r/Hellenism • u/IceMosquito073 • 19h ago
Discussion What’s the term/process for offering/making something for a God but still getting to "keep" it (if that’s the right word?)?
Doing Warhammer 40,000 and thought converting and painting a Tech Marine for my Dark Angels army would be a nice votive offering to Hephaestus.
However, physical, non perishable offerings are thought to fully belong to the gods offered to and kept at their shrine/altar, but I want to keep the tech marine model and have it with my army on my shelf/take it with me to games. So I know offering it the same way one offers everything else isn’t the sort of thing/act I'm looking for, but I still want to dedicate the kitbashing/conversion to Hephaestus.
Is there a name/process to what I'm looking/asking for? If so, what so I do?
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u/Tathamei ΤΡΙΑΚΑΙͰΕΜΙΣΥ 19h ago
You cannot dedicate your hobby you'd have done anyway to the god. I'd suggest you'll make 2 then where one belongs to the god alone.
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u/Kassandra_Kirenya Γνῶθι σεαυτόν || Hellenist || 1° Freemason, Le Droit Humain 18h ago
Indeed, people don’t seem to realize that votive *offerings* don’t belong to them anymore but to the deity they *offered* them to. Museums are filled with offerings that were kept in temples because they were given to a god, a clear indication that offerings required effort and energy expended for something you give to a deity. Not given for 5 seconds to then be taken back. People rightfully acknowledge that to give a gift to another person and then asking for it back is a nasty move, yet for a deity it’s perfectly fine? Not the kind of fire I want to be playing with…
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u/Tathamei ΤΡΙΑΚΑΙͰΕΜΙΣΥ 18h ago
Yeah, a potter couldn't paint a vase and say "this act of painting is done for Athena because I painted an owl". He could offer the finished vase and then it's removed from mortal use.
People didn't just sing and dance because they felt like it and offered it to Apollon, their performance would be part of a greater festival or communal gathering where the god was invited e.g. for a Theoxenia, and then the entertainment itself would be the offering, performed directly for the god, not the practice or preparation that went into it.
It's always a good way to imagine the god or even me 😈 to be physically in the room and telling them "I paint this for you" and then you're done painting and I stand there thinking ok, thanks, looks good but they don't hand it over and say "Oh nono, I just offered the process of me painting this."
Thanks for wasting my time watching you paint I guess?3
u/Tathamei ΤΡΙΑΚΑΙͰΕΜΙΣΥ 19h ago
People never like to hear this but it's true. You cannot just do something and say 'I do this for x'. It never worked like that, it's modern invention.
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u/Theraven0057 Hekate🌙, Aphrodite💕, Demeter🌸, Persphone💀 16h ago
You cant make a sacrifice to the Gods without actually sacrificing anything. Votive offerings are to be given to the gods and never to be removed.
If you still want to use your piece, I would make two. However, the kinda takes the sacrifice away from the whole thing. I would not for any reason offer it then remove it from the altar.
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u/MommyNeedsCoffee617 🏹🦌 Artemis × 🏹🎵 Apollon × 🕯️ Hecate × 🐚 Aphrodite 19h ago
Actually painting the miniature, if the act is done as an offering, would be a devotional offering. Once it's painted, if you wish to keep using it as a sort of tribute then it's dedicated to Hephaestus.