FYI -
The Forum will now be exclusively for Witches Moon staff to share articles and post discussions.
Members may still continue to share in Blogs.
Written by Ami John
20/10/2024
Nestled just outside Athens, Eleusis was more than a geographical location; it was a divine realm where community and devotion were found. The Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the most enigmatic religious rites in the ancient world, focused on death, rebirth, and the afterlife, drawing from the myths of the goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone.
The mysteries are connected to the Homeric Hymn “to Demeter”, which details the famous abduction of Persephone by the God of the underworld, Hades. This is popular in contemporary media, but the aspect that fails to gain notice is what comes after. Demeter, her mother, is so grief-stricken at the capture of her daughter that she goes on a search for her. This passionate journey of a lamenting mother is central to the cult. Thus, the myth serves as a symbol of loss, mourning, and eventual reunion.
The Eleusinian Mysteries of the cult of Demeter were free from prejudice, with slaves and citizens having equal footing, which was only achievable through religious associations. This accessibility relied on only one rule: no participant must be guilty of murder. Anyone who complied with this rule could participate and become a member. The Mysteries were not merely a localized cult practice; they transformed into a Panhellenic institution after Eleusis became part of the Athenian Commonwealth.
The festival, which was the overriding factor of the cult, was nine days long. This festival occurred in late summer, around September. The initiation process began in Athens, where there were preparatory rites to purify the body. Initiates would decontaminate and cleanse their soul by bathing in local waters and performing animal sacrifices as an essential step to setting the tone for the following days. Cleansing of the body and mind was not limited to the Eleusinian Mysteries but was an aspect of almost every mystery cult. Such practices are also seen in modern-day religions like Christianity, where believers are baptized to be freed from sin and impurity. Therefore, this alludes to a connecting thread found between ancient and modern religions through the act of purification.
Day four marked a pilgrimage from Athens to Eleusis, which spanned twenty-two kilometres and required physical fortitude from its participants. The journey was marked by communal singing and the swinging of branches called bachoi. In this way, the pilgrimage symbolized a collective spiritual quest that included an awareness of community, which, in some respects, resembled a sodality.
The actual rituals themselves consisted of three elements: dromena (things enacted), deiknymena (things shown), and legomena (things spoken). These elements aimed to create a transformative experience for the initiate. Evidence is not abundant for the explanations of what transpired inside the cult, as literary evidence is usually vague. Pausanias, a second-century Greek geographer with a detailed account of Ancient Greece, uses mystifying and guarded language when it comes to the mysteries (Pausanias 5.10.1). His cautious approach is a testament to the fact that mystery cults required a level of secrecy; even a cult as popular as the cult of Demeter was exclusive only to its members.
The dromena involved reenacting the myth of Demeter’s search for Persephone, allowing the initiates to have an experiential and personalized understanding of the goddess’ emotions. This reenactment likely occurred at night, illuminated by torches, which heightened the event’s intensity. Participants would traverse through a range of feelings, mirroring Demeter’s panic and despair during Persephone’s abduction, the profound grief during her search, and the eventual joy upon their reunion. Hierophants, the Eleusinian priests, were responsible for the undertakings of this performance.
The use of kykeon, a ritual drink, played an essential role in the mysteries. The beverage, which had variations, was likely psychoactive and altered the psychological state of the initiates, enabling better participation in the rites. The precise ingredients of kykeon remain somewhat mysterious, but it is believed to have included barley, water, and possibly other ingredients that enhanced its effects. This ritual consumption may have opened the participants’ minds to the profound insights into life and death that were to be revealed during the ceremonies. In the Homeric tradition, similar beverages were associated with transformative experiences, as illustrated in the episode of Circe in the Odyssey, where a drink alters the fate of Odysseus’s men (Hom. Od. 12.234). Circe adds honey to the drink in order to mask the smell of the drugs, which leads to an assumption that the drink was customarily consumed for its hallucinogenic effects.
Throughout the rituals, initiates were not just passive recipients of knowledge; they were encouraged to experience the mysteries actively. A fragment attributed to Aristotle suggests that the initiates were meant to not just learn but ‘pathein’ which can translate either ‘to suffer’ or ‘to experience’ (Aristotle, in Synesius, Dio, 10). This process aims to create familiarity and fortitude when faced with death. This approach aligned with the cult’s overall aim to impart an understanding of the mysteries of life and death, elevating the participants’ spiritual consciousness.
After this close encounter with death, the initiates moved toward the main temple, the Telesterion. Here, inside a large area with 42 high columns, other rituals were endeavoured. However, historical records leave it at that point. It is presumed to be a theatrical setting where members watch a type of drama. Whether they took part in it or not is undisclosed.
The Eleusinian Mysteries maintained their significance well into the Roman conquest. Previously strictly in Greek, the cult was adapted to fit the Roman language and cultural contexts. Over the centuries, the Eleusinian mysteries have faced many challenges. In the 4th century CE, an attack by the Goths led to the substantial destruction of the site, marking a decline in the practice of these sacred rites. This decline was further exacerbated by the changing religious landscape and the rise of Christianity, which increasingly supplanted traditional pagan beliefs. Despite this decline, the Eleusinian Mysteries left an indelible mark on ancient Greece’s cultural and religious fabric, influencing subsequent beliefs about the afterlife and the transformative power of rituals.
The mysteries thus helped the inhabitants of ancient Greece understand the fundamental questions of existence that plague modern-day society. The story of Demeter and Persephone provided a narrative framework, allowing initiates to explore the complexities of life and death, emphasizing the interconnectedness of euphoria and despair, loss, and renewal. This duality resonates deeply within the human experience, reminding us that death is an inevitable part of life and a precursor to new beginnings.
Bibliography
“Athens in Pieces: What Really Happened at Eleusis?.” 13 Mar. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/opinion/ancient-greece-ritual-mystery-eleusis.html.
Clinch, Alice. “Ecstasy and initiation in the Eleusinian Mysteries.” The Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World. Routledge, 2021. 314-331.
“The Eleusinian Mysteries – Hellenic Museum.” 06 Sept. 2021, https://www.hellenic.org.au/post/the-eleusinian-mysteries.
“Eleusinian Mysteries / Eleusinia ta megala – Hellenion.” https://www.hellenion.org/festivals/eleusinian-mysteries/.
Mylonas, G. E. (1947). Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Classical Journal, 43(3), 131–146. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3293727
You need to be a member of Witches Moon to add comments!
Replies