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Kyrie Eleison!

Ancient Greek gods' new believers
By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

Priestess at the temple
Followers say they have been persecuted for 1600 years
Followers of the 12 Greek Gods, who, according to mythology, ruled the Ancient World from Mount Olympus, have cast a thunderbolt at their Orthodox opponents.

After successfully staging a landmark ceremony at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, their leader pledged to fight for the right to conduct baptisms, marriages, and funerals according to the rites of the ancient religion.

"We are a legitimate religion. But the authorities don't let us do this, but we shall claim this right through the European Union," said Doretta Peppa, the high priestess, who led the prayers next to the 15 remaining columns of the temple.

The move is bound to aggravate the highly conservative Greek Orthodox church, which strongly disapproves of what it regards as paganism.

First service

"They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past," said Father Efstathios Kollas, the President of Greek Clergymen.

Hundreds of followers of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Artemis, Aphrodite and Hermes stood in a circle, a mile from the Acropolis, in what was the first official religious service allowed in the grounds of an Ancient Greek temple.

Previous rites have been performed covertly, but the culture ministry was obliged to grant permission for the event after a court last year legitimised the religion, which was eclipsed 1600 years ago by Christianity.

High Priestess Doretta Peppa
Doretta Peppa led the prayers around the temple

"I feel very emotional," said Ms Peppa, a writer. "We have been persecuted for 16-and-a-half centuries but now we are here. This is our human right. And we shall carry on worshipping at our temples. They have now been put to proper use.

"This is as important to us, as prayers are for Muslims, Christians or Hindus," said Apollonius, a former taverna owner from Melbourne, Australia.

He abandoned the Church for the 12 Gods, because 'they make me feel whole, they make me feel part of the universe."

Ancient ceremony

Ms Peppa said she turned to the ancient religion because she could not countenance the concept of just one God outside the world.

Her co-religionists believe that the Olympian gods exist in the world and control various elements of nature.

For example, Poseidon is the God of the Sea; Hera, the Goddess of Marriage; and Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Romance.

Believe Apollonius at the temple
Apollonius abandoned Christianity for the 12 Gods

The ceremony was an attempt to emulate those carried out in Athens in the 4th Century BC, when the Greeks were preparing for the games at Olympia.

Believers dressed as ancient warriors left their spears, swords and shields at the entrance before entering the Temple.

This was supposed to represent the truce between warring states that took place during the games.

And it was a symbolic message sent to the rest of the world calling for peace in 2008 when the Olympic Games takes place in Beijing.


If we really want to say that we are democratic and we have freedom, then we have to be allowed to practice our religion."
12 Gods follower "Artemis"

The international publicity surrounding the Temple of Zeus ceremony may galvanise the all-powerful Orthodox Church to step up its opposition.

But one of the participants has appealed for tolerance.

Wearing a crown of daisies and a flowing white gown, a red haired woman who identified herself only as Artemis said: "This is the land which has given birth to freedom and democracy. If we really want to say that we are democratic and we have freedom, then we have to be allowed to practice our religion."

www.bbcnews.com [bbcnews.com]

Somebody is crazy - and is being led by the evil spirits. It would be well to reflect on the sad career of Julian the Apostate.

At the same time it would also be well to reflect upon the foolishness of the modern Greek state, which deliberately soft-pedals the Byzantine (Christian) inheritance to claim that "Hellenic" tradition. With that going on for nearly 200 years, it is no wonder that some loonies want to revive the Olympian gods, or the Eleusinian mysteries, or start holding taurobolia again.

Fr. Serge

ANATHAMA to them!

Dear Fr. Serge,

You are definitely right about how promoting the 'Hellenic' spirit may have contributed to this 'enlightened Ancient Greek' madness.

I can only imagine that poor Archbishop Christodoulos, whom I have much love and respect for, must be having a coronary over this. I expect fireworks between him and the Greek state to erupt soon. May our Lord be with him, as now the spiritual warfare between secularism/materialism and Christianity in Greece will have an unfortunate added dimension.

Kyrie Eleison!

In Christ,
Alice

He abandoned the Church for the 12 Gods, because 'they make me feel whole, they make me feel part of the universe."

Now there is a good reason to leave the faith, for an emotion of closure. We all know Truth depends on our moods and our inadequacies.

I've heard of this happening in Greece before, do they really think that Zeus is real?

This reminds me of the "druids," "wiccans," and followers of the teutonic myths. They have no connection to the deluded pagans of the past whatsoever. They are inventing the worship styles as they were never written down and discontinued over 1000 years ago or more. Absolutely moronic!

Zenovia,

That reminds me of the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who insisted that everything was invented by the Greeks!

Alexandr says everything was invented by the Russians!

The Chinese also say that they were the ones who invented everything!

ooh ooh I know! I know!
I know who created everything...
He is called:
Father, Son, & Holy Spirit
Bet they don't know Him.

http://www.ldolphin.org/Names.html

To be fair, I wrote invented, not created.

But your link was cool. I wish the Greek words were written in the Greek Alphabet though.

Here's the link to Yahoo's AP link on this Greek Pagan stuff [news.yahoo.com]
The thing is, how do you bring back practices that are 1600 years old plus? Answer, you probably can't, so I have no idea why these people claim they are basically the same and linked to the ancient pagans. I guess if Greece allows a mosque to be built, they'll allow people to dress up in tunics and chant to zeus.

Dear Orthodox Pyrohy,

To be fair about the mosque, please understand that in the heart of hearts of every Greek, a mosque is probably the most reprehensible thing they could build on their soil..a soil that suffered for four hundred years under the Ottoman yoke.

On the other hand, being in the EU means abiding by their spirit of freedom of religion, and as there are Muslim immigrants in Greece now, the Greek government is building them a place of worship. This gesture is one of good will.

Do most Muslim countries reciprocate? NO! However, they are not in the EU. That is probably also one of the main reasons that Turkey will never make it into the EU. Perhaps one day, the example of others might just enlighten Muslim countries to the spirit of respect for other religions...something which the Pope has been trying to emphasize recently in his communications with Turkey.

As for the twelve gods, well, that is nothing more than pure, unadulterated NONSENSE. These 'gods' (or shall I say--demons) are alive and well anyway, and don't need to be resurrected in the form of ancient dieties.

Alice

I'm not concerned about these supposed "neo-pagans," trying to restore ancient paganism. It will never work beyond a handful of enthusiasts, eccentrics and true believers.

I am far more concerned about the real new pagans: the secularists. They number in the hundreds of millions, and they are one of the greatest threats to human civilization and to Christianity.

-- John

Zeus on the loose!

Amen, John!

Although it is a shame when your religion is an archeological dig...

Gordo