Athena Sthenias

Sthenias, it means vigor or strength, and as an epithet it means giver of strength, and in this aspect, this Goddess has saved me, my life even, more than once. I call to her to grant me the strength to handle what the world throws at me, and if I let her in, she never fails. Be it a sudden clarity of thought, or a push to stop and breath and gather my inner resources, Athena has always been able to encourage me to be strong and to survive, even in those dark dark moments when I had already given up.

Now, when I say grant me strength, I want to make it clear that I don’t mean that the goddess magically gives me strength I do not possess, rather, that calling upon her, that allowing her into my thoughts allows me to tap into my own strength, a strength I am often not sure I possess. But it is there, and in allowing myself to reach out to something greater than myself, to her, I am able to release my own mind from the turmoil and chaos that may be stopping it from acting as it should.

I am sure I must sound like a mess to you, that’s ok, perhaps I am, but I am aware of my own weaknesses in a way many are not, and I am not afraid to admit that I must sometimes seek the aid of the Gods, especially my beloved Athena, to get through the day. The cynic in me speaks to me and says she is just a crutch you are using to access your own logical mental processes, to stop emotion from running away with your mind, and I suppose in some ways this is true, but I can only reply to myself simply enough, to believe we human beings are the highest and most evolved things in the universe would simply be arrogance beyond even hubris, so I accept, on faith, that she is there with me, in my mind, not pushing me, not controlling me, but reassuring me and allowing me to utilize her gifts of a reasoning mind to control the gifts of other, more emotional Gods. She does not seek to control or be my only love, only to offer balance, and it is in that balance that there is strength and vigor. In that balance lies Athena Sthenias.