* All digital art by Michael @ The Dionysian Experience
Ecstatic dance is a spiritual movement gaining increasing popularity in the world today. However, ecstatic dance as a spiritual experience is far from new. It is an ancient ritual dating as far back as 8,000 BC…if not even longer. The experience is said to produce an altered state of mind leading to a transcendent spiritual experience. Really? Dancing can do this?
I think so. Regrettably, my interest in dancing has always been fueled by wanting to get hot and sweaty with women. The motive is different I suspect for many women. Women seem to have a genuine love of dancing, right? There is a curious behavior that women share with one another that men don’t do as commonly (exception possibly being gay men). Women dance alone and women dance with other women. There is something about dancing for the love of movement, release, and self expression that women are drawn to. Perhaps there is a state transcendent spiritual ecstasy women sometimes achieve through dancing?
This happened to me…once. I felt it. I remember being in a club in my early 20’s. I can even recall where I was on the dance floor. I had a nice buzz, the clubs lights were mesmerizing, the perfect song was on, and I danced…alone. I didn’t care what other people thought and became completely lost in the moment. Any sense of self dissipated and I was transported to a place where I felt connected and intertwined with the universe. I felt high on life. In more recent years, I experience a similar “high” during long runs. The runner’s high is something that is well known in the runner community. Like the runner’s high, I suspect there is dancer’s high as well and it is an experience women are very familiar with.
Where am I going with this? My overarching journey as a writer and digital artist is a quest for deeper meaning. While I am active man and engage fully in life, I also enjoy observing others, reading, and thinking about the human experience. Over the years I have come to appreciate Dionysus (Greek god) as an archetype that provides a psychological backdrop for my personal journey. Further, I believe Dionysus (as an archetype) is a psychological force that swirls within many of us. We know it is there but we don’t have a name/label for it. I think of it as the Dionysian experience.
In ancient Greece, Dionysus was worshipped as a divinity. He was known to have a disproportionate number of female followers and women have been historically portrayed as his most trustful and faithful companions. Indeed, the origin story of Dionysus describes him as being raised in the forest by women – the Maenads or Thyiads.
In Greek mythology, maenads was the term used for female followers of Dionysus. Their name literally translates as “raving ones”. Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication.
The worship of Dionysus in ancient Greece by women wasn’t a fringe following. Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great, was a devout follower as was the Queen of Macedonia. These powerful and notable women, along with women throughout the social strata, took the forest and mountains to participate in secretive Dionysian mysteries and rituals to invoke the presence of Dionysus – transcendent ecstasy. Dionysus was one of the strongest and most important psychological and spiritual forces of the ancient world until a conquering Rome morphed Dionysus into Bacchus, degraded his spiritual essence, and ultimately suppressed his followers – see Dionysus: The Rise and Fall (and Rise).
Archetypes don’t die and can’t be suppressed forever. They are psychological forces and dreams imprinted on the collective unconsciousness of humanity and demand release. Spiritual transcendence through dance is once again entering our consciousness in the western world.
Whether you are partaking in an ecstatic dance workout at your local fitness center or getting your ecstatic dance on in a club, you are reviving an ancient ritual. You are performing the dance of the Maenads and connecting to the spirit of women across the millenniums. And, if you are fortunate enough to reach a state of transcendent spiritual ecstasy, you are filled with a presence the ancient Greeks knew as Dionysus.
My currently available posts, digital art, and videos exploring Dionysus are here – Dionysus & Psychology.
I am smiling for the first time this morning
Putting a smile on your face makes this entire post worth it. It looks good on you ☺️
To dance unfettered by self-consciousness. The yearning is very real, I visit her dungeon quite often…make sure her chains aren’t chafing. She’s been a wild thing since Oct.
Always the clever and sassy one ☺️Perhaps you should remove those chains that bind the wild one… You know she needs to be set free.
I got really happy when I saw your post. It was a long day and this was what I needed I think. The wild side is calling how soon will we give into it? Society’s chains only wish to hold us back
I think you hear the call and are shaking and pulling at those binding chains really hard now… You will find your release. 😈
Alas I’m am not the one with the keys
Ohhh, I like this reply…very thought provoking 🗝
Always 🙂
And how did you know I was planning to post a piece on dancing also? You just beat me to it haha
This one had been sitting around in drafts for a while waiting for some final inspiration. I think your comment about dancing and singing the other day as way to express yourself may have been that last bit of inspiration I was looking for to connect a few dots ☺️
Glad I could help give you that final push. I seem to be doing that alot recently.
The final push… Your helping hands are always appreciated ☺️
☺️
I absolutely know what you’re talking about here. There are many times I am transported away dancing and listening to music, letting it take over my movements. I had no idea that men don’t experience the same thing. For me, it is an almost sexual experience. My nerves tingle and I am enraptured. I lose track of time (it becomes unimportant). When I come to myself, I have a feeling of mild loss but also satisfaction and fulfillment. A natural mellow high. Many times, depending on the song/experience/high, I may touch and stroke my skin afterwards or sit in contentedness or I become energized. Love the post!
Hi Tara, thanks so much for stopping by…and this breathtaking comment.💫 I have to admit, I’m sitting here a bit mesmerized by it actually. These sensations you have during and afterwards really brings the subject matter to life with a real-world personal experience from a woman very connected to her sensuality. Wow…LOVE this comment on so many levels – the heat, passion, connectivity, and spirituality.
Honestly, realizing that you may not experience it in the same way makes me long for the ability to either really articulate what it’s like or to be able to gift the experience to you myself. I re-read my comment and realized it’s so pale compared to the reality of it… but I find sensuality (possibly) in some very “mundane” or normal daily activities. I embrace it for what it is.
I am not much of a dancer, nothing anyone would consider good, anyway. To get moved and want to move with the music is something I do all the time. It is a higher plane, I think. We should all try to get there.
Tim
Hi Tim, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Glad you are able to get to this plane. I imagine it is something more men should be doing. After all, it isn’t about how well we dance or what others think…it’s about the feeling we experience while movement.
J’aime beaucoup ce texte et ce que tu dis de toi, de ton expérience et de ta pratique concrète. Je reviendrairai lire et commenter, car ton texte parle à mon Âme et a mon Être plus généralement
Ce que tu dis, exprimes ici, dans ce texte, me parle directement, et c’est curieusement dans une sorte de synchronicité que j’ai l’impression étrange de parler moi-même, d’avoir écrit ce texte…. Il se trouve que je prends conscience depuis quelque temps d’avoir réalisé mon humanité, d’avoir accompli ma réalisation personnelle. Je vis cela depuis une sorte de fusion alchimique composée de différents ingrédients, qui rassemblé ont produite cette réalisation. Il s’agit d’une spiritualité, d’une sexualité, de l’Amour et d’un certain nombre d’expériences qui ont ouvert les portes de la perception, en relation avec différentes dimensions de Notre Monde, environnement, Nature et passé de mes cellules et particules génétiques. Je trouve un point commun évident avec ton propos, ton texte et cette déclaration, c’est très clairement la relation aux Mondes Anciens, ces Mondes et Histoires dont nos cellules et particules sont porteuses. Et je veux parler de l’Antiquité(Dionysos!) Car il se trouve qu’en vivant ma sexualité en Amour, sont venues en moi et ma compagne des messages, images, songes, voyages, etc. des temps anciens, préhistoire pour elle (Afrique, etc..) et antiquité pour moi (Égypte, Mésopotamie, Phénicie, etc.)
À deux reprises, sur les deux premières années, nous avons procédé à un mariage selon un rituel que nous avons inventé ensemble et proposé par mon amie, en bords d’Océan. Ce n’est que deux années plus tard, donc que nous avons découvert que ce rituel existait formellement dans l’Antiquité de par les mariages rituels sacrés, mariage de la Déesse Inanna (nommées ensuite Ishtar, Astarté, Aphrodite et Vénus) et de son époux Dumuzi sacrifié et ressuscité tous les ans. Nous avons découvert ainsi que nous avions procédé à un rituel très ancien, sans même le savoir. Les travaux là-dessus sont connus et publiés (tablettes de Sumer). Et effectivement, nous procédions chaque année au sacrifice du passé !!!
Le Féminin est évidemment à la Source de cet accomplissement, de cette réalisation personnelle. Je sais aujourd’hui que tout ce à qui j’aspire les plus profondément depuis ma naissance est accompli. Depuis ma naissance j’ai toujours privilégié et donné suite à mes intuitions et en protégeant ma sensibilité mes fragilités en les ouvrant au Monde et aux autres. Ce fut un chemin beau et difficile (Mort, Drogue, Police, Justice, etc.). C’est une Lutte. Et la poésie a toujours accompagné mes nuits et mes jours ainsi que l’épanouissement de mes Amours humains.
Thank you for such a fascinating comment Etoile31. I admire the way you have been able to connect in a spiritual way to past. It is our human history but we so often ignore this and feel the people of the Old World and what they believed have no relevance in the modern world. Personally, I believe their spirituality was impressive and they were far more connected to the cycle of life and the spiritual realm than we are today. Your recollection of the marriage ritual is interesting. These inspirations and dreams along with accompanying rituals have been with humans forever and, when practiced, serve an important spiritual purpose for the practitioner. I’m glad you were able to tap into this and connect with the ways of our ancestors across time and space. You are a fascinating woman and it was a pleasure hearing about your experience.
Translated comment from above by etoile31
What you say, expressed here, in this text, speaks to me directly, and it is oddly in a sort of synchronicity that I have the strange feeling to speak myself, to have written this text …. It so happens that for some time I have realized that I have realized my humanity, that I have accomplished my personal realization. I have seen this since a kind of alchemical fusion composed of different ingredients, which brought together this realization. It is a spirituality, a sexuality, Love and a number of experiences that have opened the doors of perception, in relation with different dimensions of Our World, environment, Nature and past of my cells and genetic particles. I find an obvious common point with your subject, your text and this declaration, it is very clearly the relation with the Old Worlds, these Worlds and Histories of which our cells and particles are carriers. And I want to talk about Antiquity (Dionysos!) Because it happens that in living my sexuality in Love, came in me and my companion messages, images, dreams, travels, etc. ancient times, prehistory for her (Africa, etc. ..) and antiquity for me (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phenicia, etc.)
On two occasions, in the first two years, we performed a wedding according to a ritual that we invented together and proposed by my friend, on the shores of the ocean. It was not until two years later that we discovered that this ritual existed formally in ancient times through sacred ritual marriages, the marriage of the Goddess Inanna (later named Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite, and Venus) and her husband Dumuzi sacrificed and resurrected each year. We discovered that we had done a very old ritual, without even knowing it. The works on it are known and published (Sumer tablets). And indeed, we proceed each year with the sacrifice of the past !!!
The feminine is obviously at the source of this accomplishment, of this personal realization. I know today that everything I aspire to most deeply from birth is accomplished. Since my birth I have always privileged and acted on my intuitions and by protecting my sensitivity by opening them to the world and to others. It was a beautiful and difficult path (Death, Drug, Police, Justice, etc.). It’s a fight. And poetry has always accompanied my nights and my days as well as the blossoming of my human loves.
Merci pour ce retours, ces compliments et la lecture, la compréhension de ce que j’ai exprimé et écrit.
Sinon que je suis un…. Homme: Henri est mon prénom…..
😉
Dance is something I have always needed to do, for a long time it was the only way I could express myself, my inner feelings and thoughts. I have trained a little in every kind of dance from Ballroom/Latin to Jazz, to ballet to contemporary dance.
While I am proficient in most styles it is less about the dance itself and more about the ability to give the music the freedom to travel through me. Every beat has a place inside me, the rhythm surrounds me and travels through me, I make myself a conduit for it to be present in my life. It is the physical manifestation of my appreciation of sound I suppose. and it is highly erotic and sensual for me. I get lost inside it and always feel as though I am dancing along the bars of a musical score, settling momentarily on a note until I shift and sway and glide across to the next and the next until I reach the end of the piece. Often I would dance my way through my entire playlist before I had absorbed enough energy from it to continue with my day. It’s an integral part of my inner peace. It also leaves me in a high state of arousal I rarely achieve any other way. So the transcendent quality of dance is most often achieved quite rapidly for me and it holds me there for the longest time. It becomes effortless to be in that space. 💫💋