Pathways to the numinous: the Apollonian and the Dyonisiac

Archetypal images symbolic of Apollo and Dionysus represent two distinct and opposite pathways to the numinous and its expression. Nevertheless, it is essential to draw the parallel between the two as polarities. The author suggests a hybrid analysis based on two différent approaches, one of them Apollonian and the other Dionysian. Three structural elements unify them: the type of “extraordinary” event, interaction between the individual and the universal, and the ritual of mediation. Examples are cited, to bring them to life: one of the author’s dreams, Herman Hesse’s Glass Bead Game, and music.