GRECO-EGYPTIAN GOD OF THE MONTH CLUB

by Sannion

When you are starting off in Greco-Egyptian syncreticism the panalopy of gods recognized by our system can be quite bewildering at first. Most religions deal only with a small group of divinities – and most people within those religions limit their interactions to only a handful of the possible divinities within the given pantheon. But our religious tradition draws on the beliefs and practices of Greece, Egypt, and Rome and includes gods from all of those ancient cultures as well as some from their neighbors. That’s a lot of gods to deal with! (To say nothing of the nymphai, daimones, angeloi, nature spirits, divinized mortals, ancestors, etc which we also worship.)

Now, of course, there’s nothing that says that you have to worship every single divinity within the Greco-Egyptian pantheon. Most people come to our religion because they feel an intense attraction to a small number of divinities, usually a few from either side – or else they would probably have stuck to a more culturally-specific form of Hellenismos or Kemetic reconstructionism. Although they may have an interest in the other gods of our system they usually stick to those they are closest to, perhaps their patrons and a few others, only acknowledging the rest on special occasions such as a festival or when they need the assistance of a particular divinity. This is perfectly fine, and actually is consistent with the way that the ancients themselves worshipped their gods. There was the ancestral and household gods, the gods of the state whose festivals were large public events participated in by the whole community, gods whom the individual might feel a special attachment to, or call on at certain times in their life, or when they had need of something that fell within the god’s particular preserve, and the rest of the time they had little or nothing to do with the remainder of the pantheon.

But what if you don’t have a patron? What if you have had only a vague attraction to the Greco-Egyptian gods, but aren’t sure which ones are speaking to you at this point? What if you have been working with one set of gods but wish to know more about their cognates in the other pantheon, or about how a given deity was understood in the specific cultural milieu of Ptolemaic Egypt? What if you want to understand how the gods relate to each other, how they work together and what the proximity between them can draw out of each god respectively?

Then you may want to consider participating in the God of the Month Club. What, you might be asking, is the God of the Month Club (henceforth abbreviated to GMC)? It sounds like the essence of fluffy eclecticism, or worse, a late-night infomercial one might see if our society had remained polytheistic. Certainly this must be a joke … right?

Well, the name was chosen with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but it’s nevertheless a serious practice which has worked to open the doorway to a deeper understanding and relationship with the various divinities by many of those who have taken part in it in the past.

Basically, the GMC is a practice meant to establish contact with the gods. I came up with the idea when I realized that my devotion to Dionysos was overshadowing all of the other gods. It was brought to my attention that I had a very superficial understanding of Hera, based almost exclusively on the bad press she’d received at the hands of the poets, with no knowledge of who she actually was or how she was revealed through cultus, and that because of this ignorance I was refusing to have anything to do with her, even when she had made some polite overtures in my direction.(One has only to read the stories of Hippolytos and Pentheus to realize what a bad idea this is!) I saw that I needed to change things but I was stuck on the notion that the only valid divine relationship was one of intense and intimate devotion to a god, comparable to the bhakti approach within Hinduism. I had that down with Dionysos, but there was no room for that sort of relationship with any of the other gods. Then Dionysos pointed out that not everyone I know is a bosom buddy or lover. I have plenty of really good friends, and even more associates, casual acquaintances, people I bump into on the lists from time to time, and folks that I’ve never met but only heard of secondhand. Each one of these people has contributed something important to my life and I am a richer, more well-balanced individual for knowing them – even the ones whose path has only peripherally crossed my own. Why should things be any different with the gods? Bowing to the wisdom of such an argument, I decided to devote a month to getting to know Hera better, regardless of whether anything would ever come of it or not. I was quite surprised by what I found, discovered that she was a very different goddess than many had made her out to be, and wanted to continue a relationship with her even after our month together was over. Since the practice had worked so well with me, I shared it with some friends, they reported similarly positive experiences, and together we worked out a system, created a list on Yahoo and a community on livejournal for others to begin practicing it, and it’s taken off from there. While originally only Hellenic polytheists were doing it, there are now members of the God of the Month Club exploring Hellenic, Kemetic, Roman, Norse, Celtic, Hindu, Wiccan, traditional Asian and Native American divinities – and who knows what else.

This is how the GMC works.

First you draw up a list of gods you want to consider as possible candidates for your GMC work. This may be every god in a pantheon (or multiple pantheons in our case) or you may limit it to a smaller pool of deities. Then, each month, you use divination to choose which god you are going to be working with. There are a couple different methods of doing this.

Some people don’t come up with a pool at all. Instead they use Tarot or a similarly complex symbolic method of divination, or else use visualization, dreams, or overheard oracles to determine which god is intended at the start of the month. Others prefer to put all of the names in a box and draw them out at random. Some people use pieces of paper or popsicle sticks or tiles upon which they’ve written the name of the god for this purpose. Feel free to use any of these methods or come up with your own.

The point is to take it out of your hands, however. Not to choose yourself, but to let the gods determine which one you are supposed to be working with at a given time, since they know what we need, which is often different from what we want. Therefore it is advised that you include in your potential pool of deities not just the ones you have a past history with, or are comfortable with, or think you’ll hit it off well with – though it’s certainly fine to include them, since there’s always something new we can learn about a god, however much we may think we know about them - but also the ones you don’t know, the ones you suspect you might need to meet, the ones that have always left you feeling blank, or whom you may actually have some resentment for.

Once the god has been determined you will devote a whole month to them. Some do it at the start of the lunar month, or our civil month, or just count off 31 days from the starting point.

During that month there are several ways that you can show your devotion. All of these are important, and should not take precedence over the others. It is only when the three of them are in proper alignment that we have a true and deepening relationship with the gods.

First, study. Read everything you can about the god. Read all of the myths, hymns, and sacred literature associated with the god. Read about the history of its cult, what sort of festivals people observed in its honor, how the god fit into the religious system of the culture, and how it related to the other gods of the pantheon. Study its epithets and cult practices, what type of devotional activities people performed for it, sacrifices they made for it, images, ideas, and symbols connected with the god - and how all of these may have differed from the material linked to other gods. Read all of the books and websites you can find on a god, and speak to individuals who are especially devoted to the god to get their take on who they are today, as opposed to just who they were 2,000 years ago.

Secondly, integrate this material. Figure out what all of it means. Draw your own connections. Spend time meditating on it and let it sink in until you have a clearer picture of who the god is. Then perform some of the activities connected with the god. Take it to the next level so it’s not all just passive reflection. For instance, if you’re focusing on Montu you might want to start practicing a martial art, or clean your home as a devotion to Hestia, or spend some time in a park or in a forest to connect to Artemis’ wild, natural side, or go out dancing or get in touch with your more sensual side for Hathor, or donate time or money to an animal shelter as a way of honoring Bast. Write poems, hymns, short stories or essays as a way to explore who a god is, or paint, draw, collage, compose music, etc as a means of honoring them. Look at the way that their life impacts your own, and the thousand tiny things you can do to bring yourself into a better alignment with them.

Thirdly, honor them with formal ritual. This may be a simple libation or sacrifice with some prayers attached, or something far more complex and structured, such as the modern Greco-Egyptian offertory rite that we’ve provided. But whatever you choose to do it should have a ritual element, since worship is a fundamental way to relate to the gods, and without that you will be missing out on an important element of who they are. Some people perform ritual for the god on each day of the month – others do it weekly or at special pre-arranged times within the period. At the very least you should do it at the beginning of the month, the middle, and the end. But whatever you decide to go with you should try to stick to it, lest you inadvertently slight the god you are intending to honor. Another important thing that can be done with the deity is cultivating direct forms of communication with them. Pray to them as often as you are able. Ask for dream oracles or other visionary signs. Perform divination if you have any skill for this. If you don’t, seek out someone who does to see if they can communicate the god’s message to you. During this month you will have the god’s attention in a way you might not otherwise. Utilize that as best as you can.

Now, once your month has come to an end you should do a special ritual to thank them for everything that has happened during the month. Show special gratitude for any favors or revelations they have given you, everything you’ve learned during the time, and especially for the opportunity to get to know them better.

Some people feel that a month is enough, and don’t pursue any type of relationship with the god after their time is up - and that’s perfectly fine. Other people find, however, that even though they had gone in expecting to get nothing more out of it than an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience, the month served to initiate a new and lasting relationship that they will keep with them the rest of their days. Several people have expressed that they actually discovered their patron through the GMC, who turned out to be someone they never would have considered beforehand!

Here’s a more formal ritual template that some members use when starting the GMC each month. Feel free to adapt it as you see fit.

Purification
If you feel that the rite should be done in a pure state, perform your customary purification ritual. What I do for divinations is prepare khernips or holy water either by adding salt to it or by dipping a flaming branch into the water, and reciting a blessing over it, such as, "O [either a particular deity or the Gods generally], make this water like the sacred springs of the holy nymphs, that no impurity may be found in it, and that it might wash clean all the impurities in whatever it touches." As you are doing so, envision the water becoming pure, like liquid flame, burning with the brilliance of the blessed Immortals. Then cleanse yourself with it. This can be as simple as dipping your hands in the vessel of khernips and sprinkling it over your head, or you may choose to recite the following formula: cup your hands in the water and annoint your eyes, saying, "O Gods, make my eyes pure, that I may see that which lies hidden before me." Take a handful of water and anoint each ear, saying, "O Gods, make my ears pure, that I may hear only your truths." Take a handful of water and wash your mouth, saying, "O Gods, make my mouth pure, that I may pronounce only inspired utterances." You do not need to swallow the water, especially if it has salt added to it, although it would not hurt to do so. Wash your hands, arms, and any other part of your body, saying, "O Gods, make my body pure, that I might be a worthy vessel for your revelations." Afterwards, you may wish to dry yourself off with a towel, or simply wring your hands dry.

Unveiling of oracle
You should keep your oracle in a special container, using it only for your GMC divinations, safely concealed from casual sight. You can decorate the container with images of the Gods, or leave it simple. The method that I intend to employ will be to write the names of all of the Gods on pieces of paper, wood, or other durable substances, and then draw one out for each month. But of course, other divinatory methods are entirely suitable for this work. In complete silence and reverence, take the container down and place it carefully on or before the altar. Remain in quiet repose before the container for several moments.

Offering/prayer to the God(s) of the past month
At this time you should thank the God(s) for the time that you spent together, any lessons that you learned, recount any experiences you may have had with them, and how your understanding of them has changed over the course of the month. If you intend to maintain the relationship in the future, express your desire to do so now, and offer any votive gifts or vows that you may wish to give. Otherwise, ask permission to be released from the relationship, and their blessing to proceed onto the next deity.

Offering/prayer to all the Gods
Now you may choose to make an offering to all of the Gods. This can be a sacrifice of grains or fruit, a libation of wine, milk, honey, or oil, the burning of incense or lighting of a candle. Pray to all of the Gods for guidance, and express that you trust in their wisdom and providence, and will abide by the decision of the oracle.

Offering/prayer to the Agathos Daimon
You may choose to make a special offering to your Agathos Daimon/Higher Self/Holy Guardian Angel, and pray for its guidance as well, asking it to help determine the best choice, and the lessons and experiences that you need to grow in fullness.

Meditation
Spend a few moments in quiet contemplation, reflecting on the words you have just spoken and their importance, emptying your mind of all outside influence and stimulus, until you are completely focused on divine things and in a receptive state.

Divination
When you are ready, unveil the oracle, ask for guidance one last time if you feel it's necessary, and then perform the divination. Once it is finished, spend a few moments meditating on the outcome, thinking about the deity, what you know about them, any past experiences you may have had with them, any expectations, hopes or anxieties you may currently be feeling.

Final matters
At this point you may wish to thank the God(s) for choosing you, vow that you will strive to know and honour them as best as you are able over the next month, and if you are so inclined, make an offering of thanksgiving to them. Then close the oracle back up and do any clean-up that is necessary, although I recommend leaving any sacrifices on the altar for as long as you are able or as is desireable with perishable goods.

If you are interested in sharing your experiences with others or learning from them, you may wish to consider joining the two communities that have been established for the God of the Month Club:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/godofthemonthclub

http://www.livejournal.com/community/godothemonth