Dionysos
Roving god, whose playfellows over the mountains' airy brows in happy chase are led;
Where Love, who breaks the heart of pride, or Nymphs amuse thee, violet-eyed, or Aphrodite keeps thy side, the goddess rosy-red --
Lord Dionysus, I kneel to thee; stoop to me of thy charity and this my prayer receive:
Dear Lord, thy best persuasion use, bid Kleobulus not refuse the gift of love I give.
[Anakreon; 563-478 BCE; trans. TFHigham]
Euphoria, Intoxication, and Insanity. Trademarks of a God.
There is in the act of drinking wine, a certain expectation to be had. Euphoria and intoxication are two such expected states of mind. There are also things to be learned from these states, and it is in this that the God is manifest. How the state of Euphoria affects us is highly individual, but this gift of the God gives us a taste of happiness, a taste of something to be sought in our daily lives. It is a release from our mundane worries even if for a short time. It is therefore important to enter this state knowing you are doing so. As a way of learning what you feel once your mind is freed of its inhibitive thoughts and worries. It is a revelation of truth of an inner sort that is embodied in this state. An epiphany of a god who may enter your soul and bring about Mania of the divine sort. An opening of the mind to a divine state of viewing the world.
What, however, does this teach us of ourselves and the world around us? For one, Dionysos teaches us that there is always another way of seeing the world. That all you have to do is be one with the god and you will see the world through different eyes. Perhaps the veil will be lifted, perhaps it will become more opaque. Perhaps you will discover that the reality you look upon is not as concrete as you once thought, or that that reality is even more static than you imagined. Whatever your experience, it is uniquely yours, and in altering it, you learn that your unique experience of the world around you is not the only one available. That the experiences of others are valid world views that require your attention if you are to fully grasp this wonderful reality we call life.
He also teaches us to let go of fear. Fear of contact, fear of love, fear of rejection. These are all fears that can often be lessened by the gift of the vine. A gift of the God, that he knows our fear and is able to relate to us through its release, for Dionysos is a god who is aaid to have incarnated into human, mortal, form. The myth tells us that Zeus fell for a mortal woman named Semele, and that he begot Dionysos on her. Hera, however, appeared to her in a familiar form and convinced her to ask a boon of Zeus. When Zeus next came to her, he promised to give her anything she wished, and swore by the holy Styx. She asked that he show himself to her, in his divine form. Zeus was struck with terror and asked that she ask for something else. She would not be swayed, however, and as he promised, he manifested to her in his true divine form. No mortal could bear to view a god this way, and she was consumed by flames. As she burned, Zeus rescued the unborn child from her dead form, and had him sewn into his thigh where he completed his gestation.
Soon the child was born, and Zeus entrusted him to the Nymphs (Maenads?) to keep him. Hera was not happy with this mortal bastard of Zeus', and so she contrived a plot of most dire evil. Releasing Titans from Tartaros, she commanded that they attack and destroy the child. The Titans attacked the powerless child and in their ferocity tore the child to pieces and proceeded to devour him. Zeus finally saw what transpired, and in his awesome rage unleashed his fury upon the Titans. Of all that was Dionysos, all that remained was the heart, and with this, and the ashes of the Titans, Zeus worked a miracle and brought the child Dionysos back to life in divine form, thus it was that Dionysos went from being mortal to being divine.
The above is a highly condensed story that combines two traditions. The story of the Titans devouring the child Dionysos was part of the Orphic creation myth, as it is said that from the ashes of the Titans and Dionysos, the Gods created man, and thus each of us carries with him a bit of the divine child Dionysos. I don't subscribe to the Orphic idea, but it is interesting to note how important this god was to them that they believed him to be part of them.
Insanity too is a trademark of this god, but it is important to note that mania and insanity can be two very different things. Mania, or altered state, of the mind can be a divinely sent state, but as our modern world knows, it can also be a disease of the mind. It is irresponsible to believe that drunkenness of all types is divinely sent blessing, and it is just as irresponsible to believe that all Mania is a divine blessing as well. There is a point in both that is detrimental. One is self imposed, and I refuse to call alcoholism a disease, and the other is a true disease of the brain. But what about those mild states of mania, both self induced as in mild intoxication and in such states as non-clinical depression or non-clinical manic states. What can a man, or woman, learn from such an experience.
A person can learn about his own pain, his own fear, his own inadequacies, and in the end perhaps learn to overcome these, but in this there must be conditions. One must not use alcohol as an escape, for to escape is to be counterproductive to your own healing. Non-clinical states of mania or depression must not be used as excuses for stopping the living process, one must learn from the pain, accept it, deal with it and come out of it a better person.