The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes ( el, Ύπατο Συμβούλιο των Ελλήνων Εθνικών, ), commonly referred to by its acronym YSEE, is a non-profit Hellenic organisation established in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in 1997. Its primary goal is the protection and restoration of the

Hellenic ethnic religion Hellenism (Ἑλληνισμός) in a religious context refers to the modern pluralistic religion practiced in Greece and around the world by several communities derived from the beliefs, mythology and rituals from antiquity through and up t ...

in contemporary Greek society. The group itself estimates that some 2,000 Greeks practice the Hellenic ethnic religion and another 50,000 have "some sort of interest". The followers of the Hellenic ethnic religion face varying degrees of

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

in Greece, which has an overwhelmingly

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

population. One of YSEE's main goals is to obtain legal recognition for the Hellenic ethnic religion. YSEE is a founding member of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) and hosted its seventh Congress in June 2004. YSEE has also been member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

's action program to combat discrimination.

Outside of Greece

In 2007, members of YSEE in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

founded the Hellenic Council YSEE of America which is now a recognized non-for profit organization based in Astoria, a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

neighborhood with a large Greek-American community.

Principles

The Gods have emerged from the “True Being” as a simple multiplication of itself into separate entities, and for this reason, they retain all its qualities, which are immortality, infinity, and knowledge. The mission of the Gods is the establishment and maintenance of the unity and the order of the Cosmos. Thus the true Gods are perfect beings that impose order and possess immortality and knowledge. They infuse the world without any obstructions by acting on it. They are subject to the natural laws that they serve, and they partake in the eternal rebirth and continuous synthesis and decomposition of the forms. As to their nature, the true and natural Gods are perfect, virtuous, immortal, unchangeable, infinite, just, all-wise, eternal, non-personal, unifying, ethereal and permeate all matter.

Practices

Altars

The Hellenic Ethnic Religion performs its ritual on altars and hearths, depending on the nature of the deities worshipped at the time. For the Olympian gods, altars are used, which are sanctified surfaces raised above the ground. For chthonic deities and ancestral spirits, they use hearths, which are sanctified surfaces on the ground or in pits. In Hellenic Ethnic Religion, the altar is the most sacred point, the abode of a Deity, “where the altars are, that is where the Gods are." Because of their nature the altars are points of refuge (asylum), and whoever touches them is considered invulnerable, as if they were “holding the hand of the Gods”.

Statues

The only thing that can be equated in holiness with the altar for Hellenes is the sacred statue (Grk. Άγαλμα). A statue is every sculpted or other (even natural) pleasing form which is defined as the icon or symbol of the deity. Either natural, (for example, unworked stones, meteorite etc.) or worked by human hand (sculpted or cast) and of any material (marble, wood, common or precious metal, clay, etc.) for a statue to be “raised” to devotional it must first be sanctified in a special ritual. After the sanctification which is also called “opening of the eyes”, the statue is now the adobe of Divinity, like the altar, and thus it requires respectful handling. Hellenic Council YSEE of America. (2018). Hellenic Ethnic Religion: Theology and Practice.

Notes

External links

YSEE homepageHellenic Council YSEE of America homepageYSEE's priesthood HomepageMSNBC clips featuring YSEE membersWojciech Jan Rudny interviews YSEE on behalf of the polish «GNIAZDO» magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Supreme Council Of Ethnic Hellenes 1997 establishments in Greece Modern pagan organizations established in 1997 Modern paganism in Greece