ritual · Greek

Prayer to Apollo

I remember and do not forget Apollon Hekateios. From years past, it is a sacred custom to invoke You. Come O' Blessed Paian, splendidly honoured Phoibos, Ie Dispenser of Blessings, Spermatic, Pythian, Delphic Diviner, Bright Daimon. You who sees the boundless aether and the joyful earth from above; Your eyes are the stars, dispelling the darkness. With your laurel branch, you shake the heavens, Apollon, You who does not appear to all but only to those who are good. Great is he who beholds You, insignificant are those who have not. We wish to be in Your presence, O' Hekatevolos, so that we may never be insignificant again. Ie Noumenios, come with a good disposition, bearing good fortune and favourable outcomes to our endeavours in the month to come, Ie Paian, Ie Apollon, Ie Noumenios.

Commentarius · Commentary

A modern text from the LABRYS manual; the community itself and the reading of the modern label are discussed in greek-agathodaimon-001.

The occasion is ancient and was of the first importance in domestic practice. The Noumenia is the first day of the lunar month, the day of the new moon; Greeks kept it at home every month, and Apollo Noumenios was its deity. The month began when someone first sighted the young crescent.

The words are assembled from the Orphic hymn to Apollo: "Seed-god" (Spermeios), Pythian, Delphic, the laurel that shakes the heavens, the star-eyes — all of it comes from there. The method is the same as in the wedding hymn to Aphrodite from the same book (greek-aphrodite-eros-wedding-001): ancient formulae taken apart and put back together.

Note the first line: "I remember and do not forget Apollo Hekatos." Word for word, it also opens the bridegroom's prayer at the wedding (greek-apollon-wedding-001). The compilers keep a common opening for Apollo, and an ending is attached to it according to the occasion.

Rhapsodes worked this way with the Homeric preludes (homeric-demeter-002), and Roman monumental masons with verse epitaphs (terra-funerary-003). The method is genuine, whatever one makes of its present product.

Fons · Source

AuthorLABRYS Polytheistic Community

WorkHellenic Polytheism: Household Worship

SectionNoumenia — Hymn to Apollon

OccasionNoumenia — first day of lunar month

Classificatio · Taxonomy

CultureGreek

Formritual

DeitiesApollo

FunctionsInvocation · Petition

SpherePersonal