Making Ancient Greek Religion Relevant Today with Tony Mierzwicki

Do you feel drawn to the Greek gods and goddesses? Would you like to venerate them in a manner in keeping with mindset of the ancient Greeks?

The ancient Greeks helped shape contemporary society through their dedication to philosophy, religion, art, and science along with democracy and the right of individuals to have freedom of speech. Much within ancient Greek culture was noble, but it was a product of its time that entailed animal sacrifice, occasional human sacrifice, slavery, the subordination of women, discrimination against non-citizens, and copious drug use. Clearly it would not be appropriate to recreate ancient Greek society.

Ancient Greek religion was simple in practice and needs to be understood within the context of a uniquely Greek mindset encompassing ethics and piety. There was, however, no one religion that was practiced by all Greeks, but rather there were variations in different regions and over time. There were also significant differences between religious practices in public rituals and those in the home. The contemporary practice of Greek religion should not be a reconstruction of its original form, but rather a reconstruction of what Greek religion plausibly would be had it survived. Just as ancient Greek society would have evolved into a form in keeping with contemporary values, so the religion would have also evolved to remain relevant.

This talk will provide an overview of religion in ancient Greece and suggestions on how to incorporate it into everyday life.

Tony Mierzwicki developed a fascination for ancient religions in the early 1980s, which led him to immerse himself into ceremonial magick in 1990. He has been running regular workshops and rituals recreating ancient magickal and religious practices in the United States and on the east coast of Australia since 2001. Tony is the author of Graeco-Egyptian Magick: Everyday Empowerment and a primer reconstructing Classical Greek religion, Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today and has contributed to various anthologies. He has also been featured extensively in print, online and broadcast media. Tony has completed three degrees at the University of Sydney – Master of Arts, Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Science. He is originally from Sydney, Australia and currently lives in Huntington Beach, California. For more information see: http://www.hermeticmagick.net/