It's time for the grape harvest! In Ariadne's Tribe, the last day of August is the Feast of Grapes, the celebration of the grape harvest and the death of the vine-god Dionysus.

The Feast of Grapes is set on a particular calendar date for the convenience of modern Pagans. In ancient Crete, the harvest happened when the grapes were just the right ripeness for picking. Depending on the weather and other influences, the date might have varied by as much as a week or two from year to year.

If I were celebrating based on my own grapevine, I would have done it two weeks ago, when we picked the deliciously ripe muscadines and savored them in our own casual ceremony that included a bottle of muscadine wine from a previous year's brewing.

What might an interested Pagan do to celebrate the Feast of Grapes? Setting up an altar to Dionysus is an easy option. Wine is an obvious choice; red wine in particular is historically accurate. If you don't drink alcohol, purple grape juice will also work, but if you do drink (even if you can't right now due to pregnancy or other medical issues) I recommend that you use actual wine for offerings and other activities that don't involve actually drinking it, in order to keep in Dionysus' good graces.

So, besides drinking it, what can you do with wine for the Feast of Grapes? How about pouring a libation and making a toast to Dionysus? You can even do some interesting divination using wine. Dionysus has access to the Underworld and the Ancestors, so he can help you find the answers to all kinds of questions.

Some people think any kind of ritual honoring Dionysus must involve drunkenness or other forms of intoxication. It's true that ancient cultures, including the Minoans, used intoxicants and hallucinogens in many of their rituals. The Minoans appear to have been quite fond of wine laced with opium and probably ergot as well.

But they weren't wild partiers. They took these substances in controlled circumstances, monitored by people with experience, and with particular goals and purposes in mind. Using substances such as alcohol to achieve ecstatic states must always be done respectfully, bearing in mind that the reason for doing so is connecting with the divine, not just partying.

If you'd like to experience Dionysus' energy in a gentler way, you might try the intoxication of rhythm. The deep, repetitive rhythm of drumming entrains the human brain into a light trance state. Dancing to drumming adds to the effect. You don't have to do anything fancy - simply moving around a circle in time with the rhythm is sufficient.

A big part of what Dionysus helps people do is break down boundaries - the boundaries between the ordinary and the numinous, the walls we build up to hide parts of us from ourselves and others, the barriers we erect to keep ourselves from attaining whatever we think we're not worthy of.

If you ask him, he'll help you release these limits, but be careful what you ask for - you're likely to get it!