Jesus turns the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (Jn.2. 1-11 ), the gift of the heir of Dionysus.  Christ’s Spirit is the heady essence of the Crown, the intoxicating spirit of the Fishes, drunk daily in the sacrament of wine, the blood of Christ. Wine and all liquid inspiration falls under the influence of the Fishes, the sensitive, emotional energy of changeable highs and lows. We drink like fish when Neptune rules.

Wine aside, no wonder Christians have ascended the heights of ecstasy and plumbed the depths of despair and depravity following this emotive spirit in the last age, recalling the wild maenads of Bacchus and Dionysian orgies. Sadly Christian depravity has tended to be rather worse, burning ‘witches,’ torturing ‘heretics,’ pogroms pursuing Jews, cruel Crusades and irresistible Christian imperialism. All the wild excesses of strong spirits, often the worse for stone cold sober self-righteousness.

We only learn the hard way and this spirit, like wine, has also given simpler souls bliss, joy unconfined, genuine compassion and profound consolation when not mixed with the liquor of power and greed.