Shooting From The Hip - 45 - Eleusinian & Orphic Mysteries

Orphic & Eleusinian mysteries
reincarnation beliefs of the Orphic & Eleusinian mysteries revolved around a shared dramatization of the reincarnation of the year: -abduction of Kore: (Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was the daughter of Zeus & Demeter, goddess of harvest & fertility - also called Kore, which means "maiden" - grew up to be a lovely girl attracting the attention of many gods), daughter of Demeter (Rhea) by Hades, & her eventual release on the condition that she returned annually to his underworld

-Demeter & Persephone; mother & daughter. An only daughter lost, abducted & her mother searches desperately for 9 days - after a long & fruitless search, she sat by rocks in Eleusis

-Demeter forces Zeus to get Persephone back -Demeter persuades Zeus to change his mind after originally sanctioning Pluto’s abduction of Persephone -she returns from the Underworld, where she had been taken by Pluto

-The twist in the tale is that Pluto tricked Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds, which obliged her to return each year to the darkness of the Underworld.

-darkness & light, fall & spring, winter & summer. The myth tells of the return of the daughter to her mother and with it the passage from death to life.

Orphism was a mystery cult associated with the mythical poet Orpheus & various poems & songs attributed to him -practiced a version of Dionysian religion, Orphics worshiped the gods Dionysus & Persephone, both of whom were believed to have traveled to the underworld & returned

Eleusinian mysteries
Eleusis was an egalitarian ritual -at it's height up to 3,000 initiates could be received at a time. Anyone could participate: men, women, slaves & even children. There were 2 conditions of entry: 1st, each initiate had to understand Greek; foreigners took part - but to understand the language in order to grasp what was said during the rituals - 2nd, initiates could not be guilty of homicide. There could be no blood on their hands

-a personal choice that could happen whenever one wished

-Initiates of the mysteries, on empty stomachs; would drink ritual drink of kykeon -long entrance halls of the sanctuary & large cave beneath the Acropolis: entrance to Hades called the Plutoneion

Entheogenic theories
-many scholars have proposed that the potency of Eleusinian Mysteries came from the kykeon's functioning as an entheogen, or psychedelic agent -use of potions magical & religious rituals was common in Greece & the ancient world -initiates, prepared by their fast & ceremonies compounded by effects of powerful psycho-actives consumed prepared the mind for profound spiritual & intellectual experiences

ergot (fungi containing LSD-like psychedelic alkaloids)
Kykeon (Ancient Greek "to stir, to mix") an Ancient Greek drink of various descriptions; widely believed that kykeon usually refers to a psychoactive compounded brew, as in the case of the Eleusinian Mysteries

It's End:
Julian attempted to restore the Eleusinian Mysteries & was the last emperor to be initiated into them. -closing of Eleusinian Mysteries: 392 CE by emperor Theodosius I -reported by Eunapius, a historian & biographer Greek philosophers -Eunapius was initiated by the last legitimate Hierophant, commissioned by the emperor Julian to restore the Mysteries -had by then fallen into decay -396, during his raiding campaign in Attica king of the Goths Alaric I –accompanied by Christian monks "in their dark robes" -looted the remains of the shrines.

Notable participants
-Aeschylus (524-456 BCE) was an ancient Greek tragedian often described as the father of tragedy
-Plato (427-348 BCE)(his teachers Socrates & Aristotle) ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period -considered foundational thinker Western philosophy & innovator written dialogue & dialectic forms - influenced all major areas theoretical philosophy & practical philosophy -founder of the Platonic Academy, philosophical school Athens where the doctrines that would become Platonism
-Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 63 BCE-19CE), also known as Octavian (Latin: Octavianus) -founder of the Roman Empire
-Plutarch (CE 46-119CE) Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist & priest at the Temple of Apollo, Delphi -known for series of biographies of illustrious Greeks & Romans & Moralia-collection of essays & speeches-upon becoming a Roman citizen; possibly named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchu
-Hadrian (HAY-dree-ən; 76-138) -Roman emperor from 117-138
-Antinous (111-130) a Greek youth favourite & lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian - upon premature death before his 20th birthday, Antinous was deified by Hadrian's orders
-Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180) Roman emperor from 161-180 & a Stoic philosopher - a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, last of the rulers later known as the 5 Good Emperors & the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm & stability for the Empire