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Budget for Shawangunk Journal

• due Nov. 6: CTCW 2017

New stuff will be found at Category:Hudson Valley One

Budget for Country Wisdom News

• due Nov. 13: CTCW 2017 focus on community

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0Bzq4aVRv_YPKN0pKUGZtaUt6UXc

Budget for Hellenismos priesthood

• What is Shanddaramon’s definition of a ritual? What would you add to this definition or remove from it and why?

• "Any activity repeated on a regular basis," which really is the case, but it's also paradoxical in a sense because some of the rituals we design will never be enacted again, for any number of reasons. That said, what gives even a seemingly one-shot ritual its power is the incorporation of elements that are repeated: procession, purification, and offering barley are examples in our tradition. It's also the way that traditions themselves are maintained, because the repetition of similar acts makes the entire ceremony recognizable over the course of generations or miles; at least that's how it works in theory.

• What were your thoughts about the different rituals you read about in Greek Religion?

• They highlight the fact that Hellenismos is a broken tradition. Since these practices were laid down and not practiced for many centuries, what Burkert describes are snapshots of how the Hellenes expressed eusebeia in a time before there was even a word for religion. Had these practices been handed down in the proper way, parent to child and generation to generation, they would have been altered throughout those years and kept pace with evolving culture. Instead, we have reconstructionists who through their excellent research attempt to understand ancient ritual in its cultural context, and revivalists who try to imagine what that evolution might have yielded. It's a frustrating and exciting time to practice this religion.

Most significant among the rituals Burkert discusses is that of sacrifice. I have a lot of respect for animal sacrifice, because as it's practiced today it's a far more ethical method of killing a creature than anything found at factory farms. That it was central to the religious practices of the Hellenes is more indicative of culture than religion, in my view. It demonstrated a willingness to give something of the highest practical value to the gods, while at the same time reinforced ties within the community itself. Given that sacrificial priests are rare and the practice is poorly understood, there are other offerings we might make to express similar sentiments. We might, for example, make offerings of a significant amount of money (perhaps 10% of one's monthly income, or some other amount that feels like a sacrifice but isn't so much that it would ruin the individual) and then use those to further a cause that's relevant to the theos in question, such as domestic abuse shelters for Hera or an ocean cleanup for Poseidon.

Rituals as described in Greek Religion are either built upon celebrating a particular theos or asking for something, since rites of passage were relegated to the family to perform. These are core motivations upon which modern rituals that are recognizably Hellenic might be built. Incorporating other common elements such as the procession, initial offering of barley, calling the theos using epithets appropriate to the occasion, reading of hymns and making offerings of value (as discussed in the above paragraph) make it possible to continue to the tradition that Burkert describes, but in a modern context.

• What rituals do you feel your priesthood might be called to officiate? How would you facilitate those rituals?

• I struggle with this question, and why is significant: for rituals as a priest to be different than rituals as an individual, I would need a congregation. While I can imagine myself guiding others toward Poseidon, in practice I lack the particular type of charisma which would naturally draw people to me for that purpose. Otherwise I would need to recruit, and I'm just not comfortable with that. I know that the very fact of being a priest should bring me people to serve, but I have trouble accepting that without evidence.

That said, the rituals that I think need to be performed are part of festivals. I might learn more about the tidal cycles of the Hudson to build a festival around Poseidon's reach inland, or lead a spring waking of Phytalmius, or help others through the Vigil for the Bulls, a July festival that a friend of mine in Oregon created. If we can develop festivals which others can participate in, we will have ample opportunity to meet seekers and ascertain their specific needs.

Budget for Panthea

• Ancestor ritual 2016
• Ancestor book