“ There are a number of stories in existence about Dionysus’ birth. He is supposed to be the son of the Greco-Roman supreme God Zeus and his mistress Semele. … When just a baby. He was ripped to pieces by the Titans as an act of revenge. Only his heart was saved. … In any event, he was born again, thus fulfilling the criterion of the Divine Child. … He is usually pictured carrying a thyrsus—a staff covered in pine cones, ivy leaves and vines, which are all plants sacred to him. When Dionysus grew up he discovered how to cultivate the vine and how to extract the fruit’s precious juice. … Rhea, mother of Zeus, taught him her religious rites, thus healing him; he then set out on a journey through Asia teaching people the cultivation of the vine.” ~Bernard Simon

By Harold Boulette
Dionysus

Dionysus is often considered to be a god of grapes and wine, but that is a superficial interpretation. His story is one full of spiritual symbolism, and understanding that symbolism gives us a very different story.

Birth and Rebirth

The tale of Dionysus being killed by the Titans, the evil gods that ruled before the Olympians, is symbolic of the death of the physical body. The fact that his heart was saved is symbolic of the survival of the eternal spirit and soul. Many ancient civilization related the heart with the soul, but the story is really saying that his soul survived. Thus rebirth is not about zombies coming back to life in their physical bodies, but about the spirit and soul surviving physical death.

The Thyrsus Symbolism

Dionysus is said to have carried a thyrsus, although some artists depict him with a crown of vines, grapes, and pine cones instead. In either case, the symbolism of these items remains the same.thyrsus The pine cone is commonly used as a symbol of the pineal gland, which is associated with spiritual awakening and enlightenment. It is also a symbol of everlasting life.

Ivy can be symbolic of connections because of the way the vines interweave with each other. It is also symbolic of binding because it binds to trees, buildings, and other things. Because ivy is an evergreen, it also is a symbol of everlasting live.

Grapes are often symbolic of fertility and abundance. The wine made from the grapes is symbolic of love, friendship, and transformation. It may also be used as a symbol of the divine Light that nourishes the soul.

The Travels of Dionysus

Dionysus was also reputed to have done a great deal of travel all over Asia, as well as parts of Europe. This is symbolic of the journey of the seeker, the person seeking spiritual truth and wisdom. It also indicates that Dionysus was a traveling spiritual teacher, who went wherever he could find students to teach, and more advanced teachers to teach him.

The Decoded Tale

So taking the symbolism out of the tale and replacing it with its actual meaning, we get something very different from a god ow drinking and partying. Dionysus was reborn, which is to say his spiritual faculties were awakened. By awakening those faculties, and making use of them to continue to grow spiritually, he became a truly immortal being, and an enlightened one full of divine wisdom. As with all such persons, he traveled and sought out those who also were seeking the truth and brought it to them to the best of his ability. In short, he was a spiritually advanced master and teacher, not a drunken party king.

This post was previously published on the Solar Wind blog.