mattydva

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"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty"

Sticker spotted in Bilkent university in Turkey

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Reblog If You Agree

Nudity is not porn http://bit.ly/1F5JuTT

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YES!!!

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE ‼️💥💥💥

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Happy Pride Month

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Young Apollo and his friends

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Dionysus Dance Party

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Ave Antinous ❤️

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Prayer to Dionysos for Discovery

Dionysos, god who sees to the center of being, god who stands on the edges, whose arrival is sudden and swift, I call to you. Dionysos, granter of revelations, granter of pleasure and delight, the transport of the spirit is yours to give. You know the way to the soul, you hold the key to understanding. Dionysos, guide me through uncertainty, show me the comfort of the dark, of the night. I pray to you, show me how to seek my nature, open my heart to meaning, lead me to truth.

[mattydva]

hm. random thought after about half a bottle of wine but: being queer is so holy and even though it's hard, i'm so glad it's a part of me, and it can never be erased. like, Dionysos was actively transgressive when it came to the society He lived in: respected women, let them leave their homes, effeminate, bottom (canonically too), lived as a woman in His childhood, and for a society like Greece that valued GRRR MASCULINE MANLY MEN, it's a bit surprising that Dionysos' queerness has made it to the modern day. i share, in some sense, in that same queerness that ran through the streets of ancient Greece, that scandalized cities by being a freeing force, that tenderly held lovers. and that queerness will live even after i'm gone as well :)

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sometimes i feel like the relationship between myself and Dionysos is like that of a mouse being batted around by a cat, but the cat is being very careful with the "batting about", and the mouse is fully there for all of it

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“Stop trying to sanitize the gods, they’re flawed and human.”

Excuse me? You’re trying to tell me that my deities are somehow close to our level? That they are flawed and therefore lesser? My gods had the ancients inventing new ways of thinking, and forced us to consider our place in the universe under their tutelage. They survived thousands of years of intentional erasure. They could not be forced to bow to a new “supreme” god. They survived into the 21st century where we worship currency and technology. They moved through the winds and whispers of our ancestors that were under threat. But the gods kept us in their graces after their temples were disgraced and built over with churches. The held our bloodline in their hands from the cradle to the grave, over and over, from ancestor to descendent, all the way to us. They endure in a way we could never. And they give us the gift of their presence and indescribable vastness. They are not human. They are not of this world. We’ve been told that means all goodness and all perfection, and that standard is untouchable just as God is unreachable. These gods touch us, they have walked amongst us.

We have told their stories from the viewpoint of western, Christian, modern society and it has done them a disservice. Even so, even though we take their stories of divinity and water them down, they do not retaliate, they do not abandon us. They are the farthest thing from human. And if this lesson is that imperfection is beyond humanity, it makes the ideal of perfection we hold foolish and inhumane.

The gods have no need for our blessings, but I bless their names nonetheless.

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“Paganism is dead”

No man it’s just not organized and that’s the way it should be, creating a monoculture for paganism is potentially extremely dangerous to its themes of individualism and personal practices . Yeah we don’t have temples or pilgrimages but that’s because the grace of the natural world/ our deities can be found anywhere and everywhere we don’t need temples our own bodies are pagan temples. Our own flesh and bones are structures of divinity to us, we make altars in our houses and make those our blessed places. Most of paganism is heavily private of course you think it’s dead that and anytime western culture is faced with a polytheistic system it has an absolute hissy fit.

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Dionysus isn't a meme

every time i look through the "Dionysus" tag, all i get is percy jackson, the hades game, cute fanart of him and'/or ariadne, or funny haha memes. so few people seem to understand that Dionysus is not just some silly little androgynous fella who loves wine and his wife. He's a god of contradictions, being both one of the oldest and youngest gods worshipped for thousands of years. He's a liberator, not only of the mental cage and burdens of society, but literally, he would travel around and free people who were being treated unfairly.

I've read that archaeologists still sometimes can't tell if art is of Jesus or Dionysus. Dionysus gave us theatre, a way to tell stories on a much grander scale to a much wider audience. He sees no gender or sexuality, for he is of them all, and he calls and accepts everyone who desires to be free.

Sure, yes, he can be silly, he can be flamboyant, and he'll do anything for his loved ones, but he's not just a goofy guy for people to use in joke text memes. this is my patron god. he's been with me my whole life. part of my life is devoted to theatre, my greatest passion, because of him. i feel comfortable with my mental illnesses and femininity because of him. yes, i may call him my dude and think of him as my fun, goofy uncle or whatever, but he seriously means a lot to me. practically every aspect of my life has been touched by him. he frees me from my doubts and insecurities. he encourages me to pursue life's delights in spite of my struggles. he gives me HOPE.

the whole reason i named this blog after Dionysus is because i've always held him in my heart, and he has always been here for me. please don't just water him down to a funny guy who drinks wine.

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Items for Lord Dionysus’ altar

Wine

Grapes

Statues and/or images of Dionysus

Apples

Goblets

Wine glasses

Ethically sourced furs

Statues of leopards, tigers, snakes, and/or bulls

Theater masks

Play programs

Phallic imagery

Fake or real plants

Pinecones

wildflowers

Wine corks, bottles, or labels

Bottle caps

Pride flags and/or pins

Condoms

Candles

Scripts

Garnet

Ruby

Amethyst

These are all suggestions and common associations of Dionysus. If you do not have some of these or don’t feel comfortable owning some of these, that is valid. We all have different practices and how you do yours will differ from mine.

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Young worshipers of Dionysus

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