DIsclaimer as always: This post will be full of UPG, personal opinions, observations and interpretations, and I simply want to share my ideas about my practice with these three deities.
Apollo & Dionysus by Leonid Ilyukhin
An important literary dynamic that has existed for a long time in the Western literary sphere is Apollo vs. Dionysus: order versus chaos. The civilized versus the wild.
I would like to propose that the dynamic these two have in my practice is more so about understanding this balance, and further, adding Hermes into this understanding.
Apollon first as a bringer of disclipine; illuminator of knowledge, lifter of illusion, brilliant but harsh. Apollon teaches me how to find and utilize clarity, and give attention and respect to the things that matter most to me. I have to improve consistently and understand the need for rest and focus. He can be a guiding light and a voice in the dark, and a reminder for the need of a steady hand and calm mind.
Dionysus on the other hand, presents as a reminder of joy, of anger; true madness and uninhibited frenzy. A reminder that I am still an animal, with needs and desires and fears all the same. There is power in instinct, and it is difficult to identify and wield, but it is important to let myself move forward with my eyes closed sometimes. Dionysus reminds me to trust myself and to build skills that only I can use.
Hermes is the final piece; the center that brings it all together in a (mostly) clean knot. Hermes is the friend of men, bringer of happiness, and guide between boundaries; similarly to how he brings the chaos into order, and the disclipine into the frenzy. A deity of the people, I feel as if he guides me to use the skills of discipline and instinct among my fellow people; how to wield my tongue and how to properly interact, both in times of serenity and otherwise. Hermes teaches me that all of these things are important in society, but most important is the work it will take to become the kind of person who can juggle all of these things, as well as understand how it all came to be.
