Written in Wine: A Devotional Anthology

Seldom do I get sent a review copy in pdf format that immediately I want to go out and buy on paper.  Here is a book I want to keep by my bed, have a copy by my altar, and one in my bag, a book I'd like to read when travelling on long train journeys, a book I'd take out in the five minutes I have while waiting for a friend in a bar, a book I'd dissolve into in the softening light of sunset alone on a hillside, or sat on the warm stones of some ruined old monastery on a sunny afternoon.  

This is a true devotional.  Here there are new poems and translations of old poems, there are articles, stories, songs, rituals, anecdotes and wonderings, each one given by the contributor, not for payment in royalties, but through love and gratitude for the book's subject: Dionysos.  For those for whom this particular ancient god is a religious focus, or those who are merely curious, it is a beautiful way of understanding him more deeply, of getting a little closer.

Yet it is not just about learning, it is very much about inspiration.  He's not an easy god to understand, to work for, to deal with - he can be so very gentle, so softly intoxicating, and a moment later he can tear us apart from the inside out.  Knowing how he has shattered, healed, enriched and drenched others' lives can help us to know how to walk our own lives in his presence.  Reading words our ancestors wrote of him can guide us to know how to approach him ourselves.

This is the first book of many in a series, all proceeds of which go to supporting the revival of worship of the old gods of Greece and Egypt. A worthy and inspired project, and a beautiful, simply, powerful book.

 

 

Emma Restall Orr