Hellenic
Habilliments
A Page About
Ritual Garb
Mostly Reprinted from The
Serpentine Leopard
1:
The
Why of It
2: The How of
it
A:
Men
B:
Women
3:
What
to Wear When Not Fully Dressed
4:
Some
Comments on a Colorful People
The Why of
It
In ritual space
we traditionally stand 'outside of time, in a place apart.' We
are seeking to break through the barriers of our perception of the
material world and come into contact with a reality which operates
within a different frame of reference: what we call 'the Divine.'
Everything we do in a ritual circumstance is meant to help us
break through those barriers, from the olfactory perception of
invisible incense to the sharing of food and drink with each other
and with the Deities Whom we invite to join us.
One very
tradtional means of aiding us in our transition from mundane to
sacred space is the use of clothing. From the elaborate ritual garb
of a class of priests to the 'Sunday Go to Meetin'' clothes of
Appalachian farm folk, most cultures have some form of changing from
every day clothes to special, ritual clothing. When we begin to
change our clothing we also begin to change our consciousness. Once
dressed for the ritual we are already half way to the place where we
want to be: for it must not be forgot that to come into contact with
the Divine we must accept changes in ourselves; changes which we
begin to manifest when we bathe, annoint ourselves, and put on our
ritual garb.
When we began
the work that eventually became Thiasos Olympikos, we set down as
basic that people who wished to participate in what we were doing
would have to offer the simple token of respect of wearing Hellenic
Clothing; at the very least, to make an attempt. Fortunately, what we
came to call Hellenic Habilliments are easy to accomplish. One can
make a quick khiton or peplos out of a sheet, a couple of pins, and a
cord or rope. One can make an Himation out of a blanket. We have
never felt this was too much to ask, and we have found that those who
don't wish to go to that small trouble are likely not going to
embrace our religion anyway, and most certainly will not embrace the
ethos that grows out of it.
Most people
quickly graduate from the sheet and blanket, however, and want ritual
clothing more personal and more in keeping with the tastes of our
Cultural Ancestors. In order to hold back the tide of conspicuous
consumption, and keep our religion from falling before the idol of
fashion, we have promoted the very simplest of Ancient Hellenic
clothing, the Dorian. We don't have any objection to more elaborate
ritual clothing, mind you: we just feel that if you want it, you will
have to do the research for yourself. Our part begins and ends with
providing instructions for simple Doric clothing for men and women
such as one can wear to almost any of our rituals, and when visiting
other ritual traditions as well. That said, let us proceed to the
actual directions.
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Simple Doric Clothing for
Men
1: The loincloth, or perizoma,
is easily achieved with a strip of cloth seven feet long by one
foot wide. Cotton or linen are the usual materials. You fold it in
half lengthwise, to form a strip seven feet by six inches, then wrap
it tightly around your waist a couple of times, leaving a length free
that reaches down from the base of the spine at least to your knees.
Tuck the hanging strip around the rest twice (right above the base of
the spine), then bring it through the legs and up in front. At the
bottom of the testicles spread the cloth open to form a pouch. Tuck
the open end of the cloth under the band in the front, pull to
secure, then tuck it back and under the front of the band.
The process is really hard
to describe. The perizoma is held on entirely by friction, and it
really works; but if you can't figure it out, don't hesitate to ask
someone to show you how it works when you meet someone wearing
it.
It is likely to prove a strange
sensation the first time you put it on, as the folded cloth in back
fits neatly... Well, modern slang speaks of a wedgie, and it
feels a lot like that. But once you are used to it, it is not
uncomfortable at all.
2: The khiton is the basic male
garment, a kind of ultra-easy tunic. It consists of a piece of fabric
roughly 60 inches by 72 inches (we are going to describe the most
adaptable kind, for practicality's sake). You can make it from wool
crepe, but you could also use linen, cotton, or silk. A fine weave is
desireable, for warmth, and it should hang gracefully. To wear it:
fold the cloth in half, so that you have a double thickness 30 inches
by 72 inches. The open side should match your dexterity, i.e., if you
are right handed the open side is on the right. At the top, pull the
back slightly over the front and pin it at two points (with two
decorative but strong pins, fibulae), each a third of the way
across. Slip an arm through the hole thus defined by the folded side,
and your head through the center hole defined by the two pins. You
may find that you need to adjust the spacing of the pins to fit your
personal dimensions. (If you are really large, then you may want to
make the width of the cloth more than 60 inches)
3: The Zonai are two cords
or girdles or belts or cinqtures, each about 5 feet long (or more,
depending on your girth). They can be made of anything you like. Wrap
the first one around your waist, lapping the back panel of the khiton
over the front panel, and tie it attractively. You are now covered in
a long garment.
Pull the khiton up under the zone
(zo-neh) at your waist until the bottom hem is at mid thigh. Getting
the hem straight takes a little practice, and maybe help from a
friend; and you don't want the zone to wrap and tangle itself. The
extra material which you have pulled up now hangs over the zone at
your waist in a sort of puff. Wrap the second zone around your
waist over this puff (called a kolpos) and tie it
attractively, flattening the kolpos down.
In cold weather you can pull the
khiton down all the way for warmth, forming an ankle length
robe.
In Homeric times the khiton was
sewn up the side into a tube and the two fastening at the shoulders
were sewn rather than pinned. A short khiton may also be worn, with
the overall length extending from the shoulder to mid thigh. In this
form one needs only one zone, and there is usually no kolpos: but
keep in mind that the kolpos serves as a pocket, so you may want to
give yourself a little extra length of cloth, even in the short
version.
4: The khlamys is a short
cloak made from a rectangle of wool or other fabric about 45 inches
by 90 inches. It needs to be tight woven and warm.
5: The himation
(him-ah-tee-on) is a long cloak made from the same sort of
fabric, but about 60 inches by 120 inches.
To wear either, fold the long
length in half so that you have a double thickness in a square. About
a third of the way across from the fold, pull a little of the back
over the front and pin it with a very large, very heavy, fibula. (The
pin must go through four thicknesses of the cloth.) Stick your head
through the hole thus defined, and drape yourself
gracefully.
The himation may also be worn
without the pin. One popular way to wear it without the pin was to
throw one end over the left shoulder (from the front), wrap the
himation around the body but below the right arm, then throw the
remaining length over the left shoulder (from the back) or over the
left arm. It should go without saying that you must drape your
himation gracefully however you wear it.
6: A grown man will always
wear a wreath of flowers or leaves on his head to any public
occasion. A simple wreath, or corona, is always appropriate.
If, however, the Gods have smiled upon you and given you a victory,
then you may choose to wear a stephanos, or victory wreath.
For this reason one should avoid wearing laurel, oak, olive, or wild
celery wreathes unless one has been awarded them.
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Simple Doric Clothing for
Women
1: Undergarments
To put it bluntly, I have not
found a simgle reference work giving any information whatever on what
women wore under their clothes in Ancient Times. If you have any
information we would greatly appreciate learning about the
topic.
2: The peplos is the basic
female garment, and, though more complex than the male khiton, and
containing a good deal more cloth, it is still pretty easy to make
and wear. It consists primarily of a big rectangle of cloth, which,
because of the size, you will probably have to sew together from
smaller rectangles.
To arrive at the proper
dimensions, you must first stand with your arms outstretched to the
sides and have someone measure you from elbow to elbow. Double that
measurement and you have the width of the cloth.
To determine the length of the
cloth add one foot (or more) to your height. For instance, if you are
six feet tall, the cloth would be seven feet tall.
Lay the cloth flat and fold over a
flap from the extra length. This surplus length will measure roughly
the extra length (if you added a foot to your height, then the foot )
plus the height, roughly, of your head. For a ballpark figure, try
two feet. This will make your cloth (for instance) five feet in
length with a two foot overfold. This overfold on women's garments
may very well come down to us from Indo-Europeans, as it is
characteristic of Norski clothing for women as well as Hellenic. In
Hellenic it is called an apoptygma. (The y is an
upsilon, pronounced like a German umlauted u.) The reason that
extra foot of cloth is variable is that the apoptygma can be variable
in length. Most usual is for it to hang to the waist. If the kolpos
is very visible, it should probably be longer. It will readily be
realized that the apoptygma provides a woman with a double thickness
of cloth over the chest and back areas.
Because of the apoptygma it is
convenient to choose a cloth which is pleasing to the eye from both
sides. However, there is precedent for cutting the cloth of the
aopoptygma and flipping it, then sewing it back on: or even making
the apoptygma of a different cloth and sewing it on.
Once you have folded down the
apoptygma you must then fold the cloth in half along its verticle
axis, thus providing a rectangle of the proper width for the garment.
You may now sew up the open side if you wish, or you may sew it up to
the waist level, or you may simply leave one side open, which is
simplest. Measure a third of the way across at the top (the apoptygma
hangs down from the top) and insert a strong pin through the four
folds of cloth, bringing the back slightly over the front to do so.
Another third of the way across and repeat the process with a second
strong pin. You may now put on the peplos, slipping your head through
the hole formed in the center by the two pinnings and one arm through
the hole formed by one pinning and the fold.
3: The zone (pronounced
zo-neh, the last letter being an eta) is simply the girdle,
which before the invention of elastic is a word meaning something
like a belt. We read in Homer of golden zonai, of a fringed zone with
a hundred tassels, and there is even suggestion of one made of
leather. We read as well of magical zonai, so this is a good place to
use your imagination.
Once you have put on the peplos,
simply tie the zone around your waist. Historically the zone might be
worn at any number of heights, from the waist to up under the
breasts. Once tied, you then pull up the fabric of the skirt until
the bottom hem is at a good level for you to walk. There will then be
a little overfold pouch at your waist. This is the kolpos, and
it can be small or quite voluminous, depending on your taste and the
amount of cloth you have at your disposal. It serves as a pocket as
well. Note that the apoptygma hangs loose over the kolpos, and that
if the kolpos is going to hang down a ways, the apoptygma needs to as
well. Consult historical illustrations to make it look right. The
Athena on the Parthenon is a good example.
4: The Himation (him-ah-tee-on
or him-ah-tay-on; there are different spellings and
translitterations) is the basic outer garment and it is a word
meaning, basically, a piece of cloth. It is 7 or 8 feet in
length and in width equal to the wearer's height. It can be made of
anything from warm wool, for winter, to something gauzey for the heat
of summer. In other words, it can be an overcoat or a veil, depending
on your tastes and needs. A woman of Ancient Tiimes never went out
without one, but what she did with it was a matter of her taste and
creativity. A great big decorative toy to be draped and played with
at will. Rich colours and decorations were standard, so I often
recommend sari cloth as a possible substitue available to modern
women. Historical illustrations will give you the idea; cozy and
dignified or downright seductive, it's up to you.
5: The variety of sandals and
headgear used by women in Ancient Times is so enormous that there is
no hope of giving you pointers, much less descriptions. Hit the
books! Something on your head seems to have been usual: a
wreath of flowers is pretty basic and useful to identify yourself as
an Hellene.
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What to Wear
When Not Fully Dressed
No, this part
is not about doing sports in the nude. Whenever possible we prefer to
play sports that way, but we mainly have to cope with the Puritan
World around us.
No, this part
is about what to wear when you go calling at ceremonies held by folks
of other traditions: a subject which has prompted some considerable
discussion of late, both in Thiasos Olympikos and other Hellenic
Polytheist groups.
One can, of
course, wear one's full ritual gear: khlamys, peplos, himation, etc.,
etc.. But there will be times when one simply doesn't want to
transport all of one's garments, or when one is far from home when
the invitation is made to attend such events. Under those
circumstances one will still wish to identify one's tradtion as
Hellenic Polytheist rather than, for instance, Wiccan or
Norski.
After
considering the matter for a little more than ten years now, we offer
the following suggestion:
A
corona.
Nothing is more
characteristic of the culture of the Ancient Hellenes than the
wearing of a wreath of flowers on one's head for celebration; and,
aside from the Hippies in the 'Sixties (previous century), it does
not seem to be characteristic of any other culture as a major icon.
Other peoples have worn flowers in their hair for particular
festivities, but not as a general badge of identity.
Further, a
corona can be made from a variety of materials. It doesn't have to be
fresh flowers, though of course that is ideal. One can grab a handful
of ivy and quickly weave a wreath. One can use silk flowers from many
large chain stores. We have had small and sparkling coronas made from
metallic leaves normally used in flower arrangements. Dried flowers
were used in Ancient Times for 'winter crowns,' when all the fresh
flowers had withered. Herbs, such as rosemary and oregano, were also
used, and many are evergreen.
Just try to
avoid laurels, olive leaves, and wild lettuce, as well as oak; unless
you have earned them! If you have earned them, then you can and
should wear them everywhere, and proudly!
And although we
are not particulalry into proselytizing, people may ask you
about the flowers in your hair, and you can explain; which is the
most usual way to let people know that Hellenic Polytheism is alive
and well and growing and thriving!
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Some Comments
on a Colorful People
--They didn't
walk around in White!
The usual
picture that modern people have of the Ancients is that of folks
walking around in sheets; this delusion has been brought about by the
simple process of all the paint washing away over a couple of
thousand years.
It's just not
the case!
To begin with,
the buildings were painted. You can still see the beautiful red and
blue paint on the sheltered ornamention of the Parthenon. The use of
gold leaf was common in archetectural ornamention. How colorful
were the buildings? Well, all the little inset figures on this
page (including the bright red and black one at the top) are Hellenic
architectual ornaments, in what survives of the original
colors.
To continue:
the statuary was painted. If you look carefully at the Hermes of
Praxiteles you will find that his hair was red, that his sandals were
gold, etc., etc.. The marbles that we see have had the paint washed
off by time. They were originally done in life-like polychrome. One
sometimes sees a statue with the remains of highly realistic enameled
eyes. The Athena of the Parthenon was made of gold and ivory, and the
Zeus of Olympia was ornamented with many-colored precious and
semi-precious gems, as well as gold and ivory. Forget the white
marble; the painted plaster saints in Roman Catholic churches have
more in common with the statuary of our Cultural Ancestors than do
the monochrome imitations of later ages.
The clothes:
well, if you look at painted pottery you will see how enormously and
brightly decorated the clothing was. One of the 'maidens of the
Acropolis' is wearing clothing with no less than sixteen different
patterns! We do not have enough historical cloth to have an idea
of the range of means available to our Cultural Ancestors, so we
don't know how much was woven, how much as embroidered, whether or
not they did fabric painting, whether there was some form of fabric
printing: but we do know they used a lot of of color and a lot of
decoration. The variety and the quality of cloth was incredible! We
know from records that they had three different kinds of silk
available to them, whereas we really only have one.
White was a
color most often seen on particular priesthoods. The priesthood at
Delphi made a point of wearing an Ionic khiton made of white linen. I
am told that the priesthood of Athena wore white. But illustrations
indicate that even this basic white priestly gear was ornamented, if
only with an embroidered border.
Black and grey
were colors most often worn for mourning; they weren't so much formal
as sad. Whether they were used as a ground for brightly colored
ornamention on other occasions I cannot say.
The richest
color was a true, Tyrian purple, so dark that it was almost black
except where the light hit it. It was very expensive, and mostly worn
by the rich and powerful. It is from this Tyrian, red-purple, that
the 'royal purple' of modern times is descended. There was also a
'home purple,' made via less expensive means, but it faded more
readily.
In some
pictures we see women wearing a peplos which they have made by sewing
together panels from three different fabrics, each richly ornamented,
each totally different.
In other words,
you probably cannot be too colorful, you probably cannot commit any
crimes against Ancient Taste, and you probably cannot go as
far as our Cultural Ancestors went. The only advantages you have is
that modern dyes will give you even brighter colors, and they will
not fade as readily as traditional dyes.
So... Don't try
so much for 'authenticity' as for the spirit of the way our Cultural
Ancestors did things. Remember that if they had possesed the dyes
they would have used them, and undoubtedly with a more
Dionysian abandon that we can hope to achieve.
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