A Solstice Missive

21 December, 2019

Dear all,

Today marks the celebration of the solstice, which this year once again falls in the sacred or liturgical month of Khrysopelexion, the month of the Golden Helm. In Sallustius’s ordering of the visible gods, this month is sacred to Ares, whose function is to guard this realm of becoming. We are perhaps familiar with Ares as god of war and bloodlust and not necessarily as a guardian figure. For that matter, we may not see the time of the solstice as related to the principle of guardianship.

Sallustius saw three deities as guardians of the world of becoming: Hestia, Athena, and Ares. Of these, and looking at the Ekklesia’s liturgical calendar, we may say Hestia belongs to the season of remaining, Athena to the season of procession, and Ares to the season of return. These sacred seasons reflect the movement of our souls on their revolutions to and from the state of henosis or union with the divine. Hestia guards us in our state of union, Athena as we proceed into incarnation, and Ares as we begin our return to our source. This source can be seen as the great and brilliant light of the sun, as alluded to in Plato’s Republic. The solstice is therefore a fitting time to celebrate and remember that great Light.

As the month of the Guardianship of Ares, though, it is also a good time to begin to look to the coming new year. In doing so we can see not the god of bloodlust but a god tempered by harmony with Aphrodite and set forth to protect rather than destroy. In this we can invoke Him as we move into the uncertainty of the future:

Holy Ares, son of Zeus and Hera, Lord of the Golden Helm, hear us.

Guardian of souls and ally of Themis, father of Nike, we pray to you during your sacred month.

As a new year looms before us, shed down a kindly ray from above upon our lives, and strength of war, that we may be able to drive away all obstacles and foes that may be set before us.

Blessings of the Divine, and the solstice, to you all.

χDionysios β

Diadochos – Ekklesia Neoplatonismos Theourgia