1 - 6 of 6 Posts

amygdalE

Active member
In many parts of the world many people or magicians attempted to avert evil by either using amulets or uttering commanding dispelling words. In my native town (founded by Italic Greeks [Throurioi] in 204 B.C., in southern Italy, as I mentioned before) there is a magical spell , which I learned there before moving to New York, but it is in corrupt Latin form, while the local dialect is a bundle of Greek, corrupt Latin, and corrupt Italian words. Its contents make me suppose that it is a late version of a Greek spell:
"uottu e nove, fore mal'uocchiu" literally = "eight and nine, outside/away [be] the evil eye".
Fore = Latin Fore
Mal'uocchiu = male uocchiu < Lat. Malis/Male + Oculus
8 e 9 mean nothing to me, but I have an hypothesis: those words are an invocation to the 8 Chthonic gods and the 9 Celestial or Olympian gods -- not so classified by Hesiod, but probably by Dorians.
The Celestial gods would be , as in the oldest myths, Ouranos and Gaia, plus, from later myths, Selene or Artemis, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, Chronos, Helios or the Solar Apollo. The Chthonic [terrestrial and underground] gods would be Hades, Poseidon [of fresh and salty waters], the triple-goddess
Hekate [originally the One Below, Khthonie herself; Hekate Phosphoros in Hades; but also identified with Selene/Artemis], the Chthonic Apollon or [Thessalian] Haplos, and two others: Demeter, the mother of grain vegetation, personified as Kore, and Kore, who after Hades' abduction, was identified with Persephone.
So it seems.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ChildOfHades91189
In many parts of the world many people or magicians attempted to avert evil by either using amulets or uttering commanding dispelling words. In my native town (founded by Italic Greeks [Throurioi] in 204 B.C., in southern Italy, as I mentioned before) there is a magical spell , which I learned there before moving to New York, but it is in corrupt Latin form, while the local dialect is a bundle of Greek, corrupt Latin, and corrupt Italian words. Its contents make me suppose that it is a late version of a Greek spell:
"uottu e nove, fore mal'uocchiu" literally = "eight and nine, outside/away [be] the evil eye".
Fore = Latin Fore
Mal'uocchiu = male uocchiu < Lat. Malis/Male + Oculus
8 e 9 mean nothing to me, but I have an hypothesis: those words are an invocation to the 8 Chthonic gods and the 9 Celestial or Olympian gods -- not so classified by Hesiod, but probably by Dorians.
The Celestial gods would be , as in the oldest myths, Ouranos and Gaia, plus, from later myths, Selene or Artemis, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, Chronos, Helios or the Solar Apollo. The Chthonic [terrestrial and underground] gods would be Hades, Poseidon [of fresh and salty waters], the triple-goddess
Hekate [originally the One Below, Khthonie herself; Hekate Phosphoros in Hades; but also identified with Selene/Artemis], the Chthonic Apollon or [Thessalian] Haplos, and two others: Demeter, the mother of grain vegetation, personified as Kore, and Kore, who after Hades' abduction, was identified with Persephone.
So it seems.
ANCIENT GREEK MAGIC, WITCHCRAFT, SPELLS AND CURSES
 
Last edited:
In many parts of the world many people or magicians attempted to avert evil by either using amulets or uttering commanding dispelling words. In my native town (founded by Italic Greeks [Throurioi] in 204 B.C., in southern Italy, as I mentioned before) there is a magical spell , which I learned there before moving to New York, but it is in corrupt Latin form, while the local dialect is a bundle of Greek, corrupt Latin, and corrupt Italian words. Its contents make me suppose that it is a late version of a Greek spell:
"uottu e nove, fore mal'uocchiu" literally = "eight and nine, outside/away [be] the evil eye".
Fore = Latin Fore
Mal'uocchiu = male uocchiu < Lat. Malis/Male + Oculus
8 e 9 mean nothing to me, but I have an hypothesis: those words are an invocation to the 8 Chthonic gods and the 9 Celestial or Olympian gods -- not so classified by Hesiod, but probably by Dorians.
The Celestial gods would be , as in the oldest myths, Ouranos and Gaia, plus, from later myths, Selene or Artemis, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, Chronos, Helios or the Solar Apollo. The Chthonic [terrestrial and underground] gods would be Hades, Poseidon [of fresh and salty waters], the triple-goddess
Hekate [originally the One Below, Khthonie herself; Hekate Phosphoros in Hades; but also identified with Selene/Artemis], the Chthonic Apollon or [Thessalian] Haplos, and two others: Demeter, the mother of grain vegetation, personified as Kore, and Kore, who after Hades' abduction, was identified with Persephone.
So it seems.
I haven't found anything about "eight and nine", but some Ancient Greek lexicons refer to Nine [Ennea] as a sacred number, which was used in connection with the Nine Judges [of some unspecified Supreme Court], the Nine Muses, etc. I still think that originally Nine was the count of the aforementioned celestial gods, a sacred number.
 
I haven't found anything about "eight and nine", but some Ancient Greek lexicons refer to Nine [Ennea] as a sacred number, which was used in connection with the Nine Judges [of some unspecified Supreme Court], the Nine Muses, etc. I still think that originally Nine was the count of the aforementioned celestial gods, a sacred number.
I still maintain this, but the sacredness of NINE was undoubtedly known also from other contexts, which are mentioned in various lexicons. In fact, I have figured out that the "nine judges" must be the nine archons instituted in many city-states after the middle of the 7th century B.C. They were magistrates who assumed the functions of former kings: religious, military, and JUDICIAL. // {When Thourioi in South Italy was repopulated by Hellenes sent by Pericles, the sophist Protagoras was put in charge of the political [city-] organization. The New Thourioi, my native town, undoubtedly inherited the gods and the political organization of the ancestral Thourioi... and the linguistic sacred Nine.}
 
I still maintain this, but the sacredness of NINE was undoubtedly known also from other contexts, which are mentioned in various lexicons. In fact, I have figured out that the "nine judges" must be the nine archons instituted in many city-states after the middle of the 7th century B.C. They were magistrates who assumed the functions of former kings: religious, military, and JUDICIAL. // {When Thourioi in South Italy was repopulated by Hellenes sent by Pericles, the sophist Protagoras was put in charge of the political [city-] organization. The New Thourioi, my native town, undoubtedly inherited the gods and the political organization of the ancestral Thourioi... and the linguistic sacred Nine.}
In my online searches, I found out that EIGHT is a sacred or powerful number, in many cultures. For instance, China had the eight Immortals, but not much information about the ancient Greek culture, except for the fact that 8 as a symbol of harmony, prosperity, etc., was associated with Venus/Aphrodite, and the popular saying that "all things are eight". The Gnostic symbol, the 8-pointed star, was also associated with Aphrodite. // It seems that 9 had the value of an amulet, whereas 8 had the value/power of a talisman -- for the practitioners of magic.
 
In many parts of the world many people or magicians attempted to avert evil by either using amulets or uttering commanding dispelling words. In my native town (founded by Italic Greeks [Throurioi] in 204 B.C., in southern Italy, as I mentioned before) there is a magical spell , which I learned there before moving to New York, but it is in corrupt Latin form, while the local dialect is a bundle of Greek, corrupt Latin, and corrupt Italian words. Its contents make me suppose that it is a late version of a Greek spell:
"uottu e nove, fore mal'uocchiu" literally = "eight and nine, outside/away [be] the evil eye".
Fore = Latin Fore
Mal'uocchiu = male uocchiu < Lat. Malis/Male + Oculus
8 e 9 mean nothing to me, but I have an hypothesis: those words are an invocation to the 8 Chthonic gods and the 9 Celestial or Olympian gods -- not so classified by Hesiod, but probably by Dorians.
The Celestial gods would be , as in the oldest myths, Ouranos and Gaia, plus, from later myths, Selene or Artemis, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, Chronos, Helios or the Solar Apollo. The Chthonic [terrestrial and underground] gods would be Hades, Poseidon [of fresh and salty waters], the triple-goddess
Hekate [originally the One Below, Khthonie herself; Hekate Phosphoros in Hades; but also identified with Selene/Artemis], the Chthonic Apollon or [Thessalian] Haplos, and two others: Demeter, the mother of grain vegetation, personified as Kore, and Kore, who after Hades' abduction, was identified with Persephone.
So it seems.
On reading the Wikipedia article about Magic, I learned that Agrippa , a German Renaissance man, wrote about many kinds of magicians and of magic, such as those we now call illusionists (doing tricks with playing cards, etc.), astrologers, sorcerers, "philosophers of nature" who make inferences about God from their observations of nature, etc. Interestingly, the magicians pray to, or invoke, gods or spirits for assistance. Thus, there is a discourse about the spirits: The Hebrew spirits (angels and archangels) are not to be confused with the "Olympian Spirits", namely the Greek Gods. The number of these Gods that are invoked in magic may be 12 or 7 or 14. I haven't seen any listing of 9 Olympian gods, who, at any rate, are always a mixture of what I called Celestial Gods and Chthonic Gods. The only "8 and 9" magic act or trick is about an 8-card and a 9-card of the same color, which have nothing to do with Spirits. // All in all, this article suggests that my hypothesis about the invoked gods is historically plausible.
 

About My Favorite Greek Goddess Aphrodite

I have been researching Aphrodite, one of my favorite goddesses. I put this together based on my research.

Aphrodite was the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. She was regarded as the most beautiful and desired goddess in all of Greek mythology. (I think that might be why she fascinates me!)

Aphrodite's origin story is interesting. It's said that she was born from the sea foam created when the Titan Cronus cut off the genitals of his father Ouranos. She was the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality, with her appearance at times described as pure beauty itself. She is often depicted with a flowing garment that barely covers her curves, and barefooted standing on a pedestal, highlighting her goddess-like beauty.

According to Greek legends, Aphrodite fell in love with many gods, mortals, and even animals, which often resulted in chaotic and tragic events. It is said that she helped cause the Trojan War by causing the love triangle between Paris, the Prince of Troy, and Helen, who was the wife of the Menelaus of Sparta. The story proved her power's influence and the chaos that follows her love.

Aphrodite was also a patron of love and marriage, and apparently married to the god Hephaestus, who fell in love with her beauty alongside all the Greek gods. This marriage was a politically motivated decision of Hera, whose husband Zeus had numerous affairs and that caused constant jealousy between their married life. Needless to say, Aphrodite was having none of it, with her notable lovers being Ares, Adonis, and Anchises.

Aphrodite's influence can be seen even today with countless works of art inspired by her beauty. That is why I love lear about her. She seemed to embody the feminine spirit.

goddess-aphrodite.jpg

Thesmorphia - Ancient Greek Thanksgiving Festival

I have heard this festival described as an "Ancient Greek Thanksgiving" so I thought I would look it up. Very interesting! I don't see the "Thanksgiving" connection (not the way we in the US think of it) but I thought it was interesting because it goes to show you that gratitude-related festivals are an ancient concept. And it is a harvest festival, just like our US Thanksgiving is...

Some information I have gathered:

The Thesmorphia festival was celebrated on the 11th of Pyanepsion, which corresponds to late October or early November in the modern Gregorian calendar. The festival was a three-day affair, and it was observed mainly by women. During the festival, women were not allowed to sleep with their husbands, and purification rituals were performed at the temples of Demeter and Persephone. On the first day, the first fruits of the harvest were offered to Demeter, and a feast was held in her honor. On the second day, a procession was held, and women walked around the fields carrying torches, symbolizing the power of Demeter. The third day was a joyous celebration, and the remnants of the feast were donated to the poor.

The Thesmorphia festival was significant for many reasons. Firstly, it celebrated the end of the harvesting season, and it was a time to give thanks for a good crop. The festival was also a time for women to come together, and it was an opportunity for them to assert their power and influence in the society. Women played a significant role in the festival, and they were responsible for the preparation of the feast and various other aspects of the festival.

The festival was also significant in terms of its religious and mythological significance. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture, and Persephone was her young daughter, who was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the underworld. The story of Persephone reflects the cycle of life, death, and resurrection. The festival of Thesmorphia was an opportunity to honor these two goddesses and their mythology, which highlighted the importance of the harvest and the cycle of life.

Another reason why the Thesmorphia festival was significant was that it was a time for the community to come together and celebrate. The feast was an opportunity to share food, drink, and stories and build camaraderie amongst members of the community. During the festival, people forgot their differences and came together to celebrate the bounty of the harvest.

Sad and Interesting Story of Prometheus

I find the story of Prometheseus to be sad and interesting and I wanted to share. Yes, I like to study Greek mythology - I find it so fascinating!

Prometheus, a Titan in Greek mythology, occupies a unique space in the pantheon of myths due to his intelligence and his profound impact on human civilization. His tale is one marked by valor, insubordination, and enduring punishment, a narrative that has fascinated scholars and enthusiasts for ages.

Prometheus, whose name aptly means "forethought", was known for his wisdom and for being a champion of mankind. Unwilling to see humans suffer, he committed a daring act of defiance against Zeus, the king of the gods, which would forever alter the course of human history.

The most famous aspect of Prometheus’ story involves him stealing fire from the gods and gifting it to humanity. Fire, in Greek mythology, represents more than just a means to warm food or fend off the darkness; it symbolizes knowledge, technology, and enlightenment—tools that would empower humanity to shape their world, for better or worse.

Zeus, infuriated by Prometheus' transgression, sentenced him to a severe and enduring punishment. Prometheus was bound to a rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, was sent to eat his liver, which would then regrow overnight, only for the torment to repeat ad infinitum. It was an eternal punishment for a being who, in many accounts, acted out of compassion and foresight.

I find it sad that he did something so beneficial to humanity but then got punished for it.

Mythological Roots of the Olympic Games

I've recently found myself deeply fascinated with how ancient myths and legends have influenced modern traditions and events, particularly those with a global following. Among these, the Olympic Games stand out as a prime example of ancient traditions influencing contemporary world culture. I'm eager to learn more about the mythological roots of the Olympic Games and thought this would be the perfect community to turn to for insights.

From what I understand, the origins of the Olympics are deeply intertwined with Greek mythology. The games were held in Olympia, a sanctuary site for Greek gods, and featured various competitions and rituals dedicated to Zeus, the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion. However, my knowledge of how these mythological aspects directly influenced the establishment and evolution of the Olympic Games feels quite superficial.

Hestia Greek Goddess Information

We don't talk about Hestia much... but I just remembered that my yiayia did! I wondered why, so I researched her. Here is what I found... I think it has something to do with the fact that she was a housewife and she loved her family.. Looking at what she represents, it kind of makes sense. Here's what I found about her:

The Greek goddess Hestia was revered as the goddess of the hearth and home. In ancient Greek mythology, she was known to be a benevolent deity, who brought warmth and comfort to the home. Through her presence, she blessed the family and provided them with a sense of safety and security.

Hestia was the first-born child of Cronus and Rhea, and she was the sister of other Olympian gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Unlike her brothers and sisters, she did not engage in any power struggles or battles. She preferred to remain neutral and instead focused her attention on her household duties. Hestia was considered one of the most important deities, as the hearth represented the heart of the home. People would light a fire in her honor and worship her by placing offerings of food and drink on their hearth.

In ancient Greek culture, a hearth was often considered the most important part of the home. It was where food was cooked, and family members gathered to eat, share stories, and bond. Hestia's role in domestic life was crucial, and she was responsible for creating the warmth and sense of security felt within the home. Her presence was believed to bring good luck and happiness to the family.
Share and discuss Greek mythology!

WorldwideGreeks.com is a free online forum community where people can discuss Greek food, travel, traditions, history and mythology.
Join Worldwide Greeks here!

JOIN COMMUNITY FOR FREE

LOGIN TO YOUR ACCOUNT
Back
Top