Hearthfire Handworks

Who is the Agathos Daimon?

by Hearthfire Handworks
Agathos Daimon, literally, means “good spirit,” and that is certainly true; he is a granter of abundance, protection, fertility and good fortune–all kinds of blessings, really–to humankind. You won’t typically see him […]
Posted in Agathos Daimon, Goddesses and Gods, Greek Gods 101, Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic paganism, hellenic polytheism

Greek Pagan Basics: Hints for Studying Religious Sources

by Hearthfire Handworks
When I say I’m a semi-reconstructionist, I mean to say that I draw heavily on historical, archaeological and literary sources in building my religious practice but don’t limit myself to those sources. […]
Posted in Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic paganism, hellenic polytheism, hellenic reconstructionism

Ethics: The Delphic Maxims

by Hearthfire Handworks
People often say that when it comes to ethics, all religions say basically the same thing. This isn’t exactly true (I only follow some of the Ten Commandments on a regular basis, […]
Posted in delphic maxims, Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic paganism, hellenic polytheism

Festivals: Some Elements of Hellenic Ritual

by Hearthfire Handworks
I’m going to be sharing some of my own rituals that I’ve prepared to celebrate festivals honoring the Greek gods; some will be modern versions of festivals known in the ancient world, […]
Posted in Festivals and Devotions, Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic pagan ritual, hellenic paganism

Festivals and Devotions: The Noumenia and other monthly devotions

by Hearthfire Handworks
While most of the ancient Greek festivals, rituals and devotional practices we hear about tend to be those held annually (or, sometimes, once ever few years), there are also traditional forms of […]
Posted in Festivals and Devotions, greek gods, Greek Pagan Basics, greek paganism, hellenic paganism

Some Hellenic Pagan Resources

by Hearthfire Handworks
I occasionally get questions from folks about various aspects of religious practice, and while I’m happy to answer (it’s one of my favorite topics of discussion!) I thought it might be helpful […]
Posted in Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic paganism, hellenic polytheism

Gods Above and Gods Below

by Hearthfire Handworks
When it comes to discussing the Greek gods, “chthonic” or “chthonian” is a very useful and somewhat confusing word. You’ve probably heard it applied to underworld gods and spirits, the gods some […]
Posted in chthonic gods, Greek Gods, Greek Gods 101, Greek Pagan Basics

The Ages of Greek Religion

by Hearthfire Handworks
As a semi-reconstructionist polytheistic pagan, I draw upon a variety of sources–historical, literary, archaeological–to inform my religious practice. Such sources do not define my practice but they do provide a base on […]
Posted in Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic paganism, hellenic polytheism

Household Gods

by Hearthfire Handworks
We usually think of ancient Greek religion as taking place in temples, but there was as well a strong aspect of household worship. For the most part, household gods were not only […]
Posted in Greek Gods 101, Greek Pagan Basics, hecate, hestia

Ancient Divination for the Modern Greek Pagan

by Hearthfire Handworks
There is no question that divination was a significant part of life in the ancient Greek world. Decisions were made at the highest level based, at least in part, on the work […]
Posted in divination, Greek Pagan Basics, paganism

An Introduction to Epithets

by Hearthfire Handworks
Culturally, we probably know the Greek gods better than any other pantheon. We can attribute this in part to artists and poets–Byron and his crew loved our gods and loved to write […]
Posted in epithets, Greek Gods 101, Greek Pagan Basics, hellenic gods, hellenic paganism