Editing Dionysus (section)

==Post-classical worship==
===Late Antiquity===
[[File:Bacchus_-_Paris-2010-_Musée_du_Louvre.jpg|thumb|180px|left|Statue of Bacchus, Paris, [[Louvre Museum]] (second century AD)]]

In the [[Neoplatonist]] philosophy and religion of [[Late Antiquity]], the Olympian gods were sometimes considered to number 12 based on their spheres of influence. For example, according to [[Sallustius (Neoplatonist)|Sallustius]], "Jupiter, Neptune, and Vulcan fabricate the world; Ceres, Juno, and Diana animate it; Mercury, Venus, and Apollo harmonize it; and, lastly, Vesta, Minerva, and Mars preside over it with a guarding power."<ref name=sallustius>Sallustius, ''On Gods and the World'', ch. VI.</ref> The multitude of other gods, in this belief system, subsist within the primary gods, and Sallustius taught that Bacchus subsisted in Jupiter.<ref name=sallustius/>

In the [[Orphic]] tradition, a saying was supposedly given by an oracle of [[Apollo]] that stated "[[Zeus]], [[Hades]], [and] [[Helios]]-Dionysus" were "three gods in one godhead". This statement apparently conflated Dionysus not only with Hades, but also his father Zeus, and implied a particularly close identification with the sun-god Helios. When quoting this in his ''Hymn to King Helios'', [[Julian (emperor)|Emperor Julian]] substituted Dionysus' name with that of [[Serapis]], whose Egyptian counterpart [[Osiris]] was also identified with Dionysus.

===Worship from the Middle Ages to the Modern period===
[[File:Paulus Bor - Bacchus - WGA02449.jpg|thumb|Bacchus by [[Paulus Bor]]]]
Three centuries after the reign of [[Theodosius I]] which saw the [[Persecution of pagans under Theodosius I|outlawing of pagan worship]] across the Roman Empire, the 692 [[Quinisext Council]] in Constantinople felt it necessary to warn Christians against participating in persisting rural worship of Dionysus, specifically mentioning and prohibiting the feast day [[Brumalia]], "the public dances of women", ritual cross-dressing, the wearing of Dionysiac masks, and the invoking of Bacchus' name when "squeez[ing] out the wine in the presses" or "when pouring out wine into jars".<ref>''Concilium Constantinopolitanum a. 691/2 in Trullo habitum''. Canon 62. H. Ohme (ed.) Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum, Series Secunda II: Concilium Universale Constantinopolitanum Tertium, Pars 4. {{ISBN|978-3-11-030853-2}}. Berlin/Boston Oktober 2013.</ref>

According to the [[Lanercost Chronicle|Lanercost chronicle]], during [[Easter]] in 1282 in [[Scotland]], the parish priest of [[Inverkeithing]] led young women in a dance in honor of [[Priapus]] and [[Liber|Father Liber]], commonly identified with Dionysus. The priest danced and sang at the front, carrying a representation of the phallus on a pole. He was killed by a Christian mob later that year.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Maxwell|first1=Herbert|title=The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272–1346|url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleoflaner02maxw|date=1913|publisher=Glasgow : J. Maclehose|location=Glasgow, Scotland|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chronicleoflaner02maxw/page/29 29]–30}}</ref> Historian C. S. Watkins believes that Richard of Durham, the author of the chronicle, identified an occurrence of [[apotropaic magic]] (by making use of his knowledge of [[ancient Greek religion]]), rather than recording an actual case of the survival of a pagan ritual.<ref>C. S. Watkins: ''History and the Supernatural in Medieval England'', Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 2007, pp. 88–92.</ref>

The late medieval Byzantine scholar [[Gemistus Pletho]] secretly advocated a return to paganism in medieval Greece.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In the eighteenth century, [[Hellfire Clubs]] appeared in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] and [[Ireland]]. Though activities varied between the clubs, some of them were very pagan, and included shrines and sacrifices. Dionysus was one of the most popular deities, alongside deities like [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and [[Flora (mythology)|Flora]]. Today one can still see the statue of Dionysus left behind in the [[Hellfire Caves]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ashe |first1= Geoffrey |title= The Hell-Fire Clubs: A History of Anti-Morality |url=https://archive.org/details/hellfireclubshis0000ashe |url-access=registration |date=2000 |publisher= Sutton Publishing |location= Gloucestershire |page=[https://archive.org/details/hellfireclubshis0000ashe/page/114 114] |isbn= 9780750924023 }}</ref>

In 1820, Ephraim Lyon founded the Church of Bacchus in [[Eastford]], [[Connecticut]]. He declared himself High Priest, and added local drunks to the list of membership. He maintained that those who died as members would go to a Bacchanalia for their afterlife.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Bayles |first1= Richard |title= History of Windham County, Connecticut |url= https://archive.org/details/historyofwindham00bayl |date=1889 |publisher= New York, Preston }}</ref>

[[Modern pagan]] and [[Polytheism|polytheist]] groups often include worship of Dionysus in their traditions and practices, most prominently groups which have sought to revive [[Hellenism (religion)|Hellenic polytheism]], such as the [[Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes]] (YSEE).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ysee.gr/greekwheel.html |title=Hearth of Hellenism: The Greek Wheel of the Year|last= Nasios|first= A.|accessdate= 24 January 2009 |website=www.ysee.gr}}</ref> In addition to libations of wine, modern worshipers of Dionysus offer the god grape vines, ivy, and various forms of incense, particularly [[styrax]].<ref>Christos Pandion Panopoulos, Panagiotis Meton Panagiotopoulos, Erymanthos Armyras, Mano Rathamanthys Madytinos (Editor, Translator), Lesley Madytinou (Editor, Translator), Vasilios Cheiron Tsantilas. 2014. ''Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship''. {{ISBN|1503121887}}.</ref> They may also celebrate Roman festivals such as the Liberalia (17 March, close to the [[Spring equinox (Northern Hemisphere)|Spring Equinox]]) or [[Bacchanalia]] (Various dates), and various Greek festivals such as the [[Anthesteria]], [[Lenaia]], and the Greater and Lesser [[Dionysia]]s, the dates of which are calculated by the [[lunar calendar]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Dionysus |url= http://www.neokoroi.org/religion/gods/dionysus/ |website= Neokoroi.org |publisher= Neokoroi |access-date= 3 August 2017}}</ref>