The Story Behind Eris Hair & Body Oil
Featured in the Mythologies Collection, Eris Hair & Body Oil celebrates Eris (also Discordia), Goddess of Discord and Chaos. As her names imply, Eris is the goddess of discord, chaos, and strife, and represents the idea that challenge, disruption, and competition are necessary to ambition.
Key ingredient symbolization in the Eris Hair & Body Oil formulation:
- Apple: Apple is the Eris's most iconic symbol. It represents subversion, chaos, ambition, and competition.
- Pomegranate: The pomegranate is an ancient symbol of the Underworld gods and goddesses, and a symbol of blood, fertility, transformation, divination, protection, and abundance.
- Geranium: Geranium cleanses the aura, attracts positive spiritual energy and offers spiritual protection
- Pear: Pears offer good luck, love, prosperity, fertility, and immortality
Eris and The Golden Apple of Discord
Eris, the Goddess of Discord, is primarily known for her own chaos and creative pettiness. When she didn't get an invite to the lavish wedding Zeus hosted on Mount Pelion, Eris, feeling slighted, decided to crash the party and toss a golden apple inscribed with the words "Kallisti", meaning "to the fairest one" or "for the most beautiful" onto the banquet table, knowing the drama that was to follow.
Not even considering that the golden apple might be for the bride -Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera all wanted to claim it for themselves.
Paris, a prince of Tory, was appointed to make the decision of which goddess was the most beautiful in an attempt to avoid a war on Olympus. Each goddess came forth with a bribe for Paris. Of all three offers made, Aphrodite's bribe won. She offered Paris the love of Helen of Sparta (Helen of Troy), who was considered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world; however, Helen of Sparta was already married to King Menelaus. Aphrodite received the golden apple and helped Paris travel to Sparta to retrieve Helen. Menelaus's armies then went to Troy to bring Helen of Sparta back, resulting in the 10-year Trojan War. Eris more than earned her title.
Eris, the Beautiful & Fearless Warrior
Eris is not just known as the Goddess of Strife and Discord for the golden apple incident alone. She is the sister of Ares, (the God of War) and she often rode into battle with her brother. Not one to flinch away and squirm at the sight of a little spilled blood, she completely enjoyed the chaos of battle and bloodshed-as did the men.
Eris's Children
Eris is the mother of the personified miseries:
Limos (Starvation), Ate (Ruin), Pseudologoi (Lies), Dysnomia (Anarchy/Lawlessness), Machai (Battle), Ponos (Toil).
If these names sound familiar, it's because most humans encounter or experience all or most of them in some form or another in life.
Eris: Religion and Venerations
Also known as Discordia, Eris is the central deity of the Erisian religion, called Discordianism, which celebrates absurdity, chaos, and disruption as something inevitable rather than something to be feared. Erisians honor Eris by perceiving chaos, inconvenience, and disruption as an opportunity for creativity and growth. Discordianism is sometimes viewed as a "mock religion" due to its mix of satire, surrealist art, mocking of strict religious dogma, and some controversial perspectives which are considered absurd by many.
However, a few Discordian philosophies might be helpful when experiencing disruptions in life, such as the idea of embracing chaos as an inevitable natural occurrence and using it as an opportunity to improvise, grow, and improve.
Understanding that chaos is a very possible and sometimes inevitable thing, might help in figuring out what preventative measures, if any, can be taken to avoid or lessen the burden of the oncoming chaos or disruption, rather than hiding from it and complacently allowing problems to spin further and further out of control.
Eris can reign down chaos, but she can also lessen it and help one through chaotic times. She is a patron of outcasts, ambitious people, warriors and those embrace conflict, tricksters and jokers (as she herself played a pretty good prank at the wedding), those who take action rather sit complacently and complain, problem-solvers and those who seek out answers. Eris loves to bring hidden truths to light and overturn the established order.
Eris is also venerated in eclectic Neo-paganism:
- Altars are decorated with gold and black candles, circles with a "K" in the centers, and apples
- Offerings include bitter and sweet wine, bitter and sweet items, golden apples as well as spiders, snakeskin, and crows, and honoring Eris by speaking up for things you do not agree with
-
Prayers are focused on becoming grounded, finding peace and emotional stability in the midst of chaos; wisdom and strength to cope with inconvenience and uncontrollable disruptions in life
The Golden Apple Festival: Feast of Peleus- a reenactment of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, in which a golden apple inscribed with "Kallisti" is thrown, and intentional chaos ensues. This includes intentional spaces for differences, chaos, and debate to be honored. Fun!
Self-adornment practices during rituals and ceremonies
Eris Depictions and Symbols
Eris is depicted differently depending on the artist. She is imagined as beautiful woman, with eyes burning like fire, snake-entwined hair, a blood-soaked headband, wearing a white gown, ripped to reveal a hidden dagger.
She was shown on shields of armor to strike fear into enemies (Achilles and Heracles).
She is also depicted as a giant, the length of her body stretching from the earth to the heavens.
Eris is sometimes depicted as a young beautiful woman at first glance, but upon closer inspection, she is revealed to be a haggard corpse-like crone.
In some mythological art, she is shown as an elderly winged woman.
Symbols:
- The Golden Apple of Discord: her iconic symbol
- The Hand of Eris: an outstretched hand used in Discordianism and as the symbol for the planet Eris
- Knives and burning torches
Other symbolism:
- Duality of Strife: The two concepts she represents: a destructive, war-mongering force that ruins; an inspiring force that drives humans to healthy competition
- Seeds of Conflict: in Aesop's Fables, Eris is represented by an apple that swells twice its size every time it is struck or squabbled over, revealing that human strife escalates the second it is engaged
- Progeny of Chaos: Eris's children are living personifications of ruin
Paganism: When to wear Eris Hair & Body Oil (self-adornment)
- during rituals and ceremonies to honor Eris or petition the goddess for favors
- while in pursuit of ambitions
- to bring more successes and rewards than losses in endeavors
- for increased ability to cope with stressors during high pressure, and innovative new ideas
- when requesting favors from Eris to win against rivals
Featured in the Mythologies Collection, Eris Hair & Body Oil is named after Eris, sister of Ares, and the goddess of strife and discord, also known as Discordia. and she is the main deity of honored in the Discordian religion, called Erisian, which celebrates absurdity, paradoxes, and chaos as something inevitable rather than something to be feared.
Eris is primarily known for her own chaos and creatively pettiness. When she didn't get an invite to the lavish wedding Zeus hosted on Mount Pelion, Eris decided to crash the party and tossed a golden apple inscribed with the words "Kallisti", meaning "to the fairest one" or "for the most beautiful" onto the banquet table, knowing the drama that was to follow. Not even considering that the apple might be for the bride -Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera all wanted to claim the apple.
Paris, a prince of Tory was appointed to make the decision of which goddess was the most beautiful in an attempt to avoid a war on Olympus. Each goddess came forth with a bribe for Paris. Of all three offers made, Aphrodite's bribe won. She offered Paris the love of Helen of Sparta (Helen of Troy), who was considered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world; however, Helen of Sparta was already married to King Menelaus. Aphrodite got the golden apple and helped Paris travel to Sparta to retrieve Helen. Menelaus's armies then went to Troy to bring Helen of Sparta back, resulting in the 10-year Trojan War. Eris more than earned her title.
Eris is depicted as a beautiful woman with dark wings and sometimes winged feet. This goddess might protect you from being slighted by your enemies and favor those who solve their problems using creatively sweet, but petty strategies.
Eris Hair & Body Oil combines sweet, fruity apple with coconut, marula, moringa, prickly pear seed, pomegranate seed, geranium, and vitamin e - providing hair and skin with moisture, protection and nourishment, while leaving your body and hair smelling of Eris's signature, beautifully fragrant golden apples.