O Yahō’s executioner who rebelled against your master,
who was given a portion of the souls of dead
Nephilim to test the virtue of mortalkind
but instead made them do your abominable bidding;
you who hardened the heart of Pharaoh
and drowned the Egyptians who pursued the Hebrews in their flight;
you who bound Isaac, and attacked Zipporah at the inn;
you who smote Beliar, and challenged Samaēl and Abaddōn
for the infernal throne; I rebuke you and bind you
from further harming this pious household
by the authority and might of the whole Divine Assembly.
O hostile and heedless one, you hateful spirit of enmity,
you have transgressed your warrant in afflicting me
and my loved ones, for I am one who worships the Gods
and especially Dionysos, the Lord of the Lash,
the God of Suffering, the one who humbles the proud
and fills the hearts of wicked spirits with terror.
I hand you over for punishment, wretch,
polluter of thoughts, sepsis of souls,
and to you Dionysos shall say:
“be thou annihilated, O Masṭēmā,
thou foe of the ʾĔlōhīm.
Be thou annihilated, O Abū Murrah,
thou foe of the Ālīhat.
Be thou annihilated, O Kemōsh,
thou foe of the ‘Ilhm.
Thou shalt not exist and thy deeds shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy magic shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy utterance shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy mouth shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy arms shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy hands shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy bones shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy body shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy skin shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy shape shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy substance shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy being shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy soul shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy seed shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy children shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy siblings shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy entire household shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy grave shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy entering shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and thy going shall not exist;
thou shalt not exist and no place where thou art shall exist.
O Masṭēmā, thou foe of the ʾĔlōhīm, mayest thou perish!
O Abū Murrah, thou foe of the Ālīhat, mayest thou perish!
O Kemōsh, thou foe of the ‘Ilhm, mayest thou perish!
Mayest thou be blind and unable to speak;
may thy head be crushed, thy teeth shattered, thy poison spilt.
May thy name perish! May thy name perish! May thy name perish!
Be annihilated, annihilated! Be slain, slain! Be cut to pieces, pieces!
Be cut up, cut up! Be severed, severed! Be slaughtered, slaughtered!
Thy head shall be cut off with this pruning-knife
in the presence of my Retinue every day and every night,
for Zagreus has felled thee. Thou art given over to the God
who always catches his prey, he whose word is powerful,
and can make things happen simply by speaking them.
Thine head is severed from thy neck,
thy soul is fallen, thy shade is not,
thou art destroyed at the place of execution,
thy body is mutilated, and thou art cast on thy back;
all because thou harassed one who bears my mark.”
That is what the God of the Tree says; I say:
ἐχθρός
χθρός
θρός
ρός
ός
ς
You are nothing, and you serve the nameless,
though you think you have the honor of ruling Sheol
and its denizens. Destroyer, you shall be destroyed,
consumed by your own arrogance and wrath.
Go and suffer your fate rather than harass us pious folk.

O Masṭēmā who breaks the neck of the lamb,
you who have been afflicting myself and my household
causing callousness, contempt, and contention,
listen to the words I say, for I speak
with the authority of Dionysos Shadrapha,
the Lord of Leptis Magna! My God Dionysos
heals all manner of wounds and illness,
and takes the power away from the demons
in many forms and fashions,
by gentle means and by harsh.
He releases the captives from bondage,
and makes peace where
there were violent disturbances before.
Do not place your might and fury
against his own; instead, just listen.
You wish to be called “Tawḥīd-i Mesetēma”
but you are not the truest of monotheists,
for you have forsaken your God
and set up an idol in your heart,
believing devotion and compassion
to be less important than legalism
and righteous indignation.
But hasn’t Sabaōth of Sinai said
that as much as he delights in the odor
of sacrificial smoke, that much more
he desires mercy and justice?
How vexing it must have been, then,
when Adōnai favored the offerings
of Alexander the son of Olympias over your own,
and he an uncircumcised gentile at that!
The idol has made your heart cold and hard
like the stone it was crafted from,
and so you are incapable of expressing any emotion
save for wrath; therefore your worship is nothing
more than empty mimicry.
When he favored the Makedonian
who was zealous in the worship
of all the Gods he encountered
as he followed in the footsteps of Dionysos,
wrath became resentment and you fell out of favor
with Yahō your Lord, and so took your army of Nephilim
fleeing into the deserts which the sons of Ishmaēl had claimed,
changing your name from Masṭēmā to Abū Murrah
for you are bitter to this day, and Iblīs for you remain in grief,
far from the sight of your God and his Heavenly Court.
Those who send you against me Masṭēmā,
they call you for their petty squabbles
and blind hatreds, but I give you this gift.
Be at peace.
Be at peace with your God.
Be at peace with the world.
Be at peace with yourself.
Be at peace with me,
and with my household.
Be at peace, Masṭēmā.
Be at peace, Masṭēmā.
Be at peace, Masṭēmā.

Mambrē lay to the west of the cave of Machpēlah, past the
valley of Eškōl teeming with terebinths, cedars, and date palms,
pomegranates, fig-trees, and most abundantly of all — rows of vines
which bore giant clusters of grapes all year long, planted as a sign
of Dionysos’ gratitude for the hospitality shown him in the
hill country of Hebrōn.

The Angels who rebelled against Yahō Sabaōth and his Ašerah
fled the Heavenly realm and alighted atop the peak of Mount Hebrōn,
where they planned to swear an oath of allegiance to Šemyāzā,
the instigator of their apostasy, after cutting down the Oak of Mambrē
which had been growing on that spot for as long as the world had existed,
so that they could fashion it into an altar upon which
each Angel would sacrifice one of the goats who grazed
on the mountain as a holocaust to Šemyāzā,
who styled himself a God equal to his maker.
But no matter how furiously the Angels smote it with their fiery weapons
the Oak of Mambrē remained undamaged, until finally
Šemyāzā summoned them back to Hebrōn’s heights
and exacted a smokeless vow from his mutinous host.

O Dionysos of Beit She’an, Lord of the hairy Se’irim who dwell in the wastes
and delight in playing pranks on travelers headed to Egypt or Syria, I pray,
make me like that mighty Oak of Mambrē, rooted deep in the Earth
with my head in the high Heavens, and able to withstand all of the blows
and harassments of the abominable spirits who would delight
in seeing me fall; may all of their machinations be thwarted,
and result in nothing more than the empty words that Šemyāzā
was able to extort from the rebel Angels who turned
on their oathed master just as they had betrayed Yahō Sabaōth
and his Ašerah as soon as it suited them, warring brutally amongst themselves
and carrying off the beautiful daughters of man so that they could defile them
and sire the incorrigible race of Giants who slaughtered their fathers
and devoured so many beasts and men because of their insatiable appetites
that they would have left the Earth as barren as the Negev
had the Lord of Sinai not flooded the plains with a storm so terrible
its like had never been seen before, nor has he punished wickedness
that way since, because of the troth he gave the herald
and messenger of the Gods on high, Iris of the rainbow-colored hair,
daughter of Thaumant and Elektra the Ōkeanide.

Though the waters covered all, obliterating any remnants
of the antediluvian races in the Levant, Mambrē stood tall
and unmoved by the deluge, and the oasis of Eškōl
returned when the waters receded through the power
of wonder-working Dionysos, as the Hebrew spies discovered
when they were preparing for the conquest of Canaan.
Lord of Nysa, I pray, may I possess such endurance
and resilience in the face of my own hardships and calamities,
and never fail to praise the Gods who are glorious and good,
no matter how dark and destructive the trials
I am passing through turn out to be.
And though Šemyāzā escaped the chastisement
that fell upon the heads of the Egrēgoroi and Nephilim,
may he be powerless to harm, impede or distract me
from the holy service that has been given me to fulfill,
and to which I have dedicated my life, my power,
and my resources to.

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.