So today is another Sunday with Apollo. Once again I put my prayer candle to him and lit it. I burned scented oil until I can get the Japanese Frankincense that I'm planning on ordering next month, the roses, and I poured libation of a new bottle of grape juice (red, this time), in a glass before pouring it on the ground outside. Today is also the holiday of Thargelia, which is in honor of Apollo. I've found info about the holiday and I intend to celebrate it. I got this from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Thargelia, in Greek religion, one of the chief festivals of Apollo at Athens, celebrated on the sixth and seventh days of Thargelion (May-June). Basically a vegetation ritual upon which an expiatory rite was grafted, the festival was named after the first fruits, or the first bread from the new wheat.
On the first day of the festival, two men (or a man and a woman)
were chosen for their ugliness; acting as scapegoats for community
guilt, they were draped in figs and led through the city before being
cast out. (See also pharmakos.)
Occasionally, as in times of heavy calamity, they were sacrificed,
being either thrown into the sea or burned on a funeral pyre. On the
second day of the festival, there was a thanks offering, a procession,
and the official registration of adopted persons.
I hope that your day will be well and happy Thargelia.
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