Deities of the Hearth and Home

[thalassa]

This essay is posted in its entirety from Shadow_Kitten. It is a pre-crash cache rescue.

I wrote this essay a couple of months ago for a Hearth Witchery course that I was doing & I'm very proud of it so I thought I'd post it here. There's hardly any information about Hestia out there so some might find this handy. PLEASE don't reproduce this without my permission or without giving me credit.

---

Hestia

http://celticbotan.deviantart.com/art/Hestia-Vesta-76477500

[thalassa]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

More on Hestia...

Goddess of the hearth, domestic duties and the home life, Hestia is strong, nurturing and protective. According to Greek mythology, Hestia was the first born child of Cronos and Rhea. Her brothers were Poseidon, Hades and Zeus, and her sisters were Demeter and Hera. Wooed by Apollo and Poseidon, Hestia swore that she would never marry, instead following her own path of service to family, home and community. Being the goddess of the hearth, she was greatly honored in ancient Greek households. In fact, the hearth fires of the ancient Greeks were not allowed to go out unless they were extinguished in a ceremonial, ritualized way and then also relit in the same way.
Hestia, as is her Roman equivalent Vesta, is seen as a complete goddess, the center of home, family and municipality. She is independent and yet a strong nurturer and protector. Aside from being the goddess of hearth and home, she is also the eternal living flame and inspires quiet dignity, serenity and courage. To invite the goddess Hestia into your home is to make your home a sacred space and a place where you can find centering and balancing energy. You can bring her into your home life in simple or more ritualized ways, depending on the time that you have and your own personal preferences. Some ideas include:

ETA:
(the forum snacked this post, and I can no longer find it in google cache)

[Clive]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

Awesome, thank you for this. I've been drawn to Hestia for some time but was never sure exactly how to honor her. This is an inspiration.

[thalassa]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

Xian Nian, the Chinese Kitchen God




Xian Nian (Zao Jun, Tsao Shen) is an important household deity in China. The Kitchen God oversees the household and serves as a reminder to the family prosperity of the household is not guaranteed and should be guarded by its inhabitants. Sacrifices (in the form of sweet candies and cakes) are made to him in the belief that he brings good fortune (so that he can not make a bad report to the Jade Emperor).

Stories of his origin:

Traditions assert that a mortal named Zhang was a wealthy farmer who owned an acreage of fertile land with great harvests and livestock. He had everything he needed and had a good family. However, one day he became attracted to a concubine and his wife eventually left him. He lived a vicarious life until he exhausted all his wealth. His concubine left him and he was left to wander the streets as a homeless beggar.

One day in the winter Zhang became too weak and fainted while knocking on a door begging for food. The lovely lady who answered the door took him in and nursed him back to health. When he awoke he found himself in a small kitchen next to the warm hearth. When he looked out the window he had seen his host. To his surprise it was his old wife. Embarrassed and not being able to look her in the face he jumped into the hearth. She tried to douse him with water but the fire kept on blaring and in a flash his ashes went to the heavens.

Upon receiving a report of Zhang's story, the Jade Emperor declared and appointed Zhang to be the Kitchen God. The heavenly ruler declared that someone who learned such a lesson would be all knowing and could influence the heavens for eternity.

from http://www.thatsqingdao.com/qingdao-...xiao-nian.html

Alternatively, there is another tale where Zao Jun was a man so poor he was forced to sell his wife. Years later he unwittingly became a servant in the house of her new husband. Taking pity on him she baked him some cakes into which she had hidden money, but he failed to notice this and sold the cakes for a pittance. When he realized what he had done he took his own life in despair. In both stories Heaven takes pity on Zhang Lang's tragic story. Instead of becoming a vampirish Hopping corpse, the usual fate of suicides, he was made the god of the Kitchen, and was reunited with his wife.
The origin of the Kitchen God has different stories behind it just as any historical cultural tradition may. Another possible story of the "Stove God" is believed to have appeared soon after the invention of the brick stove. The Kitchen God was originally believed to have resided in the stove and only later took on human form. During the Han Dynasty, it is believed that a poor farmer named Yin Zifang, was surprised by the Kitchen God who appeared on Lunar New Year as he was cooking his breakfast. Yin Zifang decided to sacrifice his only yellow sheep for the Kitchen God. In doing so, he became rich and decided that every winter he would sacrifice one yellow sheep in order to display his deep gratitude for the Kitchen God.

Honoring the Kitchen God:

To please the Kitchen God, a paper image of him resides near the back of every stove. A small altar is made for seasonal food offerings and to burn incense and candles. Each year, about one week before the start of the New Year celebrations, the image of the Kitchen God is taken down and burned. By doing this the spirit of the Kitchen God is released from the earth. Thus freed, the Kitchen God is freed to make his annual ascent to Heaven where he will report to the Jade Emperor on the conduct of the family during the past year.

from http://aneducatedpalate.wordpress.co...od-re-visited/

Traditionally the Spring Festival actually begins its course a week before the Chinese New Year (the 23th of the last month from Chinese lunar calendar), with the practice of offering a sacrifice to the Kitchen God, a god sent from Heaven to each family to take charge of family's affairs and make a report on what the family has done in the past year to Heaven annually on the date of the 23th. Strangely enough, the sacrifice to the Kitchen God is a lotus root-like sticky cake made of a kind of confection, a typical Chinese traditional candy, instead of the usual cows, pigs or sheep. The purpose of the practice is compromising, for people are making full use of the sticky cake to prevent the Kitchen God from speaking ill of the family in Heaven by sticking his mouth. Of course, it seems to be quite a tacit agreement between the Kitchen God and his prayers; he is always accepting the sweet food from the people around. This tradition is no longer popular in cities now, but may still be observed in some areas of countryside.

from http://chineseculture.about.com/libr.../aa010300a.htm

[magusphredde]

http://walkingthehedge.net/wildgeekhang/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=154:godshouse&catid=92:gods&Itemid=163

[thalassa]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

A list of hearth and home deities
choosing domestic deities for the home

[Laketear]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

That's a beautiful story about Hestia Thalassa, well it's not a story I know but it's a great piece and you're right about Hestia not being very well known. I have an old book on Greek and Roman Mythology and very little is mentioned of her other than the fact that she tended to the sacred fire on Mount Olympus but there was also something else that was in the book that was not mentinoned in your essay. Hestia's roman name being Vesta was the patron Goddess of the Vesta Temples that were run by women all of whom had to be virgins. Which is where they came up with the name Vesta Virgins and the women of these Temples were charged with keeping the pyre of said temple lit at all times something you said Hestia did as well on Mount Olympus. But there were dire consequences to any woman who let the fire burn out or had an illicit affair with a man before her term had ended if caught she was either burned or buried alive, the good thing I noted about the Vesta Virgins was that they didn't have to remain in the service of the Goddess or the Temple for her whole life after a certian amount of time which was usually many many years she could go free to spend the rest of her life as she wished even marry if she wanted to.
That was all the real information given on Hestia in the book I have but I have to say from what you've written Hestia is my kind of Goddess! Lol, maybe I should pay some kind of tribute to her and introduce myself because I would like to spend the rest of my days just as she did living quietly, peacefully tending to my home and garden. Thanks for sharing your essay.

Laketear

[financing]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

In Irish mythological cycles, Brighid (or Brighit), whose name is derived from the Celtic brig or "exalted one", is the daughter of the Dagda, and therefore one of the Tuatha de Dannan. Her two sisters were also called Brighid, and were associated with healing and crafts. The three Brighids were typically treated as three aspects of a single deity, making her a classic Celtic triple goddess.

---------- Post added at 12:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 PM ----------

Celtic goddess of the hearth, midwifery, healing, smithcraft, poetry and holy wells. She was originally celebrated on February 1st in the festival of Imbolg, which coincided with the beginning of lactation in ewes and the first signs of spring. During this festival is was common to put out the household hearth and clean it, then re-light it from a common source, generally a blessed sacred bonfire. She represents the goddess of the land, fertility, and creative inspiration. She has also been worshipped as a warrior and protector, a healer, a guardian of children, a sovereign, and a goddess of fire and the sun. Still other sources say she was the goddess of agriculture, animal husbandry, medicine, crafting and music.

[Lokabrenna]

http://templeoftheflea.weebly.com/fo...folk-ways.html

[lorraine02]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

a complex problem in health and home , it worth everyone thinking for it for times.

[Manzila]

Re: Deities of the Hearth and Home

This is a nice one thankyou for this information.