Sunday, January 26, 2025

The Eleusinian Mysteries

Eleusinian Mysteries logo

The Mysteries were celebrated until 395 AD when the walls of the sanctuary in Eleusis were breeched by Alaric’s hordes.

For millennia before that, thousands of Initiates received a mystical experience. Revealing the Mysteries was considered an act of impiety punishable by death. This accounts for classical authors’ reticence on this matter.

Imagine a multitude gathering two thousand years ago. As dusk falls, thousands of torches blaze under star strewn skies. Suddenly, those gathered are thrust into a frenetic dance. Loud cries punctuate the din of stamping feet. They push and jostle each other amid tumult and shouting. The initiates wander, and run about in circles over uncertain roads.

So much dust rises from this human stampede that from miles away an army mistakes the dust cloud for an opposing army on the march. Almost violently, the initiates try to gain entrance to the great hall of initiation.

 

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