Gods of Love and Ecstasy: The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus

by Alain Daniélou

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. 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.

Genres: Religion, Mythology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Spirituality, History, Anthropology

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 1979

About the author

Alain Daniélou :
1935-1948, études du sanskrit, philosophie, théologie, musique dans les écoles traditionnelles hindoues à Bénarès ;
1948-1954, professeur à l'université hindoue de Bénarès ;
1954 1956, directeur de la bibliothèque de manuscrits et des éditions sanskrites d'Adyar à Madras;
1956-1963, membre de l'Institut français d'indologie et de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient ;
1963-1977, directeur de l'Institut international d'études comparatives de la musique à Berlin et Venise.

Reviews

[Mahmoud Awad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The god's followers are called bacchoi (bacchants) in Greece and bhaktas (participants) in India. It is in their intoxication of love and ecstasy that true wisdom lies...

To compliment John Marco Allegro's The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, 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 religion are described and endorsed. 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.

[Marcin Bartnicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating tour de force

In an erudite and eye-opening comparative study of Shavaism and Dionysianism, Alain Danielou paints a compelling picture of the „once and future” spiritual ecstatic tradition that bridges the East and the West. Thoroughly recommended.

[Miss Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book in the beginning. About half way through things started going downhill and by the end, I was just reading to finish the book.

I really enjoyed the connections of the epithets of the different deities. I appreciate the timeline in the back and wish there was a chart of these epithets for easy access.

I find a lot of the arguments compelling and quite frankly have no reason to believe the connections are false.

However, I find Daniélou contradicts himself. In the last couple of pages this is especially apparent when he states, "A true religion cannot be exclusive, cannot claim to hold the only truth, because the divine reality has many aspects and the ways which lead to the divine are innumerable." (pg 233)
While I agree with that statement, I'm not convinced the author does as he has spent many pages arguing that Shivaism is the only true way to the divine. He also goes into detail of how exclusive it is because it does not allow women; even stating Mithraism was a Roman attempt to return Shvaism, and Mithraism was quite exclusive!

The worst part of the book was Chapter 9, Rites and Practices. He goes into detail about rituals which sound an awful lot like rape to me. And if practicing this religion requires drinking or bathing in fecal matter and body fluids, that's a big "no thank you" from me.

At first I thought he was really arguing for a unity among all people because all religion had the same root, but I don't find he stuck to this and instead drifted into a diatribe about the "one true religion."

I still found this book helpful and thought provoking.

[Mario]

Excellent insight into the history of primordial traditions. Not an easy reading but the style allows for a fluent one. Alain Danielou knows his Gods and doesn't fail to deliver an excellent look into the evolution of human religious traditions highlighting the possible missing links between eastern and western spirituality.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic analysis of Shivaite/Dionysian traditions. In depth and focused, it provides great comparisons and linkages between the two traditions, in addition to their connection to more modern religious thought.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea how to rate this book, so I give it a middling three stars because I feel caught between zero and four. On one hand, this was an interesting history/ comparative religion exploration of how Dionysus very likely sprung from the ancient worship of Shiva, and the author makes some compelling arguments here. In the middle, crummy hand, there's sexism in the tradition of Shiva which the author quotes at length (not the author's fault--lots of the Puranas say "women are traps for the enlightened man," and he's just quoting) as well as some pretty serious orientalism/ exoticizing the other going on. Then, on the WTF hand (because I have three hands), the author goes on fascinating/ revolting polemical rants about how Shiva is the root of all worship, juvenile deliquency wouldn't be a thing if men could be pederasts (!), and we wouldn't have genocide if we could have continued performing ritual human sacrifices (!!!) like in the olden days. Add this to the small but growing (?) list of bizzaro/ compelling/ annoying works by odd French Tantrists that I seem to happen upon every once in a while...

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book, but I grew gradually more and more disappointed as I read on. It was too mystical and the author really seemed to believe in deep connections running through the whole spiritual world.

Other claims, rather improbable, and yet asserted with a lot of confidence included stating that a cave men were fiction (even though archaeologists find bones, bonfires, and signs of men living in caves) and quoting some scientists who believe that detonating a nuclear bomb underwater would annihilate the whole water on earth.

[Christopher Rutenber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take the author's claims with a huge grain of salt as he mixes facts with conjecture with equal importance. Not to mention the final two chapters are a garbage fire of "edgy" provocative opinions. Overall the ties between the philosophies of Shaivism and the Elusian Mysteries were very interesting but this is not be the best source for a beginner or anyone who doesn't bring some healthy skepticism along for the ride.

[Valentín Serrano García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque especulativo y carente de mimo académico, se trata de una aproximación formidable a las conexiones entre dos culturas fascinantes.

Debe complementarse con otras lecturas más cuidadas, pero es todo un goce sumergirse en sus furiosos trazos religiosos y antropológicos. Se hace cansado en el último tercio...

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting book. This was exactly what I was looking for to really dive deeper into the mystery cults of Dionysus, and as a bonus I got to learn all about Shiva! Can't recommend this enough if you're into Greek Mythology and religions.

[Tod Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and thought provoking. Many timeless insights.

[Taylan Harman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read outlining naturalistic religions and clarifying very important points

[Daniela Pandozi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da leggere

[Cass Coste · Rating 5 out of 5]

While certainly controversial and sometimes antiquated, the message itself is not one I can condemn, but praise in how it explores something utterly fundamental about religious experience that has become lost to us in the modern world. My only wish is that the author had included the rites and practices of Hathor in her contribution to joy, ecstasy, and sexuality that she shares with Shiva and Dionysus.

[Christopher Porzenheim · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one quote should tell you everything you need to know:

'The way of Shiva-Dionysus is the only way by which humanity can be saved. [...] I do not claim to present a solution.' p9

Ok, that's an impressive contradiction. Skip this book!

[Evii · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting facts, but I don't think it's totally true that everything revolves around sivaism. I consider that it is a work that is not very objective and that it offers too forceful affirmations without providing sources