Ancient Mystery Cults: A summary of

Walter Burkert's Ancient Mystery Cults

(1987)
Joel Ng (2004)

Disclaimer: Several members at Ebla have found that there has been a large amount of
misinformation circulating round the Internet about the so-called mystery religions. Part
of this is the fault of earlier generations of scholars such as Franz Cumont, James
George Frazer, and so on. The other part is the fault of over-eager website owners
interested in the mystical, but not in the contemporary scholarship on the subject.
Because I do not have the expertise to write authoritatively on this matter, I have instead
summarised a book that forms a superb introduction to the topic: Walter Burkert's
Ancient Mystery Cults which is well worth obtaining for its references and for further
study. If you found this article in any way useful, you are strongly encouraged to support
Professor Burkert and purchase the book. This work should not be used as a reference.

Introduction
The word mysteries conveys the fascination of secrecy and the promise of
thrilling revelations. Even those not well acquainted with mysteries may associate
them with the concept of orgies. This book contains no revelations of this kind;
instead it aims at the methodological interpretation of scattered and often
frustrating evidence about forms of religion that have long been extinct.
p.1
Burkert's introduction begins with an acknowledgement of the indebtednesss of the field
to two scholars, Richard Reizenstein and Franz Cumont for "setting the pace" in the study
of the mysteries, even as they are now being eclipsed by the expanding numbers of
documents and influx of new, particularly Italian, scholars. The book looks at five of the
ancient mysteries: the mysteries of Eleusis, the Dionysic/Bacchic mysteries, the mysteries
of Meter (Mater Magna), the mysteries of Isis, and those of Mithras. Three stereotypes
that are in some ways caused by the two scholars need to be debunked:
First, that the so-called mystery religions are typically "late", within the Imperial or later
Hellenistic period, "when the brilliance of the Hellenic mind was giving way to the
irrational, heading as it were for the dark Middle Ages." While Isis in Rome was installed
under Caligula, Eleusis flourished from the 6th century B.C.E., Dionysus-Bacchus just
slightly later, and the Mother Goddess (Mater Magna) from the archaic period.
The second stereotype is that these mysteries were "Oriental" in origin style and spirit—
particularly because of Cumont's standard work, The Oriental Religions in Roman
Paganism, and Reitzenstein's Hellenistic Mystery Religions which defined "Hellenistic"
here according to "Oriental spirituality in Hellenized form" (Burkert, p. 2). While Mater
Magna was Phrygian, Isis Egyptian, and Mithras Persian, the institutions of the mysteries
cannot be traced back to Anatolia, Egypt or Persia. Instead, they reflect the older models
of Dionysus and/or Eleusis. Yet these have not been studied as closely because they lack
that "mysterious Oriental touch." Further, Burkert points out the betrayal of Western
perspective in grouping such separate worlds of Egypt, Anatolia, and Persia under the
collective term "Oriental".
The third stereotype is that the mysteries are spiritual, "that they are indicative of a basic
change in religious attitude, one that transcends the realistic and practical outlook of the
pagain in search for higher spirituality." In other words, that they were salvific religions
—Erlösungsreligionen—comparable to Christianity. This would make Christianity the
most successful of the Oriental mystery religions. Burkert of course concedes that some
early Christian writers noticed such similarities, and certain Gnostic sects apparently
practiced mystery initiations, and that the mystery metaphor of Platonic philosophy had
also come into such rituals as baptism and the Eucharist. However, it is not that this
"change in religious attitude" predestined a move to Christianity. Further the constant
comparison of Christianity with so-called mystery religions leads to distortion as well as
partial clarification, obscuring often radical differences between them.
Burkert now goes through some methodological points. He has abandoned the concept of
"religion" here, in that the mysteries were not exclusive the way the later Judaeo-
Christian religions were. Instead, "they appear as varying forms, trends, or options within
the one disparate yet continuous conglomerate of ancient religion. (p. 4)" He is
attempting "comparative phenomenology" rather than comparative religion here of five
major cults within this continuum (though he does occasionally mention a few others).
He acknowledges a potential criticism of this approach as ahistorical, but he wants to
examine the diversity as well as similarities in them, even as the period covered ranges
thousands of years.

Eleusis
The mysteries of Eleusis were devoted to two goddesses, Demeter the grain goddess, and
her daughter Persephone, aka Perephatta, aka "the Maiden," Kore. It was organised by the
polis (city-state) of Athens and supervised by the archon basileus (the king). It is well
attested in inscriptions, excavations, iconography and literature around Athens.
According to the myth, Demeter searches for Kore, who has been carried off by Hades.
Kore finally comes back to Eleusis. The ritual involved the great autumn festival, the
Mysteria, a procession from Athens to Eleusis, ending with a nocturnal celebration in the
Telesterion (hall of initiations) where the heirophant revealed the "holy things" (literally,
"heirophant" means "revealer of holy things"). Demeter gave Eleusis two things: grain as
the basis of civilisation, and the mysteries which held the promise of "better hopes" for a
happy afterlife. The ritual was, of course, exclusive to Athens and Eleusis, and not held
elsewhere.
Dionysus
"The god of wine and ecstasy was worshipped everywhere; every drinker in fact could
claim to be a servant of this god." However, the mystery layer of cults involving
Dionysus has been confirmed by the gold tablet of Hipponion, mentioning the mystai
(initiates) and bakchoi (initiates of Dionysus) on their way to the netherworld. There was
no center for Bacchic mysteries, spread as they were from the Black Sea to Egypt and
from Asia Minor to southern Italy. The Bacchanalia, the most famous, was suppressed in
186 B.C.E. by the Roman senate. There was a high degree of variability within the
Bacchic mysteries. The dismemberment of Dionysus, for example, was sometimes
connected, but we cannot be sure that it connected with all of the mysteries. They were
sometimes connected with "Orphic" people perhaps adherents of Orpheus the singer.

Mater Magna
The Mother Goddess came from Asia Minor and traces all the way back into the
Neolithic prior to the invention of writing. Her proper title was Mater Deum Magna
Idaea, though the Greeks called her Meter. The most notable feature of the cult were the
eunuch priests (galloi) who castrated themselves. Their representative in myth was Attis
the consort of Meter (who is castrated and dies under a pine tree). Based in Pessinus, it
arrived in Rome in 204 B.C.E. during the Hannibalic war under the command of oracles,
and the proliferated from there. Different forms of secret rites (teletai and mysteria)
existed, most famous of all was the taurobolium known from the second century C.E.
where "the initiand, crouching in a pit covered with wooded beams on which a bull was
slaughtered, was drenched by the bull's gushing blood. (p. 6)"

Isis and Osiris

The Greeks had given prominence to Isis and Osiris among the Egyptian gods from the
archaic age onward, identifying them with Demeter and Dionysus. During the Ptolemaic
period, they added Sarapis (Osiris-Apis), but it gave way again to Isis later. Many
sanctuaries with Egyptian gods and Egyptian/Egyptianising priests were established,
particularly the temple of Isis at Rome under Caligula. According to Plutarch's On Isis
and Osiris, the myth is that Osiris is killed and dismembered by Seth, and then searched
for and reassembled by Isis who then conceives and gives birth to Horos. The mysteries
themselves are extensively described in the last book of the Golden Ass by Apuleius.

Mithras
An ancient Indo-Iranian deity, attested from the Bronze Age onward, his name means
"the middle one" in the sense of "treaty" or "promise of allegiance." The specific
mysteries of Mithras are not found until about 100 C.E., and its relation to the Iranian
religion is not yet solved. It held its initiations (with 7 grades) in caves and had sacrificial
meals there. The depiction of Mithras slaying the bull always occupies the apse of the
cave. Its iconography is "surprisingly uniform, with many symbols, but the concomitant
myth is not translated in literature. (p. 7)" It was usually associated with the Roman
legions and merchants or officials of Rome.
Terms
A problem with terms is that the definitions are rarely satisfactory, even as these are
needed at the beginning of a study. The use of mystery in the sense of secret goes back to
the New Testament. Secrecy was a necessary component of ancient mysteries, but not
every secret cult was a mystery. The term did not apply to private magic, or exclusive
priestly hierarchies, and these mysteries cannot be directly associated with mysticism
(i.e., the transformation of consciousness through meditation). It was the development of
Platonic and Christian metaphors wherein the term mystikos developed this meaning, but
not earlier than Dionysius the Areopagite.
Etymological clues from the translation of mysteria, myein, myesis into Latin as initia,
initiare, intitatio then show that the mysteries were initiation ceremonies, "cults in which
admission and participation depend upon some personal ritual to be performed on the
initiand." Here initiation is defined as "status dramatisation" or "ritual change of status"
in relation to a deity, and it is a personal one, not social. The Greek etymologies are not
so helpful, since the root my(s)- is attested in Mycenaean but without clear context. The
term mystes (initiate—pl. mystai) evolved in Mycenaean. The Athenian Mysteria may be
anticipated by Mycenaen precursors, but there is only slight archaeological evidence.
Similarly, the etymology of the word family telein, "to accomplish" / "to celebrate" / "to
initiate"; telete "festival" / "ritual"; telestes "initiation priest"; telesterion, "intitation hall";
etc. have been lost as in the Mycenaean record, and not sufficient to identify mysteries
proper (unless used with a god's name in the dative, e.g., Dionysoi telesthenai, "initated in
the mysteries of Dionysus").
Like teletai, orgia becomes specific with the added stipulation of secrecy, usually with
adjectives aporrheta, "forbidden" and arrheta, "unspeakable." This hints at a problem
basic to mysteries, in that mysteries must not be betrayed, but they cannot be truly
betrayed since if revealed appear insignificant, and thus did not hurt the institutions.
Nevertheless, protection of secrecy added to the prestige of the cults.
In some mysteries, a "normal" cult co-existed alongside the mysteries, i.e., worship for
the uninitiated. The annual festivals had fixed dates, where offerings where accepted
without restriction (except in the mysteries of Mithras). At Eleusis, initiation culminated
at the Mysteria, whereas that of Apuleius was not linked to a specific festival, but was
determined by divine command in dreams. At the sanctuaries of Isis, a daily service was
executed from morning to night, while the Mater Magna had her festival in spring,
though the tauobolia were unrelated to calendrical events.
Mysteries are thus seen to be special cultic/ritual worship offered within a larger sphere
of religious practice. They were not closed or exclusive, but an optional activity within
polytheism, akin to the pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostela within the Christian
system. Thus individuals had a choice that was not circumscribed by kin adherence,
though there may certainly have been parental pressure. There were also mechanisms to
refuse potential initiates too.
Burkert links the role of private initiative to the state of society evolving in the sixth
century B.C.E., with the discovery of the individual. The first clear attestation of
mysteries at least comes from this era. More rigorous states or tribal polities were thus
suspicious of private mysteries—Plato (Laws) allowed tolerance, while Cicero the
Roman and Philo the Jew advocated repression. For the individual, mystery cults may
have been the "decisive invention" unprescribed by family, clan, or class, voluntary, yet
promising personal security through integration at a festival and personal closeness to a
deity.

Chapter 2: Organizations and Identities

Religion meant knowledge about ultimate reality to more dogmatic ages; it meant
history of ideas to the nineteenth century; for moderns, poised between nihilism
and linguistics, it has become "constructing worlds of meaning."
p. 30
Burkert now begins a survey of the organisation and people who practiced and ran the
mysteries. Mystery communities (Mysteriengemeinden) cannot be taken for granted, and
none of them reached the levels of organisation of the Christian ekklesia—the church.
There were three major forms of organisation: the itinerant practitioner/charismatic (e.g.
Apollonius of Tyana, Alexander of Abonuteichos, etc.), the clergy at a sanctuary (more
common throughout the Near East and Egypt, rather than Greece), and finally the thiasos,
common association, (which was very common throughout, indeed characteristic of,
Greek society). Each were compatible, yet independent—allowing them to group together
or detach easily as circumstances dictated.
For the first, these itinerant preachers have made their way into Greek mythology via
Melampus, Calchas, Mopsus, and other characters, and has been described in the Derveni
papyrus as "he who makes the sacred a craft". This invokes the idea of tradition, as craft
is handed by a master or mentor, and transmission comes through the telete. At the same
time, like craftsmen, he works at his own risk and profit, in which profit may be large in
troubled times, while always susceptible to threats of poverty, social exclusion, and so
on. This group was most characteristic of the teletai of Dionysus and Meter in the earlier
period.
The edict of Ptolemy IV Philopator (c. 210 B.C.E.) decrees that, "those who perform
initiations for Dionysus in the country" should travel to Alexandria and register there,
declaring "from whom they have received the sacred things, up to three generations, and
to hand in the hieros logos in a sealed exemplar." There are numerous other texts
describing similar practitioners as early as the 5th century (the Milesian colony Olbia, or
women itinerant types (Miletus, 3rd century). However, after the suppression of the
Roman Bacchanalia in 186 B.C.E., itinerant initiation priests appear to completely
disappear from the Bacchic mysteries. Possibly, they moved into other traditions, as the
itinerant types like Apollonius of Tyana, Alexander of Abonuteichos, Jesus, or Paul.
With the Dionysiac mysteries there are more developed forms of organisation, often in
the form of attachment to a patron, and thereby to an official cult or rich private house.
However, little is known of how it worked, whether the bakchoi or hieroi boukoloi were
professionals or not.
The worship of Meter also began similarly. From Semonides on, there are testimonies
about homines religiosi making their living on this craft (called metragyrtai "beggars of
Mother"). They were often treated with contempt, as when Cratinus called the famous
seer Lampon of Athens a "beggar of Cybele". We don't know how these people were
initiated.
The second group, the clergy, usually operated as part of the administration in a polis,
while earning a living on the side through private offerings, which could be considerable.
They enjoyed much better security than the itinerant, though they operated within a
hierarchy.
The worship of Meter that finally received lasting recognition was a sanctuary, rather
than led by the itinerants, even though they were responsible for its proliferation. The
gruesome initiation of the galloi, eunuch priests, dates back to the Bronze Age—an
Akkadian texts describes it was done "in order to spread awe among men." Ecstatic self-
mutilation also took place on the "day of blood", dies sanguinis. It appears to have been a
profitable livelihood, with apostasy impossible. State regulation did lead to an external
layer in the hierarchy.
Eleusis was exceptional in restricting itself to a single local sanctuary. Its myth stressed
that the mysteries could be only held in the one place, as selected by the goddess, and
thus remained in Eleusis. Two aristocratic families provided a sophisticated system of
rank: The Eumolpids provided the main priest, the hierophant, while the Kerykes
provided the two next ranking priests, the daduchos, "torchbearer", and the hierokeryx,
"herald of the sacred". An annually elected king, basileus also was involved in the state
superstructure, while a board of epistatai controlled the accounts. Lampon, not the one
mentioned earlier, worked for Eleusis in the fifth century B.C.E., while one of the
Eumolpids, Timotheus, apparently became an itinerant charismatic in 300 B.C.E., starting
a cult of Sarapis at Alexandria. As Burkert sums up, "Eleusis wished to remain unique,
and largely succeeded in doing so. It seems that in a way Dionysiac mysteries could be
viewed as a substitute for the Eleusinian ones in other places. (p. 38)"
The cult of Isis was a more complex affair, linked as it was to Egyptian practice.
Egyptians believed that deities resided within the statues which represented them, and
thus temples were needed to house them, and permanent staff (priests and their servants)
to tend them. A number of records of the installation of Egyptian cults in Greece and
Rome are extant, but there were difficulties with authorities. The Roman senate destroyed
the altar of Isis repeatedly, until at last under Caligula, the temple in the Campus Martius
was built, and Isis remained thereafter. The Egyptian origins emphasised their uniqueness
(perhaps an attraction?) and thus "the Egyptian" had to be present to perform sacred rites,
possibly involving hieroglyphic books or holy water from the Nile. Daily services for the
gods were performed all day, including waking, clothing, feeding them and finally
putting them back to bed again. Annual festivals proclaimed their god's greatness, and
several layers of participants in various collegia were formed—pastophoroi, hierophoroi,
melanophoroi, and sindonophoroi, with other groups without rank or function
(therapeutai, cultores).
Unfortunately, there is scant evidence of where initiation into the cult of Isis was actually
performed, or how. There may have been some sort of cultural misconception that
benefited both Egyptians and Greeks. To the Greeks, Egypt was the original civilisation,
and the origin of mysteries (as Herodotus and Hecataeus of Abdera taught). This would
easily have become propaganda for Isis, even though actual Egyptian cults never had
initiations for the public. Later aretologies promised more, and sanctuaries of Isis
apparently began creating personal forms of initiation on request, modelled after Eleusis
or Dionysus, while retaining an Egyptian flavour. Apuleius noted that these were
expensive and time-consuming, and must have been rare events. On the other hand, these
would not have been the centre of Isis worship.
The last form—the thiasos, "association"—was considerably varied, but would have
involved individuals contributing differing levels of time, influence, and resources to the
group. Common property may have been involved, and more substantial donations from
wealthier citizens may have been expected. These groups had legal status, but no stable
hierarchy of charismatic leadership. A commonly cited parallel example is that of the
Masons which began to appear in the 18th century in America and Europe and exist to
this day.
The mysteries of Mithras exemplify this system. Secrecy was paramount, illustrated by
the scarce number of literary references, in comparison with the abundant archaeological
evidence. Within the mysteries lay a strict hierarchy of seven initiation grades (Corax,
Nymphus, Miles, Leo, Persa, Heliodromus, and Pater), without a clergy or itinerants. The
patres, at the top, would have been responsible for overseeing the correct practice of the
mysteries, as well as the transmission of initiation grades. This structure helps to explain
the uniformity in iconography of sanctuaries to Mithras throughout Europe and Africa.
As soldiers and merchants formed the majority of recruits, the mobility of the Roman
legions was integral to its proliferation. Slaves were also admitted surprisingly perhaps,
while women were excluded—its form corresponding to the practices of secret men's
societies.
Burkert now turns to the question of whether these various forms of organisation resulted
in Mysteriengemeinden. Obviously, we can see that certain forms could not have resulted
in organised or stable communities (particularly the itinerant practitioner). Also, some
festive occasions, said to number in the thousands, may not have brought any sense of
lasting togetherness beyond the festival, particularly the one at Eleusis, which disbands at
the end of it. While the Eleusis initiate will return the following year as an epoptes, his
normal life remains unchanged: "The unity of the group has been in action and in
experience, not in faith. There is no Credo. (p. 43)"
While some charismatics may form a retinue or clientele, these were viewed suspiciously
by authorities. Clergy would have a recognised form of community, but this was closed
off, dependent on worshippers for their offerings, and never self-sufficient.
Finally, there is the thiasos or association. It is likely to persist over generations, with
more diligent members contributing considerable resources for their god and fellows.
Members would experience common practices such as communal meals, pompai,
demonstrations through the city as a sign of membership to the group. Social welfare in
the group would be absent, favouring those who could contribute the most to the group in
time and resources. The members would also retain their autonomy, and leaving the
group does not lead to stigmatisation. Plato's Seventh Letter describes the close
friendships that developed through shared experiences in the mysteries, while a passage
in Philo states, "If you meet another initiate, don't let him go but stick to him and ask him
if he happens to know still a newer form of telete." There were also symbola to aid group
recognition, even among strangers.
On the other hand, the exclusionary practices and secrecy of these societies would have
checked tendencies toward open association. Little evidence has emerged that groups
worshipping the same god in different region were interested in contact, despite the
interest of migrating individuals—Burkert feels it impossible to imagine Pauline style
correspondence between various groups, given their concern for keeping revelations
secret. When comparing Christian self-identification, the issue becomes clearer. While
the mystai would have borne their symbolon, and Christians adopted the term into their
Credo, for Christians, symbolon were articles of faith (metaphysical beliefs), whereas in
the mysteries, references was made to rituals (experiences). Reitzenstein's assertion that
mystery communities were held together by a Credo is unsupported. The Orphic
mysteries did prescribe the Orphic lifestyle, but it is an exceptional case.
There were no collective nomenclature for followers of Eleusinian, Bacchic, Metroac, or
Mithraic mysteries (Bakchoi refers to a special group within the mystai). The term
"Mithraists" or "Mithracists" (les mithriaques or die Mithraisten) is an artificial scholarly
construction and cannot be said in either Greek or Latin.
Followers of Isis stand apart in having the designations Isiakoi or Isiaci. Plutarch uses the
term, as does a funerary epigram from Prusa and some Pompeiian grafitti. However,
other than the funerary epigram, Plutarch uses it philosophically to illustrate an
essentialism about the follower, and the text at Pompeii calls on these followers to vote
for one "Helvius Sabinus for Aedil"—a political slogan that does not necessarily reflect a
religious group.
On the whole, the lack of organisation was made up for by its lack of religious
demarcation or conscious group identity which threatens ideas of heresy or
excommunication. Burkert writes, "The pagan gods, even the gods of mysteries, are not
jealous of one another, they form, as it were, an open society. (p. 48)" This defeats
systemisation, and "Cumont's attempts to find Avestan avatars in each case obviously
cannot be upheld (p. 49)"—mystes of one god can turn to other gods:
A tauroboliatus is found to set up a statue of Dionysus, a Mithraic pater to make
dedications to the Syrian gods, and even a pater patrum to set up an alter to
Meter and Attis. Even Apollo gives advice on how to deal with Sarapis or
Mithras, and Osiris orders sacrifices to Zeus the Almighty and to the Great
Mother. The interrelations between Isis-Osiris and Demeter-Dionysus are well
known and very old.... It is quite common for one person to accumulate different
priesthoods; combinations of Egyptian gods and Meter are especially in
evidence.
p. 49
Burkert points out that the gods "most probably are identical", though there are degrees
of authenticity and proximity. Isis claims "infinitely many names", but the one who
knows her name and the Egyptian rituals has the most direct access. A secret oath for
mystai from Egypt contains the line, "I also swear by the gods I revere," which
demonstrates how distinct this process is from religious conversion as we understand it—
the line is invoked following ancient tradition that demonstrates the seriousness of the
participant making the oath (only by swearing by one's own gods can the person be taken
seriously). However, there may have been some incompatibilities between priests and
priestesses of different mysteries.
One exceptional case is where Nestorius, the hierophant of Eleusis c. 355-380 C.E. made
the prophecy that his successor would not be qualified "to touch the hierophantic throne,
since he would have been consecrated to other gods and would have sworn secret oaths
not to supervise other shrines." His successor, or at least the last hierophant of Eleusis,
was a Mithraic pater. Burkert speculates that this statement may have been a cryptic
reference to probable takeover by Christians, and perhaps reinterpreted when a suitable
candidate was found to succeed him.
We can now see that the ancient mysteries did not form Mysteriengemeinden in any
systemised way, let alone the religious communities found in Judaism or Christianity.
Reitzenstein himself conceded that the ekklesia had no pagan roots, but derives from the
Septuagint. The Ekklesia, then, represented a new level of organisation that was to
succeed the systems of the mystery cults. Philo called this politeia "political activity" to
refer to the Jewish way of life, and the Christians took on the term. While Judaism
remained exclusionary, Christianity created an alternative society that could become a
potentially independent and self-sustaining community.
Thus, from Christianity's earliest beginnings, economic cooperation was fundamental, yet
distinct from pagan religion. Procreation would also be of importance, expelling forms of
population control such as exposure of children, homosexuality, and prostitution, such
that it would be fully self-reproducing. The teaching of children in the ways of their
parents' religion was found only in Judaism at to this point—initiations of children in the
Bacchic or Eleusinian mysteries were exceptional, and not a matter of duty. Burkert
states that "the very idea of Bacchic, Metroac, or even Isiac 'education of children' would
approach the ridiculous. Mithras, for one, did not even admit women (p.52)".
Only once did the mysteries (possibly) move in this direction. The Bacchanalia of 186
B.C.E. was accused of a conspiracy to overthrow the Roman Republic:
[T]he accusation was that there had been a huge conspiracy (coniuratio) that was
to overthrow the existing res publica; "another people is about to arise," alterum
iam populum esse. This vision of "another people" that is to oust the populus
Romanus Quiritium is a frightening one which in a strange way foretells the
proclamation of a new politeia, a new civitas by later Christians. This may also
explain why repression was so cruel and radical, with some 6,000 executions at a
time. There is nothing comparable in religious history the persecutions of
Christians.
p. 52
Finally, the basic difference is given by the "verdict of history (p.53)"—that Judaeo-
Christian groups have shown remarkable resilience and capacity for survival even in
hostile environments. Samaritans have survived for about 2,400 years, the Mandeans are
as old as Christianity, while the Albingensian movement survived the European
Inquisition. On the other hand, with the imperial decree of 391/2 C.E. prohibiting pagan
cults, the mysteries just disappeared (and we can dismiss Masonic or Wiccan claims of
continuity from ancient times).
Mysteries could not go underground because they lacked any lasting
organization. They were not self-sufficient sects; they were intimately bound to
the social system of antiquity that was to pass away. Nothing remained but
curiosity, which has tried in vain to resuscitate them.
p. 53

Chapter 3: Theologia and Mysteries: Myth, Allegory,

and Platonism
The term "mystery theology" has been widely used ever since Reitzenstein. Yet in
comparison to the libraries of theological literature that survive from ancient
Judaism and Christianity, the dearth of relevant texts from pagan mysteries is
depressing.
p. 65
Burkert now surveys the ancient written material of the mysteries, of which three have
been cited: the Gnostic/Hermetic literature, the magical papyri and the Greek romances.
Each are different from the others, with their own specific sets of problems. Karl Kerényi
and Reinhold Merkelbach were responsible for the development of reading romances as
mystery texts, but further symbolic interpretations has won few over. While there exists
an initiation structure in the romances, they may also be found in common Greek myths
and fairy tails. Scenes of religious ritual may just be there for literary effect, and while
useful for their detail, cannot independently unlock the key to the mysteries.
Gnostic and Hermetic material has been revitalised through the discovery at Nag
Hammadi, though a comprehensive picture has not yet emerged [c. 1987 of course —
Joel]. Burkert feels at this time that it has actually undermined theories for a pagan origin
to Gnosticism, tied as they are to Hellenistic Judaism (the Poimandres, which opens the
Corpus Hermeticum, for example, has a Jewish-Christian background overlooked by
Reitzenstein). "Thus whatever elements of pagan mysteries show up are modified by the
filter of a religious system that differs radically from the environment in which pagan
mysteries were known to thrive. (p.67)" In fact, the increase in use of terms such as
mysteria and mystikos in Gnostic/Hermetic texts devalues their meaning, and their
metaphorical usage tends to follow the traditions of Plato or Philo. Work remains to be
done on a balanced analysis of Gnostic and Hellenic religion, but their value as source
materials will be limited.
Finally, the interest in magical papyri started by Albrecht Dieterich in his publications of
the texts Abraxas and Eine Mithrasliturgie has been criticised, especially in the latter's
assumption that the journey described inside has anything to do with Mithras. It is instead
a private journey in search of revelation (ending in heaven), and not a communal mystery
rite as would be characteristic of the mysteries of Mithras. The connection between magic
and mysteries existed—the advent of Demeter has a parallel with Egyptian magical texts
(chapter 1) and one of the last Eleusinian hierophants was "an active, and successful,
theurgist". However, from the Egyptian texts recovered, nothing inside refers to any of
the mysteries. The quest of Apollo of Delphi may bear interest, but Egyptian, Jewish,
Christian, and even Syro-Mesopotamian elements may be found therein.
The contrast can be seen in the way mysteries integrated the initiate into the group via a
festival, while magicians were solitary with craft aimed at practical things such as
divination, wealth, and concubines. Healing is left outside the magical texts, mainly to be
found in Asclepius or scientific medical texts. There is not enough overlap to construct
"mystery liturgies" from the papyri.
The search for these texts may well be futile, seeing as there never was a Nag Hammadi-
type library. They were secret and unspeakable, arrheta, in the central revelatory
experience. Proclus refered to the "unspeakable sympatheia" while Aristotle explained
that those at the highest level should not learn, but "be affected"/"suffer"/"experience",
pathein (though learning is presupposed at lower levels). THere are texts refering to
learning or transmission, paradosis, of the mysteries, in which Speech, logos played an
important part (verbalisation), with the initiate who could not then "tell" others the hieros
logos, "sacred tale" possessed by the mysteries.
However, books were used, as described by Aeschines, the frieze at Villa of the
Mysteries, and the decree of Ptolemy Philopater which instructs priests of Dionysus to
hand over their hieros logos in a sealed exemplar to an official in Alexandria. When the
mysteries of Andania were reinstated, a tin scroll with "the" telete was retrieved from Mt.
Ithome, while Egyptian books are known to have been exhibited at cults of Isis. The only
known representation of books for Mithras comes from Dura-Europus, but are not found
in Pannonia, Germania, or Africa. It is likely they were not highly literate or in contact
with literati. There is no evidence of the use of books from Meter or Eleusis.
Burkert now turns to the intriguing if fragmentary "Gurob papyrus" which contains
invocations to gods interspersed with ritual prescriptions and formulae. This structure is
more akin to Mesopotamian texts than the known Greek types, but the gods named
invoke reference to the Bacchic-Orphic mysteries with references to the "playthings" of
Dionysus. For all the other mysteries, we are left with second-hand references about the
hieroi logoi. One account tells in Livy tells how a praetor in Rome attempts to confiscate
religious books, consisting of libri vaticanii (books of prophecy), precationes (prayer
books), and ars sacrificandi conscripta (prescriptions for sacrifice). Nothing akin to
"theology" is mentioned, though we might a fourth category of hieros logos. Plato does
mention charlatans holding "books of Musaios and Orpheus ... according ot which they
perform their sacrifices," suggesting that the hieros logos of Orpheus may have been
indistinguishable from "prescriptions for sacrifice".
While there were logoi and written texts in the mysteries, we should not conclude that
these were the basis of the religion, as the Torah, Bible or Quran were. Plato's Meno
describes that Socrates learned metempsychosis from "men and women who are wise
about things divine," from "priests and priestesses who care about being able to give an
account (logos) of what they are doing," implying that there were such clergy who did
not use the logos, and there was not the organisation needed to control the logos.
[I skip a small diversion on a polemic in the Derveni papyrus]
The logoi developed at three levels: myth, nature allegory, and metaphysics, and can be
seen as a development from Homeric to Presocratic to Platonic stages, though they do not
replace the earlier stages. As intellectual sophistication increases, so relation to ritual
drops, such that in later Platonism, we find logos without corresponding mystery practice.

Myth
Myth, a form of traditional tale structured by a sequence of actions performed by
anthropomorphic "actants," is the oldest and most widespread form of "speaking
about gods" in the ancient world, rooted in oral tradition. It especially holds
sway over the mysteries.
p.73
Each divinity in the mysteries was bound to a specific myth, some better known, while
others were secret. The myths of Demeter-Persephone and Isis-Osiris are extant in
several elaborations, while for Attis, we have only the hieros logos of Pessinus. For
Dionysus, there is a large variety of Bacchic mythology, though most focus (perhaps
unfairly) has drawn attention to the Chthonian Dionysus, son of Persephone and slain by
the Titans.
Mithras has proven frustrating, because the extant reliefs point to a story of him,
particularly his slaying of the bull. However, no text preserving this story survives, but
for a catch-word "cattle-thief", bouklopos. From reliefs, we see well-known theogony:
Oceanus; Kronos giving Zeus his scepter, Zeus' battle with the giants, and Mithras being
born from the rock. Elsewhere, we find Mithras "finding, pursuing, fighting, subduing,
and riding the bull, which is finally dragged into the cave for sacrifice. (p. 74)" Mithras
and Helios then feast upon it, before Mithras climbs into Helios' chariot. Other scenes are
less forthcoming of clues, such as Helios bowing before Mithras, who appears to be
threatening him with what has been identified as either a thigh-piece of a bull, or a
Phrygian cap. The taming of the bull and the institution of sacrifice are probably best
paralleled by Heracles and Hermes the cattle-thief.
Certain parts of the myths were told only to initiates with accompanying oaths of secrecy.
Demeter's sexual relations and child, as well as some castration stories are hinted at,
while the dismemberment of Dionysus was considered by some to be secret. However,
these could not have been the actual secrets of the mystery, nor would they have been
compromised by their retelling in public. They must be understood in the context of
"mythological paradigms, ritual signs, preparations, and explanations that led to the
"soul's sympatheia. (p.74)"
What of the long-standing "suffering god" category to which the mysteries are said to
belong? There was the abduction of Persephone and deaths of Dionysus, Attis, and
Osiris, followed by ritual mourning and then joyous celebration on their return. The fate
of the initiate is follows after the fate of the god in the myth and ritual. On the other hand,
Frazer's Oriental dying-and-rising god has been discredited in recent scholarship:
There is no evidence for a resurrection of Attis; even Osiris remains with the
dead; and if Persephone returns to this world every year, a joyous event for gods
and men, the inititates do not follow her. There is a dimension of death in all of
the mystery initiations, but the concept of rebirth or resurrection of either gods or
mystai is anything but explicit. On the other hand, tales about suffering gods, who
may die and still come back, are not confined to institutional mysteries. The most
striking case is that of Adonis, whose myth is largely parallel to and probably
related to the Attis myth, and whose festivals imply ritual lament and nocturnal
rites but never had the organization of mysteries reserved for initiates of either
sex.
pp. 75-6
Similarly, the Herakles cult did not develop into mysteries, nor did worshipers of Osiris
and Marduk in Egypt and Babylonia develop Greco-Roman mysteries. Finally, Mithras
cannot be included in the "suffering god" category—his trials are more similar to the
change of Heracles or Hermes, with corresponding exploits. The Christian dogma of
"dying with Christ and rising with Christ" is too narrow to impose on the variation within
the mysteries and their myths.
Another use of myth was the establishment of "privilege through genealogy". The
Bacchic gold leaves tell of an initiate's declaration "I am a son of Earth and starry
Heaven," presupposing a story of generation which has been revealed to the initiate. A
sanctuary of Meter offers "a great miracle" to those "who guarantee their lineage," though
it warns of "those who wrongly force themselves into the race of the gods." Plato's
Seventh letter describes the comradeship that is called "kinship of souls and bodies",
syngeneia psychon kai somaton. While these are scattered, Burkert urges that we must
ask what these indicate as an ancient form of "speaking about gods" through myth and the
effect of of the mysteries.
There are more numerous examples of the "loose and playful use" of myth, as it tells of
living experience. The Eleusinian mystai fast and carry the torches as Demeter did, but
they do not sit on the well, because Demeter did. The Isis worshipers do similar in
beating their breasts and mourning for Osiris, then rejoicing when he has been found. The
galloi clearly mimic Attis. A pine tree (Attis died under a pine) is brought into the
sanctuary with fillets on the branches that represent the bandages Meter used, and flowers
which she decorated his body with. The tree further represents the nymph who seduced
Attis, and is thus cut (killed) to appease Meter.
For Dionysus, the items "brought in" into the sanctuary refer to the dismemberment
myth. Black poplar wreaths are worn, because they are said to grow in the netherworld,
where Chthonian Dionysus lives. The enthronement and playthings, especially the mirror,
refer to an initiation pattern: Dionysus is called mystes, while Attis is also assimilated by
his followers. Thus myth creates the structure for verbalising aspects of the mysteries, but
always "experimental, allusive, and incidental—far from systematic theology."

Allegory
Allegory has attracted little attention because it fails to meet criteria of what is normally
called "mystic". While we normally take allegory to be a kind of "rationalizing
sophistry", there are two directions in which it may go: There are "abstract conceptions
secondarily clothed in quasi-mythical garb" (e.g. Prudentius' Psychomachia or The
Pilgrim's Progress), and then there is the traditional text which reveals more when
decoded through a rationalised system (Homer, or the Hebrew Bible in the later period).
The Presocratic view, centered on Nature (physis) provided the reference system for the
earlier form of Greek allegory and was commonly called "mystic". Demetrius in On Style
wrote, "What is surmised (but not overtly expressed) is more frightening.... What is clear
and manifest is easily despised, like naked men. Therefore the mysteries too are
expressed in the form of allegory, in order to arouse consternation and dread, just as they
are performed in darkness and at night." Macrobius wrote, "Plain and naked exposition of
herself is repugnant to nature ... she wishes her secrets to be treated by myth. Thus the
mysteries themselves are hidden in the tunnels of figurative expression, so that not even
to initiates the nature of such realities may present herself naked, but only an elite may
know about the real secret, though the interpretation furnished by wisdom, while the rest
may be content to venerate the mystery, defended by those figurative expressions against
banality."
The concealment was also used against the followers of mysteries, when the Epicurean in
Cicero's De natura deorum states, "You learn more about nature in the mysteries than
about gods," and a Christian writer asks, "Why should it have been necessary to hide
what is known to all?" Burkert suggest instead that interpretation had gone the other way,
with physis imposing itself on the mysteries in an effort to appeal to more enlightened
minds, and was especially needed in the mysteries as opposed to less perplexing cults.
Thus, all religious allegory could be termed "mystic", as nature received a "mysterious
splendour" through the proceedings. Philo especially, sees himself as a mystagogue
leading the "uninitiated to allegory and to nature that wants to be concealed," while
another passage models itself after the mystery logos: "We are teaching teletai to initiates
worthy of the most sacred initiations." However, no other passage is quite as explicit in
its mystery metaphor. The one instance of the term mysterion in the Gospels is also
within the context of allegory—the parable of the sower, while in Plotinus, the word
mystikos appears only once, in an allegorical passage.
Burkert then observes that mysteries lent themselves easily to allegorising terms, both
internally and externally. For Eleusis, the identification of Mother Earth with Demeter
was unproblematic, with Persephone becoming grain. The dead similarly returned to the
womb of the mother, becoming Demetreioi. With ears of grain buried with the dead
"allegory seems to turn into faith", and indeed may have embodied aspects of natural
growth.
Mater Magna was also understood as Mother Earth, and thus with Demeter in this
"mystic" (allegorical) way: castration was mowing the ears of grain, the galli mutilated
themselves on dies sanguinis which symbolised the wounding of the earth with
ploughshares. With humans dependent on the earth's fertility, the allegory in of the
mysteries opened up the magical dimension of intervening in the powers of life.
Dionysus' identification with grapes and wine was well-known, but the allegorical
connection with his dismemberment and wine production was made by physiologountes,
"nature allegorists".
In Isis and Osiris, allegories are similarly well-developed. Egyptian tradition already
identified Osiris with the Nile, with the water that dries up then floods again in the
summer. This translated to sanctuaries where Nile water was exhibited and the flood
reproduced in rituals. Plutarch describes how the philosophising account links Isis with
the earth (and she who governs the earth), Osiris the Nile (and procreative power of
moisture in general), and Typhon as the sea into which the river flows. Similar accounts
are found in Heliodorus and Porphyry, the latter which derives from Chairemon.
Chairemon describes Isis as the "fruit-bearing power" on earth and the moon, while
Osiris is the "fruit-producing power of the Nile" (Burkert's words, p. 82). Osiris could
even be identified with grain, dispersed and recovered. These multiple layers of meaning
would have fascinated people in "mystic" terms.
Mithras was identified with the sun, with Mithras Helios and Mithras Sol common
invocations. The Hellenistic cosmology in Mithraic belief is presupposed—"the cave
mirroring the cosmos, covered by the vault of heaven with the zodiac; there are the seven
planets governing the seven grades of initiation. The sacrifice of the bull always has a
cosmic setting, between the rising sun and the setting moon. (p. 83)" However, the
identification of bull and moon does not exhaust the meaning, and the movement of the
sun bore directly on rituals. Some Mithraea (caves, centres) had slits for the sun to shine
through and illuminate the head of the god on specific days. Mithras also is depicted as a
gardener, but we lack the texts to give detail to these pictures.
However, certain flaws in the cosmic elements point to the secondariness of these
references in the cult. The correlation between grades and planets conflict, and Helios is
clearly more than just a planet in the depictions as the science of the time required. Older
prescientific characteristics still bear influence.
Related to Hellenistic science was astrology. One text explains the sacrifice of the bull in
terms of the sun passing through Taurus, though the author notes this is not the accepted
meaning (even as he is keen to state he learned this from insiders). However, Burkert
warns against going too far with this, given how amenable astrology is to fitting into any
situation, and thus diminishing its explanatory value. At the least, we would still conclude
that it could provide an additional layer of meaning in the logos.

Metaphysics
Finally we come to the third type of interpretation. Plutarch's descriptions of Isis and
Osiris are already noted, but he goes further, as Burkert describes, "It is impossible that
the principles of the universe should be corporeal; neither earth nor water can be divine in
themselves, but at best are permeated by suprasensual potencies. (p.84)" The dualism
identified is between the good, unifying principle and its antagonist, dispersion and
annihilation.
Other Platonic writers sought confirmation for their theories in the mysteries. Numenius
even believed he had compromised Eleusis through philosophy. Platonic Eleusis was less
concerned with the fate of Kore than it was with the rituals of the hierophant at the
nocturnal festival. The Naasene Gnostic identified the ear of grain exhibited by the
hierophant in the Telesterion with the castrated Attis, and similar identification was found
in Mesomedes' hymn to Isis. "This movement toward generation thus is interrupted, and
the return to higher origins is made to start; this Gnostic interpretation is basically
Platonic. (p. 85)"
Further, the Gnostics, the emperor Julian, and Sallustius interpreted castration for its
metaphysical meaning: "The One, generating the spiritual and the psychic world as a
father, continue to create even the material world until finally it has to come to a stop, lest
it lose itself in unlimited profusion. Progress suddenly has to turn into regression: this is
the cutting of the genitals. Procreation comes to a halt, and the stability of being is
secured as it is made to turn back to the origin. (p. 85)"
The dismemberment of Dionysus similarly became imbued with metaphysical meaning.
Plato's Timaeus described "the creation of the world soul from an 'undivided' and
'divided' principle with an intermediate being" via reference to Dionysus' mixing bowl.
Plutarch and Plotinus further extended this with reference to his dismemberment. Later
Neoplatonists (e.g., Proclus, Damascius) view Dionysus as "the divine principle that is
divided up in the plurality of real bodies, ... to be reassembled again and restored to the
primordial unity. (p.86)"
[Burkert explains here how the Platonising view did not enter Mithraic worship]
Surprisingly then, in "religions of salvation", concern about the soul should be of primary
concern, but there is hardly any evidence for this in the mysteries of Eleusis, Dionysus,
Meter, Isis, or Mithras. They had a personal, but not necessarily spiritual dimension in the
religion. Doctrines about the soul would have been dogmatic in that they would claim to
be the truth, but this did not cohere with the experimental interpretation of myth found in
the mysteries.
While transmigration of souls appears in Hellenic thought at the end of the sixth century
(through Pythagoras or Orpheus?), and other references in Pindar and Plato, very little of
this belief is found in the mysteries as a tenet, with the possible exception of the Orphic
mysteries.
It was a transient symbiosis of mysteries and spiritual doctrine that developed in
this way, in which neither part was essentially dependent upon the other.... In this
way, even the potentiality of dogma remained experimental in the spheres of
mysteries. In a similar way and even more, the form of theologia associated with
them was to remain distinct from the theology of later times.
pp. 87-88
Chapter 4: The Extraordinary Experience
Burkert finally attempts to uncover what it was about the mysteries that made them
special to the initiates. The fragmentary nature of the evidence available can make this
chapter confusing. There are several references to images given on pp. 54-65, but I have
not reproduced them.
Mystery festivals should be unforgettable events, casting their shadows over the
whole of one's future life, creating experiences that transform existence. That
participation in mysteries was a special form of experience, a pathos in the soul,
or psyche, of the candidate, is clearly stated in several ancient texts; given the
underdeveloped state of introspection in the ancient world, as seen from a
modern vantage point, this is remarkable.
p. 89
Both Aristotle and Dio of Prusa explain that at the end of the mysteries, there is no more
learning (mathein) but experiencing (pathein) accompanied by changes in the state of
mind (diatethenai). Dio wrote:
If one would bring a man, Greek or barbarian, for initiation into a mystic recess,
overwhelming by its beauty and size, so that he would behold man mystic views
and hear many sounds of the kind, with darkness and light appearing in sudden
changes and other innumerable things happening, and even, as they do in the so-
called enthronement ceremony [thronismos]—they have the initiands sit down,
and they dance around them—if all this were happening, would it be possible that
such a man should experience just nothing in his sould, that he should not come
to surmise that there is some wiser insight and plan in all that is going on, even if
he came from the utmost barbary?
pp. 89-90
The dance refers metaphorically to the dance of stars and sun around the earth, with the
idea of the equivalence of the mystery hall and cosmos going back to Cleanthes the
Athenian Stoic. the description gives us an idea of what went on in a festival, where
bewilderment changes to wonder. Marcus Aurelius classified mysteries among dream
visions and miraculous healing as forms cared for by the gods. Psychologically, there
"must have been an experience of the 'other' in a change of consciousness." A rhetor
came out of Eleusis feeling "like a stranger to [him]self."
Beyond this, study of the mysteries faces insurmountable difficulties. Because of the
carefully guarded nature of the secrets, scholars are akin to the eavesdroppers or
"strangers at the gate". Even with better accounts, we would still be baffled as bridging
the gap between observation and the experience of the initiates is impossible. Two leaked
descriptions include, "The Athenians, celebrating the Eleusinian mysteries, show to the
epoptai the great, admirable, most perfect epoptic secret, in silence, a reaped ear of
grain." The other states, "The hierophant, at night at Eleusis, celebrating the great and
unspeakable mysteries beneath a great fire, cries alound, saying: The Lady has born a
sacred son, Brimo has born Brimos. (p. 91)" Neither of these give us context of the
preparations which may have involved fasting, purification, exhaustion, apprehension,
excitement, etc. of the initiates, and fails to convey the experience to us.
The rest of it lies in metaphor used to illustrate intellectual or emotional situations.
Following Plato, rhetoric was used to exploit the effects of the arrheton (unspeakable).
Deciphering this metaphor is difficult but potentially possible—for instance Plutarch uses
the initiation process as a metaphor to explain death:
the soul suffers an experience similar to those who celebrate great initiations ...
Wanderings astray in the beginning, tiresome walkings in circles, some
frightening paths in darkness that lead nowhere; then immediately before the end
all the terrible things, panic and shivering and sweat, and amazement. And then
some wonderful light comes to meet you, pure regions and meadows are there to
greet you, with sounds and dances and solemn, sacred words and holy views; and
there, the initiate, perfect by now, set free and loose from all bondage, walks
about, crowned with a wreath, celebrating the festival together with the other
sacred and pure people, and he looks down on the uninitiated, unpurified crowd
in this world in mud and fog beneath his feet.
pp. 91-92
The most influential text on the experiences in the mysteries remains Plato's Phaedrus,
imitated by Philo, later Platonists all the way to Dionysius the Areopagite. It describes
"the soul's chariot ascending to the sky in the wake of the gods, up to the highest summit
where a glance beyond heaven is possible. (Burkert's words)" "then resplendent beauty
was to be seen, when together with the blessed chorus they ... saw a joyous view and
show, and were initiated by initiations that must be called the most blessed of all ...
celebrating these ... encountering, as mystai and epoptai, happy apparitions in pure
splendor, being pure ourselves. (Plato's words, p. 92)" This beautiful text in Greek is
somewhat lost in translation, but its influence was considerable on the Greek Platonic-
mystic tradition.
These texts may not provide evidence, but instead a doorway for empathy in
understanding what it meant to the initiates. The experience is structured by oppposites—
terror and happiness, darkness and light. Aelius Aristides and Plutarch both describe this
ambivalence, while a common characteristic of the mysteries makarismos—praise for
those who have seen the mysteries—is given by a chorus for the initiate who has "seen"
the divine.
Other scattered evidence exists to add detail. Of Eleusis, we have the topography of the
sanctuary, the myth of Demeter (particularly in Homeric hymns), relief friezes, the
synthema "password" transmitted by Clement of Alexandria, and two Naassene
testimonies. The preparation is cryptically mentioned in the synthema: "I fasted, I drank
the kykeon, I took the covered basket [kyste], I worked and laid back into the tall basket
[kalathos], and from there into the other basket [kyste]. (p. 94)"
The initiation friezes give three scenes of sacrifice, purification, and encounter with
Demeter and Kore. A snake coils out of the basket on Demeter's lap, and the mystes
touches it fearlessly. In the initiation scene, the initiate sits on fleece, while the final
scene reveals mythical imagery, thus avoiding mention of the secret. For the topography
of the sanctuary, we find a grotto of Pluto identified via dedications, but it is
unmentioned elsewhere, and much remains unclear (possibly connected with "frightening
paths in darkness that lead nowhere" in Plutarch).
For Dionysus, we have iconography from the famous fresco of the Villa of the Mysteries
(Pompeii), and the Villa Farnesina (Rome). Even later we have architectural reliefs,
sarcophagi engravings, and a mosaic from Djemila-Cuicul (Algeria). "The most striking
object" (Burkert's words ;)) is a large erect phallus in a basket (liknon) being uncovered
by a kneeling female (as in the Villa painting). This is probably the "showing of a sacred
object" and a hierophantic scene. The temptation is there to add interpretations about
divine potency/sexuality in the context of a puberty ritual here—the tale of Psyche and
Eros has been linked with this for instance (psyche becoming acquainted with eros).
The frieze from Villa of the mysteries may be read as a sequence: A woman comes in
from the left, purifies herself, then leads the idyll of a satyric life, proceeding finally to a
mysterious revelation of the god. This is followed by a flagellation scene with a frantic
dance after.
[snip further description of the frieze]
In earlier contexts, the liknon with phallus also appears, but without the mystic
connotations. It seems as though the phallus was always part of Dyonisiac tradition, and
the secret not more than the ear of grain of Eleusis. The older evidence tends to focus on
purification and change of status. Demosthenes' invective against Aeschines reveals a
nocturnal ceremony. The initiates don fawn skins then, while seated, are smeared with
clay and chaff. Out of the darkness a priestess appears like a demon, and says, "I escaped
from evil, I found the better," and then the bystanders reply with a yell in a "high
shrieking voice" (ololyge).
In the day, there are processions involving thiasos and people crowned with fennel and
white poplar, dancing and uttering rhythmic cries. They carry the kyste, liknon, and live
snakes, overcoming fear. Plato alludes to the change through his interest in the
psychological: the "great tele" that makes the soul (psyche) void of all past fears is the
"purification" that proceeds from the initiation.
Isis is described only in Apuleius' Metamorphoses, but it is a first person account.
Although saying that he would keep the secret, the oft quoted line comes: "I approached
the frontier of death, I set foot on the threshold of Persephone, I journeyed through all the
elements and came back, I saw at midnight the sun, sparkling in white light, I came close
to the gods of the upper and nether world, and adored them from near at hand." The
following morning, the initiate was presented before the crowd on a podium holding a
torch, and wearing a twelve-fold garment and crown depicting sun beams. The nocturnal
purification was probably simple, using the elements (water, air, fire) as Servius states.
Purification by air is done with the liknon, the same way grain is purged of husks; for
fire, torches are used. We have no idea how Apuleius' "frontier of death" was reached.
Evidence from Meter is again split between older and newer strata, with earlier versions
depicting the initiand enthroned while dancers twirl around him, comparable with
Dionysus. A symthema from late antiquity follows the Eleusinian model, "I ate from the
tympanon, I drank from the cymbal, I carried the composite vessel [kernos], I slipped
under the bedcurtain [pastos]." The taurobolium of the Mater Magna is different.
Christian writers described the initiand crouching in a pit flooded with 50 litres of bull's
blood with the bull above him. That this was an unforgettable experience (following his
feting by other members) is easily seen.
Mithras again stands apart. The initiations were bigger and more sophisticated, involving
seven grades and their consequent ritual, preparation, peripeties, and integration. On the
other hand, there is little literary or iconographic evidence of the initiations, and the
badly-preserved frescoes from the Mithraeum at Capua Vetere and remarks from
Christian authors do not correlate with the seven grades.
The structure of initiation rituals follows that of death and rebirth, but what we have is
"less explicit and more varied than the general hypothesis would postulate. (p. 99)" Most
obvious is the mysteries of Isis with their clear metaphorical connection and the
possibility of the Osiris myth being reenacted, though there is no corroboration for it. The
day after the night of the ritual is seen as a new birthday.
Similarly, at the Santa Prisca Mithraeum and some taurobolium inscriptions, we have
references that the day of the initiation was a new birthday "the mystes was natus et
renatus." However, birth should be the business of a mother goddess, and while the
taurobolium could suggest birth with the initiate emerging dripping with blood, there
remains no confirmation.
Eleusis remains difficult. Alfred Koerte's theory that rebirth was hinted at in the
synthema and a remark of Theodoretus' fell apart on discovery in Theophrastus about the
secrets of grinding grain. However, there is much metaphor and imagery surrounding life
and death, especially Persephone being carried off by Death and returning, or the child,
burnt in the fire yet becoming immortal. However, one should not reduce the multiplicity
of meaning to a single hypothesis of "death" and "rebirth".
The Chthonian Dionysus myth appears to be an initiation scenario as well, with
"playthings" (balls, tops, knucklebones) used in ritual and retained by initiates as
momentos. On the other hand, the myth was probably not re-enacted exactly in ritual.
The poplar wreaths again suggest death and caves perhaps reminiscent of the
netherworld. An accusation against the Roman Bacchanalia states that people were drawn
into caves by machines to be carried off by the gods—in other words, ritual murder. We
do not have evidence about rebirth.
Thus the paradox of life and death is associated by the dialectics of night and day,
darkness and light, and below and above. However, they are not as explicit as the
passages in the New Testament especially as found in the Pauline epistles or the Gospel
of John concerning Christ's death and resurrection. There is no evidence of a connection
between these passages and the mysteries, nor should they be read exclusively as the key
to deciphering them.
Similarly, although widely claimed, there is little evidence for baptism in the mysteries,
though there is purification rituals with water in almost all cults. Unfortunately, we do not
know the nature or activities of the Baptai of the Thracian goddess Kotyto in the 5th
century B.C.E. One votive relief from Eleusis is often used to adduce baptism, but
iconographic typology shows that the naked boy is merely the first person in a line
advancing toward the goddess. Similarly water at Isis has been shown to be
representative of the flooding of the Nile.
Some remarks by Tertullian about the lavacrum in Tertullian remain—one cannot deny
that some features of Christian baptism bring to mind pagan mystery initiations. There
are probably some direct borrowings taking place inasmuch as there are additions to what
John the Baptist would have performed in the Jordan. However, connections and
influences cannot justify complete reconstruction (likewise, the Jewish practice of
annointment has hardly any equivalence in the mysteries).
What of torture, sex, and the use of drugs? Harassing of newcomers ("ragging") has been
a common practice in nearly all initiations, the effect of which is to unsettle the
foundations of personality and making a person ready to accept a new identity. We find
testimonies in connection with Mithras, and remarks by Gregory of Nazianzus, his
scholiast, and a Pseudo-Augustine text called Ambrosiaster. Franz Cumont refused to
accept the scholiast's account of "fifty days of fasting, two days of flogging, twenty days
in the snow" which was certainly exaggerated (and who could find snow in Dura-Europa
or Africa?). Himerius ("a delicate orator") was able to undergo Mithraic initiation without
much trouble, but on the other hand, the Avestan Mithra Yašt had days for both washing
and flogging. "Ambrosiaster" describes candidates being blindfolded, hearing the sounds
of ravens and lions, and some having their hands tied with chicken guts then entering a
water basin followed by a man called the "liberator" entering to cut their bonds and free
them. The frescoes at Capua Vetere recount these, while encounters with fire appear to
have occurred also. Commodus was accused of having committed murder at a Mithraic
cult, and rumours of human sacrifice have been substantiated by human skulls found at
cultic ruins. Whatever the details, Mithras appears to have followed common initiation
patterns in this regard, stranger and perhaps more primitive and authentic in the dromena
"rituals".
For the other mysteries, any form of ragging seems conspicuous by their absence.
"Purification" rituals (e.g. smearing the face with clay) may have performed this function,
though psychological terror can be found, "all those terrible things, panic and shivering
and sweat" (Plutarch). At the Villa of the Mysteries, we do find one flagellation scene of
a kneeling girl with her head in the lap of another woman, while a female behind raises a
rod. However, the figure behind has black wings, and is perhaps an allegorical figure. In
Bacchic rites, we have Pan or satyr-boys being whipped with a sandal, but the situation
and allegory is quite different. In some ways, flagellation may be symbolic when, at the
critical moment of the stroke, divine madness overtakes the initiate, changed into a true
bacchant, begins a frenzied dance. However, the symbolism does not necessitate
exclusion in ritual, and there are suggestions that katharsis was in fact flogging.
The modern use of the word "orgies," from orgia, reflects the puritan's worst
suspicions about secret nocturnal rites.
p. 104
Diodorus wrote that Priapos Ithyphallos was involved in most of the mysteriess, though
"with laughter and in a playful mood", hardly the centre of the mystery. Processions with
a large phallus featured in Dionysian festivals, and in puberty initiations, encounters with
sexuality were normal and necessary. Growing up provided an archetypal model for
change, and these elements were probably preserved in the mysteries. Some evidence
suggests that only married women (no virgins) could become full bakchai, while the Villa
of the Mysteries frescoes have been seen as marital preparations or a form of Roman
Matronalia.
Livy's account of the Bacchanalia of 186 B.C.E. has "as much explicitness as Augustan
prudery would allow (p. 105)", describing the initiands as suffering homosexual rape,
simillimi feminis mares. Whether this is true or not, we cannot be sure of. Parallels
elsewhere are easy to find, and there remains the curious evolution of a more
androgynous Eros on Apulian vase paintings from 300 B.C.E. on. However, this practice
likely could not endure—after the Bacchanalia catastrophe, the symbolism shaping the
more durable forms of the ritual would hardly involve violations of the initates' bodies.
[snip description of the use of a snake in the Sabazius mysteries]
Eleusius was known for its purity, but also had sexual encounters and displays, with
Iacchus equated with Dionysus. However, there was no phallic symbolism, and if there
were any "unspeakable manipulations", we remain ignorant of them. Mithras again stands
apart in that "warlike virility seems to have suppressed sexual intimacy. (p. 106)" and that
"Mithras hates women." Iconography involving the dying bull's genitals, semen collected
in kraters, scorpions grabbing the testicles, and the tail turning into grain hints at themes
of fertilisation, castration, and procreation, but we have no texts to provide context. The
denial of sexuality in Mithras may have paradoxically made it a matter of obsession here
more than elsewhere.
Isis is distinct in not having overtly sexual symbolism, yet hinting of it in many places.
Practices of "shaved heads, linen clothes, processions, prayers, water, incense, and
sistrums all look severe and puritan. (p. 107)" The possibility that the waters of the Nile
have procreative power through Osiris would still be a muted form of sexual symbolism.
On the other hand, the Roman matron Paulina caused a scandal by spending a night in the
temple with her god Anubis (who was in fact the Roman eques Decius Mundus wearing a
jackal's mask) and caused the cult to be banned in Rome (again). Yet similar scandals
have occurred in Christendom without affecting or revealing its theology. Elsewhere a
priest of Isis from Prusa was praised for preparing "the bed, covered with linen, which is
unspeakable for the profane", and "the word used for bed, demnion, does not suggest a
dining couch. (p. 107)" It appears a sacred marriage was prepared, corresponding with
the Isis-Osiris myth.
The mysteries of Eros emerged under influence of Plato's Symposium, with many lovers
proposing to their partners initiation into his mysteries. Similarly, crude allusions could
be made through the use of mystery language speaking of "mysteries of the night".
Petronius' parody of the Priapus mysteries at Quartilla are explicit, while the Gnostics
were said (by adversaries) to have sexual celebrations. However, these were probably
short-lived experiments, with abstinence being more the rule in the mysteries as it was in
other cults. "Sexuality becomes a means for breaking through to some uncommon
experience, rather than an end in itself. (p. 108)"
The easiest route to the extraordinary experience would have been drugs, and much
interest in its role has been explored. Kerényi supposed that pennyroyal (glechon) used in
the kykeon drunk at Eleusis was hallucinogenic, while others have found mushrooms in
unexpected places. Another guess is that ergot (horned rye, a grain fungus) was used,
which had ergonovine and traces of LSD. One still wonders whether the quantities
needed were sufficient for thousands of participants or whether the side-effects could be
taken by all. Another suggestion is opium, where the poppy figures prominently as a
plant of Demeter. The Subminoan goddess of Gazi (Crete), festooned with poppies, was a
real opium goddess, and an opium pipe has been found at a sanctuary in Kition (Cyprus).
Again, pragmatic considerations cause one to ask how sufficient quantities might have
made their way into the thousands of participants who did not smoke.
A further difficulty is that the hallucinogenic experience tends to lead to isolation rather
than community. Carlos Castaneda's experience may have been analogous, experienced
under the teaching of Don Juan. Typologically, it is equivalent to the succession in
apprenticeships, but not a communal experience however. Similarly the steps of the
Telesterion would have been unsuitable for hallucinogenic experience, and the king doing
a favour for his hetaira at Eleusis provided a seat, not a sleeping bag. It is thus by
contrast, not analogy, that drugs help to illuminate our understanding.
Another feature, the communal feast, emphasises the more down-to-earth nature of the
mystery experience. The krater of wine was of course present at Bacchic orgia with roast
meat, and bulls were sacrificed at Eleusis after the night of visions. Meter's galloi did not
eat cerals, but lived on the sacrificial meat [the first low-carb diet? —Joel] so the
kriobolion and taurobolion would have been especially welcome for them. At Isis and
Sarapis, the oikos ("couches") were designed for ceremonial feasting, as were those found
at various Mithraea (and not for praying, as Cumont believed). These sacrificial meals
were real, extravagant feasts, not reduced to the symbolic level as the Christian
communion, and its cost alone would have prevented these from becoming mass
religions.
Whether any of this was analogous to the Eucharist is unknown, though we have Justin's
account of the mysteries of Mithras using bread and water in imitation of Christian
practice. How it might have fit into the seven-tiered structure of Mithraic mysteries is
unknown. Similarly, the drinking of the kykeon at Eleusis was important, marking the end
of fasting, but we do not know its position in the ceremonies. For the Bacchic mysteries,
makaria, "happiness", took the form of a cake, just as Hygieia, "Health" was consumed at
Asclepius. The idea of "eating the god", fascinating as it was to Christian writers, appears
only in the Dionysus myth in which the Titans consumed their victim after roasting him.
Sacramental wine in correspondence with death and dismemberment may be surmised
from the Attic Anthesteria, but this was a public rite. The accusation of cannibalism was
a common one, employed against Jews, Christians, Mithras, and Ma Bellona, but
unsubstantiated and not the same as "eating the god".
Burkert instead suggests that it is preferable to look at the symbolic levels of the
communal feast:
The aboriginal institution of animal sacrifice, with the inevitable antinomy of
killing and eating—life presupposing death and rising from its counterpart—is
enacted by playing out antitheses of renunciation and fulfillment, mourning and
rejoicing, searching and finding, the fast and the feast.
p. 111
At a Mithraeum at Santa Prisca (Rome), one famous hexameter reads, "You saved us ...
by shedding the blood" (et nos servasti ... sanguine fuso), though the middle word cannot
be made out ("eternal", eternali has been attempted and rejected several times). This use
of salvation has multiple layers of meaning, both for the hunter or for the farmer turning
to crops (the bull's tail turning to grain). The divine action forms the basic hope for
members of the cult in a primitive but fundamental form.
However, the additional spiritual layer was also present. The change of consciousness
through ecstasy was present in both Dionysus and Meter, hence their close connection.
Distinct "madness" was characteristic of bakcheia and followers of the Phrygian Mother
were entheoi or theophoretoi ("carried by the divinity"). There were "mediumistic" gifts
that only few could attain "many are the narthex-bearers, but few are bakchoi."
Control techniques existed, with Philo describing, "Like the bacchic and corybantic
ecstatics, [the Therapeutae] continue in their possession until they see the object of their
desire." Visions were sought, whether real or illusory, such that Plutarch was convinced
that ghosts, daimones partook in the celebrations. A doctor wrote that the galloi "are
turned on by flute music and gladness of heart [thymedie], or by drunkenness, or by the
instigation of those present". Aristides Quintilianus, following Aristotle's concept of
katharsis, wrote, "This is the purpose of Bacchic initiation, that the depressive anxiety
[ptoiesis] of less educated people, produced by their state of life, or some misfortune, be
cleared away through the melodies and dances of the ritual in a joyful or playful way."
Livy's rationalist tendencies explained it as merely the lack of sleep, wine and musical
sounds that aroused the people, but, as Burkert notes, this closes the door on the
mysteries, and does not reveal it.
Eleusis, Isis, and Mithras did not, on the other hand, have ecstasies associated with them.
Proclus in the 5th century C.E. (though the Eleusinian mysteries had become defunct, he
knew the last hierophant's daughter) wrote that, "[The teletai] cause sympathy of the
souls with the ritual [dromena] in a way that is unintelligible to us, and divine, so that
some of the initiands are stricken with panic, being filled with divine awe; others
assimilate themselves to the holy symbols, leave their own identity, become at home with
the gods, and experience divine possession." The diversity of reactions described lend
authenticity to the account, even as we will never be able to recreate the experience.
Burkert concludes the book with the following:
Mysteries were too fragile to survive as "religions" on their own. They were
options within the multiplicity of pagan polytheism, and they disappeared with it.
There remains a strange fascination even in the glimpses and guesses at
evocative fragments: the darkness and the light, the agony and the ecstasy, the
wine, the ear of grain. Logoi remained tentative, without reaching for the level of
system or creed. It was enough to know there were doors to a secret that might
open up for those who earnestly sought it. This meant that there was a chance to
break out of the enclosed and barren ways of predictable existence. Such hopes
were attempts to create a context of sense in a banal, depressing, and often
absurd world, providing the experience of a great rhythm in which the
resonances of the individual psyche could be integrated through an amazing
event of sympatheia.
p. 114