#dionysian

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Advice for beginner Hellenists

This isn't necessarily a post where I include a list of Gods, epithets, resources, and offerings for said Gods, but rather, hopefully soothing the worries of those of us who are starting the journey into the religion. As someone who was once in a religion that made other religions sound like something absolutely terrifying, my journey into Hellenism was once which was also... pretty terrifying, and this fear was mostly just from my own mind.

Anyways, my list of Advice:

You can literally just start praying. If you want to get more formal, you can absolutely get more formal, but you very much don't have to. I've definitely had my first prayers to some Gods be "hello, [God or Goddess's name], I want to worship You! Please lead me in my journey. Thanks!" I can promise you, the Gods are much kinder and more understanding than any of us fully know.

You can also just start worshiping in general. I feel like I've seen on occasion people worried about the Gods not "calling" to them. This is definitely not something that needs to happen pre-worship. If you find them interesting enough to pray to, then that in and of itself is enough.

In a similar vein, I wouldn't be too concerned about the idea of "signs". I feel like there's a tendency for folks to be incredibly worried about everything when first starting out - the behavior of a candle, the sighting of an animal, a strange dream, all can suddenly seem to take on jarring significance. But I can promise you, the Gods don't constantly give out signs, and frequently, these strange occurrences can be attributed to the mundane. When something comes from the Gods, you will know, trust me!

You don't have to worry too much about the idea of cleanliness, be it spiritual or physical. Khernips are cool, and I'd definitely recommend integrating them into your practice sooner or later. Hygiene is cool too! But if I'm being honest, we in the modern day are far more physically clean, and a lot less likely to regularly encounter the type of pollution that would have been encountered in ancient Greece.

The Gods will be at varying distances over the course of your worship. Sometimes, They will feel close, joyfully, burningly so. And sometimes, They will feel far, and prayers may even feel a bit futile. Both of those are perfectly okay, and neither of those will be permanent.

And, once again in a similar vein, you will likely not find yourself having constant, close mystical experiences with the Gods (i.e., conversations, visions, etc.). These experiences are rare and far between, and I would advise that you not make them a central part of your worship. They will come when the Gods deem you're ready for them, and you definitely won't be expecting it. Focus on the little things!

My final thing (for now) is that you also shouldn't put undue pressure on yourself to be doing some sort of big offering to the Gods. If that's what you can afford, that's great! But if not, fresh water, a small wildflower that you came across and picked*, or a small bit of a meal also count as a good offering!

And with that, my (much longer than I was previously planning on) list of things for beginners to keep in mind! A lot of this list is made up of things which I picked up along the way, and a lot of it is also made from my own personal hindsight being 20/20. I hope this is helpful to someone, and that it maybe soothes some of the (incredibly common) worries which so often accompany those who are venturing into the world of Hellenic polytheism!

#dionysian #dionysos #dionysus #hellenic polytheism #hellenic polytheist #dionysos deity #dionysus deity #hellenic pagan #hellenic gods #hellenism #helpol #beginner helpol

[winedarkgod]

#dionysus #dionysos #dionysian #memes

[bugcowboyart]

Happy Trans Day of Visibility— I wanted to celebrate by putting these two together in one post!

I’m a proud trans artist and I love celebrating trans people in my art!

#tdov #trans art #tdov 2023 #t4t #trans artist #the bacchae #dionysian #satyrs #maenads #red figure pottery #ancient greek inspired #bacchante

[vdoes]

"Mortals who were made immortal . . . Icarus and Erigone, his daughter, placed among the stars--Icarus as Arcturus, Erigone as the sign Virgo." -Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 224

with Anthesteria coming up I felt inspired to draw Erigone and her dog Maera the moment she finds her father's body.

it's a bit of an obscure Dionysus myth but one I find really interesting.

//print

#v does art #artists on tumblr #greek mythology #pagan #polytheist #erigone #virgo #astrology #hellenic polythiest #dionysian #dionysos #dionysus #anthesteria #devotional art

[theleutherios]

Οὐδὲν ἄρα οὕτως βεβαίως δεδήσεται, οὐ νόσῳ, οὐκ ὀργῇ, οὐ τύχῃ οὐδεμιᾷ, ὃ μὴ οἷόν τ᾽ ἔσται λῦσαι τῷ Διονύσῳ.

Nothing can be so firmly bound, by illness, wrath or fortune, that cannot be released by Dionysos.

[source]

#dionysos #dionysus #dionysian #witchblr #hellenic deities #hellenic pagan

[dramaticwine]

Items for Lord Dionysus’ altar

Wine

Grapes

Statues and/or images of Dionysus

Apples

Goblets

Wine glasses

Ethically sourced furs

Statues of leopards, tigers, snakes, and/or bulls

Theater masks

Play programs

Phallic imagery

Fake or real plants

Pinecones

wildflowers

Wine corks, bottles, or labels

Bottle caps

Pride flags and/or pins

Condoms

Candles

Scripts

Garnet

Ruby

Amethyst

These are all suggestions and common associations of Dionysus. If you do not have some of these or don’t feel comfortable owning some of these, that is valid. We all have different practices and how you do yours will differ from mine.

#dionysus #hellenic #dionysus deity #hellenic devotion #paganblr #pagan blog #pagan #hellenic witch #hellenic polytheist #dionysus devotee #dionysus devotion #dionysus worship #dionysian #dionysus god #deity work #deity devotion #deities #hellenic deities #deity worship #paganism #hellenic polytheism #eclectic pagan #hellenic pantheon #hellenic pagan #pagan community #hellenic paganism #pagans of tumblr #pagan witch

[madmonksandmaenads]

Welcome to the bacchanal. You just wanted to get drunk, horny, and scared, but now I've cornered you. I'm now explaining mystic neoplatonic philosophy. You might consider fucking me in an attempt to get me to shut up. This will not work.

#dionysian

[serotoninbetweenpages]

Apollo: There he is, everyone! The birthday boy! I just wanna say brother that I love you so very much, and this song that I'm gonna play next is for you.

Dyonisus: Bro, the fuck-

#apollo #apollon #dionysus #dionysos #dionysian #apollo devotion #apollo deity #dionysus devotion #dionysus deity #writing #hellenic polytheist #hellenic paganism #hellenic pagan #hellenism #hellenic polytheism #helpol #helpol memes #meme #greek mythology #greek mythology memes #greek gods

[achillesoul]

Hail Lord Dionysus.

🍷🍇🐆🌲🎭

#helpol #hellenic deities #hellenic pagan #hellenism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic gods #greek deities #greek gods #deity worship #deity work #dionysus #dionysos #dionysus deity #rural dionysia #dionysian #pagan #paganism #greek mythology

[caintooth]

available here

#diary #dionysus deity #dionysus #dionysian #dionysos #bacchus #maenad #hellenic religion #hellenistic #dionysus devotee #dionysus devotion #pagan #hellenism #hellenistic pagan #dionysos deity #dionysus worship #IM ONLY TAGGING THIS BECAUSE I NEED MONEY: #percy jackson #camp halfblood #my shop #my store

[sarafangirlart]

honestly Dionysus is an extremely terrifying god

Fr he cursed an entire city with madness and killed and traumatized his own relatives for a mother he never met.

#greek mythology #ancient greek mythology #greek pantheon #the bacchae #dionysus greek mythology #dionysus #dionysian

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

every now and then i think about this article that i read which traced the origins of Dionysos back through the ages. and apparently, He's one of the oldest deities known from the Greeks, and His name was seen on Linear B tablets dating back to the Minoans.

this is interesting for two reasons:

Dionysos is so often seen as a "foreign God", who came roaring out of some mysterious mountain in the East. but He's also there with the Minoans, receiving pretty large sacrifices, almost 3500 years ago.

the Minoans were the civilization that Ariadne came from - they were named after King Minos, they were actively on Crete. i can only wonder how old the story of Ariadne and Dionysos is, then. Ariadne wasn't mentioned in the article, but some research shows that it's a not unheard of opinion that Her name is old, and there's a good chance it came from the Minoans.

these two things put together just kind of show how interesting Dionysos is when it comes to being a God of opposites. He's been worshiped in Greece for almost 3500 years, and yet He's a young foreign God. He's married to a mortal woman and yet Her name echoes back to the very birth of Her own mythic kingdom, with an origin that may mean "most holy". together, Dionysos and Ariadne are both eternally young and eternally old, and there's just something that sticks in my head about that, you feel?

anyways, here are the two articles that i used for this:

Ariadne - Wikipedia

The Shocking True Origins of Dionysos - by Spencer McDaniel

#anyways there's something inherently sexy about ancient undeciphered languages like Linear B and all the things they're hiding <3 #dionysos #dionysian #dionysus #dionysos deity #dionysus deity #ariadne #ariadne deity

[winedarkgod]

Διονυσος <3

#I think I would pass out if I ever got to see one of these statues IRL #dionysus #dionysos #dionysos worship #dionysus worship #dionysian #dionysos deity #dionysus deity #ancient art

[miss555]

there should be a thing called lustful academia. romantic academia but more passionate. pomegranate juice dripping down your hands as you open the ripe fruit of love; stains left on the annotated book you’re currently reading. lady dakota warren level of passion and lust for life, knowledge, art, and literature, but even more intense. pure bacchanalia. 

#dark academia #academia #romantic academia #romanticism #lustful academia #aesthetic #the secret history #lady dakota warren #dakota warren #yearning #literature #art #classic literature #dionysian

[somewhere-on-venus]

🍇Dionysus 🍇

I loved drawing him (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

#hellenic pagan #hellenism #hellenic polytheism #dionysus #dionysian #digital art

[hlblng]

Rites of Dionysus

The Maenads are the female devotees and followers of Dionysus, God of Wine and Ecstasy.

Driven into ecstatic frenzies during their rites they were said to have run wild in the forests, tearing men and animals alike from limb to limb.

Most famously perhaps, they are featured in Euripides' play "The Bacchae" where Dionysus drives the doubting women of Thebes wild which ultimately leads to them dismembering their king, Pentheus.

In real life, the Maenads were priestesses and followers of shrines of Dionysus, a lot less blood thirsty but probably similarly intense in their worship (and wine consumption)

#maenad #dionysus #greek mythology #greek mythology art #ancient greece #greek myth #dionysian #mythology #priestess of dionysus #ancient greece art #maenad art