Hello everyone! This is the paper upon which I based my presentation/talk for the Conference on Polytheism Today and Tomorrow organized by the CGPIT and Indic Academy. It has a few differences, mostly details, from the actual talk but this is the original paper the talk was based on. You can watch my presentation and the rest of the conference HERE.. My part starts around 2:01:25 and there's a group discussion I am part of, starting around 3:16:00. The recordings should remain on YouTube for a month.
My name is Stefanos Chelydoreus, I am from Athens, Greece and I am a polytheist, theologian, mystic, and practitioner of magic. My project, “The New Mysteries of Hekate-Despoina”, which is the topic of this paper, won one of the three fellowship awards from the Center for Global Polytheist and Indigenous Traditions this year (2021). Specifically, it was in the category of Reviving Polytheisms and its goal is the design and formation of a modern mystery cult. A small note before we delve into the project itself: I use the term “cult” in the academic and polytheistic sense of the word as “religious practice or tradition”.
The project I am developing is on the formation of a modern mystery cult. The goal is to complete a book that deals with this endeavor from both a theoretical as well as a practical perspective. It has three parts: historical examination, theological theory, and ritual practice. I will explain this in more detail but before that, I would like to talk a little bit about what inspired and moved me to work on this project and why I think it is a valuable contribution to contemporary reviving polytheisms, especially Hellenic polytheism.
Interestingly, this all started as a personal devotional experiment of mine. I have been devoted to Hekate for 11 years now (12 if you count the preparatory year). In fact, the anniversary of my dedication is this Sunday (October 31st)! In the interest of expanding further my devotional practice and relationship with Hekate, I asked Her, while in ecstatic ritual, to reveal to me the Arcadian Mysteries of Despoina and Her ancient Carian cults. Surprisingly, Hekate did just that, although it took a while to decipher the very cryptic messages. The information I was granted outlined a ritual process to be performed on the Full Moon of the Spring Equinox. This drew heavily from the Arcadian Mysteries of Despoina at Lykosoura, as I later found out while researching. I obviously cannot say that what I’m doing or writing is the actual ancient mysteries but I do believe the Goddess taught me how to revive them in spirit and merged with Her own particular Mysteries. After performing that ritual Hekate granted me knowledge of the next step, another ritual process to be performed on the Full Moon of the Perseids. I could already tell that this entire thing was bigger than I initially expected and highly mystical and theurgic. Before the time of the second stage rites came, the Center’s fellowship program was announced and after some encouragement from friends, I decided to expand my devotional experiment into a full-fledged mystery tradition. At the same time, this would allow me to achieve multiple goals at once. Firstly, I would be able to contribute a mystery practice to polytheists, something Hellenic polytheism specifically lacks today. Secondly, I would be able to demonstrate the value and significance of polytheistic theology. Thirdly, I would be able to examine and interpret historical information of the ancient traditions explicitly from the perspective of a modern polytheist. All of these have the same common idea: enriching and developing reviving polytheism further.
As far as the project itself, in the form it has taken now, is concerned, I must say it has already been quite rewarding, both as a process and as a product. Interestingly enough, it’s not a linear project where I write everything from beginning to end. Instead, the aforementioned three parts are developed concurrently, with historical research, theological writing, and ritual performance happening parallel and interconnected to each other. Let’s explore these three parts further though:
The first part is historical examination of ancient Greek mystery cults. The Arcadian Mysteries of Despoina at Lykosoura and Phigaleia, the Andanian Mysteries of Messenia, and the well-known Eleusinian Mysteries are the main traditions I am studying, with others, such as the Mysteries of the Kabeiroi or of Demeter at Pheneos and elsewhere, being secondary. The reason for this historical examination is to provide a basis for the theological framework that comes in the second part. By studying the ancient mystery cults, I aim to combat the extensive lack of information on the mystery traditions themselves through cross-reference and comparison. Studying many of them allows me to look for common patterns, practices, and approaches, which will let me create what can essentially be called the profile of a mystery cult.
With that information at hand, I can expand the second part, that of theological theory, further. This involves interpreting the historical data from the perspective of lived, experienced polytheism as well as synthesizing that information with modern, new theology and the concept of revealed knowledge – in other words, direct divine guidance. A living religion that considers its Gods reality recognizes that these Gods can and must have an active, direct involvement with their worshipers. It is also imperative for reviving polytheisms to not only rely on the past through the methodology of reconstructionism but invest in the future through innovation. The development of new theological currents and schools of thought is essential. This is what I try to do in the second part of the book. It is my hope that my attempt will incentivize other polytheists to do the same. I gladly welcome theological critique of my work if it means the creation and establishment of more polytheistic theology!
The formation of a theological framework in the second part, helps refine and adjust the third part which concerns actual practice. Theory alone, however interesting it may be, is not enough for a living polytheistic religion. Practice is what allows us to experience the Gods and to permit our religions to truly exist and grow. This entire project, too, would be meaningless without the practical aspect; the mysteries of the Gods must be experienced to be grasped, since in their true form they are ineffable and beyond our limited scope – definitely beyond the capacity of language and writing. With that in mind, the third part of the book will include a step-by-step guide for readers to put the rituals in the book into practice. The goal here is to help others experience the mysteries of Hekate-Despoina through a more-or-less standardized process. Repeatability and proper procedure can allow multiple people to go through roughly the same spiritual pathway of experience. Of course, no one will have the exact same results since the experience of the mysteries is a profoundly intimate matter and everyone is different. It also depends on how the Gods themselves react to one’s attempts; we cannot know who will be graced with revelation of the mysteries and who won’t.
At this point in time (October 28th), I have completed two of the three stages of the practical aspect of the mystery cult. The next and final stage is on the Full Moon of the Winter Solstice. I expect to be able to hasten my work after I have completed the practical part since I will have a full understanding of what the mystery cult will entail in its entirety. The plan is to complete the project by June 2022 which is the deadline in my fellowship agreement (ideally, it will be finished earlier) and I will spend the summer of 2022 working on self-publishing the book. I chose the option of self-publication almost immediately after the project began because I wanted complete control over this particular book as far as editing and omissions are concerned.
Finally, I would like to address two of the most commonly asked questions I receive regarding this project: why Hekate-Despoina and why a mystery cult? The answer to the first will be found in greater detail into the book itself but a brief explanation is this: the syncretic form of Hekate-Despoina is one I am drawn to due to my theory on Hekate’s cultic origins, a theory which is a core element of the theological foundation of this project. The Mycenaean roots of the ancient Arcadian Mysteries of Despoina, the connections and associations Hekate has with both the Mycenaean world and the Gods in the Despoinian Mysteries (Demeter, Poseidon, Artemis, Despoina herself), the obscure and mystery oriented identities, even holding “Despoina” as an epithet all point to ample capacity for syncretism between the two. As for why choose to develop a mystery cult for the project, my answer is simple: it’s what I feel Hellenic polytheism lacks nowadays, as already mentioned, and I also chose it because it among my primary specializations and fields of expertise. Mystery is always sought after by humans and there is vast interest in deep, profound, intimate experience of the Gods.
