Chiara BaldiniRelated papers
Shiva and Dionysus: Far Away So Close (with images)
The manifold parallels between the Indian god Shiva and his Greek counterpart, with reference to psytrance culture.
An account of the Dionysiac presence in Indian art and culture
The Greek god Dionysos, known as Bacchus by the Romans, was one of the most popular deities to be found beyond the boundaries of the Graeco-Roman world. His attributes appeared in many contexts east of the Roman Empire in the first centuries AD, including in both Bactria and further south, in India, where Dionysiac imagery even featured in Buddhist contexts. This study explores Dionysos’s multiple identities and associations in order to understand how and why the god found a special place in Indian culture. It looks beyond his most familiar role as god of wine and viticulture, and considers his association with water, sacred liquids, fertility, snakes, death and the afterlife. The origins of theatrical performances and episodic narrative are also touched upon, revealing a different aspect of Dionysiac influence in India. Finally, there is a comparison of the characteristics of Dionysos with both the anthropomorphised Soma and Hindu god Shiva. This broader interpretation of Dionysos demonstrates that within the Indian cultural environment there was more than the usual syncretism, revealing an evolving relationship which resulted in a degree of cultic assimilation, bringing aspects of this complex deity into the sub-pantheon of Buddhist religion.
Dionysus and Kataragama: Parallel mystery cults
The Journal of the Institute of Asian Studies, 1997
... In this they reveal their common affinity to Hermes, the Greek god of cunning, theft and eloquence whose caduceus or herald's magical wand finds its counterpart in Skanda-Murukan's vel (Tamil: 'spear'), called his Jñāna Shakti or 'power of gnosis'. ...
Dionis (Dionysus, Sabazius, Bachus) - Macedonic Deity from Prehistoric Times
The Macedonic cult of Dionis (Paionian Dyalos; lat. Dionysus), Sabazius, Bachus, Nimrod, Tammuz/Dumuzi, Zagreus, Osiris-Serapis, etc. is one of the oldest mythological appearances known to humanity. His name is founded in immemorial timeworn forgotten past. According to his astrological and animalistic attributes, the time frame of his conception coincides with the Zodiacal Era of Bull, which spans from 4th to 2nd millennium BCE. The Macedonic Paionians gave the origin of the name Dyaus, from a root-word which means ‘to shine’: Dya/Da - ‘to’, and Us - ‘rising, up’ (like the sun) and/or Usvity - ‘incandescent’. Same meaning is to be found in the Sanskrit ‘Vas-anta’ - spring, from the word root ‘vas’ - shine, heat. Russian prominent linguist Vadim Tsymbursky proposed interpretation of the name Dionis on the basis of Macedonic onomastics: "Our God” – ‘Douh-naš’ in plain Macedonian. When these first Pre-Indo-Europeans fashioned the other gods out of the forces and forms in nature, this root-name was implied for Dionis as well. His primordial cult is strongly associated with the archaic mythological creatures as kentaurs, maenads, satyrs, sileni, etc. Dionis was originally a god of the fertility and nature, associated with wild and ecstatic religious rites; in later traditions he was also the god of wine, of ritual madness and ecstatic behavior, who loosens inhibition and inspires creativity in music and poetry. Initiates worshipped him in the Dionisiac Mysteries, which were comparable to and intricately linked with the Eleusian and Orpheic Mysteries, which are again one and the same with the manifestations of most primordial mysteries of Cabiri , mentioned already by Herodotus as thought by Pelasgians to the men from the isle of Samothrace.
The Forms of Shiva in Visual Arts
Exotic India Art, 2006
Shiva's visual forms, along with perhaps some kind of worship cult, had begun appearing some 5000 years ago. This denotes not only his priority over other gods of India's religious hierarchy but also reveals the fact that his is the imagery and iconography that evolved over a period of five millennia - perhaps the longest period for an image, or worship tradition, to have evolved and sustained through. And, despite such long period, as often breeds complexities and uncompromising contradictions, Shiva's imagery reveals wondrous unity and unique growth perspective.
Ambivalence and penetration of boundaries in the worship of Dionysos: Analysing the enacting of psychical conflicts in religious ritual and myth, with reference to societal structure
2018
This thesis draws on Freud to understand the innate human need to create boundaries and argues that ambivalence is an inescapable dilemma in their creation. It argues that a re-reading of Freud’s major thesis in Totem and Taboo via an engagement with the Dionysos myth and cult scholarship allows for a new understanding of dominant forms of hegemonic psychic and social formations that attempt to keep in place a false opposition of polis and phusis, self and Other, resulting in the perpetuation of oppressive structures and processes. The primary methodological claim of the thesis is that prior psychoanalytic engagements with cultus scholarship have suffered from being either insufficiently thorough or diffused in attempts to be comparative. A more holistic and detailed approach allows us to ground a psychoanalytic interpretation in the realities of said culture, allowing us to critique Freud’s misreading of Dionysos regarding the Primal Father and the psychic transmission of the Prima...
Visual Differences: Dionysos in Ancient Art
A Different God? Dionysos and Ancient Polytheism (ed. by Renate Schlesier). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011
"The specific nature of Dionysos’ ‘difference’ does not only depend on a given epoch and its intellectual and historical background. What we are told about the god is also a question of genre – the main ones of interest here are literature, visual arts and performing arts, especially theatre. Even the different subgenres of one and the same genre, e. g. painted vases and sculptured sarcophagi as subgenres of the visual arts, do not present Dionysos in exactly the same way: factors such as the aims of the customer or the producer as well as the context of the reception of the work in question have to be taken into consideration, too. Several contributions to the Berlin conference dealt with the presentation of Dionysos in art.1 Chronologically, the contributions ranged from the 6th century B.C. to the 4th century C.E. The media discussed included painted vases, mosaics, luxury items, votive reliefs, cult statues and sculptured altar friezes. The present essay will use some of this material, but will look at it from a different angle. It aims to focus on aspects that seem to be characteristic of Dionysos, aspects that effectively make him a ‘different god’. The paper deals with Dionysos as god of women and god of epiphany; with the inclusion of mortals in his retinue; with the promise of a blessed afterlife that is projected onto him; with Dionysos as fighter; and with Dionysos as the most human god."
THE DANCE OF SHIVA
How many various dances of Shiva are known to His worshippers I cannot say. No doubt the root idea behind all of these dances is more or less one and the same, the manifestation of primal rhythmic energy. Shiva is the Eros Protogonos of Lucian, when he wrote: " It would seem that dancing came into being at the beginning of all things, and was brought to light together with Eros, that ancient one, for we see this primeval dancing clearly set forth in the choral dance of the constellations, and in the planets and fixed stars, their interweaving and interchange and orderly harmony. " I do not mean to say that the most profound interpretation of Shiva's dance was present in the minds of those who first danced in frantic, and perhaps intoxicated energy, in honor of the pre-Aryan hill-god, afterwards merged in Shiva. A great motif in religion or art, any great symbol becomes all things to all men; age after age it yields to men such treasure as they find in their own hearts. Whatever the origins of Shiva's dance, it became in time the clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can
SHIVA PART - Sexology of SHIVA & Buddhism
Indo Nordic Author's Collective
SHIVA PART - Sexology of SHIVA Introduction to the "Tantric Age" page 3 Keepers of the Land of the Buddha page 5 Developmwnt of Tantra during Palas page 7 Tantric Age page 9 Tantric Age Tantrica and Proto tantrc elements page 21 Does Shiva exist? Page 23 Vaiṣṇava Buddhist tantra page 44 Chapter 1-The Concept of Diety Yoga page 60 Chapyer 2-A thangka page 83 Chapter 3-Vajrayana Buddhism page 89 Chapter 4-Tantric ritual and magical practices page 120 Chapter 5-Tantric sex or sexual yoga page 130 Chapter 6- Flesh Eaters- Dākṣāyaṇī and the Śakti Pīṭhas page 148 Chapter 7 Sexoloy of the Yoni page 153 Chapter8-Mysterious Sex Temples page 166 Chapter 9 Universities that Taught Tantric Sexology page 262 Chapter 10-Vajrayana: Tibetan Buddhism, and Virtual Reality page 269 Chapter 11-Tara - Tantric goddess page 280 Tata & Saraswati the River & Goddess INTRODUCTION page 311 Introduction to the "Tantric Age" page 3 Keepers of the Land of the Buddha page 5 Developmwnt of Tantra during Palas page 7 Tantric Age page 9 Tantric Age Tantrica and Proto tantrc elements page 21 Does Shiva exist? Page 23 Vaiṣṇava Buddhist tantra page 44 Chapter 1-The Concept of Diety Yoga page 60 Chapyer 2-A thangka page 83 Chapter 3-Vajrayana Buddhism page 89 Chapter 4-Tantric ritual and magical practices page 120 Chapter 5-Tantric sex or sexual yoga page 130 Chapter 6- Flesh Eaters- Dākṣāyaṇī and the Śakti Pīṭhas page 148 Chapter 7 Sexoloy of the Yoni page 153 Chapter8-Mysterious Sex Temples page 166 Chapter 9 Universities that Taught Tantric Sexology page 262 Chapter 10-Vajrayana: Tibetan Buddhism, and Virtual Reality page 269 Chapter 11-Tara - Tantric goddess page 280 Tata & Saraswati the River & Goddess INTRODUCTION page 311 Introduction to the "Tantric Age" page 3 Keepers of the Land of the Buddha page 5 Developmwnt of Tantra during Palas page 7 Tantric Age page 9 Tantric Age Tantrica and Proto tantrc elements page 21 Does Shiva exist? Page 23 Vaiṣṇava Buddhist tantra page 44 Chapter 1-The Concept of Diety Yoga page 60 Chapyer 2-A thangka page 83 Chapter 3-Vajrayana Buddhism page 89 Chapter 4-Tantric ritual and magical practices page 120 Chapter 5-Tantric sex or sexual yoga page 130 Chapter 6- Flesh Eaters- Dākṣāyaṇī and the Śakti Pīṭhas page 148 Chapter 7 Sexoloy of the Yoni page 153 Chapter8-Mysterious Sex Temples page 166 Chapter 9 Universities that Taught Tantric Sexology page 262 Chapter 10-Vajrayana: Tibetan Buddhism, and Virtual Reality page 269 Chapter 11-Tara - Tantric goddess page 280 Tata & Saraswati the River & Goddess INTRODUCTION page 311
SHIVA AND DIONYSUS: FAR AWAY SO CLOSE
One of the most popular “icons” in Goa-psytrance culture is the Indian god Shiva, but what kind of divinity is he and which is the philosophy behind his cult? And is the cult of Shiva a strictly oriental creation or can we also find in western culture a similar tradition?
The reason for the presence of Shiva in trance parties lies in the influence that Shivaite philosophy and way of life exerted on the westerners who went to India and started the phenomenon of Goa-trance. In fact the age-old cult of Shiva, still kept alive nowadays by the sadhus (wandering Shiva sages) consists in living a peaceful life outside the rules of society, with few clothes, little food, dedicated to the ritual consumption of hashish and to the practice of sacred erotic rituals: a conduct which deeply resonated with the new-born hippy lifestyle, providing hippies (and later trancers) with the possibility to understand the “divine” aspect of this way of living. Furthermore it was the sacredness granted by Shivaites to collective trance dancing and use of psychoactive substances that contributed to the concept of trance parties as sacred rituals, as often stated by Goa Gil, who was initiated in a sadhu order himself.
But this “cult of nature” is not typical of Indian culture only and it is actually considered one of the most ancient and worldwide spread religious traditions, aside from that of the Great Mother to which it is complementary. According to the American mythologist Joseph Campbell, Shiva is just another name given to the same archetype, or godform, whose worship is primary in all cultures, since it teaches respect for the dignity and sanctity of all nature. Examples of this archetype in the various cultures are: the Polynesian Maui, the Hopi Masau’u, the Yoruba Ochosi, the Aztec Xochipilli, etc. In the western tradition the godform most similar to Shiva can be identified with the Greek Dionysus, as evidenced by a “remarkable pattern of correspondences between the two deities, arising from the comparative study of mythology and literature” as noted by Alain Danielou, the French specialist on India's religions and philosophies, in his “Gods of Love and Ecstasy: the Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus”.
The similarities between the two cults lie in their essence as nature religions, spiritual practices aimed at celebrating the divine aspect of human’s natural instincts and the deep communion shared by the “human animal” with savage life and the entire cosmos. Dionysus and Shiva are gods of vegetation, protectors of animals and trees, dressed with the skins of wild animals, living in forests and mountains. They are both “archetypal images of indestructible life”, personifications of that vital energy, known by the Greeks as Zoe: nature’s constant and endless drive to re-generate and maintain life. This vital energy is conventionally represented by symbols associated to both cults, like the Bull, the Phallus (or Lingam in case of Shiva) and the Snake, which identify both deities as fertility gods, personifications of the fertilising male principle. But both Shiva and Dionysus are also androgynous young gods, eternal adolescents with both male and female characteristics, spirits of playful energy, tricksters with creative, destructive and transformative powers, which reveal them as ambivalent gods, shape-shifters, expressing paradox, ambiguity and coincidence of opposites as the ultimate essence of the divine.
This ambivalence is mirrored also in their identity as liminal gods, masters of the altered state of consciousness, as both cultic practices (consisting mainly in initiation rituals) revolve around the ecstatic experience reached through collective trance dancing, ingestion of psychoactive substances and sacred erotic practices. “One must practice collective dancing. Rhythm gives rise to a state of trance which brings humans nearer to Shiva, the Cosmic Dancer”, recites a Shivaite text quoted by Danielou. Shiva is often portrayed holding a percussive instrument (a repetitive beats device!) and he is commonly associated with bhang, a drink made with Indian hemp, and the practice of Tantrism, a tradition of erotico-magic sexuality. On the other side Dionysus is known as the “god of dancing”, “the loud one” and “god of wine” (which was commonly mixed with different herbs to “bring forth the gods and ancestral spirits”). He is celebrated with “rapturous group experiences, featuring dancing, costumes, music, wine and ecstatic release out in nature”, often including a very open approach to sexuality, as evidenced by many “explicit” vase paintings and literary references. This has led to the modern concept of “orgies” as group sex, even if orgazein originally meant “celebrations of Zoe”, that vital energy manifesting as eros, or as the enthusiasmos of the dance, whose appearance during the rituals was invoked (and provoked) as a sign of the presence of the god himself among his followers.
The practice of these “techniques of ecstasy” often lead Shiva and Dionysus to be accused of teaching the secrets of wisdom to the poor and humble, for they can be practised regardless of the level of knowledge or the social position. Therefore the profound wisdom, which is possible to acquire through the ecstatic experience and consisting of the realisation of the deep interconnectedness of All, is theoretically available to all sorts of people. This is why both Shiva and Dionysus are known as “liberating gods” and “healers”, granting salvation from ignorance and deliverance from angst and fear. A good example of this liberating power is the image of the Dance of Shiva, where the god is portrayed dancing on a dwarf-demon whose name translate as “forgetful and ignorant demon”, symbolising the triumph over unawareness through the dance.
The followers of Shiva and Dionysus are known in the Indian and Greek cultures as sharing the same characteristics of the two gods: playfulness, joy of living, harmony with nature, but also a certain ambiguous “dark” aspect, as they are referred to as “demonic children” or “heavenly delinquents”. As Danielou informs us, in Shivaite tradition the god’s companions are described as “freakish, adventurous, vagabond, delinquent and wild young people, with unkept hair, shouting in the storm, dancing, singing”. In Greece, the poet Hesiod describes the followers of Dionysus as “joyous vagabonds of heaven, dancers, musicians, acrobats, practical jokers and lazy. They press the grape and get drunk, they are perpetually overexcited, jolly fellows in search of good fortune”.
From a social point of view, Shiva and Dionysus, are considered protectors of those who do not belong to conventional society, those who do not live a “normal” life and outlaws. Their essence as symbols of the divinity of the laws of nature, in fact, tend to create a strong contrast with the “city religions”, the institutional religious practice aimed at the divinisation of man-made laws, based on civic conformity and the repression of natural instincts. This is the case in both Olympian religion (in the case of Dionysus) and the Aryan-vedic religion (in the case of Shiva), which tend to place these “rebellious gods” outside their official pantheon of gods. Historically, the periods of cultural evolution are those in which these two opposing yet complementary tendencies find a way to co-exist peacefully and respectfully, as in the case of Dionysian worship during the Hellenistic period. But when this balance is not achieved the result is persecution, repression and demonization of nature religions.
Therefore the reappearance of Shiva and Dionysus-like cults seems to be a characteristic of those periods in which, after a phase of repression, humans realise that they have lost the awareness of their profound interconnection with nature and spontaneously return to those beliefs and practices able to renew this awareness. For the historical moment in which we are living, often identified with the last phase of what the Hindus call Kali Yuga, or the Age of Conflicts, this tendency seems to be confirmed even by the ancient text Linga Purana: “At the end of the Kali Yuga, the god Shiva will appear to re-establish the right path in secret and hidden form” (1.40.12). From this point of view psytrance could be one of these “secret and hidden forms” under which the cult of nature reappears, as a way for modern people to re-establish the link with a very ancient stream of knowledge, a sort of “universal religion” whose teachings potentially constitute “the seed of the Golden Age of the future of humankind”.
For more info:
Alain Danielou: “Gods of Love and Ecstasy: the Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus” and “While the Gods Play: Shiva Oracles and the Predictions on the Cycles of History and the Destiny of Mankind”
Both very interesting books on the cult of nature and the cycles of history, even if Danielou, writing in the 1960s and 70s, still retains some old-fashioned ideas, such as considering racial mixing a “debasement”!
More on Dionysus:
Karoly Kereny: “Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life”
Euripides: “The Bacchae”
A Greek tragedy with Dionysus as the main character, arriving in Greece to start his cult.
On comparative mythology:
Joseph Campbell: “The Masks of God” and “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”
On Goa Gil and his relation to Shivaism:
Michael McAteer: “Redefining the Ancient Tribal Ritual for the 21st century: Goa Gil and the Trance Dance Experience”: http://www.goagil.com/thesis.html
For questions and comments contact: dancingwithgods@yahoo.com
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