How To Become a Priest in Hellenism

The priesthood in ancient Greece was a complicated affair, with numerous terms for practitioners of the divine throughout ancient times. Trying to compare those positions to the connotations of the word priest today is riddled with latent Christianity. So, how should the modern priesthood work? Let's have a conversation.

Special thanks to JACandQuill for the Channel Emotes!

[kaiyotethewanderer]

ngl, I always just accepted that "priests" were a thing in various pagan traditions and relatively similar to their Christian counterparts.

This is what I get for getting most of my ancient Greek pagan knowledge from Assassin's Creed I guess

excellent video, and good to have you back

[alexbrown]

Welcome back!
Personally, I believe pure reconstructionism isn't viable. Gaps need to be filled in for missing information(See the Elusinian Mysteries), and modern society just doesn't work the old ways. Spiritual leadership and guidance are part of the recognition of clergy, and, while marriage and funerary rites were conducted by families in ancient Greece, they are now centerpieces of the responsibilities of any religious group. I feel that, no matter what one personally believes, this is the direction things will go.

[DrDino]

I debate on rather I want to be a priest or not in my personal spiritual practice but clearly there is a lot of things that I need to think about and got reminded from watching this video.

And glad to see you back Aliakai! Much love and hope you are doing well!

[michellemackay]

These are questions I don't think the community has answers for, but I'd like to see how things progress in the future. What will priesthood look like in modern Hellenismos?

[IkedaHakubi]

I recommend whatever model the YSEE doesn't like.

[alexcypher]

What I get out of this is that, instead of "priests" as we familiarly understand them, the Hellenic religion featured a number of different religious professions that all had different functions defined around communication with the divine and the functions of the community.

[Sparkbomber]

Another wonderful video full of information. Definitely needed too as indeed the word priest does not really fit. Don't sweat things though, a good video is worth waiting on.

[sassafras_rl]

I just woke up from what I would call a very spiritual dream. So I’m coming here in hopes to find answers. Me and friends were watching tv and then someone comes in to tell us that we shouldn’t be here. I walked to the door confused to why we shouldn’t be there and very confidently opening the door (very much in a “yeah right”, I’m asking for it kinda thing). Suddenly a cold chill surrounds me and engulf me. The me inside the dream and me outside the dream are one as my eyes and body swirl like in a washing machine on cold. that is where the dream ends. The weird thing imo is that I wasn't really scared in the way one would expect, , Well obviously I was scared bc im only human but I knew that whatever spirit consumed me had a reason for it and was trying to tell me something. It was definitely the most vivid dream I’ve ever had. I’ve done some research on paganism but not much. The most I know about paganism is about Hellenism bc of watching ur videos. But I was wondering if y'all might know what occult pagan religions or really any pagan religions which deal with ghosts and spirits and such. Don’t know if I’m quite in the right place for this but oh well. Anyway I love ur videos keep up the great work!

[mbyrd]

Very glad to see you back! I hope the construction ends quickly and to your satisfaction.

[aliasalone]

I would say that when people describe you as a priestess they purely do mean “Teacher” which I think is rather fitting! You help so much of us Hellenic or not find a deeper connection with our gods, and help us feel more connected to the gods and our community! But I 100% understand why you wouldn’t want that label or the implications that come with it.

[mattgerlach]

Such an important discussion.

It's going to take our spiritual communities a lot of conversation, prayer, experimentation, and time to work out what forms of religious specialists we want and need.

I'm really looking forward to your videos on Greek religious specialists. I read "The Seer in Ancient Greece" by Michael Flower a few years ago and it's nice being able to be like, "Wait, that name's familiar!"

[zenith]

Very late here, but big thanks. I'm currently doing some last-minute research for my D&D campaign about to run in a very loose analogy to the Aegean Sea and associated regions and this has been very useful for some grounding on local religious practices and structure - or lack thereof! Still, it's a great time to have resources like this. Deep thanks!

[jtztbassman]

I have done some divinatory work in the past, without seeking compensation; because those occasions didn't call for such.
As for the main question: the polytheistic community can stand to benefit from respected teachers, ceremonial leaders, and perhaps some folks specializing in divination; whereby all work toward the betterment of the community.

[ardhanarisvara]

I think the issue with priesthood is that Hellenic paganism varied from place to place. How worship was done in Thrace was different from Lesbos. Different gods were favored depending on the location and thus had different festivals that were important. Worship depended greatly on which cult you were in. Just look at all of the different ways Aphrodite was viewed between locations and time periods. A cult of Dionysus would be a bit different in methods of worship than a cult of Persephone. Even philosophers couldn't agree on the Divine. So there is no universal view of Hellenism that would work for creating a priesthood in modern day.

[EFJoKeR]

Great video. Very educational. Thanks for making this video. ;)

[christianstout]

I believe the answer is Both. Blend both together as any religious or spiritual clergy can adhere to the present political needs while also holding different office and skill within their own clergy to divine or speak for the will of the Gods. I myself, as of late, have felt the call to become a "priest" for one of the Hellenic Gods. A pull of which comes through dreams and a gut feeling, through which my own divinations have seem to lean credit towards. Yet, I have much study and more to do.

[adamdiner]

I always thought of the use of the word "priest" in translations was done due to a lack for a better word and an identifiable/generally known word for audiences to get a general understanding. Regarding being done in the modern way, I would go for as close to the original as possible, but with some modifications for the modern setting to avoid as much controversy as possible such as in the case of blood sacrifices. Then again, this is the age where a person can feel insulted just by somebody sneezing (exaggeration). As for government approval, I don't have high hopes regardless of what is done. Thank you for presenting the distinctions of these religious positions.

[AlexanderSy]

This life-long discussion about which is better for individuals and communities, a centralised vs a de-centralised forms of spiritual and/or political institution, has been a discussion I've meandered along for a time. I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on this dichotomy.

[doktordanomite]

Good video, maybe the modern priest would make more sense if we had more fixed places of worship, but as it is the individualist model certainly works for me

[joenathan]

What I really want to know is synchronization in hellenism(like anubis being associated with hades and put together into a single deity)