Xenia Declaration

What is the Xenia Declaration?

Xenia is Greek for “guest-friendship”, the ancient Greek virtue of hospitality. We may recognize modern words deriving from it, the most notable being “xenophobia”, which is the fear of strangers and foreigners. Xenophobia is, in many ways, the opposite of the virtue of xenia. Zeus is sometimes called Zeus Xenios, or protector of travelers. He protected the religious obligation to be hospitable to strangers, and for said strangers to be hospitable in return.

This is a declaration in a similar spirit of the Declaration 127 in modern Heathenry, except for those of us who are modern Greek polytheists.

Individuals, groups on social media, and Hellenic pagan/polytheistic organizations are encouraged to add their own signature of support. The hope is that this will be an international effort of all diverse traditions and ideas among all of us. It is likely that the one thing we all have in common is that we honor the Greek gods. But that alone should be enough.

We the undersigned resolve the following: In the spirit of xenia, all those who have differences from any one of us are welcome to honor the gods with us.

Those who are LGBTQIA+ are welcome.

Those of all genders (including genderfluid, non-binary, agender, etc) are welcome.

Those of different ethnicities, races, locales, and backgrounds are welcome. Black lives matter.

Those who are neurodivergent, including those who are autistic, are welcome.

Those who have disabilities including mental or physical conditions, are welcome.

In the spirit of true xenia, all who act in guest-friendship are welcomed. We recognize that some people who have demonstrated problematic behavior in the past can be educated and change when made aware of the wider implications of their actions. But in cases of unrepentant lack of xenia we will not knowingly support, join, affiliate, or work with any and all groups as long as they have any discriminatory policies or practices, as such practices are not in accordance with the virtue of xenia.