The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE), was founded in June 1997 with the goal of provide moral and material support and work toward the restoration of the Ethnic, Polytheistic Hellenic Tradition, Religion and way of life in Modern Greek society which is ruled by spiritual stagnation , irrationality, byzantinism and blatant theocracy.
Up until now it functions as a legal non - profit organization by necessity, since Greek law until recently (before the voting of law 4301/ 2014) had no provision for giving legal status to any religious organization of any religion that does not belong in any branch of the three Abrahamic ones.
After law 4301/2014 was voted, the Hellenic Council, as the sole entity representing the historically continuous Hellenic Ethnic Religion submitted its request for becoming a legal Religious Organization. The request is now at the Supreme Court of Greece (Areios Pagos) after it was rejected twice on the Court of First Instance and at the Appeals Court, under the pretense that the word “Ethnic” will cause confusion in the general public. Meanwhile since February of 2017, the Hellenic Ethnic Religion has become officially a “known religion” according to article 17 of the above mentioned law, with the licensing and operation of an official place of worship in Athens that was given by the General Secretariat of Religion of the Ministry of Education and Religion.
The founding of the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE), come after long discussions, meetings and processes that began in 1993 among older groups of Ethnic Hellenes throughout Greece that led to the temporary creation of the “Consensus of the Ethnic Hellenes” for the period of 1995-1996 two months after a Panhellenic Gathering on southern Olympus on September 9th 1995.
After 21 years (1997-2018) of continuous presence in the contemporary Greek society, with over 350 civic actions like protests or press releases, over 800 lectures, commemorations of ancient national historical events, public religious ceremonies, and many educational events, the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) is the formal legal entity representing the historically continuous and since 2017 “legally known” Hellenic Ethnic Religion. The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes has two chapters outside Greece, one in the United States since 2007 and one in Cyprus since 2014, and seeks to establish more in any country that has active Hellenic Ethnic presence.
The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) is a founding member of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions and in 2004 it had the honor to host in Greece its 7th meeting, covering the cost of such an event solely by the contributions of its own members.
The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) is fighting ceaselessly without any dependencies relying only on its member contributions and their annual dues of 60 euros. The funds raised help support the upkeep of the space used as a lecture hall since 2003 and of the official place of worship in Athens since 2017, as well as fund the legal battles, protests, celebrations and religious ceremonies. They also help promote the Hellenic Ethnic Religion, and the planning of goals for the near future like the building of a public altar or temple, as well as the establishment of a Library dedicated to Polytheistic Religions and of a Museum of Ethnic Hellenism.
The founding of the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes was announced on June 17th 1997 with the following press release that was distributed to the Greek news agencies and newspapers:
First Press Release from the Supreme Council
of Ethnikoi Hellenes ( 17 July 1997) For years, we the Ethnikoi Hellenes, i.e. contemporary Greeks who still respect and honour the rites and beliefs of our ancestors, the Hellenes, remained stoically patient when faced with the systematic (and not at all coincidental), negligence and degradation of our monumental and living ethnic heritage by a "Greek" State, which is obviously enslaved by an economico-religious giant whose cultural and logical interests promote the open scorn for our real (i.e. pre-Christian) ethnic Tradition. We have experienced threats against the life of individuals who act and speak in public as members of the Ethnic Hellenic community. We have had one of our bookshops burned down. We also had waterfalls of slanders against our Tradition from Church-preachers and from the Church-controlled mass media. We have also (and this is the most outrageous!) seen destruction of pre-Christian monuments and remains of Temples. Under this new and terrifying reality that we all see being formed against real Hellenism, and as none of the State Officials supposedly responsible for its protection seem sensitive enough, personalities from the community of the Ethnikoi Hellenes have decided to found the Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, which shall aim at the protection and restoration of the real (pre-Christian) Hellenic Tradition. We shall work by all legal means necessary towards awakening the Greek people and securing respect, survival, natural and moral protection, restoration and honour of our monuments, symbols, ideas and living forms of ancient Hellenic Tradition in the forms of cosmoperception, philosophical thought, political perception, ethnic religion, arts, morals and customs, language, mythology, symbols etc. The present announcement / press release is our first one sent to the mass media and other responsible and interested parts. We hope that it, plus all the others that follow, will be fairly treated and published as is required by the principle of free speech for all citizens. Honour and Glory to our Ancestral God |
