Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Greek Primordial Dieties

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Greek Primordial Dieties

    i have recently been trying to find my spiritual path in life, which has brought me to Hellenism. though i find the lower pantheon (zeus and the like) a bit narcissistic, no offense to anyone of course, i find the primordial gods much more connected to, namely Nyx and Khaos and Eros. how can i start a path with them at my side? how to practice, known colors, minerals,plants associated with them. any and all help is greatly appreciated.

    #2
    Re: praising the greek primordials

    Well...the primordial deities, as I understand and worship them, are the personification of nature. For example, Thalassa is the personification of the sea, specifically the Mediterranean...Gaia is literally, the earth... Quite a bit of information can be found (depending on the deity) about how they were worshipped (if they were worshipped) and what things were associated with them, etc and start from there...but really, in my experience, you worship them as you would worship the Sky, the Sea, the Earth, the Night, etc.

    ...if they mind, I presume they will let you know.
    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
    sigpic

    Comment


      #3
      Titan worship

      Has anyone ever done that? Like worshipping Prometheus and other titans? Would one be considered a Hellenist by worshipping the Titans instead of the Greek deities?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Titan worship

        The Titans are Greek deities, and yes, there are people that do this. Whether or not one would consider their practice Hellenismos, undoubtedly depends on the person and how they practice, and the persons interpreting how they practice.
        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
        sigpic

        Comment


          #5
          Re: praising the greek primordials

          i can't find anything relating to worship of eros, khaos, or nyx or erebus. i'd love any links that can be provided, i cant seem to find anything other than mythos on them.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: praising the greek primordials

            You might start by looking at these Orphic hymns. There's one to Night, to the Titans, etc: http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hoo/. The names used are Roman, however. You could light a candle and some incense and read one or more of these hymns nightly.

            That said, for worship, I would look into how Hellenics do it. Find yourself a general Hellenic ritual, then start customizing it bit by bit for the primordials as you feel is right or as you're prompted to do.
            Blog: http://thestarsafire.tumblr.com

            Kuchi wa wazawai no moto (the mouth is the origin of disasters)

            Comment


              #7
              Re: praising the greek primordials

              You might find some useful info here http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/primeval-gods.html as it deals with the protogenoi. You may also find more info using the term protogenoi as that is how the Hellenic community most often refers to them.
              I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: praising the greek primordials

                Historic writings about the Cult of Eros: http://www.theoi.com/Cult/ErosCult.html

                Also, from what I understand, there's not much evidence that Nyx was worshipped...I've seen comments about a Nyx having an oracle at Megara according to the Greek historian Pausanias, but I don't know of any specific evidence there for a Cult.

                Personally, I wouldn't consider Khaos to be a deity, but rather the personification of a state of (un)being which helps to tell the story of a particular cosmogony. If Khaos were considered a by the ancient Greeks (depending, of course, on what one considers a deity), I would find it hard to believe that she was worshipped (in the same way that Eris was not historically worshipped, from what I can tell). The idea of worshipping chaos would not have been apropros.

                However...if I *were* to worship some of these deities (which may not have had an historical cult) in a manner fitting with their time and culture, I would start with the Olympic deity that supplanted them. Or I'd stick with the Protogenoi like Gaia that had an established cult, which we do know something of. Either way, this is one of those things where it looks like it is going to come down to personal gnosis.
                Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                sigpic

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: praising the greek primordials

                  Originally posted by Mikaelis View Post
                  i can't find anything relating to worship of eros, khaos, or nyx or erebus. i'd love any links that can be provided, i cant seem to find anything other than mythos on them.
                  I can only really talk about my experiences and give little on historical perspective but here's what I've written. Nyx and Erebos worship was extremely uncommon and secretive. Neither of them take much roles in myths either and this may be an important reason why their worship is uncommon. I've had experience worshiping Nyx and Erebos but I never became as close to them as I have with other gods. Erebos always felt warmer than Nyx but, she was much fiercer than Erebos. To worship them I lit candles and said hymns or read poetry. I don't recall Erebos ever playing a large part in myths but Nyx appears rarely, usually coming to the defense of one of her children. Those who worship Nyx often do so through her children. Her offspring as many of the deities that are personifications of negative concepts like death, old age, sleep, revenge, fate, ect. or relating to the state of the sky like Aether (brightness) or Hermera (daylight). Many of her children are concepts which are viewed negatively but must be accepted as necessary and benevolent in their own way. Nyx is terribly powerful and beautiful and while she is protective and motherly, she can be incredibly cruel and apathetic to suffering also. They're both nearly completely inhuman and overwhelmingly large entities, which makes sense given they are primordial manifestations.

                  Each night Nyx rises from the horizon as she exits Tartarus carrying with her the mists of darkness provided by her consort Erebos which she uses to obscure the light of the sky. The early greeks believed the lightness of the sky originated from the upper atmosphere rather than the sun and so night was an obstruction of this light. Alternatively Nyx follows her daughter Hermia (daylight) who enters Tartarus just as Nyx exits and so divides the night and day. Supposedly Nyx lives in a cave or palace beyond the ocean. In some variations Nyx replaces Chaos, or else is the first being born from Chaos, making her truly the first primordial deity. Personally I could completely see that being true. Nyx is directly responsible for the cycle of life and death, destiny, and numerous other concepts because she created them as her children. It's debatable if her children were born by herself or produced in a union with Erebos. She knew what her children would be.

                  Erebos much like Tartarus is both a place and a divine figure and refers to the darkness which the dead pass through after death or the bordering between earth and Hades, either bordering or the same as Tartarus. Erebos may also be a reference to dusk, the transition from light to darkness. He's present in all areas of supreme darkness. Between this and Nyx's myths it might be implied that Erebos follows Nyx. To my knowledge Erebos was not worshiped, or if he was his worship was eclipsed by Nyx's when/if they were worshipped togethor.

                  Maybe you could try to communicate with them. Possibly try to meditate and see if you can learn about them that way.
                  Circe

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: praising the greek primordials

                    thank you all for the replies, the sites and words are very helpful.i will take all these in mind and see what relates back to me.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: praising the greek primordials

                      though i am uncertain, i believe certain recent events in my life are the "call" of which god wants to work with me. i had a dream of a dark mist, flowing, encircling me. i wasn't afraid, something said the shadows are a part of the cycle, as is the light. i believe this to be Nyx telling me the gods i am asking for guidance are telling me they accept me. i may be wrong. i was told to praise the void we all came from, the creation itself, and what she kept referring to, the cycle of dark and light, life and death. i was told not to fear it, for it only brings us to another level of existence, and understanding.

                      just wanted to let those that helped push me to find them on my own, thank you. i believe my path may have been found.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: praising the greek primordials

                        I was looking through threads yesterday and couldn't find any on the god/goddess I was looking find info on. I'm glad I'm not alone in wanting to work with primordials or.... protogenoi? (New word to me, cool!) I agree with you on your views on Zeus and the others though, so I've been looking into working with Gaia and Uranus who, after much thought, I think have been trying to get my attention since I was young.

                        I'm glad you have found your path. Good luck on it.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Greek Primordial Dieties

                          Ok, so, I've been doing some research on my own but haven't really found any threads on this topic.
                          I want to start working with Gaia and Uranus specifically, but have no idea how to get started. This is especially difficult as I am new to both Paganism and Hellenism.

                          From what I have been reading, it doesn't seem like Gaia was really worshiped or anything. Mostly people just went with Demeter. And no one really cared much about Uranus either.

                          How do I get started? What should I do? and How can I know if they even want to work with me?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Titan worship

                            The titans are gods, just the old gods, while the Olympians are the newer gods that overthrew the titans. I haven't seen a Hellenic that worshipped a Titan, but worshipped the other greeks deities like Hermes and Athena. But how often were titans worshipped in history anyway?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Greek Primordial Dieties

                              I went ahead and moved this to the Greek and Roman section, and merged two other threads, similar in purview, because there was getting to be a bunch of overlap.


                              Originally posted by AutumnFox View Post
                              I was looking through threads yesterday and couldn't find any on the god/goddess I was looking find info on. I'm glad I'm not alone in wanting to work with primordials or.... protogenoi? (New word to me, cool!) I agree with you on your views on Zeus and the others though, so I've been looking into working with Gaia and Uranus who, after much thought, I think have been trying to get my attention since I was young.
                              I had responded to your other thread and then my internet ate my reply...I'll try to get back to this later today or tomorrow, because I have some historical info on Gaia, I just have to dig it out!
                              Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                              sigpic

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X