Once the leaves fall and the nights start getting colder and longer there are two things you can reliably expect to see. The first is a mass of people putting themselves into debt in order to purchase merchandise shoddily constructed in Chinese sweat-shops which no one actually needs anyway. And secondly there is the assertion, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘anthesteria’
Dionysos is not the reason for the season
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, apollon, christianity, dionysos, festivals on 04/17/2012 | 7 Comments »
Also, while I’m making recommendations …
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, festivals, gods, philosophy, writing on 04/13/2012 | 1 Comment »
Go and read some of the awesome stuff that Dver has been posting recently. She’s really on a roll and there’s too much of worth to single any post out for praise. Another must read is Galina’s post on humility. Every word of it resonates and is inspiring. And lastly, here is an account of [...]
Aphorisms
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, ariadne, dionysos, hermes, jim morrison on 03/17/2012 | 6 Comments »
Hush now, child. You’ve had your first taste of wine. Every nation now dances his mystery. No land is enemy to him; all his enemies are dead. So eat, drink and be merry – and pray tomorrow doesn’t come. If you can’t grasp the unity of horror and beauty, how will you handle the full [...]
All hail Father Freedom!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, festivals, italy, lenaia, liberalia, rome on 03/12/2012 | 12 Comments »
I’ve been doing a lot of research on the Liberalia (the next Dionysian festival on my calendar) and … well, it’s starting to take on a lot of significance for me. Which makes sense, I suppose, since it sort of repeats the themes of Anthesteria and Lenaia (my two favorite festivals) but with a distinctly [...]
AOL
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, festivals, religious practice on 03/06/2012 | 10 Comments »
Which, in this instance means “Anthesteria Online.” Monday brought to a close my favorite festival on the calendar and to mark the occasion I’ve put together this special edition of Miscellanea showcasing how various folks around the blogosphere observed it. To begin with here is an overview of the festival by Nykti: And yet another [...]
Let it begin
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, ariadne, dionysos, italy, spider on 03/04/2012 | Leave a Comment »
What will I be doing when that ship comes for me, that ship which no one alive can see. It’s masts were twined with vines and plump grapes hanging down, like bodies on the scaffolding, hung for their crimes, And everywhere there was a fog, smelling of the vats after the dancing feet, stung into [...]
This is what the Κῆρες get up to in 2012
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, heroes on 03/04/2012 | Leave a Comment »
On mission and martyrdom
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, christianity, dionysos, egypt, gods, greece, italy, mythology, paganism, philosophy, politics, ptolemies on 08/26/2011 | 4 Comments »
Recently Kenaz Filan has made a number of blog posts and left comments over at The Wild Hunt arguing that Pagans need to tone down the rhetoric and rethink how they deal with Christians and members of other faith communities. (For instance here, here, here and here with inclusive links to the relevant conversations on [...]
This is starting to get a little absurd
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, holy fool, italy, kleopatra, marcus antonius, spider on 07/28/2011 | 2 Comments »
So I was just on the toilet thumbing through a book about Renaissance Italian literature and commedia dell’arte (where better to conduct one’s Classical studies?) when I opened it at random to the following passage: Another play shows him in despair because he thinks his Diamantina does not love him, and he announces that he [...]
The New Wine we were promised: II
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged alexander the great, anthesteria, dionysos, heroes, holy fool, jim morrison, music on 07/20/2011 | 1 Comment »
For Castus. Act Two: I am the Lizard King. I can do anything! There are two main reasons, distinct and yet related, why I regard Jim Morrison as a modern-day hero worthy of cultus: who he was and what he represented. It is difficult bordering on the impossible for us today to grasp how truly [...]
Recap of the Greater Feast of Spider thus far
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, eugene, festivals, holy fool, italy, music, oracles, religious practice, spider on 06/27/2011 | 4 Comments »
So many amazing things have happened – and I technically haven’t even begun to celebrate the festival! Though, since this week-long build-up has proven so successful I think I may just turn it into an 8-day festival from here on out. I mean, aside from my monthly devotional days, Aiora during Anthesteria and a few [...]
Preparing for the Greater Feast of Spider
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, festivals, italy, oracles, religious practice, spider on 06/20/2011 | Leave a Comment »
On the 28th and 29th of June each year I keep a massive festival which is patterned after the celebrations of the Italian tarantists in the Church of Saint Paul in Galatina. (Click here and here to read some of my accounts of past observances.) Here’s a great discussion of tarantism and here’s a documentary [...]
Countdown to Ecstatic: Day Eight
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, ecstatic on 06/04/2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Icarius’ dog returned to his daughter, Erigone; she followed his tracks and, when she found her father’s corpse, she ended her life with a noose. Through the mercy of the gods she was restored to life again among the constellations; men call her Virgo. That dog was also placed among the stars. But after some [...]
Let’s talk about the Dead
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, greece, haides, hellenismos, philosophy, religious practice on 03/12/2011 | 25 Comments »
The world of the dead is our world, just seen from a different perspective. They walk among us all the time, subtly influencing the things that happen here. Most people, however, are completely oblivious to their presence except on special occasions like Halloween or Anthesteria, when the veil that separates us grows thin. There are [...]
Anthesteria around the Hellenic blogosphere
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, festivals, hellenismos, religious practice on 02/18/2011 | 9 Comments »
One of the best things about the internet is that it allows people to come together and share what they are doing and passionate about. This is especially important when you belong to a minority religion as we do. I was reminded of that several times over the last couple weeks as I got the [...]
Reflections on Anthesteria
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, festivals, hermes, religious practice, spider on 02/17/2011 | 2 Comments »
Every Anthesteria is a unique experience, this one even more so than in years past. It was extremely strange. Almost … elemental. I didn’t feel Dionysos. I didn’t feel Erigone. I didn’t feel the Dead. I didn’t feel Hermes. I didn’t feel the Flowers. Even though I knew all of them were there. I did, [...]
Do you know why Anthesteria is the best festival ever?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, funny, greece, hermes on 02/12/2011 | 8 Comments »
There are many, many, many reasons why Anthesteria is the best festival ever – but the one that sticks out foremost for me is the fact that Anthesteria is the only Greek festival that involves raccoons. Here is a video of some German raccoons (otherwise known as Waschbärs, because they are bears that wash their [...]
Building on tradition
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, festivals, oracles, religious practice on 02/11/2011 | 7 Comments »
Dver and I have built up a nice set of practices over the years with regard to Anthesteria, but the festival is so dense, with layers upon layers upon layers that there’s always room to discover new mysteries and augment the practices. One of the things we’ll be doing this year that we haven’t really [...]
Anthesteria through videos
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, music on 02/11/2011 | 2 Comments »
Anthesteria as a whole. Pithoigia. The table of Orestes. The dead walk among us. Swinging for Erigone. The Marriage. Hermes Khthonios. The expelled Keres.
Getting ready for Anthesteria
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthesteria, dionysos, egypt, festivals, religious practice on 02/11/2011 | 10 Comments »
I’m so excited: this Sunday Anthesteria begins! It’s all I’ve been able to think about for the last 48 hours. I’ve been noticing all the flowers starting to pop up, my thoughts have been this strange mixture of exuberance and melancholy, things seem both hyperreal and not real at all and I’m perpetually horny. Which [...]
