If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
That all sounds fantastic, Raphaeline! Your shrine is lovely.
P.S. - I love Indian food - can't get it here, though..., or decent Thai food either... One of the few bad things about living in the wilds.
Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.
First try at baking for Lammas...I just posted them in my gallery!
I'll check it out when I get up in the morning! Be assured you are FAR from the worst - I've seen your magic in the kitchen and you're doubtless better at it than I am, and I can say that without having yet seen your work for Lammas
Nice, it has a very ecstatic feel to it. Dionysus is one of the few Greek Gods who I actually took great interest in. Partially, this is due to my reading of Euripides Bacchae, but also because of my research on the Greek mystery religions. Part of what I like about Dionysus is his mysteriousness. Many of the phrases, epithets, and terms used in Dionysian texts seem so nonsensical and secret, as though they're being spoken in a language that only the initiated understand. For instance, he is called both Taurokephalos (bull-headed) and Taurophagos (bull-eater), which I found a little bit strange.
I have to say I really like Dionysus. I'm afraid to attempt any kind of direct contact because he feels so.. wild. I really think I would go insane (or more so). Ironically I was planning to go to the school play and was killing time looking through threads when I first found this one. But anyway some questions came to mind after attempting to sort through all the info you provided..
There is some references to male worshipers of Dionysus but is there really a male equivalent to the maenad? (since satyrs are mythical, ... right?)
Why were all these people not willing to accept Dionysus as a god in the myths until he like destroys them?
I dont understand the how he becomes an androgenic figure and/or why
Is there anything Dionysus would disapprove of really? It seems like if you're happy and being yourself he's happy with you.
Ariadne is his only lover?
I'm would feel really stupid if you've explained any of these already and I've simply missed it. Please and thankyou for any answers and information.
I'm just dropping in to say that although I love my (Norse) gods more than any other gods in the world, I am such a Dionysus fangirl, reading about him and his cult helped me get over my misandry when I was moving away from Dianic witchcraft, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent time drooling over his bust at the Royal Ontario Museum. I'm a lesbian, but I think I could manage to be bi for Dionysus, maybe....
There is some references to male worshipers of Dionysus but is there really a male equivalent to the maenad? (since satyrs are mythical, ... right?)
The way I would put it is that everyone can worship Dionysos, but women are capable of an entirely different sort of relationship with him. Not all women who worship Dionysos are maenads, for that matter. I suppose a way to describe it would be to say that nuns must be women, but not all Catholic women are nuns. It's a different level of worship altogether, in terms of modern worship.
Why were all these people not willing to accept Dionysus as a god in the myths until he like destroys them?
They didn't like the idea of half-naked people roaming drunk all over the countryside, I'm sure. But Dionysos punishes - for the most part - those who do not allow his followers to worship him. It's when his devotees are prohibited to give him his due worship that he becomes angry. Remember Prohibition in America and what happened when the government attempted to separate man from his drink? It's another way to look at the same issue - the spirit of Dionysos perseveres within humanity and no leader can stop the people from following it
I dont understand the how he becomes an androgenic figure and/or why
Dionysos is a god of "in between"s and the transition from one state to another - sober and drunk, man and woman, wild and calm, comforting and frightening, light and dark and so on. He is one, the other, both, neither. Dionysos is paradoxical - he's very much the virile male, but he's also known to dress as a woman and take on female characteristics. It's in his nature to be both one way and the other at the same time.
Is there anything Dionysus would disapprove of really? It seems like if you're happy and being yourself he's happy with you.
Things that would displease Dionysos in general would be to resist change, resist your nature, to be still and stagnant. So I'd definitely say you're right - I think that's a good way to sum it up
Ariadne is his only lover?
Ariadne is his true love, but he's had children by others. I don't normally view Dionysos in the family context, so this one isn't a question I can answer well, but this is one suggestion of who his children (and their mothers) are: With Ariadne: Oenopion, Staphylos, Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Euanthes, Latramys, Tauropolis, Ceramus, Maron
With Aphrodite: Iacchus, Priapus, Hymen, The Graces (Pasithea, Euphrosyne, Thalia)
With Nyx: Phthonus
With Althaea: Deianira
With Circe: Comus
It's been on my to do list to read more on Ariadne and Dionysos' children. It's just never been something that has been an integral part of our relationship, maybe because I've been uncomfortable as seeing him attached to another woman in such a devoted way. I suppose I'm jealous. But it's something I've been meaning to read more about, so I'll come back to it.
I'm just dropping in to say that although I love my (Norse) gods more than any other gods in the world, I am such a Dionysus fangirl, reading about him and his cult helped me get over my misandry when I was moving away from Dianic witchcraft, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent time drooling over his bust at the Royal Ontario Museum. I'm a lesbian, but I think I could manage to be bi for Dionysus, maybe....
I use the term "fangirl" to describe myself, too - I get on my friends' nerves because I can pretty much gush about him all the time. But they can't complain because they keep coming to my bacchanalia
Comment