Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods: History, Insights & Magickal Practice

By Jason Mankey and Astrea Taylor

A Witch's 21-Century Guide to Making Magick with the Greek Gods

The ancient Greek gods surround us even now in our modern world. From Aphrodite to Zeus, this book reveals the origins of more than sixty deities and other mythological figures, including the Olympians, Titans, and Primordial Forces. Explore how they've been worshipped across the centuries and how you can work with them in your own practice.

You'll meet the gods one by one, exploring their history, unique correspondences, and personal insights from contributing authors who work with them magickally. This book also provides rituals and spells to connect with each deity. Draw down the moon with Selene, cast a courage spell with Ares, and reclaim lost parts of yourself with a ritual for Persephone. By inviting these divine beings into your practice, you can cultivate a magickal life that satisfies your soul to its very core.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Dec 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9780738769240

Jason Mankey

Jason Mankey is a third-degree Gardnerian High Priest and helps run two Witchcraft covens in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Ari. He is a popular speaker at Pagan and Witchcraft events across North America and Great Britain and has been recognized by his peers as an authority on the Horned God, Wiccan history, and occult influences in rock and roll. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @panmankey. Jason is the author of several books, including The Witch’s Book of Spellcraft, The Horned God of the Witches, and Transformative Witchcraft.

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About the Authors

author photo

Jason Mankey is a third-degree Gardnerian High Priest and helps run two Witchcraft covens in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Ari. He is a popular speaker at Pagan and Witchcraft events across North America and Great Britain and has been recognized by his peers as an authority on the Horned God, Wiccan history, and occult influences in rock and roll. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @panmankey. Jason is the author of several books, including The Witch’s Book of Spellcraft, The Horned God of the Witches, and Transformative Witchcraft. Author photo by Tymn Urban.

author photo

Astrea Taylor is an eclectic pagan witch with over two and a half decades of experience in the witching world. She’s the author of Air Magic and Intuitive Witchcraft: How to Use Intuition to Elevate Your Craft. She has a bachelor’s degree in science from Antioch College and a master’s degree in environmental sciences from Wright State University, which inform her scientific takes on spirituality. In her spare time, she presents workshops and rituals online and at festivals across the country, and occasionally she blogs as Starlight Witch on Patheos Pagan. Find her on Instagram @astreataylor, on Facebook at Astrea Taylor, Author, and on Twitter @AstreaWrites. Author photo by Cody Rowlands.

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Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods: History, Insights & Magickal Practice © 2022 by Jason Mankey and Astrea Taylor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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First e-book edition © 2022

E-book ISBN: 9780738769240

Cover design by Shannon McKuhen

Interior art by the Llewellyn Art Department

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mankey, Jason, author. | Taylor, Astrea, authors

Title: Modern witchcraft with the Greek gods : history, insights & magickal

practice / by Jason Mankey and Astrea Taylor.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Worldwide,

2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: "From

Zeus and Hephaestus to Hades and Persephone, this book reveals the

origins of nearly thirty Greek gods and goddesses, how they’ve been

worshipped across the centuries, and how you can work with them in your

own magickal practice. The authors introduce you to the gods one by one,

presenting their history, unique correspondences, and a ritual or spell

for connecting with them"-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022027097 (print) | LCCN 2022027098 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738768762 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738769240 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Gods, Greek. | Goddesses, Greek. | Witchcraft. | Magic.

Classification: LCC BL783 .M28 2022 (print) | LCC BL783 (ebook) | DDC

398.20938--dc23/eng20221026

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027097

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027098

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

I remember entering into the Greek myths as if I had returned to my true homeland.

—Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon

Gods and goddesses never really die, they just go underground.

—Christine Downing, The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine

We dedicate this book to the gods of the Greeks,

who have captured our hearts, minds, and spirits.

Contents

Guest Passages

Disclaimer & Notices

Introduction: The Allure of the Greek Gods

A Brief History of the Greek Gods

The Olympians

ZEUS

HERA

POSEIDON

DEMETER

APOLLO

ARTEMIS

APHRODITE

ATHENA

HEPHAESTUS

ARES

HERMES

DIONYSUS

HESTIA

Other Major Deities

HADES

PERSEPHONE

HERACLES

HEKATE

PAN

GREAT MOTHER

GAIA

Popular Greek Gods

SELENE

HELIOS

EOS

NYX

MNEMOSYNE

ERIS

ARIADNE

PHANES

Iris

Circe

Medusa

OTHER NOTABLE DEITIES

Conclusion

Appendix I: Calendar of Ancient Holidays & Celebrations

Appendix II: Classical Spell Structure

Appendix III: Greek-Style Ritual Structure

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Guest Passages

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH HERA by Maria Shell

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH POSEIDON by Autumn Pulstar

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH DEMETER by Lady Belladonna LaVeau

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH APOLLO by Derrick Land

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH ARTEMIS by Winston Filipek

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH ARTEMIS by Meg Rosenbriar

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH APHRODITE by Jennifer Teixeira

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH HERMES by Adrian Castillo

MAGICK WITH HERMES by Adrian Castillo

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH HESTIA by Raechel Henderson

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH HADES by Debbie Lewis

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH PERSEPHONE by Aria Vargas

MAGICK WITH PERSEPHONE

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH HEKATE by Brianne Ravenwolf

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH HEKATE by Alexia Moon

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH PAN by Pam Pandemonium

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH PAN by David Ravencraft

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH PAN by Nik Holton

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH GAIA-TELLUS by Anastasha Verde

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH ERIS by Thumper Marjorie Splitfoot Forge

MAGICK WITH ERIS by Thumper Marjorie Splitfoot Forge

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH ARIADNE by Roxanne Rhoads

PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH ERIS by Irisanya Moon

Disclaimer & Notices

Witchcraft and magick are not always safe practices. It’s important to use caution when dealing with fire and candles, and never leave a burning candle unattended. Trance mindsets are great in the right situations, but not while operating heavy machinery or using sharp objects. Please ensure that whatever you burn isn’t harmful to you or your animals. Research herbal contraindications with any medicines or other herbs you’re taking. Be cautious when using essential oils: don’t ingest them and don’t use them undiluted on your skin. If you’re not sure if you’re allergic to an herb, do a skin test before using it as intended. If irritation or an allergic reaction occurs, stop using it. Consult a doctor, therapist, or another health care provider if you have any concerns. While magick is quite useful, specific results are never guaranteed due to the multitude of unique circumstances we all have, including the will of the gods and the amount of work we put into our goals in the magickal and mundane worlds.

Whenever possible, we retained the guest passage authors’ original content, but some homogenization occurred. Spellings and capitalizations were modified to be consistent with those used in the majority of this book.

Introduction: The Allure

of the Greek Gods

by Astrea Taylor

Why would a modern Witch choose to work with the Greek gods? After all, there are so many other gods and pantheons out there. Some of them have better reputations. You may have ancestral connections with other deities, or they could be closer to your current home.

If you’ve ever been called by a Greek deity, you know there’s a powerful allure. There’s something about them that draws you in and relates to you on a very personal level. I believe this is because the Greek gods are still very much alive today and they’re all around us.

Speaking from personal experience, the Greek gods changed the course of my life forever. At the early age of eight, I had an ecstatic experience while reading about the Greek gods. I picked up my mother’s copy of Mythology by Edith Hamilton and started reading. I remember that I could see through the dining room window that dusk was coloring the skies indigo. A swooning sensation overcame me and filled my body with bliss as I read about Artemis, a goddess who raced through the wild woods, her pack of deer running alongside her. Electricity shot up every nerve in my body, and my mind felt as if it were glowing. This pleasant surge expanded until it extended outside of my body as well. Artemis felt so familiar to me, as if I had known her my entire life. I could almost feel my feet pounding over the rocky forest soil and a bow in my hand as we hunted together.

I had never experienced anything like those feelings before. They were bigger than I was, and bigger than everything I knew. My rational mind didn’t understand the feelings, but a deep part of me knew the gods had stirred something within me that was primal and true. That’s the moment I knew I was a Pagan—in this life, and perhaps in a past life as well. Over the next few nights, I repeated the same conditions to try to bring about those feelings again. I took the book to the dining room window at dusk, and I read about other gods and goddesses. It worked, though it wasn’t as strong as the first time, and some deities had better effects than others. Looking back, I must have read the book thirty times—the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

My experience with the Greek gods was strikingly similar to how ancient people described a union with them, but it’s not entirely unique. Many people say that they were called to them when they were young, and they felt similar awakening or ecstatic sensations. The Greek gods were known for their attractiveness, for producing ecstasy, and for initiating and maintaining a soul-level connection with people all over the world.

Years later, when I identified as a Witch, my love for the Greek gods seemed incongruous at first, mostly due to the sterilized versions of pagan history that are commonly circulated (including in Hamilton’s Mythology). However, when I looked deeper into the ancient Greek culture, it was clear that magick was very much a part of their lives.

Ancient Witchcraft, Magick, and Power

Witchcraft and magickal concepts proliferated in the ancient world, especially in connection with pagan deities. Historians believe the vast majority of ancient Greeks used magickal practices with deity reverence in order to enhance their everyday lives.¹ This combination is made clear in the great reverence for Hekate, an older goddess of magick, liminality, and Witchcraft. When the old gods fought against the new ones, she allied with Zeus, the head of the new order of gods. After the old gods were defeated, the new gods all honored Hekate greatly, especially Zeus. He allowed her to retain her powers and rulership. In other words, the Greeks shifted into a new era of power and hierarchy while retaining Witchcraft and magick. It was unthinkable to win the war without the goddess of magick, and it was just as impossible to conceive of a future without her.

Magickal practices were pervasive in the ancient Greek world. The entire Greek region of Thessaly was associated with Witchcraft and Hekate. Plato, the Athenian philosopher (c. mid-400s BCE), believed in the magickal abilities of the witches and magicians.² Magick remained a ubiquitous force even in Roman times, when Pliny the Elder, the Roman statesman and philosopher (c. 75 CE), was constantly afraid of being bound by a spell.³ Magick was so popular that even the Olympian gods used it against each other.

However, some people (including some Hellenic Reconstructionists) believe there’s no place for magick or Witchcraft with the Greek gods. They say it’s excessively prideful to take matters into one’s own hands, and magick is an act of defiance against the gods. Although Greek myths document the gods punishing people for being excessively prideful, it was never for Witchcraft or magick. One of the best-known ancient Greek stories of pride and punishment was the story of Icarus. His father created wax wings for him, which allowed him to fly through the air just like a god, or so he thought. As Icarus started to fly toward the sun, the heat melted his wings, causing him to fall into the sea and perish. His wings weren’t magickal, though—they were a technological invention. The fault lay in his thinking that he was immortal and as powerful as a god, a belief that most Witches do not adhere to. Likewise, in Greek myth and fiction, there’s no evidence of excessive pride on the part of Witches and magicians such as Circe, Calypso, Perseus, Aeetes, Medea, Agamede, and Simaetha. Numerous Greek historical records indicate that magick was considered commonplace. The only punishments associated with it were for the deadly magick of poison that led to murder.⁴

People have used the gods in their magick for millennia. The Greek Magical Papyri, or Papyri Graecae Magicae (PGM), is a collection of several grimoires with spells, rituals, and curses that date from about 400 BCE to 200 CE. The PGM is still used by many witches and magicians today and is considered an important part of the Western Magickal Tradition that gave birth to the many strains of Modern Witchcraft. One researcher estimated that a whopping 85 percent of the spells in the PGM call upon at least one deity.⁵ There isn’t evidence of anyone who was punished or struck down by the Greek gods for calling upon them in a spell or ritual. If anything, magick was probably seen as one of the best ways to interact with the gods in order to make one’s wishes known.

These days, a multitude of our current magickal practices come from ancient Greek magick, or they’re very similar to it.⁶ This includes the use of spells, rituals, cleansing, incense, music, an altered state of mind, magick circles, and incantations. There are records of the ancient Greeks working with celestial energies, herbs and correspondences, cardinal directions, elements, wands, and chalices. They venerated their ancestors and their mighty dead, and some worked with spirits of the deceased in their magick, as well as daimons, intermediaries between people and the gods. They practiced divination so well that a prophecy often informed entire armies about the best courses of action. The Greeks practiced magick for love, health, blessings, protection, and healing. However, just as common were curses, bindings, and what we would call hexes. Ancient Greek practitioners made potions, amulets, weavings, and human figurines. With so many similarities to today’s magickal practices, it’s possible the Greek gods may already be present, whether we call upon them or not.

Most historians agree that ancient Greece shaped the world that followed, and some of the best parts of our society may have come from the Greeks. It’s our opinion that the Greek gods were behind these improvements, and they continued to evolve alongside humanity into the modern era. Because the gods have changed again and again over time and location, it’s clear to us that their magickal workings don’t have to be relegated to the past, either. The Greek gods can be adapted to modern practices, just as they have for several millennia.

I experienced those early years of wonder and awe at the Greek gods a long time ago. Since then, my practice has evolved. In many ways, I grew up with them. Artemis guided my youth and my teenage years. I believe she shielded me from dangerous situations many times. When I immersed myself in my studies at college, Athena approached me. When I bought a house, Hestia warmed her way into my heart. Pan and Dionysus appeared at various points in my life to help me release limited mindsets and experience something greater. When I was ready to choose love over anxiety, Aphrodite sent waves of love into my heart. Over the decades, I’ve called upon the Greek gods in magick, from small spells to large rituals that aided me on my spiritual path and transformed my life.

So why might a modern Witch want to work with the Greek gods? Perhaps the greatest reason is that they’re still here. They show up when we call upon them in rituals and spells. They want to interact with us, lend their power, and live on through our modern practices. With all the support and power they have to offer, the better question might be: why wouldn’t someone want to work with them?

How to Read, Enjoy, and Use this Book

The majority of this book is about the Olympians and their more influential peers, which are covered in the first two sections of this book. Each god or goddess has a history section that summarizes their origins, their most important myths, how they were honored by the Greeks, their evolutions beyond Greece, and their veneration in the modern era. These sections are summaries—they’re quite limited compared to the amount of material that is available about them. Think of the history sections as starting points. If you feel called to do more research on them, we encourage you to do so. Entire books have been written about many of the gods and goddesses, and the bibliography contains the ones we recommend the most.

In addition to a historical section, each entry on the Olympians and other major deities also has a section with magickal activities, including spells, incantations, recipes, and/or rituals. We believe the variety of offerings reflects the numerous ways modern Witches interact with the gods and goddesses. Some prefer to invoke them in spells, which are more immediate than a ritual. Other Witches are more partial to calling upon them in ritual, which can be a more immersive experience. No matter which magickal methods you prefer, we believe that most people who read this book will find something that resonates with them and draws them closer to the mysteries of the gods.

Before invoking the gods for magick, we recommend that you do a bit of devotion to get to know them. When in doubt, treat them as you would a new friend. Just as you wouldn’t expect someone you just met to do favors for you, the wise practitioner doesn’t expect a strong relationship with the gods without becoming familiar with their energies first.

Each entry on the primary deities also includes insights from a modern practitioner.⁷ We asked our friends who have worked extensively with a Greek deity to share their personal experiences. Sometimes more than one personal reflection is shared to provide a variety of perspectives.

We chose these personal insights to provide a more in-depth understanding of each god or goddess from a current perspective. Some contain personal gnosis, or wisdom gleaned from doing magickal work and learning what the god wants for them. Personal gnosis often gets a bad reputation these days, but the ancient Greeks practiced it as well with the knowledge that it was one person’s interpretation. We hope these insights will assist you in understanding the gods and goddesses and possibly working with them on your own.

After the sections on the Olympians and other major deities, there is a section on other popular deities who generally called ancient Greece home. These gods were important in the ancient world and are also favored by modern Witches. This section features the general myth and history of each deity, and some entries have a modern reflection and/or a ritual as well.

The last section of this book consists of entries of lesser-known Greek gods, suitably called Other Notable Deities. We included as many deities as possible in an attempt to show the diversity of the ancient gods and the possibilities of whom you could work with in your magickal practice. However, these entries are short—it would be nearly impossible to incorporate all the Greek gods and goddesses into this book, as there were thousands of deities. We included those most often called upon in modern Witch circles. This section includes the primordial forces, the Titans, and some other Greek (and a few Roman) deities often honored by Witches.

A few Roman gods are mentioned in the last section of the book, and some of their holidays appear in Appendix I: Calendar of Ancient Holidays & Celebrations. Although this isn’t a book about the gods of Rome, we included short entries of those deities and holidays that weren’t mentioned in the earlier history sections for a few reasons. The first is that there simply isn’t a lot of information about the Greek holiday calendar, and it’s entirely probable that not all the Greek holidays have been preserved over time. The wealth of information about the Roman holidays is fascinating and provides a clue to how the Greeks might have lived. Second, it’s important to note how influential the Roman gods were on the Western world. Their reach extended to the north and far beyond that of Greece. While the Roman colonization of these lands was not condonable, they left spiritual and religious remnants at these locations that deeply affected the people who lived in those regions. Due to this connection, centuries later, the Roman gods pervaded the myths and literature far more than the Greek ones did. Lastly, these deities and holidays were included because some of them are relevant to some modern Witches. The deities are called upon in ritual, and the holidays are celebrated, sometimes along with the other holidays that comprise the Wheel of the Year.

The final two appendixes describe the classical spell structure and the Greek-style ritual structure. These are general outlines for honoring the Greek gods in ways similar to what was practiced in ancient Greece. We recommend that you modify them for whatever purposes you wish. How you work your magick is entirely up to you, but we thought it would be useful to include them.

Jason Mankey and I are both devotees of the Greek gods, and have been for quite some time. We each have a rich solitary practice, but our backgrounds are quite different. Jason is a third-degree Gardnerian High Priest who runs a traditional coven and an eclectic Wiccan coven with his wife, Ari. I am an intuitive Witch and eclectic Pagan who leads moon circle rituals and assists a few other nontraditional groups. You may see these differences reflected in our passages, but we feel they add to the varied nature of how modern people relate to the Greek gods. For simplicity’s sake and for reference, we noted who was writing each passage in the book.

We hope you enjoy reading about the Greek gods, their evolutions, and the perspectives of modern Pagans and Witches in this book. We encourage you to approach whichever deities appeal to you and integrate them into your magickal practices as you see fit.

A Few Notes about This Book

This book was written to be a guide for the modern Witch who wants to work with the Greek gods. It contains some historical information, cultural context, modern interpretations, and suggested magickal practices. Researching this book has been a tremendous joy. It’s clear that the Greek gods have been around since the beginning of time in one form or another, and they’re still here. However, some complicated matters came up while researching this book.

This is not a book for Hellenic (Greek) Reconstructionists. While attempting to recreate the past in the modern era is a wonderful experience for some people, and we have great respect for the past, the Greek gods have been worshipped in a variety of ways and in numerous places. That history goes far beyond ancient Athens and Sparta into the Roman Empire, nineteenth-century English poets, and the current era. The Greek gods are well traveled, and this book reflects that. So in these pages, we don’t try to recreate the past, but rather we place the gods in the present.

Another issue that arose was the need to relay a bit about historical Greek culture and how the Greeks viewed the deities to put them more in context. Although it’s hard to summarize Greek spiritual life in a few sentences, the ancient Greeks generally lived in a world immersed in spirits and gods who were present in every activity and location. Religion was not a word that existed at the time, but the presence of the gods pervaded their lives and provided a constant spiritual connection. The Greeks believed in many powerful gods who were neither good nor evil but who had their own self-interests, strengths, weaknesses, and sets of morals, which were sometimes in conflict with those of each other and humanity.

Belief in the gods was not a concerning matter to most Greeks—the gods simply were, and the observance of them was more an attitude about life or a way of life. The gods interacted in meaningful ways with people in their daily lives, rituals, and festivals. Celebrations and group rituals encouraged community engagement and an experience of something greater than oneself. These interactions often affirmed the roles in Greek culture, making the gods a kind of community enforcer. However, the gods weren’t viewed the same way by all Greek people, and they weren’t all honored in any given city. Greek cities were eclectic in nature, with citizens preferring some deities over others and sometimes even changing whom they counted among the twelve Olympians.

Some of the gods were often seen as two sides of the same coin, which is why, for example, Zeus can both give and destroy. Active devotion with offerings was considered the best way to gain the gods’ favor, and people made offerings to multiple gods several times a day. They could be invoked aloud or in writing due to the belief that the gods didn’t always understand humans and couldn’t read minds. Some people believed it was important to discuss your history with the gods because they were so timeless that they sometimes needed reminding of who their supplicants were.

the role of the gods in the lives of the ancient greeks

If you lived in ancient Greece in the country, your day might start with you noticing the presence of Hestia, the hearth (goddess), and depending on your role, you might add more oil to her flame. As you got dressed, you’d give thanks to Athena for helping make such a finely woven garment. Passing through the door to your home, you’d say a prayer to Hekate and Zeus. Then you’d walk to the edge of the property and pause at a herm, a tall stone pillar guarded by Hermes. You might hope Hermes would deliver news from a loved one who had recently gone to the temple of Asclepius seeking healing of a wound. You’d see that Helios, the sun, hadn’t driven his cart too far across the skies yet, and the red blush of Eos, dawn, was still present in the sky. You’d look out at your crops and praise Gaia and Demeter for the height of the corn before saying a prayer for Zeus in his role as the thunder-bringer to provide much-needed rain and fertility for the crops.

You might see your neighbor’s children playing like Artemis and Apollo, and have fond memories of your youth. Thoughts might turn to whether the people in your household would have any more children, as was the societal expectation. You might hope for a blessing from Hera, goddess of marriage, and Artemis, goddess of childbirth, before Ares incited another war.

A warm wind might blow by, and you’d thank Zephyr, god of the west wind, and interpret it as a sign from Zeus that all was well. You’d think of the next festival with relish—it was always just a few weeks away. You’d hope that the dramatic plays happening soon would bring the gods to life again, and the traveling poets who sang of the great heroes and gods would be there too.

This degree of divine saturation of all aspects of life might seem extreme, but it’s important to note that the ancient Greeks had a much different mindset. They saw the world as the ever-unfolding presence of the gods and the Fates. To them, life was full of moments and images that revealed those divine connections.⁸

The next issue that deserves attention is the difference between myth and cultural/religious practices, which were often quite different. These days, many people take myth literally, but the Greeks didn’t believe myth was the ultimate truth—rather, myths were seen as folkloric stories or were used in dramatic parts of rituals.⁹ Myths of the gods were not the same across Greece. In some regions, independent versions evolved. For some of the gods, this evolution was used to add narratives to new political developments. Some scholars believe the stories about Zeus’s sexual notoriety came about after a city with different ruling gods was conquered. The Greek conquerors changed the vanquished god’s name to Zeus, and Zeus even took on some of the old god’s myths. The city goddess retained her name and powers, but her partner became Zeus. By recreating the myths of a defeated city, the Olympian hierarchy was reinforced. It promoted the Olympian order and rules (from Zeus) and affirmed the patrilineal aspects that the Greeks found important.

Another important issue to touch upon is the syncretization of the gods: in other words, combining gods from different cultures with no distinction. In the ancient world, syncretism was extremely common. The Greek philosopher Herodotus used the concept of syncretization in the fifth century BCE to explain the existence of other religions and justify the power of the Greek gods. He noted correlations between Egyptian and Greek gods and added other deities’ names to the Greek gods’ names, seemingly as epithets, such as Zeus Amon.

Alexander the Great, the Greek-Macedonian king, syncretized freely as well. In his campaign in the fourth century BCE, he ordered the construction of numerous syncretic temples throughout the Mediterranean, Southern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India. He blended the Greek deities with numerous local gods, which demonstrates the Greek belief in the flexibility of the gods to adapt to new places and take on new names and aspects. This demonstrates that the gods’ power did not wane or cease once they left Greece—if anything, it grew. The Romans syncretized by allowing the Greek gods to inspire the Roman religion, and then by syncretizing Roman gods with the Celtic and Germanic deities in the lands they colonized. Early Christians and Hellenic Jews also syncretized their beliefs with the Greek gods, especially the mystery religion aspects so common in the ancient Greek world.¹⁰

While historical syncretization was rampant, we want to make it clear that this book does not syncretize Greek gods with non-Greek deities, spirits, or saints. For example, we would not consider the Egyptian god Amon’s myth or qualities in the passage about Zeus. Our view is that the gods from non-Greek cultures are distinctly different because the cultures they arose from are not the same. However, we do mention historical syncretism to show how the Greek deities evolved over time.

The definitions of magick and Witchcraft can be hazy, especially when applied to events, stories, and beliefs from thousands of years ago. Even today, the words Witchcraft and magick mean different things to each practitioner. Most people agree that Witchcraft and magick are more than devotion, invocation, incense, and offerings. Ancient Greek paganism is most known for this kind of interaction with the gods, but the Greeks also engaged in magickal activities. In the magickal activity portions of this book, we take some inspiration from the past, but we also use modern ideas to fully round out the possibilities and give the reader more options.

Another issue we encountered while writing this book was limited information for some deities, such as Hestia. Most of the ancient records were written by wealthy men who lived in two of the largest cities, Athens and Sparta. These people wrote the majority of the poems, myths, philosophy, art, and commentary. While these are good primary sources for some aspects, these writers didn’t take into account the lives and perspectives of people who were poor or working-class, women, slaves, and people who lived in the country. To bridge this gap, we used secondary sources (interpretations of primary sources) as well as perspectives from sociologists, historians, anthropologists, and philosophers who made educated guesses about archaeology, art, secondary records, and extrapolations. These give additional insight into ancient Greek culture and its spiritual practices.

The last factor to mention is that ancient Greek culture was not a utopia for all of its people. As is true today, the upper class enjoyed