“From Zeus come all beggars and strangers; and a gift is precious though small”
(Homer Odyssey, 6. 207)

There are plenty of people who, on the one hand, purport to serve the Gods and preach messages of hospitality, charity, and salvation, and on the other hand, are unwilling to extend these to the underprivileged, whether they be refugees, immigrants, the poor, minority groups, and so on. Instead of helping their fellow man, many of the so-called pious have spread hateful rhetoric and actively participate in a whole laundry list of bigotry, including but not limited to xenophobia, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, and countless other vices, all while claiming to be devout followers of divine will. This line of double-think is, quite simply, moronic and vacuous— a product of western secularism whose state-religious apparatus has created an environment which permits such hypocrisy.

Western secularism is not truly pluralistic, despite its claims to the contrary. It has turned the concept of worship into something which is exclusively “private,“ with our religious lives being independent of and out of view from the “secular” eye of the public. This view is an artificial construct that is Protestant in nature, and inherently untenable not only for proper Hellenes and polytheists, but for all religions which hold an immanent view of the divine, where the Gods, and the practice of religion itself, penetrates aspects of even day-to-day mundane life. Religion is not merely confined within the temples— it is part of a lifestyle, and the separation currently present in western secularism is absurdly unnatural; allowing for one’s “beliefs” from their “private religious life” to blatantly contrast with their practice in everyday life to almost comical degrees. This ultimately both creates an environment where vulgar chauvinists can exist, even in otherwise explicitly pluralistic religions such as ancient polytheisms, and severely limits our service to the divine, which includes social justice, the concept which holds that all peoples have an inherent equal worth, and thus should have equal access to the same privileges and opportunities.

After all, it is detailed in the sacred Chaldean Oracles that Love (Eros) is the first creation of the heavenly father, Zeus (Chaldean Oracles, fr. 42). He then fills each divine soul with a “deep eros” to bring them back to the Gods (Chaldean Oracles, fr. 43). We can therefore understand that human life is the mirror of divine love, as far as possible. And as justice depends on, and descends from, the Gods, and just as we give the Gods their due, and just as human societies are best when they reflect a harmonious soul, so should human life include justice for all and each person receiving that which they are due. We can reflect on this in Aristotle’s discussion of friendship and politics in chapter eight of his Nicomachean Ethics, which is summarized nicely by Jeffrey S. Kupperman, who writes “when people are friends there is justice” (Kupperman 2014, 49). Aristotle tells us that Justice has its origin in friendship, which should be “felt mutually by members of the same species, especially among human beings, for which reason we praise philanthropists” (Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, VIII 1155a19-22). Iamblichus, building off of Aristotle, defines reciprocal justice as the “reciprocity of the equal and appropriate” (Iamblichus 1988, 46-47). This reciprocal form of justice, which is justice in its fullest sense, always guarantees a “non-diminishing, baseline-status of people, even if the status of some increases” (Kupperman 2014, 49), and always includes an element of friendship (Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, VIII 155a) which is important because it is “only in friendship that equality and reciprocity are truly possible” (Kupperman 2014, 49) (Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, VIII 156b-25) (Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, VIII 1159b25-1160a1-30). In short, justice, which derives from the Gods, is “associated with philanthropy, which is connected to friendship” (Kupperman 2014, 52).

The divine Emperor Julian also comments about social justice as service to the divine, asking how “the man who worships Zeus the God of Comrades, and who, though he sees his neighbours in need of money, does not give them even so much as a drachma, how, I say, can he think that he is worshipping Zeus aright?” (Flavius Claudius Iulianus, II 305). Julian wonders how one inhospitable to strangers who “wishes to sacrifice to Zeus, the God of Strangers [Zeus Xenios], even approach his temple?” (Flavius Claudius Iulianus, II 305). Singing hymns of praise to the divine while simultaneously turning a blind eye to strangers or the ill fortunate is sacrilege– a clear violation of Xenia, the Hellenic virtue which entails hospitality to strangers. And part of Xenia is Theoxenia– where a God can assume any form, even that of a foreigner; where one thus must be polite, kind and respectful to everyone, regardless of their appearance, origin, language or manner. This is because, as the Emperor Julian says, “it is to the humanity in a man that we give, and not to his moral character” (Flavius Claudius Iulianus, II 303). This common humanity lies within all of us. The divine Plato writes that the closest embodied thing to the Gods is the human form (Plato Timaeus, 44d), and it is written by the divine Emperor that when the common father and King of the All, Zeus, was setting all things in order, there fell from Him drops of sacred blood, and from these drops of divine blood arose the race of man (Flavius Claudius Iulianus, II 307). It, therefore, follows that we are all kin, as the Gods tell us through Plato, and that we are all descended from the Gods– and thus all common members of the same family: that of the supreme Zeus’ (Flavius Claudius Iulianus, II 307).

Therefore, to properly worship Zeus, the common father of all, and the Gods under Him, we must be helpful and care for those of us who are less prosperous than others. The Gods are the sources of virtue and order, and so we should serve Them by actualizing virtue and its cultivation, justice, in society. Much like how in Plato’s Republic the individual who escapes the cave willingly descends back to try freeing those still trapped inside (Plato Republic, VII 516e-517a), those of us who are servants of the Gods and more fortunate than others should willfully cooperate with the divine to promote well-being and virtue among humankind, and accomplish efforts which brings benefits to humanity, so we may all be brought closer to the Living Immortals. Thus, we cannot be opposed to helping the vulnerable, because otherwise, we are failing in our task to serve the Gods.

We can see many actions by the divine Julian, the last great leader of the Hellenic religion, which brought benefit to mankind, such as the establishment of universal charity for the less fortunate regardless of religious affiliation, the restoration and reopening of temples which had been vandalized, destroyed or shut down by extremists, the restitution of confiscated temple properties, and an edict of universal religious tolerance in the year 362 ACE. He even challenged social hierarchy by writing that it was not necessary to be rich or important to be a priest, and that even the poor and humble could be appointed, provided they possessed “love for God and love for his fellow men” (Flavius Claudius Iulianus, II 337) (Nicholson 1994, 2). These all could be considered edicts of “social justice” by contemporary standards.

It is through praxis that the teachings and methods of one’s beliefs (doxa) are brought into their everyday life, where they are not simply memorized, but integrated and lived in accordance to. So if you claim to worship and serve the Gods, then act on it and try to make the world better. Stand up on behalf of those who need an advocate. Listen to those who are victims of injustice and fight alongside them. Volunteer at a charity, homeless shelter, or a refugee center. For as the world becomes plagued by the cold discordance of inequality, nationalism, and intolerance, may we find light in the Gods. Because regardless of where we’re from, our upbringing, or our status and social class, we are Their children, and by promoting virtue among our fellow man, we are brought closer to Their warm embrace. For Hermes is the guide of travelers, Lord Dionysos is the protector of foreigners and slayer of tyrants, and Zeus is the bringer of justice, who punishes those who violate Xenia. And it is the eternal Gods who are far more worthy of our devotion than any state, flag, or politician.

(Special thanks to Jeffrey S. Kupperman and Markos Gage!)

Bibliography

Aristotle. Nichomachean Ethics, translated by Martin Ostwald. NY: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1962.

Flavius Claudius Iulianus Augustus, and Wilmer Cave. Wright. The Works of Emperor Julian. Volume II. London: Heinemann etc., 1962.

Iamblichus. The Theology of Arithmetic. Translated by Robin Waterfield. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988.

Kupperman, Jeffrey S. Living Theurgy: A Course in Iamblichus’ Philosophy, Theology and Theurgy. London: Avalonia, 2014.

Majercik, Ruth. The Chaldean Oracles: Text, Translation and Commentary. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989.

Nicholson, Oliver. The ‘Pagan Churches’ of Maximinus Daia and Julian the Apostate. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 45, pp 1-10. 1994

Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.

Plato. The Complete Works of Plato. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. United States?: Akasha Pub., 2008.

People who claim that worshiping Gods outside your culture or ethnicity is “appropriation” are, quite simply, ludicrous individuals, often crypto if not blatant atheists, whose “metagenetics” or “racialist” view attempts to posit that the divine limit Their interactions with “foreigners” outside of “the race.” This stance can be understood as atheism because it denies that the Gods are real, independently existing entities with agencies of Their own who may engage in personal relationship with people by engaging in a materialist reductionism (itself an offshoot of monotheism) which reduces the Gods to merely archetypes of “the race”– ridiculously binding the Gods as subject to a materialist social construct developed by imperialists during the Colonial era, far after most polytheisms were destroyed by many of the same powers. Deities are not mere culture nor objects– They are real, living and eternal Beings who may reveal Themselves to and call upon us to worship Them, and thus They cannot be appropriated. To deny religious experience and denounce true devotion, especially when that deity has asked for it and initiated the personal relationship with the devotee, is simply atheism. “Appropriation of Gods” is not an actual issue, but rather, the real problem is the appropriation of specific cultural systems of worship such as sacred rites, methods, attire, and traditions centered around these living immortals.

This can be termed the “appropriation of spaces.” Yes, while there are spaces which are open and open to changes and new innovations, there are also spaces which are closed, such as mysteries specific to a particular culture or instructions which are not intended for all.

Of course, one could create their own space by thoroughly localizing the worship of a God, with local iconography, rites, liturgy, and so on, while leaving the source intact without any problem. We can see something similar in the Hellenic world, with how foreign deities such as Isis were adopted and given distinctly Graeco-Roman cultus’, or in Japan, with the adoption of various Hindu deities such as Saraswati or Indra. However, a foreign devotee cannot, for example, go to a traditional temple and demand the priest there to provide a nontraditional offering to a deity simply because that’s what the foreign devotee are used to. They can, however, more than freely do so within the confines of their own privately owned spaces, such as their home.

Likewise, simultaneously, if one wishes to worship a God in a known traditional form, using traditional rites, traditional liturgies, traditional iconography, etc., then that isn’t a problem either. There are many traditions which accept converts, even if there are preconditions one must meet before joining– but even if they are not, then the words of doctor Edward Butler, “nobody can stop me worshiping any God I like, if I’m not demanding some kind of recognition in a space which is closed to me or closed without certain preconditions I’m not willing to fulfill” (EPButler, 14 April 2018 6:54 PM). You can worship whatever Gods you choose and never be accused of committing cultural appropriation, as long that it’s in private space, and not some performative act in the eyes of the public. In this case nobody needs to know what deities you worship and how, and if you do need to talk about it in public, then “the charge of appropriation might well have something to it” (EPButler, 11 July 2016 3:47 PM).

(Special thanks to Edward Butler, Ptahmassu Nofra-Uaa and Tamara L. Siuda)

Bibliography

EPButler. Twitter Post. July 11, 2016, 3:47 PM. https://twitter.com/EPButler/status/752635429892005892

EPButler. Twitter Post. April 14, 2018, 6:54 PM. https://twitter.com/EPButler/status/985335409864568832

Ptahmassu, Twitter Post, April 15, 2018, 12:37 PM. https://twitter.com/Ptahmassu/status/985602916223512576

tamarasiuda, Twitter Post, April 14, 2018 7:27 PM. https://twitter.com/tamarasiuda/status/985343850024767488

tamarasiuda, Twitter Post, April 14, 2018 7:29 PM. https://twitter.com/tamarasiuda/status/985344337767817216