Shopping for the Gods

Today was a pretty good, laid back day with me doing a lot of thinking, a bit of research and some intuitive shopping.  I decided to move my spinning wheel figurine into the kitchen where I have the household goddess's altar, now known as Hestia's altar.  The response from the Goddess was immediate and powerful.  What a connection!

So that got me thinking about moving Zeus (eagle figurine) to the main altar and devoting the piano altar to Hermes since that's in line with the front door and generally in the area where we get ready to go anywhere, he being the God of travelers and all.  So I went to the thrift store to see if I could find a rooster to put there.  I found a few but they weren't exactly what I was looking for.  Several were too badly chipped and paint worn off.  Others were too ugly.

Then I was passing a section with a lot of figurines and one stood out screaming at me.  A beautiful stag in a woodland location just about jumped into my hands.  Which was silly because I wasn't looking for something to represent Artemis. I already had a bell with a buck on top of it for a handle.  Apparently she wasn't crazy about that one, but loved the stag.  So I picked it up, put it down and went looking some more.

I found a lovely swan to represent Apollo and decided that's all I would buy today.  Halfway to the checkout, I turned around and went back to get the stag.  Artemis was quite insistent.  So I came home with two beautiful figurines that look amazing on the altar.  I must get a picture of it very soon.

I really never figured on settling in so well since the Greeks moved in but things are feeling more and more like home.  Well, like a home should feel anyway.  I found a beautiful resin pendant of a peacock (Hera) the other day that I wear with a rawhide strip instead of a chain.  I really, really break out with anything that's not gold, even the hypoallergenic stuff, so I've gone to wearing cloth or rawhide instead.  I also found a resin nautilus pendant that reminds me of Poseidon and I already had an owl pendant (Athena.)  Best thing is, I don't have to hide any of them down my shirt when I run into people I don't want to reveal my spiritual choices to.  'Cause it looks ordinary.

One thing that bothered me before when the Greeks came to visit was the belief that I had to be super-presentable (according to the recons) in order to appeal to the gods.  And the whole concept of miasma, not appearing before them while sick and unclean and such.  I am finding, though, that making sure I brush my hair and teeth, and dressing first thing in the morning is beneficial to my state of mind rather than feeling like I have to be all dressed up before prayers.  Depression can keep me in my pajamas for weeks on end if I don't do anything about it.  This gives me an impetus to take those steps to show respect to myself as well as the gods.

But no, I don't feel like I can't come before the gods unless my hair is brushed, etc.  It's just that taking that step, even when I don't feel like it, puts emphasis on taking care of myself, giving myself importance in the order of events for the day.  Initially I did it because I thought it would be a nice gesture to show the gods that I was trying.  After just a couple of days, I realized how much different I felt about myself when I took those steps first thing.

I don't know how I feel about the other things the recons say are needed for orthopraxy.  Not terribly worried about it at all.  I feel like the gods have moved on from 3000 BCE.  I can even imagine Poseidon in a Hawaiian shirt  and khaki shorts instead of a tunic.  In fact...I can't get that image out of my head now.

Oh, well.  I'm sure that if they called me to them, they know enough about me to know that I would look terrible in a chiton, more like a beached whale, so they seem to be fine with me in sweatshirts and jeans.

BB