I really enjoyed this article. There is a lot of wisdom to be found in this understanding , it seems a bit like shiva only with the difference of theater, the ability of man to stand on his own and speak back to eternity. magnificent. In some places he is called thrice, born. IF Rome had not cracked down so hard on it . and if it had not been warped beyond recognition, it would have possibly been the religion for that new age, as Zeus, supposedly had ordained. This article a wrote about it some time ago, made some people a bit angry with me. https://artemisforestfairy.substack.com/p/the-femboy-cult
On Nyxos they re enact on a ship in the harbor(so people can see it) of the transformation into a lion, and the men jumping into the sea- what a spectacle! it really is a shame , it had it's down side to be sure, (it was politically harnessed and that was a very unfortunate mistake) but on the whole, a way more enjoyable religion. I think one of my ancestresses way a priestess. brilliant chemists they were, extraordinary, dancing, wine, beef, bread, theater.
I’m constantly fascinated by the way so many cultures have assumed that the afterlife is in some way a continuation of everyday life- it’s so often described in this way, from classical to Christian teachings. I always wonder how we arrive at a vision of life beyond death as a vast enclosure where you can mingle with old friends and family. One can see from this how necessary are negative aspects such as the Christian Hell - since otherwise we might find ourselves meeting Hitler or Stalin or other aspects of evil. Or should we actually see them as transformed? Another great article!
the mystery of the afterlife is nothing like the vain promises of individual judgement and bliss with relatives that the churches preach. It's more like rivers pouring into one Ocean whose waters will ascend into heaven and fall back to another Earth.
You may appreciate the work of Wilhem Reich...I am more aligned to the mystical linages of Yeshua (See Grandmother Anna and Voice of the Magdalenes by \Claire Heartsong) than to the Greco-Roman cults, but I deeply appreciate the value of seeing all life as vital rather than isolating it to the singular acts of contexts. It is also interesting how all things merge and intersect in relationship, even the definitions of of difference. If you read the Claire Heartsong books you will see a very different form of Christic consciousness than what the early church purveyed in opposition to wine and sex, but one that is at the same time holding sex as sacred and not animalistic but rather as a source of fuel for ascension and enlightenment in alignment with the more pure tantric teachings.
Thank you for the references! I am looking them up. Heartsong's work seems very enticing. I would say that followers of Dionysos see sex as sacred because it is animalistic. Our animal self is the medium of the divine, not a source of shame or lower value as many Church fathers saw and attacked it.
"Our animal self is the medium of the divine, not a source of shame or lower value as many Church fathers saw and attacked it."
That is a good refinement! If you were to described it as life force - that which animates...you might undo the divide between spirit and matter...my view is there is an original way of being that prehistory included that was innocent as regards sex...the laws of do no harm and consent must be honored...and that requires a conscious soul animating the body so that life force is used in ways that honor all... for known history and recent prehistory it has been pretty consistently misused in BOTH its uninhibited forms and its domesticated varieties. If the Holy Spirit is guiding each one, moment by moment in full embodiment, in Unity with Source that Honors All, Is All and Is Beyond All Form, we won't have the abuses that come with distortions on either end of the spectrum when it comes to the distortions of patriarchy or the distortions that come to it...as can be seen in the degradation of sexuality alongside the sexual revolution where hookups and the expectation of sex cheapen it and also pressure girls/women not to honor their own inner guidance if they truly only feel inwardly aligned to want a monogamous, long terms relationship etc...
Let me know what you think of Heartstong if you read her work. There are cool maps included.
Yes. One of the things I deeply believe is shame actually gets in the way of proper correction of behavior - or even intent. CBC - Compassion-Based Contrition acknowledges when a behavior, or way of engaging has caused harm or undermined someone's potential, but with self-love and compassion for ALL involved. I learned about PITS in a book about Indigenous and the ways the Catholic Church doctrines from the 14th century called Papal Bulls created a legacy and then a foundation and the a legal structure that justifies genocide, enslavement and land theft from Indigenous Peoples on the basis of perceived religious - and then subsequent to that - racial and cultural delusions of superiority. In this book, called Unsettling Truths by Mark Charles and Song-Chan Rah, the authors explain that PITS is perpetrator Induced Trauma Syndrome - and can result in the exact same symptomologys as PTSD - CPITS is equivalent to complex PTSD
I agree, that compassion based contrition is the way to go, and i will look up that book. it makes one wonder if who ever thought up circumcision, knew what it would result in. It is my understanding that cults with the greatest sacrifice ritual, last longest, because it is too hard to admit it was really for just the power of the cult and not god.
Is it ever not the power the cult and not God with any major religion? The same threads of violating the sacred and shaming the victims who often become perpetrators run throughout all major streams I know of without discrimination. But then there is the religion behind the use of religion to control the masses… that has no contrition at all, delights in evil (inversion, harming as pleasure) yet leaves all its victims with shame…see Kaia Ra’s story as well as @The Rewind Hence it is such a delicate conversation around sex to remove the shame from it without removing the standard of impeccability: do no harm (including non-manipulation and do no harm to those indirectly impacted) and consent - including a rigorous look at sex slavery as well as more subtle forms of manipulation that amount to non-consent and/or doing harm. I do believe it is those shamed who have the hardest time being honest about harm caused, and yet to be honest is to begin to participate in healing the underlying dynamics and to undo the control. There is a great quote in The Sophia Code about how the separation of sexual energy from the wholeness of life is one of the greatest forms of mass mind control….lots o ponder.
I appreciate the nuance and encouraging your students to dive for it. Roussouli has a great introduction to his piece on Hafiz that encourages us to "not understand Hafiz" but at ever new and fresh levels.
This is a fascinating question that I've been thinking about for a long time. The cultures are specific but there are many common underlying themes in both, the death and rebirth being the most obvious (which develops into all the mystery aspects that I've been writing about) but also the very strong connection with water. Plutarch's on Isis and Osiris is such a fascinating read on this and though he has his own bent on it, he is drawing on centuries of syncretism that started with Herodotos and developed in the Hellenistic world. Both these gods were crucial in the representation of Nature (for want of a better word) in Greek and Egyptian cultures and this is why there are many similarities but differences. Osiris is a great god but at some point he goes to the underworld and gives over to Isis and Horus. Dionysos goes to the underworld and rescues Semele and Ariadne and many others. He does not give way to them. But both undergo a form of death and dismemberment and are revived by others. The cyclical rhythm of the Nile flood and the seasons influences both mythologies.
He is fundamentally the god of frontier where Barbarian energy is to be found. To defend a civilization and to keep it vital requires that man be in touch with his inner beast in order to be good as man. He must become a barbarian himself by entering the wilds in the path of Hercules and other heroes. This is why wilds and initiation and beasts and darkness are closely linked. His wildness really is foreign to the civil mores even though he was worshiped since the first Greeks came.
How bright he still shines, green garlanded, sap streaked flank! Io Iacchus!
I think he is peeking out his head, in the great performers like Prince, "let's go crazy" and others. https://artemisforestfairy.substack.com/p/the-femboy-cult
I really enjoyed this article. There is a lot of wisdom to be found in this understanding , it seems a bit like shiva only with the difference of theater, the ability of man to stand on his own and speak back to eternity. magnificent. In some places he is called thrice, born. IF Rome had not cracked down so hard on it . and if it had not been warped beyond recognition, it would have possibly been the religion for that new age, as Zeus, supposedly had ordained. This article a wrote about it some time ago, made some people a bit angry with me. https://artemisforestfairy.substack.com/p/the-femboy-cult
A deeper look at the Maenads is needed now! Great post.
Excellent piece M&M.
Properly santised for modern sensibilities.
I love the mystery of Dionysus, the fascinating liminal deity.
He is magnificent. Did you know the Island of Nyxos has re started a version of the Revels? Looks so fun. here is my article of him. https://artemisforestfairy.substack.com/p/the-femboy-cult
I did not know about Nyxos revels but I saw several videos of modern Greeks enacting the cult of Dionysos.
On Nyxos they re enact on a ship in the harbor(so people can see it) of the transformation into a lion, and the men jumping into the sea- what a spectacle! it really is a shame , it had it's down side to be sure, (it was politically harnessed and that was a very unfortunate mistake) but on the whole, a way more enjoyable religion. I think one of my ancestresses way a priestess. brilliant chemists they were, extraordinary, dancing, wine, beef, bread, theater.
I’m constantly fascinated by the way so many cultures have assumed that the afterlife is in some way a continuation of everyday life- it’s so often described in this way, from classical to Christian teachings. I always wonder how we arrive at a vision of life beyond death as a vast enclosure where you can mingle with old friends and family. One can see from this how necessary are negative aspects such as the Christian Hell - since otherwise we might find ourselves meeting Hitler or Stalin or other aspects of evil. Or should we actually see them as transformed? Another great article!
the mystery of the afterlife is nothing like the vain promises of individual judgement and bliss with relatives that the churches preach. It's more like rivers pouring into one Ocean whose waters will ascend into heaven and fall back to another Earth.
I very much enjoyed this - the pirates turned into dolphins story has long been one of my favourites!
that is a great one!
You may appreciate the work of Wilhem Reich...I am more aligned to the mystical linages of Yeshua (See Grandmother Anna and Voice of the Magdalenes by \Claire Heartsong) than to the Greco-Roman cults, but I deeply appreciate the value of seeing all life as vital rather than isolating it to the singular acts of contexts. It is also interesting how all things merge and intersect in relationship, even the definitions of of difference. If you read the Claire Heartsong books you will see a very different form of Christic consciousness than what the early church purveyed in opposition to wine and sex, but one that is at the same time holding sex as sacred and not animalistic but rather as a source of fuel for ascension and enlightenment in alignment with the more pure tantric teachings.
Thank you for the references! I am looking them up. Heartsong's work seems very enticing. I would say that followers of Dionysos see sex as sacred because it is animalistic. Our animal self is the medium of the divine, not a source of shame or lower value as many Church fathers saw and attacked it.
"Our animal self is the medium of the divine, not a source of shame or lower value as many Church fathers saw and attacked it."
That is a good refinement! If you were to described it as life force - that which animates...you might undo the divide between spirit and matter...my view is there is an original way of being that prehistory included that was innocent as regards sex...the laws of do no harm and consent must be honored...and that requires a conscious soul animating the body so that life force is used in ways that honor all... for known history and recent prehistory it has been pretty consistently misused in BOTH its uninhibited forms and its domesticated varieties. If the Holy Spirit is guiding each one, moment by moment in full embodiment, in Unity with Source that Honors All, Is All and Is Beyond All Form, we won't have the abuses that come with distortions on either end of the spectrum when it comes to the distortions of patriarchy or the distortions that come to it...as can be seen in the degradation of sexuality alongside the sexual revolution where hookups and the expectation of sex cheapen it and also pressure girls/women not to honor their own inner guidance if they truly only feel inwardly aligned to want a monogamous, long terms relationship etc...
Let me know what you think of Heartstong if you read her work. There are cool maps included.
I was told that shame is the lowest vibration emotion and is used to manipulate masses of people.
Yes. One of the things I deeply believe is shame actually gets in the way of proper correction of behavior - or even intent. CBC - Compassion-Based Contrition acknowledges when a behavior, or way of engaging has caused harm or undermined someone's potential, but with self-love and compassion for ALL involved. I learned about PITS in a book about Indigenous and the ways the Catholic Church doctrines from the 14th century called Papal Bulls created a legacy and then a foundation and the a legal structure that justifies genocide, enslavement and land theft from Indigenous Peoples on the basis of perceived religious - and then subsequent to that - racial and cultural delusions of superiority. In this book, called Unsettling Truths by Mark Charles and Song-Chan Rah, the authors explain that PITS is perpetrator Induced Trauma Syndrome - and can result in the exact same symptomologys as PTSD - CPITS is equivalent to complex PTSD
I agree, that compassion based contrition is the way to go, and i will look up that book. it makes one wonder if who ever thought up circumcision, knew what it would result in. It is my understanding that cults with the greatest sacrifice ritual, last longest, because it is too hard to admit it was really for just the power of the cult and not god.
Is it ever not the power the cult and not God with any major religion? The same threads of violating the sacred and shaming the victims who often become perpetrators run throughout all major streams I know of without discrimination. But then there is the religion behind the use of religion to control the masses… that has no contrition at all, delights in evil (inversion, harming as pleasure) yet leaves all its victims with shame…see Kaia Ra’s story as well as @The Rewind Hence it is such a delicate conversation around sex to remove the shame from it without removing the standard of impeccability: do no harm (including non-manipulation and do no harm to those indirectly impacted) and consent - including a rigorous look at sex slavery as well as more subtle forms of manipulation that amount to non-consent and/or doing harm. I do believe it is those shamed who have the hardest time being honest about harm caused, and yet to be honest is to begin to participate in healing the underlying dynamics and to undo the control. There is a great quote in The Sophia Code about how the separation of sexual energy from the wholeness of life is one of the greatest forms of mass mind control….lots o ponder.
I appreciate the nuance and encouraging your students to dive for it. Roussouli has a great introduction to his piece on Hafiz that encourages us to "not understand Hafiz" but at ever new and fresh levels.
Curious what you know about the overlap of Dionysos and Osiris?
This is a fascinating question that I've been thinking about for a long time. The cultures are specific but there are many common underlying themes in both, the death and rebirth being the most obvious (which develops into all the mystery aspects that I've been writing about) but also the very strong connection with water. Plutarch's on Isis and Osiris is such a fascinating read on this and though he has his own bent on it, he is drawing on centuries of syncretism that started with Herodotos and developed in the Hellenistic world. Both these gods were crucial in the representation of Nature (for want of a better word) in Greek and Egyptian cultures and this is why there are many similarities but differences. Osiris is a great god but at some point he goes to the underworld and gives over to Isis and Horus. Dionysos goes to the underworld and rescues Semele and Ariadne and many others. He does not give way to them. But both undergo a form of death and dismemberment and are revived by others. The cyclical rhythm of the Nile flood and the seasons influences both mythologies.
He is fundamentally the god of frontier where Barbarian energy is to be found. To defend a civilization and to keep it vital requires that man be in touch with his inner beast in order to be good as man. He must become a barbarian himself by entering the wilds in the path of Hercules and other heroes. This is why wilds and initiation and beasts and darkness are closely linked. His wildness really is foreign to the civil mores even though he was worshiped since the first Greeks came.