So, hi, I'm Sascha, I go by he/they pronouns, I'm pretty new to this whole thing but I'm trying my best
I currently work with Loki, Dionysus and Hypnos, so yeah :]
So I’ve been in a bit of a rough patch lately (emotionally speaking) and so I just wanted to make a post kind of pointing out the comfort I find in my deities:
Hypnos is not only one of my patrons but he’s also just this warm, parental energy. Like he is great for when I just need to vent and I need someone to hold space for me or when I need advice.
Morpheus is touchy, in my experience anyway, and seeing how I’m clairsentient he often quite literally holds me when I’m having a rough time of things. It’s really nice and comforting.
Dionysos is comforting in the way that he’s fun. He’s empathetic, yes, but he tends to just toss a distraction my way if I‘m going through it and I call on him. Oh you’re sad? Go read a play. Get dressed up nice. Dance. Feel it, but don’t drown in it. And sometimes that’s just the energy I need.
And last but not least Loki is another wonderful deity for comfort. Not just because he’s shockingly good at listening but also because he’s going to get you to solve the problem. Like is it a physiological reaction that you’re in a shit mood? Have you had food? Someone caused it? Fuck them, you’re worth more that that shit. There is a problem that’s making you anxious, well here’s how you find the solution now go do it.
Note: all of this is entirely upg and I don’t claim otherwise, feel free to lmk if your experience with any of these deities is different, I’d be super curious to hear it
Anthesteria, celebrated from the 11th to the 13th of Anthesterion (February–March), was one of the biggest festivals dedicated to Dionysus. Known as the Festival of Flowers, it marked the arrival of spring, the opening of the new wine casks, and the renewal of life. But it wasn’t just about feasting and drinking, it was also a time of purification, fertility, and remembrance, when the boundary between the living and the dead grew thin.
At the heart of the festival was the ritual opening of the wine casks that had been fermenting since the last harvest. This wasn’t just practical; it was symbolic. The wine had been maturing underground, just like Dionysus himself had once been carried in Zeus' thigh before being "born again." Bringing the wine to the surface was more than just a tradition,it was a reflection of Dionysus’ own myth.
But Anthesteria wasn’t all joy and celebration. It was believed that during these days, spirits wandered freely, so while people enjoyed the festivities, they also took precautions to protect themselves. The festival was a strange mix of life and death, revelry and ritual, perfectly embodying the nature of Dionysus, a God of both wild celebration and deep mystery. During Anthesteria, it was also said that the maenads celebrated privately in the mountains and forests. In some legends, Dionysus' marriage to Ariadne was held during Anthesteria.
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Days of Anthesteria
Day 1: Pithoigia (Jar-Opening) 🌸
The first day of Anthesteria, Pithoigia, was centered around the ritual opening of the pithoi, large clay jars that contained the previous year’s wine. These casks had spent months underground, and now, they were unearthed and brought to the sanctuary of Dionysus. A portion of the wine was poured out as an offering, and the rest was shared by all members of the household.
The day was filled with flowers, marking the beginning of the season. Everyone over the age of three was invited to participate in the first taste of the new wine, and the mood was communal and joyous.
Day 2: Choës (Pitchers) 🏺
The second day of the festival, Choës, was a time of popular merrymaking, characterized by wine-drinking contests in which even slaves and children participated. People dressed in their finest clothes, with some even embodying figures from myth connected to Dionysus. There were visits to friends and drinking contests, where participants had to drink an entire chous (about 3 liters) in complete silence. This day was open to everyone, even slaves, highlighting how Dionysus transcended the boundaries of class and status.
For children, Choës marked a special rite of passage. Boys reaching their second year were crowned with flowers and given small drinking vessels, symbolizing their gradual initiation into the community. Meanwhile, the devoted followers of Dionysus, his maenads and priestesses, took part in private, sacred rituals that marked the spiritual union between them and the god.
Day 3: Chytroi (Pots) 💀
The final day, Chytroi, was dedicated to the spirits of the dead. Pots filled with a sacred mix of seeds and grains, called panspermia, were offered to Hermes Chthonios and the wandering souls of the deceased. During this time, it was believed that the spirits of the underworld walked among the living. To protect against any malevolent spirits, people chewed on hawthorn leaves and smeared their doorways with tar. The festival came to a close with the dismissal of the spirits: "Away with you, Keres, it is no longer Anthesteria!"
With these words, the spirits were sent back to the underworld, and life in Athens returned to normal, marking the end of the brief but intense period when the living and the dead had shared the same space.
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Activities To Do:
🍷 Drink wine, or any liquid that you like.
🍷 Place flowers on your altar.
🍷 Honor God Dionysus.
🍷 Go to pottery.
🍷 Make a special mask for Lord Dionysus.
🍷 Do a libation in nature.
🍷 Go to the theater.
🍷 Collect flowers from nature.
🍷 Read and recite the hymns to Dionysus.
🍷 Honor both life and death.
🍷 Take a walk in nature and/or in the mountains.
🍷 Draw Dionysus's symbol or carve His name in stones or wood.
🍷 Make art for Dionysus.
🍷 Make a flower crown.
🍷 Honor your deceased loved ones.
🍷 Leave offerings for spirits.
🍷 Light candles.
🍷 Plant seeds in your garden.
🍷 Plan a feast and celebrate with your loved ones.
🍷 Sing and dance while listening to your favorite songs.
🍷 Do creative activities like art or poetry.
🍷 Go wild and celebrate it as you wish, Kala Anthesteria!
The world of deity worship is not black and white!
There is uncertainty, there is trial and error and above all there is room for mistakes. It was our deities who created us, so it must be our deities who understand us best. We are mortals, they know this and still they choose to be around us.
so recently on my other blog ( @templeofelysium btw you should follow it) I made a deep dive post on Hekate because my friend was wondering if they'd like to create an altar to her. well, i had a really fun time making that post, and I feel like I learned a lot. because of that, i decided to make another post on a different one of my friend's other deities! thus: dionysus! again all links are posted at the end!
Domain: wine, vegetation, madness, festivity, theater, pleasure, fertility, religious ecstasy, epiphany, foreignness, and promoting civilization/peace
Parentage: Zeus, king of the gods, and Semele, mortal princess of Thebes. She was later transformed into Thyone, goddess of Bacchic frenzy
Important Imagery:
-thrysos: a long wand of fennel, often topped with a pinecone or artichoke and circled with leaves or grapes
-ivy leaves
-drinking cup/goblet
-snakes
-phalluses
-an older bearded man (often portly), or a effeminate, long-haired youth
-leopards/panthers
-dithyrambs, dancing and singing, tragic plays
Associated Holidays: City/Greater and Rural/Lesser Dionysia
(Some) Lore:
-He likes to turn people into dolphins
-After Hera discovered that Zeus had impregnated Semele, she convinced her to have Zeus show his true form to her. This incinerated Semele, leaving only the fetus of Dionysus. Zeus then took the fetus and sewed him into his own thigh until he was ready to be born. This is why the god is called "twice-born"
-When Dionysus was born he was entrusted to Hermes, who first brought him to Semele's family (and maybe asked them to raise him as a girl?). Hera, hearing of this, sent madness down unto the couple, whereupon they killed themselves and their children
-After this, Dionysus was brought to Silenus and the nymphs at Mount Nysa, which is where it is said he learned to make wine
-Once he had grown up, Hera inflicted madness upon him, which was cured by the great goddess Rhea with an amethyst
-After this, he was said to travel across Greece and Asia, where he was accompanied by satyrs and bacchantes/maenads (a tribe of women devoted to him)
-Dionysus fell in love with Ampelos, the son of a nymph and satyr, who, in one story, mocks Selene and is then gored by a bull and is then turned into the first grapevine. In the other story, Ampelos falls from a great height while picking grapes. Either way, Ampelos was then turned into the constellation Vindemitor (or "grape-gatherer")
-Another one of his male lovers was Polymnos, a mortal man who showed Dionysus the way to the Underworld on his quest to retrieve his mother's soul. As payment, Polymnos asked that the god swear to lie with him when he returns. However when Dionysus returns he finds Polymnos to have died, so instead the god positions himself over his grave and fucks himself with a wooden phallus
-His most famous female lover was Ariadne, who he found on Naxos after she had been abandoned by the hero Theseus. He soon fell in love with her, married her (throwing her bridal crown into the stars as the constellation Corona Borealis), and had several children with her. She ended up being turned to stone by the hero Perseus and his shield, but was resurrected as goddess of weaving and labyrinths.
-In orphic myth, there was a god named Zagreus, and was the son of Zeus by Persephone. He was dismembered by the titans and reborn as Dionysus. This is the reason some people consider Dionysus an underworld god, though he has little to do with death other than the myths of his mother and Ariadne
Epithets:
-Bakkhos/Bakkheios: of bacchic frenzy
-Bromios: noisy, boisterous
-Mainoles: mad, raging
-Nyktelios: of the night
-Lampteros: of the torches
-Hestios: of the feast
-Auxites: giver of increase
-Phallen: of the phallus
-Androgynos: androgynous
-Phleon: luxuriant foliage
-Staphylites: of the grape
-Omphakites: of the unripe grape
-Lenaios: of the wine-press
-Theoinos: god of wine
-Agathos Daimon: the good spirit
-Protrygaios: first of the vintage
-Oinops: wine-dark
-Akratophoros: bringer of mixed wine
-Kissios: of the ivy
-Kittophoros: ivy-bearer
-Anthion: of the flowers
-Kistophoros: basket-bearer
-Dimetor: twice-born
-Eiraphiotes: goat-kid, insewn
-Aigobolos: goat-slayer
-Melanaegis: dark aegis
-Lysios: of release
-Eleuthereus: of liberation/freedom
-Psilax: uplifted on wings
-Saotes/Soterios: saviour
-Polites: citizen
-Agyieus: protector of the streets/ways
-Mystes: of the mysteries
-Khthonios: chthonic
-Melpomenus: singer
I strongly believe that you do not have to be “experienced” to post about your religion or practices. You are allowed to share your thoughts, and your beliefs, and the things that are important to you regardless of how long you’ve been practicing.
The important thing is to remember that everyone’s practice is unique and there is no single “correct” way to practice when it comes to worshiping the gods. Don’t let yourself fall into thinking your beliefs and practices are the “right ones”. If they feel right to you, they are right for you…but that doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone else. Be kind and respectful to paths that are different from your own. Every person alive has at least one thing you could learn from them.
I usually don't post rants but fuck nothing pisses me off more than people who try to say you are worshipping a deity wrong
First off let me direct your to how many different fucking named ways there are to worship God capital G
Secondly let me point you towards Epithets
Worshipping deities in different ways has existed as long as deities have existed people rewrite things how they want it people change details they don't agree with
If I wrote a new myth right now with full belief that it happened then it did no one has to agree with me but for my belief and my practice it is as real as any other myth because that's how faith fucking works
Especially when the internet didn't exist people definitely didn't learn about or hear every myth that was passed around and had their own ideas on how certain things happened and there are people who hear a myth and just said that's stupid that didn't happen and didn't agree with a myth no matter how popular it was to
Plus! Not every myth was written at the same time it was written over hundreds of years and changed along with the people who believed in it and we don't have to stop changing
It doesn't matter that it's old or that it managed to survive thousands of myths didn't
The only wrong way to worship is invading a closed practice
People need to accept that if someone worships a deity or entity different than you that that's okay if it eases your mind pretend it is a different entity with the same name
And if you are a historian or whatever gonna being you in real close for this one
I don't care about your opinion
"There is no proof of this"
How old people worshiped the gods is an inspiration for people who are alive now not a rulebook keep studying your dead people and stop debating living people's faith
"The God of Theatre". This epithet suggests that Dionysus sustains the art of theater. Through the devotion of his followers, theater has become inseparable from him. He does not only influence theater, but becomes theater itself and its very essence. Every part of the stage reflects his presence, embodying the spirit of theater in every play.
So this is not a deity work post but I've been meaning to get into dream magic and I figured I'd share this little thing I made. Basically I did a little satchel meant to go under my pillow and help with dream magic
Here's what to do if you want to make one too, please note that the associations here are mine, go with your intuition and substitute if anything here doesn't fit your craft.
What you'll need:
- A satchel, small bag or piece of cloth you can tie closed, any size and colour will do, I used a blue one
- Herbs. I used Poppy and Lavender for dreams and sleep, Mint for clarity and Verbane for protection and communication with both my subconcious and whatever entities I choose to pursue any dream work with-
- Sigils and phrases for your purpouses, I did them for remembering dreams and lucid dreaming. Make a bunch on paper, roll them up, pop them in there
- Crystals if that's your thing, I put in some amethyst
Pop all of that stuff in your bag (or alternative thing to hold it), charge it with your intention and energy, or with intention and moonlight, speak your intention, put it under your pillow and enjoy :]
Hope this is helpful <3
Enough about what other people keep telling you that you should think, what do you think about your spirituality? What do you think about the gods? What do you think you should do? Think for yourself and about what you want. What is religion or spirituality to you?
watched the stalks of a lavender bush by the bus stop dip and sway from the sheer amount of fat little bumblebees on it and you know what. some things in this world are good
I don’t think we are meant to fear the Gods. Not even Gods of storms, death, or war. To believe in them is to accept them as they are. Don’t let anybody convince you that polytheists should fear the Gods. Be awe-struck, be humble before them if it feels right, but in this modern day and age, spirituality shouldn’t feel unsafe.
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