Updated Commentary & Resources for My New Translation of the Orphic Hymn to Ares/Mars

with SO MUCH good esoteric juicy stuff in the commentary! AND LINKS TO BONUS MATERIALS!!!

****I’ve added new material to this post as I refined my thoughts on the Kourotrophos’ role in placating Mars. So even if you’ve read it before, go ahead and skip down to the notes on the Kourotrophos, and the links at the end to a shared Google file of pertinent art, astro charts, and a pronunciation guide to the ancient Greek of the Hymn!****

A quick preface

This translation (like all of my translations) is a work in progress. One of the joys (and tbh sometimes frustrations) of working with esoteric texts is that they continue to reveal new surprises and hidden meanings. To my knowledge, no previous translation of the Hymns has discussed these deeper meanings in any systematic or sustained way. This translation therefore represents what I hope will be an exciting new direction for Orphic studies!

Please give my research and translations a boost on your preferred social media platform…folks will have to subscribe at the paid level to read the whole translation and notes, but I need your help getting the word out to fellow astro-magic-esoteric nerds.

A few caveats: As a work in progress, the notes to this translation are quite “meaty” in providing indications of where to look in the text for esoteric/hidden meanings, as well as some preliminary indications of what the esoteric passages might actually mean. But they are by no means exhaustive, and I’m still in the process of exploring them.

I’m going to publish a separate list of bibliographic resources, as well as which critical editions I’ve used in a different post…I wanted to get this out before the Mars retrograde, so please forgive the lack of serious citations here. There are SO MANY folks whose excellent research and work has paved the way for this. They deserve a more thoughtful and complete accounting than I can give here.

Finally, please feel free to connect with me via the comments if you have an interest in further discussion, if you’d like me to appear on your podcast (or other form of serious collaboration), or if you’d like to see me offer a study group on this translation!

In service to the stars,

Kristin

*A note that I wish I didn’t have to write: If you are a paying subscriber and have access to the full translation and commentary, PLEASE DO NOT share it with anyone who isn’t a paid subscriber, or pass off my work as your own. This work supports myself and my son (I’m a single mom), and it represents months of research, meditation, and writing. If you do wish to quote it, please cite me and direct others to this substack feed for the full translation.*

Hymn to Ares (Mars)

translation ©2022 Kristin Mathis

Incense: Frankincense¹

Unbroken, Strong-spirited, Mega-mighty Formidable Daimon,²

You’re eager for arms, are adamantine, even,

A mortal-slaying murderer,

A stormtrooper of city walls.