Dionysian Purpose
A Haibun
sharing food and wine
grounding release of life’s weight
Liber Pater served
through earthen nutrients
ancestors speak to body
old gods called to transmute
grief from below the surface
gut, heart, then head so that
you are liberated
The people of Hellas know that food is a way to connect with our ancestors, with the land, and with the body. Through food, we achieve communion with the old gods of nature and they, in turn, are required to serve in the transmutation of our grief. You see, sometimes transformation requires a bottom-up approach, starting with the gut first, then moving up to the heart, and finally to the head. (From The Witnessing)
Dionysus is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre in ancient Greek religion and myth. He is also known as Eleutherios (“the liberator”), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself. Liber Pater…
