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? 

The rest will have to wait until tomorrow evening, but after what I read I wanted to get that last one out. It’s based on the theory that both the Egyptians and Hebrews were enslaved under the Hyksos and that Amalek is the divine progenitor of the Amalekites (a nomadic Hyksos tribe encountered in 1 Samuel and elsewhere) as well as the perpetually reborn spirit of antisemitism. Unlike some folks I won’t try to tell you what Dionysos’ political beliefs are, but I know what Euripides wrote in Bakchai and I believe it:

Will anyone say that I do not respect old age, being about to dance with my head covered in ivy? No, for the God has made no distinction as to whether it is right for men young or old to dance, but wishes to have common honors from all and to be extolled, setting no one apart. (204-209)

Brutal, lawless shepherd-king, protector of the descendents of Esau,
Amalek the swayer of nations, who feeds on ignorance, and hate,
and the blood of Israelite children and grandmothers; by the signet ring
of the one who blesses with abundant vineyards, he who hunts in the
mountains of Gilbōa, and founded Beth She’an as the chief of the cities
of the Decapolis, you are vanquished. Crafted by the Telchines, and worn
by Orpheus, Melampos, Akoites, Pythagoras and Empedokles,
with the great and mighty pentalpha I bind, rebuke, and render you impotent,
you foul slave of Beliar!

In every generation the spirit of Amalek rises up to slaughter
the offspring of Yakōb, but the vigorous son of Zeus has sworn
to stand beside Yahō Sabaōth in defense of these people,
and has granted his prophets the power to wield the ring against you.
Ever since you ate fruit from the Tree of Ašerah you cannot be
killed, or maimed, or obliterated Amalek,
and so always find a way to return and resume your mission
to crush their power or annihilate the Hebrews
wherever they may be found, and you have raised
many evil humans and malignant spirits against them,
but all your labor has come to naught, son of Lamaštu,
for you fight against Adōnai and Bakcheios Abraō
and those who serve under or are allied with them,
and so the Jews still thrive in every part of the world.

No matter what new genocide, inquisition,
pogram, or intifada you contrive, Amalek
who is skilled at manipulating the minds of mortals,
you will not prove successful against Ēl Šadday
and Dionysos the slayer of Achōr and Bēlisath,
who will always be there to thwart you, Amalek,
favorite son of Typhōn of Avaris, the enemy of all the Gods
of Egypt, Canaan and Greece.
Defeated, damaged, and defiled you flee
back to the desert seeking solace and comfort in the arms
of your monstrous parents Typhōn and Lamaštu,
and that shows your stupidity more than anything else,
for they have no compassion in them, and care only about
conquest, and subjugation, and the perversion of holiness.

So prepare, once again, to feel the full fury of the pentalpha unleashed,
and all of your schemes toppled like a house of cards,
not by I but by Bakcheios who commands the twenty-four Warriors
and Elah Šemaya whose kingdom and people are protected
by Michaēl, Gabriēl, Raphaēl, Uriēl, Anaēl, Sariēl, Kamiēl, and Zadkiēl,
each with seven myriads of Angels beneath them.

You are vanquished Amalek!
You are vanquished Amalek!
You are vanquished Amalek!

And for those of you who think Dionysian monasticism is a queer idea, well, these guys would beg to differ. There are as many ways to worship the Bacchic One as there are flowers in Nysa.

And the connection between Bacchic Orphism and Pythagoreanism isn’t exactly novel either; I’ve certainly written about it often enough, as have Gábor Betegh, Leonid Zhmud, Carl Kerényi, and a couple others.

Like Proklos:

All that Orpheus transmitted through secret discourses connected to the mysteries, Pythagoras learnt thoroughly when he completed the initiation at Libethra in Thrace, and Aglaophamos, the initiator, revealed to him the wisdom about the Gods that Orpheus acquired from his mother Kalliope.

And if you don’t think the community he founded was in any way monastic, might I recommend the Pythagorean Sourcebook? And reading, rather than talking shit in your “secret” Discord. I may have been gone awhile, but I’ve still got eyes everywhere. Silly thing; I don’t care that you hate me. I’ve seen what you cheer for. I didn’t think about you once during my hiatus. What a shame the same wasn’t true for you. Maybe you’d be happier if you touched grass and worshipped Dionysos more. It sickens you that I’ve returned? Well, it sickens me that you would say such vile things about Jews in space dedicated to He Who Loves the Stranger … and nobody challenged you. I will.

Before I share some of the imprecations which contain historiolae concerning Dionysos’ interactions with Yahweh, Ašmedai, Masṭēmā and other entities from Jewish and related traditions, I figured I’d post some background information for y’all.

To begin with, here are some older pieces from the House of Vines which you may or may not already be familiar with:

• Dionysos and the Jews
• The Jewish God in Alexandria
• mangling dogs in Bacchic frenzy
• Hail Semachus and his Daughters!
• The Ivy-Covered Cross

And here are an assortment of academic articles:

• The Afterlife of Orphism: Jewish, Gnostic and Christian Perspectives by Guy G Stroumsa
• Babylonian Jewish Society: The Evidence of the Incantation Bowls by Avigail Manekin Bamberger and Simcha Gross
• Beth Shean/Scythopolis in Late Antiquity: Cult and Culture, Continuity and Change by Katharina Heyden
• A Dated Inscription from Beth Shean and the Cult of Dionysos Ktistes in Roman Scythopolis by Leah Di Segni
• Death and Eternal Life at Beth Shean by Stephanie Hagan
• The development of Jewish ideas of angels : Egyptian and Hellenistic connections, ca. 600 BCE to ca. 200 CE by Annette Evans
• Dionysos and His Retinue in the Art of Late Roman and Byzantine Palestine by Renate Rosenthal-Heginbottom
• Dionysos in the Decapolis by Sonia Mucznik
• Dionysus Between Sāsānian Iran and Roman Allusions by Robert Schulz
• Divorcing Lilith: From the Babylonian Incantation Bowls to the Cairo Genizah by Dan Levene and Gideon Bohak
• Dramatis Personae in the Jewish Magic Texts: Some Differences between Incantation Bowls and Geniza Magic by Shaul Shaked
• Elephantine papyri and ostraca s.v. Wikipedia
• Eshem-Bethel and Herem-Bethel: New Evidence from Amherst Papyrus 63 by Karel van der Toorn
• In Praise of Gods & Goddesses in Aramean Egypt: Papyrus Amherst 63 by Tawny Holm
• Jewish Magic Literature in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages by Peter Schäfer
• Judahite Pillar Figurines: More Questions than Answers by Robert Deutsch
• The Judean Pillar-Figurines and the Archaeology of Asherah by Ron Tappy
• The “Man-Bull” and the «Master of Animals» in Mesopotamia and in Iran by Alireza Taheri
• Marzēaḥ s.v. Wikipedia
• Moses/Musaeus/Mochos and his God Yahweh, Iao, and Sabaoth, seen from a Graeco-Roman perspective by G.H. van Kooten
• New Gold Lamellae and Amulet Capsules from (Judaeo-Christian) Graves at Juliopolis by Roy D. Kotansky and Melih Arslan
• Old-Babylonian, Middle-Babylonian, Neo-Babylonian, Jewish-Babylonian? Thoughts about Transmission Modes of Mesopotamian Magic through the Ages by Nathan Wasserman
• Outside the Canon? Three Unique Figurines from Beth Shemesh, Socho, and Jerusalem by Raz Kletter
• A Paganized Version of Psalm 20:2-6 from the Aramaic Text in Demotic Script by Charles F. Nims and Richard C. Steiner
• Popular religion in ancient Judah during the 8th and 7th centuries BC by Valia Papanastasopoulou
• A Promise of Wisdom: The Classical Origins of the Odysseus and the Sirens Mosaic Floor from Scythopolis (Bet-Shean) by Nava Sevilla Sadeh
• Reading Dionysus: Euripides’ Bacchae and the Cultural Contestations of Greeks, Jews, Romans, and Christians by Courtney Friesen
• A Study in Conceptual Parallels: Graeco-Roman Binding Spells and Babylonian Incantation Bowls
  by Ortal-Paz Saar
• Syncretistic and confessional features in Mesopotamian incantation bowls by Tapani Harviainen
• The Visits of St. Sabas to Beth Shean by Gabriel Mazor 
• Was YHWH worshipped in the Aegean? by Nissim Amzallag

Last night our household held a lovely rite to honor Apollon with prayer, and plentiful offerings, and singing, and dancing. It was one of those moments where everything came together beautifully, transcendently. My wife has written about it here. One of the things that helped properly set the mood was this rendition of the First Delphic Hymn to Apollon by Thanasis Kleopas and Loukiani Papadaki. May it likewise bring all of you into the realm of the Archer God, Phoibos of the golden hair.

Yeah, I know I said I was going to start posting the Bacchic Judaica today, but upon further reflection decided to save it for the Shabbos.

Here are two musicians I am currently enjoying: Ben Caplan and Benjamin Tod.

And Ren would be a third.

Karkûm, father of sorcery
and one of the mightiest of Šedim,
was traveling to the house of NN,
because of a compact with a sorcerer,
eager to spread illness, suffering, and quarrels,
when he encountered Dionysos Alexikakos
upon the road. Dionysos pointed his thyrsos
at Karkûm and said in a thunderous voice:
“You were sent by an evil one,
but I am sending you to the abode
of ninety nine evils.
Over nine swamps,
over nine rivers,
over nine seas
I send you,
and don’t ever come back from there;
or you shall receive
nine beatings,
nine floggings,
nine tortures,
and I shall cut you into nine pieces,
and thrice nine birds will feast on your flesh
and each fly off in a different direction!”
Karkûm disappeared,
and did not trouble
the house of NN again.

Dionysos the Thunderer, who hurls spears of divine fire,
bull-horned God who dances with the Hyades
as unexpected rain falls from Heaven
bringing life back to the barren turf,
I call upon you descendant of heroic Kadmos
for I am facing spiritual assault, as once your beloved
city was attacked by a pack of headstrong brigands,
terrifying in their force and savagery.
Just as Eteoklēs feared the encroaching darkness
and the destruction it would bring upon his kingdom,
I dread this gloom that has hold of my heart,
and ask you to be my refuge and support,
as I seek to drive it out. Strengthen my faith
and fill me with your radiance, Dionysos who rules flower-rich Nysa;
surround me with your Furious Host, better protection than all seven
of the Theban walls, and may your grace be poured out on me
like a libation of sparkling wine upon the thirsty ground.
Guide my steps that I may walk in the peace and truth of the Gods,
and dispel the doubt that clouds my mind, the work of Kapaneus
the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself
above all that is called God or revered as holy.
First to climb the ladder to assail Thebes’ impregnable defenses,
he shook his giant fist and howled obscenities skyward,
reserving the worst of his blasphemies for Kronos’ son,
and the Gods gathered round the throne of almighty Zeus.
His hatred of the Gods was legendary, and survived his mortal frame,
which was consumed by the flames of your furious father.
His mocking voice hunts down the pious, and Kapaneus harasses
them until their belief becomes brittle and crumbles in the hand
like a clod of dry dirt. He lies, saying that the Gods don’t care,
or that you are powerless to stop bad things from happening,
that you Immortals are nothing more than old wives’ tales
told to frighten and instill proper morals in the young,
or worse that you are evil demons trying to deceive mankind
so that we’ll be thrown into the river of fire in the underworld
or suffer even greater punishments for doing what is right and holy.
So I ask that you silence his cursed voice, and shield my mind
from his vile atheism and impiety, and please stop him from flitting
to and fro spreading his filth among the masses.
When I am tested by Kapaneus and those like him,
I will remain loyal to you, my Lord, and serve you in whatever way
has been given to me, because love is action not just an ephemeral emotion,
and devotion a choice and commitment every bit as serious
as marriage or standing in defense of one’s homeland.
As for those who have been victimized by Kapaneus and his ilk,
I pray that the people are once again able to see clearly,
to recognize the true nature of the Gods, and to give their lives to you.
Remove all hindrances the enemy would use to distract them from divine truth,
open their eyes, Dionysos, that they might behold the mysteries that surround them,
and cause the soil of their souls to become moist and fertile
so that the bright flowers of faith may spring up there in abundance.

Çorabaş, spirit of division and destruction,
tormentor of the the pious,
for your name, and the names of your followers,
I make this writ in order that it will provide
protection and healing for the house of NN.
I adjure you, and I beswear you,
Çorabaş the wicked spirit who sits upon
three hundred and sixty çorts as his throne,
that Dionysos Alexikakos, he with a drawn sword
and a flaming torch shall harm you,
if you again enter this home
and that you shall not reveal yourselves
as harassers, polluters, and sons of evil
O slaves of Çorabaş, son of Velzevul,
and he that hatest a household well established,
during the day and during the night,
whether there, or whether coming or going.
This home, the things it contains, and the people
who live here are all sealed by Dionysos Alexikakos,
Dionysos Alexikakos, Dionysos Alexikakos
and know that if you trespass here you shall face
both him and his Furious Host. Io evohe! Evohe! Evohe!

I adjure you, father of the host of gluttonous spirits,
whose grotesque belly is never full, Angel of the Abyss,
Locust King, compatriot of quick-to-anger Termagant
and Mahomēs who befuddles the minds of the multitude
with heresy, hatred, and hysteria.

Out! Out! Out!

Abaddōn, destroyer of propriety and moderation,
you would have the world believe that you bear the image
of grape-crowned Bacchus but with skin blue as an Indian divinity,
surrounded by opulence and decadence — but the God
who speaks from the Tree revealed your proper countenance,
so that those with eyes unclouded might recognize your true nature,
promoter of filth and ugliness.

Out! Out! Out!

From a distance you resemble a white horse galloping
riderless through the land, but up close it is clear that you
are a locust with the faces of three men, each wearing
a royal diadem with hair and makeup like a courtesan’s,
and the teeth of a lion eager to tear into flesh, and you also
have wings like an eagle circling the Hollywood hills
and a tail that thrashes about like an angry cat’s, but ending
in a scorpion’s stinger. Don’t try to hide it, you creature of
corpulence and lethargy, who inflates and warps the body’s
natural appetites, whose curses are diabetes, heart disease,
and gout — you have been found out!

Out! Out! Out!

Trouble no more this servant of the Gods, and permit them
to live a life of restraint, discipline, and piety, observing all
of the prescriptions and prohibitions laid upon them by their skilled diviner,
without temptation, harassment, lusts which Nature did not place in them,
and an equally false aversion to a life of holy conviction and loving devotion,
or you shall provoke the wrath of him whose likeness you have wrongfully
appropriated, Dionysos the Titan-slayer and killer of countless monsters,
the mighty son of Zeus who rules from Mount Nysa.

Out! Out! Out!

Instead go and pester NN whose will is weak,
who neglects their austerities and religious duties,
and will gladly welcome your lordship over them
and sink into the life of a voluptuary, without shame,
self worth, or any care for the opinions of others.
Now that is a juicy morsel for you to devour,
Abaddōn of the bottomless pit, not this one
who still loves what is good, beautiful, and true
and shall constantly resist and fight you, awful
Abaddōn, in your attempts to dominate and corrupt them.

In the name of Dionysos the Monster Killer,
grandson of Kadmos the Dragonslayer,
I rebuke you desolation that lays waste at the noon hour;
you who appear as a sad-eyed youth with a white raven
perched upon your shoulder, and a face that makes you
seem innocent and incapable of ever harming another,
though in truth you are a coiling dragon belching fire,
the bastard offspring of Gaia and Aither, and brother
of sinister Acedia, Aboulia, Aergia and Anomia,
merciless Torpor whom the Moabites called Belphegor,
voivod of the void, and known among the Canaanites
as Chamōsh, the one who quarrels, the enemy of beauty and desire.

In the name of Dionysos who drives out delusion,
and bursts the unbreakable bonds of obsession,
I renounce you and smash any claim you have on me Torpor,
even if it was forged through negligence, thoughtless agreement,
or inheritance; those who succumb to you, abomination, are subject
to spirits of exhaustion, apathy, anhedonia, and neglect for all of the things
of the body and the soul; you burden your playthings with countless fears
and morbid imaginings until their wills are
crushed beneath a tremendous weight; you snuff out ambition,
hope, dreams and delight until your victims’ lives
have become small, dreary, and pointless;
you pour into their minds an endless stream of black bile
until only the ash of their former lives remains.

In the name of Dionysos who keeps away evil, who answers cries for help,
I condemn you parasite of impiety, forerunner of the vices; you, foul one,
scoff at every reason to do good, sowing doubt
and confusion with your putrid whispers,
and you brazenly rush to any sign of passion for holiness
to try and cool things down; nothing brings you more pleasure,
Torpor, than to make the religious into a runaway,
a coward who has fled the spiritual battlefield
to live a life of mediocrity, safety, and predictability,
unmindful of their oaths and duty to their people, to their traditions,
to their land, and to their Gods.

Thrice-mighty Dionysos, I pray that you
remove this wicked spirit from my life.
Your power can triumph over him
and all of his kinfolk easily.
I pray that you will protect me and my loved ones
from his wicked thoughts
and Torpor’s temptations which are full of
deceit, despondency, and dejection.
O son of Zeus, I implore you, drive him back
to his underworld home and banish
his foreboding presence from my life for good.
His power cannot touch me
if your strength is shielding me.
I fight with all I have against everything
that stands opposed to the order of the Gods,
but it is your power that truly vanquishes the enemy.
I beseech you Dionysos, remove this vile fiend Torpor
from my life so that I may shine in your light once again.

O Dionysos Chrēstotēs, whose mirror
reveals the proper nature of things,
and destroys distorted perceptions,
you who would have us lift our heads high,
unashamed of our imperfections,
and rightfully proud of our achievements,
I lift my soul to you this day,
though Šezbeth the deceiver would have me
cower like a small and timid creature
bound by heavy chains of self-hate,
my mind the plaything of the tormentor.
Guard my heart, I pray, from all delusion,
my thoughts from vain imaginings,
my lips from falsehood,
my hands from self-harm,
and my soul from wicked inclinations
and poisonous impieties,
O Dionysos, subduer of Šezbeth,
so that I might live a life of virtue,
serving my community and worshiping
what is divine in a spirit of joy and truth.

O Dionysos, stranger who is known in every land,
unrelenting force, made mighty through madness,
upholder of order, and destroyer of corruption,
deliverer of souls, and help for the suffering,
priest and exorcist among the Gods,
whose utterances are clever, potent, and true;
may your healing be upon NN, and may NN be released
from the spirit of bondage that has settled, not only upon their life,
but the lives of all of their family members too!
May they all be made whole once again
through your divine mercy, Dionysos.
I adjure you, the evil Lilith whose name is Ṣemotat,
daughter of Ḥari, daughter of Balibati, the one
who strikes, and smites, and strangles, and devours,
so that all authority and all power have been taken from you,
and if you don’t want to suffer worse — go now, Ṣemotat,
and return to the desolate wastes where you were spawned.
As the Earth is from the Heavens, that far shall you remain from NN.
As a limb that has been amputated, that far shall you remain from NN.
As an ex who has been served a writ of divorce,
that far shall you remain from NN, O Ṣemotat the unwanted.
Go, Ṣemotat, and cry on your mother’s shoulder over the one
whose bed you will no longer be permitted to share,
whose vitality you can no longer drain,
whose spouse you can no longer make spiteful,
whose children you can no longer harm,
whose luck, life and livelihood shall flourish
without your polluting presence.
Go, Ṣemotat, and think again before choosing
someone to attach yourself to who has
Dionysos as their advocate and protector.

Just like the river Hebros runs down to the sea;
just like the Moon runs through the sky;
just like the son runs to the lap of Hipta his nurse;
so shall this evil swarm flee far from the Bacchant NN
pursued by the Golden Apples of Dionysos.
May all evil pains, evil aches, evil fevers, evil sickness,
and evil injuries inflicted by Ponēros or any other
return to their master, and never come again
to trouble NN the Bacchant who cries, “Io evohe!”

While searching in the land of Bābiru
for Arnavāz and Shahrnāz, the most
beautiful daughters of King Jamshēd,
who had been stolen by Aži Dahâka,
the evil dragon with three heads,
Dionysos discovered an ancient
palace that once belonged to the
venerable sage Maḥaway, but had
long since fallen into ruins and
become the habitation of evil spirits.
With a fennel-stalk Dionysos
slew ninety-nine Dēvs
and ninety-nine female Dēvs;
so may ninety-nine illnesses
and ninety-nine pains depart
from NN, and not return as long
as Aži Dahâka is imprisoned
on Mount Damāvand.
Life triumphs over the
works of the unmaker!

Dionysos was sailing his ship down the Danube
when he arrived in the land of the Magyars;
but when he came ashore he could find no Magyars anywhere,
as they were hiding from the demon Guta who liked to beat people
until they had a stroke or died of hemorrhage.
Dionysos said, “Stop striking these good people,
or you shall surely regret it!”
And the demon Guta just laughed in his face.
So with the scepter of Phanēs Dionysos smote Guta
in the temple, and the ugly head of Guta fell off.
All over Guta’s body he beat him,
until there was just a pile of bones and meat,
which Dionysos had carried away and burnt by his Satyrs,
and when the foul-smelling smoke was gone,
migraines and epilepsy disappeared from the land of the Magyars,
and the people returned from the caves and forest
where they had been hiding from the demon Guta.
So may it be for NN, who struggles to worship the Gods
through pain and sickness, day in and day out.
May Dionysos banish suffering, and bring forth rejoicing,
and may Guta the demon remain struck down.