The true Orpheotelest is a master bricoleur. Over the last couple days I have adapted material from the Zend Avesta, the Coffin Texts, the Qumran sectarians, some Tamil Śaivite hymns and this, which is based on an Anglo-Saxon prayer to the Cross (itself strongly indebted to a Wodēnic original.) I’ve also been playing around with meter, rhyme, repetition, and some rhetorical tricks with impressive Greek and Latin names which I’m not going to bother listing. If you’ve got a major in Classics, a minor in Lit Crit and a job as a barista I’m sure you spotted them. And damned if it’s not working! The ancients sure knew some shit. (Especially Onomakritos.) I just improved on the originals by making them Bacchic Orphic. All kidding aside, it’s like I’m having a dialogue with all of these great ancient artists, a dance, a choral collaboration with a host of honored deceased in praise of the Lord of Song. Io evoe! Io io Dionysos Dithyrambos! And I think it’s making me a better poet. Because you can’t just steal willy-nilly and stitch the random bits together like Victor Frankenstein on an ether binge. I mean, ok, technically you could, and that does sound pretty fucking cool actually (Note to self…) but the point is, that’s not what I’m doing on these occasions. I’m putting a lot of thought into how everything fits together, why, and what every word and line and symbol is doing in a given text, etc. A lot of the time I’ve gone over it so much, tweaking here and there again and again, rewriting lines or whole quatrains or more, inserting Bakchica that performs the same function as the replaced historiola, or riffing in a totally different direction so that only an echo, a hint of the original remains. But I wouldn’t have gotten there without those who came before, without cannibalizing the dead, which has opened a door in my writing that did not exist before. It’s magic. It’s amazing. Lolo Bromios!
I speak in the voice of countless dead
6 thoughts on “I speak in the voice of countless dead”
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Isn’t it pathetic how you don’t get any responses on this post?
You once had dreams of being Mr. Dionysus. What happened?
You get answers and feedback when the topic is someone else.
But when the topic is your religion, your poetry, your connection to the divine……..
Crickets.
You only get feedback when you’re drumming up drama about humans. No one cares about your thoughts on the divine.
It’s pathetic, as anyone can see. When you actually approach the space where your can share your imaginary friends with everyone else: no one gives a shit.
It’s just you and your daydreams, taking up space with your diabetic wheezes.
Ain’t that pathetic.
Better luck in the next life, if such a thing exists.
Considering how well you use it, it’s probably better for you if it doesn’t.
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It is fascinating that you spent so much time analyzing his life, his faith, his writing, and his health just to type out a multi-paragraph tantrum. He does not create art or explore his spirituality for your approval. Please find a healthier hobby than obsessively tracking his engagement metrics. You’re kind of boring.
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Nicely said.
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Oh buddy, that’s not something new, or something unique to me. People have been complaining about that since at least 2010. It hit critical levels around 2015, when most of the polytheist blogosphere shuttered their blogs and moved on, just like people did when they migrated from Livejournal or the email forums before that. I was warning folks not to see online venues as “community space” even before then, as far back as 2002 if I recall correctly.
My engagement has always been one-on-one, via email, online chats and in person conversations. Within hours I had several folks writing me with great thoughts on this series of posts on linguistic magic, and the experiments they were inspired to conduct. My blog is a place to workshop ideas, collect information, and share work in progress before it’s ready for publication. Nothing less, nothing more. What matters, what has lasting value and impact, is my books and the work I do out of the spotlight, in the real world among real people. If you can’t tell the difference between the internet and reality you really need some Plato, my dude. Start with the Parable of the Cave, and keep reading from there. But if you think popularity, especially among a bunch of anonymous screen-names, is something that matters and is worth pursuing, I’m not even sure that Plato can help you.
But fair is fair. You deserve a pat on the head for coming up with a comment that’s more than just you repeatedly expressing your acrotomophilia and eproctophilia. I knew you had it in you. Is there something more you’d like to discuss, either here in the comments or even better in private? I’m around, when I’m not worshiping, writing, or counseling folks. I’ll make time for you, even if it’s clear that no one else in your life does.
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Why do we need to comment for it to be a valuable post? I read the post, acknowledged what Sannion was talking about, agreed with it in my head, and then moved on. This is a topic that Sannion has covered hundreds of times. There’s not really much else that needs to be said that wouldn’t just be someone reiterating what Sannion just said. Not to mention, you’re conveniently ignoring the blog posts where there’s lots of discussions regarding the religious topics brought up. You’re taking one example of a blog post and exaggerating its usefulness as a barometer for engagement.
Also, just because you alluded to it, were you trying to imply that the Gods are going to damn Sannion in the afterlife with that last line? Care to try to back that up? Because that’s going pretty far.
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Oh yeah, I circle back to topics like this one a lot, because I think it’s important to remind people that language is magic and we create the reality we inhabit through our thoughts and words. There are powerful forces in our world and society that want us to forget that, to believe their version of reality is the truth, the only truth, and we have no choice but to accept the conditions they propose. We all can use a reminder now and again that that’s not true, and new folks come along all the time who aren’t getting that elsewhere. If people don’t need to hear that they can wait until I circle on to something else, or find someone who’s discussing the things they do need.
As for my posthumous fate, well, that’s in the hands of Dionysos. I don’t worry about what anyone or anything else has to say on that subject. I’m not interested in any kind of life or afterlife that is not centered around him.
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