Characteristics of Dionysus...
God of...celebration, dance, impulse, sensuality, sexuality, body movement, flirtation, seduction, hedonism...
As Perls would say...emulating the dionysian -- and Nietzschean -- spirit...'Get out of your head and come to your senses'...Let go of your 'ultra-brain-control'...
Weaknesses of The Dionysian Lifestyle: too impulsive, too spontaneous, changing with the wind...no plans..or planning...no rational thought...too much partying...alchohol, drugs, gambling, sex, addiction, too self-destructive stemming from living life in the fast lane and partying too much...'oral consumptive', sensually and sexually obsessive-compulsive/addicted...'functioning from the neck down'...
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Characteristics of Apollo:
God of... reason, rationality, logic, justice, truth, fairness, equal rights, democracy...functioning 'from the neck up'...
Weaknesses of The Apollonian Lifestyle: Too self-restrained, too self-controlled, wants everything planned ahead of time, wants the details, reluctant to emotionally and/or physically 'let loose', too much thinking, too much time going over things again and again and again...'anal retentive', schizoid, distancing....
3. Integrating (Synthesizing) The Dialectic Engagement Between Dionysus and Apollo
That is how I distinguish between the two polarities in each of our characters...Dionsysus and Apollo....A good working balance of both sets of characteristics generally tends to lend itself to a 'healthy lifestyle' -- not too impulsive, yet not too self-restrained and overly self-controlled...Similarily, not overly controlling with others but not totally undependable and 'laizzez-faire' as well...Not so many boundaries and rules that you kill the spontaneity in a relationship or encounter but also not completely 'boundary-less' either...ready to go off the deep end into a bottomless abyss and take anybody and/or everybody with you...
-- dgb, April 29th, 2009.
-- David Gordon Bain
