The ancient Pagan festival of Thargelia is once again being celebrated publicly in Greece by members of The Supreme Council of the Greek National (YSEE), an umbrella group working to restore the traditional polytheistic religions of Greece.
![Thargelia celebration near Athens. [Photo provided by YSEE]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Athens-altar-500x333.jpg)
Thargelia celebration near Athens.
The rituals took place near Athens at the foot of Mount Parnitha and on the Greek island of Rhodes. Approximately 60 people attended Athens ritual, while a much smaller group attended the one in Rhodes. Vlassis G. Rassias, priest of Zeus and Apollo, and the General Secretary of YSEE, said that attendance for a YSEE ritual can vary from 50 to 200 people.
![Attendees gathered for the Thargelia ritual near Athens [photo provided by YSEE]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Athens-crowd-500x245.jpg)
Attendees gathered for the Thargelia ritual near Athens.
![Two young girls lead the procession to the altar. [photo provided by YSEE]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Athens-procession-children-500x333.jpg)
Two young girls lead the procession to the altar.
Artemis and Apollon are honored with hymns and prayers. Next libations of oil and wine are poured. Community members are also invited to place offerings on the altar. Finally the central wish of the community is spoken to the Gods, the Gods are thanked and saluted, and then the ritual closes.
![Left: A hymn is sung Right: libations are poured [photo provided by YSEE]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/hymn-offering-500x362.png)
Left: A hymn is sung
Right: Libations are poured
Rassias said, “Our ritual outline is given to us by the people that brought the Hellenic Religion to our times, through the dark ages of persecutions, from the end of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the closure of our philosophical schools to Georgios Gemistos-Plethnon, Marullus Tarchaniotis and the “Stradiotti” and then to our secret societies in the 18th century in Northern Italy and the Ionian Islands.” He said that the Hellenic ethnic religion, commonly called Hellenismos in the USA, has had a continuous existence from the Late Antiquity until present day. He is thankful those practices were never fully eradicated by the Christian church.
![The Thargelia celebrated in Rhodes. [photo provided by YSEE]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Rhodes-1-500x308.jpg)
The Thargelia celebrated in Rhodes.
To see videos of other Pagan rituals performed in Greece by Labrys, another traditional Hellenic organization, go here.
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[Editor’s note: All photos used in this article were taken by Irakis Patramanis, Yiannis Bantekas and Costas Kehagias. Permission to use the photos was granted by YSEE.]