Hellenismos Today [Paperback]

Timothy Jay Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1430314273 | ISBN-13: 978-1430314271 | Edition: 1st

Hellenismos is the ancient Greek religion reborn. Do you hear the call of the old Gods? This book is a thorough introduction to Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism. Written by Timothy Jay Alexander, owner of the popular Pagan website Mind-N-Magick.com, "Hellenismos Today" is an exceptional guide to the character and diversity of the modern religious beliefs and practices of Hellenismos. For experienced Hellenic Reconstructionists, this is an excellent tool to introduce friends and family to your beliefs and practices.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Timothy Jay Alexander's Book...Hellenismos Today accomplishes more than the author originally intended. In my opinion, it is much more than an Introductory Guide to Hellenismos. As an Introductory guide,it explains the beliefs, history and practices of the Ancient Greeks clearly and concisely. It is not meant to be a history lesson, or a "how-to" book, but the author clearly conveys Reconstructionist beliefs and methodology. Anyone interested in this religion will find it truly inspiring. This book is also for any Pagan following any Pagan path, not just Hellenic Reconstructionism. The author has included an extensive list of terms with definitions. Anyone interested in expressing what they believe can peruse through this book and know the difference between a Wiccan, a Hellenic Pagan, and a Hellenic Reconstructionist. Those that want to understand the gods in their totality will find this book extremely helpful, as well. Those who are not clear on the difference between Magick, Mysticism and Divination will have their questions answered. Not only is this book an effective introductory guide about Hellenismos, it is also an educational tool for Pagans not following this path. There is no judgment or criticism of any Pagan path in this book. The information is presented in an objective and articulate manner, yet it is an easy read. The emphasis, of course, is on Hellenismos, but any Pagan interested in learning more about themselves and what they believe will truly find this book a necessity in their personal library. This small, but information filled book says a lot without a ton of filler, which is unfortunately a lot of what I see when reading books on Hellenismos. It clearly shows that one does not need to be an academic, or even an intellectual to practice this beautiful religion. Kudos to Mr. Alexander for writing this book. It is now part of my personal library, and will be part of the required reading for anyone that I personally mentor. --Lisa Dreyfus, Lulu.com

About the Author

Timothy Jay Alexander has been a practicing Pagan since 1985. He began his spiritual journey as a Solitary Wiccan, but found the religion did not truly reflect his spiritual beliefs. Beginning in 1991, Timothy started to self-identify as an Eclectic Pagan until in 2001, when he found his true spiritual path as a Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionist. Timothy owns and operates Mind-N-Magick.com, a Pagan and Wiccan search engine and directory that provides news, information, and services to the online Pagan Community. Mind-N-Maigck.com has been consistently rated the #1 Pagan search engine since 2005 by Alexa.com, and continually ranks in the top trafficked Pagan websites. He holds ordinations with both the Universal Life Church and the Church of Spiritual Humanism, and operates Alexander Ministries, a collection of ordained clergy providing services to those from minority religions and others in need of interfaith or customized ritual officiating.

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Lulu Press, Inc.; 1st edition (April 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430314273
• ISBN-13: 978-1430314271
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A light and easy introduction to Hellenic Reconstructionism, June 21, 2007

By 

Calixto M. Lopez (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hellenismos Today (Paperback)

First impressions: The book is chock full of original sources. Of 133 pages, 58 pages are Mr. Alexander's own work. The rest is a list of the Delphic Maxims (four pages long), excerpts from Hesiod's Works and Days and Theogony, and Julian's Oration to the Sun.

These appendices are a good feature, if you ask me. I like the fact that Mr. Alexander put so much of the original works at the hands of a novice.

On to the book itself.

Chapter 1 has a good discussion of the roots of Neopagan-Recon tensions, such as the taking of deities out of their cultural and historical contexts, soft polytheism v. hard polytheism, the impious and disrespectful "use" of deities, esp. via magick, and the questionable historical claims by many neopagans. I especially like his use of the term Fakelore to describe the latter. He briefly discusses emanationism, the ultimate unity of which the Gods are thought by some to partake in.

I especially like this passage: "I have to be clear here, Reconstructionist religions are not the ancient religions themselves. They are modern religions based on ancient cultures and their spiritual practices." (Page 15)

Some of the slight differences between Mr. Alexander and myself arise from the fact that he focuses on the public cultus, or popular religion, rather than the more philosophical approach of the intellectual elites, which I personally tend to follow. Considering the apparent high demand for the works of the sophists, and the philosophers, and the known dramatic performance of the dialogs in public places, I think the average person would have more exposure to these ideas than he gives credit. It is also known that people would seek out philosophers for advice, much as many today would turn to their priest, so they had some sort of unofficial status. This is, however, a quibble as I admit, and a characteristic of the Classical and Hellenistic era.

Chapter 2: He emphasizes the lack of a founder as compared to the revealed religions. He briefly discusses the Minoans. Since they are often held up as a matriarchal goddess-based society, it would be nice if he had helped dispell that bit of fakelore with more than just a brief mention that this idea has been discredited. However, this is a pet peeve of mine, since I am really interested in the Bronze Age religion of the Greeks.

He gives a nice, if a bit spare history of Greece civilization and religion.

"Hellenic Reconstructionism allows for a great deal of diversity in beliefs and practice because of the very nature of ancient Greece." (pg. 19).

I also like how he describes each city state as practicing what could be considered a separate denomination or religion from each other. He really emphasizes the local nature of ancient Greek religion, pan-Hellenic festivals and institutions aside.

I would disagree with his use of the term cult to refer to a practice or belief outside the mainstream. The word cult, simply means worship, and to pay cult is to offer worship. Hence the use of terms like Cult image. While a beginner may not be aware of this, since one will encounter the term much in one's research, it would be a wise thing to make this definition clear to the reader.

I enjoy how he is trying to be fair and balanced with regards to all the approaches to Hellenic reconstructionism, especially by emphasizing the diversity of practice. His focus on personal devotions in this chapter is also a good one, as for now, this is the primary form of devotion available to us until there is a sufficient increase in numbers to provide for congregations.

Chapter 3: I find this chapter a little weak, as he gives little information on the Gods, though I agree people should take a deeper research approach to the Gods. However, I think he takes too literally the idea that everyone has some idea of the Gods from our education in mythology. This is true, however, one advantage OSNT has over HT is that Mr. Campbell provided hard to find epithets, divine animals and plants, and suggestions for devotional activities which would be very useful for the beginner in ritual and prayer. These are details most people would not find in most treatments of mythology.

Mr. Alexander then repeats a discussion of hard v. soft polytheism, and gives another quick rundown on the one and the many.

"One must not succumb to contemporary thinking having the Greek Gods locked into an archetypal typecast. While the Gods may have their primary governances, they are complex beings with concerns that cover a multitude of venues." (p. 23)

This is a vital point, and I'm glad he makes it. This is, however, something a beginner might not notice from studying most discussions of mythology and the Gods, which tends to collapse everything about a God to one type or archetype.

His use of Aphrodite to illustrate this is done brilliantly, IMHO, and I really found the examples useful. The example would be very helpful to a beginner. Its too bad that something similar could not be done for all the Gods.

Chapter 4. Cosmology is treated in this chapter. He gives a good discussion of Emanationism, very suitable for a layman. I especially like the fractal analogy, which is very appropriate, and one which I had not thought of before. I also like how he emphasizes that the universe came about and operates through natural causes and is scientifically understandable. The Greeks invented science as we know it, and were the first scientific cosmologists.

Chapter 5: Ethics is handled in this chapter, and I think this is the strong poit of the book. The very first paragraph goes over the various sources of ethics for our faith, and gives good clues to a beginner where to look. I also really enjoy this passage:

"The Maxims are more focused on how one should behave rather than limiting or condemning individual personal behavior." (p. 29).

This is a good summary of how our ethical code differs from some others, which are more about what not to do, than what to do.

He then analyzes three particular Maxims:

HONOR THE GODS, GIVE BACK WHAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, NOTHING TO EXCESS

The analysis of these as the roots and summation of piety, reciprocity and meodration is very well handled. While the discussion of this in detail could easily be an essay for each maxim, a simple summary as that which is presented is fully appropriate for an introductory text. I also enjoy again further discussions of the diversity of our community, especially in terms of politics and regions. We are not monolithic, and I think that is a strength.

Chapter 6 is about clergy. Mr. Alexander focuses on a very localist form of priesthood, especially focused on the family. I have come to conclude that for the foreseeable future, we should focus on domestic religion, centered on the family, and at most a few friends. Later as we grow, and congregations begin to form, more formal priesthoods will be needed. He and I agree that there can be, and should be various types of priesthoods, much as in the ancient world there were hiereuses and their assistants, all of whom had sacerdotal functions. I also think that as we moderns often have an expectation that clergy should have a teaching and pastoral function, teaching and counselor priests or ministers may be required inthe future. Mr. Alexander downplays this, though he does not reject the need or utility of professional priests, and it could be that we disagree on this point.

We do agree on the need for legal ordination, in order that the priests may perform certain public ceremonies. (The only one that I can think of that is vital, is marriage, and he does bring up cases where this is not as necessary).

"Families intrinsically had the right to perform welcomings, weddings, funerals, and other rituals without having to go through intermediaries. Providing ordination credentials on request returns these rights back to individuals and their families as they should be." (p. 40).

I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. He mentions the ULC, and I have considered myself, getting ordination through them to have the legal standing to perform certain functions perhaps, at some time in the future.

Chapter 7 deals with rituals. It is a nice little chapter, which emphasizes how each family or locality may vary in its uses. He includes also a sample prayer to Aphrodite, and the basic steps of a ritual. One area that I find OSNT to be a bit better at is the more detailed ritual instructions which can really help jumpstart the beginner. However, since Mr. Alexander emphasizes the familial domestic religion, which can have its own rituals, I can understand the scarcity of detail here.

(I think Mr. Alexander, who is likely reading this, may find my post on Domestic Religion a few days ago of interest).

Chapter 8 deals with holidays. He gives the months of Athens (with a very simplified correspondence to the Gregorian calendar), with the key rituals of each month, and also the major festivals. When I first skimmed the book, I had felt this was a weak chapter. However, I don't think so on my second, more detailed examination). A nice touch is a mention of the possible honoring of the local spirits, something we often over look today.

Chapter 9 deals with divination. He gives some basic background, but not a whole lot of information for the beginner to work with here. This could have been fleshed out some more. For someone coming from a Neopagan perspective, this would not be too bad, since they are usually fairly aware of divinatory tools. However, for the non-Neopagan beginner, they may have no knowledge of any divinatory devices or techniques, and making a few suggestions may have been in... Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read, May 16, 2007

By 

Twinkle "Twinkle" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellenismos Today (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It starts by identifying Hellenismos as a Reconstructionist religion, which it is. There are some in the Hellenic community that would take umbrage with that, but this should not at all be controversial. Personally, I feel it is an accurate use of the term, as other authors before Mr. Alexander have the same definition, notably, Drew Campbell, author of Old Stones, New Temples.

Upon perusing the Table of Contents, I was impressed with how much information Mr. Alexander was able to provide, especially for an Introductory Guide (his term). The Gods and Goddesses section is just as it should be, a general run through of the Olympians and Daemons. I believe it should be up to the practictioner of Hellenismos to learn more, as does Mr. Alexander. I am impressed that he stresses learning about the gods in their totality, and not allowing oneself to be duped into worshipping an archetype or popular perception. I also was impressed with the clear and precise way the author was able to discuss soft and hard polytheism in a way that makes it easily understandable to the reader. Syncretism and electicism are also terms that are easily confused, even among experienced pagans, and I was glad to see that Mr. Alexander was able to show that these are not terms that can be used interchangeably.

The Cosmology section did not go into great detail, and honestly, I am glad. As an Introductory Guide, anything too in depth would only confuse. Suffice it to say that what Mr. Alexander stated is the truth; that no matter what philosophical idea one subscribes to, "the universe exists naturally and functions in a scientifically explainable way."

Mr. Alexander delves into another sticky area of Hellenismos; magick. The battle rages between Hellenes as to whether magick is an acceptable practice within the religion. Mr. Alexander draws his line in the sand and explains the differences (in his opinion) of magick and mysticism. Whether you agree with him or not, it is a well presented argument.

What is particurlarly important, at least in my mind, is the role of clergy within Hellenismos. I believe there is a need differentiate it from the popular perception of clergy (Christianity). The author is clearly knowledgeable regarding this subject, and in my opinion, it is the best chapter in this book.

I appreciated the Suggested Reading List, as I suspect that many who read Hellenismos today will want to continue their study of Hellenic Polytheism.

I applaud the efforts of Mr. Alexander to write a book on a very misunderstood religion. While it is true that most people that find their way to Hellenismos are academic and intellectually oriented, he recognizes that spirituality is valid within the religion and has it's place as well.

I am sure that there are many who will not agree with Mr. Alexander's opinions. For me personally, I found myself nodding in agreement with most, if not all of what he had to say. Thankfully, this book has not whitewashed the beliefs and practices of Hellenic Polytheism to make it palatable to the masses. I highly recommend this book to those who are just starting to learn about Hellenismos, and to those who are drawn to the Greek Pantheon, regardless of path.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Review, May 23, 2007

By 

M. A. Mclimans "Raven" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hellenismos Today (Paperback)

I have been interested in paganism for many years and for a long time thought Wicca was all there was but I was never able to connect with it. A friend recommended this book to me and it really hit home. Thanks to this book I have found Hellenismos and I think the path that is right for me.