CHIARA BALDINI on Dionysus: Echoes of an Ancient Future

Ahead of advaya's upcoming online course: Dionysus: Rave, Ritual and Revolution, we speak with curator and host Chiara Baldini all about Dionysus.

In this webinar, we dove into the mythology, history and culture around Dionysus, one of the most intriguing deities of Western culture. The god of fertility, dance, vegetation, wild nature, ambiguity and egalitarianism sounds like the perfect match who will not disappoint us with the gifts of his mysteries.

What role did ecstatic practices play in his rituals? Who were his followers and what were the reactions of the Greek and Roman authorities to their unruliness? What are the pre-patriarchal elements of these practices and what can we learn from them today?

0:00 - Opening
2:38 - From psytrance experiences to studying Dionysus: Chiara's story
10:34 - Who is Dionysus, really? Vegetation, rebirth, ritual madness, ambiguity & paradox
19:23 - Dionysus' connection to pre-patriarchal cultures
33:18 - Mad women & maenads, and Dionysian rituals
45:59 - Mystery religions and mystical experiences of the divine in the past
52:20 - Dionysus as counterculture to patriarchy: Tricksters and transformation
1:02:20 - Closing invitation

CONVERSATION TRANSCRIPT: https://advaya.life/articles/dionysus-echoes-of-an-ancient-future

ABOUT THE ONLINE COURSE: In this course, you will explore the many facets of the cult of Dionysus aka Bacchus, as one of the many “masks” of the most ancient human religious practice that in the Greek and Roman times took the form of the worship of the god of vegetation, fermentation, fertility, ritual sexuality, ecstasy, (spiked)wine, theatre, queerness, madness, dance and… revolution!

With a solid foundation in academic research and archaeological, iconographical and literary evidence, you will delve into the mythological, historical and anthropological dimensions of the Dionysian cult. Expect to be taken on an exciting journey through the bewildering visuals of ancient frescos, vase paintings, jewelry, textiles, architecture, weaving the narratives of established knowledge with those of the latest research, where a queer-feminist lens is taken as a reference, but also questioned in its most extreme positions.

Are you ready? Dionysus is waiting for you. Explore and register for the course here: https://advaya.life/courses/dionysus-rave-ritual-and-revolution

ABOUT CHIARA BALDINI: Chiara Baldini is a raver, researcher and freelance curator from Florence (Italy). She investigates the evolution of the ecstatic cult in the West, particularly in Minoan Crete, ancient Greece and Rome, contributing to anthologies, psychedelic conferences and festivals. She was the program curator of Boom Festival’s cultural area Liminal Village from 2010 to 2023. In 2015 and 2016 she also set up and curated ConTent, the first cultural area in Fusion Festival, Germany. She has 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 at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness program. She lives between Italy and Portugal and she expresses her deep love for music by often playing as DJ Clandestina.

Find Chiara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamalwayschiara/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chiara.baldini.9862
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/clandestina-2-0