In Plato's Phædrus, Sokrates is made to say that "our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness." The madness that he is speaking of is telestic, initiatory and prophetic madness, where one is lifted out of their normal selves, and seem to be filled with something higher, diviner. The Greeks had a number of words to describe these states. Ekstasis meant litterally to be taken out of one's self, a state similar to ekphron meaning 'out of one's sense'. Katokoche was their word for possession, a concept closely allied with enthousiasmos, which meant to be filled with the God, or litterally, 'a God is within'. When someone is theoleptos, they are 'seized by a God', which can also be described as being mainomenos, or enmaddened, a title shared by the God and his worshippers alike. All of this could also be called simply epipnoia or inspiration.

A helpful way to understand this is to imagine yourself as a pool of water. Usually the water is murky and dark, so that all you can see within is the grime and dettera that has floated up to the surface. But at other times the water clears and upon its crystal surface one can see the wonders of heaven revealed - or mysterious things peering up from the depths. The murkiness of the water is caused by our ego-consciousness - our fears and anxieties, our wants and needs, the trivial concerns of our daily lives such as what we're going to fix for dinner tonight or anger at the asshole who cut us off on the way into work this morning, our societal conditioning, the expectations that both we and others have for us: the white noise that's constantly going on in the back of our heads. For the average person, this is what constitutes their self, the face which they present to the world, and the part of their being which takes up so much of their time that they may not even be aware that there is something More. But Dionysos teaches us otherwise, shows us the immensity of our spirits and offers us a path to reconnection with those hidden, shadowy parts of ourselves. To do so, we must simply let go - stop associating ourselves with that ego-consciousness and come into contact with a more vital, authentic, and powerful level of Being, transforming ourselves into a vessel through which beautiful visions can flow.

These visions can come from one of two directions. In the first instance they can come from within, or to return to our original metaphor of the pool, from below. Such things consist of symbols, dreams, fantasies, other aspects of our personalities, and even our Higher Selves, our Agathos Daimon in Greek thought. Each of us has a complex, internal world woven from images, memories, desires, dreams, etc. When we have access to this dark, nourishing world of dream, we find ourselves creative, whole, vital people. But this world can be uncomfortable for many, and society does its best to close off access to this world, telling us that it is frightening, dirty, violent, irrational and impractical - all of which it most certainly can be. But, it is a part of us, and if we are to become whole people, we must not be afraid to walk within this world, to give voice to that part of ourselves, to manifest the numinous within our lives, to heed what messages it may have for us - regardless of how 'crazy' this may make us seem in the eyes of outsiders.

But, the phenomena that we're discussing is not simply internal and psychological. In such states, we can open ourselves to influences that lay outside of ourselves, to Beings that are normally quite distinct from us, such as spirits, natural forces, daimons, Gods, etc. all of which can influence, direct, merge, and speak through us. There are varying levels of contact and communion with these external Beings during trance states - the lowest, perhaps being inspiration, wherein one experiences themselves in conversation with the Being, but is still in full possession of their faculties and conscious self. At the other end of the spectrum, the conscious self is fully submerged, and the spirit or God takes complete possession of one's body, compelling its movement and speaking through one as a ventriliquist might manipulate their dummy. Between these two poles are a whole range of phenomena, with varying degrees of awareness and bodily control.

Now, while it is convenient to draw a distinction between these two types of trance - the inner and outer - there are times when they seem to overlap, when the lines blur, and one cannot tell if a dream might have originatred outside of ourselves, or if a spirit may be speaking from somewhere within us. Mystics from many traditions would have us believe that such a distinction serves only a limited, pragmatric purpose anyway, and that upper and lower worlds penetrate and bleed through each other, until all is united in the harmony of creation. But you know how untrustworthy those mystics can be.

The ancient Greeks recognized a number of different methods for triggering and achieving these altered states of consciousness, all of which relate in some way to the world of Dionysos. Perhaps the most characteristically Dionysian of these was through dance and music. In the Ion, Plato informs us that the Maenads had special dances, and responded only to particular types of music: "they have a sharp ear for one tune only, the one which belongs to the God by Whom they are possessed, and to that tune they respond freely in gesture and speech, while they ignore all others." What information we have about this special Maenadic type of dance indicates that it is very similar to the dances performed by modern-day Voodooists - wild, rhythmic, with a strong backward tossing of the head. Euripides in the Bacchae describes them as dancing "with head tossed high to the dewy air," and has Pentheus say, "I was tossing my head up and down like a Bacchic dancer," Of Dionysos, it is said that he will "bring his whirling Maenads, with dancing and with feasts." We have evidence of this particular type of dancing not just from literature, but find it expressed on 28 extant vase paintings which depict Maenads with this strong backward bend of their heads. If you wish to emmulate this ancient type of dancing, caution is advised, as you are disorienting your inner ear with all the head shaking, and can snap your neck, which is certainly not the intention. You will definitely start to feel your consciousness shifting as you dance, even if it is only a mild form of vertigo. Just ride this out, however, and allow your senses to take in everything. You may start to feel yourself moving to hidden patterns within the music - the patterns of creation - and begin to perceive the world of spirits all around you. You may even feel the presence of the God upon you. No one can say with absolute certainty what will happen, as it's different every time - but dancing for the God, even when it doesn't lead to trance and pretty fireworks, is a great way to honor him.

When attempting to induce a trance state, it is important to pay attention to your surroundings. These can play a very important role, either making it a lot easier, or stopping it outright. For instance, a setting which is away from the city, in some wild place like a desert or the mountains, under the open night-time sky, with a crackling bon-fire, the scent of pine and incense strong in the air, the droning sound of cicadas surrounding you - is going to make entering a trance very easy. Sitting on the couch in your overly hot living room while your husband watches wrestling and your daughter slams her juice cup repeatedly into the wall will make trancing very difficult. Not impossible, of course - sometimes trance-states can come upon us spontaneously, irregardless of our surroundings - but certainly not conducive to such states, either. Another important aid would be austerities - sleep deprivation, fasting, physical exertion, etc which all help loosen the rational mind's control and helps our souls attain ekstasis. Additionally, alcohol and drugs, particularly entheogens, have a longstanding history with ecstatic trance states, particularly wine, which has always been associated with Dionysos. However, I do not intend to go into these in this piece, as there are some serious side-effects to be considered, and all too often people abuse these sacred substances for recreational purposes. I have no intention of contributing to that, and so will pass them by. Those who know the powerful assistance these substances can offer don't need such an introductory discussion of them anyway.

However, one tool in attaining a trance state that is very helpful, with no side-effects whatsoever, is meditation and visualization. Meditation may seem like a practice that is completely antithetical to the Dionysian bios. It probably conjures images of New Age ex-hippies doing strange things with crystals as they chant meaningless syllables or Buddhist monks in rigid zazen postures, quietly contemplating the nothingness that lies behind their navels. And yeah, that doesn't really seem to fit in with the Wild and Rapturous God of Life's fullness who is hailed by the dancing, singing, maddened crowd passionately crying "Euoi!" - or what he teaches about how we must be engaged in life, active, fiercely claiming our joy from the world. And yet, we must not forget that Dionysos is always a paradox, and that stillness is as much a characteristic of his as motion. Remember, Dionysos' supreme symbol is the mask, which hangs serenly from the pillar, peering out onto the world around him. Before Dionysos manifests in the riot of colorful new growth, he is the empty vine branch, pruned almost to the point of death, slumbering in the world below. He is the clamness at the center of the storm, and the silence between notes in a song. He is also Zagreus, the Great Hunter, which requires action to catch his prey - but also focus. And so meditation can indeed play an important role in your relationship with the God, serving as a way to quiet your raging emotions, to connect you with his somber, still, quiet vegetative aspects, to give you focus generally, to ground you and bring about awareness of the moment and of our bodies, and as a means of opening the doors within us.

There is no one right way to meditate. The important thing is to bring about calmness within yourself and a growing awareness of things, both internally and in the world around you. If you are so caught up in how you're miditating that you can never find this serenity, you're just wasting your time. I recommend that you find a quiet place that you will be undisturbed. Sit in a relaxing posture - don't even try yoga postures unless this is something that you've been working on - and start to breathe rhythmically and deeply. Focus on your breathing, how your breath circulates through your body, and the effect this has on you. Direct your thoughts to a specific end, so that they don't chase themselves around in your head or add to the cluttered white noise of your mind. This may be contemplation of one of Dionysos' names or myths, a particular idea, image, color, scent, etc., music you have playing in the background, or just stillness and emptiness if you wish. Stay like this for as long as you feel necessary, alternating focused thoughts with free-flowing mental tangents. Play around in your head. Try directing your thoughts, creating scenarios and images, thinking of only one thing - and absolutely nothing else - for as long as you can, and then stretching that time further and further until you are completely absorbed by that single thought for 24 hours. (Aleister Crowley couldn't even do this, so don't get discouraged if you fail at it. It's still a very helpful practice.) Try not thinking at all, but just being, soaking in the sensations around you. Anything and everything, as long as you're not ruminating over your problems for the millionth time that day, or contemplating what color you want to paint the kitchen come spring. I've created a ritual that helps with meditation and getting rid of those unpleasant, hindersome thoughts, which can be found at: http://www.winterscapes.com/sannion/apomainesthai.htm

Regular meditation will make it easier to enter trance states and expand your consciousness, just as its easier to navigate through a forest when you've been there plenty of times before.

There is, of course, one thing that we haven't really discussed so far: and that's why trance and meditation are important. And it's definitely not for shits and giggles, to see pretty lights and bullshit with the spirits, or because you're looking for some kind of badge of honor for doing it, as if you are somehow a better Maenad than your sisters because it's easier for you to enter trance than for them. Simply put, not everyone can do it. Some people's psyches aren't elastic enough, they're too grounded in the material world, or something in the past caused them so much trauma that they aren't able to relinquish control. That doesn't mean that they love Dionysos any less, that they lack devotion in the performance of their religious duties, or that they haven't fully integrated the Dionysian philosophy into their lives. It simply means that they can't trance. So, if these aren't the reasons that we should do it - what are?

Simply put, Dionysian trance brings healing, wholeness, integration, and revitilzation. The ancients were most emphatic about this. Plato describes the Bacchants as ekphrones, out of their senses, and says that it is the combined action of music and dance that restores them to their senses so that they are emphrones. In other words, Dionysian trance restores the Maeands, taking them from a dangerous madness to a gentler, Divine madness. It allows us to access those parts of ourselves that are normally submerged, hidden, and repressed, so that we can access the vital, creative, ecstatic energy that lies at our center, burning bright as the stars in heaven. When we cannot access our internal world, when the ideas, images, and fantasies that make up that world lay dormant, untouched, repressed they stagnate, grow hard and dead, and bleed through into our waking world in the form of unhealthy psychoses, destructive drives, violent madness. But when we immerse ourselves in them, learn to manipulate them, listen to their wisdom, we transform them, transform ourselves - and find wholeness through them. We also, and this is important, become a means through which the divine can act in our world, giving voice to that which has no voice, form to that which is formless.