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[quote=Anonymous][quote]
Can I ask more about your background?

Are you Greek?

Were you raised pagan?

If not, how did you convert?

Does this whole Percy Jackson novel thing annoy you?

If you have kids, do they take religious holidays off school?[/quote]

I have zero Greek ancestry, but always had a fascination with ancient Greece. I started learning about Goddess centered worship in high school casually, because I thought it was interesting to worship a female divinity. Didn't take any of it too seriously but wasn't satisfied with the Protestant beliefs of my birth. A few years after college I felt a deeper yearning for a sacred connection with something meaningful, and I spent a year re-introducing myself to different Pagan traditions. I started with Wicca, and I liked it but I didn't really feel connected to their religious calendar, like the Sabbats and such.

I also felt like Wicca is really meant to be a mystery school, not a religion. For example, they believe in a God and Goddess but they don't have a personal pantheon of their own, because they are originally a secret occult tradition. Wicca should have stayed in the shadows, in my opinion, because nowadays all kinds of idiots are drawn to it because they think they can get their boyfriend back with a quick spell. They don't know what it takes to go through that initiation process and access real power.

Anyway it wasn't for me. I researched different Pagan philosophies and was attracted to Neoplatonism, Theosophy, certain Eastern philosophies, and a lot of Greek thinkers. I loved Aristotle's treatise on the nature of the soul. I loved how Platonic philosophers wrote about the ennobling effects of Beauty, how it had the capacity to elevate the soul. I resonated strongly with Plotinus, who promoted a form of monism (all Gods merging into One). And just generally, I loved the ancient Greek philosophers. I loved that humanity had this rich heritage of thinking and I was sad that the philosophy of the Greeks had been separated from the religion of the Greeks. I think that is a form of cultural appropriation. You can't have Taoist philosophy without the Taoist Immortals (though Westerners have tried), you can't have yoga without the Indian gods (though Westerners have tried), and you can't fully appreciate Plato, Democritus, Protagoras and Socrates. The same Greeks who wrote the "Republic" also worshipped Hera and Zeus, and visited the oracles of Apollon at Delphi (see "Anabasis" by Xenophon).

When people think of Paganism today, they think of nerdy kids wearing pentacles and chanting in the woods, but Paganism has a long history of intellectual sophistication. The sciences, early medicine and philosophy were invented by Pagans. Pagans literally invented biology. Modern psychology originally had influences from Hindu philosophy (which isn't strictly "Pagan", mostly because the term Pagan has historically been used as a slur, but Hinduism is one of the few original Pagan religions to survive intact into modernity and is a good example of what modern Greek Paganism would have looked like if it hadn't been shattered.) People just don't know that the ancient Greek philosophers were Pagans because later European writers, who had a Christian bias, erased all references to polytheism. So you don't know that Plato praised Eros, the God of Love, or that he wrote in his [i]Laws[/i]: "If a good man sacrifices to the Gods and keeps Them constant company in his prayers and offerings and every kind of worship he can give Them, this will be the best and noblest policy he can follow; it is the conduct that fits his character as nothing else can, and it is his most effective way of achieving a happy life."

I actually fell in love with Athena through pop culture. I loved the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess as a kid and I also loved the superhero Wonder Woman. Both Xena and Wonder Woman are modern fantasy characters, but they are also basically Greek demi-goddesses and strongly remind me of Athena. It was through them that I found the actual Goddess Athena and fell in love with everything She represents, upholds, and awakens within me. I serve the other Deities too, but Athena is at the center of my heart. The philosophy side of my religious life is intellectual, but my relationship with Athena is purely heart-centered and devotional.

I don't mind the Percy Jackson novels, but the author has been snide about the revival of Hellenic religion. So I don't have a particularly high opinion about the author. I don't mind if people get some secular enjoyment out of novels based on my Gods. I'm not married and don't have any kids, but if I did, I would raise them in a liberal, religious household. They are free to think for themselves, and in fact anyone who follows any belief system [i]should[/i] think critically about it, but I hope I could introduce a healthy practice of Hellenic worship and philosophy into their lives.[/quote]

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