New shrine and Dionysos questions
My new Hermes shrine looks so nice. It still needs one or two things before I can be totally satisfied for the present moment. Those one or two things are going to have to be purchased so it will depend on when I get a job (tomorrow, oh please oh please let things go well tomorrow, I am so sick of this shit!). Once that happens I will see about posting a picture or two.
I also managed to make room for two boxes in the corner near my Hermes shrine to put Dionysos and Persephone. Its not ideal, but it will do until I can find some small tables for them. Hey, at least they're finally out of storage.
I did a ritual Friday night to consecrate the shrines, to officially dedicate them to the deities they belong to and to welcome each one. I had done this for Hermes before of course, but not for Dionysos and Persephone (well, I did a ritual or two for Dionysos at his shrine in my old home, but it was sort of half assed, things went better this time).
Persephone has always fascinated me to a degree, and the myth of her abduction to the Underworld has long been one of my favorites. I feel an urge to try to get to know her better, whether or not anything will ultimately come of that I don't know. But I do want a chance to get to celebrate that myth I love so much.
Dionysos on the other hand has been in the back of my mind for some time now. Those of you who have been reading this for a while know that I have periodically brought him up, questioned whether or not he might have a place in my life, and then usually let it die back down again. I do to a large degree still struggle over some preconceived notions about him, and while I do know that a lot of my own personal philosophy is probably a lot more Dionysian than say Apollonian (to use an old cliche), some of his more prominent features are often things I find I can't relate to and so that drives me away. And yet he never leaves my mind for long. I have a feeling there is something I could learn from him, that he may have some role to play in my spiritual development. That's why I gave him a shrine in the first place.
So anyway, I did promise Dionysos then I'd celebrate a few holidays for him (and write a hymn for him, since I have hymns of my own for the other two). Now the Rural Dionysia has been suggested to me as a Greek fill in for Christmas/Winter Solstice, I've been interested in the Anthesteria because it includes Hermes, and Sannion has mentioned before that he was coming up with a few new ideas and would post them at some point in the future :-).
So anyway, to my knowledgeable Dionysian friends, or just those who happen to celebrate these particular holidays, any suggestion about things to do? One must bear in mind that I do not drink (for reasons that are a combination of lack of desire to do so and the fact that I have issues with the smell of alcohol, it sort of makes me nauseous). I do like grapes though and wonder if it would not be inappropriate to maybe eat grapes in place of the wine I'd rather not drink.
Suggestions in particular about the Rural Dionysia would be most helpful, since the time to celebrate that would be coming up very soon.
I also managed to make room for two boxes in the corner near my Hermes shrine to put Dionysos and Persephone. Its not ideal, but it will do until I can find some small tables for them. Hey, at least they're finally out of storage.
I did a ritual Friday night to consecrate the shrines, to officially dedicate them to the deities they belong to and to welcome each one. I had done this for Hermes before of course, but not for Dionysos and Persephone (well, I did a ritual or two for Dionysos at his shrine in my old home, but it was sort of half assed, things went better this time).
Persephone has always fascinated me to a degree, and the myth of her abduction to the Underworld has long been one of my favorites. I feel an urge to try to get to know her better, whether or not anything will ultimately come of that I don't know. But I do want a chance to get to celebrate that myth I love so much.
Dionysos on the other hand has been in the back of my mind for some time now. Those of you who have been reading this for a while know that I have periodically brought him up, questioned whether or not he might have a place in my life, and then usually let it die back down again. I do to a large degree still struggle over some preconceived notions about him, and while I do know that a lot of my own personal philosophy is probably a lot more Dionysian than say Apollonian (to use an old cliche), some of his more prominent features are often things I find I can't relate to and so that drives me away. And yet he never leaves my mind for long. I have a feeling there is something I could learn from him, that he may have some role to play in my spiritual development. That's why I gave him a shrine in the first place.
So anyway, I did promise Dionysos then I'd celebrate a few holidays for him (and write a hymn for him, since I have hymns of my own for the other two). Now the Rural Dionysia has been suggested to me as a Greek fill in for Christmas/Winter Solstice, I've been interested in the Anthesteria because it includes Hermes, and Sannion has mentioned before that he was coming up with a few new ideas and would post them at some point in the future :-).
So anyway, to my knowledgeable Dionysian friends, or just those who happen to celebrate these particular holidays, any suggestion about things to do? One must bear in mind that I do not drink (for reasons that are a combination of lack of desire to do so and the fact that I have issues with the smell of alcohol, it sort of makes me nauseous). I do like grapes though and wonder if it would not be inappropriate to maybe eat grapes in place of the wine I'd rather not drink.
Suggestions in particular about the Rural Dionysia would be most helpful, since the time to celebrate that would be coming up very soon.