Dionysus, this winter god

Having been a hellenic polytheist for several years has completely changed my way of considering the year. Because the Attic calendar’s New Year typically falls somewhere in July/August, I naturally consider the first Dionysian event of the year to be the Oschophoria, which I celebrated last month. I’ve often seen people be surprised by the

Dionysus and Hephaestus

I usually stick to writing about cult practices and avoid mythology, but this topic is a bit different. To be fair, the two gods we are going to talk about are also different from the rest of the Pantheon in their respective ways, so it makes sense. The myth is Hephaestus’ return to Olympos, so

Dionysus of the Marshes

The information I have about the Limnaios epithet comes mainly from Isabelle Tassignon’s paper Vingt mille lieux sous les mers avec Dionysos et Télibinu. I have unfortunately not found an English translation. Briefly put: There is in myth a pattern in which we see Dionysus using water as some type of escape or refuge from the

Prime wines in Dionysian worship

That’s kind of a follow up to my last post about calendars and the timing of festivals because the topic I want to touch on today is a practical example of how that can happen in the worship of Dionysus. The Anthesteria is one of my favorite festivals for a bunch of reasons. One of

On pine resin

Sometimes things just work out, as this is a post I wanted to write. In @nordicsatyr ‘s latest post about offerings for Dionysus, pine resin has been mentionned. Coincidentally, it happens that my latest behind-the-scene “research” (more like luck, but whatever) has actually been about pine resin. Let me start off by answering and saying that I