Kala Thargelia

Happy Thargelia!



There has been a lot of talking lately in quite a few number of Hellenic groups about this festival dedicated to Artemis and Apollon. This year the Thargelia starts today (22nd of May) at sunset and ends when the sun sets two days later, Thursday, May 24. I thought of gather a small list of "all things Thargelia", so here it goes:

• Pharmakos, the very famous space goat. In ancient times the pharmakos would be a real person, or more than one, whom would either be stoned to death, wiped with onion, kicked out of town or other forms of pain purification or of riddance of miasma from the community. This is the purpose of the pharmakos, though nowadays it can also be used as a way to purify oneself. Also, in modern times the pharmakos is a symbolic representation which is usually ritually charged with all one wishes to change in one self and then disposed in a ritualistic manner (mostly burning), and there are even people who don't use it at all and have some other less violent form of purification instead. And, on a side note, the pharmakos ritual does not involve Apollon or Artemis in particular;
  


• Thargelos: the thargelos is either a stew of all kinds of grain you can find, a bread of all kinds of grain you can find or both. Either way, it is an offering made to Apollon in a kind of first fruit offering, so the God might give plentiful harvests. This is that kind of offering witch you give to the god but don't eat yourself, unlike the feast that follows, which, many suggest, should be vegetarian;
  


• Birthday: this festival celebrates the birthday of Artemis (6th Thargelion, the first day) and of Apollon (7th Thargelion, the second day) according to some sources, although this would vary from city to city and even inside one city. Anyway, this could be an appropriate time to offer significant gifts to the Gods, such as jewelery, statues, clothing and such. It could also be celebrated in a modern frame by singing happy birthday and offering a birthday cake (although I suspect the Thargelos can be kind of a birthday cake)
  


• Artemis: ok, it should be obvious that Artemis is celebrated in this ritual as well as Apollon. However, many find it difficult to understand why, or in what way, because of how the Thargelos is given to Apollon only and the all purification theme. However, it should be noted that not only is this Artemis' birthday (as well as Apollon's) but the celebration was originally Artemisian and only later shifted to being primarily Apollonian. Also, Artemis is often associated with purification by pain, most famously in Sparta;
  


• Brutality: the Thargelia is a brutal and abhorrent ritual, it is about the dark side of everything and it is an obscure ritual in the first day (read the hymn just below), and a bright ritual in the second. In my opinion, one should not dismiss the dark part of the ritual just because we don't feel comfortable with it, darkness is a very common attribute of both Artemis and Apollon, the slayers of Niobe's children;

• Purification: Thargelia is about purification with the pharmakos, which can be wiped with onion, stoned and burned. It has also been suggested that one would purify oneself in a more literal way, by wiping oneself with onion, maybe throwing some stones or do something painful. Tradition says that the all society and community should be purified, but nowadays it is common to purify just the the community celebrating the festival;

• Eiresione: the eiresione is a branch of olive tree with fruit and oil hanging from it that is made either in the Pyanepsia or the Thargelia and is hang in the door for the year, until another one is made. Either it is made in the Pyanepsia or the Thargelia, on the second day of the Thargelia it is carried around in the procession by the boys;

I will be posting the ritual and a small page about the festival in Ancient and Modern times in my page (http://portuskale.org/) which, unfortunately, is in Portuguese, probably tomorrow. However, at my online Temple of Apollon and Asklepios (http://portuskale.org/temple/) I will probably also post something about this and maybe a recipie for the Thargelos either tomorrow or Thursday.

The Dark Singer

*Some parts of this hymn may be shocking for some people. Please don't read if you are easily impressed (and also if you don't want to learn or come in contact with the dark side of the Gods)*

*Warning Made, enjoy*

Darkness covers the skies
And only your dark gloom shines,
The distance of your eyes amazes
And only frightened we may approach.

Fools we are, mere instants
Whom laugh and sing and dance.
But distant you gaze and shoot,
Your arrows made with pain and sorrow,
Your skin covered in the blood of youngsters,
Your truth so terrifying and lethal.

And you sing and laugh with pureness,
You dance among the piled bodies,
So pure as death, so clear as emptiness,
Your voice commands Thanathos
And the powers of shadow are yours,
For only you can withdraw light.

And we tremble before the dark side,
You who truthfully give us Dionysus,
Whom is both happiness of drunkenness
And the dark myst of death,
For we are fool and cannot see the balance,
How the body must fall and blood be spilled
So our truth self, the divine offered by the Gods,
Whom is both dark and light,
May be released and meet in ecstasy
With the Gods below.

And so you continue to laugh
With a voice that stops our hearts,
You remain in your eternal song
Of death and void beyond our comprehension,
Eternally you dance in the pool of blood.
Oh, so Dark and Plagueful,
Great Apollo, whom strikes from afar!

Kala Noumenia

Happy Noumenia!

The Noumenia is celebrated in the night the moon first becomes visible after a dark moon, which is this Thursday. I celebrate the Noumenia in the context of the Neokoroi ritual (visit at http://www.neokoroi.org) which means I have a small ritual in which I have a libation to, among other Gods, Apollon Noumenios. The other libations are to Hestia, Selene, Agathos Daimon and all the Immortal Ones.

Besides the libation and standard ritual, I also use this day to deeply clean the room where I keep my altar (which will vary depending on whether I am in Lisbon or Castelo Branco) and clean the altar and images of the Gods.

In the context of Apollon cult, Apollon Noumenios is celebrated as a God of purification and renewal, whom purifies so we can star anew and kills all unnecessary. Another aspect of Him I find present in Noumenios is light bringer: the moon will again reflect the sun and cast light upon the night, and as the new month starts we ask Apollon to guide us with His light.

This is essentially a day when we renew our vows towards the Gods and honor them all with offerings, hymns and libations. It is primarily a family / private ritual, but because our community is so small it can easily be adapted to a community festival.

A Temple in Hades

I am not sure about other sources, but in Plato we often see Apollon referred as a God whose temple rests at Hades' entrance.

What can this mean? I have several thoughts:

• Apollo Thanatos, who brings death with his deadly arrows, killer of youths, defender of the city, striker from afar - Apollo delivers death and, therefore, he is at Hades entrance;

• On the other hand, Apollo Paian, who delivers health and keeps death away also seems eligible to have a temple at Hades' entrance, for he would stand there and decide if one would die or live, which also relates to His aspect of prophet and his epithet Moiragetes;

• Apollo Alexikalos, who purifies, also has a right to stand on Hades' entrance to rid one of all lies and miasma so that our soul would be pure again and either be judged or enter Hades or reincarnate, depending on one's believes;

• Apollo Isodetes, who binds all equal could also be a judge on Hades to distribute souls according to some divine criteria;

• Apollo Phoibos as patron of Philosophy, according to Plato, could be the final step upon soul ascension: in short, Philosophy is the work of the soul and philosophers upon dying would rise and join the Gods, while those who didn't work out the soul would fall again and reincarnate - this according to Plato theories. Therefore, if this "temple at Hades' entrance" is only found in Plato it can mean this;

• Apollo is also called Dionusodotes, the one who gives Dionysus, and this God in undoubtedly connected with death and life beyond death;

• Finnally, Asklepios, Apollon's son, once resurrected a man, which could theoretically not be done for, according to Zeus in the myth, it is against the Divine Order. Because of this Zeus punished him, however Apollon revenged his son by killing the cyclops, which shows how he supported his son - in my opinion Divine Order cannot be broken unless the God who watches over it allows it to happen. Apollo clearly was pro-resurrection in this case and therefore could well be the God who allowed Asklepios to resurrect a man.