Fragment 33

In this ¨Fragment¨ I was planning to examine some examples of people who I believe crossed the abyss, but many people have shown an interest in the god, Dionysus. I realized that these themes are not mutually exclusive. I could do both in examining the Philosopher, F. Nietzsche (1844-1900). The others I was going to examine shall have to wait for a future ¨Fragment¨. Dionysus was Nietzsche's god. It was Nietzsche who single handedly brought Deionysus back to the consciousness of the modern world. He is the modern prophet and High Priest of Dionysus. So we shall begin with Dionysus. To begin with Dionysus should not be confused with Bacchus. The Romans replaced Dionysus with Bacchus. They did so because the Romans did not want to deal with the chaotic energies released by the god. Dionysus. The first clue to the difference is the way the two gods are represented; Bacchus is represented as a middle aged drunk. Bacchus is the funny drunk, his literary representative would be Shakespeareś Falstaff. The jolly entertaining drunk. Dionysus is a beautiful youth, seductive, wild, and dangerously reckless. Dionysus never considers consequences to his actions,this is what makes him so dangerous. Dionysus is not evil or sinister, he is seductive, and reckless. The Classical Greeks recognized his dangers. This is why he was confined in time and space, to a festival. After the festival until the next festival he was left alone.The chaotic energies of Dionysus were confined to a yearly festival. While Bacchus is the god of jollity, Dionysus is the god of divine madness, or divine frenzy. This means all the defence mechanisms of the intellect and conventions are overcome in a wild celebration. The devotee of Dionysus is overcome with an emotional frenzy that leads to a cathartic emptiness. That is the repose of Dionysus. Manifestations of Dionysus are easily observed in modern times. Dionysus was the god of the mid to late nineteen sixties Rock and Roll, not Satan. Fundamentalist Christians are not good at drawing subtle distinctions. They have a tendency to put everything into the category of satanic everything they do not like. Satan is a much more deliberate god, Dionysus contains no treachery or planning. So let us briefly examine some of the Rock and Roll figures I believe manifested Dionysus. As a note these figures are not personal favorites of mine, I am an aficionado of Black Metal. Of course, we begin with Jim Morrison of the Doors. Morrison recognized that the Rock and Roll of his times was a manifestation of Dionysus. After viewing concert footage of his shows, he admitted he released energies that he had no control over. The psychedelic orgy of Jimi Hendrix is another good example. Dionysus is about seduction and losing control. It is easy to view the manifestation of Dionysus in the power and ethereal beauty of Mark Bolan of T Rex and Curt Cobain of Nirvana. The last Rock and Roll figure I shall mention is Iggy Pop of the Stooges. The early chaotic show of the Stooges was a nervous breakdown on stage. Of all the above Iggy Pop is the only one of the above figures that survived into old age. Probably because he fell under the Apollonian influence of David Bowie. Dionysus is inviting and seductive, not evil or scary. The corpse painted, bloodstained front man of Black Metal is not Dionysian. Before moving on to Nietzsche I want to mention the reaction against Dionysus in both ancient and modern times. The ancient example would be Plato wanting to ban the poets from his ideal city. (Republic Book X). The modern parallel would be Tipper Gore and the P.M.R.C. who also wanted to censor the poets. Let us now turn to Nietzsche. I believe Nietzsche crossed the abyss in 1889 when he collapsed on the streets of Turin Italy. Nietzsche knew he was involved in the Great Work. In his letters he admits he is seeking the Philosopher's Stone. That he sought to transmute his suffering, and pain into joy, and happiness. Of course, he did not succeed. It was pain that drove Nietzsche into the depths of his psyche. This is what made Nietzsche into the great psychonaut of modern times. At this point we must make a slight diversion to better understand the nature of the abyss. I heard an Indian Guru say that there were three ways to enter the abyss, (he should have mentioned they are also the three ways out of the abyss) they are Faith, Trust, and Madness. The first Faith is the way of the Christian mystic, who goes through the Dark Night of the Soul. (The Dark Night of the Soul is another way of saying crossing the abyss.) The Christian mystic has faith his god shall pull him out of the abyss. The second way Trust is the way of the Eastern Mystic, who trusts his Guru. A good example of this type of thinking is ¨The Tibetian Book of the Dead. The third way is Madness, this was Nietzsche´s way. He went into the abyss to find the source of his suffering, so he could transform into joy. (Lead into Gold) Unlike the other two ways out of the abyss the way of Madness has not been explored or written about much. If Nietzsche had faith that his god, Dionysus would pull him out, he was sorely mistaken. Dionysus is not the flip side of Apollo. They are two distinct gods. Dionysus does not turn into Apollo. Apollo is the god of harmony, sunlight and healing, he is not a chthonic god like Dionysus. Examples of manifestations of Apollo would be a Bach fugue, a beautiful chess game, or the brilliant dialog of a play. These works of art are deliberate, not the work of a divine frenzy. Apollo gives a glimpse of the divine through harmony., not a frenzy that overcomes the intellect, but art that elevates the intellect. Dionysus does not turn into Apollo. Dionysian repose cathartic emptying. The other mistake Nietzsche made was he thought the way out of the abyss was to crawl up. When one enters through madness the way out is through the bottom. (Remember my friend who exited the abyss through the portal of despair.) It is very telling that in his last letters, he mentions that he was experiencing psychic inflation. Claiming he was the Pope, Napoleon, and every name in history. This is the experience of losing oneself in a greater whole. Most commonly it is the feeling of being one with everything, but it does not have to be a positive experience. Again remember my friend who had the vision of Absolute Despair. He became one with despair losing the self. An exquisite experience. After Nietzsche passed through the inflation he collapsed in the streets of Turin Italy. Dionysus did give Nietzsche his gift of a cathartic emptying. The pain was gone.Nietzsche lived the rest of his life in an empty passivity. I know some readers shall question my choice of Nietzsche as a model in occultism. they should remember what a great influence Nietzsche was on early twentieth century occultism. I shall only mention Aleister Crowley. Nietzsche are well worth studying if one realizes they are one man's record of his journey through the abyss.