So I recently discovered a YouTuber named BlueRaven666 and he made a few videos concerning witchcraft and deity work. Personally, I identify more as an Occultist/"Wizard" than a Wiccan/Witch or anything else like that, and I'd rather gain power through my own efforts and channeling my own inherent abilities rather than rely on any deities or other supernatural entities. I have a bad history when it comes to working with otherworldly beings, I've been betrayed before and I don't want that to happen again. But still, it seems like an obvious source of power is staring me right in the face now and I'd be a fool not to take advantage of it.
Dionysus and I have a lot in common…
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We were both born prematurely. The old legends say Dionysus was born from the union of Zeus and a mortal woman, but Zeus accidentally killed the woman and had to sew baby Dionysus into his leg in order to let him finish gestation. (An older version of the legend also says baby Dionysus was ripped apart by the titans but his heart survived, but still Zeus had to do the sewing into the leg thing.) My mom THANKFULLY didn’t die in childbirth and is still alive, but I was born 2 months earlier than I supposedly should have been, and I was a c-section, so it’s still a violent birth in it’s own way. Afterwards my dad had to feed me with milk that was pumped out of my mom rather than me breastfeeding naturally, and he likes to joke that “the kid was breastfed by his father”. That kind of mirrors how Zeus had to take care of infant Dionysus.
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The older Orphic/Mycenaen interpretation of him paints Dionysus as a god of Nature as well as the cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth. I specialize in Necromancy, which is all about the cycle of Life and Death, so there’s another similarity.
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Dionysus is also a god for marginalized people, as before he rose to popularity within ancient Greece’s ruling aristocracy he was only worshiped by obscure cults made up of women, slaves, and other people who were treated as second-class citizens in ancient Greek society. Nowadays some also interpret Dionysus as a god for LGBTQ+ people as the more popular depiction of him shows Dionysus as a very feminine young man, blurring the lines between what is traditionally “male” and “female”. He was also known for taking lovers of every gender, and his followers were said to engage in massive sexual orgies as well. I personally identify as Queer/Gender-Fluid (They/Them pronouns by the way), and I’m pansexual. So I’m definitely a marginalized person, especially considering that I’m an Occultist living in the U.S. which is still heavily Christian. Therefore I most likely would have been welcomed with open arms into the Cult of Dionysus back in ancient times.
Also besides learning about all the stuff Dionysus and I have in common, I’ve noticed his presence and influence in my life in one other very obvious way… alcohol. Haha. Since the Coronavirus Pandemic started and I’ve been stuck at home, I’ve been indulging in alcoholic beverages quite a bit more than I used to. (But not in an unhealthy way of course.) My mom’s been sharing her wine with me, and recently we started buying the same kind of wine my Nana drinks and it’s REALLY good! (I highly recommend the Robert Mondavi brand by the way.) Also just yesterday I was in the grocery store and I found the ONE kind of beer I actually like. They almost never have it in this store and it seems like it’s super hard to find, so I decided to treat myself and buy it. And I found this beer after I had left some old corks from wine bottles as an offering to Dionysus the day before.
So to get to the point, should I work with Dionysus or not? I know he’s also a god of madness, so that makes me warry of trusting him just like I distrust all deities and supernatural beings. Still, I already drafted up a written contract laying out my specific terms and conditions so that Dionysus can’t screw me over without fully ending our relationship outright.
