by Diane “Emerald” Bronowicz
As a multi-hearth culture Grove, Sassafras sometimes needs to get creative in our approach to the High Days. One of our more rewarding “outside the box” ritual themes has been working with the Greek god Dionysos at Autumn Equinox. In this article I will give some background and context for our work with him at this time of the year.
Who is Dionysos?
Dionysos is the Greek god of wine, ecstasy, and the life-force itself, what the Greeks termed zoe. He is associated with creativity, destruction, divine madness, the breaking down of barriers, and the upheaval of usual social order. Two main stories describe his parentage. In the more common story Dionysos is the son of Zeus and Semele, a daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes. Tricked by Zeus’s wife Hera, the pregnant Semele makes Zeus vow by the River Styx to fulfill any request she asks of him. She then asks him to show himself to her in his true form. Having no choice but to comply, Zeus incinerates Semele with his radiance. He rescues the unborn child and sews him into his thigh to finish gestating. Zeus sends the infant Dionysos to be fostered by nymphs, the sea-goddess Thetis, or his goddess grandmother Kybele-Rhea–the accounts vary. The other story, put forth by the Orphics, tells that Dionysos was born of the Underworld goddess Persephone, begotten by her father Zeus in the form of a snake. Zeus puts the baby Dionysos on his throne. But the jealous Titans distract the child with toys, and either tear or cut him into pieces depending on the version of the story. Since the child was looking into a mirror when he was killed, his soul was preserved. The Titans then roast and eat him, but Zeus finds out and burns the Titans to ash with his lightning. From the resulting ashes sprang human beings, made of materials both base (the Titans) and divine (Dionysos). Dionysos is resurrected after having spent time in the Underworld.
Dionysos embodies the life force of the animals, especially the bull. He is the grape. He is the sacrificer and the sacrificed. He lives, dies, goes into the Underworld, is awakened, and lives again. In later antiquity, Dionysian initiations provided the initiates with access to the afterlife. Like Dionysos, the initiated never truly die.
Why Dionysos for Autumn Equinox?
As we prepare to enter the dark time of the year, the time when everything is dying around us, we must remember that life still endures. Autumn’s harvest becomes the seed of Spring. In honoring Dionysos, the very embodiment of zoe, and experiencing his blessings, we actively prepare to face the dark. Dionysos reminds us that life does indeed endure, even during the coldest, darkest days. Dionysos’s blessings help us to embrace instead of resent the dark time of the year.
How do we work with Dionysos in this rite?
In a literal harvest, we gather in the food that will sustain us through the Winter. In this rite, we will experience the power of Dionysos and take it into ourselves to sustain us through the dark time of the year. By becoming one with the god, we experience his divine essence, the life force itself. We will call him to the rite, present him with offerings of praise, and ask for his blessings. We will receive his blessings in two ways—both having the effect of breaking down the barriers between human and divine. First, we have the opportunity to directly absorb his power as we drink the blessed wine—literally taking the god into ourselves.* Second, we will receive the blessings through music and dance. Dance allows us to connect with the god, to become one with his power, to feel the pure, undifferentiated life force flowing through us. By learning about Dionysos and what he represents, we know on an intellectual level that life endures. And by experiencing the mystery of the rite, we know it in our hearts as well.
*Consuming wine is absolutely not necessary to participate fully in this rite. Dancing alone can bring about the desired state for receiving the blessings of the Dionysos.
