Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

BACCHUS

In mythology the name of the Greek god of wine, associated with untrammelled pleasure and licentiousness; in Esoteric circles (under his Grecian names of Dionysus or Atys) he is regarded as a solar resurrectional god who atones for sin.

Son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Semele, the daughter of Kadmos, at first he appears as a bearded man, but later as a handsome youth with black eyes and flowing locks, crowned with vine and ivy. In peace his robe was purple, in war it was a panther's skin. Also, he frequently rides in a chariot drawn by leopards.

Bacchus was brought up through childhood by a wet nurse Ino (Leukothea); and as a youth was entrusted to the satyr Silenus.

According to some accounts he married Ariadne after her desertion by Theseus. The Romans seem to have confused this god with the ancient Italic deity Liber Pater, god of wine.

Being the god of wine and intoxication, like his Greek counterpart Dionysus, his court included female Bacchanites, nymphs, fauns, and satyrs. Bacchus was widely worshipped and commanded a number of festivals including the Liberalia and Bacchanalia. These possessed strong phallic connotations that caused the god on occasions to be represented by a modeled phallus.

In occultic lore, Bacchus, in the Lusiads, is the evil Demon or antagonist of Jupiter, the lord of destiny, and as Mars is the guardian power of Christianity, Bacchus is the guardian power of Islam.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc