10 songs for Kybernesia
The Strumbellas – Spirits Lords Of The New Church – Dance With Me David Lynch – Crazy Clown Time Faith No More – The Real Thing Jeff Buckley – Dream Brother Aleah – Water and Wine Low – Over the Ocean...
View ArticleA game for Kybernesia
Make a paper boat. (There are a lot of good tutorials online, including videos.) Write a wish or vow upon it and release it into a river, stream or ocean. You may also include prayer requests and...
View ArticleSources for Kybernesia
Apollodoros, Bibliotheca 3.5.3 And wishing to be ferried across from Icaria to Naxos Dionysos hired a pirate ship of Tyrrhenians. But when they had put him on board, they sailed past Naxos and made for...
View ArticleRemember, remember!
Reminder: 12 June (28 Lusion) is when Kybernesia is customarily observed, at least here at the House of Vines.
View ArticleUnder a Tuscan Sun Goddess
If you would like to learn more bout Dionysos’ presence in Northern Italy in preparation for the Kybernesia, check out some of the following: Dionysos and his Cult in Etruscan Texts by Fred C....
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The emergence of the Starry Bear
For a while now I’ve been referring obliquely to the Starry Bear tradition. Having made the big reveal – Dionysos is Óðr – I think it’s appropriate to say a bit more about what this term entails. It...
View ArticleWild Things
The travels of Dionysos in the North and his identification as Óðr are an important strand of the Starry Bear tradition but far from all that we are about. Indeed there is a whole constellation of...
View Articlea different direction
I have written books on theology, mythology, divination, devotion, ritual theory and practice, history and related subjects – but so far I have produced nothing that could be considered properly...
View ArticleApolitical Dionysianism
Responding to my call for writing prompts, Sarenth posed the following: Would you tackle the intersection of politics and Dionysian and/or Starry Bear work/cultus? Dionysos is a radically inclusive...
View ArticleHier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.
Before I continue with the wonderful questions that have trickled in since I posted the writing prompt there is something I need to say, particularly as it will influence how I answer some of these,...
View Articleв гостях хорошо, а дома лучше
So what kind of a commune am I envisioning? Well, to begin with it will be open only to polytheists – and specifically those who honor the Gods and Spirits of the Kingdom. The foundation of the Kingdom...
View ArticleMy leadership philosophy
If you want to build a ship don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
View ArticleWhat can I do?
All you can do is what you can do One of my favorite stories about the Ptolemies comes down to us from the Roman author Claudius Aelianus who compiled his Varia Historia or Historical Miscellany in the...
View ArticleDionysian sacred kingship and the Ptolemies
For the ancients Dionysos was not merely the sight-seer par excellence; he traveled with a mission. Numerous ancient legends speak of his bringing wine and viniculture to various localities. Here are...
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We’ll search for tomorrow on every shore
William P. Reaves, The Cult of Freyr and Freyja The other gift to Freyr, probably also shared by Freyja, was the ship Skidbladnir. Called the “best of ships” in Grimnismál, Snorri informs us that...
View ArticleLord Buffalo
My current obsession is Lord Buffalo, which is giving me the Dionysian feels as strongly as Sorne, The Doors and Jeff Buckley. Check ’em out.
View ArticleCirca Regna tonat
All this talk of ships and Kings, eschatological dreams and Vanic things has got me thinking about the role Theseus plays in the Starry Bull mysteries. After a circuitous journey through the...
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Honored through the centuries
1100 to 1199 Golias the Bishop, The Apocalypse When the Abbot and his brethren [of a heretical monastery in Southern France] sit to feast, they quickly pass the cups of wine along. The Abbot lifts the...
View ArticleShaking the dust from my sandal
Over the last month alone I have had: People fail to pay me for divination and other spiritual services I’ve provided. (One person even got into a bitchy, entitled huff when I refused to do any further...
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