The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Artemis in Cambridge

The worship of the Greek goddess Artemis has been reestablished in a small house temple not far from Central Square in Cambridge. Several times a year, Thista Minai, the priestess of Artemis and keeper of the temple, leads a group of worshipers in honoring this patron of wild beasts and hunting. Some festivals are close recreations of ancient Greek rituals; others draw from the intentions and purposes of these festivals while revising the rites; and still others are new festivals developed to serve Artemis in her New England home.

Hellenic Pagans

Hellenic Paganism, also known as Greek Reconstructionist Paganism, focuses on the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, seeking to recreate the festivals and ceremonies that honored these deities in modern situations. Two national Hellenic organizations are Neokoroi, which translates as "temple keepers" or "believers," and Hellenion, a Hellenic polytheistic organization incorporated as a religious non-profit in California. Both organizations link small worship groups (eranoi or demoi, singular eranos or demos) and share research and ideas together.

Hellenic Pagans, like other Pagan groups, vary greatly in their worship and practice. However, there are several virtues that most Hellenics aspire towards and seek to realize in their paganism. One of these is xenia, the virtue of being a good host and good guest, respectful of each other's customs and laws. This allows Hellenic Pagans to be open and inclusive in their rites and when attending others' celebrations. Hellenic Pagans also strongly value family and heritage, although this can be interpreted to mean one's chosen family rather than the family of one's birth. Another virtue is arête, the pursuit of excellence, and a third is eusebia or piety, the practice of honoring the gods and being respectful. Depending on the group, these virtues may be manifested in different ways. Hellenic Pagans often differ on the degree to which they seek to make their rituals direct recreations of ancient Greek practices, with some espousing a strong historical approach and others preferring to develop new rites based on the principles behind each festival. Every Greek Reconstructionist Pagan works to find the right balance between historical precedent and modern inspiration.

History

The Temple of Artemis at Cataleos was founded by Thista Minai in 2005. After working with a now-defunct Hellenion demos, Thista was inspired to found a temple for a stable dedicated worship space. Artemis, she says, has been with her since she was a child, and the development of the Temple was both a sign that she was choosing to serve Artemis and that Artemis was choosing her as a priestess. She sanctified a spare room in her apartment, built a nine-foot statue of the goddess, and began holding festivals.

Thista chose the name Cataleos as a combination of two words: "The first half comes from Catalina, a small island off the coast of southern California. This island is and always has been a haven for me, and much of my early spiritual development was catalyzed or refined there. The second half of the name Cataleos comes from the ancient Greek word eos, which means east. When I founded the Temple of Artemis at Cataleos, I wanted the name to reflect both the sensation of holiness and sanctuary that I feel in Catalina as well as the actual place where the temple is located: the northeast." Her research on Artemis has been published as the book Dancing in Moonlight: Understanding Artemis through Celebration.

Festivals

The Temple holds six festivals yearly: Arkteia, Mounukhia, Artemisia, Kharisteria, Elaphebolia, and Theronia. Thista also holds Thargelia and Philokhoria festivals honoring both Artemis and Apollo, her twin brother, usually in locations other than the Temple. Attendance varies from three participants to forty, depending on the festival and the time of year. All of these festivals share certain features. They begin with an opening ritual where barley and water are brought around in a circle to mark a sanctified space, followed by hand washing and a prayer to Artemis. Offerings to the goddess, sometimes brought by the participants and sometimes made right before the festival in the Temple, are presented to the goddess. Agon, or contests, are held, and a feast with a place set for Artemis finishes the celebration.

Within that framework, the contents of the festivals are very different. Mounukhia is a recreation of an Athenian ritual where women processed through the streets carrying lanterns as offerings to the goddess; the same procession, with tealight candles, is held in the Temple. Mounukhia also has the only women-only activity: the passing of the hiketeria, a branch wrapped in wool or cotton, as a prayer for protection. The Arkteia festival as it was performed in ancient Greece was intended to bring all the wildness out of young girls so that they could be "tamed" in marriage; Thista has reinvented the festival as a celebration of that wild-child nature rather than an exorcism of it, and the contests may include children's board games. Theronia is a new festival developed partly as a prayer for the protection of animals such as reptiles that may suffer during the cold winter months in New England.

Visitors to these festivals should RSVP in advance by emailing Thista. This allows her to plan for feast and offering materials. If the ritual will be held somewhere other than the Temple, she may ask to meet with the visitor beforehand rather then inviting them into someone else's home without knowing them. Although Artemis is "kid-friendly," says Thista, there have been very few children at the rituals. Participants under the age of 18 are not allowed without a parent or guardian in attendance, so that they can talk about the experience later with a trusted person.

Similarities and Differences

Thista notes that the celebrations at the Temple of Artemis share a few cosmetic features with Wiccan-related Pagan practices, but that there are important differences behind the apparent similarities. For example, the procession of barley and water might resemble the casting of a circle in a Wiccan rite. She stresses that while the Wiccan ritual creates a space "between worlds," the Hellenic procession marks the space as ritually significant but not separated; one can walk in and out of the ritual space without disrupting the ritual. The December ritual of Theronia emphasizes different themes than the Yule festivals that happen around the winter solstice.

Partnerships

Several partnerships exist between the Temple of Artemis and other Pagans. Announcements for the Temple of Artemis often go out on the Boston Pagan Alliance listserver or other Pagan message lists. In addition, the general structure of small worship groups, local organizations that offer public worship, and larger networks that connect Hellenic Pagans is similar to the structures that other Pagan traditions have developed.

Future Goals

Thista has two aims for the Temple's development in the near future. First, she hopes to develop a small worship group, an eranos, of local Hellenic Pagans who would not only come worship at the Temple of Artemis, but also celebrate the other Greek gods and goddesses. Her greatest hope, however, is to found an outdoor temple that would be open to anyone for worship "like a Shinto temple." In the ancient Greek societies, such a temple would be tended by a full-time priest or priestess, supported by taxation of the people: "We can't do that today, nor do we want the taxing structure that funded it. So we have to adapt." The cost of offerings and feasts is primarily born by Thista, who works full-time in addition to her priestessing duties. While the creation of the outdoor temple may take some time, until then the Temple of Artemis at Cataleos will continue "providing opportunities for worship and festivals, being out there to help people learn, and being a resource for people who need to talk."