Immanent and Conferred Sacrality in Hellenism and Hellenistic Paganism

[skater314159]

Greetings on this, the 10th day of Anthesterion. The moon is in Taurus, and today is holy to Earth, Pan, the Nymphs and the Seasons.

Gaea is a Goddess who has gotten a lot of (well-deserved and overdue!) attention lately in the mainstream press, pop culture and even the political realm. Nobel Prize winner Al Gore has honored Gaea more (in my opinion at least) than any other politician in recent history. His speeches and action have done more to raise conciousness about what has been done to Gaea during the Industrial Revolution and Age of Empires - and even more importantly, he gives us answers and hope for helping our Earth Mother.

Who is Gaea you ask? How did the Ancient Greeks view her? A visit to the wonderful encyclopaedia of knowledge available at theoi.com tells us the following about Gaea:
She is The Protogenos - one of The First Born of all Things - one of the primeval elements to emerge during The Beginning. She herself was born of Kaos, The First Principle. All that is, was, or ever will be has come forth from Gaea, Air, Sea, and Sky. These Protogenoii mated with each other and gave rise to all that we recognise as our Universe and Reality.

She is The Great Mother of All That Is. All of the heavenly gods are descended from her union with Ouranos (Sky), all of the water and sea-gods from her union with Pontos (the sea), all mortal creatures were sprung or born from her earthy flesh, and the Gigantes from her mating with Tartaros (the great stormy Tartarean pit beneath Earth).

She is a rebellious Goddess who enjoys fomenting revolution and supports uprisings of the oppressed and downtrodden. The World's first revolution occurred when she rebelled against her husband Ouranos (Sky) who had imprisoned her sons in her womb. Then later, when her son Kronos defied her by imprisoning these same sons, she assisted Zeus in his overthrow of the mighty Titan King. Finally, Gaea came into conflict with her own son Zeus, for imprisoning her sons (The Titans) in the Pit of Tartaros - which lay beneath her - after the coup which brought Zeus to power.

Speaking of her relation to Ouranos (Sky) and Tartaros (Dark Pit) - cosmologically Gaea (Earth) was "> conceived of by the Ancient Greeks as a flat disk that was encirced on all sides by the river Okeanos, and "> topped above by the solid dome of Heaven and below by the great pit of Tartaros. She herself supported both the sea and the moutains upon her breasts.

In Ancient Greek Art and Iconography of vases, Gaea is often depicted as a voluptuous , matronly woman, who is seen to rise from or blend into the ground. This shows her connection with and identity of being the Earth itself. Gaea is often portrayed as being inseperable from her native element (Earth). In mosaic art of both Greece and Rome, Gaea is shown as a full-figured, reclining woman, who is often clothed in luxurious green garments. The Goddess is often accompanied by Vegetation and Grain Spirits who are called the Karpoi.

Since today is sacred to Gaea, who gives us a home here on Earth, I would like to comment today on the notion of how and where we should approach the Gods. Within the tradition of Greek Paganism, there are two paths, or styles of relating to the Gods in terms of geographic understanding which are called immanent and conferred sacrality.

First off, let me explain what is meant by the term sacrality, which in anthropology is used to describe or refer to sacred rites and observances. It also can refer to something that is set apart for a religious purpose, or is sacred. In these two terms, it refers to how the particular location or object itself becomes holy.

Now for the two paths:

Immanent Sacrality - Immanent sacrality believes that a particular place or location is sacred to a God or somehow allows one to gain access to the Numinous. As Luther Martin points out in his book Hellenistic Religions, "rather than building their temples and sanctuaries at some convinent locale and then consecrating them to a particular diety, the Greeks constructed them at sacred places they discovered" (47). Immanent Sacrality is recongnising sacred places as well as honoring the dieties and divinities associated with a particular place; a well known example of Immanent Sacrality in Ancient Greece was the http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Gaia3.html#Delphoi">Oracle at Delphi.

Conferred Sacrality - Conferred Sacrality believes that "a sacred order of things is no longer assumed to be immanent in a particular terrestrial realm or locale, but was elevated to the universal locus of the celestial realm (Martin, 59). An example of conferred sacrality within Greek Paganism are the various Mystery Religions. With the spread of Hellenistic Internationalism, dieties began to be seen as international, instead of geographical, in thier scope. All of the world was invited to participate in the Mystery Religions which flourished in the late Hellenistic and Roman periods.
For the Greeks who believed in conferred sacrality as the predominant mode of the Numinous, they believed that cults or epiphanies of gods and demi-gods (such as Demeter, Herakles, Orpheus or Mithras) were able to "bridge the Ptolemaic image of the cosmic abyss and overcome the separation of humans from the god" and that the "new epiphany of the diety deposed the regional cosmic rule of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades at once" (59). This mode of thinking - because it is compatable with belief in Mystery Religions, is prevalent among modern Christian believers. This is helpful to keep in mind, as it could be helpful in future inter-faith and ecumenical dialogues between our faiths.

Individuals who believe in the primary mode of immanent sacrality may have some troubles with practising thier faith in the modern world. While it is currently the case that Greek Pagans have been able to worship at ancient Greek sacred sites and temples thanks to the help and support of the Greek Antiquities Department, it is doubtful if this will continue long-term, as some within the Greek Orthodox Christian power establishment are voicing that they will try to do all within their power to make sure that the Ancient Greek faith is not revived in modern practise.

Another problem which needs to be addressed by those who prefer the immanent sacrality path is that most practitioners of the Ancient Path do not live in Greece, and cannot afford to make a trip to Greece to worship their diety. This is why I feel that we should look at the way that the Ancient Greeks themselves worshipped to see what we should do to adapt the Ancient Faith to our modern lives. The Ancient Faith, by emphasizing orthopraxy (right action or practise) over orthodoxy (right belief or thinking), allows room for both change and innovation by its practitioners. The Ancient Faith also allows for the introduction of new practices and local adaptations - this is the very essence of Hellenistic belief and practise!

It is my belief that we must incorporate both views of sacrality in our modern faith practises - immanent sacrality by supporting archaelogical research and preservation of the Ancient Greek sites associated with our faith, and supporting those who are fighting to worship as the Ancients did where the Ancients did, and conferred sacrality by creating our own home altars, sacred spaces, and finding places in our own environments which allow us to contact the numinous.

Another way that we can honor both immanent and conferred sacrality is by finding a natural park or wildlife area near where we live, which can help us to connect with the elements, and it can become our own personal temple. In nature, we can observe the heavens by night, watch Selene experience her phases, see the Planets travel through the Zodiac, watch Eos bring on the day in her orange and pink-hued chariot, listen to the breath of Notus, Boreas and Zephyrus as it blows through the trees and grasses, observe the wildlife, and more. Giving money to help keep our nation clean, to ensure we have parks and natural areas, and to try to work towards a future free of pollution and environmental degredation honors the Gods... to do your part for Gaea, here are some useful links:

http://www.nps.gov/ ">The National Parks Service

http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/ ">National Wildlife Federation

http://www.worldwildlife.org/ ">World Wildlife Fund

http://www.ciesin.org/wild_areas/ ">The Last of the Wild Areas

http://www.therainforestsite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=4 ">Click to Give at the Rainforest Site

http://www.earthday.net/footprint/ ">Redefining Progress: Ecological Footprint

http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/10/15/20-simple-ways-to-help-the-environment-by-using-your-computer/ ">20 Simple ways to use your computer to help Gaea

http://www.worldwatch.org/">World Watch Institute

http://www.envirolink.org/">The Envirolink Network

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/">The Global Warming Survival Guide + 51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment

http://demosathene.blogspot.com/">This article on my blog.

[Chovexani]

1. That's a fantastic article.

Thanks so much for sharing. I'm not a Reconstructionist by any means, but my own Pagan practice is very heavily Hellenist and I really appreciate what you've written. This is good food for thought.

Khaire! :hi: