Zeus libation, and local leadership
Today was our monthly libation with Hellenion. This month’s libation was to Zeus. As we do every month, a handful of us descended upon Big Trees Forest Preserve with a statue and oil. We read some traditional hymns to Zeus and libated some oil. And then we bopped off to the amazing Aladdin’s for a yummy social lunch.
Zeus has been near the front of my mind a bit lately. I mean, on the one hand Atlanta has been really short on rain lately. (It was thundering lightly all through the libation, and it drizzled a little on the way home.) But on another level, Zeus is the head of the family of the Gods, and He’s all about organizing people. In ancient times he was called βασιλευς (King) and βουλαιος (of the Council), and it’s in this regard that he’s really been close in my thoughts.
About a year ago, I attended the National Pagan Leadership Skills Conference, and it gave me a lot of food for thought. I met people who were doing things. Important things. Locally‐focused things, but with much farther‐reaching consequences. As only one example out of many, I met some folks from the Open Hearth Foundation, who are well on the way to building a sizable Pagan Community Center in the D.C. area. All of people there, though, were in involved in building up some sort of infrastructure to help support their fellow pagans.
And that message stuck well in my head. It’s had me thinking a lot this past year about how I can contribute to building that sort of infrastructure here in Atlanta. Not necessarily a pagan community center-though that would be wonderful-but the kind of organized community that makes it possible to even contemplate one. Ties between people who are doing things. Cooperation. City‐building. This first year I’ve been thinking mostly about my own little ritual group. I’ve still got a little bit of work that I want to do for it, but it’s largely on its feet thanks to the work of radiantbaby, wheezinggirl, and mtn_hermit more than any contributions I’ve made. This coming year, though, I think I want to focus more on the broader local pagan community, to see what we all need, and how we can combine our efforts to build something truly great and lasting here in Atlanta.
It seems to me like a proper tribute to Zeus, a reflection of a simple libation on a broader scale.
(LJ Spellchecker Genius of the Day: libated -> bleated)
Zeus has been near the front of my mind a bit lately. I mean, on the one hand Atlanta has been really short on rain lately. (It was thundering lightly all through the libation, and it drizzled a little on the way home.) But on another level, Zeus is the head of the family of the Gods, and He’s all about organizing people. In ancient times he was called βασιλευς (King) and βουλαιος (of the Council), and it’s in this regard that he’s really been close in my thoughts.
About a year ago, I attended the National Pagan Leadership Skills Conference, and it gave me a lot of food for thought. I met people who were doing things. Important things. Locally‐focused things, but with much farther‐reaching consequences. As only one example out of many, I met some folks from the Open Hearth Foundation, who are well on the way to building a sizable Pagan Community Center in the D.C. area. All of people there, though, were in involved in building up some sort of infrastructure to help support their fellow pagans.
And that message stuck well in my head. It’s had me thinking a lot this past year about how I can contribute to building that sort of infrastructure here in Atlanta. Not necessarily a pagan community center-though that would be wonderful-but the kind of organized community that makes it possible to even contemplate one. Ties between people who are doing things. Cooperation. City‐building. This first year I’ve been thinking mostly about my own little ritual group. I’ve still got a little bit of work that I want to do for it, but it’s largely on its feet thanks to the work of radiantbaby, wheezinggirl, and mtn_hermit more than any contributions I’ve made. This coming year, though, I think I want to focus more on the broader local pagan community, to see what we all need, and how we can combine our efforts to build something truly great and lasting here in Atlanta.
It seems to me like a proper tribute to Zeus, a reflection of a simple libation on a broader scale.
(LJ Spellchecker Genius of the Day: libated -> bleated)