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Worshippers invoke ancient Greek gods on Mount Olympus

MOUNT OLYMPUS, Greece: Dressed in white robes and colorful tunics, followers of polytheism honor the gods each year on Mount Olympus with ceremonies they say revive the ethics, rituals and lifestyle of the ancient Greeks.

The four-day Prometheia festival has been taking place since 1996, drawing visitors to the foothills of Mount Olympus, where, according to mythology, the ancient Greek gods lived. According to organizers, the aim is to bring ancient Greek values ​​and spirit into modern life.

“Olympus is the great journey into Hellenism. It is the abode of the gods and everything begins here,” said 55-year-old Georgia Altintasiotou, president of the cultural association “Prometheus Pyrforos” that organizes the festival.

This year, the festival began July 4-7 with a torch-lighting ceremony and a relay race from the archaeological site of Dion to an area called the Prometheus Forest. Participants raised their hands, poured wine on the ground, and dipped their feet in the Enipeas River. They said they wanted to appease or honor gods or to call upon deities to purify their souls.

“Polytheism… recognizes the divine in the world, which manifests itself in many forms, with different entities, the so-called gods and goddesses,” said Christos Pandion Panopoulos, one of the founders of the religious community who led some of the rituals.

The festival takes its name from Prometheus, who, according to mythology, stole fire from the Olympian gods to offer it to humanity.

“Every element of nature is a god, a goddess,” Altintasiotou said. “As a Greek woman and as a human being, I have an obligation to this divine whole, to care for it, to love it.”

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