By the Attic calendar, today starts the first day of the festival and initiations of the Eleusinian Mysteries. These mysteries in their simplest definition were rites honoring and retelling the myths of Demeter and Persephone. Whereas many festivals and celebrations dealt with the pragmatic things of life like fertility of the land, in its deepest meaning the rites and rituals of Eleusis gave initiates a look into the under world and allowed them to see the “other side”. The Mysteries of Eleusis were revealed mysteries that brought initiates closer to the divine.
The celebrations actually started on Boedromion 14, when the sacred artifacts were carried from Athens to Eleusis. On Boedromion 15, then, the priests would declare the start of the mysteries and for the next ten days one of the most famous mysteries in history was played out. What we know of the actual experience of the Eleusinian mysteries comes from only fragments of writings from some of the most famous people to have been initiated into the cult or those who had learned of them illicitly from others; Pindar, Cicero, and Aelius Aristides to name just a few. Aside from these few glimpses into the actual rites that only hint at the true splendor, not much is known for sure. The real-world penalty for revealing the secrets was death, but many also believe that the reason they remained so guarded was that the experience was so incredibly deep that people intrinsically knew that any recounting would not only be against Athenian law, but also simply not be able to relate the truth of the experience. We must believe that the spiritual component of this took precedence since we also know that human nature has often times been careless in the face of human laws alone.
The rites and rituals included processions, ritual bathing in the sea, the actual mysteries within the Telesterion, and later dancing and offerings to the Goddesses and Gods in the form of libations poured onto the earth. Even though we don’t know exactly what happened in the Telesterion, we can surmise that the rites included dramatic reenactments of the myths of Demeter and Persephone as well as the priests showing the sacred objects. What we do know is that, by all accounts, the experience was profoundly life altering. The other fascinating thing to understand is that those initiates who chose to write about the overall feelings and connections made, all tell the same story. The experience, then, must have been an ultimate connection of the community and the divine in order to have the same effect on all involved.
If you are interested in learning more about the actual mysteries and practices themselves, temple members are invited to the rituals honoring these mysteries. Members and Interested Members might also be interested in one of the discussion groups that look at the mysteries from historical perspectives as well as from the spiritual. For the rest of this article, however, I want to take a deeper look at something that affects us today; the role of mystery itself in our world.
What Does Mystery Mean to Us?
Recently I’ve been working on the articles that combine to make up an admittedly incomplete look at our loss of connection in this world. If you are interested in reading those, please CLICK HERE. Throughout those writings, I make the claim that many of the ills that our society is facing are directly attributable to those same losses of connections. As we lose connection to the sources of our food, the natural rhythms of how it is grown and where it comes from, and the true nature of food as a nourishment instead of a pastime, we grow less mindful of the true role food plays in our life, and we tend to eat things that have no value for us or overindulge out of just shear boredom and emotional stressors. As we continually social distance for either personal reasons or governmental control, we grow more inward and intrinsically centered on the “I” instead of the “We”.
In much the same way as the above two examples, when we lose connection with the wonder of the world and that personal connection with the divine that mystery brings us, we lose connection to a whole universe of power and richness. The debate over what religion and spiritual practice accomplishes in our lives has been ongoing since the advent of time. We do, however, know, even if we don’t always want to admit it, that such a connection is important. If one would fully believe thinkers like Nietzsche that God is dead, or Marx that religion is the opium of the people, then we should expect the grieving to someday end, or the people to find other addictions on which to hang their souls. Nonetheless, religion has proven to be a “phenomenon” that those who wish to discredit it can’t seem to shake.
Philosophers and scientists alike have chosen, then, to ignore it rather than continue to seek its nature. With our distractions in the modern world, we also tend to lose sight of the idea of the divine, not so much out of actively distancing from it, but passively just forgetting about it. There are a millions of people following hundreds of thousands of YouTubers playing guitar on their beds and doing cover tunes of cover tunes, but how many philosophers do you see with millions of followers.
In places like ancient Greece and Rome, people got together in symposium to talk about the intricacies and mysteries of life. Although, science has brought us explanations for many mysteries, and technology has brought us the opportunity to escape from a connection with the land, we are still mere babies in the cosmic order of things. We also must recognize that science is also dependent on mysteries. The scientific method, in its purest form is not about discovery, but about disproving other viable alternatives to ideas that were dreamt up or philosophized about. Philosophy drove science, in that philosophy didn’t have the restrictions of method, philosophy could ask any question. There are still mysteries we aren’t even close to explaining because we’ve quit looking, we’ve quit philosophizing and we’ve quit seeing the mysteries of the world for what they are; the future of discovery and the future of the greatest connection with higher energies that we intuit is there.
Today rings with the echoes of ancient priests declaring the beginning of the Eleusinian mysteries. We should heed those voices in our own lives. We can find ways to connect with the myths of Demeter and Persephone and maybe even attempt to relive the dramatic telling of their story. We can find ways to commune with our neighbors and temple members. We can also look deep within our spiritual traditions for glimpses of the sacred artifacts and wisdom. But, the most important thing, is to look deep within and find our connections with mystery itself. Open ourselves to the wonder of the world and connect with the subtle energies that surround us and speak to us of the divine nature of our existence. The blessing of this day and the next days that we honor the mysteries held in Eleusis, is that we still have mysteries tp seek. The true blessing is that we are an incredible, and divine beings that have been given the capacity to not only find physical truths in science and technology, but philosophical and spiritual truths in the mind and in the soul.
If you are a temple Member or already registered as an Interested Member and can’t be with us on Boedromion 19 to celebrate the entering of the Telesterion, we invite you to do the ritual that you can find by CLICKING HERE.
©2021 Marcus Everett & Temple of the Sea Born