How to Worship Apollo: Everything You Need to Know
Who is the Greek God Apollon?
Apollon is the Greek god of prophecy, music, healing and plague.
His Roman name is Apollo.
In Hellenism we use the Greek names, hence the extra ‘n’ in this article.
Apollo is an Ouranic deity and considered the ideal Greek youth or kouros. He presided over the oracle at Delphi, where he was said to have slayed the python.
Apollon was seen as an averter of evil and a healer of all manner of ailments.
In the ancient epic The Iliad (circa 700 BCE), Apollon cursed the Greek camp with a plague which led to the death of many soldiers.
is Apollon 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 him.
You don’t have to be called by a deity to worship them.
If you want to worship Apollon (or any god), that’s enough of a reason to do so!
How to Connect With Apollon
One of the best ways to grow fulfilling relationships with the gods, is to venerate 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.
There’s nothing wrong with doing things in a more modern context.
(See the devotional acitivites at the end of this article).
Honouring Apollon in the way that he was worshipped for generations is not only respectful. But increases your chances of building a long-term relationship with him.
Cultural Context Matters
A big part of embracing the ancient Greek cultural context is not imposing your past religious beliefs onto Apollon’s worship.
If you were brought up with a monotheistic religion, you will have internalised some toxic beliefs about deity.
Here are some things to be aware of when connecting to Apollon and other Greek gods:
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 Apollon, rooted in the ancient Greek culture he was worshipped in.
Apollon Summary
God of: Music, light, prophecy, healing, archery
Home: Mount Olympos
Parents: Zeus and Leto
Symbols: Lyre, bow
Colours: Gold, yellow, white
Sacred Plants: Cypress, laurel
Sacred Animals: Swan, raven
Traditional Offerings: Barley, frankincense, honey, milk, olive oil, votive offerings, water
Non-Traditional Offerings: Bay leaves, candles, cinnamon, citrine, tea
Epithets: Thearios ‘Of the Oracle’, Proopsios ‘Foreseeing’, Hekatos ‘Shooter From Afar’, Oulios ‘Of Sound Health’, Paian ‘Healer’, Aegletus ‘Shining’, Argyeus ‘Of the Streets’
Apollon’s Myths and epithets
The first step in connecting to Apollon is to read his myths and learn his epithets.
First things first!
Don’t take the myths literally.
The myths are stories that reveal insights into the nature of the gods in a more subtle, allegorical way.
They’re not matter-of-fact stories about the gods.
Apollon has a reasonable amount of different myths. From harassing nymphs, sending down plagues, to getting scammed by Hermes, to founding the oracle at Delphi.
Reading through his stories can help you to understand how he was viewed in ancient Greece.
Apollon’s epithets
What the heck are epithets?
Epithets are titles or descriptive functions for deities, which were used in antiquity.
Some epithets come from cultic practice and others emerge from the poetic tradition.
Btw when ‘cult’ is used in a historical sense, it means a system of religious veneration or devotion towards a divine figure.
Not ‘cult’ in the modern Netflix documentary sense.
Apollon’s epithets can help us understand how ancient people saw him.
You’ll also be using them when you pray to him.
Here are a mere smattering of Apollon’s epithets:
Thearios ‘Of the Oracle’
Proopsios ‘Foreseeing’
Hekatos ‘Shooter From Afar’
Oulios ‘Of Sound Health’
Paian ‘Healer’
Aegletus ‘Shining’
Argyeus ‘Of the Streets’
How to Create An Altar to Apollon
Altars are a small space 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 perfectly fine! You can still venerate the gods without one.
Apollon Altar Ideas
Image of Apollon
Offering bowl
Incense burner
White, gold or yellow candles
Lyre
Bay laurel
Appropriate symbols
While decadent altars overflowing with beautiful objects look lovely on social media.
They’re a bloody nightmare to keep clean!
The less that’s on it.
The easier it’ll be to dust.
It’s perfectly acceptable for the gods to share altars as long as Ouranic and Kthonic gods are kept separate.
Apollon is Ouranic and can share altars with other Ouranic gods.
How to Pray to Apollon
Prayer was an extremely important part of ancient Greek religion.
And was generally accompanied by an offering.
Apollon is considered an Ouranic deity.
The ancient Greeks would have prayed to him with their hands held up, raised towards the sky.
A Prayer to Apollon
To pray to Apollon.
Stand with palms up and arms raised, then say your prayer out loud.
For example:
Hear me, Apollon! Of Sound Health, Shining, Healer. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called.
I have created an altar for you and I would like to feel your presence in my life.
May this offering of incense please you.
Below is one of the Homeric Hymn’s to Apollon.
This one is in the public domain, so it’s not the best translation.
Dated, is the word.
Since I have the musical skill of a blueberry scone. I read these hymns in the form of ‘prayers’ and give a physical offering alongside them.
If you can sing, these hymns can be sung to music as an offering in themselves.
Homeric Hymn to Apollon
Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched lyre, always sings both first and last.
And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with my song.
How to Give Offerings to Apollon
All Pagan traditions were built on the concept of giving offerings to deities or spirits.
They did this to create reciprocity between the petitioner and the gods.
The ancient Greek word for this was: Kharis.
In order to build kharis between yourself and Apollon. It’s best to make regular offerings in the same way the ancient Greeks did.
Below, I’ve listed some traditional offerings to the Greek gods.
Plus, there’s a list of some not-so-traditonal offerings too.
If you’re unable to make physical offerings because REASONS. Then try devotional action-based offerings.
State out loud that you’re devoting something you’re doing to Apollon as an offering.
For example:
Hear me Apollon. Of Sound Health, Shining, Healer. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called. I dedicate this gym workout to you in offering.
Traditional Offerings
Frankincense incense
Grains
Honey
Milk
Olive oil
Wine
Non-Traditional Offerings
Music
Herbal tea
Beeswax candles
Devotional acts
How to Give Offerings
Offerings have four basic steps:
Wash your hands (always wash your hands before giving an offering).
Say your prayer.
Pour out the libation, light your incense or place the offering into a bowl.
Spend a few minutes in quiet contemplation.
You may experience pleasant feelings, or you may not feel anything.
Both are valid experiences.
You don’t have to ‘check’ if you offering was accepted through divination.
Relax.
Your offering was accepted.
How Do You Dispose of Offerings?
Why I’m so glad you asked.
Leave offerings out for an hour or two before disposing of them.
If you can’t leave food out for whatever reason, just dispose of it immediately.
Libations can be poured directly onto the ground outside.
Libations can be poured down the sink.
Food offerings can be composted.
Avoid leaving food or material offerings outside as it can attract pests and harm wildlife.
It’s also littering.
And no one wants that.
How Often Should You Give Offerings?
The answer is as often as you want to.
The more important a deity is to you the more frequently you’ll probably want to give offerings.
You can give offerings daily, weekly or monthly.
How to Communicate With Apollon
We can communicate with the gods in several ways. Historically, these would have been through:
Prayer
Offerings
Divination
Omens (signs)
Theurgy (or meditation)
We can utilise these practices today to achieve the same outcome.
Divination
Divination was super popular in ancient Greece.
To connect with Apollon through divination simply spend some time meditating.
When you feel like you’ve quieted your mind, make an offering, and ask your question in the form of a prayer.
If the message in cards seem garbled or confusing, you’ve probably failed to receive divine guidance.
Signs or Omens
It’s embarrassing the amount of people who seem to think anything from a pendulum falling out of their bag, to a bird taking a dump on their car is a sign from a god.
Not everything is a sign.
Signs are reasonably uncommon.
They tend to really leap out at you as being really significant. If you need to ask, ‘is this a sign?’ Then it probably isn’t.
If you’d like to ask Apollon for a sign, you certainly can.
Just ask yourself why are you asking, and do you really need one?
Say your prayer, make an offering and ask for a sign. Ask him to send the sign within a reasonable timeframe.
Perhaps within a week and ask that it be obvious to you.
If you don’t receive one, it’s literally fine.
Meditation
You can ask Apollon to be with your during meditation and see if you receive any messages.
The first few times you do this, you’re unlikely to receive anything.
But that’s nothing to feel bad about. It takes a lot of practise to successfully enter altered states of consciousness and receive genuine divine guidance.
When it comes down to it, modern life really isn’t conducive for meditation and inner stillness.
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Endlessly…
The best thing you can do to improve your ability to meditate, apart from attempting to do it regularly.
Is to put down the phone.
Give yourself brief periods during the day when you’re not listening to, or watching anything.
If you grew up with screens then this is going to seem like a wildly foreign concept.
Unfortunately, we can’t have it all.
We can’t spend five hours saturating our brains with banal TikTok’s and then expect to be mentally clear enough to hear the whispers of the gods.
The age of distraction pushes us further away from the divine.
If we really want to connect with the gods, then we have to prioritise the health of our psyche’s.
Devotional Acts to Connect With Apollon
While tradition is a useful roadmap, it can be fun to create devotional rituals alongside them that honour the gods in a modern context.
Below, you’ll find a few modern devotionals to Apollon.
Learn a Divination Method
There are a ton of different divination methods.
I love tarot and oracle for my divination practice. But you can choose whatever method you want!
In fact, learn several!
Then you can narrow you focus to the ones you truly love.
Or, you know, are good at.
Exercise
Dedicate your workouts to Apollon!
The ancient Greeks loved a good workout. Who can blame them? It feels good to move your body.
Unfortunately, like most things, society has done a number on exercise.
I think the messaging around exercise is generally pretty toxic.
Try to focus on the type of movement you actually enjoy.
I love cardio, I also love yoga. So, I prioritise those things. I don’t force myself to do soul destroying HIIT workouts.
Try to reframe exercise as only a thing for weightloss. Instead, see it as a way to honour your body and the gods.
I think your offering of movement will feel all the more meaningful if you actually enjoy what you’re doing.
It really makes all the difference.
Learn a Musical Instrument
Apollon was pretty handy dandy with his lyre.
I failed at learning the flute when I was 12. So, I’m not really qualified to talk about musicality.
But playing an instrument or singing as an offering to Apollon is wonderful way to connect with him.
Study
Learn something new and dedicate it to Apollon.
Choose something you’re actually interested in though. This can literally be anything.
The offering is the act of learning.
Don’t understand how you political system works?
Learn about it and dedicate it to Apollon.
Don’t know how to make delicious vegetarian Cornish pasties?
Dedicate that learning (and maybe a pasty or two) to Apollon.
More Greek Gods
Be sure to check out my other blog posts focused on the Greek gods.