Customer Reviews

The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revisited

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author routinely, consistently, and thoroughly assumes visionary plants as the foundation for constructing a model of Dionysian religion. She appropriately emphasizes and investigates this foundation of visionary plants, while providing a general model of Dionysian religion. This book thereby provides not the final word, but the first adequate and appropriate starting-point for an accurate model of Dionysus and therefore of ancient religion.

Taylor-Perry's routine and matter-of-fact, rather than defensive and fleeting, incorporation and investigation of visionary plants into her model is similar to the routine and no-nonsense incorporation, treatment, and handling of visionary plants in Ruck and Staples' book The World of Classical Myth.

This study represents a milestone in progressing beyond the hesitant, defensive, and inadequate hypothesis of visionary plants in the single instance of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and moving into an essentially different phase of theory in which visionary plants are taken as routinely axiomatic and characteristically typical and definitive of ancient religion -- a relatively confident, assertive, and robust incorporation of the visionary-plants theory of religion, to an extent that can truly begin to form a viable and compelling, coherent, and integrated model of Dionysus and ancient religion.

This is the main strength of the book, to absorb and incorporate the previous studies of Dionysus but firmly transfer them onto the more coherent and solid ground of a visionary-plants basis, rather than treating visionary plants as a special side-topic and highly tentative hypothesis. This book is definitely recommended as a valuable, worthwhile, and substantial addition to entheogen religion scholars and researchers of Greek, Hellenistic-era, and ancient religion. The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Reclaimed is not only suitable for the canon of standard studies of Dionysian religion, but stands as a milestone in the development of the canon.

The God Who Comes is a testimony of deep love of the Dionysian mysteries, a love that comes through in every word. You cannot fake love like this, the author lives and breathes what she writes about. She catches your soul on fire with the passion she feels for it.
It is a scholarly, intensely researched, and carefully thought out book that makes you think and grow in your perceptions, but it is not difficult to comprehend. Even those who do not normally like highly textual, non-fiction books will ENJOY reading it. It puts forward very complex ideas in such a way that you really DO finish with a better understanding of the Dionysian mysteries as they were practiced. And a fascination with same.
I see the book as a springboard, not only because there are many resources that the author uses to help you continue study if you wish, but because it really is a way to bring the Dionysian mysteries alive more in your own spiritual practices, if you wish it so.
The author politely but firmly dispels alot of misconceptions about this God which badly needed dispelling. The common image of Dionysus is MUCH expanded and broadened and enlightened by reading this book.
Taylor-Perry packs in a great deal of information in a small space, and one gets the sense that there could be five more books emerging from this one. I hope it is so. This is a wealth of largely untapped heritage and a legacy from our ancestors that we should treasure.
Get this book for anyone who wants to know what it is to have a relationship with a passionate, ecstatic God of Dance and Creativity. Get it for anyone who is in love with the depth of Grecian history and wants it to come alive for them. Get it because - and this is typical of the God she writes of I think - it really IS possible to learn something and to have a blast doing it at the same time.

This is a good book for pagans who would like to find out more about the history of Dionysian ritual. It's short, dense, and full of references from primary sources - all good qualities.

My favorite part of the book was the listing of Dionysus' various names, titles and attributes. I'm sure they'll be perfect for finding just the right aspect of the god to invoke in ritual. Also, Taylor-Perry's theorizing about Dionysus' cultural origins was interesting and convincing, and her in-depth description of the lesser mystery ritual associated with him was detailed enough to be very useful for reconstructionist Hellenic pagans.

I was not completely convinced by the author's central premise, that hallucinogens were central to the participants' experience of the Eleusinian mysteries. I was also frustrated by her claim that the only ways to achieve shamanic trance are through the use of entheogens and fasting. (Controlled breathing, repetitive movement, and the use of rhythm are examples of a few other ways that this is done traditionally.) On the other hand, she was candid about her position being controversial in the scholars' community, and pointed out some pieces of evidence that don't support her claim. I appreciate it when scholars admit the possibility of doubt - it adds greatly to their credibility in my book.

My least favorite thing in the book was a chapter which gave short overviews of all major Athenian religious festivals. That seemed out of place for a short book that is supposed to be focused on the rites of one god in particular. If you only write a hundred twenty pages, twenty pages off-topic is quite a bit - I wish the space had been devoted to something else more pertinent, such as perhaps what we know about the demographic makeup of classical Dionysian worshippers, or what happened to the cult when the mysteries were outlawed by early Christian authorities.

Overall, a good read - definitely worth picking up for anyone interested in Hellenic paganism.

An excellent book for those beginning a path to Hellenic Reconstructivist worship and ritual creation.
The author clarifies the syncretic role of Dionysos as both the sacrificial God and his role in the structure and order of civilization.

Of interest to the inquiring neopagan as well as the student of history and Greek religion, THE GOD WHO COMES is a scholarly work unveiling the mysteries of the Athenian festival cycle from initiatory Lesser Dionysia to the annual climax of the Eleusis where ritual use of mind-altering drugs and months of preparation resulted in a corporate, life-changing experience of deity.
Those interested in comparative religion will also appreciate the well-researched history of early and modern Dionysian archetypes, each embracing the common theme of death and rebirth.

There's stuff in this book I didn't know about pagan religion in greece. And a lot of good theories about Dionysus and rituals. You get a really clear sense of how they did the rituals. And it isn't a long book, or boring at all.