The Priestess of Bacchus, Hon. John Collier Oil on Canvas, Photo courtesy of ArtMagick

Maenads (me'nadz), "the frenzied ones"

"Leave off delay, go now, follow on with me
  to the Phrygian home of Cybebe, and to her groves
  where sounds the noise of the cymbal and drums
  where blows the Phrygian flute and its slender reed
  where Maenad heads ivy-bound toss madly about,
  and they sing the sacred rites with the harsh 'ululu',
  where her errant band so often dances quick--
  here must we run in our quickened rompings."
Translation of poem 63 in Catulli Carmina, by Abram Ring

"These women (who...are [also] called Bacchae or Bacchantes) celebrate Dionysos by abandoning themselves to the wild, liberating energy of nature. Bacchantes, when in the trance of the deity, leave behind home and family, and haunt the forests and mountains, their roles as wives, mothers, and sisters temporarily forgotten." (Mythography)

"...in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, female devotees of Dionysus. They roamed mountains and forests, adorned with ivy and skins of animals, waving the thyrsus. When they danced, they often worked themselves into an ecstatic frenzy, during which they were capable of tearing wild animals to pieces with their bare hands.." (encyclopedia.com)

Read more about these women of antiquity, and meditate on what evokes your wildness.

The Maenad Dances  |  Greek Tragedy  |  Greek Mythology Link  |  Note Access  |  Diotima

Ecstasy

Maxfield Parish's vision of Ecstasy courtesy of Brian Yoder