Her Share of Divine Madness: Women in the Ancient Rites of Dionysus
Thu, Nov 17, 12–2pm Pacific Time
Mad women running atop mountains without the supervision of husbands. The ingestion of mind-altering concoctions. Ecstatic nocturnal dancing to the rhythm of the frame drum. Ritual sexuality. These and more were the ingredients composing the early worship of Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, wine, and pleasure.
Chiara examines the role of women in the Dionysian cult: Who were the maenads? What happened during their women-only rituals? What was the reaction of their contemporaries? And which have been the most accredited interpretations of their legendary legacy by modern scholars?
About Chiara Baldini
Chiara Baldini is an independent researcher and freelance curator from Florence (Italy). She investigates the evolution of the ecstatic cult in the West, particularly in ancient Greece and Rome, contributing to anthologies, psychedelic conferences, and festivals. She has been the program curator of Boom Festival’s (Portugal) cultural area, Liminal Village, since 2010, and also helped to set up and run ConTent, the first cultural area at Fusion Festival (Germany) in 2015 and 2016. She recently co-curated an anthology called Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine, investigating the intersection between the feminine principle and altered states of consciousness. She is currently a PhD candidate in Philosophy and Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies.