Remember what I said about not being very organized a couple videos back? Yeah, this is a video y'all have been nagging me about for months, and I'll admit I keep making pop videos because the world has so much unrelenting stupid in it and I couldn't help myself for a bit. But here we are at one of the most essential and personal questions one can approach in a faith.
How do Hellenists pray? Let's take a look into history and find out. Kaerete!
One of my generous fans, BankerRTX01, was kind enough to pick me up the book Enthusiasmos off my wishlist. It is definitely appreciated. Keep an eye out in the description for when I cite it as a source in future videos. This week, we've also gotten some more awesome fan art from InBeyond. This time, Jen about to set someone on fire.
Adorable. Thank you so much for your submission. This is one of the first questions any aspiring Hellenist has, and it's both the easiest and most difficult to answer. There are a wide range of prayer styles across time and between city-states, but common themes emerge from the literature from a Reconstructionist perspective, and I'll be focusing on these for this video.
But before we dig into history, I want to address some hangups I've heard in the community and elsewhere around the term prayer. Prayer in Christianity is often just a wishlist for Yahweh, with some praise sprinkled in here and there and not much else. Many pagans grow resentful of the term and fall in love with the structure and praise found in ritual, not exactly realizing that ritual is, well, ritualized a form of prayer. My friend Beofeld over at Wind in the World Tree did a video about this and the term worship, and I agree with a lot of what he said in it.
Check it out in the iCard if you haven't seen it already. It's well worth the listen. My point here is that Hellenists pray, and we pray a lot. Hesiod urged the quote-unquote good man to pray every morning and night.
pouring out libations to the gods after washing his hands. This is the most primitive form of ritual we have explicitly recorded as such, and yet here we find prayer itself at the center. While it's true that traditionally Hellenic prayer has a structure, and we'll get into that here, it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, and that what we're doing when we say all those beautiful words in ritual isn't praying. It absolutely is.
And as we'll see, the informal rambling prayers of Christians have a place in our faith too. There's no reason not to fill your life with prayer and interaction with the gods. So, now that we have that out of the way, on to the history. As you might have guessed from prior videos, the source I'll be most leaning on heavily is Prayer in Greek Religion by Simone Poulain. And for good reason.
This book is referenced time and time again in modern scholarship as THE authoritative source on the subject. Contrary to popular belief among early Greek scholars, ancient Hellenic religion was deeply personal and very much a matter of individual belief. Offerings were made daily, if the person was wealthy enough, at the hearth and shrines in front of the home, and libations were poured out morning and night.
I did a video on what sort of offerings these were, link in the i-card above, but for the purpose of this video I'll mention that they were primarily grains, incense, libations, and produce from the garden. Animal offerings were rare and often reserved for festivals or very specific ritual circumstances. Every prayer would begin with a cleansing, usually washing the hands and face to make one presentable before the gods. There's some evidence for silent prayer without ritual, found primarily in tragedies, but it seems from the majority of our sources to have primarily been a ritualized affair.
Pauline discusses the issue at length and comes to the conclusion that the cycle of kades established between worshippers and the gods protected so-called free prayer so long as proper honors and offerings or time are given regularly and with the god in mind. Prayer is a lexeme, so trying to define it exactly is a bit of a struggle, but I'll do my best and follow in Pelain's footsteps. Prayer is communication with one or more gods intended for a specific outcome, be it thanks, a request for something, or even just to honor the god or gods. It is an essential component of kades For, just as one must communicate healthily about our needs, concerns, and gratitude with loved ones, so too it is with the gods. At least, that's how the ancient Greeks saw it outside of Platonism.
I'm not dealing with the Platonic worldview in this video, as it's a whole different can of worms. Sorry if that disappoints you. Posture, stance, and even the position of the hands were seen as very important in ancient Greek prayer.
I've spoken before about how the distinction between Oranic and Chthonian, or upper world and lower world aspects of deities, has more to do with practice than it does the nature of the gods themselves, and this is where that distinction becomes important. When praying to the Oranic aspects of a deity, traditionally one would stand, eyes facing upwards, and with palms at a 45 degree angle. Later in Greek history, prayer was depicted with just one arm up. the right for Oranek, the left for Katonik.
Sometimes the other hand would be balled into a fist with the thumb tucked in, which is thought by modern scholars to put an extra emphasis on the prayer. An alternative form of Katonik prayer involves both arms out at the waist, palms facing downward. If you have mobility issues or have problems raising your hands above your head, the positioning of your palms and hands can be a substitute for standing and raising your arms. Ancient peoples had some pretty shoddy opinions of disability due to superstitions, but I don't think this came from the gods themselves.
Adjust what you need to in order to honor the gods in the way that you need to. Another interesting bit about posture was that after washing one's hands in lustral water, as I outlined in my miasma video, often worshippers would raise the index and middle fingers of the appropriate hand to their lips silently while making eye contact with the symbol of their god before assuming the prayer position and giving their prayer. This is considered a greeting of a sort by modern scholars, though there is a lot of debate about it. Kneeling was uncommon outside of supplication prayers, though when it happened, it was often during times of desperation. Scholars at one point thought that kneeling was typical for chthonic prayers, but that hasn't borne out.
Prayer was typically done out loud, unless the person was either too exhausted to pray out loud, as Odysseus was in the Odyssey 5444, where he prays, quote, in his heart to the river god Thacetia. Silent prayer is sometimes done for Aphrodite, as one may not want others to know of one's affections or schemes. Likewise to Eros and Hermes, who both have epithets for silent prayer.
The general view, however, unless one is in some sort of danger, is that prayers that are just are best spoken out loud, as there's no reason to be ashamed of praying if one's requests are just. That said, again, if you're in a situation where you must hide your practice, the fact that in times of danger the Greeks are shown in epic to pray silently justifies silent prayers for you until you're able to get into a situation where you can honor them openly in your own space. Don't put yourself at risk for the sake of tradition.
Okay, so you've washed your hands, you have your offering, and you've found a comfortable prayer position. Now what? You need to decide which god you're praying to.
This decision varies depending on what it is you're asking for. If you're giving a prayer of thanks, then you already probably know to whom you are thanking for the gifts you've received or the answer you got for a prior prayer. If, however, you're dealing with a need, there are a few ways you can figure out which god is most appropriate. Ancient peoples often had one or a few main gods or goddesses they addressed their concerns to, depending on their families and which city-state they lived in. If you know which city-state you're reconstructing from, the main gods of that pantheon are never a bad choice.
If you feel particularly close to a specific deity because they called you or because you built strong kadas with them in the past, they are also an option. Sometimes, though, it's good to call on the god that has the strongest interest in the affair one is talking about. For example, if you're asking for the safety of a pet, calling on Artemis would always be a good choice.
Help with writing? Hermes or Athena? Wisdom? Atena or Zeus. Inspiration?
One or all of the Mosai or Apollon if it's in the realms of music or poetry. It's good to maintain a good relationship with many gods, as we've seen from examples in the Iliad and the Odyssey, neglecting Kades with some gods can cause others to ignore you. That doesn't mean obsessively offer to every god you know the name of, but it does mean that maintaining Kades with the main gods of the pantheon you're reconstructing, in my case, as an Athenian recon and writer, Atena, Eremes, the Mosai, Zeus, Demeter because I garden, Hera for marriage, and Hygieia for my ongoing health issues, is a good idea.
idea. I give offerings to other gods on their sacred days and when I need help in their areas, but these gods are the ones that I most often give honors to outside of their specific days, as they deal with my particular concerns in life. Okay, so we've picked the god or gods, what's next?
What did the structure of Greek prayer look like? We see a number of different structures, but typical prayer has three parts. The first was invocation, or calling the god to attention.
There are a few different ways this is done. The most common used either the hear me or come verbiage, such as hear me o Zeus or come o esteemed and ancestral gods in prayers from antiquity. Sometimes the invocation would be done with just a name or epithet.
Zeus of the thundering clouds. But it was- was more common for the worshiper to request the god's attention directly, such as hear me, come, etc. I'll cover epithets in a future video, but if you know the god you're calling has one specifically related to your request, the invocation is the place where you would use it. The invocation is often done in a tricolon style, or a style in which three different references to the god are used.
Athena, glorious goddess, born of the head of mighty Zeus, is an example of this. The number three was especially sacred in prayer, as we'll see, and when writing your own, keeping this in mind for your own use. for invocations can help your prayers flow better. This is also where references to the gods mythic history are put. Their origins, mythic deeds, and sometimes past experiences directly with the worshiper themselves.
For example, when I'm praying to Atena, I often mention that Atena was the one who called me to the faith. The next section of prayer, the argument, is where the worshiper gives the reason why the prayer should be granted. There are a number of styles of argument discussed throughout the book. Give because I have given, or arguments on the grounds of the offering being given are the most common, though variants include give because he or she has given, if you know. you know a friend or loved one has given offerings on your behalf, or give because you have given, references to blessings, mythic, or in your life that the god has done in the past.
Another version of this, epote, or if ever prayers, are said during desperate times when a worshiper has no offering to give, but instead calls on the history of offerings and blessings given, the whole cycle of kares for their plight. These are very rare and should be leaned on not very often, lest the cycle of kares itself be broken, but there are an option for you in desperate times. The most famous epote prayer.
comes from Iliad Book 1, line 33 through 40, in which the old piece, Crusos, prays to Apollon while unable to make a sacrifice. He went forth in silence along the shore of the loud resounding sea, and earnestly then When he had gone apart, the old man prayed to the Lord Apollon, whom fair-haired Letho bore. Hear me, God of the Silver Bow, who stands over Crusae and Holy Gilea, the rule mightily over Tenedos, Smithian God, if ever I roofed over a temple to your pleasing, or if ever I burned you the fat thigh-pieces of bulls and goats, fulfill this prayer for me. Let the Danans pray for my tears by your arrows. So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him.
Croussos calls on the whole of his cadiz with Apollon, and Apollon responds by raining a fury of arrows down on those assaulting Croussos' people. The argument stage doesn't need to be given if the prayers are simply to accept the offering or to specifically give thanks unless you're requesting more blessings for the future, after the thanks being given. In which case, the thanks would actually function as your argument.
The next stage of prayer is typically the request. As mentioned prior, this could merely be to accept the offering in honor, to accept a worshiper's thanks, but more often than not, we need things from the gods. It's good to make sure your argument matches your request.
Talking about how Artemis takes care of newborn children isn't much use when asking for her help in in a hunt, but it could be quite helpful if someone you love just gave birth or if an animal you loved did. There was a slightly different style for prayers to the dead, heroes, and ancestors, but I'll cover that in a future video on ancestor cults, so stay tuned. Some folks present the offering before the prayer, some after. I tend to split my offerings between the beginning and the end, presenting physical offerings like incense or food offerings at the start of a prayer and pouring a libation of some kind at the end to quote seal the prayer.
Most prayers in literature have offerings either in the middle or at the beginning of prayers, but libations are typically done at the end. See what feels best for you, and make sure if you're honoring multiple gods that it's clear to whom each offering is being given. If you're praying at home, it's traditional to offer first and last libations and incense to Hestia, as she is the Holy Spirit. heart that connects us to the rest of the gods. This is definitely a part of my practice and I encourage you to do the same.
A final note that I need to cover is the attitude in prayer. The arguments you make can never be coercive or threatening because there was a notion of hosios or piety in the correct inner attitude toward the gods. The gods don't owe you anything, no matter how many offerings you've given or how special you think you are in their eyes. The relationship between you, like all relationships, is entirely voluntary and it pays to remember that gods are bigger than you. It also means that if you get assigned of some kind to do something that makes you uncomfortable, it's okay to say no.
You're not a slave to the gods, regardless of what some in the wider community would argue. The cycle of kades relies on consent on your end too. Often, prayers close out ritual, thanking the gods for hearing you and entreating them to never leave your life, while giving a final libation to Hestia.
These prayers are a reminder that kades doesn't end when you walk away from the ritual space or altar, and that the happenings in your life along with your actions are still a part of your of inner purity alongside purity from miasma that I'm currently digging into research regarding, not specifically as a commandment from the gods, but also in pursuit of the ideals of virtue and a good life. The gods know when you're not putting in the work on your end to bring about the desired outcome. As Ocean said in his video on offerings, do pagans bribe the gods, we don't walk away from ritual space entirely absolved from responsibility from then on. The gods may bring the rain, but you must till the field and plant the seeds, and in the modern day, water when the rains don't come.
The gods may play a part in the outcome, but your effort is always a consideration. consideration as well. If you pray for a new job and don't put in a single application, you can't turn around and complain to the gods when you don't get a call back.
Well, I mean you can, but it won't be very effective and might actually be on halcyon, which no hellenist wants to be. Remember to always recognize the gods for the good things in your life, as well as in treating them for help when times get bad. In the same way a friend appreciates when you recognize good things they've done for you and is thereby encouraged to do more in the future, the gods seem to respond well to an attitude of thankfulness. This doesn't mean forfeiting your agency.
As I mentioned just before, the because you put the work in on your side as well. But it does mean the difference between pride or recognizing your own accomplishments and hubris which is placing them above the gods. Remember that kardas takes time to develop and offerings and such aren't always a guarantee of the specific results you want.
The kards are not slot machines. They're wondrous and awe-inspiring beings we can't possibly understand fully in our short lifetimes. It's incredible to think that they can build relationships with us and have been doing so for millennia. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors of faith and the And the fact that so many of our traditions have survived despite the best efforts of monotheistic hegemony is incredible and it's self-worthy of praise and gratitude. Our gods live, and they await your prayers should you hear the call to give them.
Thank you so much for sticking through that. If you're new here and you enjoyed the exploration of prayer and ritual structure, invoke the subscribe button and make the request to the notification bell that you hear of my videos on time for years to come. Hopefully the cycle of kardas between you and YouTube will ensure such.
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