Whoa there, that's quite a list...
1. How do you pray in Hellenic Polytheism?
How does anyone else pray? To my understanding, prayer generally was spoken out loud, with hands in front of you palms up when praying to gods of the above world (Or, if a statue or other image is present, hands facing towards the statue), and if praying to a deity in the below world, palms down, or in the case of a very emotional prayer, the worshipper down on their knees, pounding on the ground.
Myself, I generally pray silently unless it is part of group ritual. If in front of my altar, usually kneeling because it makes the most sense with the height of my altar. I also do personal ritual in silence....I find it much easier to express my thought and emotion this way- the English language is just not sufficient sometimes, and the gods still understand.
2. How do you meditate in Hellenic Polytheism?
There is no specific prescribed method for meditation.
3. Is there any way to create an oracle?
There are many. Here is an example of a simple oracle that was used in ancient Greece based on the Greek alphabet:
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/GAO.html4. Is it disrespectful to pour alcohol on the lavendar and grain you're sacrificing to Athena because the damn sacrifice isn't burning?
Hmm...that's a new one to me. Have you tried using charcoal (not the barbeque charcoal, but the stuff created specifically for this purpose)
Also...how dry is the lavendar?
I honestly don't know if this would be considered disrespectful or not, though my initial thought is that if you try it and she does not like it, she will let you know. Also, if you do, be very careful. Make sure that you're using a fire-safe container and a well-insulated surface, and that no flammable materials are nearby. </fire safety nazi>
6. Are there any spells, and what kinds are there?
Magic is one of those subjects that gets extremely varied treatment among contemporary Hellenists. Some completely abhor it, others practice magic separately from their religion...I don't think I know of any Hellenic polytheists who practice magic as part of their religion, though I'm sure there are some. Spellwork, to my understanding, was not part of the religion back in the day, and depending on who you talked to and when, it could have been seen as completely taboo, or it could have just been seen as a separate, non-religious activity.
7. How do you communicate with the Gods?
Mostly through prayer and meditation. They seem to like to muck about with me extensively in my dreams lately, and I get a lot of the direct "voices in my head" type communication from them.
8. My altar is (because of my lack of religious supplies) a picture of Athena with a small bowl in front of it where I burn the sacrifice. What else should I add to win the Goddess's favor?
What else have you done to try and build a relationship with her? How long have you been working on this? What do you mean by "winning favor"? Are you interested in building a worshipful relationship or are you just hoping that she'll take a liking to you and bestow all kinds of blessings? I'm going to be honest here, some of what you said seems to be coming across as rather flippant, but that may be due to the shortcomings of communicating by text, and you say that you're new to this so I'm not going to make assumptions.
9. Can I ever physically meet the Gods and Goddesses?
Erm....I don't think so, not literally. I have heard of one or two folks who have had brief encounrters with people who look exactly like they envision their deities who beleived that said deity was using that person to make some communication, but that's the closest thing I know of to "meeting them physically"
11. Please tell me about your own religious experiences, okay?
Hmm...ok, what exactly are you looking to find out here? Whenever I see a request like this, there's a little part of me that's always tempted to launch into a novel-length description of some of my more disturbing experiences to show people that "religious experiences" aren't often what we expect them to be...but I generally restrain myself from that. So...what sort of information or understanding are you hoping to gain from others telling you of their experience?
12. Is there a way to control spirits to do your bidding? (again, I'm BRAND NEW to this religion)
If by "this religion", you mean Hellenic reconstruction, that is not part of the religion...there are quite a few diffrent takes on Hellenic recon, but I've ENVER seen anyhting like this in any iteration.
13. How do you burn lavendar without alcohol on it?! It's driving me crazy!
see my comments in your previous question about this.
14. Is it natural for someone to ask all these questions?
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Yes. Asking questions is good.
Additionally, have a look at these websites for more information on Hellenic religion:
http://sponde.comhttp://www.winterscapes.com/sannion/http://www.winterscapes.com/http://www.theoi.com- best website on Greek Mythology ever, absolutely essential place for reading about mythology. Extremely extensive and informative- includes MANY of the ancient Greek texts available in complete form to read online
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