Hestia, Day Fourteen

14. Has worship of this deity changed in modern times?

While obviously the old Greek religion does not exist as it did in the past, and so a lot of those supports and more state related activities are no longer practiced, I think that the heart of Hestia's worship has not really changed. Hestia was primarily a deity of the hearth and home, and this is still how many worship her in modern times.

The formal worship may be gone, but many modern worshipers carry on with old traditions, like offering a bit of dinner, or a bit of raw ingredients or spices while cooking. Many homes no longer have hearths, or even fireplaces, but shrines to Hestia can still be found in kitchens, near ovens, or in other central places of the home.

Of course, some new traditions have been created, as well. Hestia is not just worshiped by Greek reconstructions, but by kitchen witches, hedge witches, Wiccans, eclectics, and others. She is being worshiped in new ways, during new festivals, and offerings of spices, foods, drinks, and more, are being made that never would have been seen in ancient Greece. Even so, Hestia is the hearth fire, she's the home, and that doesn't change, even if some of the details do - the core of who she is, the core ideas of her worship remain the same for many modern worshipers.