To All The Blessed Gods: An Anthology of the Living Orphic Tradition, with Prayers to the Theoi
Ariadne Rainbird
Paperback, 189 p. independently published August 28, 2024
ISBN 979-8337514123 Available from this website.
(Ariadne: please state if you would like a signed copy.)
I have known Ariadne Rainbird since the late 1990’s and some of you will also remember her as the co-author of the classic book Magick Without Peers with David Rankine (1997). See the link to the review below.
Even then Ariadne was working with the Hellenic Gods and has since explored other paths, “but always returning to the Hellenic Gods”, she adds. “As a vegetarian, the Orphic-Pythagorian-Platonic tradition and path attracted me the most.”
I was very fortunate to meet Ariadne this summer and attend her talk about ‘Hekate in the Living Orphic Tradition’. For many years we have shared our interest in Hekate going well beyond the popular notion of ‘Hekate, the Goddess of the Witches’.
When she told me about her upcoming book I was more than curious. Published in August 2024 I received it a couple of weeks later. I was instantly struck by the amazing amount of personal contributions Ariadne has made in this book, including the illustrations. Via her Etsy website/shop AriadneswebCreations (link below) there are many ‘prayer cards’ some of which have been used in her book. The reason I am mentioning this is because on the website they are in colour while in the book they are black and white.
In a sense this book is like a ‘Book of Shadows’ containing the rituals/poems of the Orphic tradition. Ariadne also collaborated with Thrasyvoulos and Wojciech Mazur whose poems blend in with hers to create a wonderful anthology.
There are 12 chapters highlighting a particular god, goddess or traditional practice Orphic, Spirits of Nature and so on.
In Chapter 12. Songs, Hymns and Carols, Ariadne has adapted the lyrics to Hellenic Deities using the melody of a number of Christian hymns and Christmas. She warns, “Purists, ignore this chapter if you find it a bit frivolous or want to totally dissociate from anything the could be remotely connected with Christianity.” For example, what about ‘Silent Night… for Heliostasis (Winter Solstice)’ … or “… adapted for the birth of Dionysos”?
There is also an alternative text for ‘The Lord of the Dance’ starting:
“I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun
I danced in the heavens and I danced on the earth
On Mount Nysa I had my birth
Dance, dance wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said He.”
This book is a must for anyone like me who is always looking for devotional poems, invocations and songs for inspiration.
BIO: Ariadne Rainbird is a psychologist, Pagan chaplain, Wiccan, Druid and Orphic practitioner living in Wales. She co-authored Magick Without Peers with David Rankine, and has contributed articles, poetry and artwork to a number of anthologies published by Bibliotheca Alexandrina, mainly on Hellenic deities, as well as written a number of published magazine articles in Pagan journals. Her new book To All the Blessed Gods, an Orphic Anthology is now available on Amazon. She also produces artwork and prayer cards which she sells in her Etsy shop Ariadneswebcreations.
The Prayer Cards are amazing. This one… Ariadne is in the book too (p.157).
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