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Originally Posted by FHwku

Maenad from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maenad

"In Greek mythology, maenads were the female followers of Dionysus..."

Maenadic practices: the Bacchanalia

Cultic rites associated with worship of the Greek god of wine, Bacchus (or Dionysus), allegedly characterized by maniacal dancing to the sound of loud music and crashing cymbals, in which the revelers, called Bacchantes, whirled, screamed, became drunk and incited one another to greater and greater ecstasy. The goal was to achieve a state of enthusiasm in which the celebrants’ souls were temporarily freed from their earthly bodies and were able to commune with Bacchus/Dionysus and gain a glimpse of and a preparation for what they would someday experience in eternity after their resurrection. The rite climaxed in a performance of frenzied feats of strength and madness, such as uprooting trees, tearing a bull (the symbol of Dionysus) apart with their bare hands, an act called sparagmos, and eating its flesh raw, an act called omophagia. This latter rite was a sacrament akin to communion in which the participants assumed the strength and character of the god by symbolically eating the raw flesh and drinking the blood of his symbolic incarnation. Having symbolically eaten his body and drunk his blood, the celebrants believed they became possessed by Dionysus. The main shrines where these rites took place were at Delphi and Eleusis.

Is that was Circe was?