siehe auch den
Tropaion-Artikel
Von 23.-25.Juni fand das dreitägige Fest am Fuße des Olymp zum 11.Mal statt. Tausende Gläubige und Besucher aus aller Welt waren dabei.
Es handelt sich hierbei um eine verkleinerte "Rekonstruktion" der Panhellenischen Spiele der Antike. Der Erfinder der Veranstaltung, Tryphon Olympios, erinnerte in seiner Ansprache an die Anfänge des Fests, als konservative Gruppen den griechischen Geheimdienst davon informierten, dass es sich hier um eine makedonische Separatistenbewegung handelte, die die Abspaltung von Griechenland wollten - daher wurde damals das Fest von bewaffneten Polizeieinheiten beobachtet.
Fotos gibt es wieder bei
YSEE zu sehen!
Heute habe ich den Text des Memorandums aus Griechenland geschickt bekommen:
http://de.geocities.com/askalon65/artikel/pdf/ysee-ypomnima-english.pdf
Übersetzung eines
Tropaion-Artikels
Die griech. Zeitung "To Ethnos" (12/05/2006) hat einen Artikel veröffentlicht, in dem auf eine offizielle Eingabe des Obersten Rates der ethnischen Hellenen (YSEE) zur formellen Anerkennung des neuhellenischen Polytheismus (Dodekatheon) durch den grich. Staat hingewiesen wird.
Das Memorandum wurde bei verschiedenen staatlichen Stellen eingebracht, darunter das Büro des Premierministers und des Staatspräsidenten.
Die griechischen Staatsbürger, die heute Anhänger des neuhellenischen Polytheismus sind, wünschen die Errichtung einer legalen Körperschaft und rechtliche Gleichberechtigung des neuhellenischen Polytheismus mit den bereits in Griechenland bestehenden Religionen und die Bereinigung der diversen rechtlichen Probleme, die im bestehenden griech. Rechtssystem Religionsfreiheit und -ausübung betreffen.
Ausserdem wünschen sie eine offizielle Berechtigung zum Zutritt zu archäologischen Statten zur Religionsausübung und die Errichtung und Weihe eines Marmoraltars im Bereich der athenischen archäologischen Stätten. Weiters fordern sie die Änderung der Religionserziehung und der Begräbnisvorschriften, da die EInäscherung in Griechenland verboten ist.
Vlassis Rassias, ein YSEE-Mitglied, gibt an, dass die griechischen Anhänger des hellenischen Polytheismus sowohl die Größe als auch den Hintergrund hätten, um offiziell als Religion anerkannt zu werden.
(üb. aus dem engl.)
nachdem es im deutschsprachigen Raum unter HexenHeidenPagans mittlerweile auch schon den Aufschrei "Die Hellenisten sind anerkannt, hurra!" gibt, sehe ich mich veranlasst, einfach alles, was mir zu diesem Thema unterkommt, zu copy/pasten
copy/paste aus einer hellenischen Yahoo-Group
Greek gods prepare for comeback
Helena Smith in Athens
Friday May 5, 2006
The Guardian
It has taken almost 2,000 years, but those who worship the 12 gods of ancient Greece have finally triumphed. An Athens court has ordered that the adulation of Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and co is to be unbanned, paving the way for a comeback of pagans on Mount Olympus.
The followers, who say they "defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos" of the ancients by adhering to a pre-Christian polytheistic culture, are poised to take their battle to the temples of Greece.
"What we want, now, is for the government to fully recognise our religion," Vasillis Tsantilas told the Guardian. "We will petition the Greek parliament, and the EU if that fails, for access to worship in places like the Acropolis, for permission to have our own cemeteries and, where necessary, to re-bury the [ancient] bones of the dead.
About 98% of Greeks are Orthodox Christian, and all other religions except Judaism and Islam had been banned.
Yet the pagans say as many as 2,000 Greeks have signed up to their movement. Mr Tsantilas, 42, a computer scientist who came to paganism after toying with Buddhism, Taoism and Islam, said worshippers perceived the ancient gods as the "personification of the divine".
But Greece's powerful Orthodox Church takes a less charitable view, accusing the worshippers of idolatry and "poisonous New Age practices".
Father Eustathios Kollas, who presides over the community of Greek priests, said: "They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past."
... diesmal vom ORF
(http://religion.orf.at/projekt03/news/0604/ne060428_griechenland_fr.htm - Antike Götter werden in Griechenland wieder offiziell verehrt)
wieder mal ein kommentarloses copy/paste von
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hellenion_Europe
wer komische Sonderzeichen findet, darf sie behalten...
Dear all,
I believe you still remember the message which was announcing the Kathimerinis¢ article of the Hellenic faith¢s official recognition (http://tropaion.blogspot.com/2006/03/by-power-of-zeus-ancient-gods-are-back_24.html). In an additional research and with the publication of the today¢s Kathimerinis¢ article “Zeus worshippers want to head for Acropolis” – an abstract in English of the Greek written article by Nikos Papachristou (you can read all of them here:
http://tropaion.blogspot.com/2006/04/worshipers-back-to-acropolis-of-athens.html) – you can finally now the name of the new association (Hellenic group) in Greece. The title is Ellin.a.i.s (Hellenic Archaoreligious Holly Association – my translation). There is a huge material and criticism not on the new association¢s membership and struture but on the court¢s order which states that indeed Ellin.a.i.s is formally and equally recognized as religious church by the government! Indeed the Kathimerinis author has right! The court¢s judgment can be found in electronically in Greek here:
http://www.12830.gr/content/view/391/0/
According the court¢s judgment the Ellin.a.i.s is not just a cultural association but a religious church of Hellenes fully recognized by the Greek government!
There is also the story when the case brought to the court¢s judge. The case decision number has the here digits 1290…when you add all the three digits we have the number 12. It was then when the judge make his ordinary Orthodox cross sign!
Agathe Teche.
Nikolaos
The Campaign To De-Criminalise The Worship Of The Greek Gods In Greece.
Update Newsletter - April 2006.
Dear Friend of the Campaign,
It is quite some time since I have written to you and I apologise for doing so at this time in an impersonal way. However, the interest in this campaign has grown quite a bit and for efficiency's sake I hope you will excuse me. I should however, be happy to answer any personal questions or matters you may wish to ask.
So on to the news about the campaign itself:
1) Last June (2005) the Dodecatheon group of Athens made an application for an official place of Worship in ancient Delphi. All the papers were submitted in the correct way for such an application and as yet there is no positive news to report on this. Similar applications were made by Dodecatheon in five other major Greek cities and again there is no positive news about these applications to date.
2) Last November (2006) the YSEE group of Athens sought permission from the Ministry of Archaeology to make use of the ancient temple of Apollo in Delphi for a ritual and worship. AMAZINGLY, this permission was granted and some seventy people gathered in Delphi for the ritual ceremony. Following this, permission was granted to YSEE to use a number of other ancient sites throughout the year and these events have been taking place regularly. The "official" aspect of the Delphi ritual in November generated considerable positive media interest within Greece including National TV, Press and Radio coverage. It is fair to say that people in Greece largely know who we are and what are grievances are. This can only help our cause in the long run. Photographs of these rituals are available on the YSEE website at www.ysee.gr Go to the English section and click "events".
3) In March 2006 the Greek laws regarding cremation of the dead altered "slightly" in our favour. The law changes seem a little vague, but a "foreigner" and "non-orthodox Christian" has the right to be cremated in Greece now. This means a Hellenic Greek would have to give up his citizenship in order to be cremated as far as I can see. It is not a repeal of the laws against cremation, but it is a step in the right direction. The details of this change will no doubt unfold in the months ahead and I shall inform people better on this point in my next newsletter.
4) March 2006 has seen a flurry of emails and press reports suggesting that the Hellenes now have their recognition as a legitimate religion in Greece. This is not the case. What has happened (since summer 2005 in fact) is that some groups have been granted permission to form "associations" as one might set up to administer a basketball or photography club. I do not wish to make light of this positive step; it for example allows local groups to have a society bank account and a "legal body" to rent a premises for meetings etc. So it is a convenient and positive step for us, but only a step. We are still not a recognised and official religion, we cannot "officially" rent buildings for worship - but it is certainly an important step along our way.
5) The very close relationship between State and Church still very much exists in Greece and modern Greece struggles to become a secular society under the watchful eye of the Orthodox Church. Many outside Greece might be curious as to why it is that the Greek Government and civil authorities are so reluctant to give us the permissions we truly need to exist and live our lives freely. The answer is simply that the State and Orthodox Church are closely interwoven and therefore we are not purely asking the Greek State for permission but effectively the Orthodox Church as well for permission.
Summary.
The softly softly approach adopted this year for the campaign by the YSSE and Dodecatheon groups in Athens (the main activists in all this) has in many way borne fruits - or at least in my opinion the buds from which fruits might grow. And perhaps the buds are a pre-requisite for the fruits to grow in the years ahead. So it seems likely in the months ahead this policy will continue, hopefully allowing people time as well for the more positive and enjoyable aspects of running religious groups such as growing personally and a group spiritually.
A Personal Concern and Focus.
As many will already know, I am merely letting people know about the efforts other people have been making with regard to de-criminalising the worship of the Greek Gods in Greece. However, as an educationalist myself, I am concerned by the current compulsory religious (orthodox) education in state schools in Greece. Please do not think that this is a liberal introduction by educationalists to the various faiths of the world. This compulsory religious education is very much indeed Orthodox Christian education, and therefore amounts to indoctrination of the young which cannot be a positive things for young minds. In my view schoolchildren should worry about their studies, basketball matches and who is going to the party at the weekend. Heaven and Hell and all manner of religious text books can wait……. J
The abolition of the compulsory Orthodox education of Greek Schoolchildren in Greece will therefore be a personal focus of mine in the year ahead.
James O'Dell (April - 2006)
Footnote.
I shall add this update letter to the campaign website www.greekgodslegal.co.uk in case you wish to refer others to it, and I will endeavour to update you all again on news around Christmas time 2006. Thank you for your support to date.
