[Help] Question about praying to Hermes, Apollo, and other Hellenistic deities

[Raquel]

Hi, I wanted to ask a question to those of you who have a devotion to Hermes, Apollo, or another Hellenistic deity.

My son is beginning to connect with Hermes and Apollo, and he is looking into how to address them in prayer. He has read that, if the deity is Olympian, one prays by raising the hands upward, and that if the deity belongs to the Underworld, the hands are directed downward, but we are not sure whether this is correct or whether there are nuances.

How do you do it? Do you follow any specific form of prayer, gesture, offering, or greeting?

 

[Morell]

This is interesting idea and I see no reason why not to go with it.

I don't follow Greek deities, I connect with Norse ones occasionally. But one thing is clear. In worship matters what is in heart. the right way comes secondary. Just do your best until you reach connection and then you can ask the gods themselves what is prefered. And usually what is prefered is expression of your intent, your own self expression of your dedication in all the good ways, which tells way more than exactly made ritual done my person who is hollow and without true dedication.

No god refuses dedication and effort. Especially if it is about making the world better place to be, even if it is done in the smallest things that might look completely obsolete.

 

[Raquel]

Thank you very much, Morell! I see that your way of relating to the deities very wise, I will pass this on to my son, and I will do the same myself. Thanks again!

 

[khloexia]

Hello, I think your understanding is correct. For the Uranian gods (celestial gods) or the Olympian gods, when praying you should raise your arms at a right angle, with your fingertips pointing toward the sky ; for the sea gods, you should face the sea, extend your arms straight out horizontally, with palms facing forward; for the Chthonian gods (gods of the earth or the underworld), you should lower your arms and press your hands toward the ground. I am a follower of the goddess Persephone, and in my prayer practice, I point my hands toward the sky for half of the year and place them under the table for the other half—because She belongs to the underworld for certain parts of the year and resides above the earth for the other parts.

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[kundalini]

This would be a type of tantric practice. The problem is the lack of lineage and detailed plan of worship. Tantra was the word which in ancient times meant, "science." It was based in personal practice. Much of it was Buddhist, and didn't adhere to God. However from the outside tantric practice, even that of Buddhists looks like the same God worship as any other (or of Hindu, and various Indic cults of the time). The outer form of worship and the deity are not of the vital essence of tantra. What tantra does is tries to change the very foundation of one's karma, both mental, and physical karma, and allow one to develop wisdom, so that they do not keep coming under the wheel of samsara. The wheel of samsara is that what goes up must come down. All ones works run out, and the good becomes bad.

This doesn't mean that doing good things makes one bad, or becomes bad at some point. But how many times do we see people who are well-intentioned siding with evil people to accomplish what they think is the greater end result? How many times do we see self-righteousness become bomb throwing and over aggression and hostility towards the meek and women, individuals, and minorities? How many times do we hear moral judgment and then close mindedness follows.?

But that's besides the main point I am making. Tantra is about identifying with the deity on a deep archetypal level, to become a better human. So as to develop wisdom.

So identifying with Hellenistic (and Bacchanal) deities can be described as tantric, were there more of a detailed path to follow. It will be very difficult for someone to describe an entire tantra from scratch, even with works like Frazier's Golden Bough, and the huge compendium of Greek mythology.

I am saying there is precedent for working with Hellensiti deities. But there are difficulties as well.

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I had fixed the above post but not used to this board yet it merged old and new and saved my typos. Thanks for your forgiveness.