🫒 welcome to my page! 🫒

name: ryan/rhea/orion

pronouns: he/they

patrons: hades, artemis, persephone

astrology: aries sun, capricorn moon, gemini rising

specialties: divination (tarot, osteomancy, pendulums, runes) and deity work

current altars: hades, persephone, hermes, artemis, apollo, hekate, aphrodite, dionysus, freyja, bast, anubis, freyr, athena, odin, ganymede

my ko-fi

you might see that i worship more than just the hellenic pantheon, and i do post about other cultures occasionally, but a majority of my content will be about hellenic polytheism, as well as the witchcraft stuff

im not a reconstructionist, though there's nothing wrong with being one, i just have a more free form, go with the flow type practice

ive been a witch for about seven years now, and a pagan just as long. my journey has always intertwined witchcraft and polytheism, so if you're looking for nonwitchy stuff i have plenty of cool people in my following list you can check out

index \/ \/

i think that some people would maybe disagree with me here but no, i don't think that's disrespectful. in fact i don't really think the pjo series as a whole is disrespectful, either.

considering the books are fiction and rick riordon clearly does not believe in the gods himself, it's not an intentional act of "blasphemy" or anything like that. (although the kane chronicles are kinda odd and i really don't appreciate the depiction of anubis).

anyways, considering this is happening just in your brain too--like you're not talking to people saying like how much of an asshole Ares is or how Zeus is so terrible--i think you're fine. i also do this sort of thing with books/fictional universes im into so i understand the kind of value/comfort it has, and i think any deity would too.

of course, you likely already know this, but don't let the fictional interpretation of any deities skew how you treat the real ones. i can personally affirm the good character of ares, and zeus has been nothing but righteous to my friends that work with him. as long as you understand that, then i think you're doing just fine

ganymede: a deep dive

hiiii my closest friend in the helpol space is a devotee of ganymede, and i also created an altar to him some time ago! i don't see him mentioned terribly often within this community, just because of the fact he's considered somewhat of a lesser known deity/deified hero. therefore i thought i'd spread the good word on how lovely ganymede is, and what a pleasure it is to worship him.

Domain: homosexual love, mead, cupbearer of the Gods

Mortal and Immortal Life: Ganymede was born as the youngest son of Tros, a King of Troy, and was considered to be the most beautiful mortal man. in some stories, Ganymede is whisked away by the gods in general as recognition of his beauty. in another he is whisked away by Eos, who had a penchant for pursuing beautiful young men in myth. however, the most popular story is that Zeus fell in love with the young man and stole him from Mount Ida.

before you ask "are the gods mad at me?" THINK:

have you...

1. killed or maimed someone

2. killed or maimed an animal for purposes other than consuming/processing it

3. knowingly and purposefully hurled vile obscenities or insults at any god or gods

4. made it a life goal to be a terrible person

5. been a terf

IF YOU SAID NO TO ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS then girl you're fine go have a dr. pepper

something I've seen a lot of in a lot of helpol and pagan spaces is a great deal of concern over the "rules" of worshipping, what to give or not give, how to set up altars, what's right or wrong, etc.

and I'm just here to say this: there are no rules

no, you're not going to make Apollo mad by giving him a vanilla candle even though you heard someone say he doesn't like them.

no, the gods are not going to be upset or ignore you if you can't have a proper altar.

and most of all: you can do whatever the fuck you want as devotion/offering.

there are offerings that are associated with a deity/their domain, sure. there are offerings that were common in antiquity, yes.

but, frankly, who the hell cares?

there's nothing wrong with syncretism or reconstructionism. there's nothing wrong with looking to the ancients for ideas about what to do for worship.

but there's also nothing wrong with just making stuff up as you go.

if all you've got to worship the gods is a cool rock and a good stick then by god you've got yourself an offering. even if all you've got is yourself, your own mind, that's all you need.

devotion is what you make it, not what others tell you is has to be.

some tea recipes

if you like tea rituals or giving tea offerings, then this post is for you! keep in mind, though, DEFINITELY do your research on any of the herbs/plants I've listed here if you've never put them in your body before. there's no harm in making substitutions or omitting certain things for the sake of your own health. i've gone ahead and highlighted some herbs that have potential side effects (although not everything i've highlighted may effect you, and not everything i haven't is for sure safe).

also, all of these teas can be made with one of those little tea strainer balls, or with a good mesh sieve. either way, have some way of removing the mix after it's steeped, because over-steeped tea can get sour. store any leftover tea mix in an airtight container in a cool, dry place

if you need to replace any fresh ingredients with dried, divide the quantity in half. also, some of the floral teas will seem like it's a lot of mix just for one cup, but petals just aren't as strong as leaves/roots/etc.

CLEAR SKIES TEA

Ingredients: 1/2 cup dried peppermint, 1/4 cup marigold petals, 2 stalks of finely chopped lemongrass, 2 tsps orange zest, 1 tsp ground ginger Extra Instructions: steep for 10 minutes, use 1-2 tsps for 1 cup

dionysus: a deep dive

so recently on my other blog ( @templeofelysium btw you should follow it) I made a deep dive post on Hekate because my friend was wondering if they'd like to create an altar to her. well, i had a really fun time making that post, and I feel like I learned a lot. because of that, i decided to make another post on a different one of my friend's other deities! thus: dionysus! again all links are posted at the end!

Domain: wine, vegetation, madness, festivity, theater, pleasure, fertility, religious ecstasy, epiphany, foreignness, and promoting civilization/peace

altars for minor greek deities pt. 1

i'll probably end up making a part 2 to this since there's quite a lot of greek deities who are mentioned in only one story, or only a few icons, but are still important to some reconstructionists/revivalists. leave suggestions in the comments if you have any! the next post will likely include the four winds and several minor death deities

CIRCE: goddess of magic, a sorceress, daughter of Helios and an oceanid

Colors: purple for magic, blue for oceanid heritage, gold/yellow for being daughter of helios Offerings: allium moly, mandrake, peony, yarrow, poppy, rue, mugwort, wormwood, nightshade, snowdrop, any sort of medicinal herbs (like licorice, willow bark, aloe vera, etc.), pork, honey Crystals: amethyst, lapis lazuli, larimar, aquamarine, fluorite, bloodstone, citrine

Heya anon!

Tbh I've been thinking of doing another "altars for ____" post, likely including Circe because I've been thinking about making an altar for her recently. Either way, here's Circe and Sigyn, and for everyone else: look out for that post in the near future!

CIRCE: goddess of magic, a sorceress, daughter of Helios and an oceanid

Colors: purple for magic, blue for oceanid heritage, gold/yellow for being daughter of helios

Offerings: allium moly, mandrake, peony, yarrow, poppy, rue, mugwort, wormwood, nightshade, snowdrop, any sort of medicinal herbs (like licorice, willow bark, aloe vera, etc.), pork, honey

Crystals: amethyst, lapis lazuli, larimar, aquamarine, fluorite, bloodstone, citrine

SIGYN: goddess of loyalty, compassion, and devotion, wife of Loki

Colors: green for the snake in her myth, gold for her name which means victory

Offerings: snake shed, also medicinal herbs! especially ones that are used to counter infection (ginger, garlic, holy basil, oregano, clove, etc.) or poisonous ones (aconite, oleander, foxglove, nightshade, etc.)

Crystals: rose quartz, garnet and sapphire, carnelian, green/honey calcite, sunstone, selenite (or any other sort of cleansing stone)

understanding norse runes: a historical and modern perspective pt. 3

Sorry it's taken me so long everyone, holidays and school starting back up had me really distracted.

For part 1 click here, for part 2 click here.

ᛏ tiwaz

ANGLO-SAXON:

"Tir is a guiding star, well keeps faith with princes; it is on course over the mists of night, never failing."

Hihi!

Sorry about that, they stopped working once I changed my username, but I just fixed them! Now they're listed under the "Keep Reading" line from oldest -> newest posts. I can't figure out how to give them alt text again so they're just full links now, sorry that that's a bit annoying lol.

For anyone else who's looking for a specific post of mine, take a look at my introduction post that I have pinned for a full list.

Thanks!!

my ko-fi!

hello! if you've been following for a while then you'd know that I have had a ko-fi open for a few months now, but I haven't talked about it or reblogged it for quite some time. this is because I wasn't really happy with the listings I had, as they didn't give a wide enough range of options and were pretty confusing. so today i revamped it and i have some new options!

you can ask me any question (within reason), and I am more than happy to provide additional clarification/repulls if something doesn't seem right or is overly vague.

if you're able to support me that'd be super cool, as I've been saving up to get my kitten spayed while being a broke ass college student lolol. if not though, don't worry about it!! take care of yourself first babes

here's the link: my ko-fi

hiya!

i personally wasn't allowed to have candles for a few years either, so here are a few alternatives:

-wax melters (i think there are electric ones)

-fake candles (craft stores sell beautiful ones!)

-diffusers (you can put essential oils that represent the deity)

-a lamp or small light that represents the deity (i like thrifting these)

you can also use something of the other elements (water, earth, air) and pray over that or offer those as offerings. water was a very common offering across many different cultures, especially if it came from a river, the ocean, or a spring! air was often represented by incense, which comes in a variety of forms, but i get it if that isn't possible either so maybe try the steam of a hot coffee/tea? i know a lot of people that use their morning coffee as a time of worship. the earth could be represented by actual earth or plants, and can be given in the same way as food!