This blog has two storylines that will eventually converge.
Many years ago when I was flatting while in University my flat used to have this big ivy plant that covered the entire north facing side of the house. It was one of those traditional ivy plants that crawled over the wall etc.. It is not variegated, it is just the traditional Hebera helix.
Anyway one day my landlord decided that the ivy had to go ( and in many respect it had to go .. our bathroom had no sunlight because the ivy was covering the window ) and within a matter of a few days it was gone. Of course he also regretted this almost immediately as the paint that existed on the house a decade ago was completely stripped off by the ivy and that meant he had to pay a lot of money to get it repainted!!
Now before he threw away the ivy I took a stem and grew it in a small pot. The little hebera became my house plant for many years and when I graduated and moved I carried the hebera with me and transported it nearly 1000km north ( if people are rolling their eyes you’re not the first ).
Anyway after I purchased my house I decided to plant the hebera in the shadier but also in the most concreted and most “urban” part of the house. This is to add a touch of greenery to that part of the garden but also to ensure that the ivy does not overtake my house!!
Now over the last few months I’ve started to worship Dionysius more and mostly honor him on the altar to the Twelve Gods. However at times I will honor him alone and set up a temporary altar. This is a dark purple colored aromatherapy burner which more often than not I will put beside my ivy patch and burn offerings to him inside the aromatherapy burner.
Over the last two month I’ve ended up leaving the aromatherapy burner just sitting beside the ivy bush ( it is now a sizeable bush )
Now as part of my practice I honor the nymphs. My garden has a spring that only becomes a spring when it rains heavily so I tend to honor the naiad and dryad of the spring ( confused, the spring when it does become a spring emerges from under a pile of rocks under one of the larger roots of the large cherry tree growing in my garden. It is not under the tree itself but it emerges from the roots ). When the spring bubbles I always honor the naiad, but when there is no spring I honor the dryad.
Now over the past few months I had a UPG. For some reason I felt that there was a nymph around the ivy which to me made no sense initially. That part of the house is practically totally concreted up and it joins the neighbors wall and storeroom, which is totally concreted. If you appeared at that part of the house you would not even see the garden, all you would see the confluence of my house with two other people’s house. The ivy is growing from a hole the size of a soup bowl in the concrete, which I am not sure why they left a hole there but I was told that it was an abandoned project by the last home owner.
I first felt this presence whenever I honored Dionysius. It became so strong that when I make libation to Dionysius I would then pour a second portion to the nymph. I had no idea whether this was correct or not at the time. I just addressed “To the nymphai of the place I offer this watered wine.”
Then last week I discovered two very interesting facts.
One is that the common Hedera helix and the other Hedera species ( excepting the poison ivy ) were regarded as sacred to Dionysius. All this time I had always thought it was the grape plant, the grape ivy, the byronies, the Mediterrenean Ivy etc.. that was sacred to Dionysius but I discovered that the Hedera helix ( the common ivy ) is also sacred to Dionysius and in fact all the ivies.
The second is that there is a class of dryads that are associated strongly with ivies, byronies, wrack, grape vine ( wild ) and various other vine plants. They were known as the Ampelos and they are often seen as companions of Dionysius and the other rustic deities.
This accidental discovery has led me to dedicate the aromatherapy burner to both Dionysius and the Ampelos.
