Hellenism (What We Believe, What We Stand For)

by Kresphontes on behalf of "Diipetes",


Hellenism (HELLENIKOS ETHNISMOS) is not simply a Religion and Cosmotheory, it is a certain form of human consciousness and an everyday ethos. It is a strong adversary of the so-called "Monotheism" and this not only due to its being the most well-documented of the ancient polytheistic nature-Religions, but also because it is the cultural product of a civilization much higher -on all levels- than the one which created and spread the worship of a Desert "God" throughout the world.

Hellenism perceives Cosmos (KOSMOS, i.e. the Universe) as an ever-existing Being, which not only was not created by some "creator" God out of nothing (EK TOU MEDENOS), but on the contrary allowed the Gods themselves to be created through its procedures. Hellenism understands Cosmos as APEIRON (Infinity) in great, wonderful order and therefore in Hellenic language Cosmos means also jewel (KOSMOS, KOSMEMA). Gods were born inside the Cosmos and live inside it -they are part of it. This is our REAL dispute with the so-called "Monotheism;" not the number of Gods (One or Many, Mono- or Poly-) but where the God or Gods stand in relation to the Cosmos.

For the "Monotheists" the Cosmos was created by an ever -existing Being outside it (so in this macro-historical level it is nothing more than a mortal creation). For the "Monotheists" Cosmos is a creation that has to obey the laws of its "creator". For us Hellenes, the eternal Cosmos emerges always from inside of itself (ANADYETAI AF’ EAUTOU) and is the creator of all Gods, which have to obey its own laws. In the Hellenic Cosmotheory, these laws are :

* ANTIPEPONTHOS: Untranslatable into English, but roughly meaning "all events influence others" thought without "cause and effect",
* NOMOS: The entirey of the universal physical Laws, and
* ANAGKE: Need and Fate, which all Gods respect and obey.

Due to the eternal nature of Cosmos itself, the Hellenic perception of CHRONOS (Time) is not linear (as the followers of Yahweh or the modern "rationalists" declare), nor circular (as many judeo-born occult dogmas teach) through the OUROBOROS symbol (the tail-eater snake), but spiral and leading to APEIRON. Through this shape of Time, the annual circles, the lunar circles, the human (and all) life, and the art of Prophecy, are fully interpreted. History is never "repeated", just similar to the point that identical events happen but always under different circumstances. And the death of humans (and of all mortal forms of life) happens as the philosopher Alkmaion declared, simply "because it is impossible for the end of the circle to touch the beginning". In other words, because it is impossible for the old to become infants again.

For the Hellenic Tradition, or at least its part not yet influenced by the "moral" ideas brought over from eastern civilizations by some famous philosophers as Pythagoras and Plato, no such thing as the "karma" of the eastern theocrats exists, and no "judges" exist in the skies or elsewhere. All dead become automatically holy and then they are born again until through ARETE (Virtue) one day their PSYCHE escapes from the spiral of Time, thus becoming primitive God, DAIMON, a word with a positive meaning for Hellenes, in contrast with Judeo-Christain superstition. HERAKLES (Hercules) is the ultimate symbol of this struggle of each mortal to make his / her way to Olympus, among the Immortal Ones. Hercules is the ultimate symbol for all Hellenes of the past and the present.

No, we do not believe in METEMPSYCHOSIS (Re-incarnation) suffering or prospering in this life to pay for or be rewarded for the bad or good actions of previous lives, but instead simply in PALIGENESIA (Rebirth). This perspective distinguishes us from the theocratic dogmas that terrify their believers with "punishments" e.t.c.

We love or hate completely outside the Judeo-Christian or karmic designs and dualisms. No dualism of "Good and Evil" exists in the Immortal Cosmos, nor such things as the miscellaneous "moralities" that all the dualistic dogmas spread among humanity. We become virtuous only because we choose to be such. Our Gods are many and we understand them as completing the make-up of the Universal Sphere of Cosmos to its maximum potential and whole. Thus, from the DODEKAEDRON, a geometric shape (that fills up the sphere to its maximum) we imagine twelve planes, each one presenting a God inside the Cosmos and we define our Hellenic PANTHEON (PAN TON THEON, All The Gods) as DODEKATHEON (Pantheon of The Twelve Gods).The Twelve Gods of ours live inside the Shpere of Cosmos and form its various behaviors. In the same way, the twelve Zodiacs represent twelve "energies" that reach Earth and live inside the humans and animals, thus forming various behaviors as well.
Our Twelve Gods are also called OLYMPIOI (the Olympians) not because, as many want to believe, they.. dwell on Mt. Olympus, as the mountains with this name numbered not one but eighteen throughout the Hellenic World. This is just a poetic conception, similar to the one that wants Pan to dwell in the forests of Arcadia. The word "Olympus" comes from the verb LAMPO (shining). Our Twelve Gods are the "Shining Ones", and the real "Olympus" is not a geographical but a spiritual place, where the Gods really exist. Another fact worth noting is that these Twelve Gods are not the same Twelve Gods for all Hellenes as some leave Dionysos out, some leave Hestia, etc., replacing them with others. It is the number that counts, not the names of the Gods which in any case number in the thousands- and we must underline here that Hellenism honors and worships not only conscious forces and energies of Nature (as almost all Pagan religions do) but also abstract Ideas, such as Harmony, Eunomia (personified Order), Justice, Freedom, Beauty, Luck, etc. For us, the Ideas are alive and have form and consciousness; they are real deities that simply show themselves through the functions of the human mind.
A basic ("for beginners") form of invocation of the Twelve Olympian Gods, a Pantheon that was worshiped at least since the 16th Century before the Judeo-Christian Era (they are named U-ru-pa-ja-jo in the Linear B inscription of Pylos), and openly until the 9th Century of our times (when the last remains of worship of the ethnic Hellenic Gods were exterminated in Lakonia, under the persecutions by "Saint" Nikon the so-called "Metanoite" i.e. "Repent") is the following: (The Gods are being invoked in "couples" according to theelements and functions that each "couple" supervises).
*Hestia (the power or denization and of common ethos: all invocations start with her named first: " AF’ HESTIAS" *

The honored God or Goddess of the hellenic lunar month
* Hephaistos - Hestia (alternatively: Hermes - Hestia)
* Ares - Aphrodite
* Apollo - Artemis
* Hermes - Athena (alternatively: Hephaistos - Athena)
* Poseidon - Demeter
* Hera - Zeus

We must emphasize here that the "male" and "female" terms inside the Hellenic Pantheon have nothing to do with the sexism and dualism dwelling in the minds of narrow-minded followers of alien cultures. Our Gods have no genitals. The existence of six Gods and six Goddesses inside the Hellenic Pantheon only serves to declare the total balance of all elements and characteristics inside the Sphere of Cosmos. Understanding the structure, nature and distribution of the Cosmos in this way, Hellenism comes in open opposition to all one-sided and partial dogmas on Cosmos, such as "Monotheism", "Bitheism" e.t.c. Because of this, for centuries now, it has been attacked with all the weapons that the arsenal of its enemies contains, from the burnings and crucifixions by the christianized Romans of Contantinoupolis to the disinformation and slander of the modern servants of the Desert "God" Yahweh (in all their disguises). And it may sound odd, but both we and our enemies know that the power of Hellenism is more than that of a Cosmotheory or of a Religion. It's above all a political and social "how to" theory that means to "haunt" the Every Day Life with its high principles: Dignity, Freedom, Beauty, Honesty, Variety, Tolerance, Candor..

We represent an ethos and a cosmotheory, both deeply admirable, for they never allowed the existence of priestly castes, unquestioning obedience, fear or guilt (Hellenism knows nothing about the word "sin"), dogma, missions, or "sacred" books. We are fighting for the Hellenic Dignity in a country totally dominated by an alien culture and cosmotheory, inside a world which is totally dominated by an alien culture and cosmotheory. We speak a language in which most of its deep meanings are impossible to translate into the widely spoken languages of today, a language that almost nobody can understand (nobody outside Greece can read our journal and books). From a strictly "strategic" perspective, we appear almost insane or, at least, "defeated in advance". But we know that we tread the correct path and that the Gods support us. Just by existing we win !
We are the revenge of the Ancient Psyche. We call into question almost every thought and act of this dying world enslaved to the Desert "God" Yahweh, almost every single behavior. And we are in full solidarity with all groups and movements all around the Globe, which work for the restoration of their traditional / indigenous ethos and religions, and also with all the others which fight the multi-faceted war for Freedom, Tolerance, Respect for Nature and Direct Democracy in all levels of Every Day Life.

I think this is a statement from the Supreme Council of the Gentile Hellenes, an actual Greek organization.

Some of their members can be seen in "I Still Worship Zeus", a semicomic documentary covering efforts at Reconstruction in Greece: http://istillworshipzeus.com/

On the whole, I agree with critics of the SCGH who criticize some of their historical judgements; I think that some of the more Christian tending elements of Hellenism have been removed to satisfy the desire to not be Christian. This is a very serious problem in Reconstruction: it is hard to develop a properly spiritual state of mind while the motivation is still negative. At the same time, the profound need for healing souls scarred by Christianity is one of the major driving forces causing modern Westerners to re-examine their ancient faiths.

Some notes:

It is a strong adversary of the so-called "Monotheism"

I would say that it is a strong adversary of Judaism and Islam. Its relationship with Christianity, especially Orthodoxy, is more nuanced. I think having lived under the Greek Orthodox church (very politically well connected and repressive) is distorting their judgement.

Hellenism perceives Cosmos (KOSMOS, i.e. the Universe) as an ever-existing Being, which not only was not created by some "creator" God out of nothing (EK TOU MEDENOS), but on the contrary allowed the Gods themselves to be created through its procedures. Hellenism understands Cosmos as APEIRON (Infinity) in great, wonderful order and therefore in Hellenic language Cosmos means also jewel (KOSMOS, KOSMEMA). Gods were born inside the Cosmos and live inside it -they are part of it. This is our REAL dispute with the so-called "Monotheism;" not the number of Gods (One or Many, Mono- or Poly-) but where the God or Gods stand in relation to the Cosmos.

Kosmos does indeed mean jewel or ornament, it is cognate with the English 'cosmetic', but it also means 'orderly'. If the Council does not believe in something outside Kosmos, then what is it an ornament of?

Aperion means boundless, which is similar to infinity but not the same.

The Gods, as parts of the Kosmos, are as he describes. Translation between Christian speak and Pagan speak is difficult, and the whole 'polytheist' vs. 'montheist' business is just so much bunkum. Translating between the systems, gods=angels, though of a very high order, and "the One" or "the Monad" are more or less equivalent to "Our Father". Late Platonists even use paternal language to describe the One.

For the "Monotheists" the Cosmos was created by an ever -existing Being outside it (so in this macro-historical level it is nothing more than a mortal creation). For the "Monotheists" Cosmos is a creation that has to obey the laws of its "creator". For us Hellenes, the eternal Cosmos emerges always from inside of itself (ANADYETAI AF’ EAUTOU) and is the creator of all Gods, which have to obey its own laws.

This is not true. Even in Hesiod, Kosmos emerges from Chaos, not itself. In the cosmogeny of Orpheus, this Chaos is named Nyx (night).

* ANTIPEPONTHOS: Untranslatable into English, but roughly meaning "all events influence others" thought without "cause and effect",
* NOMOS: The entirey of the universal physical Laws, and
* ANAGKE: Need and Fate, which all Gods respect and obey.

Ananke is necessity, as he says. I've never seen the term antipeponthos, though the concept he described was called by the ancients adastreia, or sometimes Nemesis. His 'nomos' usage is novel.

Due to the eternal nature of Cosmos itself, the Hellenic perception of CHRONOS (Time) is not linear (as the followers of Yahweh or the modern "rationalists" declare), nor circular (as many judeo-born occult dogmas teach) through the OUROBOROS symbol (the tail-eater snake), but spiral and leading to APEIRON. Through this shape of Time, the annual circles, the lunar circles, the human (and all) life, and the art of Prophecy, are fully interpreted. History is never "repeated", just similar to the point that identical events happen but always under different circumstances. And the death of humans (and of all mortal forms of life) happens as the philosopher Alkmaion declared, simply "because it is impossible for the end of the circle to touch the beginning". In other words, because it is impossible for the old to become infants again.

This is entirely novel, but does not conflict with any pre-existing ideas I am aware of.

For the Hellenic Tradition, or at least its part not yet influenced by the "moral" ideas brought over from eastern civilizations by some famous philosophers as Pythagoras and Plato, no such thing as the "karma" of the eastern theocrats exists, and no "judges" exist in the skies or elsewhere. All dead become automatically holy and then they are born again until through ARETE (Virtue) one day their PSYCHE escapes from the spiral of Time, thus becoming primitive God, DAIMON, a word with a positive meaning for Hellenes, in contrast with Judeo-Christain superstition. HERAKLES (Hercules) is the ultimate symbol of this struggle of each mortal to make his / her way to Olympus, among the Immortal Ones. Hercules is the ultimate symbol for all Hellenes of the past and the present.

He is right about Hercules being a symbol of spiritual struggle, he was certainly regarded as such in antiquity.

The business about "no karma, no judges" is nonsense. It is both novel and contrary to widely spread ancient understandings, which he tries to preserve by the incorporation of a postmortem development of the soul. His attempt to have it both ways drives him into obvious nonsense, as here:

No, we do not believe in METEMPSYCHOSIS (Re-incarnation) suffering or prospering in this life to pay for or be rewarded for the bad or good actions of previous lives, but instead simply in PALIGENESIA (Rebirth). This perspective distinguishes us from the theocratic dogmas that terrify their believers with "punishments" e.t.c.

This is ludicrous. What possible difference could there be between palingensia and metempsychosis? Unless he is positing a physical rebirth, as in late Judaism, I cannot imagine what he is talking about.

We love or hate completely outside the Judeo-Christian or karmic designs and dualisms. No dualism of "Good and Evil" exists in the Immortal Cosmos, nor such things as the miscellaneous "moralities" that all the dualistic dogmas spread among humanity.

This is also nonsense. He should take a look at the Dephic Maxims sometime: http://kyrene.4t.com/delphic_maxims.html

The word "Olympus" comes from the verb LAMPO (shining). Our Twelve Gods are the "Shining Ones", and the real "Olympus" is not a geographical but a spiritual place, where the Gods really exist. Another fact worth noting is that these Twelve Gods are not the same Twelve Gods for all Hellenes as some leave Dionysos out, some leave Hestia, etc., replacing them with others.

At least he gets some things right.

and openly until the 9th Century of our times (when the last remains of worship of the ethnic Hellenic Gods were exterminated in Lakonia, under the persecutions by "Saint" Nikon the so-called "Metanoite"

The Supreme Council seems sadly unaware of survivals of Hellenism in Harran (http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/old/POM9a1.html) through the 11th century and among the Kalash (http://www.creternity.com/article.phtml?articleID=7&page=2&catID=3) up to the present day.

The work of Gurdjieff also presents us with an interesting possibility of pagan survival, since it is built around a tripartite soul, an emanationist theology, and the enneagram (very similar to the tetractys).

And it may sound odd, but both we and our enemies know that the power of Hellenism is more than that of a Cosmotheory or of a Religion.

This is very true.

It's above all a political and social "how to" theory that means to "haunt" the Every Day Life with its high principles: Dignity, Freedom, Beauty, Honesty, Variety, Tolerance, Candor..

I would change the list to temperance, courage, wisdom, justice, beauty, harmony, reason . . .

We represent an ethos and a cosmotheory, both deeply admirable, for they never allowed the existence of priestly castes, unquestioning obedience, fear or guilt (Hellenism knows nothing about the word "sin"), dogma, missions, or "sacred" books.

No priestly castes or unquestioning obedience, true. And fear and guilt were hardly things to be instilled, as in Christianity. But the word the New Testament uses for sin, hamartia, is Greek, even though in Hellenism it kept more of its original meaning ("to miss the mark") and less of a "black mark on your permanent record" sort of thing.

No sacred books in the sense of literalism or superstition, no.


From a strictly "strategic" perspective, we appear almost insane or, at least, "defeated in advance". But we know that we tread the correct path and that the Gods support us. Just by existing we win !

I know this feeling.

We are the revenge of the Ancient Psyche. We call into question almost every thought and act of this dying world enslaved to the Desert "God" Yahweh.

Go, man, go!!

On the whole, I have some big arguments with them, but hey, it's Hellenism. As long as they worship the Twelve, how serious can a doctrinal spat get?

Wintermute

Wintermute,

Can you give us a Hellenistic reading list?

Can you give us a Hellenistic reading list?

Sure.

But there's a lot of books. Tell me what you're looking for, and I'll point you in the right direction.

WM

Wintermute,

If you were to devise a course reading list for a class in Hellenistic paganism what would you include? I'm not thinking so much of primary texts like the Illiad and the Odyssey but the classics on the subject in general. I'm looking to familiarize myself with some form of European paganism for religious purposes, so in addition to theory I am interested in practical guides.

An update on Hellenism. My movie "I Stil Worship Zeus" was mentionned in this thread a while back. Yesterday the movie was reviewed in Ozus' World Movie Reviews. The informative article goes into great detail about the situation in Greece with the Hellenes and the writer seems sympathetic to their cause. You can read the review here http://www.sover.net/~ozus/istillworshipzeus.htm