Has anyone worked with Athena? I don’t think I’m able to evoke yet, but when I can pull it off Athena is someone I’d like to try talking to and maybe working with.
If anyone has worked with her I’m curious what goes into evoking her. I did a quick google that didn’t seem to turn up much…or anything, but I’ll try again.
Bullfinchs Mythology is a great read on a great deal of the old Greek religion if you’re interested. Haven’t worked with Her myself, but that would be a good reference point.
You don’t have to evoke to work with her.Start by lighting a candle to her(whatever color you feel is right) focus on the flame, bring to your mind the image of Athena, what she represents to you and what you want from her. Then say out loud that you want her in your life and to guide you along your path, she will hear you. And remember the old gods are not light years away nor are they dead and buried. They are where they have always been and forever will be, right over your shoulder. 
You could also set your altar up with things sacred to Athena like owls. Maybe leave olives as an offering. The olive tree was hers. Just some suggestions.
I have worked with Athena, albeit many moons ago.
Remember, Athena is an intellectual goddess. So one of the very first things you can do is think about her. A lot. She is an entity of ideas. Meditate on her. Learn new things. And be very open to any new ideas that pop into your head, and if they are telling you to do something, do them.
Setting an altar up for her is a good idea, because it keeps her in your mind. (This is good with any being you want to commune with, actually). But when you look at those things, think about them. Why is the owl sacred to her? Why are olives sacred to her? How does being a goddess of war jive with being a goddess of ideas and the intellect? Why is she a goddess of intellect? Why is she a goddess of war? (Those last two are pretty easy if you know her creation myth.) Thinking about her will help you hear her when she talks to you.
Ask her things outright. Then, trust the idea that comes into your head.
I would ask, how do you normally communicate with non-physical entities? I can give you a much more specific or two if I know that.
I actually WAS thinking something along those lines, to start with at least. I didn’t know the olive tree was hers, though. At one point I had a beautiful owl statuette carved out of fluorite, but iirc I think I gave it to one of my daughters. I do still have a silver or gold (can’t remember which) owl pendant sans chain that I actually bought IN Athens; it’s obviously small but seems ideal otherwise. Do you think size matters to Athena? Or is it how you use the “psychic residue” - her sacred symbol bought in the city she patrons purely because she’s always been my favorite Olympian (and owls are one of my top 3 favorite creatures symbolically)? - that really satisfies her?
[quote=“Audsynn, post:5, topic:8923”]…
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…How does being a goddess of war jive with being a goddess of ideas and the intellect? Why is she a goddess of intellect? Why is she a goddess of war? (Those last two are pretty easy if you know her creation myth.) Thinking about her will help you hear her when she talks to you.
Ask her things outright. Then, trust the idea that comes into your head.
I would ask, how do you normally communicate with non-physical entities? I can give you a much more specific or two if I know that.[/quote]
I’m very new to practicing, just under a month I think. Except for one candle spell the only magic I’ve been working is gazing at [angelic] sigils - so that’s the only way I’ve been communicating with entities. I’m open to other ideas though.
I realize you weren’t actually asking me for yourself, but I want to put this out there anyway 
I considered Athena’s fairly unique of combination of wat & wisdom quite some time ago, like in high school iirc. One of the main questions I asked was why did the Greeks have TWO war gods? I believe they represent two main aspects of battles and wars. There are different ways to break this down but perhaps the two simplest are: a comparison of the roles of officers vs “grunts,” or more to the point: leadership, strategy, & tactics vs. the raw strength, martial prowess, & passion/instinct of a warrior on the front lines or in the thick of battle who is now fighting for his life moreso than any “noble cause” or “greater good.” Athena is Odysseus (obvi) and Ares is Achilles (for this explanation). And we know that Odysseus was no weakling or pushover, he was a very capable warrior, but his primary strength was his intellect. Achilles was…well, raw power, martial skill, and passion for combat and glory. Although I listed “strategy & tactics” as Athena’s domains, I think that tactics could be shared with Ares. Tactics differs from strategy in that it’s focus is small scale confrontations, both solo and in groups; tactics could be considered the older brother of martial prowess.
Well…that’s the answer I came up with, at least. And although it comes from a different culture I just had the idea that an appropriate offering or focus to place on the altar would be the book “The Art of War.” Perhaps Musashi’s “Book of the Five Rings” would also be appropriate (probably for Ares as well!); probably any military treatise dealing with the “science” of war.
Well ok then! I hope that was interesting enough to justify its length!
I appreciate everyone’s suggestions and since you asked how I usually commune w/ spirits, I hope you have more advice for me, Audsynn! You’ve been very helpful
I actually WAS thinking something along those lines, to start with at least. I didn’t know the olive tree was hers, though. At one point I had a beautiful owl statuette carved out of fluorite, but iirc I think I gave it to one of my daughters. I do still have a silver or gold (can’t remember which) owl pendant sans chain that I actually bought IN Athens; it’s obviously small but seems ideal otherwise. Do you think size matters to Athena? Or is it how you use the “psychic residue” - her sacred symbol bought in the city she patrons purely because she’s always been my favorite Olympian (and owls are one of my top 3 favorite creatures symbolically)? - that really satisfies her?[/quote]
I think it would be perfect!
I have worked with Athena and she is the type to bring you to her images and statues I remember I started getting into Athena some years back and within about two weeks I found a statue of Athena in an antique shop and made an alter to her. Her essence is in strategic thinking she is the embodiment of planning and preparation. These are both important skills in war and so she took on that role, naturally. Be willing to use these skills in your day to day and I found that Athena like Mercury and Poseidon are fond of visiting you in dreams.
[quote=“Khayyin, post:6, topic:8923”]Well ok then! I hope that was interesting enough to justify its length!
I appreciate everyone’s suggestions and since you asked how I usually commune w/ spirits, I hope you have more advice for me, Audsynn! You’ve been very helpful :D[/quote]
Never apologize for the length of a reply. It means you have taken the time to think on it, and articulate it properly.
It sounds like you’ve already been doing the war vs/with intellect thing and got that down well. As AdamThoth said, Be willing to use that strategic thinking in your every day life.
Since you’ve been opening sigils, I will share this little way that you can communicate with an entity on a bit more a specific basis than just dreams and ‘signs’. This is basic stuff that can be modified for any entitiy.
Materials:
*candle
*something to light the candle (obviously)
*sigil
*notebook/paper
*pen or pencil
So, you light your candle, and open your sigil. (You can find several sigils for her that others have created if you google Athena’s sigil, or you can make one of your own. Or, just use her name in Greek lettering, just remember her last letter isn’t alpha, it’s epsilon, her name is supposed to be Athene, with the last e pronounced /eh/.). Do your opening of her sigil, and then put the sigil down and get the notebook. Ask a question, out loud if you can, and then write down the very first thing that comes to mind. It might not make sense, that is OK. Write it down anyway. Keep asking questions, keep writing down answers. As you do this (it may take many sessions), the answers will start to make wonderful sense, they’ll get longer and more detailed. If you ask the question outloud and you honestly hear nothing in yoru head, no ideas at all, then write the question down, over and over, until you get something other than the question in your mind. So, if you ask, “What can you teach me?” and you get no answer, keep writing “What can you teach me?” over. It might be three pages, that’s alright, too. Keep writing it, until you get an answer, even if the answer is silly sounding, like, “I you the hairy caterpillar make.” You’ll look at it and go, “What the hell?” but you got an answer. You’re opening that channel to learn to listen to her.
Make sure to tell us what your experience is when you do it! We want to hear the results as well as the questions!
ok, thanks again guys! I’ll try talking to her like you said, Audsynn. It’s just going to be a challenge because I can’t really do this openly where I live. I might get a few hours a day to practice, and even then I have to do it quietly. Some days, like today, I don’t get an opportunity at all. With sigils I can just get in truck and drive off somewhere under the guise of running an errand and then open the sigil while sitting in the parking lot. But it seems like I’m gonna need more room for this. Luckily, I like to take walks. So as long as I can manage to fit everything I need into my pockets then I might have a way - IF I can find a good location. There are some trees around, maybe I can find a secluded patch of open ground out of view, but I’ll need to be able to walk in unseen and speak without being heard
Or one other option that I’m not terribly fond of - a graveyard. There are obviously occasions during the day when people are there, but I could probably work around that. And of course it’s dead at night (ba dum tss!). I had no issue playing Pokemon Go there (lots of Pokéstops packed close together), even at night - but I’m not sure about practicing magic and trying to communicate with spirits in a graveyard. It seems a little risky. But maybe I’m wrong?
In any case, I’ll post my results as soon as I can get some 
There is a easy peasy fix for this–you’ve decided to start journaling! You don’t need any of the extraneous stuff to communicate, the candles, sigil, all that is to get your mind in the right place, especially when you’re starting out. If you can manage it, within your own mind, say what you need say, whether it is a spell or a prayer, visualize the sigil and then start asking the questions. Or, you can give a go just asking the questions, and writing the responses. No one will be any wiser other than you writing in a notebook.
There is a easy peasy fix for this–you’ve decided to start journaling! You don’t need any of the extraneous stuff to communicate, the candles, sigil, all that is to get your mind in the right place, especially when you’re starting out. If you can manage it, within your own mind, say what you need say, whether it is a spell or a prayer, visualize the sigil and then start asking the questions. Or, you can give a go just asking the questions, and writing the responses. No one will be any wiser other than you writing in a notebook.[/quote]
That is excellent advice. I keep two journals. One to Azazel and one to a deceased loved one. They both are very effective for communing with them. Especially on the days I cant go all into it.
Almost all spirits seem to like being called in a grove of trees, our earliest Temples and each tree can stand in for THE Tree, the tree of life.
Modern core shamanism teaches that trees were viewed as gateways and a kind of transformer, turning things as ethereal as air and sunlight into the wood that gave us fire, then later into homes, tools, weapons, and transportation.
You would think a demonic being like Belial would prefer a dank basement, but he LOVED being evoked in a grove of trees at sunrise, with the mist rising to form an evocation base!
(I had to stop doing that because it brought a mini-crime wave to the location, but that’s another story - it does for me stand as proof of the effectiveness of the practice though, that his ambience began to affect the area.)
If you have access to anything like this, even if it’s quite small or near a road, ask the spirits of the area to permit this first, or trust your intuition on the matter.
Story time, Lady Eva?
[quote=“Lady Eva, post:13, topic:8923”]Almost all spirits seem to like being called in a grove of trees, our earliest Temples and each tree can stand in for THE Tree, the tree of life.
Modern core shamanism teaches that trees were viewed as gateways and a kind of transformer, turning things as ethereal as air and sunlight into the wood that gave us fire, then later into homes, tools, weapons, and transportation.
You would think a demonic being like Belial would prefer a dank basement, but he LOVED being evoked in a grove of trees at sunrise, with the mist rising to form an evocation base![/quote]
That’s one of those things that reminds me that demons aren’t the demons we were taught to think they are - or not all of them at least. Also, the woods may work simply as a matter of ambient natural mana. I pulled that out of my ass but there’s possibly some logic to it. Woods would probably work for Athena better than many places, I would guess that she would really prefer something like a library or a school… Those aren’t very viable in our day, but there’s a spot in my garage where all my books are stored. Maybe if I doll it up a bit I could give it an atmosphere of dignity and learning…? That wouldn’t do much to solve the privacy problem but it would be an improvement
For sure, thou most Noble & dedicated Knight of the forces of the Highest - however, 'tis mighty off-topic, so the powers that be advise me to maketh it into a new topic. 
Hello Khayyin,
About Athena… although She is the Goddess of reason and intelligent activity, She is a little high spirited. Remember Athena is the daughter of Zeus and never had a mother. I am not sure what your intentions were for wanting to invoke Her, you may have better success with Arianrhod. Stay patient things will manifest the way they are meant to be.
Athena is a wonderful goddess.
I suggest study of the Greek philosophers.
Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes, etc
I tend to contemplate my way towards her current more than meditating or evoking. Take in some fine art and get yourself in a classy mood. She is a very civilized entity. Beautiful paintings and statues seem to be her style. I haven’t really tried any particular sigil for her yet.
@Khayyin Athena is a sweetheart. Personally, I think that you can evoke any entity by getting into subjective synthesis, prepatory immersion, and Theta Gama Sync.
However, in prepatory immersion, I did leave olives out as an offering and burned incense unto her…sage mostly…a favorite in Greece.
Good luck.
There are recreations of ancient music on YouTube, from Sumeria, Egypt, Greece, etc., made by scholars and enthusiasts who researched the instruments and also used any available notation from that period.
Playing things like that has helped with, at least, my own immersion when evoking ancient beings and a few have also expressed their pleasure at hearing the music.