Magic and Hellenism

To really get anywhere on this topic I will first define magic. Magic to me is the ability of human beings to influence their environment through ritual or religious means. By this definition prayer is a form of magic as well as things like psyching yourself up before a big game or test.


Almost every recon I have met says that magic is hubris and they point to the story of Medea to back it up. The following is how I would back their argument.


Now then let's start off by looking at two gods within Hellenism that are often times associated with magic Hermes Trismegistus and Hekate. Hermes T (Trismegistus) did not exist within the Hellenic pantheon until after Alexander conquered Egypt. The Greeks who settled there associated Hermes with the Egyptian god of writing the moon and magic Thoth. Eventually the settlers viewed the two as the same god and thus Hermes T was born. So if you are wanting to be a Hellene and justify your use of magic with the worship of Hermes T you are wrong. Now then there are groups of Hellenes out there that worship like the ancient Alexandrians did. To do that they combine many Greek and Egyptian practices including the worship of Hermes T and the use of magic. To add even more validity to this there is historical proof backing the vast majority of their practices.


Next is Hekate who every pagan knows but few understand. She was a titan first and foremost and according to most myths a very mean one. However Zeus let Her keep a portion of the Heavens the Earth and the Seas as Her dominion. Hekate's worship in ancient Greece was very limited in scope. As a modern Hellene though the myths shouldn't be viewed literally. There were no large ornate temples to Her like there was for the Olympians. Instead people set up tiny altars to the goddess within their homes to ward of thieves. Other than that Her worship was primarily to help during pregnancy and protect the family from malicious curses. Notice the emphasis on the word protect because She never advocated the use of magic. Those out there in the pagan community who say Hekate is a goddess of magic and witchcraft are simply misinformed. There are a few myths that talk of Hekate using magic herbs to accomplish something (usually poisoning or healing) that to the ancients would have been a miracle. Today however we look at that and call it medicine and or chemistry. There are no myths where Hekate is casting a circle calling the elements and all that other jazz. Long story short since Hekate never advocated the use of magic She cannot be used to defend our use of magic.


Lastly on the recon side I will talk about hubris. Hubris is believing yourself to be a god or equal to a god. In all honesty I see a very valid argument here about modern witchcraft and it being hubris. A lot of practitioners like to say things like "I work with ____ goddess/god" or they don't include that Gods in their magic at all. This is hubris in its prime. We are not equal to the Gods like the statement "I work with ____" implies. If your magic works at all it is because a god decided to help you or at least not stop you.


The following will be my counter arguments and my personal views on magic.


I practice magic according to my definition. Your definition may be different and that's fine but here we are talking about mine. There truly is no counter argument to Hermes T and Hekate. Everything I talked about above is fact and you can't successfully challenge facts.


The hubris argument does have a counter though and it is all dependent on how you practice magic. Here is my ritual order in a nutshell:


-self purification
-sacred space established
-calling out to the Gods with prayers and titles
-listing my wants/needs
-making a promise to the Gods in return for aid
-offering something to the Gods
-disestablishment of sacred space


This is how I would practice magic or cast spells or however you want to phrase it. The things in this order that make it not hubris are #1 I call the Gods to help me #2 I leave offerings to the Gods as both a sign of humility and graciousness and #3 throughout this whole process I never solely rely on my own strength because I am not a god and if the Gods didn't want me to have _____ I wouldn't. Something else that must be remembered is that the Gods are not compelled to help you just because you give Them offerings. To think that at any point during a prayer or ritual is hubris and will undoubtedly lead to your unhappiness.
Morally I think it is okay to practice magic so long as you are humble and remember you are only getting what you want because of the Gods.