During this coronavirus season, in my search to understand the enforced closure we are experiencing, I looked back to my Greek upbringing. The Hestia archetype came up. In Greek mythology, Hestia is the Greek Goddess of home, the hearth or fireside. Hestia also stands for the right ordering of domesticity and the State.
In the midst of this pandemic, the essence of Hestia, the provider of the warmth of the home, nourishment and nutrition is returning now to reclaim her space in our hearts and homes.
As we are forbidden to go out in the public domain, except for medical help, medicine or food, families gather together in their nuclear structure. We enjoy the company of each other in the warmth of our homes. The kitchen, where the cooking fire stove is situated, works full-time in preparation of our meals. Hestia’s qualities have returned to our home.
I pause to think Hestia’s relevance these days during the coronavirus outbreak.
Hestia is the feminine power of calling us inwards. Away from our bustling “busy-ness” of daily life, and into the introspection of our homes, and ourselves. As we stay away from travel, conferences, and shopping malls, movie theaters and stadiums, we return to our core and ourselves. Some choose to access this inner realm through prayer. Others through meditation. Yet others choose yoga or journaling. They all lead to the same results of spirituality and connection with our own version of Hestia.
On a personal level, in my home in Jerusalem, Hestia is calling upon me to make nourishing meals for my family of lentils, tahini, and vegetables, to sustain our health and well-being. Through this ritual of family meals – something we used to experience only on Shabbat, we feel gratitude for the fresh produce in our plates. We also feel gratitude for the communication that develops with our three teenage daughters, who not being distracted by outside influence, enjoy with us the opportunity to hold lengthy, nurturing discussions.
On a more communal level, I sense that Hestia is also calling upon all of us to re-examine our way of living and our ‘lifestyle’ and to adopt more sustainable practices towards our home, the Earth. Being confined at home, we realize that it is indeed possible to communicate globally without traveling. Even attending a Shiva for my dear aunt Vivianne, a gathering of mourners across borders, was possible online.
If I had to pinpoint what this evolving crisis teaches me, is to stop and reflect. Look into what works and what doesn’t work in my personal oikos, my home, and our communal oiko-systems, our common home, the Earth. To re-evaluate our culture of consumption, which exploits and degrades the Earth. Witness the damage it causes to other living organisms and ecosystems, for the sheer pleasure of consumption.
I would imagine that it should make perfect sense to honor the Earth and each other. Yet, in our choices, it is not always the thing we choose to do.
I hear a great deal about ‘the question of the day after Corona’ and I think of the opportunity we are given to consider an alternative way of life. Choosing the right thing, caters to the collective good. By moving away from excessive consumption to conscious consumption. By choosing renewable technologies instead of polluting coal, oil and natural gas. By investing our entrepreneurial spirit and resources towards developing pro-life technologies, not just in our eco-villages but in our cities too.
At this time of reflection, our seas and rivers, lakes and oceans that need to be cleansed from the chemicals and plastics poisoning them come to mind. I reflect on the towns and villages, overwhelmed by massive tourism, and think of how they can be returned to their residents, by putting limits. Hestia expects us to take care of our home, the Earth. To protect it for our global well-being, in balance with the well-being of our economy. An economy driven by thrift and not by greed.
At this Coronavirus season, Hestia of my Greek-background is here, back to my consciousness. Hestia lights my home hearth and my spirit for a new era of cooperation within our families and our communities. Hestia is asking of me and you to think and act sensibly for our home, our oikos, and for our common oikos, the Earth. To act in a sustainable, eco-logical, inter-connected way for us humans, and for all creatures to enjoy.
From Jerusalem with love,
Yvette Nahmia-Messinas, with the contribution of architect Elias Messinas
Thank you for your clear statement written with love. Blessings to all families on earth, Hallelujah.