Blog Mission and Goals in the New Year
The Athenian New Year happened on 4 July 2008 this year, marking a transition from the 3rd year of the 696th Olympiad to the 4th year of the 696th Olympiad. As it coincided with America’s Independence Day, some American Hellenists decided to postpone their New Year celebrations for the following weekend so they could celebrate American independence.
Our civil new year, however, follows the Gregorian Calendar, which is based on the Roman solar year, and this begins and ends after their ancient Saturnalia festival and birth of Mithras. One tradition associated with the civil New Year celebrations is the creation of goals that individuals want to realize in the next twelve months. The New Year also presents a perfect opportunity to properly state the goals and general mission of this blog.
KALLISTI was created to serve modern Hellenists’ needs (especially those in the English-speaking world) by providing anecdotes of personal practice, communicating about various theological/moral/philosophical beliefs of both the author and others, linking to valuable and/or interesting media sources, and sharing resources about Hellenic Polytheisms with the general community, from the perspective of a young woman who worships the Theoi.
This blog does not seek to present a totalitarian “One True Way” of Hellenismos or Hellenic Polytheism, and it recognizes that modern polytheism and polytheistic reconstruction draw from many realities in the ancient world. Greeks in Ancient Bactria, exposed to Hinduism and Buddhism, still considered themselves Hellenes even though they drew from this ancient cultural melting pot (which was positioned on a silk road hub), so those seeking to reconstruct the atmosphere of these cultural nexuses have the right to call themselves by whichever religious label fits the majority of their practice. However, information focused on the Theoi and practicing our religion receives precedence here; any deviations will likely stem from cosmological thought problems or recipes I cooked from Classical Living and want to tell you about. I will also occasionally post creative devotional work as offerings to various Theoi.
Have a happy, safe start to your New Year, and welcome to 2009.
4 responses:
hii! happy several new years of all the ancient calendars! blessings~
Heya, Claire. Happy New Years! :) How was your holiday?
Thanks! My Yule on the 21st was very pleasant. I had copied a section of the Book of the Dead, "Transformation into a Gold Hawk," which sort of represents Horus' birth. And it was warm enough in Rockville to do so outside. I had milk and bread, incense, a candle, the whole shebang! I miss doing ritual outdoors.
Guess what, I have two goals: dye my hair blonder, and learn to play guitar. Already learning chords! :)
Happy new year!
Psst- found your blog kicking around the internet, as so often happens. Appreciate your blog's goals and, in pursuit of that, am wondering if you would like a free review copy of a magazine whose existence I'm trying to spread word of? Let me know if this might spark your interest-- I'm editor@thornmagazine.com. Thanks, and hope to hear from you!
Chip
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