The Official Blog of the Temple of Bacchus Here you enter a different kind of path — one rooted not in dogma, but in ecstasy , embodiment , and the living presence of Dionysus. The Temple of Bacchus is a revival of the ancient mysteries: a tradition of frenzy, liberation, ritual intoxication, and divine communion. Here, the body is not an obstacle to the sacred — it is the altar. The Thyrsus  is our staff of revelation.A place where myth, research, ritual, and lived experienc

Acratophorus is the god in his raw, unmixed, unsoftened form — the Dionysus of Arcadia, the bringer of pure wine and pure presence.Long before the polished festivals of later ages, he was honored in the wild places: the mountains of Phigalia, the deep Arcadian forests, the hidden shrines where the Thyiades danced beneath the moon. This poem was written several years ago, during a period of early devotion when the god’s presence felt both intimate and immense. It is not an inv

Somewhere along my journey to discover my-Self, I came across this form of Eastern Mysticism called Tantra. It made for some interesting study. The material available to read at the time however, seemed to be more of a New Age fad designed to easily manipulate the naive. It did have some useful tools to take from, but I think the best thing I got out of it was a new understanding of the Beatles’ song Nowhere Man . About the time I figured I had gotten all I could get out of i

The Esctatic Art: Foundations of Bacchic Sorcery Amazon.com : The Ecstatic Art: Foundations of Bacchic Sorcery eBook : Reed, Paul: Kindle Store Paperback available January 11, 2026.

Introduction: What Is Ariadne’s Thread? Before we step into the labyrinth of ecstasy, it’s worth pausing to understand the metaphor at the heart of this post. In Greek myth, Ariadne gives Theseus a simple ball of thread before he enters the Labyrinth to face the Minotaur. The idea is elegant: Unspool the thread as you go in. Follow it to find your way back out. Over time, “Ariadne’s Thread” has become a metaphor for any method that helps you navigate complexity: keeping track

On lineage, coherence, and the living voice of a mystery tradition Every so often, while shaping the Book of the Vine, I pause and ask the question any responsible myth‑maker should ask: Does this sound like a tradition that knows itself? Recently, that question surfaced around our use of Greek and Latin terminology. After all, the Temple of Bacchus traces its lineage to the reforms of the priestess Paculla Annia — a Roman woman presiding over rites that were unmistakably Gr

Mad Honey: Ecstasy, Poison, and the Sorcery of the Bee Throughout ancient history, certain natural substances stood at the threshold between medicine, poison, and divine intoxication. Among them, Mad Honey —a psychoactive honey produced from rhododendron nectar—holds a unique place. Its effects range from warmth and euphoria to disorientation, visions, and collapse. For a tradition devoted to Dionysus, God of ecstasy and transformation, Mad Honey offers a compelling lens thro

Temple of Bacchus As we continue exploring the gods who shape our ecstatic tradition, it feels important to turn toward a figure whose story has been half‑remembered, half‑erased. Before Aphrodite became the polished icon of beauty we inherit today, there was another face of desire—older, stranger, and far more fluid. Most know Aphrodite  as the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sensuality. She rises from sea foam, seduces gods and mortals alike, and reigns over the pl

In his 1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie , the French occultist Éliphas Lévi unveiled an image that would become one of the most recognizable esoteric icons of the modern era: the Baphomet . Lévi’s Baphomet is a winged, androgynous figure with the head of a goat, a torch of illumination between its horns, and a pentagram blazing on its brow. One arm is masculine, the other feminine; one points upward with the word SOLVE , the other downward with COAGULA . The figure

Most people imagine Bacchic sorcery as wildness, frenzy, and ecstatic liberation — and they’re not wrong. But what is often forgotten is that true ecstasy requires clarity. Liberation requires awareness. Transformation requires the courage to question the stories we live inside. This is where an unexpected ally enters the Bacchic path: the Socratic method. At first glance, Socrates and Bacchus seem like opposites — one the philosopher of reason, the other the god of ecstas

The Moon’s Lunacy and the God’s Ecstasy in Ancient Sorcery The ancients believed that madness was not merely an affliction but a visitation — a moment when the boundary between mortal and divine thinned. Two powers were most often invoked in this threshold state: Luna , whose shifting light stirred the tides of the mind, and Dionysus , whose presence dissolved the self in ecstasy. Though their myths rarely intertwine directly, their domains overlap in ways that shaped ancient

Ariadne: Queen of the Labyrinth, Bride of Dionysus History, Myth, Worship, and Magical Significance Ariadne is one of those rare figures whose mythic thread winds through every chamber of Western esotericism. She is princess and priestess, witch and wanderer, abandoned maiden and immortal queen. For Bacchanalians, she stands not merely as the consort of Dionysus but as a mystagogue , a guide through the twisting passages of ecstasy, rebirth, and the mysteries of the self. Bel

The god erupts wherever we gather— in the gasp before the drumbeat, in the shiver that climbs the spine like a serpent waking to sunlight. We are the wine spilling over the rim, the feet that forget the ground, the mouths that open not to speak but to let the god roar through. They tried to chain the frenzy, to name it sin, to bury it deep— but ecstasy is a root that splits stone, and every body remembers the way home. We rise laughing, trembling, undone, vines in o

The rites of ecstasy have worn many masks. Here is how the ancient Orgia echoed through the medieval imagination, reshaped as the Witch’s Sabbat. I. The Dionysia and Orgia: Sacred Madness and Trance In ancient Greece, the Dionysia  were public festivals honoring Dionysus—god of wine, theater, and ecstatic rebirth. They featured dramatic performances, processions, and communal celebration. But beneath the civic veneer lay the Orgia —private, ecstatic rites of divine possess

I. Introduction: Between Ecstasy and Erasure Across centuries and empires, ecstatic rites have risen from the margins—wild, sensual, and spiritually defiant. The Bacchanalia of ancient Rome and the witches’ sabbat of medieval Europe are two such traditions: both demonized, both suppressed, and both remembered through the lens of fear. This essay explores their symbolic and ritual parallels, tracing how the Roman Senate and the Christian Church each responded with moral pan

The vine remembers what the world forgets. Roots whisper the names we carried through fire, and every cup raised in trembling hands is an echo of the first wild cry. They tried to bind the god in silence, to drown the drum beneath the church bell, but frenzy is older than fear and the body keeps its covenant. We return in every age— masked, unmasked, reborn in the wine-dark night— for the god walks wherever breath becomes song and desire becomes a doorway. Call it ma