"To Nike (Victory), Fumigation from Manna. O powerful Nike, by men desired, with adverse breasts to dreadful fury fired, thee I invoke, whose might alone can quell contending rage and molestation fell.
'Tis thine in battle to confer the crown, the victor's prize, the mark of sweet renown; for thou rulest all things, Nike divine! And glorious strife, and joyful shouts are thine.
Come, mighty Goddess, and thy suppliant bless, with sparkling eyes, elated with success; may deeds illustrious thy protection claim, and find, led on by thee, immortal fame."
~ Orphic Hymn 33 to Nike (trans. Taylor)
'Tis thine in battle to confer the crown, the victor's prize, the mark of sweet renown; for thou rulest all things, Nike divine! And glorious strife, and joyful shouts are thine.
Come, mighty Goddess, and thy suppliant bless, with sparkling eyes, elated with success; may deeds illustrious thy protection claim, and find, led on by thee, immortal fame."
~ Orphic Hymn 33 to Nike (trans. Taylor)
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"Persephone, Daughter of Zeus, blessed
Only begotten, gracious Goddess, receive this good offering,
Much honoured, you, overpowered by Pluto, you are beloved and lifegiving,
You hold the doors of Hades under the depths of the earth;
Transactor of Justice, your beloved hair the sacred olive branch of the enemy
Mother of the Eumenides, Queen of the Underworld, You, maiden from Zeus through secret begetting.
Mother of loud-shouting, many-shaped Bacchus.
Playmate of the moving seasons, lightbringing, of beautiful form,
Holy, ruler of all, maiden, showering fruits,
Radiant, horned, you alone are longed for by mortals.
You are Spring, delighting in fragrant meadows
Your sacred body appears to us in growing fruits and branches.
Raped into your marriage bed in the late autumn
You alone are life and death to distressed mortals.
Persephone. You are forever the nourisher and the death bringer.
Listen, blessed Goddess and send up fruits from the earth
In peace, flourishing in health from your soothing hand;
And, in life abundance, leading to richness of old age
Then to your realm O Sovereign, and to powerful Pluto."
~ Orphic Hymn 29 to Persephone (trans. A.P. Long)
Only begotten, gracious Goddess, receive this good offering,
Much honoured, you, overpowered by Pluto, you are beloved and lifegiving,
You hold the doors of Hades under the depths of the earth;
Transactor of Justice, your beloved hair the sacred olive branch of the enemy
Mother of the Eumenides, Queen of the Underworld, You, maiden from Zeus through secret begetting.
Mother of loud-shouting, many-shaped Bacchus.
Playmate of the moving seasons, lightbringing, of beautiful form,
Holy, ruler of all, maiden, showering fruits,
Radiant, horned, you alone are longed for by mortals.
You are Spring, delighting in fragrant meadows
Your sacred body appears to us in growing fruits and branches.
Raped into your marriage bed in the late autumn
You alone are life and death to distressed mortals.
Persephone. You are forever the nourisher and the death bringer.
Listen, blessed Goddess and send up fruits from the earth
In peace, flourishing in health from your soothing hand;
And, in life abundance, leading to richness of old age
Then to your realm O Sovereign, and to powerful Pluto."
~ Orphic Hymn 29 to Persephone (trans. A.P. Long)
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"Persephone who impairs the mind of mortals and brings them forgetfulness. No one else has ever contrived this, once death's dark cloud has enveloped him and he has come to the shadowy place of the dead and passed the black gates which hold back the souls of the dead, for all their protestations."
~ Theognis, Fragment 1. 703 ff (trans. Gerber, Vol. Greek Elegiac)
~ Theognis, Fragment 1. 703 ff (trans. Gerber, Vol. Greek Elegiac)
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Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of grain and fertility, guide us to owning our shadow side while remembering our goodness and nobility.
"Sing of Demeter and Kore (Core, the Maiden), wife of Klymenos (the Famous One)."
~ Lasus, Fragment 702 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III)
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Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of grain and fertility, guide us to owning our shadow side while remembering our goodness and nobility.
"Sing of Demeter and Kore (Core, the Maiden), wife of Klymenos (the Famous One)."
~ Lasus, Fragment 702 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III)
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Roman gold ring with amethyst intaglio of Sol Invictus, 300 - 400 AD
from Apollo Galleries
from Apollo Galleries
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"In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates argues paradoxically that ‘our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness’ […]. The four kinds of divine inspiration, or madness, are viewed as a divine gift provided by the Muses, Dionysus, Apollo, and Aphrodite (or Eros) respectively. In the same dialogue, the “divine banquet” is depicted as a metaphysical place of contemplation and vision. For Plato, the contemplation (theoria) of the eternal Ideas transcends our rational ability to comprehend and analyse these Ideas discursively."
Algis Uzdavinys, Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism
Algis Uzdavinys, Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism
"And next, sweet voiced Mousai (Muses), daughters of Zeus, well skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Mene (Moon) [Selene]. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light.
The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Okeanos (Oceanus), and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, and drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.
Once Kronides (Cronides) [Zeus] was joined with her in love; and she conceived an bare a daughter Pandeia, exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods.
Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glorious of men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Mousai, celebrate with lovely lips."
~ Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene (trans. Evelyn-White)
The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Okeanos (Oceanus), and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, and drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.
Once Kronides (Cronides) [Zeus] was joined with her in love; and she conceived an bare a daughter Pandeia, exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods.
Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glorious of men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Mousai, celebrate with lovely lips."
~ Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene (trans. Evelyn-White)
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Selene, goddess of the moon, the night, and time itself, light our way in the ever changing times.
"...Mother of ages, fruit-producing Mene (Moon), whose amber orb makes night’s reflected noon: lover of horses, splendid queen of night, all-seeing power, bedecked with starry light, lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, in peace rejoicing, and a prudent life: fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend, who givest to nature’s works their destined end. Queen of the stars, all-wise Goddess, hail! Decked with a graceful robe and amble veil..."
~ Orphic Hymn 9 to Selene (trans. Hellenion)
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Selene, goddess of the moon, the night, and time itself, light our way in the ever changing times.
"...Mother of ages, fruit-producing Mene (Moon), whose amber orb makes night’s reflected noon: lover of horses, splendid queen of night, all-seeing power, bedecked with starry light, lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, in peace rejoicing, and a prudent life: fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend, who givest to nature’s works their destined end. Queen of the stars, all-wise Goddess, hail! Decked with a graceful robe and amble veil..."
~ Orphic Hymn 9 to Selene (trans. Hellenion)
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Goat’s Milk and Honey
Video
"To Eris, the fearful Battle-queen, beheld of none, but cloaked in clouds blood-raining: on she stalked swelling the mighty roar of battle. From small to huge that Fury's stature grew; her arms of adamant were blood-besprent, the deadly lance she brandished reached the sky. Earth quaked beneath her feet: dread blasts of fire flamed from her mouth: her voice pealed thunder-like kindling strong men. Swift closed the fronts of fight drawn by a dread Power to the mighty work.
Sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She who then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walks through the onslaught making men's pain heavier. You, who are the last of the Gods to close an arguement; hear my prayer today and pass your judgement kindly upon me. Be a good friend to mortals, and a friend to me."
~ written by Elani Temperance with inspiration from Fall of Troy 10.51; Homer, Iliad 4. 441 ff; Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 1057 ff; Hesiod, Works and Days 11 ff
Sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She who then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walks through the onslaught making men's pain heavier. You, who are the last of the Gods to close an arguement; hear my prayer today and pass your judgement kindly upon me. Be a good friend to mortals, and a friend to me."
~ written by Elani Temperance with inspiration from Fall of Troy 10.51; Homer, Iliad 4. 441 ff; Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 1057 ff; Hesiod, Works and Days 11 ff
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"Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollon, the Far-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise--draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song."
~ Homeric Hymn 24 to Hestia
~ Homeric Hymn 24 to Hestia
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