Thinking about Dionysos

[chironcentaur]

First of all, I do feel much better today. That Advil worked wonders, the fever was still gone when I woke up and gradually over the day my cold went away too. Praise to Apollo and Asklepios, now I can go on with my plans

Comments

[erl_queen]

Okay, this is just my opinion, but... I don't think you should put off doing festivals for Dionysos just because you are unsure how to approach him. I think it is very good that you are thinking about this, that you realize there are many different sides to him and different ways to approach him. However, the way to really find where you fit in is by developing a relationship with him, and the way you develop relationships with the gods, especially before you get really intimate with them, is through ritual. Ritual is our method of communication with the gods. So, my advice would be: celebrate any festivals you feel even remotely interested in. See how they feel once you do them. Then through process of trial and error, you will eventually figure out which ones are right, what might be lacking (that you might want to invent a new festival), etc.

By the way, a note about the modern Dionysian festivals. Those were created jointly by the members of Thiasos Dionysos several years ago. They are by no means written in stone, and I'm not even sure if any people celebrate them. I myself have kept several of them, but changed some of the dates to ones more relevant to me, and often changed them over to a lunar calendar. So for instance, while the TD Meilikhia was set on April 13, I kept the festival but changed the date to the 13th of the lunar month Skiraphorion - still 13, but moving it to a somewhat warmer season, which made sense to me. So I will be celebrating it this year on June 9th, which is coming up soon. I say this because you are welcome to a) celebrate it on that day with me :) or b) choose your own date, even if you want to keep the same festival. I think once you settle into a tradition, it's good to stick to it, but you are allowed a period of figuring things out first.

I'll write about the Anthesteria another time, perhaps. Remind me as it gets closer. :)

[chironcentaur]

I should say it was never my intention to do nothing. I have given Dionysos the 13 of the month and plan on doing ritual for him on that day.

I worshipped Hermes for two years with no festivals. I just did a ritual for him whenever I thought of it, gave him offerings and sat with him for a while. I got to know him through those small rituals and through writing my hymns to him (that first one didn't come easy, it took quite a while).

Then again, one of the big reasons I celebrated no holidays is because there were none for Hermes until fairly recently. If there had been a long list available, I might've tried out one or two.

On second thought, maybe I will join you on that June 9th celebration. :-)

[erl_queen]

On second thought, maybe I will join you on that June 9th celebration.

Sannion and I will, by the grace of Dionysos, be doing that one together, so that would make three whole people doing the festival that day! :)