Modern Hellenic Polytheism is a lot of “build your own worship” with a few concepts that stay relatively stationary. So there is no one way to get started in Hellenic Polytheism . I’d say it’s important to gain an understanding of how worship and offerings work in Hellenic Polytheism though, as well as the “core concepts” that you can include in your worship at varying degrees of significance depending on what’s important to you.
If you don’t have specific theoi in mind that you’re interested in worshiping, then you can always “test the waters” with a few different ones, or even move through the theoi, learning about them and introducing yourself until you find someone that you’re really interested in. So, before we get into anything else, I’m going to link you to a post on introducing yourself to Hellenic deities. @Soloontherocks also has a post on basic Hellenic prayer that follows a similar formula. Related to the above, I also get a lot of questions about what you need for an altar or shrine, and here’s the link for that too.
So, now that you know how to set up a shrine or altar and introduce yourself, let’s talk about how Hellenic Polytheism differs from other religions, and take a look at the concepts in Hellenic Polytheism. baringtheaegis has an awesome page of Hellenic terminology that’s useful for this.
One concept of Hellenic Polytheism that I don’t talk about often is Arête, which is the concept of doing your best and reaching your full potential. It ties into Hellenic Polytheism when you start looking at how your actions and accomplishments can be seen as testaments to the theoi and using the gifts they’ve given you to your full abilities. This obviously deals with the concept that talents and skills we have are gifts from the theoi, and not everyone is going to involve arete in their practice.
There’s also Eusebia and Kharis. Eusebia is the actual worship of the theoi, and maintaining piety. Kharis is the idea that we give to the theoi and honor them, simply as thanks for their existence and presence in our lives. We build a relationship with a theos through these two practices. I don’t talk about them a lot, and I rarely use the proper terms for them, instead talking about the concepts.
Another concept in Hellenic Polytheism is Miasma. Miasma is uncleanliness and a form of spiritual gunk that we get simply from being human. With Miasma comes Hagneia, or ritual cleanliness through the avoidance and cleansing of Miasma. I talk about several ways of cleansing and miasma in the post linked above.
The next concept I want to mention is Hubris. Now, if you’re not familiar with Hellenic Polytheism, you’re probably thinking that sounds like a very Abrahamic concept. Hubris in the Hellenic sense refers to putting yourself on the same level as the theoi. When Arachne claimed to be a better weaver than Athena by challenging the Goddess, that was hubris. Hubris is an offense to the theoi, and something that they will certainly let you know if you’ve done.
And the last one I’m going to talk about is Xenia, and by extension Theoxenia. Xenia is guest right. It’s the idea that you need to be a good host, to be kind to your guests and make them feel welcome. There is a flip side to that where guests have a responsibility to be polite and thankful of their hosts, not taking advantage of the host. Xenia is an important part of my practice, since by inviting the theoi into my home and life through worship, I’m basically asking them to be my guests for a short period of time, and that’s when Theoxenia comes into play. It’s an embarrassment, a dishonor, and can be taken as a personal slight if you treat your guests poorly.
My suggestion for anyone starting out in Hellenic Polytheism, is to figure out your own system based on the above concepts, and more that you may discover through research. Starting with eusebia is an easy and effective way to feel like you’re actually starting on your worship. I recommend picking one topic, concept, or idea in Hellenic Polytheism to learn about at a time. Pick one thing, learn about it, research it till you feel confident explaining it to someone else (even if you still have stuff you can learn on it), and then move on to another concept while trying to figure out how the previous one fits into your worship. This isn’t going to be the right way for everyone, and there’s plenty I didn’t mention in this, but I hope it helps a few people who are looking at Hellenic Polytheism.
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