There have been a few posts on FaceBook by friends of mine both in the Hellenic community and outside of it decrying the fact that they have been told that what they are DOING to worship the Gods/Spirits is not the RIGHT thing for them to be doing. Yet, living religions that are orthopraxic instead of orthodoxic will almost always have variations in how things are done from household to household.

I have a specific cup that I use for my daily offerings of coffee to Hestia. Someone who viewed Hellenic Reconstructionist Polytheism as an orthodoxic religion (and there are some who do) would likely have problems with my doing that as “not being the right way” to honor one of the Theoi. They would likely say that I should be offering her something “more traditional” instead of what the Goddess herself has indicated to many separate people that she enjoys as a modern offering.

Does that make a person who does not drink coffee wrong for offering milk instead (providing it gets changed out regularly)? No, as that person is not offering something that is common to the household. Does it make a household that DOES offer coffee instead of (for example) wine wrong when they don’t drink wine every day? No, as that is not the most common thing to drink in the modern era in many countries.

People who say that things MUST be strictly as the ancients practiced are unlikely to survive the rebuilding processes of the Reconstructionist religious paradigm as it is IMPOSSIBLE in the modern era to do so. But those who say that we must adhere as closely as possible to the virtues of the ancients while bringing as much as is readily possible to the present (and yes, changing it somewhat to fit modern society) are the ones who are more likely to be able to help bring a living faith into practice.

The only hecatomb I am likely to be able to burn for the Gods is a hecatomb of cookies SHAPED like cattle. The only temple I am likely to be able to worship the Theoi at in the near future is the shrine I maintain in my home. Does that make me any less a worshiper of the Theoi than someone who CAN do those things?
It is the FAITH that makes the worshiper, not the CEREMONY.