While I was away I worked on numerous projects, but two of them were more successful than the others: developing a monastic order for the Starry Bull tradition (basically Pythagoreanism, with less math) and a Bacchic Orphic system of demonology and exorcism.

The latter project necessitated immersing myself in systems ranging from Babylonia, Egypt, the Levant, Greece, Mandaeism, Manichaeism, Eastern and Northern Europe, Medieval Christianity, Oriental Christianity, Charismatic and Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Judaism from ancient times to the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, and from there to Kabbalah and similar strains of mysticism, as well as Goetia and various Left-Hand Paths.

I then took this material and synthesized it until I had something that I could give an Orphic and Dionysian spin to.

Amusingly this is exactly what itinerant religious specialists have been doing from time immemorial. I encountered a ton of formulae through thousands of years and vastly differing cultures. While sometimes the mode of transmission was obvious to scholars, other times it beggared description. Having experimented with this material I can say why certain things keep cropping up, and why others are specific to times and places.

I intend to share some of this material with y’all over the coming weeks, though much will be held back for students and colleagues.

Why?

Because we are living through extraordinary times. Anyone who is dealing with the demonic can attest that there has been a radical uptick in encounters and possessions within the last 5-10 years; anyone who watches the nightly news or keeps up with social media has no doubt noticed the consequences of all this, even if they didn’t have a name for it, or resisted seeing it for what it so obviously is.

I want to provide folks with the spiritual framework and tools necessary for dealing with such things, and to bring glory to the name of Dionysos, our Defender and Redeemer.

I have no illusions that by doing so I am going to provide my enemies with ammunition, and those who once called me friend or studied under me good cause for distancing themselves even further from me.

So be it.

Since I got online in the late 90s my goal has never been to be liked. I spoke out about the issues facing our communities years, even decades before anyone else, and more often than not I was proven correct, though by the time that was apparent I’d burned so many bridges that few, if any, would acknowledge the fact. I have no reason to believe that this time will be any different.

What I do hope is that when the time comes people will have the resources needed to combat this evil and keep their loved ones safe, and that this will engender an even deeper love and devotion for Dionysos.

And that was a selection from the Εὐχολόγιον or collection of common prayers I’ve compiled as part of my codification of the Starry Bull tradition’s liturgy.

On Friday our household will be performing a rite in honor of Dionysos and his Blessed Dead, so if you’d like something said on your behalf submit your request to sannion@gmail.com by 5:00pm Eastern time tomorrow.

Wine Blessing I

Bless,
O Agriampelos,
Lenaios, Methusos,
Oinodotēs,
and all the rest,
this rich beverage which you have made.
May it be a joyous medicine against sorrows
for all who drink of it, I pray, and grant
by the invocation of your holy names
that whoever tastes of it may,
from your generosity, sweet Lord,
receive wellness of both body and soul,
leading to inspiration and blessed madness
through the blood of great Dionysos, our Deliverer.

Wine Blessing II

King Bromios, as we drink this wine
let us remember that you are the giver of life,
the one who sets free;
you bring deep peace to our souls,
and your love flows within us like waves of purple.
As we pour out this wine
we see your sacrifice poured out for us.
We are witness to the depth of your grace and goodness,
and the pain you continuously suffer for us.

Wine Blessing III

This, O large-hearted Polygēthes,
is your greatest gift to care-worn mortals,
for it eases our suffering,
and when we are drunk from it
we are filled with joy and a lively spirit.
Without wine there would be no fine banquets,
no festivals, no sacrifices for the Gods,
and love would completely disappear from the world.
But wine is even more precious than that,
for this wine is your blood,
O Mad and Maddening One,
first poured out upon the black Earth
when the Titans set upon you
with their terrible knives.
A part of you dwells in each sip of wine,
and dwells within us when we drink it.
So hail, and thank you, O Bakcheios,
for your splendorous gift.

Wine Blessing IV

Bios. Thanatos. Bios.
It is through your death
and resurrection, Dionysos,
that we have both wine
and the eternal revelry
conferred by initiation.
Thanatos. Bios. Thanatos.
This cup is full
of your blessed mysteries,
and as we drink from it
may the remembrance
of them be awakened
within our hearts
and our minds.
Bios. Thanatos. Bios.

Wine Blessing V

Oh benevolent Bacchus,
most excellent master,
who loves and smiles upon
all his devotees,
our gratitude to you,
maker of the fruit of the vine,
bestower of countless blessings,
deliverer, and loosener of cares,
sacrificed bull whose spirit lives on
in the wine, and when drunk
arouses, excites, maddens,
inspires poetry and beatific visions,
and leads our hearts into deeper
communion with your own holy heart;
may this cup of your precious blood
crown our festivities, and give us a taste
of the joys that await your blessed initiates
on the other side.

O gracious Dionysos, by the great suffering of your indestructible heart
I implore you to come and heal my damaged heart, mind and body.
I implore you to banish the worrisome and obsessive thoughts
that are causing unceasing stress and anxiety in my life.
I implore you to loosen and release the psychological conditions
that keep me in harmful and unhappy patterns of behavior.
I implore you to dissolve any traumas and torments
that have scarred and stunted me
going all the way back to childhood,
and any generational curses or guilt
that have traveled through the blood
to maim and distort my life,
and the lives of those who are close to me.
I implore you to release the hold that bitter memories have on me,
and the hatred I have allowed to fester in my soul as a result
against those who have wronged and offended me.
I implore you to take away my soul’s anguishes,
especially those which are the root cause
of my bodily pains and illness.
O gracious Dionysos, by the great suffering of your indestructible heart
I fervently pray that you help and heal me
in all these ways, and in ways I have not thought to ask for.

Remember, O Dionysos who intercedes
with the Lady Persephonē, that I am
a child of Earth and starry Heaven,
a creature of conflicting impulses
madly running through the dark,
confusing corridors of the Labyrinth
searching for answers to questions
I don’t even know how to frame.
I want to do right, to be pious,
to glorify you, and to bring honor
to my people through my words and deeds,
and yet it is so easy to fall short,
to act wrongly, to think the things
that I should not, to give in
to pessimism and doubt,
or worse the haughtiness
and violence which are in me
because of my Titanic ancestry.
Force of Liberation,
Breaker of Chains,
Loosener, I implore you,
Dionysos grant me
strength of will,
and the grace to subdue
my old self to the new,
and the new self to you,
that I may be counted worthy
to bear the blessed name of Bakchos,
and celebrate your orgies in the afterlife
with the other wine-rich initiates.
Strengthened by love of you,
I shall renew my struggle
and sacrifice to you the best
version of myself I can produce,
day by day and night by night
until I reach your surpassingly beautiful mountain,
where I may dance forever with you, Loudroaring One.

Hail to every last God and spirit
gathered round the throne
of Zeus’ indomitable son,
the King of Nysa,
Dionysos the Starry Bull;
may they never thirst!
Hail to his wives,
and to his lovers,
his brothers and sisters,
his mothers and his children,
and any divine friends who may be visiting
from far off lands;
may they never thirst!
Hail to the Titans and the Toys; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Nymphs and Nurses; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Muses and Sirens; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Centaurs and Gryphons; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Satyrs and Silens; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Fauns and Paniskoi; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Korybantes, Kabeiroi, and Kouretes; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Kallikantzaroi, Kukeri and Kobaloi; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Fairies and Goblins; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Harlequinade; may they never thirst!
Hail to the Furious Host; may they never thirst!
Hail to those who have joined his mighty Army
from numerous places and pantheons;
may they never thirst!
Hail to the myriads of Dionysian Dead;
the Martyrs and Prophets; the Blessed Initiates;
the Orpheotelestai and all those who performed
his sacred rites and dances;
the Boukoloi; the Nyktipoloi; the Rhizotomoi;
the Bakchoi and Bakchai; the Bassarai; the Lenai;
the Thyiades; the Aletides; the Klodones; the Mimallones;
the Komastai; the Technitai; the Basileis;
the Tragic Heroes and Heroines;
the outcast, the lost, the drunkards, the insane,
and all the rest; may they never thirst!

Dionysos, sin-devourer,
master of many kinds of catharsis,
inventor of rites of liberation,
establisher of customs of holiness,
cleanse from us any impurity
wherever it may be found in us.
Dionysos, render and weaver,
fill our hearts with a loathing
for that which is wicked, ugly, and false,
and ardent longing for that which is
beautiful, good, and true.
And may we immerse ourselves
ever deeper in your traditions,
and walk always in your ways,
Dionysos who releases, and who saves.

O Dionysos on whose stage
great tragic truths are acted out,
O Dionysos who taught Orpheus mellifluous
charms to make even beasts, and trees, and stones
join in your intoxicating, contagious dance,
O Dionysos who punished the daughters of Thebes
for the slanders they spread about your dear mother;
I pray, gracious Lord, protect us from the evils
that lurk online, as well as in the things
that we read, and watch, and discuss with our fellows.
Guard our minds and hearts from the barrage
of filth, and negativity, and the countless lies
intended to manipulate and lead us astray
which run rampant in our world today.
Grant us discernment, and the strength to choose
what is right and noble, uplifting and pious,
no matter how difficult and unpopular
such decisions may prove to be.
For it is better to incur the wrath of the many,
than to risk the corruption of our soul,
and worse, your displeasure
O Dionysos, granter of salubrity.

Hear my prayers, O Dionysos Doseros,
for I am one who has burned incense for you,
and recited your sacred hymns,
and adored your image in its shrine,
and set out bread and meat to nourish your body,
and poured cool water and sweet wine
to quench your thirst.
I have kept the memory of you alive in my heart,
and I have tried to walk upright in your ways,
and shun all those deeds
that are hateful before your eyes.
You are the indomitable one,
who hears all prayers
and has the power to grant them,
and you never turn aside a supplicant.
Hear my words, O Dionysos Dotēs,
for this is what I pray!
Burn away every sign of weakness within me,
and grant me strength of arm, nobility of spirit,
keenness of mind and pious reverence
for the Gods and their ways.
When my soul rages about worldly things,
deliver me purified by your soul-stirring rituals.
Teach me how to transform suffering into joy
and never let me lose heart.
Make my thumos to shine as brilliant
and pure as Helios upon the horizon.
Fill my ears with the harmonious music of the heavens;
make my speech ring with your prophetic truth.
Drive me always to be savage and free,
impervious to persuasion and coercion.
And may swift death overtake me
if I should ever forget your name
and beautiful face, my sweet Lord.

I exultantly greet the day,
my heart in awe at the beauty of the world.
Hail to you Gods of the Heavens, and the Earth, and those Below.
Hail Gods of the mountains and forest,
Gods of the mighty rivers and the towering trees.
Hail Gods of the desert, the ocean and the sweeping plains,
Gods of the fertile fields and the bustling cities.
Hail to the Gods of love and frenzy,
of dance and poetry,
of wisdom and prophecy,
of justice and piety,
of strength and prosperity,
of all the virtues and blessings
that make life rich and worth living.
Hail to the mothers and fathers who came before me,
to all those who have experienced the ecstasy of Dionysos,
carried the thyrsos, and danced in his sacred orgies.
Hail to the Gods who guide my heart,
and the helper-spirits who show me the way.
Hail to the whole Divine Assembly
– I rejoice in your presence
on this beautiful day of manifestation,
the world refreshed and vital
as it was upon the first day.
Let today be like that first day
full of limitless possibility,
and boundless fecundity.
All the bad things
and the failures of yesterday
are sunk in the water.
They are forgotten.
They are no more.
Today I begin anew
and shall shoulder my responsibilities
with a proud and joyous heart.
Today I shall do everything in my power
to increase justice and holiness,
and strive to improve my community
however I can, so that we will have
something worthy of them
to pass on to those who come after.
Today let every word that I speak be true.
Today let equanimity guide every action that I perform.
Today may I offer comfort to those in need,
and show kindness to the stranger.
Today I shall be temperate and disciplined
and do the good things necessary
to make my life prosper.
Today I shall set aside all petty grudges
and refuse to let needless anger
or unjust violence take root in my heart.
Today I shall remain ever mindful of the Gods
and seek them out in the world around me.
This is the vow I bind myself to
for today and today only,
witnessed by the all-seeing Sun
and Earth who is everyone’s mother.
And lastly, I pray to all the Gods of my people,
my family, my fellow adherents and initiates
in the Starry Bull tradition; may you walk with them
today, O Gods, and grant them life, health, and stability.
May you make their hearts joyous and fill their souls
with courage, love, beauty, wisdom, and creativity.
May all obstacles be removed from their path
and may any enemies who come against them
be struck down and trodden under foot.
May the community prosper and grow
and continue eternally to do the work
of King Dionysos and his Furious Host.

Dionysos who has concern
for even the chickpea, though it is
considered a small and worthless thing,
protector of all young life,
from the budding flower
to the unsteady fawn taking its first steps
away from its mother’s side, I pray,
strengthen the hearts of those who
have begun to place their hope in you.
Grant them a true vision
of your life-transforming mysteries
so that they will always thirst for more,
and never be satisfied with the false things.
Lead them to one who can correctly
instruct them in your rites and lore,
and model proper piety, morality,
and professionalism through
their every word and deed.
Guard their minds against pride,
doubt, delusion, acedia, modernity,
and all other errors that can corrupt
and destroy their relationship with you.
Bless them with inebriation, wonder,
joy, health, vitality, creativity, abundance,
and all other things that flow
from your sacred madness,
and stir up in them a yearning
to be known as a Bacchant,
and not just one of the wand-bearers.

I make these offerings for Dionysos,
our Savior and the heart of the mysteries.
I make these offerings for Orpheus,
who discovered the blessed mysteries
which bestow enlightenment and release.
I make these offerings for all of the
Prophets, Priests, Poets, and Performers
who shaped the tradition as I have received it.
I make these offerings for my teacher,
who poured the tradition
into my heart and mind,
making me ready and worthy
to receive initiation into the mysteries.
I make these offerings for my initiator,
who gave me what I will need
to live free and without fear,
and find my way to the starry land
when I die, overcoming
all obstacles and temptations. .
I make these offerings for every
member of the Starry Bull tradition,
and all other Dionysians, Hellenic polytheists,
polytheists of other traditions, neopagans
and anyone else who praises the name
of the great Liberator.
I make these offerings for those
who are mired in the filth of ignorance,
deceit, and wickedness, and pray that they
find their way to the truth that sets them free,
and worship of our Lord Dionysos who is
Bakcheios, and Lusios, and Sōtēr, and Asterios.

O Dionysos who appeared
to the Theban people
as a Lydian religious specialist,
a vagabond prophet and sacrificer
who knew the songs and dances
that turn the hearts of the Gods
away from wrath and chastisement
and instead incline them
to provide innumerable blessings
for the community, I pray,
give special thought and care
for those who have taken up
the craft of the sacred,
those who lead your ceremonies,
those who counsel your people
in times of doubt and confusion,
those who interpret the lore,
those who studiously observe
all of your prescriptions and prohibitions,
those who guide the initiate
through your mysteries,
and organize the spectacular
communal celebrations you adore;
all these and those who fulfill the many
other duties they’ve taken upon themselves
and bound themselves with terrible oaths to perform.
Watch over them, inspire them, help them to always
maintain their piety and professionalism,
Dionysos Isodaitēs, and lighten their way
should they struggle with their vocation,
become mired in pollution,
or lose sight of your treasured revelations,
so that they can return to the path of liberation,
and once more be the kind of righteous clergy
you modeled for us, and which
we are in desperate need of.

O Dionysos who leads the mystic thiasos
in the dance of deliverance,
who established distinct rites and customs
in different lands so that all of us
might worship you in the most suitable manner,
who sailed the wine-dark sea in search of Ariadnē,
who descended into the underworld to retrieve Semelē,
who suffered unspeakable indignities in the hope
that you might reach the hearts of your foes,
and reform them.
No distance can separate those you care for
from your love, O Insewn One.
Be with your Bacchants everywhere,
those who adore you,
those who go mad for you,
those who dance your dances,
those who sing your praises
and burn fragrant incense for you,
those who pass down your traditions,
those who search for you,
and all the rest,
whatever their lineage,
affiliations, theology, politics,
or how they conduct the rites,
so long as your precious name
is reverently upon their lips
often and ardently.
Dionysos, I pray,
wherever they go,
be their guide and companion,
let nothing harm them, and no
insurmountable difficulty oppose them.
Make all things turn out happily
and prosperously for them,
may health and vitality be theirs,
and may plentiful wine
and your all-surpassing bliss
be provided to these, your people,
both in this and the other world.

O Dionysos who hears prayers,
and is blessing-generous, hear my prayer
and inspire those who dream,
reward those who are pious and hospitable,
transform those who are arrogant and cruel,
release those who are in bondage,
cleanse those who are polluted,
refresh those who are dried up,
comfort those who are hurting,
heal those who are wounded,
guide those who are wandering,
strengthen those who are suffering,
be with those who fear,
and cherish in your heart
those who are strange, and mad,
and cannot be contained.

16 years ago I started the House of Vines, so it only seems appropriate that I resume blogging after my 2 year hiatus on this day. (Circles, man. Fucking circles.)

This has been a very fertile period for me, full of lots of writing, worship, study, and transformation. I look forward to sharing all of the above and more with any of you who are still around, and new folks who find their way here in the coming days.

May the blessings of Dionysos and his Furious Host be upon each and every one of you, and their protection too. These are certainly strange times we find ourselves in (a lot stranger than when I first consecrated this space on the internet to them all those years ago.)

Time is not just a division of hours, minutes, seconds, etc. It’s vast cycles and curious recurrences and endless possibility manifesting itself in myriads of ways.

---

The most recent project I’ve been working on has been a thorough collection of titles and bynames of Dionysos for the Starry Bull tradition. Most sites give the same 12-30 epithets, clearly borrowed from the same couple of sources. Even the list I provided on the Bakcheion was embarrassingly partial and hadn’t been updated in years — so I decided to remedy that. Starting with mine as the base (along with a handful of epithets I’ve been discussing on the blog) I then added stuff I didn’t have from Theoi, YSEE, HellenicGods, as well as a couple lists compiled by scholars. Then I consulted material on Perseus, Kernos, JSTOR, and Academia.edu, looked into the epigraphic corpora, several Byzantine lexicographers, Dionysios, Nonnos, the Greek Anthology, the LSJ, Farnell, the Orphica, the PGM, the Tragic and Comic Fragments and other sources folks don’t normally consider when doing this kind of research. 

Here is the Starry Bull collection of titles and bynames of Dionysos which clocks in at around 44 pages — yes, pages. I’ll be adding to it, and fixing some formatting glitches as I’m able, but it was time to move on to the next phase of the project.

Since this is still a contentious issue, apparently, I wanted to announce that I will no longer be using the Sonnenrad Heinrich Himmler designed for Wewelsburg castle to represent the nyktelios experience. It was never about the symbol but what it represented. I only used it because that’s how it initially presented, I liked the labyrinthian effect and the inclusion of Sowilō, one of my favorite Runes (after Úruz, Dagaz, Thurisaz, and Berkana; it’s so hard to choose!) — plus, none of the Old German Sun Wheels had the same resonance. While I disagreed with the politics of its creator and the idiocy of many who use the symbol today, I didn’t really feel I had much of a choice since I draw for shit and the artist I used to work with turned out to be a complete slimeball. I understood I was risking pissing a bunch of folks off, but felt the mysteries coming through were more important. I regret the pain, confusion, etc. that this decision has caused. 

But happily while researching the Illyrians and specifically the branch which came to be known as the Iapygians who inhabited that portion of Apulia where Taras/Tarentum and Lecce would one day come to be founded I discovered some pretty fucking cool alternatives. What’s particularly interesting is that a number of these are symbols we’ve already been using in the tradition, a couple of which I even have tattooed on my body — and the fact that these originated in one of the most sacred locales in our tradition is just honey-glaze on the libum. Here’s a Wikipedia, which gives you a sense of what I’m talking about without showing the actual symbol I’m considering adapting.

“People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over.” — Jim Morrison, prophet