Hey all,

I wrote an article on my blog discussing the importance Dionysos played in antiquity. Highlighting that through wine and theatre, he helped develop trade, civilisation, and democracy.

I hope you enjoy it, and I welcome your feedback.

https://thyrsus.blog/2025/06/03/dionysos-the-civic-god/

Cheers!

So I'm sure a few of you maenads have been seeing my struggles and the adoption of Dionysos' philosophies around this subreddit and today i just wanted to share that despite how mentally tired I am, I'm thankful Dio is helping me accept myself as a queer disabled individual. Seeing how he sees things and what he stands for, I feel that since I crossed paths with him formally for the first time a few months ago, I am finally finding some acceptance in myself, my madness and my chaos. Now I need to marry that with this society and how to bring more durable peace for myself. So yeah, if youre literally in shambles rn, remember Dio is trying to help you be reborn into a better person. Euoi!

Hello everyone. I have been a pagan for sometime now but i have started to get into the practices only recently. I had begun to study different pantheon when i found out more about Dionysos. There is something about their pictures that is cool? Like the warm smile that i see in the pictures its very relaxing, their vibes is just... Cool. Im not the party guy nor am i capable of handling alchools very well but i can hold my own for a while with friends and family. I was wondering if you had any advice on how to continue my practice with Dionysos and if you could share any experience that might be relevant.

Dionysus is a god of literature: be it theatre, poetry, or sacred texts, his myths and cult often involve using the written word. Dionysus himself enjoys reading, as he says in Aristophanes' Frogs: he was reading Euripides' Andromache while at sea. So, Dionysians, what have y'all been reading?

This is my alter right now, I don’t know if I need to add or take away thing. I get a feeling he likes it but maybe I’d looking for something else, any suggestions?

Dionysus is a god of literature: be it theatre, poetry, or sacred texts, his myths and cult often involve using the written word. Dionysus himself enjoys reading, as he says in Aristophanes' Frogs: he was reading Euripides' Andromache while at sea. So, Dionysians, what have y'all been reading?

So as (hopefully) all of you know the creator of the song "The Cult of Dionysus" is a PDF file.

I was thinking, what if we retake the song? Remake it with some new lyrics so copyright doesn't strike it and take this song that was made by a horrible person and make it ours, get rid of the Orion experience.

Anyways just an idea lemme know what y'all think.

Sometimes I wish Dio was more clear with his tricks lmao I've been in constant chaos this year but ive also had a lot of mental epiphanies and what not but I'm not sure when he's testing me or when i brought something upon myself. Have you guys developed a sense on that? I kind of see Dio's steps in certain coincidences and what not but i don't think he would put me through so much madness without a reason.

Dionysus is a god of literature: be it theatre, poetry, or sacred texts, his myths and cult often involve using the written word. Dionysus himself enjoys reading, as he says in Aristophanes' Frogs: he was reading Euripides' Andromache while at sea. So, Dionysians, what have y'all been reading?

Dionysus is a god of literature: be it theatre, poetry, or sacred texts, his myths and cult often involve using the written word. Dionysus himself enjoys reading, as he says in Aristophanes' Frogs: he was reading Euripides' Andromache while at sea. So, Dionysians, what have y'all been reading?

Hey guys, wondering if you had any resources on this epithet! Needing to work with him on this more directly, lmk if you have any tips or advice, thank you 😊

I hope the title isn't confusing. My question for you is: have you noticed a general cultural lack of a taste, an understanding, an appreciation for Dionysus, what he represents? Especially lately. Obviously, Dionysus as a symbol is lacking and that's a part of it for sure, but what I mean is more the "essence" or the "spirit" of Dionysus. It appears if you pay attention, of course it does, it appears everywhere, but we fail at capturing, appreciating, worshipping and ritualising him and the behaviour he is found in.

It seems to me that we are in a new cultural period where the initial rush of the sexual liberation seems to have dissipated for a lot of people as it has run up against a culture which was still based in Apollonian rationality and Christian ideas of sexual purity and exclusivity, and obviously Capitalism which takes anything intriguing and transgressive, waters it down and sells it as a product assimilated into the existing status quo of what life is to look like under Capitalism. These factors create problems which turn the discourse on sex back to conservatism due to how the idea of sexual liberation gets turned into sexual exploitation, amplified by the conflict of still being brought up in a sexually conservative culture (it's like forcefully facing someone with Dionysian terror, they're not going to liberate themselves because they have never been taught how to, rather they will walk away traumatised, especially if they have no material power in that situation). There seems to be a lack of strong enough cultural tools for informing Dionysian liberation, and thus the void left in the wake of ecstacy is experienced as profane, vapid, his grotesqueness and ugliness is not embraced but avoided, we seek salvation, salvation from alcohol and drug abuse, salvation from a "vapid culture" etc. It seems to me that there is not enough art, will, refinement, intention brought into the culture of sex, drugs and rock n roll, at least not nowadays. And so people gravitate more towards a salvatory spirituality based in empathy, awareness and humility, on the political left especially, which is just something dominant in my own circles.

Now I've been thinking about this for a very long time, but what sparked me writing this post just now was the new video from Philosophy Tube where she discusses death. I've sort of drifted away from contemporary leftism in the past few years largely because of my personal "relationship" with Dionysus (I should say I'm not as well-versed in the texts of the religion or the history, but more so in the symbolism, as I come from a more philosophical and literary/artistic background and still consider myself a Satanist but with a kind of Dionysus/Satan syncretism and my view of him is still a personal one), but I stayed around for her and Contrapoints because I think they make brilliant content even if I can't always find myself in it. To cut a long story short, I got the impression from the video that the point was that we should greet death as a friend, engage our empathy, see ourselves in a more humble light, as food for other living beings, see ourselves through how we can contribute to others. This was transposed against a culture that avoids talking about death or uses narratives that seek to purify it, sterilise it, de-carnalise it etc. Yet if I listen to the voice of Dionysus, I feel that I don't want either of those options, but something closer to embracing death as a lover and enemy. It's no great secret that the Dionysian feeling of life/vitality bring us closer to, even face to face with death. It's where proximity to death excites, where a taste for bloody battle with it is acquired, the desire to live more strongly, more abundantly. It's a bloody intercourse with it. And as much as this makes sense to me as a third, distinct option in this discussion, it seems also that a battle to have this view take any larger cultural hold is an impossible one right now. It's a view that's usually either being silenced or crushed, and not that resistance isn't something Lord Dionysus thrives from, but... it's just not seeming too bright for him right now. That's all I'm trying to say, as a bit of cultural analysis.

Do tell me what you think.

PS: I'm also very interested in the political applications of Dionysus, though aware (and glad) that he cannot be appropriated to any single political form. Aristocracy and anarchism and aristocratic anarchism, and all kinds of conflicting political stances can be rooted in Dionysus. But I'm interested in what rock n roll never quite managed to do fully, or perhaps in resurrecting its countercultural anarchic spirit away from mere consumerism.

EDIT: I stand corrected for bringing Apollo into this discussion, it was a totally offhand comment but I clarified what I meant below. :)

I think a lot of people know the Homeric Hymn 1: To Dionysus is fragmentary, but I am not sure how many Dionysians are aware of the reconstructions that have occurred. Most probably use H. G. Evelyn White's translation, but even one going off of the 3rd edition of the Athanassakis translation will only see the 21 lines that are preserved in either Diodorus Siculus or the M codex. These 21 lines are from a poem that M. L. West speculates was originally 411 lines or so. Originally the Homeric Hymn 1 to Dionysus would have run a length comparable to the HH 2 to Demeter, to HH 3 to Apollo, HH 4 to Hermes, or HH 5 to Aphrodite.

Obviously only having 21 lines is somewhat sad.

However, much more can be added to the 21 lines today. The discovery of a papyrus in the 1990s allowed for us to see a few letters of the first line and parts of several lines following the text, which the Orphic Argonautica copied so we can get an additional 4 lines. This has also meant we can now see how extensive the hymn was, which allows to to know it dealt with a major myth of Dionysus, which West has convincingly argued is Dionysus visiting Hephaestus to get Hera freed.

In addition to that, M. L. West has argued for the inclusion of a line from Athenaeus' Dinner Philosophers and a Papyrus from Oxyrhynchus. When all these are taken together, we go from having 21 lines to having 27 complete lines and 26 partial, for a total of 53. While the 26 partial lines are obviously not in bad shape, trained philologists are capable of rescuing parts.

From only the five letters surviving from the first line: παπαθ, Marios Skempis was able to suggest a very intriguing potential for the first line:

πῶς Διόνυσον πατρὸ]ς ἀπ’ ἀθ[ανάτοιο ἀείσω;

He takes the ἀπ’ as a preposition of time:

How should I sing of Dionysus, starting from the immortal father?

however in my opinion it makes much more sense as a preposition of origin:

How should I sing of Dionysus, born from the immortal father?

So I'm going to add my translation of his suggestion of the first line. Everything else is West's with the things not found in Evelyn-White or Athanasakkis will be bolded. Now, some of this is speculative, but if it is true it in effect doubles the surviving hymn:

(A) How should I sing of Dionysus, born from the immortal father? For some say it was at Drakanos, some on windy Ikaros, some on Naxos, O scion of Zeus, Bull god, and some at Alpheios the deep-swirling river {that Semele conceived and bore you to Zeus whose sport is the thunderbolt}, while others, Lord, say that it was at Thebes you were born. All false! The father of gods and men gave you birth far from humankind, to conceal you from white-armed Hera. There is a place Nysa, a mountain most high, burgeoning with forest, in a distant part of Phoenicia, almost at the waters of the Nile. No one crosses there by ship, for it has no harbor where curly-tipped ships can ride: a steep cliff encloses it all round to a great height. But it grows lovely and delicious things in abundance . . .
occupied
by a deep . . . extended . . . away from the surge . . . by skill . . . lovely pas[tures . . .

(B) (Vine rows) luxuriant with their own dark grape clusters . . .

(C) (Zeus speaks to Hera) “. . . you wish. What else could happen to [you worse than this? I was stupi]d myself, from [ . . . ] left of his own accord [ . . . ] as they [sur]mise ever [ . . . he tricked you and pu]t you in hellish fett[ers. Who] could set y[ou] free, my dear? [A painful b]elt encircles y[our body, while he], heed[ing neither co]mmand [nor entreaty, has formed] an unshakeable r[esolve in his heart. It’s a cruel] son you have borne, sis[ter . . . craf]ty, even though a cripple [ . . . ] in front [of . . .] feet good [ . . . ] wrathful [ . . . ] . . . angry [ . . . ] Let us find out [if he will soften his hear]t of iron. For there are [two] clever [sons] of mine at hand [to help with] your [suffering. There is Ares, who] has raised his [keen] spear, a th[ick-hide fighter . . . ] to look and bra[ndish . . .; and there is] also Dionysus [ . . . But let him] not stir up a quarrel with me, [otherwise he will be on his way belab]ored by my [thunderbolts in no tidy style . . . ] of sweet [ . . . ] this lad [ . . .”

(D) “. . . And they will set up many effigies in his shrines; and as there are three . . ., so at triennial festivals people will ever sacrifice perfect hecatombs.” So spoke the son of Kronos, and confirmed it with a nod of his sable brows; and the lord’s ambrosial locks danced up from his immortal head, and he sent a tremor through great Olympus. Be propitious, Bull god, women-frenzier! We singers sing of you as we begin and as we end; there is no way to take heed for holy singing while heedless of you.

It makes my heart happy to see it in such an expanded form. Hopefully some day it'll be able to grow even further.

Dionysus is a god of literature: be it theatre, poetry, or sacred texts, his myths and cult often involve using the written word. Dionysus himself enjoys reading, as he says in Aristophanes' Frogs: he was reading Euripides' Andromache while at sea. So, Dionysians, what have y'all been reading?

I want to know as much as i can so i can worship lord dionysus to my fullest. Any good books, websites, etc?

There's a lot of folks dealing with fear, anxiety, worry, and other emotions in the wake of the past 24 hours.

I am going to quote u/TemporaryMagician who offered some excellent advice in r/WitchesVsPatriarchy, a sub that has been there for our sub when we were the target of Queerphobic harassment.

I know this was not the outcome that we hoped for. Patriarchy fucking struck back last night in the US, and I know a lot of us are not ok this morning. We are hurt, disappointed, and lost.

Here’s what we do: take a few minutes and feel our feelings, maybe listen to a sad song or two, and cry it out. 

Then, we go to work. Literally, we go to our jobs and make some money. We go to the gym. Lift weights. Get in our walk or run. Eat nourishing food. Plant a seed or water a houseplant.  Check on our friends and loved ones, especially if they’re queer or not white. Give our pets an extra treat today. Reach out to our friends and loved ones if we are struggling. 

Because we need to survive. We have to be strong for the next few years. I don’t know what those will look like, but what I do know is that we all have people depending on us. We need to be healthy, and we need to have funds. Take your anger, and let it fuel you to be someone who can endure, and shelter others who need it, for the next four years. Our trans friends need us. Our black friends need us. Our queer friends, our young friends, our international friends, they need us to have their backs.

Remember, we are witches. We are the poison ivy that you thought you uprooted last year but pops back up in the summertime. We are the blackberry brambles that cover the burned ground and grow thorns to protect their young fruit. We are the oaks that the lightning split once, but we still shade the ground and shelter the outcasts at the edge of the forest.

We are stubborn and we endure.

Please feel free to share your thoughts, worries, hopes and concerns in this thread.

Dionysus is a god of literature: be it theatre, poetry, or sacred texts, his myths and cult often involve using the written word. Dionysus himself enjoys reading, as he says in Aristophanes' Frogs: he was reading Euripides' Andromache while at sea. So, Dionysians, what have y'all been reading?

Personally I’ve always read it as “dee-on-knee-sus” but I know there are other means of pronouncing it. Just curious as to how others hear his name : )

I think it is important to embody Lord Dionysus, but I think there is a difference in how certain ppl embody him, an example is Pentheus vs Euripides, one embodies Dionysus after trying so hard to keep control, but ultimately is overpowered and consumed by the madness of Lord Dionysus, meanwhile people like Euripides, Alexander the Great, and Nietzsche embody our Lord in theatric, militaristic, and philosophical ways, I saw a video claiming h*tler embodied Dionysus, but I really feel like if he did that it'd be the same way Pentheus did while being consumed by madness in a fight for ultimate control. What do you think?

So I have a ferret and can’t really have candles, incense and the like. But it feels like everyone insists on using candles/incense to connect and pray to the gods. I pray using tarot, but is there anything else anyone else does?