O Dionysos, whose worship always contains
an element of artistry to it, inspirer of countless
souls who came before and will come after,
may those dear to you never be forgot,
or go thirsty in the kingdom below.
Remember the poets who sang your praises,
the dancers who moved to your rhythm,
the painters, sculptors, and actors
who gave form to your mysteries.
Honor their voices that echo still,
bodies that transcended limitations and pain
to put on a show worthy of you,
those who presented truths to tyrants
who wanted only lies and flattery,
everyone who chose poverty, alienation from their families,
constant struggle, and failed more than they succeeded,
because nothing compared to a life devoted to art.
Whether we remember their names today,
or they were forgotten even before their deaths,
may they feast in your hall, and be honored
with the title of Dionysian Artist. Grant, too, that I may
join their lineage, and make my own art with skill,
with honesty, with passion, and with reverence.
O giver of vision and the sacred fire of inspiration,
bless the artists of past, present and future,
and may all their works live on in your Labyrinth
forever and ever.
Marriage IV
O Mardöll, radiant Lady of love and beauty,
and Óðr, Lord of ecstasy and boundless joy,
bless this union with both passion and tenderness.
O Champion of the Vanir and Mistress of Magic,
let your gifts flow freely like wine between us,
let our love be strong as the gates of Sessrúmnir,
and let us experience delight and devotion without loss of self.
O Divine Ones whose love endures through every trial,
ever guide this marriage, that it may flourish
like ivy, like the linden tree; may our passion be kindled,
not consuming, and our devotion deep, not binding.
In times of plenty, help us to be grateful and pious,
in times of strain, help us to remain gentle and steadfast,
a support for one another come what may.
O Dionysos and Freyja, bless this marriage with gladness,
strength, trust, fearlessness, passion, and enduring care—
now and in all the seasons to come.
Women’s Liberation
O Dionysos Lyaios, Gynaimanēs, Eleutherios,
bearer of burdens, breaker of chains, bestower
of rage, you who dance beyond the laws of men,
hear this prayer! You who love wild women,
and are honored by the free-roaming Mainades
upon the mountains, grant strength to all women
who seek their voice, their dignity, their rightful place
beneath the Sun. Teach the world to unlearn its cruelties,
its ignorance and prejudices, to loosen its grip on unjust power,
to remember that no soul was born to be inferior. When society
would silence women, inspire them to speak their truths,
O loud-roaring One, regardless of the penalties imposed.
Banish fear, and pour out courage like your ever-flowing wine,
God of liberation. In lands where there is oppression,
grant them the strength and cunning to resist and bring down
those corrupt regimes, causing fathers, husbands, and sons
to stand with their women against the unjust authorities.
O Dionysos Nēpenthēs, be with those who struggle,
lift up those who are cast down, and kindle in every heart
the fire of justice, dissolver of bonds, shatterer of walls,
you who cause us to thirst for righteousness and equity.
May freedom grow like ivy — persistent, unstoppable,
and strangling all who would impede its progress.
Let every voice rise in your ecstatic cry, “Io evohe!”
And may they know its true meaning, dear Dionysos.
Addiction II
O Dionysos Akmē,
hear me Meilichiē,
my precious Amethystos,
who has been with me through the bad
and the good both, and is with me even now;
God who saves, Lord who releases,
bestower of sober intoxication,
you who cause our spirits to leap in ecstasy
when you are near, I beseech you to continue
to stand with me as I face this trial,
and confront the monster within me.
Where craving rises, grant me fortitude.
What stumbling blocks there be, may I sidestep them.
When I feel weak, kindle steady strength in my breast.
Teach me the balance between freedom and restraint,
that I may not be ruled by what I consume,
since you demand that your people submit
to none but you, O ferocious Father Freedom.
Turn my longing toward life, not escape,
and guide me gently back to myself,
Labyrinthodespotēs and Maiandrios,
and in your overflowing generosity
help me to be whole again,
and deal with the pain at the heart of it all,
so I don’t feel the constant need to fill the chasm,
or to numb myself.
Rejoice, Dionysos—
and be gracious.
Heartache
O Dionysos who mends shattered hearts,
you who know both rapture and ruin,
sit with me in this brokenness.
Turn my sorrow into something useful,
my grief into a path of wisdom.
Where love has been torn away,
plant the seed of renewal within me.
Gently guide me through the darkness,
until I can feel joy, and dare to love once again.
Blessing VIII
May Dionysos awaken the fire within you,
not to consume, but to illuminate.
May your burdens fall away like a snake’s old skin,
and your spirit rise unbound and renewed
to join the nocturnal stars in their choral dances.
May you find truth in the wild places of your soul,
and courage in the face of change.
May joy meet you unexpectedly,
and may you greet it without fear.
Garden
O Dionysos Polyphytos,
to whom no plant or fungus is a stranger,
who keeps off blight and drives away
thieving creatures and noxious bugs,
much-honored Dionysos Kēpos,
to whom the garden with all of its
flowers and foodstuff is sacred,
watch over my garden, I pray.
Bull-horned God who revels
with the Hyades, bring the rain my garden needs.
God whose dances make Mother Earth moist and fertile,
bring the vitality my garden needs.
God who appears in white and gold raiment,
bring the Sunwheel’s heat and strength to my garden.
Dionysos, under your care may my garden thrive!
Dionysos, under your care may my garden thrive!
Dionysos, under your care may my garden thrive!
O son of abundantly potent Zeus,
and Korē who causes the seed
to germinate in the nether region,
let roots grow deep and leaves reach boldly high,
let fruit ripen in sweetness,
and its vegetables bestow strength,
let flowers unfurl, beautiful and salvific,
and even more beautiful and death-dealing.
O Dionysos Auxitēs, surrounded by bees,
fill this place with love and joy, I pray,
and as the vines entwine and blossoms rise,
may this, our dear garden, diligently cared for, flourish.
Blessing VII
May Dionysos sustain and comfort you
in all the trials of this present life,
and grant to you at last, in his presence,
fullness of joy, and pleasure for evermore.
Blessing VI
May laughter break your walls,
may tears cleanse your sight,
may music carry you beyond
the bounds of yourself,
that you may better know
the God of the Mask,
our Lord Dionysos.
Blessing V
May the savage grace of Dionysos flow through you
loosening what binds, awakening what sleeps,
and making whole what is broken or incomplete.
May you dance freely between the dark and joyful,
finding truth in both frenzy and stillness.
May your heart be unafraid to feel deeply,
and your mind unashamed to live fully.
May transformation come not as ruin, but as rebirth,
and may you walk always with his unfaltering protection.
Blessing IV
May the vine of your soul grow untamed, bearing fruit in unexpected places.
May your spirit remain unbroken by the need to conform.
May every heartbreak open a hidden doorway to deeper wisdom and passion.
May you honor the wild within you, even when the world asks you to tame it.
May you befriend your contradictions and wear them as a garland.
May your body be a temple of sensation, alive to pleasure and presence.
May you shed old skins without regret, trusting in your endless becoming.
May you dance with both shadow and light, refusing to exile either.
May your steps follow no path but the one that leads you closer to him.
May music and rhythm guide you when words fall short.
May your voice rise freely—whether in song, cry, or ecstatic shout.
May enthusiastic laughter escape from you at the most unexpected moments.
May your tears be as sacred as your laughter.
May you dare to feel deeply in a world that numbs itself.
May you see divinity in the ecstatic, the strange, and the fiercely unrestrained.
May your life unfold as a living ritual—raw, honest, and unforgettable.
May you lose yourself only to return more wild, whole, and free.
May you find beauty in the unraveling of what you once clung to.
Children III
O Dionysos Pankarpos, joyful guardian and protector,
you who dance in the pulse of all living things,
watch over our children with unwavering attention.
Let their laughter be frequent, their spirits free,
their hearts rooted in tradition, and their minds
open to all the wonders the world holds.
Shield them from harm, Polemokelados,
nurture their growth into adulthood,
and bless them with abundant joy and courage.
Before Sex II
O Dionysos Gamēlios,
let the weight of the world fall away,
as wine falls from the cup,
as laughter fills the night air.
Let there be no shame here—
only honesty, only exploration, only desire
rooted like a pine tree,
rising like sacrificial smoke.
May we be unguarded,
may our attention be undivided,
may we be present with each other,
and discover the sacred in touch,
the divine in intimacy.
Dionysos Panchoreios, guide us
not to excess that blinds,
but to ecstasy that awakens—
where body and spirit move as one.
Inspiration
O Dionysos Polyphēmios,
flame of ecstasy and sacred creation,
you who awaken the soul to song and vision,
breathe your wild spark into my mind and heart.
Let inspiration rise like sweet wine within me,
unbound, fearless, and alive.
Guide my voice, my hands, my spirit—
that I may create beautiful things in your honor.
Before Sex V
O Bakcheios, we pray, bull-horned God,
Lord of liberation, bringer of ecstasy,
wielder of the flowering branch,
whose dance-loving feet shake the Earth,
toppling walls and setting free the captives within;
be present as we consummate this union
where desire is celebrated in its myriad forms,
fearlessly and without shame, where fantasy
is manifest through our flesh, and every pleasure
opens wider the doors of our mind until we experience
rapture and love’s boundless grace.
May our coupling bring us closer together,
O blessed Blastēma, renewing our bonds,
and strengthening our union.
Candle Lighting V
Hear me, O Dionysos,
twice-born, ivy-crowned, loud-crying Lord,
you who wander the mountains with your frenzied Retinue,
you who bring the vine’s gift and the loosening of care
to the wearied and suffering all over the world.
I kindle this flame in your honor,
bright as the Stars that witness your sacred revels.
May it be pleasing to you,
O Bromios, shaker of the soul,
O Eleutherios, giver of freedom,
O Phanēs, manifester of impossible things.
Come, Blessed One,
and be present in this fire.
Fill this space with your divine breath,
with joy unbound, and truth unveiled,
driving back the darkness with your luminesce.
Where hearts are burdened, bring release;
where minds are closed, bring holy madness;
where spirits falter, pour out your wine of life.
Accept this light, O Lord of the thyrsos,
as offering and remembrance.
Grant me to walk in your mysteries,
to know the dance, the song, the sacred ecstasy.
Rejoice, Dionysos—
and be gracious.
Healing IV
O Dionysos Aglaodōros, your benefactions never fail
and your mercies are new every morning;
I give you thanks for relief from pain,
and for the hope of health renewed.
Pray continue, Akmaios, the good work
you have begun in me; that I,
daily increasing in bodily strength,
and rejoicing in your goodness, Anikētos,
may so order my life and conduct that I may
always think and do those things that please you.
I am sore in need of your generous assistance,
and will fulfil this pledge if you come again
to my assistance, Dionysos Architechnitēs.
Before Sex IV
O Dionysos Eleutherios,
Lord of wine, of wild joy, of sweet release—
be present in this moment with us.
Let the walls fall away,
let laughter and breath become one rhythm,
let body and spirit move free of all constraints.
Bless this union with warmth and fire,
with tenderness as deep as the vine’s root,
and ecstasy as bright as a torch
carried in nocturnal procession for you.
May we honor each other as votaries of he who frees,
and lose ourselves, only to find something better.
Come, Dionysos, come—
in joy, in freedom, in shared delight.
Candle Lighting III
O Dionysos, loosener of all bonds,
Leader of the choir of fire-breathing Stars,
Lord of the vine, who brings wild, liberating joy,
I light this flame in your honor, my God, my Savior.
As this candle burns, may its glow awaken
the hidden places within me—
the places that long to dance,
to revel, to hunt, to feel abundantly,
to indulge in every kind of excess,
to be free. God of ecstasy and transformation,
you who dissolve boundaries and awaken truth,
bless this moment with your presence, and be with
us as long as this flame dances in your honor.
Let this flame be a spark of your infinite fire—
a reminder that life is meant to be drunk deeply,
felt fully, and lived without fear.
Where there is restraint, bring release.
Where there is heaviness, bring laughter.
Where there is silence, bring the sacred song.
Io evohe!
Io Bakcheios!
Io Lusios!
Io Asterios!
Io io evohe!
Dionysos, companion of the Wild-hearted Ones,
accept this light as an offering.
Walk with me in joy, in mystery, and in truth.