Hemera: 6 Illuminating Ways to Connect With the Glorious Goddess of Day
Who Is The Greek Goddess Hemera?
From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Hemera, whom she conceived and bare from union in love with Erebos.
Hemera is one of the primordial Protogenoi and is considered the ancient Greek goddess of day.
In Hesiod’s Theogony she was said to have been born from the union of Erebos and Nyx at the beginning of the universe.
Hemera doesn’t appear to have had any significant cult in ancient times.
But archaeological evidence shows the presence of a shared shrine dedicated to Hemera and Helios in Kos.
Her pairing with Helios seems appropriate here as the god of the sun.
Connection With Eos
We know from primary sources that later in antiquity, the tragic writers identified Hemera with Eos the goddess of the dawn.
And used their names interchangeably.
Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles all referred to Hemera as the goddess who kidnaps Tithonus (a myth typically ascribed to Eos).
Eos has no known shrines or temples.
But she was worshipped in Athens through nephalia or ‘wineless offerings’.
I’ve chosen to do as the ancients did and syncretise her with Eos within my personal practice.
Is Hemera Reaching Out to Me?
I have no idea!
But the fact that you’re here reading this article probably means you’d like to honour her.
You don’t need anyone’s permission.
If you want to worship Hemera (or any god), that’s enough of a reason to do so!
Cultural Context Matters
One of the best ways to grow fulfilling relationships with the gods, is to worship them within their own cultural context.
Honouring the gods of ancient cultures means acknowledging that they knew best about how to honour and petition the gods.
Venerating Hemera in the way she was worshipped for generations increases your chances of building a successful long-term relationship with her.
Cultural Context Matters
A large part of embracing the ancient Greek cultural context is not imposing past religious beliefs onto Hemera’s worship.
If you were brought up within a monotheistic religion, you will have internalised some fairly toxic beliefs about deity.
Here are some things to be aware of when connecting with Greek deities:
The myths aren’t literal.
The gods welcome everyone regardless of gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
The gods don’t get angry.
The gods don’t have ‘beef’ with one another.
Below, you’ll find how to begin a relationship with Hemera rooted in ancient Greek culture.
Hemera Summary
Goddess of: Day, dawn
Other Name: Identified with Eos goddess of the dawn
Home: The sky
Parents: Erebos and Nyx
Husband: Aether
Children: Thalassa
Colours: Yellow, orange, light blue, gold and white
Animals: White horses
Traditional Offerings: Barley, frankincense, honey, milk, olive oil, votive offerings, water
Non-Traditional Offerings: Cakes, candles, lemonade, yellow flowers, tea
Homeric Epithets: Radiant Daughter of Kronos, Far-shining, Ambrosial face, Horse-driving, All-seeing light
1. Learn About Hemera’s Myths and Epithets
Day (1881) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Night and Day draw near and greet one another as they pass the great threshold of bronze. And while the one is about to go down into the house, the other comes out at the door.
And the house never holds them both within; and the one holds all-seeing light for them on earth, but the other holds in her arms Sleep the brother of Death, even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous cloud.
The first step to connecting to Hemera is to read Hesiod’s Theogony and look into Eos’s myths.
Theoi.com is an excellent free resource for primary source mythology.
Hemera and Eos both a have a page dedicated to them.
Hemera’s Epithets
What the heck are epithets?
Epithets are titles or descriptive functions for deities, which were used in antiquity. Epithets help us to understand how ancient people saw the gods.
Some epithets come from cultic practice and others emerge from the poetic tradition.
Epithets are used during prayer to appeal to a specific aspect of a deity. One that’s compatible with the petitioners need.
All of Hemera’s epithets are taken from the poetic tradition as we know nothing about any cult she potentially received.
These titles are taken specifically from Hesiod’s Theogony:
Radiant Daughter
Far-shining
Ambrosial face
Horse-driving
All-seeing light
Eos’s Epithets
Eos’s epithets are also exclusively from the poetic tradition:
Hemera ‘Day’
Rhododaktylos ‘Rosy-fingered’
Krokopeplos ‘Saffron-Robed’
2. How to Create an Altar to Hemera
Shrines and altars were separate things in ancient Greece.
But since opulent state temples are no longer a thing…
Today, most people merge the two together into the modern form of an ‘altar’.
What are Altars?
Altars are small spaces dedicated to one, or multiple, divine beings. They’re a concrete, physical reminder of your dedication to divinity.
Having said that…
Altars aren’t a prerequisite for worship.
If you can’t have an altar because of your living situation, that’s absolutely fine!
You can still venerate the gods without one.
Hemera altar ideas
Image of Hemera
Offering bowl
Incense burner
Yellow, gold or white candle
Yellow or white flowers
Citrine or sunstone crystal
3. How to Pray to Hemera
Prayer was an extremely important part of ancient Greek religion.
The ancient Greeks differentiated between Ouranic (sky gods) and Kthonic (Underworld) gods and how they worshipped them differed slightly.
Hemera is considered an Ouranic deity.
So, the ancient Greeks would have prayed to her with their hands held up raised towards the sky.
To pray to Hemera, simply stand or sit before your altar, with palms up and arms raised.
Then say your prayer.
For example:
Hear me, Hemera! Ambrosial face, Horse-driving, All-seeing light. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called. Come from your place in the sky. May this offering of incense please you.
There are no surviving prayers to Hemera but there’s an Orphic Hymn dedicated to Eos!
We can incorporate these hymns into our veneration of the Greek gods.
When I’m less pressed for time, I give a physical offering and then recite a hymn like a poetic prayer.
Orphic Hymn
Hear me, O Goddess! whose emerging ray
Leads on the broad refulgence of the day;
Blushing Eos, whose celestial light
Beams on the world with reddening splendours bright:
Angel of Titan, whom with constant round,
Thy orient beams recall from night profound:
Labour of every kind to lead is thine,
Of mortal life the minister divine.
Mankind in thee eternally delight,
And none presumes to shun thy beauteous sight.
Soon as thy splendours break the bands of rest,
And eyes unclose with pleasing sleep oppressed;
Men, reptiles, birds, and beasts, with general voice,
And all the nations of the deep, rejoice;
For all the culture of our life is thine.
Come, blessed power! and to these rites incline:
Thy holy light increase, and unconfined
Diffuse its radiance on thy mystic’s mind.
4. How to Give Offerings to Hemera
The main way the ancient Greeks built kharis or reciprocity with the gods was through simple, regular offerings.
Sacrificing animals was expensive and only really occurred during state festivals.
Traditonal offerings
Frankincense incense
Grains
Honey
Milk
Olive oil
As Hemera is an Ouranic goddess, give her offerings during the day.
Always wash your hands before giving an offering.
Then say your prayer whether formal or informal, pour out a libation, light your incense or place the offering in the offering bowl.
Spend a few minutes in quiet contemplation or talk more informally.
I honour Hemera in the mornings and on Sundays.
As it’s associated with the sun (this isn’t an ancient Greek practice, it’s something I do because it makes sense to me).
How Do You Dispose of Offerings?
Leave offerings out for an hour or two before disposing of them.
Liquid libations can be poured onto the ground outside, or poured down the sink.
Food offerings can be composted.
Try to avoid leaving food offerings outside as it can attract pests and harm wildlife.
How Often Should You Give Offerings?
The answer is as often as you want.
You can give offerings daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly.
The more important a deity is to you the more frequently you’ll probably want to give offerings.
5. How to Communicate With Hemera
We can commuinicate with Hemera athrough prayer, offerings, divination, signs or omens and theourgia.
Divination
Divination was incredibly important in ancient Greece religion.
I prefer tarot or oracle cards for divination.
Pendulums are getting more popular because of TikTok.
But they’re mostly just your arm muscles unconciously manipulating the answer.
Basically, avoid them.
They’re innaccurate.
To connect with Hemera through divination wash your hands.
Make an offering, and ask your question out loud in the form of a prayer.
Then interpret the cards and spend some time journalling about their meaning.
Signs or Omens
You can ask for signs from deities as confirmation of an important question.
If you’d like to ask Hemera for a sign you certainly can.
Wash your hands, make an offering, say your prayer and ask for a sign.
Theourgia
The Day represented by Hemera, Sebasteion (1st Century CE)
Communicating with Eros through meditation overlaps with ancient theurgy practices.
Theourgia or theurgy is a form of divine magic that involves the ritual invocation of the gods with the aim of achieving henosis or union with the divine.
Unfortunately, we don’t know too much about theurgy so modern books on the subject are modern reconstructions.
I recommend:
The Practical Art of Divine Magic (2015) by Patrick Dunn.
Meditation is a slightly simpler practice than theurgy.
So start there.
You can pray to Hermera during meditation and see if you receive any intuitive insights.
You can also try a pathworking to meet Hemera in her own domain.
6. Devotional Acts To Connect With Hemera
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Clytie by Evelyn De Morgan
While tradition is important, it can be fun to create our own rituals that worship the gods in a more modern context.
Sprinkling a bit of fairy dust into your practice makes things more enjoyable and less stale.
Here are some suggestions for simple rituals to connect with Hemera:
Morning Prayer
When I open the blinds first thing in the morning.
I whisper a quick prayer to Hemera, Eos and Helios in thanks for the new day.
I’m a morning person.
So, this works for me.
The insane night owls amongst you, might prefer a different time of day to pray to Hemera.
Light a Golden Beeswax Candle
Being the goddess of day, a simple daily ritual of lighting a candle dedicated to Hemera feels appropriate and symbolic.
Do you know what makes everything even better?
Biodegradable glitter.
That’s right.
For my Hemera candle, I like to use a raw beeswax candle and rub it in biodegradable gold glitter!
Sparkly.
Watch the Sunrise
Watching the sunrise is a simple way to honour and connect with the presence of Hemera-Eos.
Getting up to watch the sunrise at 4am during the summer in England isn’t really for me.
But when it doesn’t get light until 8am in the winter?
I’d say that’s far more manageable!
Create a Sun Wheel
While Hemera isn’t strictly a sun goddess she represents the day and consequently, its light.
Creating a sun wheel is a lovely way to celebrate her radiance.
Once you’re done channelling your inner Picasso, you can keep it on her altar.
Celebrate the Summer Solstice
Hemera doesn’t have any festivals dedicated to her.
While the summer solstice isn’t an ancient Greek festival, it does mark the longest day of the year.
Which by default makes it sacred to our glorious goddess of day, Hemera.