| Herodotus mentions the Orphic heritage of the Eleusinian Mysteries: “They wear linen tunics with fringes hanging about the legs, called “calasiris,” and loose white woolen mantles over these. But nothing of wool is brought into temples or buried with them; that is forbidden. In this they follow the same rule as the ritual called Orphic and Bacchic, but which is in truth Egyptian and Pythagorean; for neither may those initiated into these rites be buried in woolen wrappings. There is a sacred legend about this.” (74) Herodotus also says the following regarding the ithyphallic images which became Dionysian and the difference between the rituals inherited by the Greeks from the Egyptians and those inherited from the Pelasgians: “These customs then and others besides, which I shall show, were taken by the Greeks from the Egyptians. It was not so with the ithyphallic images of Hermes; the making of these came from the Pelasgians, from whom the Athenians were the first of all Greeks to take it, and then handed it on to others. For the Athenians were then already counted as Greeks when the Pelasgians came to dwell in the land with them, and thereby began to be considered as Greeks. Whoever has been initiated into the rites of the Cabeiri, which the Samothracians learnt from the Pelasgians and now practice, he understands what my meaning is. Samothrace was formerly inhabited by those Pelasgians who came to dwell among the Athenians, and it is from them that the Samothracians take their rites. The Athenians, then, were the first Greeks to make ithyphallic images of Hermes, and this they did because the Pelasgians taught them. The Pelasgians told a certain sacred tale about this, which is set forth in the Samothracian mysteries.” (75) Sometimes, when trying to understand the past, perspective is also important to ascertain truth. In the History of the Devil by Paul Carus from 1900, the author is investigating the causes and the circumstances around evil in order to better understand its place in history. In one instance Carus is discussing the Ophites. Though he may be way off in his understanding of the devil, his perspective on things is what is important for our study. Carus writes: “With regard to the problem of evil, the most peculiar sect were the Gnostics of Syria whom the Church fathers called serpent worshipers or Ophites, because on becoming acquainted with the Biblical books they regarded Yahveh, the demiurge or author of this visible and material world, as an evil deity while the serpent with his promise of giving knowledge or gnosis to man, appeared to them as a messenger of the true and good God. This God of goodness, they declared, was unlike Yahveh free of passions and full of love and mercy.” In other words, the Ophites took mushrooms and considered the god of the Hebrews to be a false and evil deity. I would have to agree with the Ophites on this one. Any god who is as commanding, unforgiving, hateful, warlike and selfishly self-obsessed is not a god I would have wanted to have anything to do with either. The Ophites are alright in my book. (76) |
Celebrating the Mysteries at Eleusis The Thesmophoria was an ancient celebration in Greece in honor of Demeter. Demeter and Kore were the two Thesmophoroi. Demeter and her “mysteries” were at the center of the Eleusis ceremony as well, so it’s likely the Eleusinian Mysteries were a continuation of the previous Thesmophoria. (77) This next extract by Diodorus is very revealing concerning the “Mysteries of Eleusis” compared to the more ancient Cretan bull and cow related mushroom sacrifices. This is a direct result it seems, of what occurred in India with the Brahmans and later Persian seers of the Haoma sacrifice: (3) Such, then, are the myths which the Cretans recount of the gods who they claim were born in their land. They also assert that the honours accorded to the gods and their sacrifices and the initiatory rites observed in connection with the mysteries were handed down from Crete to the rest of men, and to support this they advance the following most weighty argument, as they conceive it: The initiatory rite which is celebrated by the Athenians in Eleusis, the most famous, one may venture, of them all, and that of Samothrace, and the one practiced in Thrace among the Cicones, whence Orpheus came who introduced them — these are all handed down in the form of a mystery, (46) whereas at Cnosus in Crete it has been the custom for ancient times that these initiatory rites should be handed down to all openly, and what is handed down among other peoples as not to be divulged, this the Cretans conceal from no one who may wish to inform himself upon such matters.” (78) It appears then that early Greeks believed the “mysteries” should not be a secret. This was the direct result of the matrilineal clan, where everyone knew everyone was connected and interrelated to everyone else. Therefore, it was in no person’s interest to keep secrets from the rest of the tribe or clan. The “secret” of the mysteries was a patriarchal invention brought about by commerce and competition. Apparently, the “commerce of religion” had a huge impact on transnational communication between leaders. Eumolpid Timotheus, a priest at Eleusis in Greece, who had written a book on Kybele and Attis, was consulted by Ptolemy I when the King wanted to institute the worship of Serapis in Egypt. (79) (74) Book II, 81 (75) Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 81; Book II, 51 (76) History of the Devil, p. 138-39 (77) Farnell, Cult of the Greek States, Oxford, vol. iii, pp. 75ff (78) Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book V, 77.3 (79) Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 5 |