I was a teenager before I realized that Memorial Day was observed in memory of those who had died at war rather than a day to remember all of the dead. It […]
Proerosia, Chloeia, Antheia, Kalameia: Festivals of Growth
![Antimenes Painter [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://hearthfirehandworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/512px-amphora_olive-gathering_bm_b226.jpg?w=100&h=80&crop=1)
Modern pagans, whether or not we live where food is produced, do recognize the importance of agriculture and growth in sustaining our lives. Even when the process itself isn’t something we see […]
Praying on Autopilot
Ideally we do all things mindfully and with full awareness. Less ideally but perhaps more frequently, we sometimes do things without that full awareness, particularly things that we do often. Like when […]
Festivals: Theogamia
(I meant to post this earlier, at least before Valentine’s Day, but due to technical difficulties you are getting it today!) Hera Teleia and Zeus Teleius were honored in Athens on 27 […]
Devotions and Festivals, Intimacy and Community
One of the disadvantages of a solitary religious practice, for me, is the tendency to focus on–well, solitary religious practices! In saying that, I don’t mean to disparage solitary practice. I’ve always […]
Festivals: A List of Greek Pagan Festivals and Holy Days
The following is an alphabetical list of Greek festivals and holy days. It is incomplete, and it is a work in progress. Most of the festivals on the list are Attic, but […]
Festivals: Poseidea
Although only one festival of this name is attested and that in the region of Marathon, it does seem likely, given the existence of a month called Poseidion, that at one time […]
Festivals: Boreaia (An Exercise in Modern Festival-building)
As far as I know, there was no ancient Greek festival that went by the name of Boreaia. If there were, it probably would not be thematically similar to this one. There […]
Festivals: Maimakteria
The festival of Maimakteria is very obscure, but surely took place in the month of Maimakterion, and likely honored Zeus Maimaktes or “blustering Zeus” Given the name of the month and the […]
The Peplos of Athena
One of the traditions associated with ancient Athens’ greatest festival, the Panathenaia, was the presentation of a new peplos to Athena Polias on the Acropolis. This was no mere symbolic gift; the […]
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