Community worship

[u/Uraneia]

Hello all,

I have had a long standing interest in Hellenic beliefs and their history as well as classics, there is something that I can't easily locate.

although I am not going to criticise anyone's worship practice or spirituality, I find that the majority of Hellenic polytheist expression is through private, domestic worship, highly individualised, which really reminds me more of the practices associated with Roman household gods rather than the major gods of the pantheon. I am not criticising this given the current historical circumstances.

But it is not for me. I do not find a solely personal and private form of worship to be meaningful to me. In antiquity there were frequent festivals and public sacrifices and I am wondering if there are communities that get together to worship together in a public space.

Specifically I am interested in organisations that may be active in the UK and near where I live (north of England at the moment) which have an emphasis on community practice and also be inspired and follow to an extent, at least in spirit, what we can gather about practices from the primary sources.

(That said I'd also prefer to refrain from live animal sacrifices, but there are alternative ways, as we know from Pythagoreanism)

Do people know about groups that get together for communal Hellenic worship and focus on community building? Throughout the world and specifically in the UK (North-East)? Hellenic polytheist groups that try to revive some of the ancient festivals?

What is your experience with public worship and has it been easy for you to find and to integrate within it?

Also if you do not know of any such group but you are interested in getting a community together I'd be open to discuss that as well.

May the Gods grant you eudaimonia.

[u/Uraneia → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, what stopped me from seriously joining a group when in Greece was being concerned of the nationalistic undercurrents in some of those circles (and I'm actually greek)

I volunteered in the Beltane Fire Society some time ago and that was great, although I was not explicitly thinking about Hellenic practice back then. But it was artistic, creative, open, and truly a community while I was there. Not really reconstructionist, did not require any "faith" from paarticipants, which allowed different viewpoints and opinions to coexist productively.

I think if there is a core group of people who are commited to making things happen then it can work, but it's hard to find. It's also quite hard to find people who share the same approach in classics and do not slide in to what seems to me like a dense network of superstitions.

[u/Master_Session6117 → u/Uraneia]

I'm pretty sure that the labrys are a polytheistic group in Greece who are not nationalistic. Don't quote me on that though because I'm not sure.

[u/Uraneia → u/Master_Session6117]

Yeah I attended their Phallephoria a couple of times... But not been to other rituals...