apollonian vs dionysian nightlife
The Greeks knew that the more rational we usually are, the more important it is—at points—to fling ourselves around to the wild rhythms of pipes and drums. At the festivals of Dionysus, held in Athens in March every year, even the most venerable and dignified members of the community would join in with unrestrained dancing that, irrigated by
... See moreAlain de Botton • A Therapeutic Journey
We are literal, scientific, rational, surface-oriented, and fast-paced. Yet without imagination, the world becomes arid. Mythopoetic language is magical; it brings worlds into being. Stories of warriors hunting the windswept plains, gods who trick and deceive, maidens transformed into sea monsters, and spiders that weave the web of life have long
... See moreJoanna LaPrade • Forged in Darkness: The Many Paths of Personal Transformation
Ecstasy is a time-honored method of transcending our ordinary consciousness and a way of helping us arrive at insights we could not attain otherwise. An element of ecstasy, however slight, is part and parcel of every genuine symbol and myth; for if we genuinely participate in the symbol or myth, we are for that moment taken “out of” and “beyond”
... See moreRollo May • The Courage to Create
The nature of the ecstatic is animalistic. A visceral, body-centered reaction, not a cerebral one. It doesn’t have to make sense. It is not meant to be understood. It is there to guide us.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being

We must also point out that this “intensity of encounter” is not to be identified with what is called the Dionysian aspect of creativity. You will find this word Dionysian used often in books on creative works. Taken from the name of the Greek god of intoxication and other forms of ecstasy, the term refers to the upsurge of vitality, the abandon,
... See moreRollo May • The Courage to Create
apollonian vs dionysian nightlife
The Dionysian is what you feel when you wake up to a beautiful sunrise, that urge that calls you to rush into a lover's arms, that rage you feel when a loved one... See more