The Apollonian 2

There are seasons where devotion does not feel like lightness or ease, but like endurance. Where faith is not loud, but quiet and steady, carried through difficult days and uncertain moments. In those times, I remember that light is not only what warms us. It is also what guides us when the path is unclear. It does not remove the darkness, but it makes it possible to keep going within it. Hail Apollo, Bringer of Light and Revealer of Truth. May clarity hold me steady when everything else feels heavy, and may I continue forward with integrity even in difficult seasons.

The god Apollo accepts the sacrifices of the shepherds By: Gustave Moreau

Hail Apollon Leschenorius, Guardian of sacred halls and steadfast counsel, Protector of words exchanged in trust, I call upon Your wisdom and grace. By Your light, may discourse be just, By Your hand, may alliances be forged. You who see beyond the spoken word, Grant clarity and harmony in gathering. I adore You, radiant Apollon, Guide our hearts in unity, Guard these halls with Your eternal watch. Hail and be ever honored!

Bronze Apollo with Lyre

All fortune is good fortune; for it either rewards, disciplines, amends, or punishes, and so is either useful or just. Boethius

Only when we appreciate what purity and purification can mean in the Apollonian sense, will the true character of his spiritual stature become intelligible. We realize at once that to this spirituality belongs Apollonian music, knowledge of right and of the future, institution of higher ordinances. All these qualities characterize the Homeric Apollo. We sense that these properties and perfections radiate from a single basic quality and are manifold manifestations of a single divine being which the Greeks had worshipped as Apollo even before Homer. The Homeric Gods. The Spiritual Significance of Greek Religion

Apollo and Daphne By: Daniel Seiter

Roman period Head of Apollo

Symbols of the nine Muses, Greek mosaic from Elis C1st B.C., Archaeological Museum of Elis

Etruscan Apollo from Falerii, Temple of Scasato 310-300 BCE. Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia.

Pastoral Apollo By John Flaxman

Apollo Attended by Nymphs by François Girardon

Those who are in the wrong in matters of supreme importance are objects of pity rather than of hate ... Julian the Philosopher

"Be assured that the essence of piety towards the gods lies in this: to form right opinions about them, that they exist and govern the universe well and justly, and to fix yourself in this duty: to obey them and yield to them in everything which happens, and to willingly follow it as being accomplished by the wisest intelligence. ... But it also becomes incumbent on every one to offer libations and sacrifices and first-fruits, according to the customs of his country, purely, and not heedlessly nor negligently; not stingily nor extravagantly." Epictetus, The Handbook 31

Apollo, Hermes and Heracles