Whether you are a student or a practitioner of magic the Eleusinian Mysteries are a fascinating subject to look at. Well over 2000 years ago many people were using the Cult of Demeter to find enlightenment in the form of the Mega Phos, the great light. Following a complicated and very secret set of rites and ceremonies they underwent a variety of sensory stimulation and, in doing so, and achieved altered states of consciousness encompassing past, present and the future. Doing this enabled them to happily enter the afterlife in the care of the goddess.
Summary
Welcome back, occult enthusiasts! Today, we’re diving into the fascinating world of the Eleusinian Mysteries. These ancient Greek initiation ceremonies, honouring Demeter and Persephone, transformed the lives of their initiates.
Together, we’ll uncover the phases and symbolic meaning behind the rituals and the awe-inspiring great light that marked their climax. So, join us as we unravel the secrets of this enigmatic rite, where mortals encountered the divine. And don’t forget to smash the like button, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more academic fun! Also, consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation by joining membership, my Inner Symposium on Patreon or with a super thanks in the comments!
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Now, ready for a mysteric initiation?
Hello everyone. I’m Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my Symposium. I’m a PhD and a University Lecturer and this is your online resource for the academic study of Magick, Esotericism, Paganism, Shamanism and all things occult.
Welcome back, occult enthusiasts! Today we are diving into the fascinating world of the Eleusinian Mysteries. These ancient Greek initiation ceremonies honouring Demeter and Persephone transformed the lives of their initiates. Together we will uncover the faces and symbolic meaning behind the rituals and the all-inspiring great light that marked their climax so join us as we unravel the secrets of these enigmatic rites where Mortals encountered the Divine and don’t forget to smash the like button subscribe and hit the Notification Bell for more Academic Fun. Also, consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation by joining memberships, my Inner Symposium on Patreon or SuperThanking me in the comments. All links are in the info box and in a pinned comment.
Are you ready for the Mystery Initiation?
The cult of Demeter at Eleusis was one of the most enigmatic Greek mystery cults. Pausanias, a second-century CE traveller, maintained the cult’s secrecy in his writings, as divulging its secrets carried severe penalties.
Not those kinds of Goth!
THESE Goths!
Phew…
The central role of ecstasy in the cult’s initiation and ceremonies will be explored, despite limited information due to the secretive nature of these ceremonies. The final initiation ceremonies, the Greater Mysteries, held in the main sanctuary building at Eleusis, were never directly revealed in contemporary literature and art.
The Eleusinian Mysteries, focusing on themes of death and the afterlife, were based on the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The cult of Demeter at Eleusis emphasised the initiates’ experiences, offering a unique case study for the role of ecstatic experiences in maintaining religious commitments.
A sensory-emotive approach helps explore the cult in the absence of verified literary attestations.
The Eleusinian Mysteries, focusing on themes of death and the afterlife, were based on the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The cult of Demeter at Eleusis emphasised the initiates’ experiences, offering a unique case study for the role of ecstatic experiences in maintaining religious commitments.
A sensory-emotive approach helps explore the cult in the absence of verified literary attestations.
Initiates engaged with their material surroundings to invoke mental and physical attainment of ecstasy, experiencing a personal initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Ecstasy is here defined as a mystical state in which initiates experience a divine revelation. While other altered states of consciousness may have occurred, they would have been achieved individually, unlike the revelations that impacted all initiates to varying extents.
The Eleusinian Mysteries centred on the cult of Demeter, involved a non-linear process of attaining ecstasy through three initiation stages: a preliminary initiation, participation in the Greater Mysteries as mystai, and returning to the Greater Mysteries following a year or more as epoptai. These ceremonies used sensory experiences to create an introspective and temporally distorted experience for initiates, with sensory stimuli fluctuating from one extreme to another.
The term “mystes,” associated with the first degree of initiation, comes from the Ancient Greek verb muo and means to shut both the lips and the eyes. Therefore mystai refers to initiates who have closed their lips and eyes, making themselves vulnerable to the sensory stimuli surrounding them during the ceremonies and possibly keeping the secrecy surrounding the mysteries. This sensorial restriction heightened their awareness of the ephemeral aspects of their atmosphere, such as scents, sounds, heat, and light. The final grade of initiation, epoptai (“viewers”), marked fully initiated, returning members who had committed to the full trajectory of initiation, reclaiming their senses through ongoing cult commitment.
As initiates progressed through the stages, they became more aware of their surroundings, engaging all their senses to ultimately reach the final moment of ecstasy. In doing so, they transcended the senses and temporal limitations of their mortal bodies to experience the full depth of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The Eleusinian Mysteries welcomed individuals of any age, gender, or social hierarchy. The only requirement was that those requesting initiation were not guilty of murder and—from the early fifth century BCE onwards—be Greek speakers.
The Greater Mysteries lasted approximately nine days and began in Athens with preparatory festivities before moving to Eleusis for the main ceremonies.
Nina Aldin Thune
Initiation included rituals such as salt-water baths, sacrifices of pigs, and offerings, as well as a festival in honour of Asklepios and Hygeia, emphasising cleansing and purification. The journey from Athens to Eleusis, along the Sacred Way, featured monuments and sensory stimulation, such as saffron ribbons symbolising Persephone’s capture and marriage. The scent of saffron guided initiates towards Eleusis.
The sacred items, or hiera, would travel from Eleusis to Athens on the first day of the festivities to be placed in the city Eleusinion, the Athenian branch of the cult of Demeter. Mystai and epoptai would arrive in Athens for the start of the festivities. The following morning, a saltwater bath in the sacrificial piglets and the ocean at Phaleron. This action made it possible to cleanse and purify the body, and similar rituals were common in other mystery cults. Pig sacrifices and offerings to Demeter were performed on the third day.
A festival in honour of Asklepios, the god of healing, and Hygeia, his daughter, was held on the fourth day of festivities. This brief festival-within-a-festival would have emphasised the need for physical and mental preparation before participating in the ceremonies, reinforcing the importance of cleansing and purification in the Greater Mysteries.
As this happened the day before the pilgrimage from Athens to Eleusis along the Sacred Way, this festival served as the last day of Athenian celebrations.
Routine stops made along the fourteen-mile Sacred Way turned the journey, which could be completed by the majority of participants in a single day, into a grand parade. The saffron ribbons tied to the right hand and left leg of each mystai at the Palace of Crocon serve as examples of how monuments and topographic features serve as rest stops and carefully curated sites of sensory stimulation.
One of the flowers that Persephone was gathering at the time of her kidnapping by Hades is referenced in the Homeric Hymn, lines 8–9, as well as its use in the saffron-dyed robes young girls wore as they prepared for marriage. Saffron had long been used in the Mediterranean for its fragrance, which lent itself well to incense and perfumes in addition to scenting saffron-dyed clothing (crocotae).
Saffron ribbon decoration would therefore have a dual function: it would serve to remind mystai of Persephone’s capture and her initiation into marriage, as well as to give initiates a visually and olfactorily stimulating garment. Then, the initiates could follow their senses as the aroma of saffron led them towards the “fragrant Eleusis” and the Mysteries that awaited them there.
Hence, upon arrival, initiates encountered significant topographic features and prepared for the main ritual ceremonies by fasting, either fully or partially. The fast was broken by drinking kykeon, a singular encounter with taste during the ceremonies and a highly anticipated moment for initiates.
The Eleusinian Mysteries involved a series of initiatory and ecstatic experiences that prepared initiates for the main ceremony. Kykeon, a drink made of water, barley, and various herbs, was consumed during the initiation process. The drink was presumably consumed emulating Demeter in the Homeric Hymn, who requests the beverage from the queen of Eleusis in place of the wine originally offered to her (206–10).
This drink possibly contained psychotropic properties, which may have altered the psychological state of the initiates, making them more receptive to the secrets of the Mysteries. The consumption of kykeon marked the end of fasting and the beginning of sacred rites.
The sacred rites of the Greater Mysteries consisted of three elements:
The dromena = things enacted
The deiknymena – things shown
The legomena – things spoken
which together formed the secrets of the Mysteries.
The initiates would then participate in the dromena, a re-enactment of the myth of Demeter searching for her abducted daughter, Persephone. This experience led them through a range of emotions, from panic and anxiety to grief and loss, culminating in the joy of finding Persephone. The dromena allowed initiates to access the psyche and emotions of Demeter and Persephone, preparing them for the next stage of initiation.
The sensory contrast between deprivation and activation heightened the initiates’ experiences, creating anticipation for the ceremonies inside the Telesterion. The process involved a fluctuation between sensory deprivation and activation, with various preparations and rituals serving to prepare the body and mind for the main ceremonies. For new initiates, surrendering themselves wholeheartedly to the Mysteries was a critical moment in the festival.
The Telesterion played a central role in the Eleusinian Mysteries as the main venue for ritual activity.
Entering the Telesterion was both a physical and psychological crossing of the threshold for initiates. Following the dromena outside of the temple, passing into the main building was a physical indicator of moving on to the next steps of initiation and its associated elements: the deiknymena and the legomena.
The temple’s architecture, specifically the near-symmetrical layout, mediated the culmination of religious ecstasy for initiates, as it distorted spatial perception and navigation. The ceremonies inside the Telesterion included the deiknymena and the legomena, which were critical aspects of the initiation process. The temple’s design, along with the night setting and controlled light sources, made it difficult for initiates to see and navigate, which heightened their susceptibility to stimuli.
The architecture also influenced the aural experience of the Mysteries. Upon entering the Telesterion, initiates were cloaked in a veil of silence, allowing the legomena to have the necessary attentiveness. Religious spectatorship at Eleusis was a dynamic and multi-sensory form of viewing, emphasising the importance of visuality and theoria.
A crucial idea, theoria, is embodied in Plutarch’s metaphor of initiation.
There are many definitions of the Greek term “theoria” many of which fall under the category of “sacred viewership”—whether they relate to a pilgrimage to see an event or to watch the spectacle itself. Plutarch compares philosophers’ theoria to that of mystai because both groups undergo a similar spectacle—an epiphanic and ecstatic encounter—that changes them. The Eleusinian ceremonies were multi-sensory, but visuality and, consequently, spectatorship, or theoria, were also important. The attainment of the Platonic concept of theoria is described by Andrea Nightingale (2004: 12) as “a sort of reverential knowledge: wisdom accompanied by wonder and awe.”
The dromena, legomena, and deiknymena—the three main experiences of the Eleusinian ceremonies—would have similarly caused wonder and awe in initiates.
The deiknymena, or showing of the sacred objects (hiera), likely contributed to the sensory-emotive experience of initiation. While the exact nature of these objects is uncertain, they may have included organic votives of grains, fruits, and plants as bloodless sacrifices to Demeter. The hierophant, the priest who handled the hiera, would present these objects to initiates, but it is unclear if the initiates themselves would handle them. Overall, the Telesterion was an essential element in the Eleusinian Mysteries, facilitating the initiatory, ritualistic, and ecstatic experiences of the initiates.
Another element used in these rites was represented by the Kernoi, a type of vessel in the Eleusinian Mysteries, also present in ancient Greek rituals related to the cult of Demeter. The vessels, known as Eleusinian Kernoi, have been found in both Eleusis and the Athenian Eleusinion. While their exact role in the ceremonies is debated, they likely played a part in ritualistic and initiatory experiences.
Kernoi were characterised by multiple cups (kotyliskoi) attached to the central vessel, each holding different solid ingredients. These vessels were designed to be portable and may have been used in a manner similar to the plêmochoai depicted on the Ninnion tablet. The discovery of Kernoi in Eleusis and the Athenian Eleusinion suggests their involvement in the ceremonies, possibly as part of a kernophoria or in a different way.
The exact timing and use of Kernoi in the ceremonies are uncertain. Still, their connection to the cult and the material richness of the vessels found at Eleusis and the city of Eleusinion indicate their importance in significant ceremonies, which could very well be the Greater Mysteries. Athenaeus’ description of the Kernoi mentions various organic items that could have been used during the rituals, possibly as bloodless sacrifices or ceremonies for the first fruits.
Although the exact contents of the Eleusinian Kernoi are unknown, the correlation between organic substances and the rituals at Eleusis aligns with Demeter’s status as the goddess of the harvest. The Kernoi may have functioned as a lamp with a light source in the centre, warming the ingredients and releasing mixed scents into the atmosphere. As portable and dynamic vessels, the Kernoi could have facilitated both visual and olfactory experiences for initiates, creating an immersive and sensorial atmosphere during the ceremonies.
Religious ecstasy played a critical role in the initiation process, as it was believed to be essential for learning the secrets of the Mysteries and for experiencing the transformative power of death and resurrection.
As we’ve learned, the initiation involved various sensory stimuli that were alternately restricted and expanded, building up anticipation towards the climactic moment of the ceremonies. The great light, méga phōs, served as the pinnacle of visual spectacle and was believed to induce an ecstatic response in initiates. This was an awe-inspiring moment of epiphany, as described by Plutarch (Moralia, 81D–E). At the end of the ceremonies, a great light filled the temple, representing the divine presence of Demeter and symbolising the convergence of the mortal and divine realms. This breathtaking display of light not only captivated the initiates’ senses but also held profound significance. It symbolised rebirth and enlightenment, allowing initiates to overcome their fears of death and gain a deeper understanding of life’s complexities. As the great light washed over them, they experienced an inner glow of ecstasy, confirming their transformed status and newfound knowledge. This immersive and transformative experience at Eleusis continues to inspire awe and wonder as we delve into the mysteries of the ancient world.
Thus, Alice Clinch argues that the carefully orchestrated sensory experiences led initiates towards a state of physical and psychological ecstasy, culminating in a brief period of stability during the ceremonial climax. This allowed them to receive the secrets of the Mysteries and experience a closer interaction with the divine realm.
Moreover, the ecstatic climax enabled initiates to transcend temporal boundaries through the concept of chronesthesia, experiencing the past, present, and future simultaneously. This facilitated their ability to face the secrets of the Underworld without fear as they underwent a process of death and rebirth.
The Eleusinian Mysteries offered initiates a unique experience of religious ecstasy, which was achieved through a series of sensory stimuli and ritualistic practices. This ecstasy was thought to accompany them into the afterlife, granting them the power to live happily and die with better hope, having received the secrets of the rites of Demeter.
And what are your thoughts about the Eleusinian Mysteries? What is the aspect that fascinates you the most? And is there something that you feel you can include in your practice, if you’re a practitioner or in your studies, if you are a scholar – let me know in the comments.
This is it for today’s video. If you liked it, please don’t forget to Smash the like button, subscribe to the channel, activate the Notification Bell and share this video around with your friends, family and anyone who might be interested in the topic. Also, Angela’s Symposium is a crowdfunded project so, if you have the means, and want to keep this project – going please consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation, by joining Memberships, my Inner Symposium on Patreon, which is my amazing community. We have monthly lectures, a book club, one-to-one conversations with me and lots of other perks depending on your chosen tier. You can also SuperThank me in the comments, get my merchandise and you find really, all the links in the infobox and in a pinned comment to all of my videos.
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REFERENCE
Clinch. (2022). Ecstasy and Initiation in the Eleusinian Mysteries. In Stein, Kielt Costello, & Polinger Foster (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experiences in the Ancient World (pp. 314–331). Routledge.
First uploaded 13 Apr 2023
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