"Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed."
- Epictetus.
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A Word From The Priest
Happy spring to everyone. Even though most of us are still trying to stay home as much as we can during this time, we can still enjoy the wonderfully nice weather. Be glad in the goodness that the Gods give to the world and to you, for there is always far more beauty and blessing than the opposite. I am delighted to see that all of you are still interacting with our temple online and keeping your spirits positive and upbeat, and I hope that, as your priest, I am helping with that practice and perspective. I will always be here to help and lead you through things, and I am only an email away. I have always seen great things for our Demos in the future, even now.
In the Goodness of the Gods,
Priest Christopher.
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TEMPLE NEWS
- The Spring Festival of Artemis is taking place on May 13th at 2 pm via our live feed. Depending on the weather, we will either be in our outside sanctuary or our indoor temple, but we're hoping on the former. We had originally planned the festival to be a physical Demos event, but to honor the quarantine guidelines of Illinois that are still in effect, temples and churches are not having physical gatherings at this time. Fortunately, we have a broad online community and the ability to still carry out our temple activities and administration through such means. The Illinois shutdown and quarantine, at this time, is scheduled to expire on May 31st unless the governor extends it beyond that point. This will be announced as May progresses. We are more than happy to cooperate with our governor to accomplish the death of Covid-19. Check our Facebook page for details on what you need to have with you in order to worship with us during the festival.
- In an effort to extend our Artemis Tree and Animal Conservation Foundation, our temple has begun environmental efforts in Machesney Park by applying with the state to adopt a stretch of highway. Roadside litter is one of the biggest problems and eyesores in most communities. Priest Christopher, being someone who has done his own personal cleanup efforts in past areas he has lived, has decided to make it a constant effort in the temple's Demos by applying for the Adopt program.
- For those of you who didn't see, the indoor temple area underwent a nice remodel over the weekend of May 4th. The main wall's many statues were removed and a mountain painted over the area. At the top of the painting, a beautiful stone relief of all the Olympians was placed, with more decoration planned for the mountain as time goes on this summer. Photos are on our Facebook page.
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Attik and Temple Calendar for May
May 4th, sacrifices to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes, and the Dioscuri.
May 6th, sacrifice to Demeter.
May 7th, Thargelia (Artemis and Apollon's Birthday celebration).
May 16th, sacrifice to Zeus Epacrios.
May 21st, renewal day before the New Moon.
May 22nd, first New Moon Holy Day, all the Gods.
May 23rd, Agathos Daimon New Moon Holy Day.
May 24th, Athena New Moon Holy Day.
May 25th, Aphrodite, Eros, Hermes and Herakles New Moon Holy Day.
May 25th, Plunteria Festival of Athena.
May 27th, Artemis New Moon Holy Day.
My 28th, Apollon New Moon Holy Day.
May 29th, Poseidon and Theseus New Moon Holy Day.
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Office of the Clergy
Priest Christopher Aldridge - chriswaynealdridge@gmail.com
Priestess Anastasia Aldridge - aialdridge@hotmail.com
Thyechoos Matthew Finney - mefin575@gmail.com
