Hail to you maidens of moist fertility, sprung from the body of eternal Ouranos, you who nurtured plump Bacchus in dark caverns that echo with the song of bees after he was saved from the womb of his mother consumed in the flames of thundering Zeus’ boundless love. You, his first nurses, care-givers and so [...]
Posts Tagged ‘zeus’
To the Hyades
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dionysos, nymphai, zeus on 06/02/2012 | 1 Comment »
O Muse of Sicily
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aphrodite, ariadne, dionysos, greece, hephaistos, heroes, italy, mousai, mythology, nymphai, persephone, spider, zeus on 05/02/2012 | 2 Comments »
O Muse of Sicily with strong Doric voice sing to me a song of the land of my people, the thrice-holy island of the maid who weaves an image of the world as she waits for the embrace of her serpent-tongued father, the land which saw the gentle one-eyed shepherd go mad for love of [...]
My heart belongs to the Mezzogiorno
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aphrodite, ares, athene, christianity, demeter, festivals, gods, hera, herakles, hermes, heroes, holy fool, italy, nymphai, zeus on 04/23/2012 | 6 Comments »
But a part of me is deeply in love with Venice, too. How could it be otherwise when the Venetians still carry out things like the Sensa Festival, where the city ritually marries the sea: What does it mean for a city to ‘marry the sea?’ The curious metaphor refers to an annual fertility rite [...]
An Orphic digression
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ariadne, creative writing pledge drive, dionysos, eros, gods, mythology, philosophy, zeus on 04/10/2012 | 13 Comments »
For many, questions of how we got here and what our true nature and purpose are are of supreme importance. I am not an especially deep thinker, being more concerned with pragmatic issues, and as such I do not have a definitive set of cosmological and anthropogenic beliefs. There are a number of stories that [...]
Zeus has a new child
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged gods, hera, philosophy, zeus on 10/11/2011 | 9 Comments »
Laura Hudson of ComicsAlliance reports: As we roll into the second month of the relaunched DC Universe, and long-time readers continue to process the many changes in the established history of their favorite characters, DC Comics has dropped another bombshell in an article at The New York Post about the new origin of Wonder Woman. [...]
Theology of the cock
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged christianity, gods, hellenismos, philosophy, politics, zeus on 08/18/2011 | 50 Comments »
A poll came out this morning suggesting that the Tea Party has lost favor with Americans and is now less popular even than Moslems, fundamentalist Christians and atheists. I don’t bring this up with the intention to talk politics (a subject I find utterly contemptible) or because I necessarily think that polling data is reliable [...]
La Nascita della Tragedia
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dionysos, zeus on 08/17/2011 | 6 Comments »
Father Zeus lay there sweating and grunting, holding back the tears as the sharp-edged blade sliced through his godly thigh parting fat and muscle, revealing gleaming white bone before a tide of black-red blood rushed forth from the wound staining the pristine clouds. He nearly passed out then, from the pain and the horror of [...]
Artemis: a goddess for today’s woman
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged alexandria, apollon, artemis, christianity, creative writing pledge drive, gods, greco-egyptian, hellenismos, hera, hypatia, paganism, politics, zeus on 07/14/2011 | 1 Comment »
For Balladeer. A proper woman should have no interests outside the home. Her whole life is defined by her relationships to others. As a child she is to be chaste and obedient to her parents, dutifully performing her chores and learning the skills she’ll need to be a good wife and mother. After marriage she [...]
Athene and Neith: A comparison
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged athene, creative writing pledge drive, egypt, gods, greco-egyptian, greece, judaism, neith, zeus on 07/14/2011 | Leave a Comment »
For Amanda. According to the Greco-Roman historian and philosopher Plutarch of Khaironeia, the goddess Neith – whom he identified with his own Athene – was a primordial creatrix and one of the oldest divinities known to man. In her temple at Sais, he records, there can be found the following inscription above her monumental cult-statue: [...]
The Pagan Value of Conditional Charity
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dionysos, egypt, eugene, gods, greco-egyptian, hellenismos, kleopatra, pagan values blogging month, philosophy, zeus on 06/21/2011 | 8 Comments »
As all of you who have been paying attention here are no doubt aware I live in Eugene, Oregon which is, by unanimous assent, the most beautiful and blessed city ever fashioned by the hand of man. Because of our temperate climate, abundant natural resources and generally tolerant, laid-back attitude we have attracted far more [...]
Contra Moses
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged alexander the great, anubis, aphrodite, apollon, christianity, dionysos, egypt, gods, hera, herakles, hermes, isis, judaism, pagan values blogging month, paganism, philosophy, ptolemies, zeus on 06/02/2011 | 18 Comments »
Christians and their ilk are fond of arguing for the superiority of their religion because it enshrines a legal code which they allege was handed down from the creator of all to Moses, the prophet of the Hebrews, while they wandered in the desert during their flight from Egypt. We Pagans find nothing extraordinary in [...]
Further thoughts on Pagan Identity Crisis 2011
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged christianity, dionysos, egypt, gods, greece, hellenismos, italy, judaism, paganism, philosophy, religious practice, rome, zeus on 05/28/2011 | 32 Comments »
Please note that although I do not cite any sources in this piece, I’ve collected ample material covering this and related topics over at Eklogai, and will be adding a wealth of additional sources during the next couple weeks. All of this talk lately about identity politics within contemporary Paganism has got me thinking about how [...]
The Persistence of Memory
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged christianity, demeter, dionysos, eugene, greece, haides, local focus polytheism, movies, mythology, nymphai, paganism, persephone, philosophy, politics, religious practice, writing, zeus on 03/21/2011 | 9 Comments »
Over the weekend we attended the premiere of A Story of Persephone, which was interesting both for its novel treatment of myth and the fact that a good deal of it was shot here in Eugene. (In fact, one of our friends was an extra, which is how we initially heard about the project.) I [...]
A timely passage
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged apollon, christianity, egypt, festivals, funny, greece, hera, liberalia, mythology, osiris, paganism, rome, saint patrick, zeus on 03/17/2011 | 21 Comments »
Here’s something I found today from the 6th century grammarian Oinomaos of Alexandria’s Philopseudes 5.23 ff: On the day when we Romans keep the most ancient Liberalia many others are busy celebrating the festival of the Holy Patrick. In truth all are doing the same thing and honoring the same god, and not even through [...]
Who would I cast in my ideal Dionysos movie?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ariadne, dionysos, hera, hermes, movies, zeus on 01/04/2011 | 22 Comments »
I was asked this wonderful question a while back and I think I can finally answer it. Zeus – Daniel Day-Lewis Kore-Persephone – Natalie Portman Hera – Polly Walker The Titans – Designed by Guillermo del Toro Semele – Irene Papas Hermes – Tim Roth Seilenos – John Rhys-Davies Satyr 1 – Jack Black Satyr [...]
A Lament for Ampelos
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dionysos, hera, mythology, zeus on 01/03/2011 | 6 Comments »
Of all the satyrs who made their home on the ivy-covered slopes of Mount Nysa, fairest by far was that thrice-happy youth, Ampelos of the curly locks. Though the bashful nymphs fled whenever his brothers came near, him they never did run from. They took great pleasure in stroking his soft skin, bronze from days [...]
He makes me wet
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dionysos, eugene, local focus polytheism, nymphai, oregon, zeus on 11/25/2010 | 23 Comments »
It was a dark and stormy night. I’ve always wanted to start a story that way, but in truth it was an overcast afternoon towards the end of summer. I was walking home after a long day at work, covered in a thin sheen of sweat from the heat and humidity. That summer had been [...]
The Lusiads
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged alexandria, aphrodite, christianity, dionysos, greece, nymphai, paganism, poseidon, rome, writing, zeus on 11/24/2010 | 15 Comments »
So, I just finished reading Os Lusíadas by Luís Vaz de Camões. It’s often described as the national epic of Portugal, comparable in that respect to the Indian Mahābhārata, the Finnish Kalevala or the Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge. And with good cause, for The Lusiads (as it is known in English) is the story of [...]
Remorse
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bringing the sexy back to sextilis, dionysos, hera, hermes, mythology, zeus on 08/31/2010 | 18 Comments »
While Hermes nervously glances over his shoulder, eager to get underway, Zeus continues to look down upon the slumbering face of the child he cradles in his hands. They are big, strong hands – hands that have slain giants and made the earth shudder with their might. His rule is supreme: he steers the course [...]
A Dialogue of the Gods
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aphrodite, bringing the sexy back to sextilis, dionysos, funny, hera, herakles, hermes, zeus on 08/14/2010 | 13 Comments »
[Hera enters the celestial court of the gods where she finds Zeus, Hermes and Aphrodite lounging about and enjoying the view of earth thousands of miles below them. Hera is noticeably upset.] Hera: Do you know what that son of yours has gotten up to now? Zeus: I am almighty Zeus – there is not [...]
