By diverting the Dionysian impulse into special rites on special days, the orgy kept it under control, preventing it from surfacing in more insidious and perfidious ways. More than that, it transformed it into an invigorating and liberatingand, in that much, profoundly religiouscelebration of life and the life force. It permitted people to escape from their artificial and restricted social roles to regress into a more authentic state of nature, which modern psychologists have associated with the Freudianid or unconscious. It appealed most to marginal groups, since it set aside the usual hierarchies of man over woman, master over slave, patrician over commoner, rich over poor, and citizen over foreigner. In short, it gave people a much-needed breaklike modern holidays, but cheaper and more effective.
About This Quote
About Neel Burton
Neel Burton was British psychiatrist and author. Neel Burton is a British psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and educator. He is an author of several books, including Psychiatry (2006), Living with Schizophrenia, The Meaning of Madness (2008), Master your Mind (2009), The Art of Failure – The Anti Self-Help Guide (2010), Growing from Depression: A Self-Help Guide (2010), Hide and Seek: The Psychology of Self-Deception (2012), Heaven and Hell: The Psychology of the Emotions (2015), and Hypersanity: Thinking Beyond Thinking (2019). Read more on Wikipedia →