What Gods Do You Worship?
We worship the Twelve Olympian Gods, in their Hellenic form, as well as other divinities (e.g. Gaia, Persephone, Pan, the Nymphs). One can also worship the lesser Gods, Heroes, Daimons as Asclepios (which practice is probably more appropriate), Hecate, Dionysos, the Muses etc.
Emphasizing the worship of Goddesses over the Gods (or vice versa) is not appropriate, because genders are absolutely equal, precisely as the two cosmogonic substances. Further, in the tolerant spirit of ancient Paganism, one can always include in worship the Deities of other pantheons (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Celtic, etc.).
The twelve Gods and all higher Gods are the same persons with different names in all traditional religions: Dionysos=Osiris=Shiva, Haephestus=Vulcan=Thor, etc. The lesser Gods, Heroes, Daimons etc. are divinities particular to each country, and even to each locality, and have as their duty to watch and care about their City (Heroe Poliouchos), or an element of Nature (great trees, rivers etc) and also planets. This clarifies the meaning of Nature being sacred and the meaning of worshipping Nature above all, as a whole.
What is the Basis of Your Religious Beliefs?
Our beliefs are categorized into three main chapters: Cosmogony, Psychogony and Theogony.
Cosmogony:
The physical frame of the World (Cosmos) is self existent, self propelled and self retained. The world is perpetual and consists of an infinite number of universes. Each universe has a starting point in time, but no end. Each universe consists of the two cosmogonic substances and is suject to expans ion and contraction, periodically. The closest modern scientific equivalent to Orphean Cosmogony is the model proposed by Karel Velan in his work «The Multi-universe Cosmos», Plenum Press eds., New York NY, 1992.
Psychogony:
The Psyche is a basic particle of matter, specially treated by physical means to become the psychic atom. These atoms are then eternal and exhibit gradual progress, by receiving and saving experiences; they develop conscience and then higher conscience. This painstaking process is made possible by successive metempsychoses, beginning in crystals (solid state of matter) and progressing through plants, animals, man etc.
Theogony:
When the psychic atom has developed the higher conscience, it is able to make its constituency immortal; it then abandons the course body. Thus the Psyche enters the realm of the Higher Worlds and progresses there infinitely as a Hero, a Daimon, a God, an Olympian God, an Olympian God of the Galaxy etc., etc..
Do You Have Sacred Texts?
All the philosophical Hellenic writings are within the Hellenic Line, as in Homeric poetry, but the sacred text par excelence is the «Sacred Word in 24 rapsodies» of Orpheus, a text compiled immediately after the Great Deluge, based on recolections of the ancient sacred science of the Golden Age of hummanity.
This great masterpiece has been destroyed by the Christians; now we have only fragments,
edited by Otto Kern, as «Orphicorum Fragmenta», Weidmann, Zuerich.
What are your Liturgical (Ceremonial) Texts?
The mainstay of our liturgical texts are the Orphean Hymns. The origin of these texts is again the Golden Age and are in fact God-sent. For English speaking people we heartily recommend the excellent translation «The Hymns of Orpheus» by Thomas Taylor. Reprints available from the Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90027, USA.
A usual small ceremony consists of recitations of Hymns as follows: Hestia, the God of the month, the 12 Olympians, Hestia.
In the full Moon ceremony we add the Hymns to Helios, Selene and of the Stars. You can add any other Hymn you like (of Nature, of the Divine Law, of Nemessis etc) according to the occasion.
Here are the Gods with their respective months:
21 Sept. till 20 Oct: Hestia
21 Oct. till 20 Nov: Ares
21 Nov. till 20 Dec: Artemis
21 Dec. till 20 Jan: Haephestos
21 Jan. till 20 Feb: Hera
21 Feb. till 20 Mar: Poseidon
21 Mar. till 20 Apr: Athena
21 Apr. till 20 May: Aphrodite
21 May. till 20 Jun: Apollo
21 Jun. till 20 Jul: Hermes
21 Jul. till 20 Aug: Zeus
21 Aug. till 20 Sep: Demetra
What are the Major Festivals that you celebrate?
The most important holidays of all the traditional religions are the four astronomical dates of the year, that is the two equinoxes and the two solstices. We celebrate them with great pomp because this helps us to conform to the sacred Rythm of the Cosmos. The summer solstice is dedicated to Gaia, while the winter solstice to Uranus and Helios.
We also celebrate the full Moon each month. This is a real holiday because conditions are most favorable for the Psyche to acquire the Higher Truths.
Our religion is for the moment underground, in this country. The celebrations are not solemn and are performed in private; very seldom in public, and very cautiously; we run the risk of being accused as satanists, which will not be tolerated by our social environment.
Nevertheless, we do celebrate the following:
The full moon, every month. At the same occasion we worship the God of the month, as follows:
Hera (7th) Gamelion, Moon of January
Poseidon (8th) Anthestirion, Moon of February
Athena (Minerva) (9th) Elaphivolion, Moon of March
Aphrodite (Venus) (10th) Mounichion, Moon of April
Apollon (11th) Thargilion, Moon of May
Hermes (12th) Skirophorion, Moon of June
Zeus (Jupiter) (1st) Hecatomvaion, New Moon of July
Dimitra (Demeter) (2nd) Metageitnion, Moon of August
Hestia (Vesta) (3rd) Voidromion, Moon of September
Aris (Mars) (4th) Pyanepsion, Moon of October
Artemis (Diana) (5th) Maimaktirion, Moon of November
Hephestus (Vulcan) (6th) Poseideon, Moon of December
The 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox: Anthesteria, the lesser Mysteries, in honour of Dionysus and the souls of the deceaced.
The 1st full moon after the Summer Solstice: Olympia (Olympic Games every 4 years), in honour of Zeus and Hera.
The 1st full moon after the Fall Equinox: Elefsinian (greater) Mysteries, in honour of Dimitra and Persefoni.
The 1st full moon after the Winter Solstice: Pythia at Delphi, in honour of Dionysus and Apollon.
There is of course a huge number (about 400) of other known ancient festivals, that nobody celebrates (as such) for the time being. It should be noted that the totality of Greek Orthodox Christian festivals stem from ancient pagan festivals, that the Hellenic people never gave up, so the Orthodox-Christian church thought appropriate to embody, for the purpose of making the people forget the real meaning and origin of the festivals.
Do You Have an Ordained Priesthood?
In ancient Graeco-Roman Paganism, Priests and Priestesses generally had the responsibility for worship at a particular temple or shrine; in many cases these were civil offices or hereditary positions.
On the other hand, ancient Pagans never felt the necessity of clergy interceding with the Gods on their behalf. Anyone who knew the proper rites could lead a sacrifice and prayer to the Gods, and the Gods often appeared to mortals and intervened in their lives. Nowadays many Pagans take a similar view, and we work to come into direct communion with the Gods, without the need for clergy.
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