Khaire. Salve. Hello.
This is Leonidas. I am a Pagan Priest.
More specifically, I am a Priest of Artemis in Her Kretan guise. However, I have always felt a close connection to Diana and Artemis since I was a child. I found Greek and Roman mythology and my later research into ancient religions more real and inspiring than the Bible that I was taught about being raised as an Italian Catholic. I would feel Her presence deep in the woods. Often I would find stray dogs and return them to their owners. It seems that She guided them to me, knowing I would help. Under the full moon, I would sneak over to the front garden of a neighbor who had a stone statue of Diana with her bow, quiver, and companion hound. Her face seemed to respond to my prayers under the soft glow of the lunar light. I was always aware of the influence and lessons of the Huntress. I would also travel up to a hill in the forest to an oak tree that had been struck by lightning. There, I would leave offerings and pray to Artemis, Apollo, and Zeus, as well as to the Nymphs and Nature Spirits. Growing up just next to Salem, Massachusetts I was also introduced to the idea of Witchcraft as a living, breathing religion. One of the earliest Goddesses I approached was Hekate, who at times is intimately connected to Artemis.
Over the past 30 or so years, I have explored different cultures and a variety of spiritual practices and philosophies. Although I learned much, even from a short period of spiritual inactivity, I returned to my first love. Although primarily interested in ancient Greece and the Hellenic pantheon, I was also drawn to the Gods of Rome, the Southern Italian tribes (also a place full of Greek colonies), and Sicily (with Phoenician and Egyptian influences, as well as the Greek) due to my maternal ancestry. However, my father’s side was mostly English, which I later realized would also point to a Romano-British connection. In addition, that small percentage of Abenaki (from Maine and Canada) way back in the family linked me a bit closer to the native spirits of the land. After my initiation into a Witchcraft tradition and eventual elevation to the high priesthood, I began to realize that I did not need to fit into any neat modern Pagan box.
Previous to meeting the Minoan witchpriest who initiated me and became one of my closest friends, I had been exploring both Hellenic and Roman Reconstructionism. I was well-read and had known the Gods since I was a child. However, even I felt a bit intimidated by both the impressive academic knowledge and the not-so-impressive conservative/orthodox/holier-than-thou attitudes found on various messageboards. Regardless of some great information and new perspectives I was able to take away from what I read and from some folks I befriended, neither of the groups felt very supportive of a real community or welcoming to those who did not have the right education. With a few exceptions, it felt like experience of the Gods was being blocked by a collective hubris. It felt too limiting to define myself either as a Hellenist or as a Cultor, yet I was of the understanding that the term Greco-Roman (and even Pagan) was laughable to Recons. However, I eventually met a great guy named Sannion who had helped to form Neos Alexandria, a Greco-Egyptian syncretist group. I even published verses dedicated to Artemis and Hekate respectively in two of their collections. It was refreshing to find others who realized that there are not always such clear boundaries between pantheons and that there was never such a level of orthodoxy to be found in the ancient world.
More to come…
