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

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

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”

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.

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,