metaphysikal:The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult o
metaphysikal:The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in Ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were the ones of greatest importance. It is acknowledged that their basis was an old agrarian cult which probably goes back to the Mycenean period of 1600-1100 BC; it is believed that the cult of Demeter was established in 1500 BC. The idea of immortality which appears in syncretistic religions of Antiquity was introduced in late antiquity. The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with 3 phases, the “descent” (loss), the “search”, and the “ascent”, with main theme the “ascent” of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome. The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept secret and consistently preserved from a hoary antiquity. The initiated believed that they would have a reward in the afterlife. There are paintings and pottery that depict various aspects of it. Since the Mysteries involved visions and conjuring of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from psychedelic agents. The Mysteries are believed to be of considerable antiquity, predating the Greek Dark Ages. One line of thought by modern scholars has been that they were intended “to elevate man above the human sphere into the divine and to assure his redemption by making him a god and so conferring immortality upon him.“ Comparative study shows significant parallels between the Greek rituals and similar systems - some of them older - in the Arab Near East. These cults are the mysteries of Isis and Osiris in Egypt, the Adoniac of Syrian cults, the Persian mysteries and the Phrygian Cabirian mysteries. Some scholars argue that the Eleusinian cult was a continuation of a Minoan cult of Crete in Greece, probably affected by Near Eastern rituals. -- source link