Abstract
The ivy plant has clung onto the imagination of creative expression since classical poets wrote plays about ancient rituals and how they altered the mindset of daily communities. Several medieval technical manuscripts describe processes for transforming copper tablets into a golden colour using ivy berry juice and the blood of a goat. These recipes – possibly originating from ancient practices and forgotten cultures – detail working methods using alchemic processes formulated through the art of transmuting metals. The symbolic significance of ivy and the goat outlined in these recipes can be associated with ‘Dionysus’ – the deity of intoxicated ecstasy and natural forces – manifested by the hypnotic trance of ritual dances reenacted by female maenads and pre-dynastic cult practices. Remnants of the recipes are practical factors which may have previously been part of a ritual tradition, rooted inside the craftsman's trade dating back to antiquity.