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Connecting With Gods

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Connecting With Gods Empty Connecting With Gods

Post  AgathonZante Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:05 am

Sometimes, I feel very close to the Gods, and other times, I feel so far away. Sometimes, it feels like my relationship with Them is slipping. What can I do?
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Post  Erodius Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:44 am

That can be a difficult dilemma to remedy; it is not as easy as a "do A, then B will happen", situation. 

Divinity is distant from what is impure, and approaches the one who approaches Divinity. A kinesis toward Divinity is answered in kind, according to the Orphic Logos. Purify yourself in body and in thought. Offer a sacrifice of invitation. 

Infrequency of sacrifice, traditionally and per experience, breeds feeling and actuality of estrangement. Typically, some sort of sacrifice is made daily. Hesiod recommends twice daily, both morning and evening, which is the frequency I follow myself. 

There are also the theurgical desmic ceremonies of Neoplatonism, like the empsychia (which is, however, serious business and outside the means or need of most situations), and the placing of symbola from the seira of the divinity whose proximity you're seeking.
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Post  AgathonZante Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:47 am

When you say sacrifice, what kinds of things can that entail that can be reasonably obtained by the average person?
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Post  Erodius Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:53 am

AgathonZante wrote:When you say sacrifice, what kinds of things can that entail that can be reasonably obtained by the average person?

A sacrifice need not be elaborate — formal, yes, and dignified, but certainly not elaborate nor expensive. 

I know I have probably mentioned it before several times around the threads, but the simplest sacrifice is the ture ac vino, as it's said in Latin – by incense and by wine. A single pinch of incense burnt, a single splash of wine, a laurel leaf offered before an image, some ritually pure cooked grain or fruit, salted flour . . . any of these are perfectly proper sacrifices in and of themselves.
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Post  AgathonZante Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:54 am

And what is the traditional way to dispose of sacrifices or of their remains?
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Post  Erodius Sat Aug 09, 2014 1:03 am

AgathonZante wrote:And what is the traditional way to dispose of sacrifices or of their remains?

Burning, burying, depositing outdoors, or taking off the shrine after a time, ceremonially profaning/de-consecrating, and then consuming as a kind of specially-blessed meal. 

It depends on the type of oblation, and on the circumstances and setting, obviously.
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Post  AgathonZante Sat Aug 09, 2014 1:12 am

Incense is my most common daily offering. I call on "all the Gods of Hellas" and burn it to Them, then I begin with prayers etc. When I pour a libation, I generally use one bowl and pour a portion into it each time I announce the name of a Deity. Is this all an acceptable way to offer sacrifice?
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Post  Erodius Sat Aug 09, 2014 1:34 am

;-) the Gods are the powers of the whole cosmos, hardly just Greece - though Greece models piety, being so cultivated in religion.

It is fine to offer individual pours to each divinity you are venerating, but is also done by offering a single long pouring dedicated to all those venerated. Either is suitable.

Incense is also a perfectly suitable sacrifice in itself.
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Post  AgathonZante Sat Aug 09, 2014 11:37 pm

I've been following your instructions and things seem to be getting better. I think you hit the nail on the head with the sacrifices. I haven't been doing them on a daily, continuous basis, and I think it's impacted my relationship with the Gods. Since I started doing this regularly, I have noticed a change in my feelings and closeness with the Gods. It seems as if They are starting to become more and more present in my life.
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