Dionysos Bromios (Noisy/Thunderer/Loud-roarer)
He is called “the roarer”, Bromios, a surname which appeared early, all by itself, as the name of the god. [...] Bellowing, shrill sounding instruments accompany him; we often see them pictured in sculptures. - Otto (Dionysos: Myth & Cult)
The pandemonium in which Dionysos, himself, and his divine entourage make their entry--that pandemonium which the human horde, struck by his spirit, unleashes--is a genuine symbol of religious ecstasy. With the horror which is at the same time bewitchment, with the ecstasy which is like paralysis, overpowering all natural and habitual sense perceptions, The Dreadful suddenly springs into being. And at its greatest intensity, it is as if the insane din were in reality the profoundest of silences. - Otto (Dioysos: Myth & Cult)
Tarot Card Drawn: 2 of Wands
The traditional tarot meaning of this card doesn’t make a lot of sense here, but the symbols do jump out in untraditional, Dionysian ways. Some sources say that Bromios refers to being born from the thigh of Zeus, who is himself a thunder god. This is a card of fire and it is a 2, a reminder his mother Semele was burned by Zeus’ divine form, and that Dionysos is twice-born. Another meaning for the 2 is the duality of din and silence that Otto describes above.
Notes: My husband and I had a conversation a couple weeks ago about sound--how we take it for granted, but when you think about it, it is a pretty magical ability. Sound is just vibration, waves of energy that we have organs developed to sense. Those energy waves are an invisible phenomenon that has shaped our language, music, and survival.
And at its greatest intensity, it is as if the insane din were in reality the profoundest of silences. Otto says this well, and it is certainly true, as well as the opposite -- that real silence can be deafening. At the end of any extreme, you will find the other. Or the Other.
He is the god who comes, and if you’re listening you’ll hear him coming!
He is called “the roarer”, Bromios, a surname which appeared early, all by itself, as the name of the god. [...] Bellowing, shrill sounding instruments accompany him; we often see them pictured in sculptures. - Otto (Dionysos: Myth & Cult)
The pandemonium in which Dionysos, himself, and his divine entourage make their entry--that pandemonium which the human horde, struck by his spirit, unleashes--is a genuine symbol of religious ecstasy. With the horror which is at the same time bewitchment, with the ecstasy which is like paralysis, overpowering all natural and habitual sense perceptions, The Dreadful suddenly springs into being. And at its greatest intensity, it is as if the insane din were in reality the profoundest of silences. - Otto (Dioysos: Myth & Cult)
Tarot Card Drawn: 2 of Wands
The traditional tarot meaning of this card doesn’t make a lot of sense here, but the symbols do jump out in untraditional, Dionysian ways. Some sources say that Bromios refers to being born from the thigh of Zeus, who is himself a thunder god. This is a card of fire and it is a 2, a reminder his mother Semele was burned by Zeus’ divine form, and that Dionysos is twice-born. Another meaning for the 2 is the duality of din and silence that Otto describes above.
Notes: My husband and I had a conversation a couple weeks ago about sound--how we take it for granted, but when you think about it, it is a pretty magical ability. Sound is just vibration, waves of energy that we have organs developed to sense. Those energy waves are an invisible phenomenon that has shaped our language, music, and survival.
And at its greatest intensity, it is as if the insane din were in reality the profoundest of silences. Otto says this well, and it is certainly true, as well as the opposite -- that real silence can be deafening. At the end of any extreme, you will find the other. Or the Other.
He is the god who comes, and if you’re listening you’ll hear him coming!
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