Beneath the Surface

First off, I want to make it clear that I, myself, am not a Dionysian. I know a lot of Dionysians and they are pretty much all really cool people, but I am not among them.

So I am writing this piece about Dionysos from the point of view of one who is quite clearly not one of his.

But I'm also writing it as someone whose limited interactions with Dionysos resulted in some of the most profound and experiential god contact I've ever had.

More than a few years back I took an online class from one of my favorite Dionysians. Lots of study, lots of deep thought, lots of ritual. Nothing I haven't done for other deities at other times in other contexts. But as for what happened? That was different.

I heard things.

I saw things.

I had physical offerings disappear from my altar.

I had energy coursing through my body and out the top of my head.

(None of this had happened before, or since.)

And I was informed, very kindly but very specifically, that while I was not unwelcome, I was not one of his.

And I was fine with that. :)

Tonight I got to see two Poirot movies on A&E. That's four hours of Suchet's Poirot. Yeah, I'm a sucker for mysteries, old ones or British ones. It's a happy thing :).

Finished my first read of Kerenyi's Dionysos this weekend. I say "first read" because it's going to take at least a few more to get through the layers, Kerenyi is like that. Learned quite a bit I didn't know.

We're trying to reschedule Winter Finding due to folks' different schedules, looks like it's going to be in mid-October, so we'll probably shift Winternights into November. A little late but that's not really a problem, I know I don't personally feel tied to traditional dates, and we've never held either on what might have been more traditional anyway. To some extent we have kind of continued to adhere to the usual neopagan year as far as spacing of festivals. Well, Yule goes when Yule goes. Midsummer is at Midsummer. The rest is trying to have them not too close, not too far apart.

Sublime Dionysos, source of pleasure,
irresistible god of sensation. .
In drops of sweet red wine on mortal tongues,
in rhythm so strong our hearts beat in time,
in bliss with no thought of consequence,
in these we feel you, son of Semele.
Dionysos, deep well of ecstasy,
swiftly-moving impulse and languid grace,
your gift the sheer plunge of transformation,
we thank you for knowledge gained in madness,
for seeing through wild eyes, for ripped-raw nerves.
Dionysos, we praise and honor you.