When Ares arrived at my doorstep
On Monday, the God of War arrived at my doorstep.
(In an Amazon package.).
ISN'T HE GORGEOUS?!? It was important that I find a statue that depicts Him as a beardless youth. I also wanted one where His face isn’t covered by a helmet- it feels more personal. The Two Goddesses asked me to paint Their statues... we'll have to see what Ares wants.
Last year I invoked Ares at a Pagan Pride ritual in honor of Athena. Athena has seemed more present in my community ever since. Ares has been hanging around me like a candle that won’t go out.
None of the Gods are "evil" (In fact, They're virtuous by definition if you ask me, but that’s a post for later). Still, many Hellenic deities represent forces that conflict with human wellbeing: war, death, famine, natural disasters. These deities are also often considered the "averters" of those same forces. Apollon sends down arrows of plague, yet He heals human ailments. Dionysos is a God of wine and insanity, yet His followers pray to Him for relief from addiction and mental illness.
With examples like these across the pantheon, it makes perfect sense that Ares is more complicated than we think. In modern Paganism, He has strong associations with battling PTSD, managing anger and other strong emotions, and maintaining civil order. If Athena wins battles in the courtroom, Ares wins battles in the streets. Protestors pray to Him. Devotees describe His warm, brotherly presence and His passion for standing against injustice.
And people have been petitioning him to keep the peace for thousands of years. The Homeric Hymn to Ares, dating back to at least the 5th century, reads:
Halt the raging strife! Cease the travail grieving our hearts!
Rather, yield to the peaceful yearnings of Aphrodite and the revels of Dionysos.
Exchange your fury and weapons for the gentle works of Demeter
Conceive a desire for peacefulness which will cultivate the young and grant them blessedness.
(Translation from HellenicGods.org )
This is a prayer for soldiers returned from war, struggling to adjust to civilian life. This is a prayer for children to grow up under prosperity and peace. For who better to avert conflict than the God of war Himself?
As for me, I see Ares as a symbol of youthful rebellion- a force to be harnessed for social change. After coming out to my Catholic school at age 10, I was told a million times that no one would ever listen if I was "too abrasive." So I grew up like an Ambassador of Gayness, educating adults and defending my existence to my peers. I turned my anger inward and watched it morph into a deadly mixture of guilt and self-blame that almost destroyed me. Gods know where I would be without Persephone to pick up the pieces.
Most girls and women are never taught to constructively express anger, much less manage it... So I think a lot of us could use more Ares-energy in our lives.
And let's not forget that I'm writing this five days after the 2nd anniversary of January 6th. In times like these, we need Gods of civil order more than ever.
A priestess I admire once told me that Ares is the god of friction. When He appears to me, I see Him as youthful, laughing, golden, passionate, potent. In Ares I see the potential to harness our anger into action.
In the Gods,
Rose Eleusis
For more info on Ares, check out:
Oh, gorgeous!!!!
ReplyDeleteI’m really happy with how it arrived! It feels good to finally be including Him in my household praxis after thinking about it for so long
DeleteI’ve never met Ares, so I really appreciate you sharing your perspective.
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad!!! ๐
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