The Eleusinian Mysteries: The Cycle of the Seasons
The
Eleusinian Mysteries was one of the earliest, longest lasting, and most popular
cults. It went on for a thousand years, and among its number were the likes of
Emperor Augustus. In Greek times, the mysteries took place in
Eleusis, but when the
Greeks were conquered and
Mystery Religions were taken up all over the world, it obviously was no longer restricted. The
Eleusinian Mysteries reenacted and celebrated the story of
Demeter and
Persephone (Brown).
Demeter was the
goddess of harvest, and
Persephone was her daughter.
Persephone was abducted by
Hades and dragged into the
underworld; he intended to make her his bride by hook or by crook. Distraught,
Demeter wandered the world in search. Upon discovering what happened to her daughter,
Demeter made an
icy frost come across the land, and she would not let the world renew itself. Deciding this business had gone on long enough,
Zeus struck a compromise between
Hades and
Demeter:
Persephone must spend four months each year with
Hades in the
underworld, but during the remainder of the year, she could stay with her mother.
The
Greeks would reenact this story primarily with women. The actual performance was withheld from the public, but everyone could come from all around to watch the procession to the sea to bathe the candidates or the procession's march from
Athens to
Eleusis. "The participants hoped to obtain a 'better lot,' a more glorious immortality in the next world, this apparently not a reward of virtue, but rather by assimilation of
resurrective powers" (Noss 49-50).
Riley says that upon initiation, the initiate was presented with an
ear of grain, a symbol representing
life,
death, and
rebirth. By growing close to
Demeter, one might get her to exercise this power over
birth and
death (146). Riley also points out how fundamental this symbol was to
Christianity as well:
Jesus says, "Unless a
grain of
wheat falls into the ground and
dies, it remains that and nothing more; but if it
dies, it bears a
rich harvest" (John 12:24 REB). Echoing this idea, speaking to deniers of the resurrection,
Paul says, "The seed you sow does not come to life unless it has first
died; and what you sow is not the body that shall be, but a bare
grain, of
wheat perhaps, or something else" (1 Corinthians 36-37 REB).
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