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Hello,

I've been doing some research lately, and I'm looking to find out more about Hypnos/Somnus, specifically anything to do with working with this deity. The information I've been finding has been a little scant, most of the resources I've looked at have given a cursory overview of Hypnos, the basic story (son of Nyx, twin of Thanatos, father-or-brother of Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos, black poppies, winged head, feather cushions and black curtains, river Lethe, etc).

I'm looking for more information on how Hypnos was worshipped (If indeed he was) by the ancient Greeks. There seems to be little around the internet on this topic (for example searching for "hypnos worship" with quotes brings up 5 results, none of which are really relevant, searching without quotes brings up porn, other related search terms are equally helpful...), so I was wondering if anyone can recommend some useful reading materials? Anything to do with how he was worshipped, correspondences (I suppose black poppies for one?), known invocations, rituals etc.

Thanks for reading ^_^

Way, WAY at the bottom there is a heading that says, "Prayers and Hymns to Hypnos" and beneath that something of cults.

http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Hypnos.html

That's brilliant, thank you ^_^ I'd read the theoi article but somehow missed the cults bit at the bottom, I think I was nearing my limit of absorbed information at the time

The Angelfire site is pretty good too, I'll be sure to bookmark, thanks again

Heh,I hit up the Theoi site too,lol.

I actually got a little distracted by Pasithea,the consort of Hypnos:

http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/KharisPasithea.html

NOTES:
Pasithea, as wife of Hypnos,the god of sleep and dreams, may have been regarded as a goddess of hallucinations and hallucinogenic drugs. Her name is difficult to translate--the prefix pasis can be translated equally as "all", "possessed" or "acquired" and the suffix thea as "sight", "seeing", "contemplation", "goddess" or "divine". Translating it as "Acquired-Sight" may suggest a goddess of hallucination, however in the story of the Iliad, where Hypnos acquires her from Hera in exchange for certain favours, the "Acquired-Goddess" is a perfectly apt name. The name pasithea was also given to some unidentified "magical" plant, perhaps even an hallucinogenic. Hypnos himself was often associated with poppies and opiates.

Would you be looking for Oneiromantic rituals at all?
[Oneiromancy is the closest term I have for dream magicks,but it falls a little short,magickal work in the dreamstate can be more than/different to the 'classic' divinatory purposes and prophetic dreaming usually defined by this term.]

I don't recall seeing anything specifically Hypnos related in my travels,but the linking of Pasithea to a specific plant is interesting I think,given the 'aquired' meaning.

It's interesting, the whole family, from Nyx down to the Oneiroi. In my opinion the role of Pasithea as hallucination-goddess is plausible with Dionysus as her father, and that her partnership wiith hypnos produced the Oneiroi: dreams.

Oneiromantic rituals sound like exactly what one might be looking for ^_^ Will add that to my list of google terms, thank you very much

I really enjoyed just reading this conversation. I looked up a few different search terms, and it does seem there is not much information on what you're looking for. In an extract I found from "Sleep Thieves" (1997, p 278 - link below) Stanley Coren states that "Although Hypnos was known as the friend of man and as a great healer of body and mind, no cult ever grew up to worship or sacrifice to him."

I think it's possible that 'worship' would have been undertaken in exactly the same form as it is today, and that might also be the reason not much was ever written about it...

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w7rX ... us&f=false

Let me add a few more details here,since you've touched my Greek vain. [happy] In a few words,we believe that Hypnos, the god of sleep, visited people during the dark of night to ease them into a state of rest. Hypnos hid from the sunlight during the day According to Greek myth, he was the son of Nyx, the goddess of night, and his brother was Thanatos, the god of death.

Some writers claimed that Hypnos lived in the underworld, but others said that he dwelled in a cave on the Greek island of Lemnos. Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, rippled through his dim, foggy cave. The Dreams, some of his many sons, lived with him. The most important ones were Morpheus, who caused sleepers to dream about people; Icelus (or Phobetor), who delivered dreams about animals or monsters; and Phantasus, who brought dreams about lifeless objects.

In the Iliad, Homer* tells a story about the goddess Hera* requesting help from Hypnos during the Trojan War*. She asked him to put Zeus* to sleep to prevent him from interfering on behalf of Troy. At first, Hypnos hesitated, fearful of Zeus's anger. However, Hera convinced him to help by promising him Pasithea, one of the Graces, as his bride.

Hypnosis also comes from the Greek word hypnos. [wink]

You can also check the following links:

http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.co ... -of-sleep/

http://www.ukhypnosis.com/Shrine.htm

This one's his orphic hymn in Greek:

Ὕπνε, ἄναξ μακάρων πάντων θνητῶν τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων καὶ πάντων ζώιων, ὁπόσα τρέφει εὐρεῖα χθών· πάντων γὰρ κρατέεις μοῦνος καὶ πᾶσι προσέρχηι σώματα δεσμεύων ἐν ἀχαλκεύτοισι πέδηισι, λυσιμέριμνε, κόπων ἡδεῖαν ἔχων ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ πάσης λύπης ἱερὸν παραμύθιον ἔρδων· καὶ θανάτου μελέτην ἐπάγεις ψυχὰς διασώζων· αὐτοκασίγνητος γὰρ ἔφυς Λήθης Θανάτου τε. ἀλλά, μάκαρ, λίτομαί σε κεκραμένον ἡδὺν ἱκάνειν σώζοντ᾽ εὐμενέως μύστας θείοισιν ἐπ᾽ ἔργοις.

Cool, I kind of figured that, with the opium poppies, 'mind healing' and the derivative names related to altered states of mind there would be more of a drug connection.

Ah,Dionysius.

I'm not sure how sideways I 'm going here,but Pasithea makes me think of Passiflora,particularly...blue,especially,not sure why,exactly..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora