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Hestia
Blessing:
Hestia's blessings are simple ones. She teaches the virtues of home and family life, the sweet rewards of labor, and the value of good food and good rest. Where there is anger, she cools it. Where there is strife, she ends it. The bonds of family and friendship are of foremost concern to her.
Epithets:
Boulaia (of the Council), Prytaneia (of the Prytanis)
Symbols:
fire, the hearth
Animal(s):
none
Sacrifices:
aromatic herbs; libations
Primary Cult Center(s):
the hearth of every house, the Prytanis or central hearth of every city
Festivals:
sacrifices made at every meal
Ways to honor:
Make your home as inviting and comfortable as possible. Show hospitality. Invite others into your home and share your food and comforts with them. Never let a chance go by without showing your family and friends how important they are to you. Pour libations to her at every meal. Keep a lamp, candle, or hearth fire burning in her honor.
For more information:
Hesiod's Theogony 453-506
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.21-32
Homeric Hymn to Hestia 24, 29
Pausanias' Description of Greece 5.14.4
Virgil's Georgics 1408
