I have seen that 30 Days meme. Something in me just despises the Gregorian calendar, but I liked some of the post ideas and made up some of my own based on the lunar calendar — more specifically, I took various sacred days and thought about the kinds of posts I would make on them.
The 30 Days meme is still going on in at least 2 blogs I follow, so I don’t think anyone will mind if I just pop in and pop out with random stuff that is slightly inspired by it. There will be 29 of these, but I won’t show you the order until they have all been posted.
This post contains a lot of advice, so before I begin, here’s a short prayer to Athênê:
Tritogeneia, daughter of Zeus most high,
you who grasps the ash-spear in her hands,
look out from your temples into the streets:
here, girls line up for you holding fabric;
there, sacrificial animals raise their heads
towards Olympos, where you sit in splendor.
O goddess, we give you the highest honors.
We let drops of virgin oil fall to the ground.
Hear me, Sôteira, and accept these words.
I decided to talk about this during a time sacred to Athênê because giving advice is really just about communicating strategy.
1. Don’t let anyone tell you what to think or believe.
I’ve never seen a source credited for this, but it is reported by many that Hypatia once said, “Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”
Along with this, go as close to the source material as possible on your own. Then, try to read it without any of the biases others have given you. Last month, I posted about the “commandments” of Solon and how people tend to present these as a numbered list of ten things when they are in fact called “counsel” and no numbering exists in the source text. These are the kinds of subtle things I am talking about.
Everyone — you, me, the creepy guy next door — has an agenda. We have this blessing from the Theoi called the Internet, which contains the Perseus Digital Library (among other things). Use it.
2. Surround yourself with people who will support and help you progress in your understanding of Hellenism and the Makares and whom you would feel comfortable supporting in times of trouble.
If you learn more about the Delphic Maxims, you will come across these:
Φιλοις βοηθει – Help your friends
Φιλιαν αγαπα – Love friendship
Θιλοις ευνοει – Be kind to friends
Φιλιαν φυλαττε – Guard friendship
And Solon said, “Do not be rash to make friends and, when once they are made, do not drop them.”
Your religious friends, just like ones who do not belong to a Hellenic religion, will fuck up — sometimes splendidly. It may involve you and you will probably feel like screaming and punching things. More likely, they will end up being singled out by a special snowflake or drama llama. This happens in relationships. Even though most arguments and accusations have small grains of truth, stand by your friend. In the end, you will be glad that you did.
3. Be good to those who have taught you, but remember that even Plato was human.
I have mentioned this previously about Plato someplace, but I don’t remember where. On the one hand, showing proper respect in dealings with people to whom you owe a great deal of your spiritual development is a good thing. But ... they’re not Authorities. They’re just people who consistently have good ideas.
4. Burn some incense.
Okay, libations are fine, too. You’re just not going to make an informed decision about whether or not this religion is a good fit for you until you actually start to do small things.
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