Dionysos Dhū-Šarā was sharing a Sabbath dinner
with Yahō of Teman and Ašerah his beloved wife,
when the peaceful festivities were interrupted by Martû
leader of the hateful Giants in their assault on Heaven,
having stacked Mount Gerizim atop Mount Ebal
so that they could reach the dwelling of the Most High.
Martû was the first to be struck down by the terrible harpoon
with which Adōnai dragged Leviathan up from the depths;
then Šemyāzā and Asaēl, instigators of iniquity,
felt the unfettered wrath of Ēl Šadday. Ferocious Dionysos
threw Achōr, Bēlisath and Gadrahaēl into Tartaros
to join their brothers, after removing the heads from their bodies.
And Ašerah impaled Yōšiah the defiler with a pole,
then chased Anak across the sky to the place where the Sun sets.
Yahō Sabaōth gave a great battle-cry and the mountains
separated once more and returned to their rightful spaces,
sending Nimrōth and the remaining Giants plummeting to the Earth,
where the Angels and Archangels swiftly dispatched them,
creating a deluge of blood throughout Samaria and Judea,
which is why the Sea of Arabah is salty to this day.
Dionysos, fearing for his family back in Hellas,
prepared to mount his swift battle-donkey and depart,
but Yahō clasped arms with him and pledged to assist
the Olympians in thwarting the assault of the terrible Earthborn,
and the two mighty Gods sped across the Heavens in a chariot
drawn by winged Cherūbim of terrifying countenance,
arriving just as the forces of Typhōn were about to breach
the mansions of Zeus and his divine court, like Eurymedōn
and his kin had attempted before. When the dreadful war was over
and the violent forces of Typhōn vanquished, Yahō and Dionysos were closer
than brothers and the Lord of the Vine extended his protection to the Jews,
Ašerah and Yahō’s covenanted people, in their wanderings
after Typhōn’s son Legiōn drove them from their homeland
and demolished Yahō’s holy temple in Jerusalem,
in revenge for his father being chained beneath Mount Aetna
during the Second Gigantomachia. Be mindful of my utterance,
spirit of hate and division, and why I pronounced it.
Know this too: Dionysos stands to your left,
and Yahō of Teman is on your right;
Ašerah is behind you,
and facing you are countless Angels and Archangels
led by Michaēl, the Prince of Heaven, who wields a fiery sword.
Of the vast host who took part in Typhōn’s rebellion,
the Gods slew 409,000 of them.
How much more were these Giants and fallen divinities
than you, O unclean thing?
Do you think things will somehow go differently
for you who pants after wickedness?
Now would be a good time to leave,
and never come back, before it is too late for you.

This Halloween I’m going as a Bacchic-Jewish demon-hunter. A lot of these techniques are quite effective.

Well, fuck.

What began as a fairly laid back but moving deipnon for the Underworld Gods of various cultures ended with ekstasis, tears and the power going out for several blocks around.

That’s how you know you’re doing things right.

And this is just the first night of Katachthonia.

I have often argued that Horror is a uniquely Dionysian genre and should be given an honored position alongside Tragedy, Comedy, Satyr-plays, Dithyrambs, and Mimes in his dramatic canon. If I had to pick nine films (say, three for each night of the Καταχθόνια) I would probably choose:

1. Legend dir. by Ridley Scott
2. The Cell dir. by Tarsem Singh
   
3. Candyman dir. by Bernard Rose
   
4. Hellbound: Hellraiser II dir. by Tony Randel
   
5. Nightbreed dir. by Clive Barker
   
6. Baskin dir. by Can Evrenol
   
7. The Lords of Salem dir. by Rob Zombie
   
8. The Sisterhood of Night dir. by Caryn Waechter
   
9. Cat People dir. by Paul Schrader

Okay, maybe call it Φρίκῃ since I included a couple Dark Fantasies as well as conventional Horror, but as you can see they all contain strong Bacchic themes and symbolism (and some even have a touch of Orphism about them.) There are so many others I could have included but I was trying for a particular note. If you prefer your entertainment more episodic I’d recommend Hannibal or Legion. (And if you’re looking for something a little more elevated, consider Galina’s On Prayer and Pain.) 

What are your favorite Horror movies, Dionysian or otherwise?

Our household/monastery has been experimenting with different ritual styles, altered states, and magical techniques and this year I was chosen to lead our Halloween observance — or as I call it Καταχθόνια, which honors Those Below from October 30th to November 1st.

Day 1: Earlier in the day we dig a trench or pit in the backyard, inaugurating the Katachthonia. Around 9:00pm we hold a feast for the Gods and Spirits of the underworld and afterlife. We make name tags or placeholders for all of the ones we wish to invite, lay out a full meal, and then eat in their presence while listening to thematic music. Unlike a traditional dumb supper we can have appropriately themed conversation. We should dress up as we would for a formal dinner.

Day 2: We paint our faces. Around 9:00pm we go outside and place offerings for the dead in the trench or pit: eggs, garlic, beans, grain, etc. and then over it we pour milk, wine, mead and olive oil. Then we sit on the benches and pass the horn, saying the name of one of our honored dead followed by, “may they never thirst.” Then drink or kiss the horn to their memory. If we want to tell brief anecdotes about them we can, but emphasis on brief as we’ve got a lot of dead folk to cover. This is only for individuals, not our various collectives. End with a toast to everyone we love, in case someone’s left out. And invite the wandering dead and the forgotten ones to partake as well. Before and after we can watch scary movies to get in the mood.

Day 3: We make a panspermia (or as the Orthodox call it koliva) and set it out along with salt, bread and vodka per Slavic custom beside an empty bowl. Then we take turns naming either a hero or collective, and dropping a bean into the bowl. (It would be cool to do this with pomegranate seeds, but I don’t think they are in season. Pennies would also make a fine substitute.) If we are so moved we can tell a story about them, or share why they are being honored. When we are finished each of us will then share a piece of art for the enjoyment of all. We will end by carrying the offerings outside and adding them to the trench or pit, and covering it back over or tossing in three handfuls of earth.

Katachthonia is officially declared to be over, with a promise to honor Those Below again next year and keep their memory alive within us every day.

What are you doing for your dead this year?

I have tried to use a wide array of titles and bynames for Dionysos in these prayers and incantations. If there are any that you aren’t familiar with, check the list over at Bakcheion.

O Dionysos Dreilos, as you once distracted
Oineus, King over the Kalydonians, with your
miraculous vine so that he would absent
himself from his home and leave his lovely
Althaia safe in your hands, I ask that you place a
hedge of protection around NN and myself
as we prepare to participate in the mysteries of
golden Aphroditē; may there be no interruption
from humans; may no spiritual entities have
the power to intrude into this space, or fill our minds
with worry, random stresses of the day,
shame and anxiety, or deeply buried wounds
from long ago; may pollution, infirmities,
or other distractions not find their way through;
let only desire, enjoyment, connection, ecstasy,
and the other sweet handmaids of Kypris in,
O Dionysos Choiropsalas; and guide us, Orthos,
up the mountain to heights of sensation
and experience that we could scarcely dream of,
let alone attain on our own; and we shall thank you
with a proper libation when we have had our fill,
jointly offered, O Dionysos Olbiodōtes.

Let your transformative love, O Dionysos Eleutherios,
fall as fire from heaven upon the altar of our hearts,
strengthen our souls and awaken us from the deathly sleep
which holds us captive, so that we may live in your truth
instead of this dreary existence which is no better than a dream,
and pour your ecstasies out upon us, lord of libations, so that we may
know you more fully in both your joys and and your sufferings.

O Lord of Inebriation,
merciful Dionysos Methydōtēs,
free me from this sober state
under which I have been suffering
for much too long; unfetter my mind,
give wings to my soul, make the world spin
and seem surreal and joyously absurd once again,
so that I may feel you, and know you,
and commune with you more fully
in this state of blissful intoxication,
my sweet Savior, Dionysos Methycharmōn.

Dionysos Thyrepanoiktēs, I pray,
throw wide the doors of my mind
so that I may discover the hidden things
within myself, and in the worlds
which you have taught me how to reach
by walking the Labyrinth road.
Lead me safely home again
when the journey is done,
full of visions, lore, and sacred technology
that I can share with my tradition-hungry people.

O Dionysos, God of all plants,
and granter of sweet euphoria,
I ask your blessing upon these drugs
Paeiōn, Lusios, Tristhenes,
and implore you to make them potent
against the pains and ailments I suffer,
restoring me to health and good cheer,
so that I can go about freely doing
your work in the world once more.
Thank you Dionysos,
and thank you drugs.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

O Dionysos Diphuēs,
uniter of opposites
and dissolver of differences,
you who cleanse through tears
and the blazing thunderstrike,
worker of wonders, we pray; pour
your grace and powerful blessings
into these chernips we are creating
by combining the primordial elements
of water and fire, which existed even
within the solitary egg of Phanēs,
who delights in dancing.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
restore what you encounter to its pristine condition.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
drive out what is impure and corrupting.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
wash away whatever distracts, distorts and disrupts.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
burn up confusion, discord, illness, acedia, despair
and anything else that interferes with proper veneration.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
nullify and destroy the wicked work of sinister spirits
and the foolish mortals who do their bidding.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
release the hold of ancestral trauma and guilt
and remove any influence they are exerting.
O chernips which bear the blessing of Dionysos,
hallow what you touch that it may be fit for the God.

O beloved mystery which Orpheus revealed,
many-named and masked one,
you who bring release,
and the madness that saves,
may your grace be poured out
upon all who desire you,
and grant those who wish to know you
an awful revelation of your majesty.
Deliver us, when we draw near to you,
from coldness of heart, all manner of disruptions,
thoughts that wander, and a mind too full
of anxieties and imaginings to properly sense you.
With steadfast thoughts and kindled affections
may we worship you in truth,
and discover you in ecstasy,
Lord of the Labyrinth,
our God Dionysos,
the Starry Bull.

Against Qasas contains a delightful pun, which is found over and over again in Jewish magic, often without explanation. Although Judaism is very much a patriarchal religion and invocations of Yahweh (both liturgically and magically) often begin “the God of Isaac, Jacob, and Moses” or some variation thereof, in the examples I’m discussing it is the ancestral mothers of the Hebrew people who are invoked, specifically Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Leah.

Why these four?

While those familiar with their stories from the Torah (and later aggāḏāh) cannot deny their importance, there are plenty of other equally worthy candidates (hello Yāʿēl and Debōrāh!) especially since this formula usually occurs in protective spells, charms and amulets. (Frankly, I wouldn’t want to piss off any Jewish mother!)

Well, the first letters of their names combined spell brzl, or more accurately בַּרְזֶל, meaning “iron” which symbolizes strength, resistance, harshness, and inability to be bent or broken. Iron also had a ton of apotropaic functions for the ancient Israelites and their neighbors, driving off bad luck, illness, witchcraft, and assorted spirits, usually of a violent and chaotic (bordering on malevolent) nature. This folk custom was reinforced when Jewish groups were dispersed into Celtic, Germanic and Slavic lands where they likewise encountered families of spirits who shared an aversion to iron. So they invoked the ancestral mothers Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Leah — often bearing iron rods, swords or spears to drive the point home. 

Speaking of which, a reader had a wonderful question which I had taken for granted, or I would have explained earlier. 

What does NN mean?

It is the academic standard for the Greek deina (or simply Δ, sometimes stylized), itself a placeholder where the itinerant religious specialist (or as we would call them, “magician”) was supposed to insert the name of a spirit, their client, or the target. It is Englished as NN because most Greco-Egyptian magic insisted on maternal descent (i.e. “Bruce, son of Martha”) over the usual designation which included name and then either father or clan, especially if the document was intended to hold any legal weight. Magic observes a much older law however. 

And this holds true for Jewish, Syrian, Roman and other systems, not just Greek and Egyptian magic. I suspect this has a two-fold reason: you always know who the mother is, and precision is preferred in such operations. And secondly, there are certain things inherited and transmitted through the maternal line, so if you want to harm an enemy that’s one of the places you target. 

I have more thoughts on why Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Leah in particular were chosen — there’s a very important detail that isn’t apparent unless you know not just their stories, but the stories of their entire lines — but that will have to wait for another time, along with the Bacchic Judaica. Seeing that vile shit posted on r/hellenism has put me in a mood, especially considering the overlap with r/dionysus (including shared moderators.) But anyone who has seen the state of that forum and the fruit that’s come of it probably won’t be surprised. It does explain the push to return I had been feeling recently. That cannot be all that people find when they search for Dionysos online. So I’m going to share more of what I’m doing and experiencing, not just the cool shit I’m researching. And I hope you guys will too. 

I adjure you Qasas, daughter of Qatof,
and the 197 Mevakkalta-demons who are under you;
you who take the wife from the lap of her husband,
and remove the children from the lap of their mother,
hateful spirit who causes everyone in the house to suffer and weep,
though none draws your ire as much as the eldest daughter,
whose will you work the hardest to defile, deplete, and destroy.
By the mighty and wonder-working name of Bakcheios Abraō
I command that you no longer afflict
this pious woman, NN, O Mevakkalta Qasas!
Bring not poverty, or sickness, or ill-luck
into her well-ordered home;
appear not to her,
whether in dreams at night
or visions by day;
lie not upon her;
delude her not;
trouble her not,
nor her husband,
nor her children,
nor any persons in her home.
Askei kataskei erōn oreōn eōr mega semnyēr baui.
Life is victorious over all works of the unmaker and its allies!
Dionysos has removed hate, hindrances, curses, and nightmares,
O Mevakkalta Qasas, and bestowed love, honour, favour, and beauty
upon NN and her whole household. Your woeful works have been undone!
Creep away Mevakkalta Qasas, and all your foul minions with you;
do not set foot within 818 miles of NN and her home.
If you transgress against this my adjuration, I shall strike you with iron rods,
which are the holy ancestral mothers of the Hebrew people:
Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Leah.
Agla. Amen and amen. Selah!

A Satyr was chasing Nymphs
on the shore near Taremu,
when Skōlēx, the green worm of decay
rose out of the Nile, and mauled him,
just as NN is hurt.
Then comes Dionysos,
Prince of those in the West.
Dionysos rides a red donkey,
with black lips,
with white teeth;
he is ruddy himself,
he is clad in white,
his belt is black;
he leads three big cats,
the first one is white,
the second one black,
the third red;
the white one licks tears away,
the black one – infection,
the red one – blood.
And behold, NN’s wounds are healed!
Dionysos rides on to Taremu,
in pursuit of Skōlēx, the son of Nsyt,
with a white net to catch him,
with a red mace to smash his teeth,
with a black knife to chop him into pieces.

On his way to Ecbatana Dionysos decided to stop off
for a nap, and while sleeping beneath a date-palm tree
Zenūt climbed down from the branches,
laid upon his chest, and pressed her way
into his dreams, much to her regret,
for what the Ardat-Lilî saw there
destroyed her sanity.
When he was done playing with Zenūt
Dionysos plucked her from his breast, and said:
“No, I will not kick a pregnant woman in the belly with you.
No, I will not rape a fair-haired maiden with you.
No, I will not knot the mane of a horse with you.
No, I will not spoil the milk with you.
No, I will not trip a drunk man on his way home and laugh with you.
I will not do any of these things, and neither shall you.
Instead, Zenūt, go back to the witch that sent you.
Go back to the cold, dark cave where you live.
Or better yet, go back inside your mother’s womb,
the womb of Taklạt, Queen of the South,
who brought this and numerous other
afflictions into the world.
Go there and shrivel.
Go there and grow ever weaker.
Go there and perish.
And never return to cause me,
or NN, or any of my people any trouble again.”
Dionysos flicked the Ardat-Lilî, now powerless and insane,
far away from him, and Zenūt was never seen
troubling Bacchic men or women again.

O Dionysos Ekpaglos, I pray that you come to the assistance of NN
who is being driven to ruin and despair through the evil machinations
of a coven of witches, as once your savagery was made known throughout
the entire Thessalian land when the dark-eyed and white-limbed Selēnē
was dragged down to the dirt, her divinity assaulted.
O Dionysos Saōmbrotos who taught Orpheus his songs,
Melampous his healings, and Empedokles his purifications
I implore you to blunt the attacks and strip these witches
of their power to poison, to bind, and to loosen;
O Dionysos Eleutherios, please save NN from these witches
and nullify any occult compacts they’ve made,
free any spirits they’ve coerced into helping them,
and soothe the dead whose wrath they have provoked against NN;
O Dionysos Sugcheion, I request that you blind their psychic perceptions,
obscure and confuse their divinations,
make it so all of their prayers go unheard
except prayers of repentance and atonement,
transform their curses into blessings,
and thwart any other craft that allows them
to interfere with or harm NN.
Finally I petition you, Dionysos Tristhenes,
to have all the powers and devices of these witches,
who are nothing but wicked and envious people,
destroyed and cast into the deepest part of Tartaros,
where the ashy Titans will ensure that they remain
impotent in the darkness
and unable ever to cause havoc
and hardship in the life of NN again.

Three Tyrsēnoi named
Odynē, Dystychos, and Dakrymos
bound Akoitēs to the mast of the ship;
he prayed to you, my God,
calling you by the blessed names
Lusios, Lyaios and Eleutherios.
As you delivered Akoitēs
by loosening his bonds
and destroying his foes,
likewise, I pray,
break, unbind and consume in flames
any curses, charms, evil glances
or other witchcraft that has been sent
against NN, and may the spirits of
Odynē, Dystychos, and Dakrymos
return to their summoner and wreck his life
for the impudence of using malefica
against one who keeps your festivals
and makes offerings to you, Dionysos
who cares for his people. Io evohe!

Although I’ve had a couple people ask me to post the screenshots from the Dionysian Discord here, or to share them with them privately, I am not going to do so for three reasons. 1) It would reveal the identity of my informant. While I did not ask them to spy on this group, wasn’t even aware they were part of the group, and couldn’t care less what a bunch of chronically online halfwits have to say about me, I’m not going to burn someone who’s done me a solid. 2) I didn’t come back to engage in bullshit community politics with a bunch of folks I don’t even consider part of the same religious tradition as mine; I wouldn’t have said anything at all if I hadn’t been so shocked by what was shown me. And 3) there’s no reason to, since almost the exact same things are being said in fully public forums at places like Tumblr and Reddit. For instance here’s a conversation about how the Greek Gods will punish you for holding the wrong political beliefs, or even not affirming the most extreme positions in a party’s platform vehemently enough; and here Zeus and Nemesis are petitioned for the deaths of both Jewish soldiers and civilians (who have no more say in how their government conducts itself than Americans or Brits do) with many of the same individuals participating. If you allow such beliefs and behaviors to go unchallenged that will become the public face of your religion. Be the alternative you want others to see, however you are best suited to do that. If you don’t know what that way is, pray to your Gods and spirits for guidance, inspiration and discernment. It doesn’t have to be eloquent. “O Gods, I am confused. Please help me find understanding, live virtuously, and each day serve as a better instrument of your will in the world.” What is more needed than that?