Are there any Hellenic holidays where you give friends/family gifts? I thought I saw one once about Dionysos years ago that takes place in the winter but I can’t remember what it was/find it

sisterofiris:

I had a look through Hellenion’s list of festivals, and none of them seem to involve gift-giving – which doesn’t surprise me, since it’s not the kind of thing Hellenic festivals centre around. You might be thinking about Saturnalia, a Roman festival held in December which did feature gift-giving, as well as revelry (which might explain your association with Dionysos).

On that note, I’ve found that you need to be careful with a lot of the online information about Hellenic (and other polytheist and pagan) winter holidays. More often than it should be, it’s gathered from several traditions and put together as a substitute for Christmas. I completely understand why polytheists and pagans may want to hold onto Christmas traditions – I myself love them! – but we need to recognise that this kind of celebration is not traditional for our religions. Slapping a Hellenic veneer onto a Christian holiday doesn’t make it Hellenic.

That said, just because Christmas and gift-giving aren’t Hellenic traditions doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to take part in them. Polytheism is, by nature, open to other deities and their celebrations; there’s no rule that says you’re only allowed to celebrate Hellenic festivals. I firmly believe that if, as a pagan or polytheist, you want to do Christmas – do Christmas! Put up that tree! Give those gifts!

And even if you’re not interested in Christmas itself, don’t let that stop you from giving seasonal gifts if you want to. You don’t need to justify kindness and generosity through religion. Be kind and generous anyway 🙂