Dionysus
Based on the Orphic Theogony, Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Persephone or Semeli.Both these goddesses are of the underworld and are connected with the figure of Mother Earth!
Zeus appoints Dionysus as his hair giving him the lightning and thunderbolt. Hera does not agree with this plan.
Dionysus has toys that he plays with one of the many toys that he has is the mirror,masks,dolls etc.
The Titans wearing clay masks attack little Dionysus following Heras orders.
He in order to escape the Titans transforms himself into a small child,to a young man,panther ,wild goat,tiger,dragon serpent and finally into a bull.
In a form of a bull he is caught and cut up into little pieces cooked and eaten by the Titans.His elder sister Athena will save his soul –psyche in Greek – and put it in a little box and take it up to their father Zeus.
Zeus sends the Titans to Tartara the underworld after burning them with his lightening and from their ashes makes the human race of today.
In this way we all humans have within us the earthly wild titan aspect, but also a bit of the Dionysian spirit as He was eaten by them – a form of communion-
His soul was put into a new body made by Zeus out of clay and then his father blew life and resurrected the young God again.
Dionysus is the “spirit of this world “ the “esoteric mind of this world “.
An archetype idol of endless life.He is our guide for us to understand the higher intelligence ,our ability that allows us to create ,our understanding that only through all the stages of the Dionysian beliefs once we endure them and find our way and place in this Cosmos we can gain cosmic wisdom.
The initiation that took place was to make sure that the follower understands the Great Spirit of this cosmos and that he is part of this as well .Dionysus is born by a mortal earthly mother and rises and gains life again by his father that is a God.
In the modern world today we tend to overlook the relationship that Dionysus and Apollo have ,their periodical movement of the stars and planets .
The temple of Delphi and city was established by Cretans from Western Crete Aptera,in the myth we are told that Apollo will leave Crete riding dolphins one of the animals of Dionysus and the word for dolphin in Greek is delphini, there for we have the temple of Delphi,
The temple is set on top of the killed serpent dragon symbols of the great Goddess as well as Dionysus as they are both symbols of the moon and vegetation .
The high priestess is Pythia and she falls into a trance and delivers oracles, all this magic is part as well of the cult of Dionysus .
Apollo leaves Delphi in winter and Dionysus takes it upon himself, to protect the temple and it’s priesthood as he is the one that can return from the cold depths of the underworld and survive the long winters of death.
It is a shame that we today refer to Dionysus as a drunk !
Dionysus is Cretan based on the latest digs at Pilos we find the name Dionysus Zagreos on linear B tablets .Zagreos means Great hunter.
Vakhos is from Thrace,
He is an other God, that is of animals and livestock and spring,later on during the Roman period mainly we have Vakhos the way that we know today as the 2 Gods overlap.But their cult is very different and stems from other paths of life.
The Neolithic, god of Vegetation of the Aegean a Cretan that later on becomes Zeus,Zan .(Life)
In Crete the guardians of little Dionysus are Apollo himself and the Cretan young men Kourites(we have the word Kouros for statues of men in archeology ) He is also left with wild animals and wild goats .
Just like Zeus in later on Greek myths he is born in a cave like many gods .
Born at night and like all the Gods of the moon these gods are very great hunters.
He is not brought up by his mother but instead he is left out in nature ,this tradition was still held in Dorian crete as part of the tribal ritual.
Also in Sparta with the newborn.
The child at some point leaves child hood and enters manhood by being left out in the wilderness having to confront daemons and is taught the rituals and hunting skills.
This gives also a hint about his transformations from child to young man!
We then also have the snake and dragon a symbol of the night and the moon, symbol of rebirth like the moon as it can shed its skin and rise again into life after a long winters death. The serpent is an ecumenical symbol of the moon .
The bull and the cow that have horns like the moon when it is set up in the stars symbolizing the metabolisms of this star.
The goats are a symbol of great endurance on harsh rocky dry areas,
They are free untamed often wild strong and manage to survive where deer ,sheep can not.
In the myth we see the projections of the tribals past, the young god is playing with a mirror before he is attacked by masked titans,
The symbolical death and his return to life as a man no longer a child.
The young Kourites of Crete that would have been witnesses to this in the myth and tradition either with Zeus or Dionysus are now the ones to hand down all of this cultural DNA.
Through athletic events that have a deep religious, political, tribal, meaning we are seeing the birth of the later great games in Olympia .
Dionysus will eventually meet and marry Ariadne,
Her name was in fact at first Ariagne,the purest of all it means in Greek.
She has made her way from the labyrinth the underworld to meet this god that again chooses to marry her. In the case of Christ and Magdalene it did not work out!
Dionysus will never live with the rest of the gods up on mount Olympus or will he wish to marry a god he will want to live amongst mortals riding mules,asses or donkeys, but never a horse.
He will never kill, or become envious.
He instead will teach the tools and skills of agriculture to mankind,
The making of wine –his blood-
He will travel round the world delivering his teachings .
He was caught once by pirates and then tied to the mast of the ship as they wanted to sell him as a slave .
He asked them to set him free but they refused, he then turned the ships mast into a grape vine the frightened pirates that jumped of the ship, he decided to transform them into dolphins to spare their life and then to those that stood before him he transformed himself into a lion to sent them into the sea,to make sure that from then on these pirates would save the life of men in danger at sea.
This Ancient Greek God like Christ has suffered like all men and above all has loved and shown compassion like only man can.
This is what we call Thiasos and later theater. Even today as we see a good play with actors( in greek ethopios-Ethos makes- ) we find ourselves involved in the play emotionally struck, this is what we call the spirit of Dionysus we know that we are seeing a plot but we hurt and laugh just the same.
All this is part of the truth of life ,as life is diverse and wild with many representations just like Dionysus himself.
Visit the sacred sanctuaries and sites of the Ancient Greek Gods and see beyond the simple story telling of the Greek Myths, realize the initiations and stages of enlightenment, maturity, wisdom of the ancient people with your licensed qualified guide.
Find your way through the labyrinth, grab the bull by the horns, become your own hero.
Understand the Greek Myths and Ancient Greek Gods!
Crete is home to so many Ancient Gods, Labors of Heroes and legends!
Your private guide will unravel myths Ancient Gods and Heroes initiating you into Ancient Greek Culture and its Myths.
Why book this tour?
To aspire for a legendary day either in a sacred Cave or shrine, a remote healing temple or sacred altar!
A day out with the Ancient Greek Gods and Heroes that shaped much of the Western world.
A custom made tour to explore Crete its history and your self.
Dionysus
Based on the Orphic Theogony ,
Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Persephone or Semeli.Both these goddesses are of the underworld and are connected with the figure of Mother Earth!
Zeus appoints Dionysus as his hair giving him the lightning and thunderbolt. Hera does not agree with this plan.
Dionysus has toys that he plays with one of the many toys that he has is the mirror,masks,dolls etc.
The Titans wearing clay masks attack little Dionysus following Heras orders.
He in order to escape the Titans transforms himself into a small child,to a young man,panther ,wild goat,tiger,dragon serpent and finally into a bull.
In a form of a bull he is caught and cut up into little pieces cooked and eaten by the Titans.His elder sister Athena will save his soul –psyche in Greek – and put it in a little box and take it up to their father Zeus.
Zeus sends the Titans to Tartara the underworld after burning them with his lightening and from their ashes makes the human race of today.
In this way we all humans have within us the earthly wild titan aspect, but also a bit of the Dionysian spirit as He was eaten by them – a form of communion-
His soul was put into a new body made by Zeus out of clay and then his father blew life and resurrected the young God again.
Dionysus is the “spirit of this world “ the “esoteric mind of this world “.
An archetype idol of endless life.He is our guide for us to understand the higher intelligence ,our ability that allows us to create ,our understanding that only through all the stages of the Dionysian beliefs once we endure them and find our way and place in this Cosmos we can gain cosmic wisdom.
The initiation that took place was to make sure that the follower understands the Great Spirit of this cosmos and that he is part of this as well .Dionysus is born by a mortal earthly mother and rises and gains life again by his father that is a God.
In the modern world today we tend to overlook the relationship that Dionysus and Apollo have ,their periodical movement of the stars and planets .
The temple of Delphi and city was established by Cretans from Western Crete Aptera,in the myth we are told that Apollo will leave Crete riding dolphins one of the animals of Dionysus and the word for dolphin in Greek is delphini, there for we have the temple of Delphi,
The temple is set on top of the killed serpent dragon symbols of the great Goddess as well as Dionysus as they are both symbols of the moon and vegetation .
The high priestess is Pythia and she falls into a trance and delivers oracles, all this magic is part as well of the cult of Dionysus .
Apollo leaves Delphi in winter and Dionysus takes it upon himself, to protect the temple and it’s priesthood as he is the one that can return from the cold depths of the underworld and survive the long winters of death.
It is a shame that we today refer to Dionysus as a drunk !
Dionysus is Cretan based on the latest digs at Pilos we find the name Dionysus Zagreos on linear B tablets .Zagreos means Great hunter.
Vakhos is from Thrace,
He is an other God that is of animals and livestock and spring,later on during the Roman period mainly we have Vakhos the way that we know today as the 2 Gods overlap.But their cult is very different and stems from other paths of life.
The Neolithic, god of Vegetation of the Aegean is Cretan that later on becomes Zeus,Zan .
In Crete the guardians of little Dionysus are Apollo himself and the Cretan young men Kourites(we have the word Kouros for statues of men in archeology ) He is also left with wild animals and wild goats .
Just like Zeus in later on Greek myths he is born in a cave like many gods .
Born at night and like all the Gods of the moon these gods are very great hunters.
He is not brought up by his mother but instead he is left out in nature ,this tradition was still held in Dorian crete as part of the tribal ritual.
Also in Sparta with the newborn.
The child at some point leaves child hood and enters manhood by being left out in the wilderness having to confront daemons and is taught the rituals and hunting skills.
This gives also a hint about his transformations from child to young man!
We then also have the snake and dragon a symbol of the night and the moon, symbol of rebirth like the moon as it can shed its skin and rise again into life after a long winters death. The serpent is an ecumenical symbol of the moon .
The bull and the cow that have horns like the moon when it is set up in the stars symbolizing the metabolisms of this star.
The goats are a symbol of great endurance on harsh rocky dry areas,
They are free untamed often wild strong and manage to survive where deer ,sheep can not.
In the myth we see the projections of the tribal s past the young god is playing with a mirror before he is attacked by masked titans,
The symbolical death and his return to life as a man no longer a child.
The young Kourites of Crete that would have been witnesses to this in the myth and tradition either with Zeus or Dionysus are now the ones to hand down all of this cultural DNA.
Through athletic events that have a deep religious, political, tribal, meaning we are seeing the birth of the later great games in Olympia .
Dionysus will eventually meet and marry Ariadne,
Her name was in fact at first Ariagne,the purest of all it means in Greek.
She has made her way from the labyrinth the underworld to meet this god that again chooses to marry her. In the case of Christ and Magdalene it did not work out!
Dionysus will never live with the rest of the gods up on mount Olympus or will he wish to marry a god he will want to live amongst mortals riding mules,asses or donkeys, but never a horse.
He will never kill, or become envious.
He instead will teach the tools and skills of agriculture to mankind,
The making of wine –his blood-
He will travel round the world delivering his teachings .
He was caught once by pirates and then tied to the mast of the ship as they wanted to sell him as a slave .
He asked them to set him free but they refused, he then turned the ships mast into a grape vine the frightened pirates that jumped of the ship, he decided to transform them into dolphins to spare their life and then to those that stood before him he transformed himself into a lion to sent them into the sea,to make sure that from then on these pirates would save the life of men in danger at sea.
This Ancient Greek God like Christ has suffered like all men and above all has loved and shown compassion like only man can.
This is what we call Thiasos and later theater. Even today as we see a good play with actors( in greek ethopios-Ethos makes- ) we find ourselves involved in the play emotionally struck, this is what we call the spirit of Dionysus we know that we are seeing a plot but we hurt and laugh just the same.
All this is part of the truth of life ,as life is diverse and wild with many representations just like Dionysus himself.
Visit the sacred sanctuaries and sites of the Ancient Greek Gods and see beyond the simple story telling of the Greek Myths, realize the initiations and stages of enlightenment, maturity, wisdom of the ancient people with your licensed qualified guide.
Find your way through the labyrinth, grab the bull by the horns, become your own hero.
Understand the Greek Myths and Ancient Greek Gods!
Crete is home to so many Ancient Gods, Labors of Heroes and legends!
