I am going to rant and rave, as usual, about my own patron god Dionysus. I am not really a worshiper of Dionysus since that is a religion of long past. I appreciate him, and carry him along in my thoughts. It is only through belief that the ancient gods live on anyways. Ranting and raving follows:
My passion for Dionysus is insatiable, as is fitting for the god of indulgence. He is the thrice-born, he is the joy of men, and he is the eater of raw flesh. He is altruism, he is flourishing, he is music and the unreasonable functioning of human life.
Through ancient ritual Bacchus brings ecstasy, and through confusion and madness, he may bring despair. He represents both the height and the lowest of low points of human existence. He is the group, the mob, the breaking down of individuality. He is that feeling of belonging to something greater than oneself, rising above the self and into the chaos of the collective. What power the collective force brings! What insanity!
I am not afraid of the unknown, nor of chaos and destruction. I want to destroy my boundaries and release the need for knowing the truth. Dionysus is the liberator of my mind. In the pain of chaotic existence, I find his divinity. In subjection I find peace, and in unrelenting rebellion I find myself.
With wine, I can escape, and in escaping, dig deeper, past these human notions and ideas. In music, I dance, I lose myself in a divine and ecstatic communion with the great god of Bacchus, Liber, Dionysus. In drama, and theater, you lose yourself to another character. Acting is all for the great god Bacchus.
He is a god of paradox, of chaos, of life. He is a god of rebirth, of the animal within our human soul, and he is a god of great humanity. Dionysus, the only god of Olympus to spend his time wandering through the realm of man, and the only god to be created within the womb of a mortal woman. He is the primordial force of childbirth, of feminine power and the joy and pain that go along with creation.
When you drink his sacred wine you may be liberated, or you may be subjugated. Liber, Liberty. Is Liberty not dangerous to those without purpose? To be liberated, means you have the ability to choose your own doom. The Liberty of Dionysus is unforgiving! And in this, I revel! Do not push, nor pull, but ride the waves of his ecstasy and enjoy the pain of life, for what else is there?
Such a Dionysian philosophy, Nietzsche would be proud. Dionysus is ancient but entirely relevant to our modern day. Everything seems very Apollonian in the west, it is all about the individual, it is all about the fine arts, and it is all about finding the truth. If you look under the surface, however, Dionysus is always there. He is in the music, and in the collective choices that we make. Sometimes, when pissed off, Dionysus stings. We can see that in our current political situations. The collective spoke, but liberty is dangerous in many ways, when not with purpose. Honestly, I have sorta given up on Truth in many ways. Maybe the joy is in searching, and maybe Truth can only be found when you give up on finding it. Dionysus is a paradox, and he is very human. Therefore, I relate to his rambling, nonsensical archetype. I am not making any point here, maybe that is the point?
Here are some myths involving Dionysus that demonstrate his power, and his frightening fury.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 34-35 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"[Dionysos] set out eagerly [from Rhea in Phrygia] through Thrake [on his way back to Thebes]. Now Lykourgos, son of Dryas and king of the Edonians, who lived beside the Strymon River, was the first to show his hybris to Dionysos by expelling him. Dionysos fled to the sea and took shelter with Nereus' daughter Thetis, but his Bakkhai were taken captive along with the congregation of Satyroi that accompanied him. Later on, the Bakkhai were suddenly set free, and Dionysos caused Lykourgos to go mad. In this state, thinking he was cutting a vine-branch, Lykourgos killed his son Dryas by cutting off his arms and legs with an axe. Then he regained his senses. When his land remained barren, the god [Apollon] made an oracular pronouncement to the effect that, if Lykourgos were to die, there would again be fertile crops. When the Edonians heard this, they took Lykourgos to Mount Pangaion and bound him, and there in accordance with the will of Dionysos, he was destroyed by his horses and died."
Homeric Hymn 7 to Dionysus (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"I will tell of Dionysos, the son of glorious Semele, how he appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the fruitless sea, seeming like a stripling in the first flush of manhood: his rich, dark hair was waving about him, and on his strong shoulders he wore a purple robe. Presently there came swiftly over the sparkling sea Tyrsenoi pirates on a well--decked ship--a miserable doom led them on. When they saw him they made signs to one another and sprang out quickly, and seizing him straightway, put him on board their ship exultingly; for they thought him the son of heaven-nurtured kings. They sought to bind him with rude bonds, but the bonds would not hold him, and the withes fell far away from his hands and feet: and he sat with a smile in his dark eyes. Then the helmsman understood all and cried out at once to his fellows and said : ‘Madmen! What god is this whom you have taken and bind, strong that he is? Not even the well-built ship can carry him. Surely this is either Zeus or Apollon who has the silver bow, or Poseidon, for he looks not like mortal men but like the gods who dwell on Olympos. Come, then, let us set him free upon the dark shore at once: do not lay hands on him, lest he grow angry and stir up dangerous winds and heavy squalls.’
So said he: but the master chided him with taunting words : ‘Madman, mark the wind and help hoist sail on the ship: catch all the sheets. As for this fellow we men will see to him: I reckon he is bound for Aigyptos (Egypt) or for Kypros or to the Hyperboreoi or further still. But in the end he will speak out and tell us his friends and all his wealth and his brothers, now that providence has thrown him in our way.’
When he had said this, he had mast and sail hoisted on the ship, and the wind filled the sail and the crew hauled taut the sheets on either side. But soon strange things were seen among them. First of all sweet, fragrant wine ran streaming throughout all the black ship and a heavenly smell arose, so that all the seamen were seized with amazement when they saw it. And all at once a vine spread out both ways along the top of the sail with many clusters hanging down from it, and a dark ivy-plant twined about the mast, blossoming with flowers, and with rich berries growing on it; and all the thole-pins were covered with garlands. When the pirates saw all this, then at last they bade the helmsman to put the ship to land. But the god changed into a dreadful lion there on the ship, in the bows, and roared loudly: amidships also he showed his wonders and created a shaggy bear which stood up ravening, while on the forepeak was the lion glaring fiercely with scowling brows. And so the sailors fled into the stern and crowded bemused about the right-minded helmsman, until suddenly the lion sprang upon the master and seized him; and when the sailors saw it they leapt out overboard one and all into the bright sea, escaping from a miserable fate, and were changed into dolphins. But on the helmsman Dionysos had mercy and held him back and made him altogether happy, saying to him : ‘Take courage, good [text missing]; you have found favour with my heart. I am loud-crying (eribromos) Dionysos whom Kadmos' daughter Semele bare of union with Zeus.’
Hail, child of fair-faced Semele!"
I hope you enjoyed this passionate post about such a wonderful ancient figure. There were many mystery cults dedicated to him, another fascinating subject I will write about in the future. Most of my information was from Theoi, but honestly I have memorized most of it. Keep on Steemin on!
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/DionysosWrath.html#Lykourgos