The Cult of Dionysus
Individual Subgroups in the Rosenist Church
Why do individual Faces have Cults in the Rosenist Church?
While the Rosenist Church has a central unifying undercurrent that is represented by the Roots, individual Faces or Gods are still worshipped in their own way by the subgroups. The Roots themselves are not a specific deity but rather they act as an anchor to the wide pantheon of Faces across the Church.
The word "cult" has a negative connotation in modern English but in the Rosenist Church it is used in it's traditional sense meaning "groups devoted to worshipping particular deities" not the modern negative connotation.
Who is Dionysus?
To most people, Dionysus is simply seen as the god of wine or alcohol, when you take the information from historical sources at face value it's a very easily understood assumption to make. What we know of Dionysus that exists from his ancient worship details men and women leaving their duties and running off to get wildly intoxicated with Dionysus. He's seen as a deity of madness and insanity, ancient Greek city states would attempt to restrict the worship of Dionysus to varying degrees for that very reason, his worship was seen as detrimental to society.
But therein lies the truth of Dionysus. He isn't a god of alcohol itself, the alcohol is merely a tool of his creation. His actual nature is that of freedom. Dionysus is the God of misfits and outcasts, the very reason that his worship was seen as dangerous to ancient society is the same as it is today. Alcohol allows us to escape from our social requirements and the boxes we put ourselves in. The stories of ancient people (women in particular) who would leave their duties and run off were not just enticed or tricked into madness, they were people tired of the same rigid societal repetitiveness in their lives. They longed for the freedom to experience something different, to lose the box that society had placed them in.
They would leave their work duties, their domestic duties, their familial duties, and run off to worship with Dionysus and his maenads getting wildly intoxicated in the forest away from it all to be with people where it didn't matter where they came from, who they were, or what society says they should be. Together in Dionysus' embrace they were all wild, mad, and free.
We continue to carry that torch, the Cult of Dionysus is a place where you can escape from the mundane and truly maddening existence society places us in. Even if only for a few blissful hours of madness. It's hardly changed all that much since the time of Macedonia or Sparta when it comes down to it. We all still have the desire to be free, to stand up and shout that we are who we are and to be accepted and embraced for that by a group of people searching and longing for that very same feeling. People follow Dionysus without realizing it in this way every day.
Taking the time to release stress after a long day in a box society has placed you in whether it be work or home life, going out and just having fun. A blissful escape for a few hours that helps you regroup and recharge before trudging back into the grind.
Everyone is welcome in the Cult of Dionysus, be who you are and be free.