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Author Topic: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books  (Read 6474 times)

Shine

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Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« on: October 17, 2012, 10:24:00 pm »
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?
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Elani Temperance

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Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2012, 12:48:34 am »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?

Honestly, besides Alexander, I'm not sure there are any out there. Winter's book is (as far as I know) not so much a Hellenismos 101 book, as a wonderful book on one of the pillars of modern Hellenismos.

Have you tried blogs or websites on Hellenismos? I realize the information would be a bit scattered, but it's the way I learned, along with a lot of history books ;-) I know that beginning Hellenics find my blog helpful, especially the video stuff. Using the Hellenismos 101 label may help, although that leaves out a lot of 'world view' stuff.

Good luck! I'll keep an eye on this topic.
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Jezebel

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2012, 03:50:18 am »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?

 
I second what Elani said. I've read Kharis and The Beginner's Guide to Hellenismos and they seem to be the only texts on modern Hellenismos that I could find. The history books might seem daunting but you have to venture there eventually.

The Cauldron has some great resources:

About Hellenismos - FAQ

Greek/Hellenic Recon Paganism

I'd also recommend sponde.us and Temenos.

Hope that helps. :)

Shine

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2012, 12:06:37 pm »
Quote from: Jezebel;77021
I second what Elani said. I've read Kharis and The Beginner's Guide to Hellenismos and they seem to be the only texts on modern Hellenismos that I could find. The history books might seem daunting but you have to venture there eventually.

The Cauldron has some great resources:

About Hellenismos - FAQ

Greek/Hellenic Recon Paganism

I'd also recommend sponde.us and Temenos.

Hope that helps. :)

Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe I'll get the Kharis book and start piecing stuff together from blogs and websites.

I don't mind reading history (in fact, I eat that stuff up), it's just I'm not sure how long/much I'll be hanging around with Hellenic Polytheism. I think I've gotten a poke from Zeus and Athena three times, now, but I'm kind of having a crisis in spiritual confidence and I'm not sure. XD

So I figured I'd start with a small practice, see if the Theoi want/like to have me around, and then start devouring history books. Thus the desire to find 101 type stuff.

I do have Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenic Times by Martin as well as Sailing the Wine Dark Sea by Cahill. Both are great books by great authors.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2012, 12:07:05 pm by Shine »
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Chausette

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2012, 03:21:25 pm »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?

 
I'm gonna be That Guy and say that the best place to start, honestly, is probably with the original ancient sources - the Odyssey, Theogony, etc. It's a bit daunting and definitely not casual reading, but you'll probably get the most accurate portrayal of it.

There's also Walter Burkert's Greek Religion which is a history book and fairly affordable. I haven't read it, but I've heard it's one of the best books on ancient Greece out there.

Thorn

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2012, 04:11:54 pm »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?

 
Not a book, but I found this essay by Sannion really informative.  (You might find a lot of it redundant, since you're already a practicing Kemetic and its written to be of use to a complete newbie.)
"Faith and and reason are the shoes on your feet.  You can travel further with both than you can with just one." - Babylon 5
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Nyktelios

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2012, 04:18:46 pm »
Quote from: Chausette;77070
I'm gonna be That Guy and say that the best place to start, honestly, is probably with the original ancient sources - the Odyssey, Theogony, etc. It's a bit daunting and definitely not casual reading, but you'll probably get the most accurate portrayal of it.

There's also Walter Burkert's Greek Religion which is a history book and fairly affordable. I haven't read it, but I've heard it's one of the best books on ancient Greece out there.


I agree. These aren't light reading, but they are the best sources. I haven't been impressed with any of the "Hellenismos 101" books out there, as none of them go into much detail and they make ancient Greek religion out to be a monolithic system, which it definitely wasn't. To understand ancient Greek religion, you need to understand its cultural context, the various public and mystery cults, and the worship of the domestic gods, and you need to know that the culture varied by polis, as did the worship of the gods. Sparta and Athens were very different, and the cults of the gods there reflected that.

It's also important to know that the cults were not part of the same overall religious tradition. While some could be interrelated, they were generally separate and sometimes contradicting, and though they were connected by a shared culture, there was no religion in the modern sense where everything is part of one system of beliefs and practices. It's a much bigger subject than one of those 101 books can cover, even though they are trendy in the pagan community and more marketable to the general public than books of more substance. I don't recommend the shortcuts when it comes to Recon traditions.

Shine

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2012, 07:33:56 pm »
Quote from: Chausette;77070
I'm gonna be That Guy and say that the best place to start, honestly, is probably with the original ancient sources - the Odyssey, Theogony, etc. It's a bit daunting and definitely not casual reading, but you'll probably get the most accurate portrayal of it.

There's also Walter Burkert's Greek Religion which is a history book and fairly affordable. I haven't read it, but I've heard it's one of the best books on ancient Greece out there.

 
Theogony rocks. Works and Days is more entertaining in terms of humor, though. ;) Aside from Burkert, the Blackwell book by Jon Mikalson is pretty good as well.

I guess maybe I'm just being a big baby about this. When I started out as a Kemetic, I bought Tamara Siuda's Prayerbook (despite not being a Kemetic Orthodox), read a crapton of history books, and that was pretty much it. Lol. There's not exactly a Kemeticism 101 book out there, either. Well, that's Recon-oriented anyway.
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Shine

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2012, 07:35:06 pm »
Quote from: Thorn;77076
Not a book, but I found this essay by Sannion really informative.  (You might find a lot of it redundant, since you're already a practicing Kemetic and its written to be of use to a complete newbie.)

 
Thanks for this link. It did a lot to calm my nerves about this whole thing.
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RedHawk

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2013, 09:13:12 am »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?

Are you talking about Old Stone, New Temples? Is that the Campbell book that your talking about? Tim, and several others, highly recommended that book but Tim did say that it was expensive. I checked it out and sure enough he was right. I shake my head at the nerve of some publishers to price books that high.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2013, 09:13:47 am by RedHawk »

Caroline

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2013, 09:29:24 am »
Quote from: RedHawk;92828
shake my head at the nerve of some publishers to price books that high.

 
They didn't; it's out of print and the demand for copies is high, so the market followed.

(And btw, academic books that are priced high aren't priced high to gouge the market; they are often very expensive to produce for a variety of reasons, and usually have small print runs, which also contributes.)

Nyktelios

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2013, 09:30:35 am »
Quote from: RedHawk;92828
Are you talking about Old Stone, New Temples? Is that the Campbell book that your talking about? Tim, and several others, highly recommended that book but Tim did say that it was expensive. I checked it out and sure enough he was right. I shake my head at the nerve of some publishers to price books that high.

 
It's expensive because it's out of print.

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2017, 03:58:43 pm »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?


So I found this post after searching for a list myself. I doubt this publisher was out when this thread was started, but https://neosalexandria.org has a plethora of devotionals to Hellenic deities. I highly recommend them. I have the Persephone and Dionysus ones and they are phenomenal.

Sobekemiti

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2017, 10:22:42 pm »
Quote from: Shine;76994
I keep thinking I've asked this question, but I've gone through most of my posts and can't find anything so. . .

I'm looking for books on "Hellenic Polytheism 101". Basically something that lays out the worldview, general practices and how to do them, etc. (In other words, I'm not exactly looking for a history book.) There's no way I'm going to be able to get ahold of Campbell's book, so here I am, asking.

I was thinking about Kharis by Sarah Winter. (http://www.amazon.com/Kharis-Sarah-Kate-Istra-Winter/dp/143823192X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) Is her book any good?

I've heard to avoid anything by Timothy Jay Alexander, and he seems to be the only other affordable author on the topic.

Any other suggestions?

 
The one I found the most helpful, in case anyone else needs a reference, is the Labrys group's book Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship, which got an English translation a couple of years ago iirc? But it's the closest thing to a practical Hellenic Polytheism 101 book I have found. Obviously it's based on how they do rituals, but you could do a lot worse than use it as a starting place.
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dionysos

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Re: Hellenismos/Hellenic Polytheism Books
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2017, 04:39:55 am »
Quote from: Sobekemiti;204776
The one I found the most helpful, in case anyone else needs a reference, is the Labrys group's book Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship, which got an English translation a couple of years ago iirc? But it's the closest thing to a practical Hellenic Polytheism 101 book I have found. Obviously it's based on how they do rituals, but you could do a lot worse than use it as a starting place.

 
I would also recommend Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship along with kharis hellenic polytheism explored by Sarah Kate Istra Winter. I'm hoping that many more of the kind of books will be published in the future.

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