lunedì 2 dicembre 2024

Naturalism and bioregional roots... - Naturalismo e le radici bioregionali...



The cult of Dionysus in the time of the sacredness of nature.

It is time for the laity to react to religious rhetoric but NOT by alienating themselves from their community, but by proudly claiming their roots in the tolerance and freedom of thought of “pagan” times.

If we consider that paganism was not a religion, but rather a tolerant attitude towards all ways of thinking and all traditions, we will have no difficulty in keeping our secularity intact while fully recovering the joyful folklore of our deepest roots.

One of the strongest symbols of the sacredness of nature, in addition to the image of the Mother Goddess, is provided by Dionysus or Bacchus or Liber, god of wine, joy and orgies of Greece and Rome. There are many similarities between the mysteries of Dionysus (known since 13 centuries before Christ) and the “Christian myth”.

Dionysus (a man who became God), was venerated as the “liberator God” (from death) because once deceased he descended into hell but after a few days returned to earth.

Precisely this ability of resurrection offered his followers the hope of an afterlife through his divine intervention. Even to be admitted to the Dionysian cult it was necessary to be baptized, introduced to the temple and subjected to a strict fast.

Another similarity between the cult of Dionysus and the much later one of Jesus is in the ritual that included omophagia (consumption of the flesh and blood of an animal, identified with Dionysus himself), as a sign of mystical union with his body and blood. Dionysus was also closely connected with the life cycles of nature to which the concept of resurrection (spring) and death (autumn) were linked precisely as a manifestation of the death and resurrection of God.

Even the ancient symbols of Dionysus: the vine, the pomegranate and the ram all become the symbols attributed by Christians to Jesus. Two correspond perfectly (the vine and the pomegranate) and one corresponds with a minimal, indeed negligible variation: (the ram of Dionysus is rejuvenated and becomes Agnus Dei – lamb of God).

Robert Graves in Greek Myths wrote: “… Dionysus, also called “he who was twice born” once his cult was affirmed throughout the world, ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of Zeus as one of the Twelve Great Ones” 

(Marcus Prometheus)




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