I was going through Heart of the Labyrinth to find a proper prayer to open the Dionysos ritual with when it struck me – why not use the collaborative hymn that the thiasos of the Starry Bull came up with:
Dionysos, God of all things wild and free, I call out to you this day. Dionysos Lysios, the Liberator, deliver me from burdens that I may draw closer to you. Dionysos, god of all things wild and free, I call out to you this day. Hail to the Midnight Sun, who lights my dreams dark and deep. To Dionysos I give my first words today. Let the Bull’s breath come from my mouth, Let the fire of the Lightening Born be in my hands, Let the sacred blood of the vine flow through my veins, And let the sacrificial Earth be always under my feet. Mother, lover, and the rending hand, As you are all that man can be, let me live that cycle every day. Give me eyes to see the beauty and the decay. Give me a mind to comprehend your will. Walk in this world through me. Hanging Lord, garlanded in strange fruit, you whose face peers from the twilight amidst the trees, may we dance through your forests bloody-handed, may we swing from your boughs with fresh wine upon our lips. May my spine be like a thyrsus, may my eyes reflect the dancing stars for my heart belongs to the mad god, the bull horned Zagreus, Dionysos, you who are both wild roaring and gentle, as you lead us through the ivy, I will seek You, always, in the fullness of life, each day, so that I will be worthy to join you at my last breath. I pray to Dionysos, who liberates and saves us, who offers an eternal feast to those who know the Mystery. I [take action] for Dionysos, who is the Starry Bull.
We’ll be gathering at the Conference at 9:30pm EDT on Friday and probably starting around 9:45. If you’d like to participate from home and hail Dionysos with copious amounts of wine and ecstatic revelry that would be really cool.
Tagged: dionysos, thiasos of the starry bull
