hellenistic: acknowledging nymphs

[cletus90851]

ok, so my friend mentioned that he honors Maia alongside Hermes, but isn't that disrespectful?  I mean sure she is important to Hermes, being his mother, but it just seems like its disrespectful to the major deitys to honor her more than simply acknowledging her as the mother of hermes.  I could be wrong, but I think some of the deitys, especially Hera, would take offense to that.   Personally I work with Hermes frequently as his expertise comes into play frequently in my day to day routine (travel especially), but he has not indicated to me I should acknowledge Maia anymore than I do. (her mention in the hymn to Hermes for  example)    I'm just curious as to folks' opinions for the sake of my friend.  I'm worried he's going to offend Hera, and possibly a few others by doing so.  Should I tell him to stop?

[Astani]

I'm worried he's going to offend Hera, and possibly a few others by doing so.  Should I tell him to stop?

 
I honor some gods more than others and I'm not worried about offending those deities. I find it superstitious to be worried about such things. And if I'm driven to worship a deity out of fear or worry... Well, that's not the type of worship I want to give to the gods.

Different deities are more important to some people than other deities. It's just a fact. Were the Athenians worried about offending Poseidon when they chose Athena's gift over his? How come you're not worried about offending Maia? Or offending Hermes by asking his devotee to stop honoring his mother? He may not have asked you to honor his mother more than you already do but can you say Hermes indicated the same to your friend?

I understand your worry comes from a place of caring for your friend. But my advice would be to not worry at all.

[cletus90851]

I honor some gods more than others and I'm not worried about offending those deities. I find it superstitious to be worried about such things. And if I'm driven to worship a deity out of fear or worry... Well, that's not the type of worship I want to give to the gods.

Different deities are more important to some people than other deities. It's just a fact. Were the Athenians worried about offending Poseidon when they chose Athena's gift over his? How come you're not worried about offending Maia? Or offending Hermes by asking his devotee to stop honoring his mother? He may not have asked you to honor his mother more than you already do but can you say Hermes indicated the same to your friend?

I understand your worry comes from a place of caring for your friend. But my advice would be to not worry at all.

thank you.   That helps a lot.  To be honest, I am worried about offending Maia, and offending Hermes as well.  That was primarily the reason I had yet to mention my concerns to my friend.

[cletus90851]

I honor some gods more than others and I'm not worried about offending those deities. I find it superstitious to be worried about such things. And if I'm driven to worship a deity out of fear or worry... Well, that's not the type of worship I want to give to the gods.

Different deities are more important to some people than other deities. It's just a fact. Were the Athenians worried about offending Poseidon when they chose Athena's gift over his? How come you're not worried about offending Maia? Or offending Hermes by asking his devotee to stop honoring his mother? He may not have asked you to honor his mother more than you already do but can you say Hermes indicated the same to your friend?

I understand your worry comes from a place of caring for your friend. But my advice would be to not worry at all.

additionally, I should clarify that my own personal reasons for not honoring Maia as elaborately as my friend does is only loosely out of concern for offending Hera.  Primarily its simply that Maia has indicated to me that she enjoys her solitude and is content with the way I honor her.  But then I haven't really worked with her much directly.  so she could simply be content because I have not needed to ask for her help with anything as of yet and so even the way I do things, she still gets more than what I have asked for in return. (I do leave her a small offering of honey at Hermes' shrine on may 1st every year though.)

[Astani]

additionally, I should clarify that my own personal reasons for not honoring Maia as elaborately as my friend does is only loosely out of concern for offending Hera.  Primarily its simply that Maia has indicated to me that she enjoys her solitude and is content with the way I honor her.  But then I haven't really worked with her much directly.  so she could simply be content because I have not needed to ask for her help with anything as of yet and so even the way I do things, she still gets more than what I have asked for in return. (I do leave her a small offering of honey at Hermes' shrine on may 1st every year though.)

You could ask your friend if he's had any indication from Hera if you want. Perhaps Hera has indicated to him that she doesn't need much from him. Or that she doesn't mind. It doesn't sound like your friend is actively snubbing Hera's worship in favor of Maia with the purpose of gaining Hera's ire or anything disrespectful like that so I think he'll be fine. It just sounds like Maia has more of a part in his life than Hera does currently and his religious tendency would reflect that.

[cletus90851]

You could ask your friend if he's had any indication from Hera if you want. Perhaps Hera has indicated to him that she doesn't need much from him. Or that she doesn't mind. It doesn't sound like your friend is actively snubbing Hera's worship in favor of Maia with the purpose of gaining Hera's ire or anything disrespectful like that so I think he'll be fine. It just sounds like Maia has more of a part in his life than Hera does currently and his religious tendency would reflect that.

 
Thanks.  I juat got off the phone with him actually, and that is pretty much how it is.  He said Hera let him know that provided he keeps up with what she expects of him, then she has no major issue with it.

[cletus90851]

Thanks.  I just got off the phone with him actually, and that is pretty much how it is.  He said Hera let him know that provided he keeps up with what she expects of him, then she has no major issue with it.

  I did politely caution him to be certain that he does keep up with honoring Hera exactly as she wishes him to, as her jealousy is legendary, and the last thing one wants to do is to tick her off.   He thanked me for my concern, and said  "No worries bud,".    I also suggested he should check out TC forums when he has the time, so maybe he'll find his way here as well.  And yes, while he and I both have a similar connection to Hermes, our worship practices involving the other Theoi are quite different.  A good example being his connection with Maia being as strong as my own connection with Athena.

[cletus90851]

additionally, I should clarify that my own personal reasons for not honoring Maia as elaborately as my friend does is only loosely out of concern for offending Hera.  Primarily its simply that Maia has indicated to me that she enjoys her solitude and is content with the way I honor her.  But then I haven't really worked with her much directly.  so she could simply be content because I have not needed to ask for her help with anything as of yet and so even the way I do things, she still gets more than what I have asked for in return. (I do leave her a small offering of honey at Hermes' shrine on may 1st every year though.)

Recently while praying to Artemis and Apollo for my wife's pregnancy to not have any problems. (Apollo for health, Artemis for pregnancy stuff specifically) Hermes let me know that was something Maia could help with as well.   I was a little hesitant, as I do worship Hera (and Zeus) closely, but wanting to do everything I can for my wife and our unborn baby I decided to see how things go.

Unlike my friend, I do not have a separate shrine dedicated to Maia, as I had always just made the May 1st offering at Hermes' shrine, so when I made my offering to Hermes last night, I left a small libation of Honey for Maia as well, and asked if she would be willing to help me.  And if so, what she required of me in return.  She let me know she was more interested in my wife being ''one of her devotees'' and all she needed from me was some representation of her and Hermes together in Hermes' shrine, and to write her a hymn in thanks.  The feeling I got from her was warm and nurturing, but a bit reclusive.  Like she preferred to stay in Hermes' shadow.

As for my wife becoming one of her devotees, Molly (my wife) and I discussed it at length (she's hard Hellenic polytheist too), and she decided that as long as Demeter and Persephone (her closest deitys) were ok with it, she would be willing to accept Maia's terms.

Curiously, aside from Hera not wanting me to have anything to do with Maia, the other biggest negative I have gotten was from Athena.  SHe made it quite clear she does not particularly care for being around Maia, but provided I keep their sacred space separate, and that Maia only shares shrinespace with Hermes. Athena will tolerate her until the baby is born.

I believe it has something to do with Athena being one of my closest deitys, as my wife has gotten no complaints from Athena, and her closest deitys are Demeter, Persephone, Hekate and Hades, though she worships all the Theoi as I do.   I mentioned this to my friend, and he sort of confirmed it.  He said that while neither has told him not to interact with the other, Athena doesn't like being in the same room with Maia, so he has to keep their shrines separate.

Apologies if thats too long.  just wanted to point that out.

[SunflowerP]

 

A Reminder:

Hi, cletus90851, We don't mind long posts here, but to avoid having a hard-to-read  wall-o'-text, hitting "enter" twice every few lines adds some white  space and makes it easier to follow - I've edited yours to add those  breaks, but it's a really good habit to get into yourself. They don't have to be the "proper" place for paragraph breaks (we're  interested in readability more than technicalities), or a complete  change of thought - some thoughts take a lot of lines and need to be  broken up into sub-thoughts - as long as they're there. This isn't a formal warning, just a reminder.  No  reply is necessary,  but if you have questions or need clarification,  please feel free to  contact a member of staff privately. Thanks! Sunflower, TC Forum Staff

[cletus90851]

A Reminder:

Hi, cletus90851, We don't mind long posts here, but to avoid having a hard-to-read  wall-o'-text, hitting "enter" twice every few lines adds some white  space and makes it easier to follow - I've edited yours to add those  breaks, but it's a really good habit to get into yourself. They don't have to be the "proper" place for paragraph breaks (we're  interested in readability more than technicalities), or a complete  change of thought - some thoughts take a lot of lines and need to be  broken up into sub-thoughts - as long as they're there. This isn't a formal warning, just a reminder.  No  reply is necessary,  but if you have questions or need clarification,  please feel free to  contact a member of staff privately. Thanks! Sunflower, TC Forum Staff

no problem.

so far everything is working well, although the troble with lesser-known deitys is the fact its nigh-impossible to find statuary of them.  I ended up printing an image of Maia from google, and laminating it for permanance, then stood it up as a backdrop in Hermes' shrine.  Hermes is ok with it, and Maia is pleased as well. though she did indicate to my wife she expects her to find a proper statue.

We both already have statuary of all the olympians, kthtonic theoi as well as some lesser known (than the primary twelve) deitys as well, but nowhere has a statue of Maia.  I asked my friend where he got his, as he has had a proper shrine to her for many years.  He said he had the same problem, and finally ended up getting a statue of some ''spring goddess angel thing'' to quote my friend, and altering it so that it looked as much like Maia as possible.

I mention that because while I'm not fond of using statue X for Deity Y as a rule, I know others who have good success with it, and its probably the only option for my wife to make her shrine to Maia.  I may be way off on this thinking, but I feel that doing it for a goddess/nymph like Maia, where no actual statuary exists (outside of possibly archaeological stuff), the deity in question is less likely to be offended than if someone used a ''stand-in'' statue for a major deity like Apollo, Zeus, or Hades.

[Rodney_Dawn]

no problem.

so far everything is working well, although the troble with lesser-known deitys is the fact its nigh-impossible to find statuary of them.  I ended up printing an image of Maia from google, and laminating it for permanance, then stood it up as a backdrop in Hermes' shrine.  Hermes is ok with it, and Maia is pleased as well. though she did indicate to my wife she expects her to find a proper statue.

We both already have statuary of all the olympians, kthtonic theoi as well as some lesser known (than the primary twelve) deitys as well, but nowhere has a statue of Maia.  I asked my friend where he got his, as he has had a proper shrine to her for many years.  He said he had the same problem, and finally ended up getting a statue of some ''spring goddess angel thing'' to quote my friend, and altering it so that it looked as much like Maia as possible.

I mention that because while I'm not fond of using statue X for Deity Y as a rule, I know others who have good success with it, and its probably the only option for my wife to make her shrine to Maia.  I may be way off on this thinking, but I feel that doing it for a goddess/nymph like Maia, where no actual statuary exists (outside of possibly archaeological stuff), the deity in question is less likely to be offended than if someone used a ''stand-in'' statue for a major deity like Apollo, Zeus, or Hades.

first, apologies for dragging up an old topic.

I would say that uxing X statue as a standin for Y deity, when it is difficult or impossible to get a proper one is a relatively common practice.  However, whether or not it is acceptable will depend on the deity in question.  some are more insistant than others.

As for Maia, she can be a bit shy and withdrawn, but in addition to her traditional connections to motherhood and childbirth, she is also one who is willing to be very patient, and ''hold your hand'' to help you in finding your path.  She will of course likely refer you to her son Hermes for more extensive guidance.   

The above is more for newcomers, as you already have a connection with Hermes, but the point is in my own experience, you shouldn't be afraid to ask Maia for help.  If it turns out to be something She can not personally help you with she is unlikely to take offense, but she will ''refer'' you ''higher up'' to someone better equipped to help you. 
This is all UPG of course, but I think She enjoys helping people in this manner.

I find it strange that Athena would find it distasteful to be around Maia. Are you certain you are indeed communing with Athena, and not some trickster or malevolent entity trying to make you think they are Athena?

In a lot of Hermes' mythology it can be seen that He is very fond of Maia, so it wouldnt be a stretch to assume palying tribute to Maia would also curry favor with Hermes.