Barley-magical - Barley, In Her Ways - Tumblr Blog

me, sitting at the altar/desk: I want to go home.

God, picking me up like a lost kitten: Child, you already are home. The home is not where one sleeps it is where you feel safe enough to sleep. It is not where you eat, it is where you enjoy what you eat. It is not where you live it is where you thrive. You may not feel like it right now but the heart within you yearns to be set free and fly; is that not enough? The hope? Does the hope not fuel the fire that warms the home?

me, sobbing: i am home.

🧄 // about me

My name is Barley, or Lee. I am seventeen and I use he/she/they pronouns.

I consider myself to be a dual-faith practitioner, as in I practice two faiths -- Christianity and Hellenic Polytheism. I am unsure which denomination I will be for Christianity, however my practice has Catholic and United Church of Canada influences.

I am the host of a DID system, and while I (Lee) mainly use this account, you may see Rue (she/they) showing up, too.

🧄 // q&a

Q: How can you be Christian AND a Hellenic Polytheist? What about Exodus 20:3?

A: Exodus 20:3 states that you should have no other gods before God, and I do it as just that. God comes first in prayer, devotion, etc. but I still include the Greek gods in my worship. Additionally, Exodus 20:4-5 states that you should not worship anything created in the natural world as a god. This simply means that you can't take a rock, for example, and say it is a god.

Q: You cant do witchcraft! Its against the Bible!

A: Most cases of witchcraft in the Bible are referring to very specific kinds of (usually) malevolent magic that simply did not have an accurate English translation other than "witchcraft". Additionally, I try to deter myself from the word 'witch' as a label. That isn't to say nobody should use it, if you do good for you for reclaiming it, I however am just uncomfortable with the historical connotations. I prefer the term "folk practitioner" or simply "magical practitioner". Additionally, magic is prevalent through pretty much every culture, whether it be prayers, incantations, physical charms, etc. It is there and it is beautiful.

🧄 // links

Palestine Masterlist

🧄 // my other blogs

@lee-hellenic-butch

@whimsical-butch-wizard

Well guys I found where I got a pronoun set from months ago lmao

Jesus was really right when he said the poor will always be with us. A lot of christians have struggled with Matthew 26:11, and it has caused a lot of people to subconsciously justify a de-prioritizing of the poor; we can bedeck our churches in opulence while people starve. We can make priorities of everything that makes our lives easier, and leave the hard work of caring for the poor for later, for our "thoughts and prayers." The poor will always be with us, so they can wait while we attend to our internal hungers.

I think what Jesus meant is that human greed will corrupt every system, which will always result in poor or disenfranchised people. We've tried a bunch of different socio-economic structures since then, and not one of them has worked to uplift all people. The eternal struggle against evil isn't about fighting off intangible demons, it's about fighting off the evil in our own hearts. We are never going to construct a "perfect system" that eliminates poverty automatically because someone will always try to take advantage of it. Instead, we must work every day, even when things are good and people are taken care of, to make sure that we see each other as deserving of dignity. We are never going to be able to legislate, dictate, or delegate our way into perspective. We have to work towards it, consciously, to make sure those around us are cared for. Vanity of vanities, a generation goes and a generation comes, but the poor remain forever.

The poor will always be with us because someone is always going to try and profit by depriving others. It is our mission and responsibility to improve as much of it as we can.

Knowing that trans women of color started the movement in the united states and were literally immediately erased and excluded from what they started is the most deeply jading knowledge.

It is the original sin of the so-called queer community and it damns it from the cradle.

More devotional ceramics projects:

Not fired yet, hoping things work out!! (For Apollon and Athena) It has a little incense holder too!!

I need to finish this 😭 it's fired now and okay, been avoiding glazing it (it's happening. Slowly)

Soon...

Unfortunately the altar cracked but I think it's still useable

It isn't fired yet but will be soon, right now it's at the green ware or bone dry stage

Anyways first post on my new account yippee

Things are so alive :D

To the other witches of tumblr, and especially Persephone devotees; holy crap do you ALWAYS feel like this???? Y'all spring has me SO EMOTIONAL this year. I love the world so much. Things are so alive, they're blooming and the weather can't decide if it wants to be sunny or pour rain and I'm not even upset about it because it's all so pretty. I wanna sit under an overhang and listen to the rain. I wanna sit and feel the sun warm my back.

During winter, I had a personal event that essentially snapped me into awareness. I'm so much more in-tune than I was even last year, I've grown a lifetime in the past few months. I felt winter. I felt quiet, introspective, honestly a little sad like everything around me was dying a little because it was. But spring has hit and I felt it. I'm wanting to move, take action, I'm feeling alive and everything around me is ALIVE again???

Like, holy shit I just love everything right now and it's all thriving and for once so am I. I feel like part of the cycles of the earth and it's so... fun. I'm so full of love and sentiment right now it's honestly so nice.

slides in

It's okay yeah! I'm a dual faith practitioner w/ Christianity and HelPol myself, so, yeah!! It's your practice at the end of the day, too.

I really want to incorporate Jesus into my practice, but I haven’t seen much information to see if that’s cool to do while being a Hellenist.

prayers don't have to be perfect by the way.

I pray to the gods in the middle of my classes, my shifts at work, and in the shower.

I pray waiting at the bus stop.

I pray looking for something I lost.

I'm not always the best at consistently praying and leaving offerings at my altar. most of my worship is quick prayers on the go and devotional acts.

that's ok. I'm trying and the gods don't hate me or anything.

they don't hate you either. practice in a way that fits into your life and your needs. that's enough I think.

My first RWS deck (2nd tarot deck in total) had been damaged over use so I had got another one a few months ago, now I am using the cards from the first to like. Decorate altar.

And by that I mean using them for the spirits around my house, almost iconography if I'm using the right word??? Identifier cards! Ykyk.

So far it's just the plant spirits (rose, rosemary, nettle, and lavender) but I'm probably going to give some cards to the various house spirits (I think the oven spirit wants one) too now that I think of it.

Anyway I am very Happy™️ with this lol

So, not even a week after resuming my veiling practice, I experienced discrimination. I don’t wish to recount the experience to save my emotional energy, but I do want to go into why I’m glad I had this experience, and how it encourages me to continue.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge the fact that my preferred approach to veiling does in fact make me resemble Muslim women. And because of this, I want to give a heartfelt thank you to Muslim women worldwide for setting the standard for others who find empowerment and comfort in modesty. As a white person, I have been aware of and sympathetic to the plight of Muslim women worldwide, but it’s different when it happens to you. It cements it. My heart aches for your strife and is full by your courage. This is one reason I’m glad for this experience. It strengthens my resolve and compassion. Thank you.

Another reason I’m glad for the experience, is because it reiterates why I want to veil in the first place. I live in Midwestern America. Our bodily autonomy is quickly being stolen from us. Our bodies are hyper-sexualized and spoken about as if all I’m good for is having babies that the government can raise as cattle for the capitalist machine. It’s a physical symbol of rejecting that. I get to decide how I look to others. I get to decide who gets access to my body, not just in a sexual manner but as a whole. For me, it’s a radical act of feminism. It feels as though the fibers in my headscarves and coverings are woven together in a greater tapestry of women worldwide. I can feel it with Muslim women, whom I do not share a religion with, but share something more important: kinship, and sisterhood. My threads are woven with the Muslim women in France who are fighting legislation for their right to be modest (that is batshit insane) and also with those victimized by western imperialism (which gave birth to the Taliban). The tapestry is worldwide, including Jewish women and their tichels, other pagans with their bandanas and beanies, even traditional Christian women who wear lace coverings. But modesty and autonomy reach beyond the gender divide so I have home in those who are also men, nonbinary, gender-fluid, two-spirit, and many others. It is community. It filters out many people who show their true intentions and beliefs, and makes it so much easier to cut through the lies and masks of people whose support is conditional.

I have always been modest and prudish and now I can celebrate it, instead of being “othered” by it. I feel as though it is a symbol of my devotion, but also a form of radical self-care that I celebrate myself.

It is Hera’s Crown.

It is Athena’s War Helmet.

It is Hermes’ Winged Helmet.

It is Eurybia’s Cloak of the Ocean.

It is Hades’ Helmet of Shadow.

It is Hestia’s Veil.

It is Zeus’ Crown.

It makes me feel godly and holy. It protects me. It invigorates me. It gives me confidence.

Khaire.

🌿Plant Spirit Devotional: 15 Day Exercise

Here's my concept for a method to facilitate bonding with a Plant Spirit or Herbal Ally over the course of a month. Obviously this practice takes far longer than a month to create a lasting bond with a plant spirit but hopefully this exercise helps provide some structure to the practice of bonding with a Herbal Ally. Feel free to use this outline yourself or modify it to your own needs.

15 days of Plant Spirit Devotion. Day 1: Introduction to the chosen plant. Day 2: The plants native habitat. Day 3: Cultivation, Foraging and Preparation. Day 4: Mundane properties (Culinary, Medicinal, Poisons etc). Day 5: Art inspired by / incorporating the chosen plant. Day 6: Magical correspondences. Day 7: Folk names and their origins. Day 8: Folklore and associated myths. Day 9: Deity / Spirit associations. Day 10: Plant's role in ritual: Cultural and Spiritual Significance. Day 11: Tarot / Oracle associations: Card spotlights. Day 12: Personal Sigil for the Plant Spirit. Day 13: Current Relationship with the Plant Spirit. Day 14: Personal goals when working with the Spirit. Day 15: Exercise conclusion, Take-aways and final overview.

My current plan with this exercise is to complete it each month for a different plant spirit / herbal ally, starting with Rosemary during February. Generally my plan is to spend the first half of the month bonding with the herb and researching it and the latter half of the month completing this exercise.

This Exercise was inspired by this post: link by @noctivague about a 15 day deity devotional. Thanks for the amazing idea!

Daily Meal Offerings

In ancient Greece/Rome, it was common, almost a no-brainer, to offer morsels of your meal and libations to the gods. Here's what they did:

Short version

Used for daily offerings, each meal.

Before the meal:

Set aside a morsel of food for Hestia while focusing on her energy or saying a prayer/hymn

After the meal:

Pour libation for Agathos Daimon and ask for blessings of protection, luck, etc

Longer Version

Used during formal festivals or sacred days

Before meal:

Morsel to Hestia (focus or prayer/hymn)

Morsel to Apollon (focus or prayer/hymn)

Morsel to Zeus, to protect the outside [of your home]

Morsel to Zeus, to protect the inside [of your home]

After meal

Libation to Agathos Daimon for luck, protection, etc.

If you eat out, obviously, this may not be able to be done. Do it as you can.

Daily Devotions with the Orphic Hymns

Today is 4th of Metageitnion (21st of August)

This modern system of daily devotions blends material from two sources: Hesiod's sacred month, as described in his Works and Days, and the Orphic Hymns. The ideas in the Orphic Hymns sometimes don't match with more mainstream beliefs of the polis. But using these hymns is worth it because it helps us honor not just the main gods, but also many smaller ones. This way, we can pay our respects to a wide range of gods throughout the whole month.

Other hymns may of course be substituted at the individual's discretion. The numbers given for the hymns correspond to those in Apostolos N. Athanassakis, The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation and Notes

Thomas Taylor's 1792 translation of the hymns is available online, free and in its entirety, at the Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Here:

Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning

Wash hands and face

Light lamp or candle

Hymn to Hestia (#84)

Light incense

Hymn to Eos (#78)

Hymn to Helios (#8)

Hymn(s) to special god/dess(es) of the day (see chart)

Additional hymns as desired (see chart)

Pour libation

Make personal supplications and thanksgivings

"Orpheus to Mousaios" (pp. 2-5)

Extinguish lamp or candle

Evening

Wash hands and face

Light lamp or candle

Hymn to Hestia (#84)

Light incense

Hymn to Nyx (#3)

Hymn to Selene (#9)

Hymn to the Stars (#7)

Hymn(s) to patron/matron god/desses

Hymn to Sleep (#85)

Hymn to Dream (#86)

Pour libation

Make personal supplications and thanksgivings

Hymn to Zeus (#15)

Extinguish lamp or candle

A shortened version of the devotions may be done by simply lighting a candle, reading "Orpheus to Mousaios," saying any personal prayers, and extinguishing the candle.

Notes on chart:

Days mentioned by Hesiod as sacred to specific deities are marked.

Horkos is the god (or, if you like, personification) of Oath. Days sacred to this deity are considered difficult.

As the lunar calendar months range between 29 and 30 days in the Greek reckoning, it may be necessary in short months to recite all the hymns for both day 29 and day 30 on the day of the dark moon. As the last day of the month is sacred to Hekate, Her hymn should always be included.

About Incense

The Orphic Hymns specify particular types of incense to be offered to each deity. In cases where one is saying multiple hymns with differing instructions, one might either choose a single type or make a blend of all those indicated. Pure frankincense makes a good all-purpose offertory incense.

The incense specifications from the Orphic text are as follows:

Frankincense: Apollon, Ares, Artemis, Asklepios, Bakkhai, Dike, Eos, Hephaistos, Herakles, Hermes, Hygeia, Kouretes, Muses, Nike, Satyros, Silenos, Tethys, Themis, Titans

Myrrh: Leto, Nereus, Poseidon

Storax: Chthonic Hermes, Dionysos, Eleusinian Demeter, Erinues (also frankincense), Graces, Kronos, Semele, Zeus

Aromatic Herbs: Adonis, Athena, Eros, Eumenides, Fates, Hera, Hestia, Horai, Nereids, Nymphs, Okeanos, Rhea

Various: Mother of the Gods, Pan, Chthonic Dionysos (any except frankincense), Gaia (any grain; no beans or aromatic herbs)

No Incense (underworld deities): Hekate, Nemesis, Persephon

Going to celebrate Anthesteria over this weekend, actually, since I had zero energy for the actual days and I have a Monday off from school.

Praise Dionysus!!

Usually Epione or Apollon, since Apollon is a god of healing and Epione is the goddess of soothing pain!

question for my hellenic pagans with joint/chronic pain. is there a deity you like to pray to for comfort?

Anthesteria

History

Held annually in Anthesterion, Anthesteria was held in honor of Dionysus to celebrate the coming of spring and the maturing of the wine stored from the previous grape harvest. The festival was held from the 11th - 13th of Anthesteria, roughly the end of February. If you want to learn how to track the Ancient Athenian months, you can see this post I made about the Athenian Calendar! Or you could just see this calendar here, since it’s already being tracked for you. 

Anthesterion was a strange holiday, as it was a celebration of the coming spring as well as the dead. Though it’s uncertain whether the month was named after the holiday or vice versa, both derive their names from the Greek word Anthos, meaning flower.

Keep reading

Ahhh guys I've been feeling a pull towards Mercury, surprisingly, since I stick to the Greek pantheon and Christianity stuff usually 😭 this is gonna be a learning curve oh BOY (esp since I already worship Hermes, which he is often conflated with)

(I think I'll ask him to w a i t since I already feel I have a lot on my plate rn lol)

I'm thinking Thanatos for sure! Mostly because of the butterflies but this whole post is giving Thanatos vibes honestly!

hey! I was wondering like, is anyone able to help me out with something? I'm trying to figure out what this kind of presence is, and I have a feeling its a god I just don't know who?

The things that I've recognised so far are like, a deep purple, a warm and familiar presence, something related to bones?, butterflies that are like a light purple and they feel like both a masculine and feminine being, and rarely pomegranates

I can't tell who it is, like I've had thoughts that maybe it's Thanatos or Psyche, possibly Nyx? Yet I've also had someone say they think it may be Hades and Persephone.

Edit: I did a bit of a tarot spead, asking what may represent them, and these are the cards I got!

The came out in the order of the cards, left to right (so top to bottom)

If anyone is able to help out, I greatly appreciate it :)

Praise Dionysus, submitted things to Queering the Map for the first time, I love life.

I'm thinking of painting with glaze to make it look like a mosaic 🤔 so time to dump images for what I want it to kind of look like

Definitely doing pomegranates, peacocks, and olive branches

Putting this here so I can hopefully remember

Idk where the inspo pics are from sorry

Unfortunately the altar cracked but I think it's still useable

It isn't fired yet but will be soon, right now it's at the green ware or bone dry stage

Anyways first post on my new account yippee

Unfortunately the altar cracked but I think it's still useable

It isn't fired yet but will be soon, right now it's at the green ware or bone dry stage

Anyways first post on my new account yippee

Moodboard for Lady Hera!!! I really hope she loves it <3