes an invocatio and a request but no votive offering. She has a very consistent writing style and the same can be said about Fax/Modem Protection Chant (117), Chant for a Properly Functioning CD-ROM (117), Morning Blessing (124), To Gain New Friends (147), Chant for Successful Hunting (182), Chant to Hecate (191), Protective Blessing for Gerbils, Rats, and Mice (236), Protective Invocation to Hecate (244), Chant for Physical Strength (252), Chant for Athletic Victory (267), Protective Prayer for Soldiers and Those Going into Battle (269), Chant to Athena (272). On the other hand, for those needing ideas for modern prayers, her's are the most diverse and require the least modifications of that offered by non-reconstructionist authors.

  6. Most of Reif's prayers are incomplete: Prayer to Demeter Panagia (44), Prayer to Demeter Chthonia and Dea Mystica (49), Prayer to Kore (62), and Prayer to Persephone Praidike (63) include an invocatio and a request but no votive offering; Prayer to Demeter Melaina (47) contains none of the standard parts of a prayer. Her prayers, that are complete, are vague and concentrate on the invocatio: Prayer to Demeter Chloaia (45), Prayer to Demeter Antaia (46), Prayer to Demeter Thesmophoros (48), Prayer to Demeter Evalosia (50). Her rituals suffer from similar missing elements and vagueness: Lustration: A Rite of Self-Blessing (66) contains none of the parts of a reconstructed ritual. Her choice of rituals and ritual elements, appear to be chosen to emphasize her subject matter (Demeter) rather than their historical importance: "The Proerosia, a part of the Athenian and Eleusinian calendars" (Reif, 81) versus "There is doubt as to whether it was an official festival of the Athenian state." (Adkins, 353). Other "festivals" are not even mentioned by other sources: Arkichronia (Reif, 100), Nestia (Reif, 121), Chloaia (Reif, 146), etc. In conclusion, if Reif considers herself a Hellenic reconstructionist, she needs to work harder at it. Her scholarship is questionable and the resulting material, while imaginative and artistic, is vague and misleading. Her concentration on the light side and feminine aspects are considered unbalanced and disquieting to some Hellenic reconstructionists.

  7. It is unclear whether Sophistes's online ritual descriptions are intended as a studies in historical fiction or as rituals to be used in modern times. If they are historical, they lack the accurate citations needed to verify the conclusions that are reached. If they are a guides to modern ritual, they lack details on the procedures necessary to determine if they are recreations or innovations.

  8. Telesco's Choes Festival (33), Feast of Pan (80), Kallyntaria and Plynteria (81), Rosalia (87), Panathenaea (113), Eleusinia (152), Anthesteria (270) and Quintaria (276) have some very questionable and unsubstantiated statements about the rituals then presents modern variations that have none of the elements mentioned above and many elements inserted from Wicca. Some of her more obviously wrong statements include:

    • "Choes Festival / Known as the Jug Festival, this is performed on a randomly chosen Spring morning in Greece, as part of Anthesteria" (Telesco's, 33) The "Choes Festival" was actually the second day of the Anthesteria which was always held on the 11th through 13th of the month of Anthesterion. (Adkins, 355)
    • "In Greece, athletic games were held on this day" (Telesco's, 66, referring to Beltane) The Greeks never celebrated Beltane, as far as I can determine, and had athletic games at many of their festivals.
    • "Athena is credited with creating the flute, so any music that features this instrument would be a nice accent." (116) Even though Athena is said to have created the flute, she despised it because of the way it distorted her face.);
    • "Local legend claims that Demeter taught the Eleusinians how to grow crops because of their kindness to Persephone." (152) The kindness shown was to Demeter herself, not Persephone.
    In summary, I find many of her statements questionable and I don't think she can be considered a Hellenic reconstructionist by even the widest interpretation of the term.

Works Cited

Theoroi Hellenionou.
Approved
02-Dec-02.