'The way of Shiva-Dionysus is the only way by which humanity can be saved. I feel compelled to note that the author thinks his reconstructed version of Sivaism is the only 'true religion.' This book can provoke many stimulating thoughts, but it is misleading. If you can take those with a grain of salt, and the occasional citation of Evola's Le Yoga Tantrique (!) you'll find bits on cognates, sacred mountains, lightning, Minoans and urine that are all very informative and worthwhile. It was useful to an extent, but as the author earnestly clarifies on the very first page, his work is a personal 'Shivaite' document where the particulars of the religion are described and endorsed. It is in their intoxication of love and ecstasy that true wisdom lies.To compliment John Marco Allegro's, I picked up this booking looking for a comparative analysis of Hellenic and Indic religious history. It was useful to an extent, but as the author earnestly clarifies on the very first page, his work is a personal 'Shivaite' document where the particulars of the re The god's followers are called bacchoi (bacchants) in Greece and bhaktas (participants) in India. The god's followers are called bacchoi (bacchants) in Greece and bhaktas (participants) in India. Revealing the earliest sources of the traditions of Shiva and Dionysus, Alain Danielou reconstructs the fabric of our ancient relationship with creation, vividly relating practices that were observed from the Indus Valley to the coasts of Portugal at least six thousand years ago.
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Revealing the earliest sources of the traditions of Shiva and Dionysus, Alain Danielou reconstructs the fabric of our ancient relationship with creation, vividly relating practices that were o Shiva and Dionysus are the Hindu and Greek gods of magical power, intoxication, ecstatic sexuality, and transcendence who initiate us into communion with the creative forces of life. Shiva and Dionysus are the Hindu and Greek gods of magical power, intoxication, ecstatic sexuality, and transcendence who initiate us into communion with the creative forces of life. He is the founder and former director of the International Institute for Comparative Musicology in Berlin, is a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and Officier du Merite National. Danielou is the author of Myths and Gods of India While the Gods Play Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation The Phallus The Complete Kama Sutra and Music and the Power of Sound. One of the most distinguished living Orientalists, Alain Danielou was an intimate of Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau, and Nabokov, and spent more than 20 years in India studying music and philosophy with eminent pandits of the Hindu tradition.