A ritual of theiatry, the healing of the family of the gods, for at least three people with full commentary. Written, as always, without authority.
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Introduction
This theiatric ritual is fundamentally magickal theater, one of the oldest and most powerful forms of magick. In it we reach back into mythic time, to before all of the regrettable issues that arose between the Olympian royalty, to a moment between moments. This wedding takes place in a breath of hard-won and temporary peace, for the war with the Titans is at hand and the war with the Giants lays in the future. By going back to this moment and setting it as one of the first events to take place on Mount Olympus, the royal couple can set the stage for a better present. We can tell a different story of this marriage, a better story, from the very beginning.
Please understand that theiatric magick does not force anything. We are not cosmic dictators rewriting reality to our whim. Not only would that be monstrous and deeply impious, that would be impossible. These are deities we are talking about, and while each is defined by Their nature and domain, They are also free in a way that humans can only imagine. Nothing that humans can do can compel a deity, no matter how it may appear when we do magick. When we work with the gods in our magick, They are choosing to cooperate with us. Therefore the goal of theiatry must always be to simply to offer a better choice, a choice that the deities involved in a particular theiatric working get to freely make anytime They choose.
Theiatry is worth doing, at least for me, because I believe in the gods and I love Them, in all Their imperfections and passions. I believe that They truly want what is best, even when it’s hard. I believe that that They are people and that, as people, They can grow and change. I believe that They are just as sick as we are of the way things are. I believe that They grieve over the way the family is broken, They grieve over all of the wrongs that have happened, and that They grieve over all that They have done and suffered. They weep over Their own bloody hands and I weep with Them.
But like a lot of people who have been living out a sad, broken story for a long time, They are stuck with Themselves and the consequences of Their actions. They have been living inside the same old stories for so long that They don’t feel like They have any choice anymore. They feel like They are committed, that to change course would be a betrayal, a way of saying that everything They have done and suffered was meaningless. So They hold on, fiercely, to what is hurting Them. They keep living the same old story.
As I said, I love the gods and I want to help Them. I want to give Them new options and new stories, even if I don’t actually get to live in the world where those stories are true. I believe that despite how it seems to us, that They get to see all the different stories and live in whichever ones They choose. So I say let’s give Them some better choices.
I can’t imagine a more beautiful offering.
The work of theiatry will take time. Healing a body, even with magick, is slow work. Healing relationships is even slower. And as I said, each deity involved in a particular change must actively choose the new story over the old one. They have to take a chance on a new path, one that goes to a place They have never seen before. What we are doing in these rituals is giving Them a chance, through invocation and magickal theater, to take a risk. To step off of the old well-worn path and try something new. And that can be scary as hell.
So we may have to have the wedding between Hera and Zeus many times before They are both willing to take a chance on having it actually become Their true wedding, a foundation upon which to build a loving, free, and joyful relationship between equals. Every ritual will be different, since Hera and Zeus will be invoked anew each time and have a chance to swear new oaths of shared love and joy. This means that each time we do this ritual the story will be a little bit different, so we will be able to adapt and improve over time as we gain experience with this new form of magick. The gods get to choose which stories end up being true, so I want to give Them good stories. The best stories I can.
I would love it if you would join me.
I know that some of you out there have expressed interest in helping me in the work of theiatry. I want to start doing theiatric rituals soon, both online and in-person, and that involves certain costs for things like a pro Zoom account, ritual supplies, and rental space (when that time comes). If you find my work worthwhile, if you see value in trying to heal the family, please support my work by subscribing, liking, sharing, and, if you can, please consider getting a paid subscription.
If you can’t commit to an ongoing paid subscription, please consider doing a onetime donation via my Ko-Fi. Every little bit helps.
Inspired/Poetic Version Of The Ritual
1. Let the wedding party gather, Tittering and joyful, Eager and wondering, At the miracle before them Let the wedding site be decorated, In blue for the sky above, Meeting always with white, For the glistening clouds Let the one who is called by the gods, To serve this holy mystery, Prepare a pitcher of pure water, And a chalice of midnight blue Let a silken net of fine mesh be prepared, Let it be named “Purifier”, Let it be named “Lovemaker” Let it be named “Joybringer” Let these items be gathered, Upon an altar of white, Trimmed in blue, And set facing North 2. Let the couple be prepared, By their family and friends, With gifts and offerings, Of sage wisdom Let each be clad, In clothes of their choosing, And the colors of their calling, Each after their kind Let them approach the site, Ready to come forward, To help the gods, Make their pledge Let the retinue of each, Their chosen ones, Form a line on each side, To guide them to the altar For we can only come, To such sacraments, With the support of love, And within community 3. Let the one called to serve, Assemble all before them, Calling all to attention, Solemn and joyful Let the land and its rightful owners, Be named and honored, For many of us, Live among the occupied Let the circle be cast, Let the elements be honored, Let Hera and Zeus be invoked, Let the spirit family be called Let the bride and groom, Take on the mantles, Of their gods, Speaking and moving as one Let Hera and Zeus, Consider each other anew, Who and what They are, And what this moment means 4. Let the one who serves, Pour water through the net, Which has been named Purifier, Lovemaker, and Joybringer Let the lustral water, Now enchanted, Fill the chalice, With pure love and joy Let Hera and Zeus, Make Their pledges of marriage, Binding together the powers, And setting the agreements Let Them speak, From Their very souls, For the fate of the cosmos, Will hinge upon Their words Say nothing that is not True, Say nothing that is not Loving, Say nothing that is not Good, Say nothing that is not Beautiful 5. Then, in the moment between breaths, Let the one who serves, Declare the simple truth, That marriage is for keeps That while other loves may come, And other paths may open, The family forged together here, Must remain together Let them say: “Mother and Father, Aunt and Uncle, Of us all, Drink” “Lead us past the horizon, Past the dawn of the coming age, Where uncertainty sits, Even for the Fates” “Eternity beckons and time is joke, But this love can lead the way, All the gods are family, And this family must be healed” Epilogue: Feasting! Songs! Stories! Dancing! Joy!
Example In-Person Instantiation Of The Ritual (With Commentary)
SETTING: Secure site, preferably outdoors, decorated in white trimmed with blue. If done online, the background for the priestexx should be decorated in white outlined with blue.
NOTES ON PRONUNCIATION: The deities in this ritual are well-known to most modern Western mages and the pronunciations that most modern English-speakers use are so common that they have appeared in large number of movies, shows, and video games. Those pronunciations are not the ancient pronunciations, however, so if your group wants to use the actual Greek pronunciations for the names, they are:
Zeus is pronounced like “Zefs” or “Zevs”.
Hera is pronounced like “Hērā” or “Hērē”.
It is absolutely unnecessary to use the classical pronunciation of these names. The gods know who They are and who you mean. Do as you will.
ASTROLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS: We want the marriage to be good. We want it to be loving, free, honest, resilient, and healthy. That means we need to take into account the astrological timing of the ritual in the same way as we would for a normal wedding.
Above all, Venus should not be retrograde or ill-aspected. Again, for emphasis: this ritual should not be done when Venus is retrograde or ill-aspected in relation to another planet (especially Jupiter).
Secondly, it would be wonderful if Venus were in Taurus or Libra (both of which She rules) or Pisces (wherein which She is exalted).
It would also be excellent if it could also be on a Friday, the day of Venus.
Finally, it would be absolutely ideal if we could also at least start the ritual during the planetary hour of Venus (group rituals, in my experience, seldom conclude in an hour).
Obviously, we will very seldom have the perfect lineup of all of those conditions and we don’t want to make the perfect the enemy of the good, so the rule must be to avoid problems first. This means avoiding Venus retrograde and bad aspects. Anything else we can do to help Venus out by doing the ritual when She rules or is exalted or on a Friday or in Her hour is, in my opinion, just gravy…great if we can manage it but not necessary for a fine meal.
REQUIRED ITEMS:
Altar facing North in the center of the ritual space, standard double-cube design, dressed in white cloth trimmed with blue.
Two candles for the altar if performed at night, one white on the right and one blue on the left.
Midnight blue chalice. It would be ideal if the material was lapis lazuli, but if not possible crystal or glass will work fine.
Pitcher or bottle of water (as pure as possible). Just a simple glass pitcher or bottle is fine. If you are using a bottle of water from the store, please remove all labels and remove the cap before the ritual begins…we don’t want our magick accidentally empowering the symbols of some corporation.
White silk net, fine mesh, large enough to cover the mouth of the chalice completely and stay in place while water is poured through it into the chalice. It should be freshly cleaned before being purified and consecrated (see below) so it will be safe to consume water passed through it.
A bell.
CELEBRANTS:
Priestexx – One who has been called by their gods to serve either the community in general or for this ritual in particular. The priestexx will be expected to do most of the heavy lifting of the ritual and should be adept in at least one tradition of magick.
Hera – A person—does not need to be female-identifying—who will have Hera invoked into them by the priestexx. This person should have at least some experience with trance possession and feel comfortable performing in this role. This person should prepare for the ritual by working with Hera devotionally for at least one lunar month before the ritual. During this preparatory work with Her, boundaries and agreements should be set for the ritual (such as whether it is okay to use your body to go run off into the bushes with Zeus and get busy). Be clear and distinct in your agreements…you are literally negotiating what is okay to do with your body.
Zeus – A person—does not need to be male-identifying—who will have Zeus invoked into them by the priestexx. This person should have at least some experience with trance possession and feel comfortable performing in this role. This person should prepare for the ritual by working with Zeus devotionally for at least one lunar month before the ritual. During this preparatory work with Him, boundaries and agreements should be set for the ritual (such as whether it is okay to use your body to go run off into the bushes with Hera and get busy). Be clear and distinct in your agreements…you are literally negotiating what is okay to do with your body.
Wedding Party Members – All of the other attendees at the ritual. Should all be proficient mages of at least one tradition. Should be divided into two groups, one for Hera and one for Zeus, that will act as Their retinues for this working. There can be any number in the wedding party, including 0. If there is an odd number of people in the wedding party, the extra person is in both retinues and will stand behind and between Hera and Zeus during the vows rather than behind and to either side.
PREPARATIONS:
The pitcher, chalice, altar, bell, and silk netting should all be purified and consecrated by the priestexx before the ritual. The method can be adapted from this ritual rubric (just purify and consecrate the objects instead of the circle) or from another tradition.
After being purified and consecrated, the silk net needs to be charged by the priestexx with the properties of “Purifier”, “Lovemaker” (in the romantic sense of causing love), and “Joybringer”. One way to go would be using elemental Water to charge it with Purifier and then astrological Venus to charge it with the other two properties. Use your own judgment and the norms of your own tradition, but make sure it’s thaumaturgy…we don’t want any external beings involved in this aspect of the ritual, so no deities or spirits that will stick around after the actual charging. Charge it as if you were making a talisman according to your own tradition and be careful to fix the charge (seal all external flows of energy in or out) after charging and keep it magickally isolated before the ritual as much as you can (perhaps a purified white silk bag closed tight or a purified box of acacia wood, that level of shielding). This is very important because a magickal net will naturally try to “catch” whatever is around and we don’t want anything (or anyone) else in that net except the three things we put there.
Any local spirits on the site, including plant, animal, mineral, and machine spirits, should be identified, approached, and befriended or placated with offerings so they don’t get (rightfully) upset when all the astral fireworks start. Be ready with food offerings, libations, incense, etc. Make sure to tell them that you want to do Big Magick in the area and ask for their permission/blessing. Be respectful. Always remember that the local spirits are in their home and that you are the guest…act accordingly.
The location should be thoroughly cleansed and warded.
This cleansing should only be of miasma (psychic and astral pollution) and not include any general exorcisms/banishings of spirits. The local spirits have a right to be there.
However, since both spirits and humans can be tricksy or behave poorly, the wards are to set boundaries on the actions of the local spirits and the participants during the ritual. Conditional binding spells set into the wards are the way to go…that way everyone can come and go as they please, but they are prevented from actually interfering with the ritual or messing with the ritualists. Basically just a “be nice and if you can’t be nice then be polite” spell.
Note that some spirits (and mages) are strong enough to punch right through those wards, but the odds of one of those being there and caring in the slightest about messing up your ritual are extremely low. If, despite all odds, a spirit that powerful actually shows up to rain on your parade, Xeno Position methods should be used to de-escalate the situation: apologize for breaking their rules or the rules of the location, try to make amends if possible, and try to learn from them what they want or need from you. If they just need you to leave, then that is what you should do. Reschedule and relocate the ritual. Remember always: you are a Friendly Stranger. Spirits are part of the family…in theiatry we want to heal them and our relationships with them, too. That means, at the very least, respecting them, their homes, and their wishes.
Ritualists should be purified and consecrated as they come onto the site.
By purification I mean the magickal removal of all things that will distract ritualists or pull them out of the magick during the ritual, and by consecration I mean using magick to dedicate and focus the ritualists on the magick and the ritual. This is not a value judgment about “purity” or “dedication” in the moral sense. This is about purity in the same sense that you want your salt to be pure…you want there to be nothing else but salt (pure) and for it to actually be salt (consecrated). So magickal purification is about removing anything from the tools or ritualists that is “not the intended magick” and consecration is dedicating them, for a time, “to the intended magick”.
While it will obviously depend on your numbers, consider putting two ritualists at the entrance to the site, one assigned to purification and one to consecration, so that people can get on-site more quickly and one person doesn’t have to deal with purifying and consecrating 20 people or whatever all by themselves.
The classic saltwater and incense (properly prepared beforehand) can be used as people enter, but be aware that some people have chemical sensitivities and that means that if you don’t know for sure that everyone coming to the ritual is okay with incense and fragrances, you shouldn’t do it. If you are using incense or fragrances and you’re doing the ritual in a building, always do the purification and consecration outside (so incense doesn’t fill the building) and always ask the people responsible for the site for permission first.
If you can’t use the saltwater and incense method, use a purely energetic method of purifying and consecrating them instead. Make sure to always ask permission to put your hands on or near their bodies while doing this. Yes, I know that will take a lot longer and a bit more energy per person, but we need to be as accessible as possible in our magick. It is worth the extra time and energy to include everyone who wants to be there and make them feel welcome. Other humans are also part of the family.
If someone will not allow you to purify and consecrate them, ask them to do it themselves before entering the ritual space and observe and check their aura to make sure they did it. No one should get into the ritual without being purified and consecrated in some way. Everyone there should be a proficient mage, so they should know how to do it themselves and should do so if they don’t want to allow the ritualists to do it for them. If they don’t know how to do something that simple, they simply shouldn’t be there.
This last boundary is for their own benefit as much as ours. We are doing a full invocation of deities into human bodies and then engaging in a combination of trance possession and magickal theater to enact a new myth, transcending time and space to heal the family of the gods…this is not a ritual for curious beginners. Perhaps eventually we can have preparatory classes for people who believe in the mission of theiatry but aren’t really mages, where we can teach them basic ritual skills, but that comes later. For now, only proficient mages can participate.
RITUAL RUBRIC WITH COMMENTARY:
Ring bell 2-3-2 (two short rings, a beat of silence, three short rings, a beat of silence, then two short rings). This attunes the ritual to astrological Venus, as is appropriate to a work of love.
Preliminary Invocation – A simple, short speech by the priestexx calling everyone to attention, stating the intention of the ritual, and blessing the magick to come.
EXAMPLE: “Dearly Beloved, I greet you all in the name of Aphrodite and the name of the gods. Today we come together as a community to do a beautiful thing: to bring together two deities in holy and mysterious marriage. Now, I know that we all think we know how this story goes and how this marriage is lived out. And it’s true, there are many myths about the later moments in this marriage. But I want to invite you all to dream today. I want to invite you all to come together as mages and mystics to tell a new story. A story of a bright beginning. Of a moment of hope between battles. Of beautiful pledges of joy and commitment. And most of all, a story of love, the mystery we come together to celebrate today.”
Land acknowledgment – A land acknowledgment is a verbal and magickal acknowledgement of the history of colonialism that we live with in this world. Obviously this applies more in places like Turtle Island (North America) and Australia, where the history of colonialism, genocide, and broken treaties between the colonists and the indigenous peoples of those lands has led to a great many practicing mages in the modern world doing their work on lands that rightfully belong to someone else. I think that it is important for a mage to act with integrity and that we need to acknowledge this unjust situation and honor the rightful owners and stewards of the lands upon which we work before we proceed. This is partially ethical, of course. Everyone knows how much I care about ethics. But it is also practical. We always do our magick somewhere, and if we are at odds with the spirits of the land it is very hard to do any successful magick. You can learn more about land acknowledgments here.
EXAMPLE: “Before I start, I want to acknowledge that this land, the land where I live and do my magick, the land where I have made my home and set down roots, is the unceded land of the Kashia people on Turtle Island, otherwise known as Sonoma County, California, USA. The Kashia are a living and active people pursuing a landback initiative in cooperation with other local tribes called the Pomo Landback Movement. You can learn more online about this initiative and how to support them at www.stewartspoint.org.”
Create sacred space – There are a few ways you can go here, based on your group and the traditions represented among them. If you have a primarily Golden Dawn/A.’.A.’. ceremonial magick group, you could go with a Lesser Banishing Ritual Of The Pentagram and Lesser Banishing Ritual Of The Hexagram, which will clear the microcosmic and macrocosmic field and prepare it for play. If you have mostly Grimoire Tradition/goetia folks, you could go for fully inscribed circle (prepared beforehand either on the ground or a cloth that you lay out and pin on the ground), complete with divine names appropriate to the operations of Venus. If you have mostly modern witches, you can do a standard grounding, centering, and casting of the circle. These are just examples and ideas, there are many other possibilities here from many other traditions. The goal is to create sacred space in a way that will work for the majority of your group. We want to be able to do our magick together, so it’s important that we are able to work and play well with others.
EXAMPLE:
Grounding and centering:
“Alright, now we’re going to create sacred space. First we are going to ground and center. I invite you to first pat your edges. Feel yourself into your body. Settle into yourself and feel your own heartbeat. Now, wherever your body touches the ground or touches something that touches the ground, I invite you to begin to put down roots of energy from your body, one little bit at a time, in time with your heartbeat. With each beat, thud-thud, your roots go deeper down. Another beat of your heart and another bit of your roots grow, bringing your attention down with them, deeper and deeper into the ground. Your heart beats, thud-thud, and the roots continue to grow down, through the topsoil and the living layer of roots and mycelium, thud-thud, down through the crust and into the mantle and it’s getting warmer and down, down, down, thud-thud, into the impossibly hot and dense iron core of the Earth, thud-thud, and now warm iron light is coming back up your roots and I invite you to feel that warm iron light coming back up with your attention, layer by layer, inch by inch, thud-thud, pumping with the beat of your heart back up, up, up to the tip of your head and your heart is still beating, up into the sky, beyond the planets, into the endless night beyond our sky. Somewhere out there, in the great wide reaches of the body of Nyx, sits a star. Your star. The star of your hopes and lofty ambitions. The star you wished upon as a child. I invite you to bring the warm iron light that you brought up out of the Earth with you up and out of you, further and further into the sky, until it meets and becomes one with that star. Feel that connection resonating through you, from the Earth’s iron core up through your body and heart and mind and up into the depths of space to that one star, the star that is your star, and then back down again through you and back down into the iron core of the Earth. Up and out, down and in, all to the beat of your heart. Feel the energy flow through you with your blood. Feel yourself as what you are: part of nature and connected to both below and above, to the deep, dark places and to the bright, shining stars. Feel the energy flow through the circuit that is your awareness, calmly and steadily, ready to do the work we have before us today. We are grounded.”
Casting Of Circle:
Priestexx goes to northern edge of the circle (altar should in the center facing North) and traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in either white (generalized) or green (specialized) energy and says: “Forces and powers of the North, of the Sun at midnight, of our hidden hearts and late night transformations, I summon, stir, and call you forth. Witness us, aid us in our magick, and join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus!”
Priestexx traces circle from North around the edge of the ritual space deosil (clockwise) to the East.
At the Eastern edge of the circle, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in either white (generalized) or yellow (specialized) energy and says: “Forces and powers of the East, of the Sun at dawn, of our early morning ambitions and sleepy starts to the day, I summon, stir, and call you forth. Witness us, aid us in our magick, and join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus!”
Priestexx traces circle from East around the edge of the ritual space to the South.
At the Southern edge of the circle, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in either white (generalized) or red (specialized) energy and says: “Forces and powers of the South, of the Sun at noon, of our mid-day meanderings and the work at hand, I summon, stir, and call you forth. Witness us, aid us in our magick, and join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus!”
Priestexx traces circle from South around the edge of the ritual space to the West.
At the Western edge of the circle, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in either white (generalized) or blue (specialized) energy and says: “Forces and powers of the West, of the Sun at sunset, of our evening excursions and daily return to home, I summon, stir, and call you forth. Witness us, aid us in our magick, and join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus!”
Priestexx traces circle from West around the edge of the ritual space clockwise to the North, closing the circle, and then returns to the altar in the center, facing North.
Reaching above them, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in white energy and says: “Forces and powers of Above, of the Sun during the day, of our aspirations and our inspirations, I summon, stir, and call you forth. Witness us, aid us in our magick, and join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus!”
Reaching below them, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in black energy and says: “Forces and powers of Below, of the Sun during the night, of our dreaming selves and underworld journeys, I summon, stir, and call you forth. Witness us, aid us in our magick, and join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus!”
Priestexx says: “The circle is cast. We are between the worlds. What happens between the worlds affects all the worlds.”
Honor the Elements – The inspired/poetic version of this ritual (see above) clearly says to “honor the elements”, but just like with creating sacred space, there are a lot of ways we can do this. One ceremonial magick way would be with invoking pentagrams of each element in each cardinal direction and vibrating the appropriate divine names. A more witchy way would be to call each element from its direction using a recitation of its properties and modalities and, once that like has called to like, welcoming each element in turn. Another way to go would be a more physically grounded way, with a plant or a large stone in the North, a big decorated fan or wind chimes in the East, a physical fire burning in the South, and a fountain in the West, and then go around the circle calling each element through interacting with the physical focus. This concrete approach, while only really possible in limited locations, has an added benefit that it will take less concentration and energy for a lot of people…using tools is seldom strictly necessary in magick, but it often makes things easier, especially in groups of mixed traditions or skill levels. These are just a few options among many possible solutions.
EXAMPLE:
Going to the Northern edge of the circle and facing North: “Earth. Earth is a disk and the disk is a wheel, ever-turning, ever-changing. Earth is cool and Earth is dry. Earth solidifies. Earth manifests. Earth supports. Earth grounds. Earth is the ground beneath our feet, upon which we walk and live. Earth is the rich soil that brings forth life. Earth is the physical plane. Earth is our bodies. And Earth is sacred.”
Going to the Eastern edge of the circle and facing East: “Air. Air is a blade, and the blade is a bridge. Air is warm and Air is moist. Air surrounds us. Air connects us. Air separates us. Air allows for sound to travel, allowing us to hear and be heard. Air gives us breath and life. Air is the stick and the rope, dividing and connecting. Air is our speech, our communication, our thought. And Air is sacred.”
Going to the Southern edge of the circle and facing South: “Fire. Fire burns. Fire is warm and Fire is dry. Fire sparks. Fire smolders. Fire spreads. Fire warms. Fire comforts. Fire destroys. Fire is the fire in our homes, in our hearths, in the electricity in our wires. Fire is the fire in our factories, in our forges, in our foundries. Fire is the fire in the core of the Earth, boiling and churning. Fire is the fire in the cores of the stars, burning forth to give us light. Fire is our will, our passion, our drive. And Fire is sacred.”
Going to the Western edge of the circle and facing West: “Water. Water flows. Water is cool and water is moist. Water purifies. Water cleanses. Water cools. Water takes the shape of its container. Water is the water in our oceans, our rivers, our lakes, our ponds. Water is the water in our homes, in our pipes, in our water bottles. Water is the blood within our veins. Water is our emotions, ever flowing. And Water is sacred.”
Going to the Center of the circle and facing North: “Spirit. Spirit unifies. Spirit is above and Spirit is below. Spirit is light and Spirit is dark. Spirit is within and Spirit is without. Spirit is projective and Spirit is receptive. Spirit is active and Spirit is passive. Spirit is ouranic and Spirit is cthonic. Spirit is beyond all these things and between all these things, transcending and unifying all dualities. And Spirit is sacred.”
Invocation of Hera and Zeus – This is the first of the invocatory portions of the ritual. In this part we are calling Hera and Zeus in as both people that we are asking to be present with us in our circle and as centers of energy and action in our ritual with which we are working to do our theiatric magick. This is distinct from the invocations of Hera and Zeus into the ritualists that are to act as their hosts for this working, which come a bit later. The priestexx normally performs this part alone, although “call and response” or “round-robin” structures could be used where everyone does the invocation together in various ways. Normally, each deity should be invoked separately in ontotheological order, followed by order of rank in Their domain. This order is parents before children, more or less, although there are complications with that, such as with Aphrodite Ourania versus Aphrodite Pandemos or Dionysos versus Dionysos Zagreus, where a deity exists as multiple aspects that are of different ontotheological generations or origins. When these sorts of complications arise, the best way I know to resolve it is in relationship with the deity involved. In my dealings with my lady Aphrodite, I deal with Her sometimes as Ourania, sometimes as Pandemos, and sometimes as both, depending on what is going on and how She wishes to engage with me at the time. Most of the time things aren’t that complicated, though, and there will be clear lines of either descent or priority. When you have deities that are equal in ontotheological generation, then you prioritize in order of rank in Their domains of influence. So, for example, Zeus would be invoked before Dionysos because Zeus is the father of Dionysos, and in a general ritual Zeus would be invoked before Hades because Zeus is the king of the Olympians and Hades is an Olympian, but if it was a cthonic ritual—a ritual involving the dead, the physical underground (caverns, graves, etc), or the realm of the Underworld—Hades would be invoked before Zeus. This is, in my opinion, a fundamental principle of polytheism: each deity is always supreme in their own domain, although arguably the Fates are able to dictate terms even to a deity acting in Their own domain, but the Fates are a special case and might as well be a category in Themselves. In the case of this ritual there is the added complication that Hera and Zeus are both equally children of Rhea and Cronus and both hold equal rank as the sovereigns of the Olympians, so the ritualists are invited to choose the order of invocations themselves. I choose to invoke Hera first in my example, but you should feel free to do whatever works best for your group.
EXAMPLE:
“Great goddess Hera, blessed and exalted Queen, we have come here together in celebration of Your most holy mystery of marriage. Hera Antheia, Friend Of Flowers, we call out to You! Hera Kydri, Most Noble goddess, we honor You! Hera Pankratis, All-Powerful Queen, we welcome You! Join our circle! Bless our magicks and our meditations! And join us in the celebration of Your wedding to Zeus! Hail unto You, Queen Hera! Hail and well-met!”
“Great god Zeus, beloved and honored king, we have come here together in celebration of the most holy mystery of marriage. Zeus Ellevtherius, Great Liberator, we call out to You! Zeus Epidotēs, Bountiful One, we honor You! Zeus Akraios, Dweller On The Heights, we welcome You! Join our circle! Bless our magicks and our meditations! And join us in the celebration of Your wedding to Hera! Hail unto You, King Zeus! Hail and well-met!”
Calling The Spirit Family – A spirit family, as I use the term, is a group of spirits who are in close and more or less benevolent relationships of various types with the mage. Sometimes they hang around the mage in astral space, and those who can sense spirits can often sense them hanging around. Sometimes they only come around to visit once in a while, like a relative coming to visit at the holidays. Sometimes they are bound to a place, like a plant spirit, so you usually have to go to them, but they can send their influence to you when you are in need. These spirits can be of any type, really. Ancestor spirits, befriended ghosts, the spirits of great mages (sometimes called the Mighty Dead) or great mystics (sometimes called saints), elementals, daemons…I have worked with them all at one point or another. It’s quite normal for a spirit family to gain and lose members over time, and mine has varied a great deal over my career.
To give an example, my current spirit family is: my HGA (personal daemon), the spirits of my Dad and my maternal grandparents, the spirit of a young woman who died in 1938 who approached me when I was 8 (I did not react well), the spirit of my main teacher in magick, and three young non-human spirits who have come, one by one, to live with my wife and I over the last five years (apparently we have gotten a reputation for taking in strays).
To be clear, these are not pact-bound spirits…none of my spirit family is bound to me by anything except love. Their names and seals are not in my book. They are family. If you have spirits like this, they are the spirits you should call at this time. The priestexx should lead this, but the names should be taken from the ritualists of their own spirit family before the ritual and added to the list to be called.
Please remember that we are not commanding these spirits to appear. We are inviting them. These are not potentially hostile daemons that need to be kept within a Triangle Of Manifestation while we stay in our circle. These spirits do not require lengthy conjurations. These are spirits we know, trust, and love, who usually come when we call or are present already. We welcome them to all rites of theiatry, for spirits are also part of the family (and their part of the family has been treated horribly by humanity in so many ways). We must reconcile the spirits into the family just as much as the gods. This work is for all who will receive it.
EXAMPLE: “Beloved Ancestors, Mighty Dead, Blessed Saints, most honored Spirit Family: we welcome you, if it be your will, to join us in the celebration of the wedding of Hera and Zeus. We welcome you, (insert names taken from ritualists pre-ritual).”
After each spirit is named, the ritualists respond “We welcome you!”
When list is done the priestexx says: “Hail unto you, spirit family, hail and well-met!”
Invocation Of Hera And Zeus Into The Host Ritualists – This should be reasonably straightforward at this point, since Hera and Zeus should already be present and active in the circle due to the earlier invocations. All the priestexx needs to do is to talk each of Them into the respective host. I can’t really give an example for this, as it has to arise out of the energy of the moment and from the tradition of the priestexx and the ritualists. However, I can outline some key points:
They may require some coaxing…it’s one thing to invite deities nicely to a ritual in Their honor, but it’s another thing entirely to ask Them to actually be embodied, even for a brief time, in the bodies of humans.
In addition to this, while we are reaching back in this ritual to a time in the past, before all the problems between Hera and Zeus, deities are eternal beings by Their very natures who extend or project Themselves into time from eternity in order to interact with the world. They know not only Their own entire story, past and future, but They know all of the stories, all the different myths that diverge, converge, and give birth to all the worlds that we all live in. This means that Hera and Zeus may simply be reluctant to be truly invoked into the two hosts. And, honestly, that is actually a perfectly reasonable reaction on Their parts. They both know what has happened between Them. They both know all the pain and distrust, the infidelities and betrayals, of every story ever told about Them, past or future. So the priestexx must be gentle and respectful, but firm and determined.
Take your time, use whatever techniques that your tradition makes available such as hymns, divine names and epithets, specialized incenses or perfumes (again, make sure that you don’t have ritualists with chemical sensitivities first), hexagram rituals, using consecrated regalia of the deity as a focus, and so on. Some suggestions are made below. Have courage…this can be intense work.
The goal of this ritual is to tell a magickally empowered story using magickal theater that is so good that the gods choose to live in it, and that means that we may have to sweeten the pot a little bit. This is why the two people acting as hosts for Hera and Zeus should do devotional practice with their respective deities for at least a lunar month before the ritual…we want the hosts to be attractive temporary homes and devotional practice helps that happen (see Crowley’s “Moonchild” for a fictional account of taking this to an extreme) .
Another way of helping this process out would be clothes and accessories proper to the deities, the “clothes of their choosing, and the colors of their calling” mentioned in the inspired version of this ritual. This does not necessarily mean togas and laurel crowns, however. This instead means items that have been specifically prepared by the ritualists as “regalia” for the respective deities. This can be as simple as something like a lapis lazuli pendant of a peacock for Hera and an amethyst lightning bolt pendant for Zeus or you can go all out and do full outfits. While these items can be made by the community members as a way of binding together the ritualists, make sure to check with the ritualists acting as hosts for the deities…the regalia needs to feel good to the hosts and actually feel like it connects them to their deities. All regalia should be properly purified and consecrated to their tasks and worn by the hosts during their devotional work during the lunar month before the ritual.
The hosts should have some experience with aspecting (also known as trance possession or full invocation) of a deity and should use any personal methods they have for aiding in the aspecting, such as extra periods of purification and fasting, “wine and strange drugs” (although make sure to not be so intoxicated that you can’t be responsible for your own behavior and always remember that drugs—including alcohol—are windows, not doors), meditation, dance, and other mystical techniques.
The two hosts should be on at least very friendly terms with each other. As stated in the commentary, boundaries should be set by each host on what is okay while aspecting. Remember, it’s your body and you have the right to set boundaries and state needs, even with the deities you are aspecting. That said, this is a wedding ritual. It is reasonable that Hera and Zeus, once we reach the feasting and celebration portion of the ritual, might get a little friendly. So the priestexx should be made aware of the boundaries beforehand and be ready to intervene if things get too friendly. If the hosts are fine with sexual escapades between them while aspecting and have arranged those boundaries beforehand with the priestexx, then perhaps a tent within the overall ritual space (if outside) or a room (if inside) could be set aside for those purposes.
The Consecration Of The Waters – This is a pretty unique ritual technique and when it came to me as I was writing the inspired version of the ritual, I was surprised. I have been doing magick a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever run into a net being used as a means of imprinting magickal properties into a liquid passed through it. I actually did something I try to never do when engaging in any kind of mysticism…I second-guessed myself in the middle and started over to check to make sure I was “seeing/hearing” right. But it came through a second time loud and clear, so here we are. The actual charging of the netting with the three properties of “Purifier”, “Lovemaker”, and “Joybringer” should have been done beforehand by the priestexx according to their tradition, so in this portion the priestexx just needs to place the netting across the top of the chalice, pour the water through, and seal the act with some appropriate words.
EXAMPLE: “This net is called Purifier, Lovemaker, and Joybringer. Within it is light and darkness, separation and connection, and most of all openness, the many empty spaces that make a net a net. As this water passes through this net, let it be reminded of its ancient origins. Let it be cleansed, enlivened, and awakened with purpose. And let it be given over in equal measures to purification, love, and joy. So mote it be.”
ALL REPEAT: “So mote it be.”
Priestexx pours water through net, filling chalice.
The Wedding Vows
This is the moment of truth for the stars of the show. Hera and Zeus know what’s up. They know what we are trying to do. And this is the moment where They get to decide whether They are going to join us in telling the new story or not. Despite my own preferences, the inspired version of the ritual is quite clear: we can’t script this and the priestexx can’t lead it. Hera and Zeus must speak from Their very souls and say nothing that is not True, Loving, Good, and Beautiful (as a quick aside, this entrenches “Loving” as one of the divine qualities, a move which caught me off-guard but with which I am in complete agreement). This means that Hera and Zeus get to “write Their own vows”, as it were, and we are just going to have to trust Them to not turn it into something nasty. Now, I love the gods but I also want to be realistic: this could go badly. The whole reason we are doing this act of theiatric magick is to try to give Them a chance to start over and do something different and better with Their marriage, and I do believe that They want that. Queen Hera is literally who told me to do this. But They also have aeons of memories and habits built up in the stories that already exist, and so many of those stories, from ancient myths to new stories like the Netflix series “Kaos”, are just awful. Heartbreaking. They are not stories of a healthy, free, and loving relationship. But until They get to have a healthy, free, and loving relationship, fundamental parts of our reality are unstable and in conflict. We all need this new start. So we have to try and we have to trust Them.
That said, the priestexx should be prepared to try to gently redirect things if they start to derail. Obviously we can’t order Hera and Zeus around…that would be deeply impious and extremely dangerous. These are not deities one wishes to anger. However, a certain amount of, let us say, pious audacity might be justified. Think of the stories in the Tanakh of Abraham arguing with his god over the fate of Sodom or of Jacob wrestling with the angel. There is a place in sincere and earnest mysticism for a pious audacity that is willing to contend with the gods, to look the divine in the eye and say “no”. But we don’t even necessarily need to say no…the priestexx just needs to be willing to gently guide things in a better direction.
This might mean taking a time out from the ritual while the priestexx redirects Hera and Zeus. This may be a rough moment. Feelings may run high and we all know the gods can be intensely…Themselves. If things start to go poorly, it might be good to take a break and let the rest of the ritualists go to the bathroom and get a little space from whatever is happening.
Hopefully we can redirect the ritual and get both of Them to a place where They can make Their new vows in love and joy, but we have to accept that the ritual may just fall apart here. If this happens, the priestexx needs to take extra care to devoke Hera and Zeus from the hosts, devoke the spirit family, devoke the elements, and open the circle properly. We can always try again (and we have to).
If it does go well, we will be lucky witnesses to two divine beings speaking of Their love, of Their future together, and of the joy They take in making this commitment. It promises to be an amazing moment. I hope and pray that I get to see it.
The Address By The Priestexx – This is the priestexx’s moment of truth. Just like Hera and Zeus during the wedding vows, this has to come from the heart. It has to be in the moment. There is no way to give an example of what this address should be beyond what is stated in the inspired version of the ritual. It must arise out of the vows that Hera and Zeus swear and the inspiration of the priestexx in that moment. But no matter how the rest of it goes, the inspired version of the ritual is clear: it must end with:
“Mother and Father, Aunt and Uncle, Of us all, Drink”
At this moment, Hera or Zeus should be given the chalice to drink from (in whatever order They were invoked) and the first to drink should pass the chalice to the other to drink. After They both drink, the priestexx takes back the chalice, says “So mote it be”, places it back down upon that altar, and then says:
“Lead us past the horizon, Past the dawn of the coming age, Where uncertainty sits, Even for the Fates” “Eternity beckons and time is joke, But this love can lead the way, All the gods are family, And this family must be healed”
General revelry! – Don’t devoke or open the circle yet. The reception party must happen with Hera and Zeus still present. Enjoy food, music, dancing, and joy exactly as you would at a mundane wedding reception. The priestexx should, of course, stay sober and functional enough to conclude the ritual after the festivities. Try to watch the overall atmosphere…this is one of the times when things might get weird, and it’s the priestexx’s job to make sure the boundaries are maintained. Depending on the number of people at the ritual, you might want to recruit a couple of ritualists to stay sober with you and generally make sure things don’t get out of control. After the party reaches an end, come back together around the circle for the conclusion to the ritual.
Closing address by the priestexx – Just a short speech bringing things together, a companion to the “preliminary invocation” that began all of this. Hopefully the general atmosphere should be joyful in this moment, so the priestexx should ride that energy to its conclusion. It would also be a good moment to reiterate the core goals/prophecies of theiatry. After all, we came together in this magick for a reason, and the reasons we do things matter.
EXAMPLE: “Beloved Queen Hera and King Zeus, honored wedding party, assembled spirits…thank you. Thank you for coming together with me today to do this magick. This was a ritual of theiatry, the healing of the family of the gods. We have three goals in this work:
“This Family Must Be Healed: The family is all of us. Gods, humans, spirits, fae, plants, animals…everything that can experience a relationship with us is in relationship with us. Those relationships have been damaged and those relationships must be healed.”
“The Prisoners Shall Be Freed: There are shades of the dead who are suffering in the Underworld or wandering the Earth. There are also ancient powers, such as many of the Titans, that are imprisoned and suffering. The myths speak of people like Prometheus, Sisyphus, and Tantalus, but these are just the famous examples of Ancient Greece. The world is full of beings that are bound by something, and because of that they can’t be free to move on and live. In the case of human shades, that means they suffer and can’t reincarnate. They are each in their own hells. We must use our magick to help them. This includes one of the most ancient duties of mages…to help the restless dead find peace.”
“The Curses Shall Be Lifted – There are curses on vast amounts of our population. Generational curses caused by the actions of our ancestors, accidental and purposeful curses cast on us by others, and curses we bring on ourselves. Some of these curses even lay upon spirits and deities. Examples in myth include Arachne, Echo, and Medusa. All of these people are suffering. We must work to examine, untangle, and lift these curses.”
“So I thank you all for being here with me. I believe that together we can do this work. Let us return to our lives today reassured that we have helped heal the family.”
This last bit assumes the ritual was successful…if not, be realistic and consoling. It’s disappointing and it’s okay to express that, but after processing that feeling we also need to stay focused on the overall mission and be ready to try again when the time comes.
Devoke deities in reverse order of invocation.
EXAMPLES:
“Beloved god, King Zeus: on behalf of those assembled here, congratulations on Your marriage! We wish you all the blessings of love, freedom, and joy in your marriage and the years to come. We thank You for Your presence and Your blessings today and ask that You continue to bless us in our lives and in our coming days. Hail unto You, King Zeus, hail and farewell!”
“Beloved goddess, Queen Hera: on behalf of all assembled here, let me say congratulations! We all wish you the best possible love, freedom, and joy in Your marriage. We thank You for Your presence and Your blessings today and ask that You continue to bless us as we return to our lives. Hail unto You, Queen Hera, hail and farewell!”
Devoke Spirit Family – You should probably do this as a big batch rather than naming everyone as we did when calling them. At this point the ritual will be winding to a close and the ritualists will have gotten their fill of socializing during the reception. People will be getting to the point where they are ready to leave (or already there), so we should wrap things up cleanly and quickly.
EXAMPLE: “Beloved Ancestors, Mighty Dead, Blessed Saints, and assembled Spirit Family: we thank you for your presence and your blessings today and ask that you continue to bless us, and though we know that you are with us always, we say goodbye to you for now. Hail and farewell!”
General License To Depart – Magick often attracts attention from the local spirits. We start moving energy around and calling in various forces, which makes a big astral light show. This is usually fine and causes no problems whatsoever. Your preparation of the space should have set up conditional wards that prevent bad behavior and spirits live all around us…it makes sense that they get curious. The problem arises when we start opening the circle and doing the normal banishings that go along with that…suddenly all of those spirits that came around to watch the show are getting ejected forcibly, sometimes painfully (depending on the banishing used). That’s just rude and a good way to make enemies. In addition to this, as mentioned above, spirits are part of the family. We owe them our concern and care, just like everyone else. So we want to say goodbye nicely and give them a quick heads up that it’s time to leave.
EXAMPLE: “Let any spirits who may have been attracted by these operations today be honored and blessed. May your burdens be lightened. May you prosper and thrive. Return now unto your habitations in peace and friendship. So mote it be.” ALL RESPOND: “So mote it be”.
Devoke Elements – In reverse order as invoked and with reverse movements around the circle, starting in the center at the altar facing North for Spirit and then moving widdershins (counterclockwise) from West back around to North.
EXAMPLES:
“Oh Spirit, you always surprise us. Thank you. You unify while maintaining difference, showing us both our connection and our uniqueness. We honor and cherish you. Farewell, Spirit. Spirit is sacred. ALL RESPOND: “Spirit is sacred”.
“Thank you, blessed Water, flowing and twisting through our lives. You are our blood, our emotions, and the flowing waters of our living world. We honor and cherish you. Farewell, Water. Water is sacred.” ALL RESPOND: “Water is sacred.”
“Oh blessed Fire, burning bright and high, we thank you. You are our passion, our drive, and the burning force behind our changing world. We honor and cherish you. Farewell, Fire. Fire is sacred.” ALL RESPOND: “Fire is sacred”.
“Blessed Air, whirling and flowing around and within us, we thank you. You are our breath, our speech, and the whirling winds that fill the sails of our world. We honor and cherish you. Farewell, Air. Air is sacred. ALL RESPOND: “Air is sacred”.
“Mighty and blessed Earth, home and mother of us all, we thank you. You are our living bodies, our home, and the physical realm itself. We honor and cherish you. Farewell, Earth. Earth is sacred.” ALL RESPOND: “Earth is sacred.”
Open Sacred Space – In reverse order as the casting, as above. In my example, that will be starting in the center for Below and Above, then widdershins (counterclockwise), tracing around the circle from West to North.
EXAMPLE:
Reaching below them, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in black energy and says: “Forces and powers of Below, of the Sun during the night, of our dreaming selves and underworld journeys, I thank you for you presence and blessings during this working. We honor and cherish you. Hail and farewell.”
Reaching above them, the priestexx then traces a banishing Earth pentagram while visualizing the pentagram being formed in white energy and says: “Forces and powers of Above, of the Sun during the day, of our aspirations and our inspirations, I thank you for you presence and blessings during this working. We honor and cherish you. Hail and farewell.”
The priestexx traces a banishing Earth pentagram in the West while visualizing the pentagram being formed in blue energy, saying: “Forces and powers of the West, of the Sun at sunset, of our evening excursions and daily return to home, I thank you for you presence and blessings during this working. We honor and cherish you. Hail and farewell.”
The priestexx traces a banishing Earth pentagram in the South while visualizing the pentagram being formed in red energy, saying: “Forces and powers of the South, of the Sun at noon, of our mid-day meanderings and the work at hand, I thank you for you presence and blessings during this working. We honor and cherish you. Hail and farewell.”
The priestexx traces a banishing Earth pentagram in the East while visualizing the pentagram being formed in yellow energy, saying: “Forces and powers of the East, of the Sun at dawn, of our early morning ambitions and sleepy starts to the day, I thank you for you presence and blessings during this working. We honor and cherish you. Hail and farewell.”
The priestexx traces a banishing Earth pentagram in the North while visualizing the pentagram being formed in green energy, saying: “Forces and powers of the North, of the Sun at midnight, of our hidden hearts and late night transformations, I thank you for you presence and blessings during this working. We honor and cherish you. Hail and farewell.”
Return to center, facing north. Ring bell 2-3-2 and say: “These rites are duly concluded. The circle is open but unbroken. May the love of the gods be ever in our hearts. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!”
Please remember to clean up the site and, if the ritual was held at someone’s house or on someone’s property, make sure to thank them for hosting.
Art: Antoine Coypel, “Jupiter And Juno On Mount Ida”, (~1700)
I love this concept. The challenge for me is I have a very muddy, mongrelized pantheon. i don’t think I’ll ever be able to authentically do a ritual with Zeus and Hera since my mythological universe is an idiosyncratic patchwork. But it’s cool to see this template of what theiatry could look like.