SHIVA-DIONYSOS
from Wandering to Ecstasy
or the Sacred Delices
«This body is the most sacred temple
because the Supreme Shiva has established
His home there.
He is the Self.»
«Nothing exists that is not Shiva»
Svacchanda Tantra
I - WANDERER and GREAT DANCER
The usual representations of Shiva, the wanderer and the cosmic dancer, impress the human minds and give rise to many questions, and even an intense spiritual quest.
Shiva, fascinating god of music, of dance and yoga, creator of the concept of Theatre that he considers playful, teaching and formative as a «Sacred explana-tory dance».
When Shiva appears before our astonished eyes or when he inspires, via dedicated scribes, myths and legends, allegories and metaphors, he plays always a character. Just as Odin wandering around as beggar, masked with his wide-brimmed hat, unrecognizable with his cloak, who never appears with his true identity, at least at first sight, in order to test his children. Such as an examination, a testing, and why not, a challenge.
How will they welcome this strange, blind and so advanced in years being ? Listening to him, will they recognize his so powerful values, always expressed with wise virulence? Or will they be blind, rude, selfish and stupid, judging and condemning hastily his words and appearance as the last four millennia have taught them?
Shiva-Odin is wandering.(1) He conquers plains and cities, mountains and forests. True to himself, he appears to Humans -and to several Gods also-, hirsute and dirty, deformed (2), in rags or like mad, the chest surrounded by a necklace of skulls.
He observes. What does he see ? The non-recognition. The lack of discernment. Foolishness. Incompetence. Ignorance. In one word, CONCEITEDNESS.
Besides, the ancient Texts certify that the haughty caste of Brahmins does its best to ignore Shiva and to stay away from Him. Still today, for most of them. Worse, the Sages, one day, decreed the killing of the great God. That Humans, moreover initiates, think they are able to kill a so powerful Immortal is astounding. Sages,.. did you say ...?
Let's see the facts that are scarcely allegorical :
Wherever the Lingam went by, infertility was passing away, growth was settling everywhere and with it, a plethora of luxuriance and abundance. Exasperated by a so insolent generosity and a so benevolent compassion (3), the sages cursed the Lingam and publicly condemned ithyphallic Shiva, the great «fertilizer».
Gathered all together, the imbeciles were chanting, despising and blaming the penis of Shiva, they were abominating the sacred seed.
From the Heights, Shiva, serene, was gauging such an avalanche of complacency. Amused, he suddenly appeared naked, dishevelled, with an erect penis, dirty and covered with ashes.
The ascetics, outraged, tried twice as hard. Their chanting became curses and their whispers, shouts.
Shiva remained imperturbable. Suddenly the sacred lingam fell down to the ground. For a very brief instant, he appeared to be emasculated, sterilized, impotent.
Unfortunately for these so-called sages, no one can compel Shiva, even less his Lingam blessed by the Life. The Lingam erected itself, autonomous, as if it was born of itself, and burned all what was around. The ascetics, blinded by their insufferable conceit, understood nothing of the terrible warning of Shiva. They believed the Lingam to be self-immolated. Worse, they returned to their homes, stupidly happy, surprised by their immense power.
But the fact is, whoever curses Shiva is cursed in his turn by the Life.
Since that day, wherever these imbeciles went by, Life was perishing, the joy was dying, the fields were depleting, crops were becoming scarce. Death was spreading in all directions, like a terrifying leprosy.
The people, informed of the «story» and outraged by such arrogance, deserted the Ashrams and strongly condemned these cheap wise ones, making them rightly responsible for all their ills. Finally aware of their unfathomable stupidity, ashamed of their tragic conceit, terrified in front of so many disasters, the «wise men» who feared the name Shiva at its mere mention, ran to implore Brahma to stop such chaos.
«Stupid as you are, said sharply Brahma, you have lost everything in an instant, your initiations, your «wisdom» and even your ability to become immortal some day. Are you blind?
Don't you see that this penis you cursed so much is none other than that of Shiva, who fecundates Life, the one with whom Life mates? Shame on you! »
Sheepish, devastated, the «wise ones» wrung their hands, crying and sobbing, begging Brahma. The hours went by and the ascetics still languished. So, in front of the endless wailing of those miserable ones, Brahma agreed to help them :
« Stabilize the phallus in order that the world stabilizes again. Place it on a pedestal shaped like a vagina and an arrow (4), water it with holy water and pray to Shiva».
This is how was born the well-known symbol of the Lingam and the Yoni. So, they had to honor throughout their life this so reviled Lingam, but which is so essential to the blossoming of Life, to the peace between peoples, to the flow of Life energy within all of us. (5)
«Stabilize the phallus in order that the world stabilizes again»: think of the Djed (6) that must always stand upright and deeply planted in the Earth, so that Civilizations and Golden Age will continue. As soon as the Djed is bent or worse broken, right after, Chaos spreads on Earth. And logically, impacts the celestial which experiences a rebound of chaos. The reverse is also true. Thus, the famous «As above, so below for the manifestation of one thing» by Thot-Hermes, provides new avenues for reflection.
And the only goal of Kali Yuga is to break the Djed, to see the Lingam falling to the ground. After all, extreme suffering is it not the daily food of Kali Yuga ?
Let me be clear :
Shiva/Linga represents the very foundation of our world, the true one, ours, the one we enjoyed in the past. We ENJOYED. Because in truth, Shiva fully embodies the ecstatic pleasure, the intense jubilation, and this ecstatic pleasure, this intense jubilation are the branches of our universe when Shiva rules.
Dances, joys, celebrations and chants feed our daily life, while the profound understanding of the noble and sacred sexuality, child of true Love, echo of the
primordial Sound opens the door towards the Mysteries and Transcendence.
Shiva does not emasculate himself, does not kill himself, does not lock himself, does not contain himself. The same goes for Parvati / Kali. (7)
These beings are «beyond».
And yet in the Vedas, in books about Hindouism, on «authorised» websites discussing these subjects, Shiva is shown as an abstinent god. And yet and always, everything contradicts this assertion, EVERYTHING. Where do people study? Where do they do their research to conclude such intellectual extravagances ? The God of the Lingam, ityphallic and fertilizing, abstinent ...
Here is the Kali Yuga whose death throes continue to damage people : the more the discourse is incoherent the more it is glorified. Of course, Shiva is identified to the great Ascetic but in the sense of the god of Yoga !
According to our Gods, «ascetic» (8) means the great disciplined. A discipline of study and relentless practice, rewarded by Enlightenment. Ea-Shiva was the first God to experience Enlightenment. He found this path alone. ALONE. On this point, he is «ascetic», and not at all because he starves and lives in a cold cave with only a few grains of rice once or twice a week, considering the woman as the worst temptation.
Abstinent, really ?? ... pffft.
Making of Shiva a concept, making him abstinent and therefore STERILE, is an invention of the Vedas, book written by the «newcomers» in India as everywhere else, and who are called «aryans» to add more confusion.
Let's make a little break : Shiva loves love, makes love and fully assumes. Let's read the following sentences :
« When they left and that Shiva remained alone with Sati (9), he enjoyed great happiness and their lovemaking was countless and indescribable. Even apart from his prolonged embrace with the Goddess, where their profound union was achieved, he could not turn away his attention from her, and adulated her with all kinds of love play.»(10)
The «Shiva Yoga» has never been intended to any withdrawal whatsoever from Life, but on the contrary to be involved in the daily life WITH a constant open and broad Consciousness. «Stretching» and «yoga-fitness» pompously renamed today «yoga» are very far away from Shiva's teaching. And this, although any trendy method or technique is exclusively inspired from Yoga, because Yoga is all, and prior to everything.
The postures that have gone through millennia are correct for most of them but dispossessed of the breath, the true sound, the just visualisation, the understanding of the symbolism inherent to each asana. And above all, of the contact with Shiva.
This is why twenty, thirty years later, all these «initiated» teachers of yoga have still not ascended their Kundalini.
Yoga is an act of love with Shiva, a tribute that is constantly offered to this Wonderful Being. Yoga is a sacred language sung by the active or motionless body.
I will repeat this because Yoga without Consciousness is nothing but physical exercise to maintain the energy structure, which is not so bad, I agree. Nor deny that beginners should at first become supple, feel, practice just before diving into authentic Yoga. Of course. But then, if we want to progress, to wake up Kundalini, because it's the goal, -becoming a little Shiva, a little Parvati-, we will have to switch to «Total Yoga».
Because the act of love that is Yoga, this deep, powerful and intense coupling with Shiva-Shakti is the key to the rise of the Serpent.
And this rise instantly connects us to the world of Shiva. Again, let's go to the sacred Heights:
« The Kailasa, the mountain where is the paradise of Shiva, is full of beautiful gardens. ... It is a delightful place where is found all that leads to happiness. ... There are all kinds of trees and lianas, deers, fallow deers, gazelles and thousands of birds. The nymphs are playing with their lovers in springs and ponds ... There are many animals, tigers and others, but they are not ferocious. ... Nature is resplendent and inspires wonder and admiration. ... Further on, is the Pippala, the fig tree under which Shiva practices Yoga. ... It is beautiful and sacred ».(11)
Let's return to the grotesque will of the ruling castes (Brahmins and others) to reduce Shiva to nothing. What a nerve ! ... (12)
Let's read the comment that is under a pictorial representation of Shiva at the BNF, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (13),
«Chidambaram, in the state of Tamil Nadu, is one of the most sacred places of Shaivism. This is where Shiva performed his dance of bliss (ananda-tandava) on the body of the dwarf Apasmara (the man without memory). Therefore Shiva is worshipped as Nataraja, the cosmic dancer.
The Tamil Kanda Purana tells us about the origin of the dance of bliss (ananda-tandava) and Shiva's attributes:
The hermits in Taruka's forest, hostile to Shiva, practiced austerities and sacrifices to conquer heaven.
Shiva went to Taruka accompanied by Vishnu and diverted them from their austerities. Annoyed, they then made a sacrifice to kill him and threw in turn against him a fierce tiger, a trident, an antelope, snakes, a skull, spells and the malignant Muyalakan (epilepsy).
Shiva tore the skin of the tiger to make his clothes, seized the trident, placed the antelope in his left hand, made of snakes his adornment, then under the name of Shankar (the one who gives peace), he quieted the demons, crushed the demon Muyalakan under his feet and began to dance on him.
The universe trembled and when the dance stopped, the hermits prostrated themselves at the feet of the God and sang his praise. Shiva ordered them to continue their austere life while observing the rites of his worship, then he returned to his home on Mount Kailash. (SJ) ».
This citation is not exhaustive. So, I can complete:
A horde of demons coming out of the fire was thrown at Shiva, he made of them one of his legions. He put on his hair the skull that those crazy hermits threw on him. The magic formulas chanted by the ascetics were changed into a trumpet from which arose a deafening sound: Shiva took it and made his conch. That's the reason for the dance of Nataraja and the symbols he holds in his hands when he performs it. In particular the Damaru, small drum that evokes time. Besides the hourglass, the Damaru reminds the double-edged ax, well known symbol of the labyrinth or the Dagaz rune.
Why Shiva leaves the Himalayas to divert these «wise men» from their austerities ? Because they practice sacrifices and think that by insulting, day after day, Shiva and his Goddesses and Gods, they will «conquer heaven». No human will never conquer heaven, because heaven is the Territory of the Gods. He can only be a guest. And certainly not by killing animals or even worse, «to try to please» Shiva ! Moreover, what says the Grand God before leaving them? To respect his rites (14), ie to end those of sacrificial kind !
Because, how is it possible to acquire CONSCIOUSNESS while behaving like a criminal? By showing enough stupidity to believe that killing the Life would please to the One who fully embodies it ?
There are also Shaivite «communities» and others which think that mutilating themselves and living a masochistic deprivation amounts to «follow the path of Shiva». What offense ! What a shame !
If Shiva understands, He urges to end these infamies!
But, this last sentence is missing in the «revealed» books. Of course. By the way, by whom were they largely «revealed» ?
Let's go further:
One of these communities is that of the Sadhus in which several ways are possible, from the «easiest» one that teaches and accepts disciples dressed in saffron sheets to the hardest one of which I have just described some features.
In general, the Sadhu is this «holy» being walking naked or barely clothed along the paths, covered with ashes, and who lives on food given by benevolent Indians. He says he is a renouncer. But why such an asceticism ? Where did Shiva require this ? And why does Shiva show himself like this while he is so beautiful, so radiant, with an aura shining on millions of kilometers ? Does he think necessary to «belittle» himself like this ?
«It's a test, you will say, you already explained it».
A lot of things hide behind this «image». First of all, the Sadhus interpretation of one of Shiva's appearance and their personal choice to copy it to the extreme, without any common sense, is their own choice. Nowhere Shiva urges to such deprivation. NOWHERE. This is completely contrary to his temperament, to his vision of Life.
But, the most important in this «image» of Shiva are the ashes. They not only symbolize the renunciation of illusory riches of this world that are burned by the renunciation of the «holy one» but the wild im-molation of the lost paradise, the world of Shiva - for now - destroyed and reduced to nothing by the evil ones, who only feed on our sorrows and tears (Kali Yuga).
I read, I do not remember where, that «the ashes of which Shiva is covered evoke the sublimated procreation. Shiva is the god of abstinence, the seed of the one who remains chaste is consumed by giving him a tremendous energy. Like him, the Sadhus, members of the sect of Shiva, rub their bodies with the ashes of funeral pyres».
Note the seriousness of such statement. Contemporary statement, I stress again this point, far away from the pure authentic teachings of our Shiva. What do we read :
1 - the sect of Shiva
A sect ? In the West, especially in France, always afraid of its own shadow, this word is unacceptable.
The words used for the translation draw an offensive veil over the ancient Shaivite reality, so we must be vigilant in the use of terms, especially in writing. Or we have to precisely define them in their specific context. No sect with Shiva. This is totally against his vision of freedom !
2 - a sublimated procreation... of the one who remains chaste.
I have already answered to these nonsenses.
Of course, during orgasm, it is essential to raise the energy along the spine to awaken Kundalini, but why preventing ejaculation ? Why should the seed be consumed ?
«It exhausts and shortens the lives of men», will say some.
Wrong. It's untrue. Even among the Taoists who refrain, none, to my knowledge, has lived much longer than a Westerner or an Easterner who does not retain. All these nonsenses always originate from the same malevolent source.
The difficulty of the secrets of Shaivism and of authentic Tantra, -in addition to their distortion- comes because they are often unfamiliar, unknown to the Western mindset, full of snap judgments, hereditary taboos and other archaic prejudices. All the words are differently understood in the West and in India. There is nothing in common between the East and the West, except since the last millennia (Kali Yuga), where suffering, genocide and disease are plethora. From wars to stagnation and depression, the Evil ones regularly pop the champagne for the greatest misfortune of the peoples.
If I sum up :
• Shiva is abstinent but creates Humanity and the world.
• Shiva is a mad and unbearable god, pleasure-seeker and player, yet eternal grand Yogi with a legendary discipline.
• Shiva is a warrior, god of the Kshatriyas and yet lives apart in the Himalayas, enamored of Parvati and as unconcerned by our woes ...
Shiva is a complex God, I am the first to say and write it, however, saying everything and its opposite is not complexity but confusion or worse, inconsistency.
It is important to clarify.
For Shiva, sublimation means to act at several levels at the same time, consciously and for the better. For example, when he makes love with Parvati, he loves Parvati. But he also mates at other subtle levels of his Immense being with Life. This ecstatic mating with Life contributes to the creation of beings and worlds. Sublimating amounts to raise, to elevate to the highest possible level. It is therefore necessary to always specify what Shiva we are talking about. Is it about Shiva, our Creator, our Father, we contact via our rituals and homages, and thus relatively easily attainable?
Or do we talk about Shiva personifying Life in an unmatched and unparalleled way, and thereby more difficult to approach?
Shiva embodies the highest cosmic aspect, the most sublime, the most powerful of all his other manifestations. Shiva contains in his very name and in each syllable, in each letter as well an invisible teaching about his origins, his innate talents, his gifts got through hard work and an iron will.
Here are some excerpts taken from a preface written by Jean-Claude Carrière about Shiva, of which some points summarize some of my comments (bold characters are mine ): (15)
«We can neither describe nor narrate him. He is indescribable and unutterable. ... He is also the creator, he is the dancer and is the ascetic ... he is the resolution of opposites. ... He is the sharp and the ambiguous, he is water and fire. He is the fire that burns, the water that extinguishes fire. ... Under his most famous appearance (Nataraja, the god of dance and therefore of theatre), he stands on one foot at the centre of a universe surrounded by flames. He shows the drum of creation in one of his right hands, and the fire of destruction in one of his left hands. Everything that has been created will be destroyed. But let's not be frightened. He saved the Earth by stopping the Ganga river in its mad race, by imprisoning it in his hair in order to quieten it down. Without Shiva's hair, it would had been the deluge.
This destroyer is a savior.
He obviously does fear nothing. He has an alive cobra around his neck. He rides a bull with majestic testes.
And he is alive. There is no doubt on that point.
... Curiously enough, the question of his «existence», which is so pernicious for all the gods, does not arise about him. ..
He is, and that is enough. He hides and shows up, he is attentive and unconcerned, he hits and caresses, he accepts all legends, he is amused by what is said about him, and even by what is not said. Death is only a passage, like life. Because he is Kâla, the Time which takes away and brings back all things, Shiva can do what he wants.
We probably could meet him, still dancing and smiling ...» (16)
And when, finally after much effort and abnegation, we succeed to contact Shiva, to hear his blessed words, then we discover a God of love and joy, benevolent, welcoming, very peaceful and focused, attentive to his children, compassionate, strong, eternal, immortal warrior and healer, great magician, loving Love, great lover of Life.
A last word about the citation I gave earlier : «the ashes of which Shiva is covered evoke the sublimated procreation. Shiva is the god of abstinence, the seed of the one who remains chaste is consumed by giving him a tremendous energy. Like him, the Sadhus, members of the sect of Shiva, rub their bodies with ashes of funeral pyres».
3 - the funeral pyres
These pyres depict the inexorable end of cycles. Covering oneself with ashes suggests acceptance and also that of one's own vanishing, of one's own annihilation into the universal nothingness. Frankly this reminds Buddhism rather than ancient Shaivism ... As well all monotheistic religions where dust always returns to dust, or in the spiritual mode of Kali Yuga, everyone ends one's journey in the light that absorbs everything, the return to another form of dust ...Destruction, still destruction, always destruction, chants Kali Yuga ... I can't wait for Satya.
So «Shiva sadhu» is, at first, a form of provocation, and then a teaching. Shiva takes the appearance of the soul of the people to whom he appears, he tries to show them their level of consciousness and in what they are led astray. But who understands in these adverse times ?
Shiva, in his great benevolence, accepts their «madness » and defends the sincere Sadhus. Every-thing can not be totally erased: we get traces of some of his words:
«No one should condemn the naked ascetic who is my faithful, who expresses the principle of things, but acts as a child or a madman. No one will laugh at them or will tell them unpleasant words if one wishes them good now and later. The stupid man who condemns them, condemns me as well».(17)
In front of the carelessness of too many initiates, since four thousands years, Shiva says,«I am the soul of Yoga, by the magical power of Yoga, I will take the form of an ascetic and will inspire fear among men.
I will come into the body of a dead abandoned in a cemetery ... »
Shiva, again, provokes the human mind, the castes, the conventional people, the rigid people living lives without consciousness. Because Shiva loathes greedy people, pettiness of arrivistes, pride of social status. He condemns ignorance and strongly condemns laziness. Shiva abhors Conceit, source of all scandals, of all baseness and often, of all crimes. With him, the only chosen are the TRUE Sages who acquire Knowledge and practice it every day.
We are told that the Vedas were written four or five centuries before or just after A.D, by a sage. Very recent texts. The same goes for the Puranas, very recent legends. Many of these writings underwent «insertions» since the beginning of our era. This explains that so many misconceptions, wrong practices, misguided choices pave our lives on the entire planet. Most of these documents were written by men for men, not by our Gods for their children.
Where are the billions of teachings of our Goddesses and our Gods which were compiled under the leadership of the Egyptian Ibis god, Thot ? (18)
Thot was Ganesh (19) in India. Ganesha, elephant god, who wrote the Mahabharata. Because he felt the urgency of these writings and no means of writing was nearby, he broke one of his tusks and used it as pen. This is why Ganesh is often represented with a broken tusk.
Our Goddesses and Gods are builders of Civilizations, writers and guardians of visible and invisible Knowledge from here and elsewhere, and lovers of Life and Liberty.
Many of our very ancient writings, dating back hundreds of thousands of years are hidden on Earth, others were carried away by our Gods. So when I read books written by «experts» who, arrogantly, say that our world began at Sumer, as if the writing appeared from nowhere five thousands years ago, I say to myself that we are heading for trouble because of illogicality and ignorance under the guise of knowledge. Especially because this chronology, which was made up, starts the beginning of Kali Yuga and the arrival on Earth of very unpleasant realities.
Marduk asked me to insist on these fundamental points, including the serious damage inflicted on our Father Shiva. Whatever name by which he is called; Ea, Enki, Ptah, Atum, Wakan Tanka, Odin, Tyr, Rudra, Tangaroa and many others, never the truth is said about him. And for good reason. We are always told of the same tiresome excesses: madness, magic, sacrifice, lust, etc., etc.
It is true that in the monotheistic religions, only love counts and that the lamb already sleeps for a long time between the paws of the wolf. Just look around us to see how «god» and his «only son» work for our happiness. Yes, we live on Earth in an eternal paradise, everywhere we celebrate peace and joy. Tolerance, compassion and friendship are spread all around the globe. No war, no repression, no misery, no disease. Just bliss, just sound and equitable prosperity. Of course…
If in the East, except for Communists, soul, chakras, yoga, kototama, meditation and many more do not surprise anyone; in the West, the Invisible is systematically disparaged, mocked, called to be a sect, manipulation and sick state of mind. But as always, it is the one who says who is.
All the monotheistic religions expressly forbid any relationship with the Invisible and its related fields, because of fear. God who is so invincible, so powerful, so omniscient, creator of Heaven and Earth (can you imagine), this great thing is afraid of a Shaivite yogi, a visionary or a healer. This does not make you wonder ? It does, in my opinion, and for a very long time.
Shiva teaches us when he suddenly appears from nowhere like a «sadhu». He warns us against dirty money, against the vanities of this world, against the illusion of social position. The only truth for him: self-development, remembering the identity of our true Father, uniting body, soul and mind. A mind that is free of limitations and constraints imposed by the demonic world in which we are agonizing.
On purpose, no one, unless if one has private means, can dedicate full time to yoga and meditation. One must «earn one's living». But changing one's state of mind remains possible. Stopping excessive consumerism, stopping the degeneration of the body that has become an object, the degeneration of the mind that has become manipulated, implanted, the degeneration of the soul which is denied.
This is what says Shiva to us. Returning to the basics, to the true values, his values of which I have already spoken at length here, in my other books, on the website.
From a certain point of view, giving up these poisoned glitter makes us become «ascetics». Of course we can work, earn money, but not at any price, not in contempt of lives, not in contempt of the planet. We must act the best way possible in the world in which we survive. And awake as many people as possible to his truth, demands Shiva.
Although I walked away a little bit from my goal, Dionysus, all this is crucial. So I will conclude with this excerpt. (20)
«That's why Odin represents the one who wanders along the dark moors, lookout who waits and hopes new and original understandings. That's why, finally, under his representation of Shiva, one of the most powerful of the shaivite magical act is the work and confrontation with one's shadow.
Besides, Odin does he not wear the perfect costume during these wanderings, where only the Wind whispers great secrets to him, where only the rustling of leaves teaches him, where the gentle and steady rolling of the ocean enfolds his soul with a constantly renewed sea-foam ?
Supposedly blind, his head protected by a wide-brimmed hat that hid an intense gaze, wrapped up in a black or blue cape, yes, Odin wanders. Because the wandering represents everything, in these realms of eternal quest.
We have to be careful with the meaning given to that term. Wandering does not mean to move aimlessly like a ship without a rudder. Here, wandering symbolizes the great journey of initiation. No route is determined in advance, for sure. Because this journey, that of the soul, immense and slow quest, obliges the Self to grow, to evolve, to gain knowledge, to search, to assimilate and then to teach and pass on, even if it is about the Self of Odin . Our Gods embody the elite of the Galaxy because they never cease to grow, to search. This is an endless journey.
This «dark» aspect of Ea-Odin has inspired many characters, now settled into the collective unconscious of Humanity. For example, let's think to Gandalf, Merlin, to Wisdom that moves a staff in hand, equivalent of the Djed of Ptah, of risen Kundalini, of the Uas, invisible mount of any Chaman from which springs the creator and fertilizing fire.»
II - DIONYSUS
Here we are!
Under these three sacred names Shiva, Osiris, Dionysus, the same god, EA.
A figure is constantly coming up in the Shaivite teaching, especially in Yoga, 108. This figure sealed somehow the presence of Shiva. Figure 8 draws the serpent rising to infinity while figure 1 welcomes it as support and reminds the inescapable Djed / Phallus / spine. Figure 0 refers to the belly of the Great Mother, the Primordial Noun or the Great Yoni. In addition, 108 gives 9, if we add 1 and 8.
Evidently sacred for our Goddesses and our Gods, 9 is the figure of Immortality.
Dionysus teaches the 108 rites of ecstasy.
Osiris, the 108 rites of immortality.
Shiva, the 108 rites that open to Consciousness, to Power, to Force, to occult powers. In a word, Kundalini.
EA contains all in himself.
And the Phallus exists in the three stories of these three sacred names, as I have already mentioned in the previous chapters.
Dance, song, sound, ecstasy, enthusiasm, joy, celebration, descending into one's depths to better rise to the heights of the Gods bring together again Shiva-Nataraja, Osiris the joyful and Dionysus, god of wine, vineyards and rapture.
So, when I will speak about Dionysus in this chapter, I will evoke at the same time Shiva and Osiris. No separation possible with this nominal Trinity.
The first thing is to properly understand the importance of movement. Life is movement, immobility is death. This does not mean that we have to dance and move up to exhaustion. It has nothing in common with restlessness, nervousness or hyperactivity. The movement such as passed on by our Gods, source of flexibility, fluidity, adaptability, longevity must always be part of our everyday life.
Indeed, this Movement (dance, yoga, tantra), so encouraged by our Gods, transcends and becomes the celestial staircase. Towards them.
This call, this impetus towards them, this homage create enthusiasm. Here a key word.
Enthusiasm (21): «from greek enthousiasmos, meaning «divine transport», «divine possession», formed by the verb enthousiazein «to be inspired by the divinity». It is a derivative from the adjective enthous, contracted form of entheos «animated by a divine transport», consisting of in «in(within)» and theos «god», ie, god in oneself».
Let's continue
« In the XVIth century, the word is used with the value of the etymon. In the sense of «sacred rapture which seized the interpreter of the divinity» (the enthusiasm of the Pythia). ... Then this term has lost its original strength, in the ordinary language...», explains the author.
You will have understood that this «possession» has nothing in common with the current sense of the term: body inhabited by an evil spirit. This story of demonic possession, explains Alain Rey (1), appeared with the case of the Ursulines of Loudun and the trial of Urbain Grandier in 1632-1634. At the time of Inquisition. An Inquisition that really existed and killed millions of innocent people across the European territory and up to the Scottish borders.
Originally, this term (possession) meant to feel deep down in one's heart a being greater than oneself. A kind of channeling, before time.
India confirms once again this point, thousands of years before Shiva was called «Dionysus».
«The Supreme Lord (Shiva) secretly insinuates himself into the human body and settles into it». Utpaladeva (2)
Feeling the blessed energy of Dionysus in oneself, abandoning oneself to his «possession » in response to the dance, the music, the singing, the jubilation create the state of rapture, elation and why not, ecstasy. This benevolent power touches profoundly the entire being and has to do with an apotheosis of senses and emotions. Certainly not an inveterate alcoholism that would foster a totally destructive addiction. In this, the image conveyed by the Romans of an obese Bacchus with a drunken face is a scandal and an unforgivable insult. What ignorance, what perfidy. Rooting within us a loathsome image of our Father, is this not the best way to keep us away from Him, as always, as usual ???
So, the Dionysian rites are primarily aimed to let go, to total relaxation in order to encourage the physical and subtle opening of the whole being to the vibrations and energy of dance, songs, sounds, and other NOBLE divine techniques.
So, we must enter into a conscious trance, not wild and uncontrolled. Just a conscious trance, an expansion of consciousness produced by dance, music and songs.
At the time of our Gods, wine (24) still embodied the blood of the Earth, it opened any rite and closed them. As an indispensable tribute to Mother Earth, purveyor of so many benefits. No drinking session: who could dance dead drunk, and then remember everything, when slept it off. The Gods abhor addictions as they lead to self-abandonment and to the betrayal of others. Always, sooner or later.
Moreover, as to confirm my words, Bacchus, derivative of bakkeios means «trance».
Once again, let's listen to Alain Rey (25)
«The use of the word to describe the state of a person in a state of magnetic or hypnotic sleep (1891, Huysmans, 1862 trance) is a borrowing to the English trance, dating back to the Old french transe; trance was already used in the Middle Age with the meaning of «dream, ecstasy» (1245) in particular in the field of love».
You notice that all these terms constantly bring us back to one and only truth or understanding: entering an extra-ordinary state in order to come into contact with the world of the Gods. Dance, singing, music call the Gods, facilitate the joy, openness and love for them and for ourselves.
So the movement allows a trance, an ecstasy that creates a deep bond, especially if it is repeated, with our Gods.
Still according to Alain Rey (26)
The term «Bacchanalia», nowadays more than spoiled, represented in the old days the organization of celebrations dedicated to Dionysus (Dionisus in Greek). It originates from bac, baccos, the container, the vessel, the boat, etc. The substantive verbal of bacchari «celebrating Bacchus» took the meaning of preparing the wine in a container for the rites of Bacchus-Dionysus.
A forgotten sense of this «root» that is yet essential in my opinion : pelvis. Our pelvis where are the first two chakras, very involved in dance and music.
On the other hand, dance means legs in motion. The legs drain the telluric energy of Mother Earth, especially if dancing encourages to hit the Earth (African dance) and so, nourishes the first three chakras. For their part, the upper chakras feed on the energy of the Gods, especially of Dionysus coming down to us and inhabiting us with beneficial and liberating energies through the physical body without which none of this would be possible. Hence the crucial importance of keeping it in good health, free from destructive addiction.
Let's read together Alain Danielou (27): (bold characters are mine)
«The dance, in which rhythm is part of the vital mechanisms of Man, is a very important instrument for the direct contact with the supernatural powers. ...
So, we find the use of soniferous forms, and in particular of musical forms at the basis of all relationships of Man with the Sacred, whether fundamental forms which have a direct psycho-physiological action on Human Being (and at the same time an evocative power, an action on the supernatural forces with which they allow to establish contact) ... »
I would add to what Alain Daniélou says that this contact takes place for anyone who adopts the values of our Gods, especially of Shiva, and for anyone whose Consciousness is already present. Because indeed, to expand Consciousness, it is necessary to already have one !
Consciousness is acquired and developed here on Earth for the incarnated ego. Consciousness is not born with the baby, far from it. Consciousness is nestled in the original soul, in embryo. It will grow or wither, depending on the choice of each. This detestable world survives because it's a pool of beings without consciousness.
Dionysus favorite instruments are:
• drum
• tambourine with jingle cymbals
• harp
• lyre
• zither
• sistrum of Egypt
• all percussions
and other instruments.
Let's continue : (bold characters are mine ).
«The soniferous complexes used to create a sacred atmosphere originate from the oldest prehistoric cultures. ...The use of gongs and drums in Laos, India, or South China, the use of sarvavadyam (when all instruments resonate all together) in the temples of South India, the use of Tibetan horns, that of a battery of drums, of bells at the peak moments of rites are remnants of this very ancient tradition which requires that a soniferous environment creates a tension that helps the contact with the supernatural and chases away evil spirits. »(28)
These instruments were used in the Dionysian rites but also in the theatre, with dance or not. Indeed, for our Gods, and especially for Shiva-Dionysus, the Theatre (29) is one of the most founding activities, the most unifying and the most healing. Neither dance nor music nor singing can be separated from Theatre. They form an inseparable whole. Even if the plays were not always sung, our Gods created sound effects, composed musics that accompanied the story, giving it strength and power. For predisposed persons working on their energy structure, the sensitivity to sound increases, like also the related perceptions. We have well understood that the repetition of specific rhythms leads most of the time to trance states that open to the supernatural. These states are healthy because conscious and placed under the protection of the Gods.
In the past and this, obviously, remains relevant, the Dionysian rites allowed the evacuation of stress, of pain, and of endured suffering. These highly selected rites were decided by Dionysus while evil hands were appropriating the Earth. So it was a fun form of healing, highly efficient and liberating. Dionysus by entering into each Bacchant (participants of rites) helped to transcend diseases and sufferings.
He showed to the Humans of yesteryear (far more open than today) that the Gods were still very present in our daily lives and NEVER our true Father Shiva-Dionysus-Osiris would abandon us.
The trance state created by the sacred dances and music (under Dionysus protection) not only unifies us to the Gods but also hits the internal energy nodes that are crystallized into our subtle bodies, and which gradually disappear under the authority of the sounds and movements. So, we have come full circle. By trance we enter a joy state, a jubilation state, we feel within us a new freedom, we experience an energy boost. The synthesis of these feelings is enthusiasm: welcoming Dionysus within ourselves.
The entry into trance takes place only because of the endless repetition of the same movement or the succession of movements.
«The movement of the body is the mantra of the mind», always says Marduk.
Besides, the physical body rarely remains insensible to music. How often have we tapped our feet in rhythm, without almost realizing it, listening to a lively music? How many times have we started to dance or laugh, just because the music was associated with happy memories ?
The body, precious and sacred container of all our memories of this life and of the previous ones, knows all our experiences since the dawn of time.
In the process of clearing crystallizations, the group plays a major role. Our Goddesses and Gods like dance, music and singing because they link all individuals into a united entity. So, the group becomes an egregore that is dedicated to Dionysus, which, through its healing rites allowed and still allows fundamental healing. The sounds, the dance, the singings, the vibrations uttered by the group, its vibrational field facilitate the dissolution of disturbing memories.
Besides, we were aware of this for a long time, before the life of villages and small towns was destroyed. Village festivals were frequent, where folk dances and theatre groups animated the life of these microsocieties. This way of communicating, of uniting people together, of encouraging authentic solidarity has disappeared. In some places, some of these activities are waking up a little bit, but the energy of this world is pulling us down so much that they are not healing anymore without our Gods.
Accordingly, dance is a divine rite, song a divine tribute, music a divine communion.
Here, the state of being human finds all its meaning : a bridge, a channel between heaven and earth ? Better yet: an inalienable bond between Shiva-Dionysus and his human children.
Anyone who has any real interest in the impact of music on human being knows perfectly well that percussions directly act on the first chakras. And moreover, the drum is the instrument of the heart. It reproduces his beats. If one adjusts the beats of the drum to the beats of the heart, an immense relaxation takes place. And the opening of consciousness can begin.
The damaru, small drum shaped like an hourglass that Shiva holds in his hand, then makes sense. It is not only about symbolism of the time elapsing but about the Creation of the world. A world that is created at the beat of the drum of Shiva, in perfect fusion with the Tandava, his sacred dance. One day, I read the following verse:
«When Dionysus will guide, the Earth will dance».
For sure : back to Eden. The Earth ruled by such a God, can you imagine ... we already hear the laughter and the celebrations are in full swing. Listen ! Do you hear? Drums and tambourines ? Flutes and cymbals ? Do you breathe this planetary jubilation ? I can't wait!
Dionysus descriptions remind those of Shiva, or even Odin or Ea.
He is the Radiant, the Joyful, he masters fire and lightning. In a way, he appears horned like Pan and like Shiva, in another way. All of them wear on the head the crescent moon, no matter how. In fact, they call the energies of the Mother, Mother-Earth, the Great Mother, the Grand Yin. Nothing good can emerge from anything if the Yin is missing to the Creation, be it small, be it insignificant.
Creating, living, requires intuition, feeling, emotion, attentive listening.
Therefore you can understand what happens during a Dionysian initiation rite.
Dionysus awakens the tree within us, the tree we are, with our roots judiciously planted in Mother Earth and our seventh chakra, judiciously connected to «heaven». This Yggdrasil plays the role of an elevator, or more exactly it contains it.
The energy of the God who manifests himself goes down within us, comes up again, inhabits us, pampers us, loves us. In a way, Dionysus is a chthonian god because of this descent into our Depths, a kind of psychopomp god emerging intact from our unconscious, our realities, our bodies, and finally from Life itself embodied every time in a unique and prodigal way.
That is why Shiva and Dionysus are one. Both destroy suffering, «evil», obsolete ties, old stories, old rancours, old torments, fears, except that their catharsis is playful, gentle or intense, light or deep, but ultimately, accomplished.
Shiva surrounds himself with a Serpent, Dionysus with ivy and also wraps it around pillars and columns, «mineral manifestations» of the Lingam. Because as Kundalini or to evoke it.
By the grace of Dionysus, we experience the Descent, the one I have already spoken at length about Hades. (30)
Here, we become Kenaz, there Eihwaz.
No doubt you will ask yourself, why ivy.
Is it not a sterile plant? In fact, ivy complements vine or rather the grapes it provides at will. Here the Yin, cold, worrying and yet so desirable, there the Yang, solar, electric, tasty.
Exactly like Shiva is surrounded by the Cobra, cold, wet, worrying, and yet so fascinating ; and there by the flame, the great Fire, destructive if we are not careful, and yet so warm, so healing. It is equivalent to the sun.
Here we are again facing Life in its fullness: Yin and Yang, solar and lunar, cold and hot, etc. Another way of talking about terrestrial and chthonic sun, the one that shines above and the one that shines below. The Sun here, Pluto there. Same fight, so to speak: the metamorphosis. For Dionysus, this term means the transformation from the inside with an outside help.
Let's come back to the symbolism linked to Dionysus. Dionysus, say the Greeks, was born from flames. His mother, while pregnant with him, was consumed by the lightning of Zeus (always very kind !!). Hermes (Thot) saved the child and gave him to Zeus who locked him in his thigh until his birth. Huuhh…
Robert-Jacques Thibaud wrote these sentences about Dionysus :
«Lame god, or Bromius, the roaring, the boisterous son of Zeus and Semele, Dionysus is also called the twice-born because he was killed and put into pieces by the Titans on the order of Hera. From his blood shed on the floor was born the pomegranate tree of which a seed allowed the marriage of Persephone and Hades, and the continuity of life and growing cycles. ... Having traced him, Hera made him mad, and since then, Dionysus travels the world followed by satyrs holding the thyrsus stick topped with a pine cone around which surrounds an ivy stem. Besides the grapes, the pomegranate tree (fructification in the Hereafter), ivy (symbol of eternity) and the pine cone (terrestrial fructification), deer and bull were the most common attributes of Dionysus».(31 )
A few reminders
• Lame = Hephaestus = Ea
• Dismemberment = Osiris
• The bull = the Ka of Ptah, Shiva mounts Nandi, the sacred cow-bull, etc.
• The snake, here forgotten. The snake has always been the highest possible level of initiation as it opens to the immortality of the flesh and not just to the eternity of the soul. Hence its special place around Shiva's neck.
Why ? Because the snake is a «chthonic» animal. Psychopomp, deeply connected to Mother Earth on which it stretches out, rubs and caresses when it moves. The snake embodies the security of the major cycles, of the Life that never dies. Thus, Vishnu sleeps on Ananda, the great cosmic serpent.
So, is this snake, chthonic or cosmic? Both, because if the snake raises, with the Earth for support, it becomes the great Djed that touches the sky ... Another sacred Lingam ...
In another vein, you will notice how many legends and myths about Dionysus or Shiva induce, and systema-tically claim his supposedly madness. Of course, a powerful God who loves his children, creativity, originality, freedom, life, music, dance, love, abundance ... can only be mad. In truth, he has everything to displease «the system». Shiva laughs at all this, even he provokes appearing more «mad» to the one who defies him.
So I will deliberately put aside the historical aspect of the mythology of Dionysus of which the huge part, from his filiation to his experience, is pure fancy. But a pernicious fancy, which spreads through the centuries ignominious words. The usual inversion, and as always, «this is the one who says who is».
Still a few lines (32): (bold characters are mine)
«Dying, being fragmented and becoming one again before being reborn, illustrates the Eternal Return and the cycle of vegetation. Thus, the grain of wheat becomes an ear, multiplies and becomes again ONE grain, renewing the process, while the rest of the crop is dispersed throughout the world.
For this role of giver of life, Dionysus is called Plutodotès».
The name «Pluto-dotes» will probably surprise you. In Latin, Pluto means «the rich», it is, indeed, about Pluto-Hades. So, the link between Dionysus, life and death is clearly demonstrated. Osiris perfectly complements this trinary portrait.
Osiris, resurrected, loved and celebrated god, who grants growth and ease, who likes to laugh and dance, Osiris the Ancient, the Great among the Great Ones..
Other fables follow Dionysus to trace. For example, he would urge his followers to laziness, idleness, with always a full glass of wine in hand and a tasty honey pot in the other.
Dionysus is Shiva. Does he really give the impression of a god who encourages indolence, listlessness and apathy, source of so many evils? I will let you judge.
Dionysus invites us to enjoy Life, cleverly, without endangering oneself. Deeply generous, he urges the sharing. Life, Nature that is so abundant, so prolific, shows us the way. But, as always with the Gods, both good and evil ones indeed, a pact is necessary. A tie. A necessity. A duty, I would say. To meet Dionysus, to feel him, to see him perhaps, one must take the path of ecstasy.
Nothing is ever free with Nature. Even Life requires us to breathe. Nothing can exist without the effort of feeding oneself. Always give-and-take.
Any contact with a Goddess or a God, any entrance in his/her egregore requires a commitment, an initiation, a «baptism». This applies everywhere and to any period, the recipient must be enthroned.
Dionysus, «giver of life», sustainer god is a great shaman, like Odin and Shiva, a mage with immeasurable power. The ecstasy of Dionysus and his 108 rites lead the human soul to powerful heights, in a word to ancient shamanism, hence the importance of drums and tambourines.
As for orgies, they only existed in the frustrated fantasies of Anu and his henchmen.
The practice of Tantra is -at least- light years of pitiful sexual orgies. This sacred practice is the counterpart of Yoga.
Let's read again Alain Daniélou who, right in the middle of a judeo-christianized Shaivism, suddenly writes (bold characters are mine)
«The Shaivite Hatha Yoga is associated with magical rites of Tantrism, with the Yogi taking control of the subtle plan by which is developed his physical and mental body ... It is the body as a whole that becomes the instrument of achieving superior powers of knowledge and surpassing the limits of the visible world. This is by exploring the innermost parts of the body, by developing the powers it conceals that the Hatha Yogi manages to transgress the laws of nature.» (33)
How far we are of fleeting matings, pathetic moans, corruption of the body and therefore of the soul.
Tantra is sacred. Nobody succeeds without being Yogi and Yogini first.
So, from research to understandings, from feelings to contacts, from truths to evidences, Joy, Love and Liberty emerge from the world of Shiva, from our Goddesses and our Gods, whatever their names. Neither epoch nor time, nor hardness with Shiva, just a long calm,
fertile and blessed river that spreads everywhere health and blessing, power and equanimity. The powerful beauty of Shiva-Osiris-Dionysus lies in this constant generosity in manifestation of «opposites» to better unify with this so desired Consciousness.
Shiva embodies the culmination of Life as a perfection that immediately works towards new quests.
A big breath here, a terrible silence there, a golden age here, hell there, Life never dies. Shiva either. Who could extinguish the sacred Consciousness without extinguishing with it?
Life constantly ascends towards more subtleties.
The Essence of all things praised to the skies ... A Life always discovering itself. And a sumptuous Being of Wisdom, Love and Power always ready to experiment with it. A blaze of Desire, an eternal passion, a wise passion for Life, and so could we barely sketch a first draft of Shiva ...
•
• •
Endnotes
(1) the specific meaning of this word is explained in the book Les Runes d’Ea - EaShiva Editions
(2) think of Hephaestus -Vulcan
(3) be careful with the meaning of this word : for most people, it means «to be in pain with». For Shiva and our Gods, this word means «to accompany, to move forward on the path with».
The difference is crucial and must be kept in mind. No «way of the cross» with our Gods, nor possible crucifixion in order to save a Humanity who, besides, asked for nothing. The suffering excludes itself from the primordial Shaivite world because not welcomed, nor revered, nor sustained.
(4) other symbol of the Mother-Goddesses
(5) A parallel can be made here with the abstinence imposed to the priests and nuns in Catholicism, so that they remain far away from the Lingam and Yoni.
(6) think about Irminsul, Yggdrasil, the tree of Life, etc.
(7) Don't forget that the name of Goddess Kâli has nothing in commun with Kali Yuga
(8) Besides, according Alain Rey, this word means in the first place «to practice», to engage in an activity, to shape, to mould, to work material. Its real origin is unknown. The notion of limitation applies only since hardly a few centuries.
Dictionnaire historique de la langue française - page 226
(9) other name for Parvati
(10) La légende immémoriale du Dieu Shiva - Le Shiva Purana translated par Tara Michael - Editions Gallimard.
(11) Shiva Purana.
(12) I specify, so that things are clear, that today all Brahmins are not hostile to Shiva, only a «substantial» part.
(13) Shiva Nataraja à Chidambaram - «Divinités indiennes», deux albums de 195 illustrations - Sud de l'Andhra Pradesh (au nord de Madras), limitrophe du Karnataka, vers 1720-1730
Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des Estampes et de la Photographie, OD-40 PET FOL - Cat. RH 293a(6)
(14) I refer here to the ancient shaivite rites, not to the present distortion..
(15) Shiva by Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret and Bruno Dagens - Editions Gallimard.
(16) Do not confuse with Kâli : Shiva-Kâla is the time elapsing, that comes and goes ; Kâli is the Goddess OF Times, she puts an end to the obsolete Times. Her action is to allow the passage from one cycle to another. Kâli, when the times comes, will «swallow» what is left of Kali Yuga, so that Satya Yuga will fully deploy. This is one of the reasons why she «dances on Shiva». She does not dominate him. On the contrary, she continues his work. So, Kâla (Shiva)
«stops» and «waits» for the birth of the new cycle permitted by Kâli.
(17) Linga Purana - booklet I
(18) see the book Ea, Orion et nous - EaShiva Editions
(19) under the name Ganesh, two Gods : Thot et Marduk.
(20) See the book Les Runes d'Ea - EaShiva Editions
(21) Dictionnaire historique de la langue française - A. Rey - p 1251
(22) Dictionnaire historique de la langue française - A.Rey page 2866
(23) Shaivite philosopher of Kashmir who lived in the 10th century. Abhinavagupta was his student and became also master of Yoga and Tantra, musician and poet. Later, he led astray towards buddhism and jainism.
(24) and not the present beverage, most of the times full of sulfates
(25) Dictionnaire historique de la langue française page 3892
(26) Dictionnaire historique de la langue française - page 285
(27) Origines et Pouvoirs de la musique - Editions Kailash -
(28) Origines et Pouvoirs de la musique - Alain Daniélou - éditions Kailash
(29) see the book Ea, Orion et nous - C.Bright - EaShiva Editions
(30) See the book Les Runes d'Ea - EaShiva Editions
(31) Dictionnaire de mythologie et de symbolique grecque - Dervy p. 215
(32) Dictionnaire de mythologie et de symbolique grecque - Dervy p.215
(33) Le destin du monde d'après la traditions shivaïte - Albin Michel
