Worshipping Dionysus

The worship of Dionysus is a fairly unstructured thing. There are some constants of his worship, and this page will attempt to cover those basics for anyone unfamiliar with the practices of the Dionysus Society, as well as cover some practices we do not engage in.

Do

The Euoi Cry

The Euoi Cry, written as "Io Euoi" and pronounced somewhat like "EE-yo You Oy" in our practice is the ritual cry of dionysians through history. The original meaning is uncertain, but one theory alleges it comes from a phrase meaning "hey! The wine is good!" as may be exclaimed when the first of the last season's wine was finally opened. Regardless of its original meaning, the euoi cry is exclaimed by members of the Dionysus Society to locate each other in the dark woods, hail each other on streets during festivals, as a blessing or toast, and to find each other in crowded parties. It is called out as an exclamation of enthusiasm and joy, shouted while dancing or running, or shrieked across a crowd of revelers. Io Euoi!

The Purple

Purple is the sacred colour of Dionysus (though fawnskin, leopard patterns, and snakeskin are also holy to him), and wearing some article of purple clothing is the semi-official dress code for all Dionysus Society events. It can be a purple tainia (Greek traditional ribbon, usually worn as a headband), a purple shirt, a purple tie, a purple dress, even a purple hat, just so long as the purple is prominently displayed. Purple is sacred in part as a colour of royalty and power, being worn by the many, it is also sacred as the colour of ripe wild grapes, and the colour they stain clean cloth.

The Thyrsus

The Thyrsus is the sacred staff of Dionysus and his followers. It is made, in the simplest form, from a staff length stick with a bundle of grape vines or ivy wrapped about the head of it. More ornate ones may be made from a staff wrapped from base to head with vines, with a cluster of vines gathered at the head. It can also have a pinecone tied by the wrapping vines to the head of the staff, and possibly also a purple or red ribbon tied just below the bundled vines at the head. bells can be added to the thyrsus if desired, making it a sort of rattle or tambourine.

The thyrsus symbolizes several things It is a staff of authority, like a royal sceptre, made of wild materials. It is a potential spear, as the bundled vines could conceal a spearhead amongst their foliage. It is a rattle that rustles with a sound like rain as the leaves and vines shudder with every step the Bacchant takes and any other time they strike the earth with it. It is a phallic emblem, representing the power of Dionysus as a fertility god, life giving and with power over the genitalia. It is the rod of order overtaken by the wild vines and made their own.

The Vine Crown

A traditional identifying part of the regalia of a follower of Dionysus is the crown of vines. Generally made for a particular celebration or party or function of fresh and living vines of ivy or grape, the crown is a simple circle of vine wrapped around itself until the vine runs out and then worn. The crowns can be ornamented from there with ribbons or bells or tassels, but at their core they are simple circles of vine worn on the head. These decorate the heads of the worshippers, rustle entertainingly while dancing if they have leaves enough, and give a sort of wild and distinguished look to the wearer. These are easy to make if there are vines in the area, and can be kept for as long as they have not fallen apart. A symbolism they may have lacked in ancient times but can now be regarded as holding is that of being a crown, worn by one wielding a staff and wearing purple, in caricature of the trappings of royalty.

The Party

The party is the core of the worship of Dionysus, it is the sacred occasion and social space in which the follower of Dionysus can embrace their freedom and go wild. A dionysian party is marked by loud music for dancing ecstatically to, alcohol on offer if possible, possibly other substances as available, and a culture of acceptance, tolerance, and camaraderie. The party can be brought to a bar or club by a group of dionysians taking up space there and worshipping Dionysus in such a temple, or it can be held at a house with a willing host to permit the worship of Dionysus, or it can be held in the oldest way: by bearing alcohol and food and music into the forest or other wild space and throwing a party there by firelight, in darkness, or otherwise illuminated.

The sounds of wind instruments, tambourines, and drums are particularly favoured by Dionysus, but as he is ancient comrade to Apollo, so is all music that a person can dance to welcome at dionysian parties. Ecstatic dance, wherein the dancer does not move for a purpose beyond living the music and feeling themself move, without plan or choreography, is sacred to Dionysus. Being clothed is not a requirement for the worship of Dionysus, but neither is nudity any more sacred, though it can sometimes be more comfortable, weather permitting.

Certain behaviours are not permitted nor welcome at any dionysian party, such as sexual harassment, or other disregard for consent, pressuring people to consume more of a substance than the are willing to, or substances they don't wish to consume, and shaming people for who they are (barring who they are being inherently abhorrent, such as pedophiles, who are abhorrent because their sexuality requires a partner incapable of consent to be fully expressed), or other displays of intolerance. Bigotry in general has no place in the Dionysus Society.

Do Not

The Sparagmos

Sparagmos is a ritual that the Dionysus Society categorically rejects, does not practice, and will not practice. Sparagmos is the dismemberment of a living victim (traditionally a bull or goat) by a group of followers of Dionysus using only their hands and teeth and maybe random sticks and stones they pick up in their frenzy. Sparagmos was generally accompanied by the omophagia of the victim, that is the devouring of the flesh raw as it was torn from the living victim. Pentheus, king of Thebes in Euripides' Bacchae, was a victim of Sparagmos, as was Orpheus on the slopes of the Pangaion Hills.

The sparagmos is a ritual with a great deal of religious significance to Dionysus, and is arguably a fundamental aspect of his worship, but the Dionysus Society, despite being devoted to the worship of Dionysus, does not and will not practice it as it is a ritual characterized by extreme cruelty to the living victim that is torn to pieces, and as the traditional correct victim is a living adult bull, it is also enormously dangerous to the participants.

The Orgy

The Dionysus Society does not officially hold or organize orgies in the sexual sense, though individuals within the organisation may participate in the practice of sexual orgies independently. If any such practice is engaged in, it is encouraged that all participants be extremely sure they are not carrying any sexually transmitted diseases, and that who slept with who is somehow recorded for contact tracing in the event of pregnancy concerns or STD incidence.

Orgia, the root of our word orgy, originally meant the obscured practices of any mystery religion, and it was slander of these mystery cults by early Christians and Roman politicians and moralists who felt threatened by these mystery cults that created the idea of orgies as sexual and debauched revels. While such revels would be a valid way to worship Dionysus in principle, the risk of STD's, dangers to consent as a group activity potentially involving substance use, and general public perception all contribute to the official stance of the Dionysus Society being that as an organisation they do not, and have no plans to, organise sexual orgies.