AboutDawn Blake Expertise I am able to answer most questions about Pagan religions and magic. I am particularly experienced in the areas of Hearth Magic and Kitchen Witchery, including magical cooking and gardening and Hellenismos including liturgy and mythology. I specialize in matters relating to Pagan children and family. I am also well-versed in Western European spirituality including Wicca and Druidry.
I am unable to answer specific theological, historical or liturgical questions related to African Synchretic Spirituality (Santeria, Voodun, Umbanda, etc.) or Heathenry (Asatru, Odinism, etc.)
Experience I have been a Pagan for nearly 20 years and a Hellenic Pagan for 10. I am currently the organizer for an all-path Pagan children's group, the founder and one of several organizers of the local Pagan meetup group and I maintain a regional website and newsletter for local Pagans as well as a website and newsletter for Hearth Witches. I have over 5 years experience planning and executing public Pagan events, particularly public rituals and family events. I have two teenage children of my own whom I have raised in the Hellenic tradition.
Organizations The Sacred Hearth Circle
Motor City Pagans
The Detroit Metro Area Meetup Group
Wild Ones
Michigan Pagan Chamber of Commerce
Question QUESTION: Do the gods exist within our world, outside our world, or beside our world?
ANSWER: Our Gods exist in the Universe. Some of them are part of our world and some reside in the upper or lower world. One of them, Gaia, IS the world. With the exception of Gaia, who is wrapped up with being the Earth, and others like Selene and Helios who are likewise wrapped up in the material, they come and go as they please between either the upper world and the middle (material) world or the lower and the middle world, but only some are permitted to go freely between the upper and lower worlds, as each is ruled over a different Lord. (Upper world is ruled by Zeus, lower world by Hades.)
Those who reside in the lower world are associated with the afterlife and also with rebirth, seeds before they sprout, etc. Upper world deities are associated with weather and such. Those associated with the lower and middle world are called Chthonic deities. The Olympians may be in the upper world or the middle world.
These upper, lower and middle worlds are different dimensions (sort of) that overlap. The dimensions have more to do with resonance than location. Rather than thinking of upper and lower direction, think of it more like sound. There are frequencies that are too high for us to hear and frequencies that are too low for us to hear and a whole bunch in between that we can hear just fine. (Come to think of it color is a good analogy too).
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QUESTION: You mentioned rebirth being associated with underworld deities. Do Hellenic Polytheists believe in reincarnation? Did the ancient Greeks?
Answer It is not clear whether ancient Greeks believed in reincarnation. It is clear they believed in an afterlife. With regard to the Eleusian Mysteries (which are one of the best kept secrets of ancient Greece, as nobody knows the details of them) it was said that those who experienced them would never again fear death. This may indicate a belief in reincarnation or a belief in a pleasant afterlife.
However, the Chthonic Goddesses Persephone and Demeter (who were the main focus of the Eleusian mysteries- or one would assume) were associated with rebirth of the land. When Persephone went to carry out her duties as Queen of the Dead, the land was barren. (Here in the Midwest we say this happens in autumn, but in ancient Greece this took place at the beginning of their hot, dry summer). When Persephone returned, the flowers bloomed or were reborn and Demeter made it possible for planted crops to grow again - using the seeds from the crops that had died the year before.
Modern Hellenic Polytheists differ somewhat in their beliefs about the afterlife. It is pretty much a consensus that the Kingdom of Hades is a metaphore, but what it's a metaphore for can be a subject of debate. It is said in the Iliad that those who acheive greatness (arete) acheive immortality, some believe this is what the the Elysian Fields represent and the residents of the Elysian Fields are sort of akin to the "ascended masters", that is, they don't reincarnate anymore. But, according to this belief, the rest of the residents of the Kingdom of Hades do reincarnate, once they have forgotten their former lives. Like the story of Osiris being reassembled, and Jesus being risen from the dead, the story of Persephone is sometimes seen as the moment when the Goddesses, through their efforts to return Persephone, made it possible for everyone to return (this is the view that I myself hold) and it is clear from the tales that she made a big difference in the Kingdom of Hades, whatever it may have meant to the ancients. That being said, there are many modern Hellenic Polytheists who believe that when you die, you go to the Kingdom of Hades and stay there. The end. And, I imagine there are some NeoHellenic Polytheists who don't believe in an afterlife at all, but I don't know any.
