Et Tu, Dionysus?

Dionysus is known as the god of many names, many-forms, and a seat of ambiguity. Not only is he both masculine and feminine, his very nature is shape-shifting. By holding opposites in dynamic tension, he achieves his power of paradox like no other deity. --Carnaval.com

That cracks me up, because Charles Atlas promised to build muscle with his patented system of "Dynamic Tension".

Dionysus was identified with the lamb, and called "King of Kings," "Only Begotten Son," "Savior," "Redeemer," "Sin bearer," "Anointed One," the "Alpha and Omega." Hmmm....

Both Jesus and Dionysus were born of mortal women, both are "twice born", both are associated with fertility symbolism like the fig tree and wheat or bread, lions and panthers, and perhaps most succinctly, both are indelibly associated with wine and the vine.

Dionysus (AKA the Roman Bacchus) was the God of Wine, and his Bacchanals were the means through which he was worshiped during initiation into the Dionysian Mysteries. Jesus makes the wine flow like water at the wedding in Galilee - his first recorded miracle in the Gospels:

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." --John 2:1-10

Jesus says "I am the vine, you are the branches" and the association of Jesus with the grape vine goes on and on throughout the murals of the cathedrals of Europe. The most holy Christian sacrament is the drinking of WINE and BREAD during communion... the Last Supper.

Of course, the Jesus I was taught about in Sunday school was a chaste virgin, and all things associated with wild partying and Bacchanals were strictly forbidden. It's as if the archetype of Dionysus, the God of expansion, ecstatic love and orgasmic release, went "under cover". I wonder why? Maybe he's edging, holding back the orgasm, building the tension. maybe... he's saving the best till now. Can't hold back that dam forever. The dam WANTS to break...

Burning Up

Seattle's in the grip of a heat wave - 104 today!

3:00 update: Seatac made it to 102 - Seattle's hottest day EVER recorded, but Kirkland hit 111! Turn it up to eleven!!

Provincetown and Siena Are Twins?

A few days ago, Varen noticed that the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, MA is a duplicate (twin) of a tower in Siena, Italia - the Torre del Mangia (Tower of the Eater). I'm writing this while I chow down on a lovely bowl of bow tie pasta...

P-town looms large in gay history, and also in Var's memory. He spent some pretty wonderful summers there, and he STILL talks about Spiritus Pizza as if it was some kind of holy ground. On the other side of the coin, I have personally been in Siena during the Palio (horse race: Read C Horses) and considering my love/hate relationship with Italy and the Church, it is an interesting conjunction of symbols.

Dev has been digging into the history of John Dee, the Harry Potter of Elizabethan England, and article no. 9 is about the Armada's (foiled) Spanish attack on England. The heraldic symbol of Spain is the twin towers of Heracles (read In the Shadow of Giants) loosely tied together by a scroll with the saying "Plus Ultra".

Tying and bow ties are bound together at Gosporn (read The Holy Tugboat), mostly due to Jesus saying "for my yoke is easy and my burden is light". Or in other words, "my joke is simple and my burden is enlightenment". Always yucking it up, that boy.

I was over visiting some A Gay friends (rarely invited, since I'm currently on the B, or, probably D list, but that's another story) and he's got a stunning dining room table held together with butterfly joints, making a classic bow tie.

I mention how the "bow tie" is a powerful symbol for me, and the host suddenly goes into this intense 10 minute monologue about the history of this table and how intertwined it is with his life and realized I was watching him doing a synchromystic channelling? *shaking head* Anyway.....

Back to those towers. They've been encrusted with considerable (and dubious?) symbolism over the years, however they were originally built not as mere symbolic obelisks, but as functional watch towers, so you could have a bit of warning if a neighboring city-state was coveting your grapes or maidens. Now, remember that faggots (eunuchs) are the traditional guardians of the royal household, and you will perhaps sense a tie-up.

All Hands On Deck!

We're rebuilding our outside deck this summer. The old one is rotten beyond repair, so it's getting demolished and then rebuilt. The deck rebuild is becoming a project of mythic proportions, because of course, to Gosporn, "The Deck" represents... "the world": a rickety platform of ancient and dubious construction, rotten to the core, and bound to collapse at any moment!!

"The Deck" is a powerful Western American metaphor. It's where we have our Sunset Magazine suburban experiences. We barbecue, we gather, we celebrate, and it all happens on Deck.

In Kirkland there has been a recent spate of deck collapse disasters (flaming barbecues falling on hapless hamburger grillers... you get the drift), so these days, getting a re-building permit is like visiting the Draconian home world. But after dotting and crossing all my i's and t's, the plans were vetted, and Yay! A permit was granted! I felt like Shiva at the Divine Council, asking for an Earth rebuilding permit! "OK, but what's your re-building plan? We don't like the same mistakes made twice!!"

So today I'm catching up on my favorite summer reading: 'The Summer of '81' at the Evolution Forum, and he links to this ancient vid of Captain America II "Death too Soon" (circa 1979), who foils the bad guys by bringing down the twin pillars holding up The Deck!? Yo! Samson! (great hair, BTW)

The contractor arrived today to unload his tools, and he was driving a blue Ford: license plate starting with 911... Samson/Shiva, it's nice to finally meet you.

--

NOTES: Doug at Unnatural Devotions gave us a few pics of the workmen on his neighbor's deck last June. They're digging into a pot labeled "Next Step".

Shave and a Haircut

Got my hair cut today, way past due. Lots of gay bloggers are posting sexy barber pics lately.

Considering Farrah's infamous haircut and also Michael Jackson's "hair on fire" incident ("How about a little fire, Scarecrow?") it makes me wonder. The hair symbol goes all the way back to Genesis, when the angels/Watchers were attracted to the daughters of men, because of their... hair. And over the ages hair has certainly played a major mythic role, from Samson to Rapunzel. One story I find most interesting is of King David's beautiful but rebellious son, Absolom, known especially for his gorgeous hair. He probably had lots of fights with his dad about getting a hair cut.

Hair is a good Ego signifier - and it's interesting that in the army, the first thing that gets cut off is your hair. A bit of your ego probably goes with it.

For some reason, I keep thinking of Judge Doom from 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' He always called out his victims with a rhyme that no 'toon could resist: "Shave and a haircut".

Grail Racing Part II

It looks like the 33rd running of the America's Cup is set to be a Gosporn wet dream.

First of all, the Prize: a pearl of unusual price. The original cup was won from England by the black-hulled schooner yacht America, back in 1851. Considering the vast sums of money spent on this cup over the centuries, one wonders about its symbolic significance to the players. Does the cup represent the Masonic Holy Grail, whatever that may actually be? Read Grail Racing Part I for background.

As of this summer, the legal wrangling is coming to an end. Team Alinghi of Switzerland has been arm wrestled into accepting Team Oracle as a legitimate challenge, and despite every effort to control all aspects of the race, is being forced to design and build an equivalent 90' monster multihull - an enormous white catamaran. The race is already being called the Battle of the Titans, Godzilla vs. King Kong.

As long time Gosporn readers already know, the black trimaran represents Shiva and his/her Ego Destroying weapon - the trident. The Oracle's all carbon (building blocks of life) vessel was built in Bellingham, WA, and WA is home base to the black trident wielding submarine base, on Hood Canal. The nukes aboard the Trident sub represent the Ark of the Covenant - an all powerful destructive force. Ark = Weapon = Destroyer = Joshua = Shiva.

In the other camp is the Defender. The Swiss Guard are the white cross bearing defenders of the Catholic Church. So quite perfect that Team Alinghi patron is Ernesto Bertarelli, currently of Switzerland, but of Italian descent.

I personally tend to side with the Defender archetype (my tribal nature), and often I find myself coming to the defense of rather ancient and outmoded ways of looking at the world, because I can see some deep wisdom there. But in this case, I side with the Destroyer. When it comes to ultimate control of the Ultimate Grail, the status quo simply will not do. May the Best Man win.

The Defender sees his salvation. Note the Tripura (666?) in his logo cap - the three demonic citadels - targets of Shiva's trident.