Term Paper on "Bacchic Rituals and Modern Manifestations"

Term Paper 15 pages (4568 words) Sources: 8 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Bacchic Rituals and Modern Manifestations

The foundations of the society in which we live today have a distinctive dependence on technology and science, with a strength of nations that drives desire for personal control over resources and in a sense even the coarse of ones life. Yet, in reality there is really relatively little, real opportunity for personal control of the determination of one's life and yet much opportunity for leisure. The culture of the modern world, at least in western society is relatively stable, not as bound and determined to expand at the cost of other nations and regions but still expanding in quieter ways allowed the post colonial concepts of nations. The reach for a global economy and global communication an almost mind-boggling concept for the individual, who sees both the potential for cohesion and the potential for exploitation and division as self-fulfilling prophecies of the age, often including a rejection of all things spiritual as a prerequisite to progress seeks to find such spirituality in new ways. This work will first discuss the history of the mythical legend of Dionysus, the Bacchic ritual and its rich traditions and then move on to discuss its modern manifestations.

Yet, these knew ways of seeking spirituality, especially for personal release are in no way new or untried and are instead old tried and true methods of finding balance. The mythical birth of Dionysus and the following Bacchic rituals of the Greek and Roman cultures, having gone through countless rebirths throughout the western tradition are still very much alive today, all be it in different forms. Such opportunity for the mind and body to reclaim control through stepping away from convention and releasing the inner spirit are very much a part of the culture of the day. Two examples of this trend, among many are the birth and embrace of rock n roll music and its ever-present culture as well as spiritual retreats such as the Burning Man festivals, a yearly event where thousands of people converge on a previously unpopulated region of arid desert land to express individuality and release for a week.

The Greeks and Romans had many manifestations of the mythical figure of Dionysus and the Bacchic rituals, in both public and private ceremonial forms, offering an opportunity for people, especially the disenfranchised to seek spirituality through group expression and individual expressions of release. Films such as Woodstock, Gimme Shelter and productions like Dionysus 69 as well as all the accompanying music and questioning express the nature of the way that rock-n-roll permeated cultural expression in the 1960s and 70s and also express the sort of rights of passage inherent in the Bacchic ritual. The modern expression, the Burning Man Festivals by all account also express this sort of desire to utilize creative expression and mind altering substances to alter the way in which one thinks about the immediate and broader world. The expression of the underground can be seen in the modern as well as the anchinet as Bacchic ritual is repeatedly embraced and one must seek answers within it to, help one understand how...women and other disenfranchised members living in conditions that seem extremely restrictive to contemporary eyes, might have generated in themselves the allegiance to the values of their culture that allowed them to carry out the various roles society had decreed for them.

In the expression of both juxtaposed events in history there are many similarities and borrowed theories, though all in the modern do not know of the long history of this practice. Many in fact see no connection at all, while still others, seek to consciously reinvent spiritual expression that could potentially help by allowing individuals the avenue for such expression in a manner that is befitting of a culture so closely tied to science and technology for answers to the spiritual. In a groundbreaking work, written in 1963 David Taffel attempts to make sense of the difficulties inherent in seeking such answers through a modern and knowledgeable view on Nietzche, the atheist philosopher who wasn't really atheist but a deeply spiritual man who wanted to call attention to the danger and difficulty that would be faced by a culture seeking the spiritual through modern science and industry. (Taffel, 1963) This work as a precursor to the eras that would follow, the free expression movement, the embrace of Rock-n-roll and even the newer expressions such as Burning Man, is a fantastic jumping off point, though its complexity demands greater attention than can be expressed here and so therefore will be discussed only briefly. The thesis of the work being the most important point, how does modern man seek to express and build spirituality, when all the institutions that tell him how to do so are in decay and no longer holding such great power over the people? The answers come later, in the movements mentioned above and will be elaborated on at a later time in this work, but for many they are reinventions of the Dionysus myths and the Bacchic like rituals.

To seek a common ground and understand the validity of the connection between the modern Bacchic rituals and those of the past one must gain a better understanding of the origin of the ideas. To do so many historically minded individuals turn to the fragments that express Bacchic in art and archeology. Carpenter in 1997, seeks to explore the Dionysian imagery through an archeological exploration of fifth century Athens attempting to unravel the modern myth from the evidence and expressions that are still available today in the Athenian art that remains. Carpenter takes a scientific approach to what he terms Attic religion, meaning private and hidden expressions of spirituality through the mythology of Dionysos in the archeological record. This expression of seeking the answers to the spiritual through science is in and of itself an answer that Nietzsche foresaw and would be proud of, in that it makes a bold attempt to build upon what is available to better understand human needs and desires. The bull, the serpent, the ivy and wine are the signs of the characteristic Dionysian atmosphere, infused with the unquenchable life of the god. Their numinous presence signifies that the god is near. (Kerenyi 52) More modern works on Dionysos express a culmination of the myth through a summary of its various versions. Richard Seaford in Dionysos (2006) summarizes the myth:

On the prompting of Hera, the primeval deities known as Titans lure away the infant Dionysos by means of a mirror and other objects, and tear him into pieces which they cook and taste. They are punished by being blasted with the thunderbolt of Zeus. Dionysos is then restored to life from his heart, which had been preserved by Athena. The smoke rising from the bodies of the blasted Titans form a soot, from which is created humankind. This summarises one version of the story, which is told in versions with differences in detail....The myth of his dismemberment at the hands of the Titans, followed by his restoration to life, is (at least in part) a projection of the experience of the mystic initiand...The result is that not just his death but also his restoration to life brings him closer to us than are most other deities, and the same can be said even of the form of this death and restoration, namely dismemberment (fragmentation) and return to wholeness... (Seaford 111-112, 85)

The myth speaks of a deity that is an expression of humanity, a collective jumble of parts forever seeking to become the collective through rebirth and regeneration but eternally being torn asunder by forces out of their control, war, famine, technology, economy and many others. The full expression of Dionysis is varied but the rights of Bacchic ritual express this individual destruction and rebirth, collectivism that can clearly be seen in the modern and ancient expressions of coming together to express an rebuild individual and collective character.

The rituals of the Bacchic encompass and expression of the rebirth of Dionysos, through individuals collectively, both publicly and privately, seeking to be tested by trial and then be put back together.

In the German Middle Ages, to, singing and dancing crowds, ever increasing in number whirled themselves from place to place under the same Dionysian impulse. In these dances of St. John and St. Vitus, we rediscover the Bacchic choruses of the Greeks, with their prehistory in Asia Minor, as far back as Babylon and the orgiastic Sacaea. There are some who, from obtuseness or lack of experience, turn away from such phenomena as from 'folk-diseases," with contempt or pity born of the consciousness of their own 'healthy-mindedness.' But of course such poor wretches have no idea how corpselike and ghostly their so-called 'healthy-mindedness' looks when glowing life of the Dionysian revelers roars past them" (Kerenyi & Manheim 136)

The expression of the roaring crowds destabilize the idea of restraint, a common demand in almost any civilized society, and most common during the various… READ MORE

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