Monday, January 29, 2024

Evoking the classical god of religious ecstasy.

Come blessed Dionysos,

 bull-faced god conceived in fire,

 Bassareus and Bacchos,

 many-named master of all.

 You delight in bloody swords,

you delight in the holy Maenads,

 as you howl throughout Olympos,

 all-roaring and frenzied Bacchos.

 Armed with the thyrsos, wrathful in the extreme,

 you are honored

 by all gods and all men

who dwell upon the earth.

 Come, blessed and leaping god,

 bring abundant joy to all.


Excerpt From The Orphic Hymns Apostolos N. Athanassakis


A Roman fresco depicting Bacchus, Boscoreale, c. 30 BC


Maybe it's a stretch. If I've learned anything studying Dionysus, it's that he's amorphous and can serve many purposes.

"Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott" (A god who is understood is no god).

I no longer party, but I feel amazed during and after meditation often. I'm no pagan, but I respect the love of nature, and psychology, and I'm Jungian enough to appreciate mythology. I read slowly now, but there's a book I'm reading, here's the beginning of it.

The ecstacy makes me think about Amitabha, and the non-dual discriminating wisdom he evokes.





Here's another I like from The Orphic Hymns:


50. To Lysios Lenaios

Hear, O blessed son of Zeus and of two mothers,

 Bacchos of the vintage,

unforgettable seed,

 many-named and redeeming daimōn,

holy offspring of the gods,

 reveling Bacchos, born of secrecy,

plump giver of many joys,

 of fruits which grow well.

Mighty and many-shaped god,

 you burst forth from the earth to reach the wine press,

to become a healer for men’s pain,

 O sacred blossom!

A sorrow-hating joy to mortals,

 O lovely-haired …,

a redeemer and a reveler you are,

 your thyrsos drives to frenzy,

you are kind-hearted to all

 gods and mortals who see your light.

I call upon you now,

 come, O sweet bringer of fruit.



The homeric hymn to Dionysus. 

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