This is my humble try of an hymn to all the Gods, though many are
certainly left out. I wrote this for the last Noumenia and plan on reading it every Noumenia. I wrote this
originally in Portuguese and I am not very good at translating prose,
so the language may sound a little awkward. (I do this ritual as a
dromena of
Neokoroi)
A new month begins and we, the neokoroi, again join to worship the
immortal Gods and request their aid in re-establishing their cult.
Hear, athanatoi, while I praise you and sing of you in this new month,
after cleaning your shrines and lighting the perfumed incense in your
honour.
First
Hestia, Goddess of the hearth so calm and gentle, the One who comforts
us, always the first, always the last, as the law commands, may your
fires burn once again in lovely temples inside each of us and outside
as well.
Then Apollon, the God to whom I sing and
whom I praise with greatest enthusiasm, the Lord, guide of light in the
darkness, with his bow of fair heart-calming music he soothes the
thunder and with his lyre of lethal arrows the God tremble before him,
may your oracles guide us once more and help us, may our actions fit
the words you inspire in an ever-flowing stream.
And
then Selene the Moon, who now slowly unveils her face and greets us,
mere mortals, again with her silvery beauty, the Goddess for whom the
shepherds’ heart long as they gaze the starry sky, the one who stands
among the stars, may you look down and see us, your worshipers, once
more singing and celebrating the Immortal Ones.
And
to the Agathos Daimon as well, the gorgeous heavenly spirit, may you
possess us always, may our actions be righteous reflexes of your
guidelines and mirrored images of your unspeakable brothers, great
serpent and youth of the vine.
And now, Muses of
fair braids and crowned with violets, maidens of infinite art, lend me
a piece of your grace to honour all the Gods, and may my words please
the voice no man can resist as well.
So I sing of
the Olympians, father Zeus who rules all: Zeus that was, Zeus that is,
Zeus who will be, Zeus who is all, Zeus who is nothing, the voice of
thunder and wind; and Hera of the divine throne, whose beauty entrances
even the most powerful of Gods, perfect, Teleia, heavenly bride who
guides us with the strength of your spirit; and to Poseidon too, who
rules the seas and also the fertility of the land, shaker of the earth
with his feared trident, ancient and venerable God; and Demeter, sister
of Zeus, of golden hair like the cereals, the one who feeds us with
care, eternal mother for us, even after such great sufferings her heart
bearded. May the brothers and sister I already sang of and also the
other, the terrible, the unseen, the venerable Hades, Lord who rules
over our souls for ever, help us and be please with the offerings we
offer with our heart, may their temples again be filled with perfume
and the sweet taste of everflowing libations.
And
also Aphrodite is a righteous Olympian, Goddess who amazes mortals and
immortals alike, with an irresistible smile, whose web of Eros, her
winged son, no one can oppose, feared and love with an equal measure is
this pair. To she who walks with the Kharites, powerful Goddesses who
decide what a man shall have and shall not, beauty, wisdom, character;
and to all her power we sing.
And Hephaistos, noble
artisan, a God who does not refuse work or arts, lord of the anvil who
teaches to persist and to labour, great immortal who is in Olympus by
merit and not just by birth, as is common and right to such superior
beings, great artisan of lovely arts, may our rude craft please you.
And
Ares too, who bears so much, tough God and teacher for Man, may we
understand the valour of strife and bravery, give us strength to stand
steady and face all obstacles. Keep Eris by your side, ride Phobos and
Deimos away from us, so that you may enjoy with them our songs.
And
Artemis, Goddess so charming as she dances and laughs through the
mountains, and the beautiful Nymphs who dance with her, all spirits of
Nature and the Great mother Gaia, all of them we worship and with all
of the the Great Artemis rejoice, a terrible Goddess of love and agony,
nurturing Goddess of children and brides, may your vitality inspire us
and may we be free to worship you! And to Leto as well, you mother and
of the divine Phoebus, we worship in our heats.
Athena
too, of the sparkling eyes shining in the night, who whispers wise
advices at her heroes hears, Goddess who weaves strategies like no one
and with tools relieves our labours, may you guide us, the neokoroi,
with words of wisdom and divine counsel.
And the
blissful Dionysus who worship, God of enthousiasmos who allows us to
understand a tinny spot of the immortal aspect, who dances with his
satyrs and maenads, great is our wonder and our heart burns with praise
when the divine pompé walks by, crown with the God of ivy, may rivers
of wine flow in your honour once more and our minds become obscure and
our spirits filled with divine ecstasy. And may our heart sing of your
mother Semele and your lovely Ariadne.
And to
Hermes, winged God swift as no other, great Angelos and guide, may your
messages reach us loud and clear and may you guide us in the way of the
neokoros, you who guide even the dead, who transpose all we thought
unbreakable, who shake the world and give all that is dynamic, and to
your great mother Maia.
And also to those who
inhabit the dark ends of the world, their king the horrifying Hades,
their queen the awful Persephone for whom our hearts rejoice in spring
and mourn in winter, Goddess of great forgiving heart, and also to the
Styx, great oath of the Gods, Kharon, to whom we own a dark trip, and
to all the beings I dare not name. To all of you I praise and also to
Hekate, endowed with power over all that exists in our material world,
who commands the skies, the earth and the seas with magic of her unseen
hand, triple Goddess of road crosses and night.
And
those deities that rejoice in the Earth, the Nymphs and the Satyrs,
also Eos who shreds the mists, pink Goddess who loves her brother
Helios, of the golden chariot, whom brings Hemera and carries Hiperion,
great Gods whom we love. And to all the rivers and seas, all the
mountains and trees, the caves that hide beneath the earth, the springs
and wells, the lakes, clouds, stars, the rain and the land, prairies,
swamps, oceans, the frozen fields of the peaks, the hills and cliffs,
beaches and deserts and all that is and was I praise. And to Pan with
his flute, who rejoices in fields with herds running in panic, and the
Anemoi who always run.
And to Themis, divine order
whom all weights and pounders; and her daugheters, the Horai, Goddess
of the just and righteous measurem, Eunomia, who does all in the right
order, Eirine, of whom we sing hymns and to whom we praise, and Dike,
whom so many offend; but Zeus lets no man offend the daughters of
Themis for long, harshly punishing any who does. And to Metis, eternal
wisdom, Thetys, a name of water, leader of the Nereids and also Tethys,
source of water. And surely to the great Ocean who embraces all.
And
to the Moiroi who impose the limits and weave endlessly, to Nemesis who
is terrible to the enemies of the divine order, as well as to the
Eumenids, whom the wrong-doer fears greatly. To Nix, the awful night
without end, to Khronos, who eats all and has no mercy, to Tartarus,
dark place of the great offenders. To Ananke of whom none escapes we
also praise, and to Khaos, who was first.
And also
to Rhea, great Mother, Ouranos, father Sky, and to Kybele, to the
Titans favoured by the immortal one and to those that, yet inferior to
the Gods, are terribly superior to the strongest of Man. To the
Kabeiroi, the Koribants, Kouretes, Dione, Bendis, Zagreus, to all the
beings that are companions of the Gods, to Hebe, who serves the divine
nectar, to Iris, who carries their messages, blissful bridge from
heaven to hearth, Eileithya for whom the women yell, to Priapos, who
suffers a curse and still blesses us, to Prometheus, who endured a
great pain and nurtures us, to Nike, the sweet victory, may all Gods
and Goddesses be pleased and bless us.
And also to
Tyche, whose power is great, the Goddess who decides what each man and
woman will have and not have, the Goddess who gives and takes away,
great is the power Zeus gifted you and great are our praises.
And
to the Gods who already experience our mortal suffering, my dear
Asklepios, great father of Medicine who relieves the terrible pain, may
you teach us and bring with you your lovely daughter Hygia; to
Herakles, great inspiration to us all, you who bearded so much and
gained the hug and breast of Hera, whom taught you in the harshest way;
to the protecting Dioscuroi, their sister, the fair Helen, Ganymedes
who was taken, Adonis who was loved, and also to all heroes of all the
world, to the dead ones – to all of them, ancestral creators of what we
are today.
May I delight all the divine beings, and
also those I didn’t mentioned, hoping not to offend any of you and
hoping to have pleased you.
And again I praise you,
maidens of violet braids, with lyres and arts, and to your mother
Mnemosine, I praise and thank you for inspiring me in this hymn to the
Gods!
And, as is fit, again of Hestia, the first and the last, I sing.
