A Selection of my artwork available from my Etsy Shop and Redbubble Shop. I sell Prayer Cards and Original Paintings in my Etsy Shop, whereas the Redbubble Shop has my designs printed on clothing, throws, pillow cases, phone cases, notebooks, wall hangings, scarves etc. Many more designs available than those shown here, and my portfolio s being added to all the time.

See also my Facebook Page Ariadne’s Web Creations

My Redbubble Shop.      https://www.redbubble.com/people/KRainbird/shop?asc=u

My Etsy Shop – AriadneswebCreations.    https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AriadneswebCreations

Prayer Cards for the Theoi available from my Etsy Shop.  Each card has an original painting on the front and an original prayer printed on the reverse.  

“Domestic Goddess” Hestia Apron, available from my Redbubble Shop

https://www.redbubble.com/people/KRainbird/shop?asc=u

 

Hellenismos as a Living  Tradition relevant to the UK

As a young child my bedtime reading was the Greek myths. I was fascinated by tales of Gods and Heroes, of how the natural world was inhabited by nymphs and daemons and by how closely entwined the realms of Gods and mortals were. The Gods walked on earth, consorted with mortals, heroes and heroines became deified and became themselves Gods, and others shape changed into flowers, trees or animals, merging with the natural world, and giving their names to the flowers, trees or other concepts, which they became, – such as Narcissus, who falling in love with his own reflection in the river, thinking it was a beautiful water nymph, was transformed into the narcissus flower which grows by the river, bending ever over the water to gaze upon its own reflection; and the Mountain Nymph (or Oread) Echo, who loved Narcissus, but ignored by him due to his love for himself, and cursed by Hera for her deception of the Goddess, such that she could only repeat the last words that another person had just said, pined away, and faded until she was but a voice, echoing what others said. At the same time, the myths contained wisdom and lessons about life, the importance of virtue and the heroic quest, of piety, of honour, the dangers of Hubris or excessive pride, of self-obsession, of greed and other human vices, and the common pitfalls that could befall mortals.   The human condition is explored to its full in the Greek myths. What was also apparent was how much of our everyday language comes from Greek mythology, words such as echo, atlas (from the Titan Atlas who carries the heavens upon his shoulders), cloth (from Clotho, the youngest of the three Fates, who spins the thread of life), hypnosis (from Hypnos, the God of sleep), Ocean (from Okeanos, the God of the rivers and seas) and many more. Greek mythology and the Greek Gods are inherent in our very language and culture.

As I grew older and went to high school, I began to study English literature and poetry, and again, the Greek and Roman deities appeared, from Chaucer to Shakespeare, to Byron and Keats, and even in modern poetry. Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale, written in the 14^th Centure CE, tells of the Greek hero Theseus, though embellished with the values and chivalry of medieval England. Shakespeare’s epic poem Venus and Adonis is based on Ovid’s Metamorphosis, and presents contrasting views of love and passion, with an Elizabethan veneer. Lord Byron wrote The Curse of Minerva whilst in Athens, to express his vehement disapproval of the removal of the Elgin marbles from Greece (the Romantic poets didn’t distinguish between the Greek and Roman pantheons as many modern pagans do today), and was so enamoured with Greek culture, that he joined the Greek War of Independence to help the Greeks fight against the Ottoman Empire, such that he is still revered as a National hero by many Greeks today (including the teachers of my Hellenic tradition). I have always felt that there is a strong connection between British culture and the Greeks, and the Hellenic path has certainly been with me for as long as I can remember. I think I knew of the Hellenic Gods before I heard of Jesus or the Christian God, and most certainly well before I knew anything at all about the Celtic or Saxon Gods.

When I went on to University and began a Humanities degree, I studied the works of Plato, and Classical Greek tragedies and Comedies, such as the works of Euripides, Aeschylus and Aristophanes, and I was hooked.

Throughout my life I felt particularly drawn to Dionysos, the God of Wine, with all his contrasts – He who is perhaps the most human of Gods, but also the most Divine, who teaches the mysteries and brings us liberation. When I began to seek out pagan groups in my late teens, I was surprised that given the influence on our culture and language of the Greek and Roman religions, that there were very few pagans in the UK who actively worshipped or celebrated the Hellenic Gods. Those who were eclectic in practice would sometimes include them amongst other deities in their rituals, but few seemed that interested, inclining more towards what they deemed to be “’native” traditions such as Celtic or to a lesser extent Saxon or Norse, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that so much less was known about those traditions or deities. However, being a seeker of wisdom and generally interested and curious in a lot of things, I explored many different paths throughout my life, both Eastern and Western. I explored Buddhism and Hinduism, which I still have a lot of respect for, trained as a Priestess in the Fellowship of Isis, was initiated in Wicca, which I pursued as my primary path for many years, explored Druidry and spent a year or so studying Heathenry, and of course, living in Wales for the past 30 years, studied the Welsh Celtic tradition. But the Greek Gods continued to call to me, and I wanted to honour them not just as part of an eclectic Wiccan or neo-pagan tradition, but to explore more traditionally Greek ways, with every holiday to Greece I had, increasing that desire. We are lucky that so much literature and archaeology has survived from Ancient and Classical Greece – though so much more has been lost, destroyed and burnt by Christian fanatics from the time of Constantine onwards. But nevertheless we have a wealth of literature, myths, philosophy, plays, hymns and ritual texts, as well as material remains. Far too much for the religion to ever have been destroyed completely! What’s more the philosophies continued to be developed in the works of the Neo-Platonists over the following centuries up to the present day. In my research and search for others who honour the Hellenic Gods, after encounters with various Reconstructionist groups (mainly American), I came across people who practice a tradition passed down and practiced through generations, that has developed organically and naturally though the ages, though firmly rooted in the myths, philosophies and spiritual practices of the ancient mystery traditions. This is not the same as Hellenic Reconstructionism which attempts to re-create the mainstream rituals and religious practices of Ancient and Classical Greece, but is a tradition which includes ideas and practices which have developed through the philosophical schools throughout the centuries, but based on the mystical traditions known as Orphic.

Hellenismos refers to the native religions of Ancient Greece, whereas the term Hellenism refers to a love of or study of anything Greek.  Orphism is a mystical tradition or traditions within Hellenismos, based on the teachings of Orpheus, the famous musician who was said to have calmed wild beasts with his music, even lulling Cerberus the guardian of Hades, and charming stern Queen Persephone and mighty Plouton, the Goddess and God of the Underworld.  Orpheus may or may not have existed, we have no actual proof of his existence, but a number of myths and legends, and writings, texts and philosophies which are considered to be Orphic.  Orpheus is said to have reformed Greek religion, and to have put an end to human sacrifice.  He may well have tried to put an end to animal sacrifice too, but this was far too ingrained in Greek culture and he was unsuccessful, though many texts refer to the followers of Orpheus as being vegetarians, and Orpheus is often depicted surrounded by animals, suggesting his love for and care of animals.  If Orpheus existed, it is likely that he lived around 2,000 BCE or earlier, and may have been of Thracian origin.  In images he is generally portrayed wearing a Thracian hat.  Some scholars believe that Orphism was a precursor not only to the Classical Greek religions and the great philosophical traditions of Ancient Greece, but also gave rise to the Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions (see Ralph Abraham, Orphism: The Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism at ralph-abraham.org).  Theosophists (and some Buddhists) believe that Orpheus was a previous incarnation of the Buddha, teaching a philosophy of peace and benevolence. So what are the teachings of Orphism?  Orphism and Hellenismos have survived and

The author on the steps of the Temple of Apollohn in Cyprus

developed through the works of the great philosophers, from ancient times, throughout the ages to the present day, particularly Pythagorus, Socrates, Plato, and the Neoplatonists.  The Greeks are a nation who have always been proud of their past, their philosophers, myths, temples, architecture, sculpture, and all those largely Pagan things which Greece is famous for.  Paganism/polytheism was therefore never entirely stamped out by Christianity in Greece, but carried on in the art and philosophy, the retelling of myths, and in folk practices.   Paganism just went more underground.  The Neoplatonist philosophers during the Christian era had to at least be nominally Christian, though evidence exists that pagan practices and beliefs carried on in secret.  The C14th CE philosopher Georgius Gemistus Plethon, for example, a Greek scholar of Neoplatonic philosophy during the heavily Christian Byzantine era, and Chief Magistrate of Theodore II, founded a Mystery School in which he taught polytheism, and his students prayed to the Olympic Gods.  After his death, manuscripts were found which he had not made public, due to their what would be considered then, heretical nature.  His Nomon Singrafi, or Nomoi (Book of Laws) detailed his esoteric beliefs, and discussed daemons, astrology and the transmigration of the soul.  He recommended religious rites and hymns to petition the Classical Gods, such as Zeus, whom he saw as universal principles and powers.  The document was unfortunately destroyed due to its “heretical” nature.  Plethon’s friend Marsilio Ficino, an Italian scholar and Catholic Priest, was one of the most influential humanist scholars of the early Italian Renaissance, reviver of Neoplatonism, and the first person to translate the Orphic Hymns, as well as the writings of Plato, into Latin. Although there are some fundamental differences between Neoplatonist philosophy and that of Orphism, Neoplatonism does preserve some Orphic ideas, and it is likely that just as the Neoplatonist philosophers may have been outwardly Christian, but practiced their pagan religion in secret, that so did other less well known Greeks, and that Orphismos and Hellenismos survived through family traditions passed down in secret through the generations.

 

The author’s garden altar

 

Side by side with the continuation of philosophical and hidden family traditions in Greece and Rome, the theurgic tradition first developed by the philosophers, developed further through its contact with other religions and mystery traditions.  The neoplatonist philosophers were heavily influenced by the Chaldean Oracles and their Middle Eastern ideas and deities.  Following the persecutions of pagans by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, the neoplatonist school firstly was influenced by Christianity, and the philosophers had to be at least nominally Christian, or to adapt their philosophy so that it wasn’t overtly Pagan, but talked more of The One, whilst still developing meditative and theurgic practices.  But persecutions continued, and following the subsequent closing down of the Platonic Academy by Emperor Justinian in 529 CE, the Neo Platonist Philosophers fled to Persia, where they were welcomed by the Persian Philosopher King, and met Sufi, Asian, Egyptian, Middle Eastern and Jewish mystics.  From this meeting of different traditions, the theurgic practices were developed and refined, and   the first Hermetic school was formed.  Hermeticism was later brought back to the West and influenced Renaissance magic and the Western Mystery Tradition.   So Western Magic is also heavily influenced by Greek thought, as is every other aspect of our culture.

 

 

TO ALL THE BLESSED ONES

 

By Ariadni Rainbird

 

Oh blessed gods to Thee I pray

Eos who heralds the light of day

Spreading with joy your rosy glow

Awaken my mind, my body and soul

Oh gracious Goddess of the dawn

Through Thee each new day is born

As rises high the Golden Sun –

Helios the all-seeing one

Oh Mighty Titan, Lord of light

Who rules the day with unconquered might

Watch over me lord, I plea

And steer me on the path of piety

Theia Euryphaessa’s Mighty Son

– The Far Shining Goddess of inspiration

And who’s Father is Hyperion

– Lord of light, the All High One

Oh Titans, powers of natural law

Forefathers and mothers of natures awe

I call on Thee – expand my soul and mind

Great Iapetus, ancestor of mankind

Thou who governs mortality

May my life be true, just, and worthy

Thǽmis, Divine Law, Justice and Truth

Of Oracular power, giver of sooth

Mother of the blessed Horai

And Who bore by Zefs the holy Moirai

Eunomia, Dike, Eirine, never cease,

In giving Wise counsel, justice and peace

Clotho, Lachesis and Átropos, fates dread,

Spinner, measurer and cutter of life’s thread

Prometheus too was sprung from Thee, Titans great

Who’s name means Foresight, seeing our fate

Who brings progress and the holy fire

That illumines our minds and sparks our desire

To create and to grow to learn and problem solve

Who with Blessed Dioni helps us evolve

Oh Dioni, Oracle and prophetess,

Sister to Phoebe, Mnemosyne and Themis

Each Titan and Titaness with a unique role

In awakening and stretching the human soul

Okeanus, the river that around the earth flows

Firstborn Titan from whom Gods and men arose

Help us connect to the source of our being

The waters of life forever overseeing

The Okeanides are Thy blessed daughters

With Tithys, Mother of rivers, clouds and fresh waters

I give honour to Thee Gods of primal creation

Accept my offerings and adoration

Kreios who measures the temporal portions of the year

Let me tread the path with a heart with no fear

Thou who governs the stars, and beginnings anew

Let me face each beginning with a heart that is true

And Blessed Mnemosyne, Thee I beseech

To bless me with memory and the power of speech

For time destroys all, yet itself is immortal

Whilst memory preserves, and opens the portal

To a life that’s divine, blessed and free

I call on the bright one, the Goddess Phoebe

In whom the sources of oracular ability we find

And Coeus, Titan of the questioning mind

By Coeus, Phoebe bore Astæría, the starry one, bright

Goddess of falling stars and oracles of night

Who, bore Hekate, the holy dark maiden,

Goddess of Virtue who reveals what is hidden

And Phoebe by Coeus also Leto bore

Who bore the divine twins, on Delos’s shore.

And I call on great Rhea, mother and queen

And Kronos who ruled the Golden age supreme

Who wears the crown and holds the rod

That passes the power from God to God

First great Phanis from the cosmic egg emerged

The egg created when Chronos and Ananke merged

Time and Necessity in sacred elation

Forming the cosmogenic substances of creation

To reveal the mysteries in all their glory

Phanis, the revealer, the beginning of the story.

Both male and female, Oh being of light,

From Thee came Nyx, Goddess of night

Who holds the mysteries in her dark cave

And to whom Phanis the rod of kingship gave

All potentials of the Universe are Thine Goddess profound

And Phanes’s light reveals the forms that are found

Nyx, Whom the Gods consult and of whom all are in awe

Dark Lady of mysteries, Thee I adore.

I give honour too to Thy Divine progeny

Ouranous the foundation of divinity

The abode of the Gods, whose aetherial nature whirls

through the cosmos and permeates our souls

Panypertatus Daemon the most exalted and high

Accept my offerings, Lord of the Starry Sky.

The rod of Kingship was passed to Thee

The progression of aether coming to be

And to Gaia, Earth Mother, of Queenly form

from whose womb all earthly life is born

Fertile goddess with prolific powers

Producing grain, fruits and flowers,

To Thee all mortal life owes its birth

I honour Thee Mother, with love and mirth

From Oranous and Gaia the race of Titans were born

And Kronos took the rod and the crown

And Kronos and Rhea in turn, with grace

Produced Zeus and Hera, and the Olympian race

The personal Gods whom we adore

Who govern every natural law.

Hestia firstborn, who tends the sacred flame

The fire at the centre from whence all came

Who sets into motion the soul on its path

The Demiurge, the first and last,

Ares who rules the battle which is life

Thou who thrives in times of strife

Give me the courage to face life head on

To go bravely into the battle throng.

And Thy daughter Eris, Goddess of Strife

Who rules the challenges that bring growth in life.

Artemis, lithe, swift huntress of souls

Give me the energy to achieve my goals

With your silver arrows aiming true

You help the souls progression to virtue.

Hephaestus, God of crafts and archetypal flame

Mighty and strong, skillful, though lame

Giving beauty and form, making manifest

Ideas and aspirations, the goals of our quest

Hera, beautiful queen of the skies

Noble and regal with wide open eyes

All seeing, Goddess who torments the soul

With challenges to make us whole

Yours is the law of Eros, attraction

That stimulates human and divine interaction.

Poseidon, Lord of the sea and of storm

The law of progress is Thy dominion

The journey is Thine, God of travel and horses

As you help ships to stay on their courses.

Grey eyed Athena, who art crafty and wise

Who Sprung from Zeus’s head armed and full size

When He swallowed Thy Mother, Metis, of good sense.

You rule the law of co-influence,

And fair Aphrodite, Goddess of love

Who brings harmony from the heavens above

Bring peace to our hearts, lightness and Joy

Mother of playful Eros, the winged boy

Whose arrows shoot straight to the heart and inspire

The flames of passionate love and desire.

Next I praise Golden haired Apollohn bright

God of music, science, Art and light

The Natural Law of freedom is Thine

Liberate me, lead me to the life divine.

And to Hermes too I offer up my praise

Messenger of the Gods, with wiley ways

Guide of souls with winged feet

Guide me when my life is complete

Son of Maia, Violet-haired Goddess of the Spring

Loveliest nymph Who takes care of every living thing.

Zeus, Thundering God, who rules the skies

All is seen by Thy divine eyes

Lord of life in the realm divine

The earth and all that lives is Thine

Demeter who gives us the grains and the seeds

Oh Blessed Mother who cares for our needs

Bringer of peace, who taught mankind the skills

To plough and to sow, to rid us of ills

Oh Queen of the Earth, of abundance and growth

Energise our souls to move towards divine truth.

And Thy blessed daughter Persephone,

Plouton’s Kthonic Queen, Holy Kore

Soteira, Saviouress, daughter of Zeus

First Mother of Dionysos as Zagreus

In Plouton’s dark realm you spend half the year

All who know Thee face death with no fear

Though to Thanatos too I call

On whom the measure of our lives must fall

I pray Thee not in haste to take my last breath

But when it comes, to grant a peaceful death

I call on Great Aesclepius, healer of mankind

And Hygiea, – bless me with good health, Goddess kind.

Panacae, Goddess of Universal Cure

Give me strength when sickness I endure

Aid me to recuperate O Iaso

The healing process is Thine, Oh Acaso,

Aglaea, Splendour and Beaty from Thee are poured

When glorious health is once more restored.

To Plouton the keys to earth’s mysteries belong

In Thy dark kingdom, deep and strong.

And for Lord Dionysos I carry the rod tipped with pine

Who teaches the mysteries and gives the aethir of wine

Thrice-born God crowned with ivy and vine

Liberator, saviour, God of ecstasy divine

And wise Ariadne you took to wife

Who teaches the mysteries of the labyrinth of life.

To the nurses of Dionysos I also pray

To Ipta, Great Mother who hid the babe away

To Leucothea, protector of the divine child

And to Palaemon, doomed to dwell in oceans wild

To Chiron, best of centaurs, gentle and wise

Healer and teacher, with the power to civilize.

And to Silenus, wise satyr, teacher and guide

And to Pan who is Nature, in whom we abide

Earthly, aetherial, watery, firey, whole

The substance of all, and all are of Thee, Great soul.

To Phisis, all parent, ancient and divine

Mother of all, all sustaining, all life is Thine

To the nymphs, to the Satyrs, to the Nereiads and Dryads

To the Korybantes, Kouretes, Oreads and Naiads

And to the Great Mother of the Gods, Meter Theon

Source of life whom all depend upon

To the Anemoi, the winds, Boreus the North’s icy blast

Notus’s hot and humid clouds from the south are cast

From the West are blown Zephyrus’s sweet breezes, bringing flowers,

Whilst from the East Eurus brings Autumn rain and showers.

And swift-footed Iris, robed in the rainbow

Lighting the darkness with many-hue’d glow

Herald of Hera, glory of the sky

Blazing a glorious trail as You fly.

And fair Adonis loved by Persephone and Aphrodite

Who engages the soul with thought of absolute beauty

The Goddesses hearts with love are burning

For Beauty is The object of every love’s yearning.

And as the daylight fades and night draws near

And the silver light of the moon and the glow of stars appear

I call on Selene, blessed Queen of the Night

All-seeing Goddess, diffusing silver light

Shine on me I pray with Thy prosperous rays

Watch over me through the night and accept my praise.

Agathos Daemon, noble spirit, bring wisdom and good health,

Come with Tyche Agatha, pouring forth a fruitful store of wealth.

And as I prepare myself for sleep

I call on Hypnos, my soul to keep

Thou who takes away cares, and gives repose

From whom healing and peaceful rest flows.

And I call on the Oneiri, Blessed powers of dreams divine

May peaceful and inspiring dreams be mine

Morpheus, shape my dreams, whisper gently to my mind

The will of the Gods and of heaven kind.

That I may wake refreshed and inspired I pray

To greet the dawn another day

 

I’ve always liked the Hymn Jerusalem, by William Blake, with music by Hubert Parry.  The tune is lovely, its upbeat and powerful, and  there is some powerful imagery in the words, but the actual sentiments are not really something I can relate to.  I’ve been trying to come up with a spiritually acceptable version of it for quite some time, but have been drawing blanks, then it occurred to me, to adapt an Orphic Hymn to fit the tune, rather than trying to de-Christianise the song.  There are a few lines within the original which have always made me think of Apollohn (Bring me my bow of burning gold.. etc), so I thought the Orphic Hymn to Apollohn would be the best one to fit, as I could keep and adapt some of Blake’s lines, though the rest would be the Orphc Hymn.    So here it is:

Orphic Hymn to Apollohn/Jerusalem mash-up

 

O Blessed Paean, come to my prayer

Illustrious Power whom we revere.

Slayer of Titys, God of health

Lyconean Phoebus, source of wealth,

Come with Thy countenance divine

Shine forth upon our clouded hills

Beyond the darkness, starry-eyed

Earth’s root is fixed firm by Thy will

With golden lyre, the fields from Thee

Receive their rich fertility

Bearer of light, the Muses head

Noble and lovely, with arrows dread

O Delian King, who’s illumined eye

Views all within, and beneath the sky,

Who’s locks are gold, and oracles sure,

Who’s omens good and precepts pure.

Hear me entreat for human kind

Hear, be present with benign mind

For Thou surveyest the boundless all

And every part of this earthly ball

Abundant blessed, thy piercing sight

Extends beneath the gloomy night

Tis Thine all nature to inspire

With music of Thy harmonizing lyre

All strings now tuned to sweet accord

Divinely reverberate each chord

Immortal lyre, touched by Thee

Yields a Dorian melody

All nature’s tribes, their difference owe

And changing seasons from Thee flow.

Hence mixed by Thee in equal parts

Summer and Winter in alternate dance

Come with Thy bow of burning gold

Come with Thy arrows of desire

Come with Thy lyre, O clouds unfold

Come with Thy chariot of fire

O two-horned God, the winds Thou send

The seal of the cosmos, Thine to tend

Hear me blest Lord, in these rites rejoice

Save Thy mystics with a suppliant voice