Athena Holding Achilles Back In The Agora, First Chant

Prayer to Hephaestus against wildfires

Lord Hephaestos of the Smoldering Kilns—

tamer of the flame and shaper of smoke,

lover of the ashes and crafter of unmatched skill.

i plead with thee to tame this wild beast.

quell the roaring spirits whom consume all they touch,

their greed unquenchable, destructive, and smoldering.

thus I call to you, my savior, undying Hephaestos—

Klytomêtis, Klytos, Aithalóeis Theós—

bend back this unruly beast and strike down your mighty hammer.

show mercy to us, God of the Scorching Heat,

that we may sing your praises to the unburned skies.

for i will remember you with this prayer, and again with another.

Klytomêtis (Κλυτομητις) - Famed for Skill, Crafts

Klytos (Κλυτος) - Renowed, Famed, Glorious

Aithalóeis Theós (Αιθαλοεις Θεος) - Sooty God

artemis & diana + art

Satan as the Fallen Angel

Painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) in red, white, and black chalk, this creation of phenomenal artistic mastery is a part of a larger group of art pieces. The full collection consists of six different paintings depicting scenes and characters from Milton's Paradise Lost. One is currently at the Royal Academy of Arts, one at Louvre, one in Private Collection, and two are lost.

Satan in this depiction stands in his full humanised glory - imagery typical of the late 18th century Romanticism when the fallen angel lost his beastly, animalistic appearance in art. His features here remind one more of David or Apollo Belvedere in his majestic, heavenly beauty caught right before the fall.

Deity Letter Writing

Deity letters are, in my opinion anyways, a wonderful alternative to traditional prayer if praying is something you struggle with for whatever reason! Sometimes praying can be uncomfortable for me-for personal reasons, and also formality kind of squiks me out-but writing is something I’m very confident about! And it tends to come much easier to me than praying. I started writing letters about 3 years ago on a whim because I was just frustrated with praying not always working for me. And it’s worked wonderfully ever since! It’s a great way for me to be able to get whatever thoughts or feelings I’m having off my chest! It’s really no different than say if you were writing to a pen pal, or a friend, or whatever. It follows the same format and generally includes the same content (with some differences of course).

When it comes to formatting I keep it to, like I said, like a traditional letter. I start it with ‘Lord/Lady [insert deity name here]’ sometimes I’ll precede that with ‘dear’ but that’s totally up to you! (Which is another amazing thing about this, you can tailor it to your and your relationship with the deity you’re writing too!).

Then I follow it with a quick ‘introduction’ paragraph, I just say hello, tell Them how I’m doing, tell Them that I hope They’re doing well, little things like that. And again- you can tailor this to you and your deity! You can completely omit this section or add to it. Whatever you want.

I don’t always write to Them when I need something from Them but if you do I usually include it in the second paragraph. If I don’t I usually just tell Them what I’m up to, or that I saw something that made me think of Them, etc.

In the last paragraph I thank Them for well…anything really. Maybe for being in my life, or like with Zeus I may thank Him for any rain we’ve had, etc. to me this is the most important part as it kind of builds this certain…reciprocity (idk if that’s the right word but it’s the best way I can describe it) and also it’s just kind to do! I may also ask if There’s anything in particular they want from me or anything like that. But again- you can omit or include this as you please. It’s not a must.

I don’t always do a like…’sincerely Mars’ part but if you wanted to you totally could! Sometimes I’ll just do a little doodle or maybe a funny joke that I think They’d like, or a book quote that made me think of Them, etc. whatever you want really!

Now I know a major concern is ‘do They receive these?’ And my response is a resounding yes, at least in my experience. If you talk while you write you could totally treat it as a prayer! But I usually don’t and just like…’hear’ the words in my head as I write which is good enough! I usually just call whichever deity it id I’m writing to beforehand in the same way you would before praying or giving an offering! I usually just say ‘Hear [insert deity name] as I write this letter to you’ then go for it! And of course, you can alter this to whatever works best for you. I also may light (or turn on, I use electric candles) their candle and bring it over to wherever I’m writing or listen to Their deity playlist. Just whatever I need to do to ‘get in the zone’.

As far as ‘disposal’ goes, I have a little wooden locked box that I have that they go into! Then when my aunt and uncle do a bonfire I just take it over and toss the letters into the fire. But this part totally depends on you and your situation. You could rip it up, or shred it. Or set it on their altar. If you wanted to you could just write them in a notebook and keep them in there. Or you could do it on your phone! In your notesapp or whoever else.

signed-author -> beloved-martyr

Caryatid

The upper part of one of the caryatids that flanked the Lesser Propylaea of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis. The caryatid was made in Attica in about 50 B.C. Eleusis Museum, Greece

St. Michael and the dragon

While this took me a whole lot of time to finish, I am very pleased with the end result, both compositionally and in regard to the colour scheme.

The idea for the ornate, white armour in particular came from an illustration of St. Michael in the book of hours of Henry IV of France, which looks like this:

Also, fun-fact: my hometown celebrates an annual little festival, which as its centre piece features a moving mechanical figure of St. Michael slaying the devil, the colour-scheme of which I also referenced for this painting.

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Close-ups:

Detail of Lemminkäinen At The Fiery Lake, Sketch by Robert Wilhelm Ekman (1867)