For a discussion on the different ways to evaluate ancient Greek and other literatures, check out this older piece of mine.

I hate when people, especially in the Hellenic communities, treat Homer as ancient fanfic. While his poems weren’t necessarily the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Scriptures, they were highly revered, philosophers discovered incredible depth and symbolism in the text via exegesis and eisegesis, religious specialists used them in spells or for divination, etc. And the New York Times just reported on another purpose — assisting the deceased in their journey through the Underworld.

Archaeologists Find Egyptian Mummy Buried With the ‘Iliad’
For the deceased of Roman-era Egypt, Greek literature may have offered a cheat code to a more comfortable afterlife.

O gentle yet powerful Dionysos,
hear me when turmoil rises within and around me.

Protect me from Lyssa,
spirit of raging frenzy, blind fury, and destructive madness.
Let not wrath consume reason,
nor violence overcome compassion.

Cool the burning mind with sacred calm.
Steady the trembling heart.
Where chaos howls, let wisdom answer.
Where hatred grows, let mercy take root.

By the vine that brings fellowship,
by the dance that restores weary souls,
by the holy cup shared in peace,
drive away savage anger and ruinous impulse.

Grant me mastery over my own spirit:
patience in provocation,
clarity in confusion,
and restraint when passion surges like fire.

May my home be guarded from cruelty and discord.
May my tongue speak healing rather than harm.
May my hands bring comfort rather than destruction.

O Liberator and healer of wounded minds,
lead me from frenzy into balance,
from fear into courage,
from bitterness into joyful life.
May peace prevail where madness sought to reign.

O life-giving, sanity-restoring Dionysos,
keeper of sacred frenzy and divine truth,
hear my voice beneath the veil of night.

Guard my soul against Mōkios of Amphipolis,
spirit of twisting delusion,
corrupter of clear thought,
maker of false paths and poisoned desires.

Let deception be uncovered like mist before dawn.
Let what is crooked be made straight.
Let no corrupt whisper take root in the mind,
nor any shadow rule the heart through confusion or shame.

By the ivy-wreathed thyrsos, drive out falsehood.
By the drum and sacred cry, scatter unclean influences.
By the cup of liberation, restore clarity, dignity, and right-mindedness.

Grant me discernment to know truth from illusion,
wisdom to reject what degrades the soul,
and strength to walk in reverence, balance, and joy.

May my dwelling be guarded by holy fire.
May my thoughts be crowned with peace.
May all harmful spirits depart
to the silent and forgotten places.

O Nocturnal Reveler, He who rushes through the woods,
lead me away from corruption and spiritual blindness.
Fill me instead with honest joy, sound judgment, and sacred freedom.
Evoe, blessed Dionysos of many names and mighty powers.
may truth endure, and may every dark delusion be undone.

O load-roaring Dionysos,
breaker of chains and revealer of truth,
guard my mind from Mōkios of Amphipolis,
spirit of delusion, mockery, and barren pride.

Let not false wisdom harden the heart,
nor empty scorn blind the soul
to ecstasy, compassion, mystery, and sacred joy.

Drive away the voice that sneers at reverence,
that calls the living Gods lifeless,
that turns celebration into shame
and wonder into dust.

Instead, grant me clear sight and measured spirit:
to honor what is holy without arrogance,
to seek truth without fanaticism,
and to welcome divine joy without madness.

May your ivy crown shield my thoughts.
May your wine loosen the knots of fear and contempt.
May your dance awaken the soul
from coldness, despair, and spiritual emptiness.

O Liberator, friend of the outcast and ecstatic choir,
lead me away from delusion
and toward living wisdom.
Evoe, blessed Dionysos.
May reverence, clarity, and holy joy endure.

By ivy green and blazing flame,
I speak the holy Liberator’s name.
Away, Nekydaimones of grief and dread,
wandering spirits of the restless dead.

I bar the threshold, seal the gate,
no shadow here may linger or wait.
By wine poured pure upon the ground,
let living joy and light abound.

Thyrsos-bearing Dionysos, stand near;
let no unquiet shade come here.
Let every harmful phantom flee
to earth, to silence, to the sea.

Ash to ash and day to night,
I cast you out by sacred light.
No haunting whisper, curse, nor cry
shall cross this home while stars fill the sky.

Evoe! Evoe! The rite is sealed.
By vine and fire, let all be healed.

O blessed bull-horned Dionysos,
Master of Spirits, Averter of Misfortune,
hear me in this hour.

Drive far from me the Nekydaimones,
the restless dead who wander without peace,
the whispering shadows that cling to sorrow,
fear, madness, and decay.

By your thyrsos crowned with pine,
by the roaring dance of your holy companions,
by the wine that restores life to the weary soul,
cast out all baneful spirits and unclean phantoms.

Let the doors of my dwelling be sealed in sacred joy.
Let laughter, music, fire, and fellowship
be stronger than every haunting gloom.

May the kindly Ancestors be honored and at rest,
while all hostile shades are driven away
to the silent places beneath the Earth.

O son of the dragon Zeus and infernal Persephonē,
surround me with your midnight light,
so that nothing impure may draw near.
Grant me courage in the night,
clarity in the mind,
and peace in the soul.

Evoe, Lord of the Labyrinth Dionysos;
let no wicked spirit prevail where your vine has taken root.

Whenever possible I like to have the text in the original language, and then three or four translations open for comparison. Sometimes there are only minute differences, though those differences can strongly impact how we read, understand and are emotionally influenced by the text.

There’s also times when the translation is so completely different that you’re left scratching your head wondering how in Haides that happened.

For instance, I needed to do some quick divination for a friend, so I turned to the Homeromanteion and after my questions on the who, what and why were answered, moved on to the action that should be taken. I got:

ἄνδρ’ ἀπαμύνασθαι, ὅτε τις πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ.
To protect you if someone is violent.
Homer, Iliad 24.369

Although I had a general sense of what to do from that, I thought a little context could be helpful and so googled the verse. One of the first pages that came up gave this as the translation:

ἄνδρ’ ἀπαμύνασθαι, ὅτε τις πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ.
Be wary of a man who gets angry before anything happens.
Homer, Iliad 24.369

And that, kiddies, is why you never rely on just one translation!

The context is Hermes counseling Priam as he guides the broken old king to the tent of Achilles, to beseech the great warrior for the return of his son’s body, upon which terrible vengeance has been inflicted for the death of Patroklos. Taken up to the conclusion of Achilles and Priam’s conversation it is one of the most powerful and shocking pericopes in all of Greek literature.

Edited to add: apparently it can also be translated, “A man is warded off if he becomes excessively embittered/violent.” Unsurprisingly I like that one the best.

And someone just sent me confirmation that Markos is whining on social media to drum up the troops and send them my way. He’s also complaining because WordPress won’t do anything since posts like this don’t violate their ToS. He’s even gonna get himself one of those fancy Australian lawyers with the funny wigs to try and intimidate me into silence. I’m not one of your teenaged victims Markos. Your pathetic bullying tactics ain’t gonna work on me. And for the record I’ve never had a problem with Cara Schulz. In fact she recognized some of the problems in the community before I did, and I only regret I didn’t heed her warnings sooner. Especially because they were about people like you, Markos, which I refused to believe because I liked you. I don’t like you anymore.

I expected this kind of behavior when I called out Markos Gage’s abuse. What I didn’t expect is for them to be so bad at it. I mean, technically, I’m not even diabetic anymore because I took responsibility for my life instead of just sitting on my fat ass bemoaning my fate and how the world had done me wrong. I changed my eating habits, worked out as much as the broken spine and damaged feet permitted, responsibly took my medications, and followed the advice of my doctors no matter how much I disliked and found it challenging. As a result I’m about 75 lbs lighter than I was, and my A1C and other numbers are “enviable” as my endocrinologist put it. I am immune to your harassment because I have the power of personal agency. But by all means, try again. I’m sure you can find new and inventive ways to embarrass yourself, you pathetic defender of pederasty.

I think I’m getting a strong feeling about something. Legends of the Fall, through the wilder Mann character Tristan Ludlow, may be telling the story of Óðr before meeting Freyja and the Vanir. (Except Óðr was probably also a Bärensohn.) The rest I’ve teased out here and here, and elsewhere. The story’s basically a Norse Saga and Greek tragedy stitched together; plus, this would explain so much. (Though open other questions.)

My wife just made a thoughtful and beautiful post. Go read it.

I want to share something nice with y’all after that unpleasantness, so here is a preview of a special project I have been working on, a collection of sources for the Starry Ram tradition. It is only about a third of the way complete. I have been harvesting sources like a fiend, but a lot of them require editing, formatting, standardizing, and so forth, and that is just the material I have gleaned thus far. I have 7 or 9 folders, each with dozens of links to PDFs I still need to go through. What can I say? When I research something I am thorough.

While working on the last prayer (which is a response to a question brought up in regards to my declaration of a fatwā on the sexual predators in the Hellenic and Dionysian communities) I realized that I wasn’t really living up to the values it prescribed. Thus far I haven’t named any names. I mean, I haven’t exactly hid it. If you’ve spent any time in those communities you probably know exactly who I mean when I say stuff like “AA, otherwise known as that Australian Asshole.” But it’s not right to play coy when you’re making the kind of accusations I am. So, to be crystal fucking clear, I am referring to the child-fucker Δ, a devotional persona focused on Dionysos (his description) of the Melbourne-based street artist Markos Gage. He is the moderator of the Reddit forum r/dionysus which as you can see for yourself is largely populated by vulnerable, alienated, often confused youth. (Their Discord is even worse.) When not playing the role of hierophant and religious authority figure (again, his words) to the lost children of Reddit, Markos Gage can be found on Tumblr, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, the Thyrsus, the Dionysian Artist, the Boukoleon, the Gargarean, polytheist.com and numerous other places trolling for his next victim. May the hunter become the hunted.

O Many Times Born, Triumphant, Lord of the Vine,
Dionysos who loosens the tongue
and reveals what lies hidden in the heart,
grant me clear sight amid confusion,
and mastery over the manifold passions
which flood my heart, my mind, and my soul
if I am not careful and exert control.
Strip away the masks I wear before others
and the masks I wear when alone with myself,
so that only the truth will remain.
Let me not mistake desire for wisdom,
nor fear for righteousness,
or comfort for success.
Teach me to know when to speak
and when to remain silent;
when to forgive
and when to resist evil;
when to correct my companion in private
and when to take a public stance against their villainy;
when to celebrate life and all of its potential
and when to mourn what has been broken and lost.
If I am wrong, correct me without cruelty.
If I am proud, humble me without destruction.
If I am lost, lead me gently back to what is good and true.
May my joy not blind me to suffering.
May my convictions not harden into hatred.
May my freedom never come at the cost of another’s dignity.
O Opener, Destroyer, Refashioner,
let me walk neither in cowardice nor fanaticism,
but in honest conscience, clear mind, moral certainty,
and respect for the inherent value that all life holds.
And when the world grows loud and chaotic,
let truth remain like a quiet flame within me—
difficult to extinguish, and a sure guide
to what is right, just, and pleasing to you
my Lord, my Savior, my God—
Dionysos, Bakcheios, Zagreus.

Neptunesdolphins had a good question about how sexual predation in our communities should be handled based on my previous post. Since there’s been some positive progress, including new people coming forward to share their stories, I’m going to post my response here to keep the conversation going.

I actually have a more complex, detailed plan than I described here. Posting shit on the internet doesn’t really accomplish the goal of removing these predators from our midst, except that it might intimidate his co-moderators into either removing him from a position of authority or kicking him out of the group so that he no longer has access to vulnerable children. It won’t stop the problem, however, because he’ll just move on, change his online persona, and start the predation somewhere else.

I mean, I suppose that’s better than doing nothing, but I actually want to stop this problem. Which is difficult when most of my information is 5+ years out of date, from accounts that are no longer active, and often lacking actionable evidence. Hell, I don’t even know what part of Australia this guy is currently residing in, so I can’t even forward the information I do have to the local authorities. However, by making it known that this behavior is going on and action is being taken to stop it, I have already had people come forward and contact me, with more recent and progressively worse accounts of abuse. I am encouraging them to take action themselves and share this with the moderators, and more importantly local authorities. Even if he’s no longer there it gets the process started, and in the hands of people who can actually do something tangible about it.

I don’t want this son of a bitch to have a shitty reputation in online Hellenic forums. I want him behind bars, where he can’t harm children any more. If that has the added effect of signalling to potential predators that we won’t tolerate this kind of behavior in our communities all the better. But this shit thrives where there is silence and indifference. And I understand why a lot of folks are intimidated and don’t want to come forward initially. They aren’t heard, action isn’t taken, and these people are usually well-liked and have supporters who are going to harass and threaten and damage their reputations, both in public and private. That is a lot to go up against, especially if you’re an isolated kid who is just starting out in our communities.

Well, I’ve got nothing to lose. People have said the worst things imaginable about me, excluded me from the mainstream, doxed me, etc etc etc. And I’m still here, still speaking out on dangerous and controversial issues, still sharing my perspective on the Gods and the religion. Their threats are meaningless, even when they dox my address and phone number and other personal information. I have no skeletons in my closet I need fear being exposed, I am self-employed as an author and religious specialist, and I’m a big guy with a high pain tolerance and am comfortable with violence, so it would be very foolish of them to step to me in person. Therefore I am in a privileged position to be a gadfly on the ass of these abusers and their accomplices until something’s finally done about it. I’ve been responsible for the removal of 3 predators so far. Pyrokanthos publicly, and the others were handled more privately. Possibly more I’ll never know about. And I have every intention to keep doing this as long as the Gods give me the vitality and opportunity to do so, and I will do it by whatever means necessary.

O far-wandering Dionysos, descend
from your verdant sanctuary on Mount Zion,
crying out to those who inhabit the history-rich
land of holy Israēl, and those who are scattered
far and wide, with hearts full of emptiness and longing,
in their places of suffering and exile. You who establish
your precious vines in the soil of every place,
seek them out, guide them home, and teach them
songs of rejoicing in whatever tongue they speak.
Where there is division, awaken understanding.
Where there is privation, sow the seed of renewal.
Where there is fear, loosen its grip with gentle clarity.
Teach a piety that does not exclude, a law that does not harm,
a celebration that invites all life to the dance that frees.
O Liberator, you who have cast down Legiōn the confounder,
and broken the chains of Choronzon the oppressor,
continue to work wonders, and fill the hearts of all
who call upon you with dignity, justice, and peace,
and guide them back to the perfect way of their ancestors,
and the soil in which it blossomed, O ivy-crowned King.

O Dionysos Mekal, establisher of Beit She’an,
Great God of luxuriant growth and Sun-warmed stone,
who wields the was-sceptre in your right hand
and an ankh in your left, you who are honored
where East and West entwine, among your city’s
gleaming temples, houses of study, colonnaded
walkways, teeming theaters, gymnasia and public baths,
as well as the hills, groves, orchards, and fertile valleys
of Judah and Samaria— hear me.
And you, virgin Chokmah, Cupbearer
of the ancient Council, clever daughter
of ʾĂšērāh the Queen of the Gods,
and handmaiden of ‘El Šadday the King,
who cherishes you above all his children,
and made you concubine of Mount Zion’s
valiant Defender against the onslaught
of Amalek and the hated Nephilim,
enemies of divine order— hear me.
O happy couple, may your powers
be joined in fruitful union
like the star-gleaming Sky
and the precious Earth,
like law and liberty,
like ecstasy and wisdom,
like justice and mercy.
O Dove and Bull, as you rise pure from
your mikveh in the holy Jordan— hear me.
May your chuppah forever bless
the land upon which it is erected.
May the lifting of the bride’s veil
inscribed with the entire oral Torah
reveal salvific mysteries to the people.
May you recite the seven blessings
together over wine, and circle
the Ark of the Covenant seven times.
May your first dance together
drive away misfortune
and bring luck and protection
to the people of Israēl,
who have been called as guests
to the feast by the groom who traveled
near and far on his donkey,
seeking them out in their exile
to bring them home, that they might celebrate
the marriage of Sophia and Yēšaʿ before the living
throne of Yahweh of Samaria and his ʾĂšērāh,
as well as the entire Bene ʾĔlōhīm,
both divine and mortal, who have come
from all over to attend the festivities.
Šālōm. Šālōm. Šālōm. L’chaim!

O Dionysos giver of strength and victory,
you who revel on Mount Zion, who hunt on Hebron,
you who inspired the psalmistry of David on the harp
just as you put mystic music in the heart of Orpheus;
protector of Alexander who conquered the Persians
and made sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem,
walk beside me in battle and in hardship.
Embolden my heart when I grow weary
and sharpen my mind when obstacles stand before me.
May I overcome fear without losing compassion,
and achieve victory without arrogance.
Let my efforts bear worthy fruit, you who are called
Anthios in the garden, and Nabōth in the vineyard;
let perseverance carry me through every trial,
and may truth, courage, and justice prevail.