Paculla Ania was a southern priestess from Campania. According to Livy, she had largely changed the rules of Bacchanalias. To regard nothing as impious or forbidden became the very sum of the Bacchus' cult. The article states the story as told by Livius. Campania is a region of Southern Italy, bordering on Lazio to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east, Basilicata to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Bust of Livy Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab urbe condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ... The Bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Roman god Bacchus. ... Bacchus is the name of: the Roman god Bacchus, known to the Greeks as Dionysus the Christian martyr Saint Bacchus, companion to Saint Sergius; see: Saint Sergius the asteroid 2063 Bacchus the Bacchus grape variety, grown predominantly in Germany the Bacchus (painting) by Leonardo da Vinci the comic book Bacchus... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and new religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ...

Rites

In 188 BC, Paculla admitted men for the first time to participate - although it is now believed that men had participated before that. The first men to be initiated were her sons, Minius and Herennius Cerrinius. She also had ordered the festivities to take place by night instead of by day, and instead of three days in a year, five days of initiation in each month were appointed. Finally, participants of the ceremonies were all sorts: men and women, young and old, noble and common people, free and slaves, in a freedom of wine and sex. Everything was allowed. Also a rule was accepted that no one older than twenty should be initiated as the cult preyed on the young, innocent and naive. Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC - 180s BC - 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC Years: 193 BC 192 BC 191 BC 190 BC 189 BC - 188 BC - 187 BC 186 BC... Initiation rites are formalized, ceremonial rites of passage as an individual moves from stage to stage within a social career or formally acquires such status. ... A glass of red wine Wine is an alcoholic beverage that is made by fermenting grapes or grape juice. ... Look up Sex on Wiktionary, the free dictionary A sex is one of two specimen categories of species that recombine their genetic material in order to reproduce, a process called genetic recombination. ...

In the rites, men were said to have shrieked out prophecies in an altered state of consciousness with frenzied bodily convulsions. Women, dressed as Bacchantes, with hair dishevelled, run down to the Tiber with burning torches, plunged them into the water, and took them out again. The flame did not diminish, as they were made of sulphur mixed with lime. Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. ... The phrase altered state of consciousness was coined in the 1970s and describes induced changes in ones mental state, almost always temporary. ... In Greek mythology, Maenads [MEE-nads] were female worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication. ... Tiber River in Rome The River Tiber (Italian Tevere), the third-longest river in Italy (disputed — see talk page) at 406 km (252 miles) after the Po and the Adige, flows through Rome in its course from Mount Fumaiolo to the Tyrrhenian Sea, which it reaches in two branches that... Sconce on the Medici palace, Florence, Italy. ... For the chemical element see: sulfur. ... Lime is a general term for various naturally occurring minerals and materials derived from them in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium predominate. ...

The rites of women gradually turned into sexual orgies especially of homosexual men. The men who refused to join their conspiracy or take a part in their rites or submit to defilement, were sacrificed. They were fastened to a machine and taken to hidden caves, were they were said to have been kidnapped by the gods. The term Orgy refers to a group activity involving unrestrained indulgence. ... Since its coining, the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. ...

The festivities were reported to Postumius, who persuaded the Roman Senate to authorize full investigation. In 186, the Senate passed a strict law (the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus) prohibiting Bacchanalia except under certain circumstances that required the approval of the Senate. Violators were executed. The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... Events Births April 4 - Caracalla, Roman emperor (+ 217) Deaths Categories: 186 ...

Witch-hunt

As claimed by the historian Max Dashu, as early as the second century BC, major elements of European witchcraft as described by persecutioners in the Middle Ages were already taking place, and subsequently used to suppress it as a subversive religion: (3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events BC 168 Battle of Pydna -- Macedonian phalanx defeated by Romans BC 148 Rome conquers Macedonia BC 146 Rome destroys Carthage in the Third Punic War BC 146 Rome conquers... This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

• secret nocturnal meetings
• the leaders were women
• they commonly initiated their children into the cult
• ecstatic festivities with music, dancing and cries, followed by orgies
• same-gender sexual practices
• allegiations of ritual murder and other crimes.

Elements that were not present yet were the Christian Devil (as this religion had not yet begun), shapeshifting and levitation. The last two attributes were associated with the Roman mythological creature known as the strix; this creature would later be associated with witchcraft in Italy and Eastern Europe. The fusion of these elements into the conception of a large-scale social conspiracy developed only later. Nevertheless, the mysteries led by women were already being cast as a fast spreading cult and a serious threat to society at large. Sexual behavior is a form of physical intimacy that may be directed to reproduction (one possible goal of sexual intercourse) and/or to the enjoyment of activity involving sexual gratification. ... Ritual murder is murder performed in a ritualistic fashion. ... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity who, in most Western religions, is the central embodiment of evil. ... Shapeshifting, transformation or transmogrification is a change in the form or shape of a person, especially: a change from human form to animal form and vice versa a change in appearance from one person to another Shapeshifting is not considered scientifically or medically possible, but it is a common theme... Levitation is the process by which an object is suspended against gravity, in a stable position, by a force without physical contact. ... The appearance and sound of the screech owl influenced Roman ideas of the blood-drinking strix. ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. ... For the song by the California punk band Pennywise, see Society (song). ...

See also

• European witchcraft
• Madonna Oriente
• Witch-hunt

This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ... Madonna Oriente or Signora Oriente - The Lady of the Orient, also known as La Signora del Gioco or the Lady of the Game, was the name of the Moon goddess that was worshipped in a cult that developed in Milan towards the end of the 14th century. ... A witch-hunt is a search for suspected witches; it is a type of moral panic. ...

References:

• The story of Faecennia Hispala, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, XXXIX, 8-19.
• The first Mass Hunt - the first witch-hunt as described by Max Dashu.