O Wild Father,
Dionysos Oinōtres,
Lord of the lost highway,
King of the Midnight Carnival,
I call to you beneath
the moon’s electric wound.
The city is dreaming in neon,
the dead are whispering
through telephone wires,
and somewhere a lonely train
is carrying another soul
toward the edge of the world.
Open the hidden door, Dionysos.
Let me walk beyond the walls of habit,
beyond the prison of names,
beyond the mirrors that teach me
to fear my own face.
Protector of the untimely dead,
protector of maidens,
protector of the unripe grape,
whose laughter shakes the bones of kings,
whose tears become rivers of wine,
lead me into the deep country of the heart.
When I lose myself, it is in wonder.
May my suffering become a song,
and my joy a death’s head moth.
If I must die, let me die a thousand
little deaths so that I may awaken
larger than before.
The night is full of stars,
the stars are full of fire,
and the fire remembers your name.
Dionysos of the mystic, heated wine,
friend of wanderers, companion
of outcasts, rider of ecstatic winds,
break open the locked gates,
and on and on the river flows.
Teach me the language of wolves,
the patience of stones,
the secret music hidden beneath
the noise of the world,
the golden ratio, revealed through
great golden copulations.
Have you been born yet,
and are you alive?
Everything dances,
and breaks apart.
And when Dawn arrives
with her pale, indifferent face,
let me rise laughing,
dust-covered,
half-mad,
and wholly alive.
Thank you Dionysos, for your inebriating blood.
Thank you Dionysos, for the visions that mushrooms give.
Thank you Dionysos, for the smoky revelations
of your green-haired daughter.
Thank you Dionysos, and may I have
a profound and meaningful trip
and return with precious knowledge
for my people.
Watch over me, Kirkē.
Watch over me, Melampous.
Watch over me, Mēdeia.
Watch over me, Orpheus.
Watch over me, Pythagoras.
Watch over me, Empedoklēs.
Watch over me, Kleopatra Philopatōr.
Watch over me, Mithridatēs Eupatōr.
Watch over me, Jim Morrison.
Let the carnival bells ring. Let the servants sing.
Is everybody in? Is everybody in?
The ceremony is about to begin.

Euoi