Personal Values Inspired By Hellenic Polytheism

If you didn't know already from the awesome posts cropping up everywhere, it's Pagan Values Month in the blogosphere, a time for pagan and polytheistic bloggers to tackle issues that we see as important to us from a religious perspective (or, at least, that's my initial take on what that means). Executive Pagan writes, “[T]he first thing that comes to mind is that I’m not clear on what 'pagan values' necessarily are” [link]. I think that's an apt assessment of pagan values, but with that I think it proper to also question which values we mean when we say “Pagan Values.” Realistically speaking, value systems range from the “An' it Harm None” law of modern Wiccans to the strict values in Kemetism (the list of “I have nots” being the thing that first comes to mind). In Hellenism, we have a lot of moral, ethical, and social values to choose from because Ancient Hellenic Polytheism was practiced in so many culturally different city-states, and while we can talk about pan-Hellenic values (such as xenia and eusebia), the specifics varied from region to region.

What about modern values? Where do our religious values end and our cultural sensibilities begin? If we value tradition and nomos arkhaios, if we believe in following the ancient practices and divisions, what does that say about modern Hellenic Polytheists? Where must valuing tradition end and modern innovation begin so we can respectfully acknowledge (and correct) our spiritual ancestors' mistakes? As an individual, I do value many of the same things as other Hellenists and consider myself a religious moderate. The values that I look to promote in modern Hellenic polytheism other than the traditional ones are women's empowerment, religious self-determination, and respect for the environment. I would like to talk about the first and last of these here.

Women's Empowerment

Most of my readers know by now that I am a feminist. As a feminist, I am looking to get specific things out of my values system and religion. While the Ancient Greeks didn't grant women a lot of social or familial liberty, I strongly believe that a system that contains gods and goddesses already contains the basis for equality of the sexes. I don't have problems knowing that Zeus is in charge of the pantheon because I place Hera on equal footing with him (yes, I know there's that anecdote in which he strung her upside down from the Heavens when she tried to rebel against his new regime). Moreover, I believe that women can and should perform roles in modern society that were traditionally given to men in most things (except for fertility-specific cultus, which in most circumstances would just be a bit weird). The man doesn't need to control the household rituals, and young women have as much right to offer their hair to river gods/goddesses or other deities as young men did upon reaching adulthood (or a major life change). This stance is a value because it presumes what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior: I don't have much patience for people who want to degrade women on religious platforms, and they don't hold the same values as me.

Respect for Gaia

Many Neopagan faiths consider themselves “Earth-centric,” revering the Earth (and/or as a living organism). Hellenic Polytheism, by contrast, is “deity-centric,” meaning that reverence for the Gods and cultivating relationships with them takes precedence over that kind of worship. However, we can synthesize the platform and come to understand and consider ourselves as Earth-respecting if we think of the Earth as Gaia, or Ge. Ge and Ouranos are the Mother and Father of most things on the planet. Even if we consider Ge a primordial nonspecific planetary entity embodied in each habitable planet in the universe (we can make a substantial case for the possibility of extraterrestrial life, so I'm adding this statement just in case we find something), the rocks, soil, caves, mountains, hilltops, are sacred to her. In a modern interpretation of eusebia, we have a religious obligation to make sure we don't pollute this sacred world. Littering and environmental apathy bring miasma into the world. With everything that Ge has given us (because without her, we wouldn't exist), how can we not pay the world respect in turn?

These values commit me to several things. Firstly, my belief in the sanctity of Ge will make me more likely to vote for electable candidates with strong green records; my belief in the equality of women motivates me to blog about my faith (because women need a voice) and say things in public that may expose me to criticism in some circles (but still need to be said to bring issues to light). Where voting is concerned, this means that I am more likely to vote for Democratic candidates even though I'm a social democrat (and no, they're not the same thing).

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Values are things that really matter to us. If other people violate them, we feel offended and may sometimes lash out like the Erinyes. Religious values create stronger feelings of attachment because religious values are even more closely tied to our worldviews. We use passages from holy texts to justify them and unverified personal gnosis to feel solid in our convictions. Yet ... people of the same religion can get different things out of the same texts. Some people in a religion can believe that magic is hubris based on one holy text, whereas those who believe it is OK can cite a different text from a different historical period. Some people are no doubt using Hellenic Polytheism to perpetuate misogynist views, or they use our differences with Neopagans to trash the world. No doubt someone finds something offensive about what I have written.

Before the summer solstice, I committed to getting my review of God Against the Gods up, and I think that Pagan Values Month couldn't have come at a better time. Also coming is a look at what I believe about more traditional ethics in Hellenic Polytheism, but I haven't finished going through texts for source material. Again, when you read it, keep in mind that I'm approaching this subject from my personal experience. Others are likely to have an entirely different opinion on the interpretation of Hellenic vaues.