Pagan Deities and Occult Themes
Greek and Roman religion is often conflated as “classical religion” because of the similarities between the Greek and Roman gods. Many people describe them as the same god, with a Greek and a Latin name. But this is an oversimplification. The Greeks and Romans had a shared cultural heritage as Indo-European speakers, but the Greek... Continue Reading →
Janus stands out among the Roman gods as one of the few who do not appear to have Greek roots or an equivalent in the Greek pantheon. Janus is a complex god associated with beginnings, endings, and transformations, and as an extension of that, physical gateways. The ancient Romans believed that he controlled the gateway... Continue Reading →
In Greek mythology, the Telchines were the offspring of the primordial beings, probably born on the island of Rhodes, and in control of powerful magic. They initially used their magic to help the gods, creating magical weapons such as the scythe of Cronus and the trident of Poseidon. As their knowledge grew, they sought to... Continue Reading →
Aradia is a powerful goddess sent to earth to teach witchcraft in Charles Godfrey Leland’s 1899 book, “Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.” Leland claimed that this was a genuine religious text used by pagan witches in Tuscany, which he later edited and published. Others support his claim, suggesting that she can be identified... Continue Reading →
When Julius Caesar rose to a position of such power in the Roman Republic that he could be declared dictator perpetuo (dictator for life), he was the king in Rome in all but name. But when people suggested he become rex, this resulted in backlash, as the Romans had hated kings since they expelled them... Continue Reading →
The Arval Brothers were a Roman state college of 12 priests traditionally responsible for the cult of Dea Dia, a goddess of fertility and growth sometimes identified with Ceres, at her sacred grove on the Via Campania. By the late republic, the priesthood had dwindled in importance, but was rejuvenated by Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE),... Continue Reading →
The Greek Magical Papyri are a body of papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt - mostly written in Greek but also Old Coptic and Demotic – that record magical spells from the era, dating from the 100s BCE to the 400s CE. They were not brought together as a collection of works in ancient times, but rather... Continue Reading →
The Roman practice of augury was central to the religion of the Roman state, used to understand the will of divine and influence decision making processes. Far from being mere superstition, augury was a sophisticated system of interpreting omens, primarily from the behavior of birds, to discern the gods' approval or disapproval of proposed actions.... Continue Reading →
Apollo is one of the most complex gods in the Greek pantheon, associated with the sun, healing, and oracular prophecies, as well as dance, music, and poetry. He plays an active role in classical Greek mythology, cast as the protagonist in some of its most interesting stories. His worship also extended far beyond the Hellenic... Continue Reading →
The constellations that we use in modern Western astrology come from ancient Greece. They believed that the stars were hung in the sky by the gods, and some of the different constellations had specific mythologies. This is what the ancient Greeks thought were the origins of the 12 signs of the zodiac. Aries, also known... Continue Reading →