Hephaistos

Blessing: Hephaistos values hard work, honesty, dependability, and above all, loyalty. He is not concerned with getting the glory, but with getting the job done, and doing it well. He encourages his followers to tackle their problems with vigor and persistence, and shows them how to take rough and unpleasant things and turn them into works of beauty. He is a peacemaker, capable of seeing the many different sides of an argument. He doesn’t jump into a fray until he has carefully weighed all sides of the dilemma. But when he does, his actions are swift, decisive, and effecient. He is the patron of all civilized arts, though smiths and metalworkers are his special charges.

Epithets: Ambidexter (Skillful), Aithaloeis theos (Sooty god): Klytos (Renowned), Klytotekhnes (famed-for-craft), Amphigueeis (Doubly-lame), Polymetis (Resourceful), Khalkeus (Bronze-working), Kyllopodiôn (of crooked feet)

Equated with: Vulcan, Ptah, Khnum

Associations: forge, anvil, tongs, quail, frankincense, fire opal, aloe, red poppy, hibiscus, nettle, galbanum, olibanum

Festivals:
Katallageia (5-6 Audçnaios)
Khalkeia (last day Dios)

Ways to Honor: Work with your hands, particularly in making jewelry, smithing, or home repair projects. Support artisans and craftspeople. Support those with disabilities. Read about volcanoes and earthquakes. Visit the site of one, if you’re able. Be a peacemaker.

See also Harnessing Fire, a devotional anthology in honor of Hephaestus from Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Ancient Texts:

Excerpts from Bibliotheca Historica by Diodorus Siculus

Excerpt from Concerning Images by Porphyry

Excerpts from De Natura Deorum by Cicero

Homeric Hymn XX (To Hephaestus)

Orphic Hymn LXVI (To Hephaestus)

Modern Texts:

Cast Away by Jason Ross Inczauskis

Hephaestus by Reverend Allyson Szabo

Hephaistos’ Hammer by P Sufenas Virius Lupus

Hymn to Hephaestus I by Rebecca Buchanan