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One!
Okay, just one. What do you call a bundle of sticks? Jesus, what’s wrong with you people!? Why would you use that word? I clearly meant θύσθλα, the sacred implements which the Nurses of Dionysos were...
View ArticleHer most beautiful pride
A while back I posted the preliminary translation that Giulia Rossetto prepared of the Orphic hexameters found in a palimpsest from the library of Saint Catherine’s monastery at Sinai. It was a very...
View ArticleThoughts on the Orphic fragments from Sinai
Here are some follow-up thoughts I have on the Orphic fragments from Sinai. Throughout I am going to limit myself to just the portion that Boris Kayachev has called “Fragments 1 & 2” concerning...
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I described their terrible shafts
Something I forgot to mention in the last post: there are intriguing reminiscences between the Orphic hexameters from Sinai and the Proem of the Orphic Argonautika — which are not to be found in the...
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Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children
Numerous allusions in both sources favorable to him (like Plato) and those that are hostile (like Aristophanes) make it clear that Sokrates did not have just a casual interest in Bacchic Orphism. He...
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venit ab Eurydice
Orpheus suffers a lot of deaths. Not as many as Dionysos by a long shot, but it’s still a lot. I discussed some of the more important deaths here, but I just came across one I’d never read about...
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On this day in 1971 Jim went to join the heroes. Celebrate!
“People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over.” — Jim Morrison, prophet
View ArticleHail Δύαλος and his Δευάδαι!
Sorry I haven’t been around much. Between cutting back on time spent in the Platonic cave of the internet and various projects related to the temple book, well … I’ve been MIA, but I promise I’m still...
View ArticleWho is he?
Here is the Starry Bull collection of titles and bynames of Dionysos which clocks in at around 44 pages. I’ll be adding to it, and fixing some formatting glitches as I’m able, but it was time to move...
View ArticleAnother birthday reflection
Time is not just a division of hours, minutes, seconds, etc. It’s vast cycles and curious recurrences and endless possibility manifesting itself in myriads of ways.
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The sounds of animals and nature are equally well suited to supplicate the...
Reading Jacco Dieleman’s guide to studying the Greco-Egyptian Zauberpapyri and came across the following, which amused me, both “birdglyphic” and the attempt to replicate the enchanting language of...
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An important announcement regarding the Bakcheion
At this point I figure I can let y’all in on the secret I alluded to in the previous post. I have been running the Hudson Valley Bakcheion now for five years, which just doesn’t seem possible but my...
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His Cup Runneth Over
I am recovering nicely after a follow-up surgery at an ungodly hour this morning. When the idiots performed the amputation they left a large knob of bone, despite the protestations of my podiatrist....
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Who We Are is Revealed by Suffering
If you practice an Orphic-derived religion, or have done any study of the subject or ancient Hellenic religion generally, chances are you’ve encountered this fragment by Pindar preserved in Plato’s...
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Asian Heritage Month is almost over
As I mentioned at the start of the month, Dionysos loves Asians. So it feels fitting to close the month with this passage from John of Ephesos which was quoted in the third book of the Chronicle of...
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confused
I’m sorry Lactantius, but that looks like εὐσέβεια to me, not δεισιδαιμονία: The mother of Galerius, a woman exceedingly superstitious, was a votary of the Gods of the mountains. Being of such a...
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ὡυτὸς δὲ Θάνατος καὶ Νίκη, ὅτεῳ µαίνονται καὶ ληναΐζουσιν
I was thinking about Sokrates tonight, truly one of the παῦροι βάκχοι (“Bacchic few.”) Throughout his dialogues Plato often makes allusion to Dionysian myth and festivals, particularly when he wants...
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May Iris bless their hearts and other parts
For those of you in the Massachusetts area looking for a fun way to celebrate ὕβρις month they’re planning a fabulous Bacchic κῶμος on June 24th. The organizers encourage folks to “dress in your best...
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Not one!
You must respect my restraint, dear reader. I didn’t make a single narthēkophóroi joke. Not one! And I even set that shit up with the Sokrates post. Anyway, here’s some more Dionysian eye-candy....
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escaping the desert of the real
Over the years I’ve taken plenty of breaks from the internet, announced and otherwise. Three months into my current hiatus I think it’s safe to say that I will not be returning. I intend to keep the...
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