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are regarded as a map of the unconscious psyche, yesod is the most accessible area of the mind. yesod is the sphere of fertility and lunar 67 imagery. it is identified with witchcraft and goddess worship. it is also the so-called animal soul, known by qabalists as nephesch. malkuth: the tenth emanation of the tree of life. malkuth is associated with the gods and goddesses of the earth, especially persephone, proserpina, and geb. malkuth is the domain of the manifested universe, the immediate environment, the plane of physical reality. as a consequence, all inner journeys of consciousness begin symbolically in malkuth. it is particularly appropriate, for example, that the myth of the rape of persephone confirms her both as queen of the underworld and as a lunar goddess. from an occult point

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

e (reinhart xxxvi, for she is of wolfish nature and extraction; to the wolf on the other hand a hellish throat is attributed (see suppl. two lays in the edda describe the way to the lower world, the^ the ancients also painted demeter, as the wrathful earth-goddess, mark (pans. 8, 42. o. miiller's p]umenides 168, conf. archteol. p. 509 the black demeter at phigalia, and sometimes even her daughter persephone, the fair maid doomed to the underworld^ furva proserpina' hor. od. 2, 13 (censorin. de die nat. c. 17. blade aphrodite (melanis) is spoken of by pausanias 2, 2. 8, g. 9, 27 and by athenanis bk. 13; we know the black diana of ephesus, and that in the i\lid. ages black madonnas were both painted and carved, the holy virgin appearing tlien as a sorrowing goddess of earth or niglit; such a

e idea of death is not always nor as a matter of course kept at a distance from them; kronos used to kill his new born children, no doubt before nectar and ambrosia had been given them^ and zeus alone could be saved from him by being brought up secretly. another way in which the mortality of certain gods is expressed is, that they fall a prey to hades, whose meaning borders on that of death, e.g, persephone. if a belief in the eternity of the gods is the dominant one among the greeks, and only scattered hints are introduced of their final overthrow; with our ancestors on the contrary, the thought of the gods being immortal seems to retire into the background. the edda never calls them eylifir or odausligir, and their death is spoken of without disguise]?a er regin dq/ja, spem. 37, or more

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

new joy ahead for women and especially for mothers. her greek counterpart is demeter. demeter demeter, the greek corn goddess or barley mother, was the archetypal symbol of the fertility of the land. demeter is often pictured as rosy-cheeked, carrying a hoe or sickle and surrounded by baskets of apples, sheaves of corn, garlands of flowers and grapes. like ceres, she mourns for her lost daughter persephone for three months of the year and so is another icon for those who are feeling sorrow or loss and for maternal sacrifice. but she can be invoked for all matters of abundance, for reaping the benefits of earlier work or effort, for all mothering rituals and as a protectress of animals. innana innana was a sumerian goddess, known as the queen of heaven, who evolved into the babylonian godd

ing weapons and the heads of her victims, her tongue lolling out, and covered in blood, signifying her power over life and death. she is often pictured dancing on shiva whose body she trampled on, destroyed and then danced on once more to restore him to life. kali is invoked to remove fear and, it is said, to bring bliss to her devotees, and so she brings protection and regeneration after sorrow. persephone persephone is the greek maiden goddess of transformation, daughter of demeter and goddess of spring and flowers. she was abducted by hades, god of the underworld, and became queen of the underworld for the winter months, returning to the earth as the light-bringer in spring and so representing the cycle of death and rebirth. she is especially powerful in rituals by or for young women, e

the underworld for the winter months, returning to the earth as the light-bringer in spring and so representing the cycle of death and rebirth. she is especially powerful in rituals by or for young women, especially those who have suffered loss or abuse, and also for mother-daughter relationships. she is sometimes regarded as a symbol of grain. proserpina, daughter of ceres, is the roman form of persephone. sekhmet sekhmet is the ancient egyptian solar and lion goddess created from the eye of ra. she is sometimes pictured as a woman with a lion's head and so is a good to evoke for courage, righteous anger, protection of the vulnerable, psychic protection and the correction of injustice. as an avenging goddess, she should be used only as a focus for positive rituals, for, like fire, her in

colour for keeping secrets and for smoothing down potential conflict and keeping one's counsel when to do otherwise would be unwise. grey candles are best used on wednesday when mercury cannot be seen and on saturday. black another colour of saturn and also the kings of the underworld- the roman pluto, the bestower of the hidden wealth that lay within the earth, and the greek hades, who abducted persephone (proserpine, thus causing winter. black is the colour not only of death, but also of regeneration. this belief goes back to ancient egypt when the annual flooding of the nile carried with it black silt, which brought new life to the land each year. in magick, black is the colour of endings that carry within them seeds of new beginnings. it can be used for banishing negativity, for leavi

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

310& 311 table i: xxxiv: xxxv :key scale: some greek gods: some roman gods: 0 :pan: 1 :zeus, iacchus :jupiter: 2 :athena, uranus :janus: 3 :cybele, demeter, rhea, here :juno, cybele, saturn, hecate: 4 :poseidon :jupiter: 5 :ares, hades :mars: 6 :iacchus, apollo, adonis :apollo: 7 :aphrodite, nike :venus: 8 :hermes :mercury: 9 :zeus (as air, diana of :diana (as moon: ephesus (as phallic stone: 10 :persephone (adonis, psyche :ceres :11 :zeus :jupiter: 12 :hermes :mercury: 13 :artemis, hecate :diana: 14 :aphrodite :venus: 15 :athena :mars, minerva: 16:(here :venus: 17 :castor& pollux, apollo the :casto& pollux (janus: diviner: 18 :apollo the charioteer :mercury: 19 :demeter (borne by lions :venus (repressing the fire of: vulcan: 20:(attis:(attis) ceres, adonis: 21 :zeus :jupiter (pluto: 22 :t

philosophus, or that of an adept within is most suitable; or the robe best fitted for the service of the particular deity, as a bassara for bacchus, a white robe for vesta. so also for vesta, one might use for instrument the lamp; or the sickle, for chronos. 10 "concerning the incense and libations- the incense should follow the nature of the particular deity, as, mastic for mercury, dittany for persephone. also the libations, as, a decoction of nightshade for melancholia, or of indian hemp for uranus. 11 "concerning the harmony of the ceremonies- let all these things be rightly considered, and at length, in language of the utmost beauty at the command of the philosophus, accompanied, if he has skill, by music, and interwoven, if the particular deity be jocund, with dancing. and all being

love of romeo and juliet, and the love of dante and beatrice, and the love of paolo and francesca, and the love of caesar and lucrezia borgia, and the love of aucassin and nicolette, and the love of daphnis and chloe, and the love of cornelia and caius gracchus, and the love of bacchus and ariadne, and the love of cupid and psyche, and the love of endymion and artemis, and the love of demeter and persephone, and the love of venus and adonis, and the love of lakshmi and vishnu, and the love of siva and bhavani and the love of buddha and ananda, and the love of jesus and john, and many more. also there is the love of many saints for their particular deity, as of st. francis of assisi for christ, of sri sabhapaty swami for maheswara, of abdullah haji shirazi for allah, of st ignatius loyola f

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

es, the children of my children, for them that understand not easily our high mysteries; for in thy pen is, as it were, a river of clear water; without vagueness, without ambiguity, 1 aum! the sacred word. 2 qy. j (the cart) becomes o (a wheel. the commentators who have suspected the horrid blasphemy implied by the explanation becomes k, the wheel of fortune, are certainly in error. 3 demeter and persephone. 4 ch= j; h= hades. see the tarot cards, and classical mythology, for the symbols. ambrosii magi hortus rosarum 121 sedes profunda paimonis. oculi nox secreta. portae silentium partitio. without show of learning, without needless darkening of counsel and word, dost thou ever reveal the sacred heights of our mystic mountain. for, as for him that understandeth not thy writing, and that ea

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

ther of all. and unto all hath she borne her. this is the daughter of the king. this is the virgin of eternity. this is she that the holy one hath wrested from the giant time, and the prize of them that have overcome space. this is she that is set upon the throne of understanding. holy, holy, holy is her name, not to be spoken among men. for kor they have called her, and malkuth, and betulah, and persephone. and the poets have feigned songs about her, and the prophets have spoken vain things, and the young men have dreamed vain dreams; but this is she, that immaculate, the name of whose name may not be spoken. thought cannot pierce the glory that defendeth her, for thought is smitten dead before her presence. memory is blank, and in the most ancient books of magick are neither words to con

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 2

time, people could not define with anything like accuracy what the kabiri really were. the student will find more concerning these semi-mythical beings in strabo, diodorus and varro. d llinger says "this much is undoubted on the joint testimony of strabo and mnaseas; the gods whose initiation people received here (samothrace) were axieros "i.e, demeter; axiokersos "i.e, hades; and axiokersa "i.e, persephone- d llinger "the gentile and the jew" eng. edition, 1906, vol. i, pp. 172-186. 12 hence "odic" force; and "obi" or "obeah" witchcraft. illustration on page 271 approximated below_ hb:shin hb:taw hb:qof_ air_ tablet/ of air/ pan) tacle_ seals/ throne. lamps of east_ incense) black white banner of east_ salt salt_ spirit 7 heavens of assiah tablet_ of earth lamp_ 20# key_ of_ tarot_ 10 ave

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 2

ve) formulates these ideas. the interchange of chief adept and postulant now takes place completely with the c hange of weapons. chief adept becomes isis, and instructs the osiris in chesed, her symbol. 231 it also shows the marriage of isis and osiris in the tomb, or that isis hath descended to restore her son to life. also isis in the pastos shows the winter and seed-time of earth_ isis is also persephone, be it well remembered! third aspirant seals all this in the ruach and synthesises all with "ex "deo nascimur &c &c. the altar and lid are restored, showing that the full glorification is not yet. the aspirant quits the portal, showing that to complete the great work one must go out into the world and work""third point" represents iao, the synthesis of that three-fold work. osiris not o

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

laugh upon thee laughing, o dew caught up from sea! drawn by sharp sparrow and dove, and swan's wide plumes of love, and all the swallow's swifter vehemence, and, subtler than the sphinx, the ineffable iynx heralds thy splendour swooning into sense, when from the bluest bowers and greenest-hearted hours of heaven thou smil'st toward earth, a miracle of flowers! down to the loveless sea where lay persephone violate, where the shade of earth is black, crystalline out of space flames the immortal face! the glory of the comet-tailed track blinds all black earth with tears. silence awakes and hears the music of thy moving come over the starry spheres. wrapped in rose, green, and gold, blues many and manifold, a cloud of incense hides thy splendour of light; hides from the prayer's distress thy

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

ar with his hands, and strike it with his forehead seven times. now this altar is the earthen altar of demeter. then understanding all things by the light of that love, he shall know that this is love, that this is the soul of the earth, that this is fertility and understanding, the secret of demeter. nay (even) the oracle may speak in his heart and foretell or foreshadow the greater mysteries of persephone, of death the daughter of love. those, too, who are thus reborn will understand that i who write these words am stretched on the wet earth on the day of spring. it is night, but only the sea whispers of persephone, as the stars intimate urania whose mystery is the third, and beyond. my body is absorbed in scent and touch; for the consuming fire of my sight has burnt itself out to blindn

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

d the fortynine sacred fires, in the grecian fanes their rites became mostly phallic, therefore to the profane, obscene. in the latter case they were 3 and 4, or 7- the male and female principles (the crux ansata; this division showing why some classical writers held that they were only three, while others named four. and these were- the kabiri- axieros (in his female aspect, demeter; axio-kersa (persephone; axiokersos (pluto or hades; and kadmos or kadmilos (hermes- not the ithyphallic hermes mentioned by herodotus (ii. 51) but "he of the sacred legend" explained only during the samothracian mysteries. this identification, due, according to the scholiast apollon (rh. i. 217, to an indiscretion of mnaseas, is none at all, as names alone do not reveal much. there were still others again who

s "i had not been a week landed in ireland from gibraltar, where i had studied hebrew and chaldaic under jews of various countries, when i heard a peasant girl say to boor standing by her "teach an maddin nag (behold the morning star, pointing to the planet venus, the maddena nag of the chaldeans[[vol. 2, page] 760 the secret doctrine. strabo speaks of an island near to britannia "where ceres and persephone were worshipped with the same rites as in samothrace (lib. iv) and this island was sacred ierna" where a perpetual fire was lit. the druids believed in the rebirth of man, not as lucian explains "that the same spirit shall animate a new body, not here, but in a different world" but in a series of re-incarnations in this same world; for as diodorus says, they declared that the souls of m

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

new joy ahead for women and especially for mothers. her greek counterpart is demeter. demeter demeter, the greek corn goddess or barley mother, was the archetypal symbol of the fertility of the land. demeter is often pictured as rosy-cheeked, carrying a hoe or sickle and surrounded by baskets of apples, sheaves of corn, garlands of flowers and grapes. like ceres, she mourns for her lost daughter persephone for three months of the year and so is another icon for those who are feeling sorrow or loss and for maternal sacrifice. but she can be invoked for all matters of abundance, for reaping the benefits of earlier work or effort, for all mothering rituals and as a protectress of animals. innana innana was a sumerian goddess, known as the queen of heaven, who evolved into the babylonian godd

ing weapons and the heads of her victims, her tongue lolling out, and covered in blood, signifying her power over life and death. she is often pictured dancing on shiva whose body she trampled on, destroyed and then danced on once more to restore him to life. kali is invoked to remove fear and, it is said, to bring bliss to her devotees, and so she brings protection and regeneration after sorrow. persephone persephone is the greek maiden goddess of transformation, daughter of demeter and goddess of spring and flowers. she was abducted by hades, god of the underworld, and became queen of the underworld for the winter months, returning to the earth as the light-bringer in spring and so representing the cycle of death and rebirth. she is especially powerful in rituals by or for young women, e

the underworld for the winter months, returning to the earth as the light-bringer in spring and so representing the cycle of death and rebirth. she is especially powerful in rituals by or for young women, especially those who have suffered loss or abuse, and also for mother-daughter relationships. she is sometimes regarded as a symbol of grain. proserpina, daughter of ceres, is the roman form of persephone. sekhmet sekhmet is the ancient egyptian solar and lion goddess created from the eye of ra. she is sometimes pictured as a woman with a lion's head and so is a good to evoke for courage, righteous anger, protection of the vulnerable, psychic protection and the correction of injustice. as an avenging goddess, she should be used only as a focus for positive rituals, for, like fire, her in

colour for keeping secrets and for smoothing down potential conflict and keeping one's counsel when to do otherwise would be unwise. grey candles are best used on wednesday when mercury cannot be seen and on saturday. black another colour of saturn and also the kings of the underworld- the roman pluto, the bestower of the hidden wealth that lay within the earth, and the greek hades, who abducted persephone (proserpine, thus causing winter. black is the colour not only of death, but also of regeneration. this belief goes back to ancient egypt when the annual flooding of the nile carried with it black silt, which brought new life to the land each year. in magick, black is the colour of endings that carry within them seeds of new beginnings. it can be used for banishing negativity, for leavi

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

female energy and releasing women from suppression. on that level, so do i. but it is vital for new agers and others to understand that this is not the "goddess" symbolism the illuminati and their placemen talk about. they just want you to think it is. the serpent goddess is known under countless names around the world, including diana, artemis, athene, semiramis, barati, britannia, hecate, rhea, persephone("first serpent) and so on. these same names have also been used to symbolise esoteric concepts like the phases of the moon and female energy, but at its foundation this goddess worship of the illuminati would seem to relate to the dna transmitted through the female and possibly originating in the constellation of orion. i have heard this dna source symbolised in various cultures as the

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

eys keen support,spawned a particularly important strand, a fusion between freemasonry and thejacobite movement which became known as grand orient freemasonry. there are alsogrand orient networks in others countries like brazil and portugal. grand orient meansgrand east and its rituals are inspired by the worship of zoroaster in persia, ishtar andtammuz (semiramis and nimrod) in babylon, demeter, persephone and dionysus ingreece, aphrodite and adonis in syria, isis and osiris in egypt, and mithra in persia.39the grand orient in france was to be the focus behind the manipulation andcoordination of the french revolution. from the brotherhoods point of view, thispeoples revolution had nothing to do with freedom and everything to do with itsagenda for global control. the famous cry of the fren

DEMONIC BIBLE

orld i have called upon the lord of the underworld, the lord of the dead. and by calling upon the lord of the underworld i have become the lord of the dead. i am pluto; i am hades; i am anubis; i am samhein; i am kutha. i sit upon the throne of the underworld as lord of the underworld and lord of the dead. i take the queen of the underworld, the queen of the dead as my wife and as my lover. hela, persephone, proserpine, ereshkigal, queen of the underworld, queen of the dead come forth and manifest thyself. queen of the underworld, i invoke thee. queen of the underworld, i summon thee. queen of the underworld, i conjure thee. come forth, queen of the underworld, and manifest thyself within this body, this temple which i have prepared. come forth, queen of the underworld, and manifest thysel

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

a type of container. in sex magick (q.v) the vagina- d- daemon: in greek myth, an intermediate spirit between men and the gods. daemons such as the one that guided socrates act as counselors and guardians to human beings. dadouchos: from the greek meaning "a torch bearer" originally, a hereditary officer at the mysteries of the eleusian demeter, whose torch symbolized her search for her daughter persephone, the spirit of youth and spring. in the order of the astral star, a junior officer of a stellar temple [s.t. a member of clergy (deacon/ deaconess (q.v) of a working lodge of the order who serves as the warden of the south. dagger: a cross hilted, double edged, short blade used as the magickal tool and weapon of elemental air. attributed to the direction of the east. deacon/ deaconess:

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

phere of venus, with all that that implies. translated from the symbolic language of the qabalah into plain english, it means that we are concerned here with the function of polarity, which is a very great deal more than mere sex as popularly conceived. 18. it is important to note in this respect that venus, or in her greek form, aphrodite, is not a fertility goddess at all, such as are ceres and persephone; she is the goddess of love. now in the greek concept of life, love embraced much more than the relationship between the sexes, it included the comr'deship of fighting men and the relationship of teacher and pupil. the greek hetaira, or woman whose profession is love, was something very different to our modern prostitute. the greek kept the simple physical relation of the sexes for his

and think about this story; you may not know what it means, if you are looking in the right direction, the direction whence light arises; and in proportion as you are able to receive it, light will flow into your soul if you contemplate these ideas. it is probable to the point of certainty that the illumination given in the mysteries included the elucidation of the metaphysics of these myths. 61. persephone, diana, aphrodite, hera, all exchange their symbols, functions, characteristics, and even subordinate titles in a bewildering manner in greek myths and art. likewise do priapos, pan, apollo, and zeus. the best we can say of them is that all the goddesses are great mothers and all the gods are givers of life; the difference between them lying not in function but in he level upon which th

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

operations of black magic or witchcraft in which the sufferer participated in a past life, whether as practitioner or victim, the fit being an astral struggle with a discarnate entity, reflected on the physical body by means of the well-known phenomenon of repercussion. the moon plays a very important part in all occult operations, different tides being available at different phases of her cycle. persephone, diana and hecate, all aspects of luna, are three very different persons. it therefore appeared probable that as the physical investigation had drawn blank, a psychic investigation might yield fruits. one was performed. and with the following results. nothing at all was discerned with regard to mrs. c. she was merely what lawyers call an accessory after the fact. but the psychic trail o

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

d then into the long descending passageway to the heart of the temple structure. the inquirer would eventually arrive at an underground body of water (the river styx, and be rowed across by someone representing the ferryman charon. on the other side was cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell. the passageway then took the inquirer to the inner sanctuary where a branch of mistletoe was offered to persephone, the goddess married to the god of the underworld. once inside the inner sanctum, contact with the dead would be made, though the exact process is not known. the inquirer would then be led back to the surface. during the reign of augustus in the first century b.c.e, the roman admiral marcus agrippa, for reasons not altogether clear, destroyed the oracle. he cut the sacred grove of trees

us, and the younger with hermes, who was also known as cadmilus. their worship was later amalgamated with that of demeter and ceres, with the result that two sets of cabiri came into being.dionysus and demeter, and cadmilus and ceres. a greek writer of the second century b.c.e. states that they were four in number.axisros, axiokersa, axiokersos, and casmilus, corresponding, he states, to demeter, persephone, hades, and hermes. the romans identified the cabiri with the penates, the roman gods of the household. a festival of these deities was held annually in lemnos and lasted nine days, during which all domestic and other fires were extinguished and sacred fire was brought from delos. from this fact it has been judged that the cabiri may have been volcanic demons, although this view has lar

ced by the ancient greeks as a cure for the diseases of animals, and it was said by the romans that locked doors could be opened with its tail feathers. the bird was pictured on amulets in early times and also figured as the symbol of abraxas, the principal deity of a gnostic sect. the cock was regarded as the guide of souls to the underworld, and in this respect was associated by the greeks with persephone and hermes. the slavs of pagan times sacrificed cocks to the dead and to the household serpents, in which they believed their ancestors to be reincarnated. conversely, the cock was pictured as having an infernal connection, especially if its color was black. indeed, it was employed in black magic, perhaps the earliest instance of this being in the atharva veda, an ancient hindu scriptur

ent into hades, and subsequent release therefrom. after this came the central point of the mysteries, the viewing of certain holy and secret symbols; next, a crowning of garlands, signifying the happiness that arises from friendship with the divine. the festival also embodied a scenic representation of the story of demeter, the greece encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 664 rape of persephone, the sorrow of the mother, her complaints before zeus, and the final reconciliation. women played a great part in this, the reason being that as they themselves produce, so by sympathetic magic their influence was conveyed to the corn, as when crying aloud for rain they looked upward to the skies, then down to the earth with cries of conceive! these priestesses were crowned with poppies

n the thirteenth-century poem le roman de la rose. in his work tableau de l inconstance des mauvais anges (description of the inconstancy of evil angels, 1612, the demonologist pierre de lancre refers to habondia rather sweepingly as queen of the fairies, witches, harpies, furies; and ghosts of the wicked. hades greek god of the underworld and of wealth, also identified with pluto. hades abducted persephone (daughter of the corn goddess demeter) and made her his wife. in his intimidating character as lord of death, hades was mysterious and terrifying, but in his benign aspect he was the generous god of wealth. his attention could be secured by striking the ground, and he could be propitiated by an offering of a black-fleeced sheep. entrance to the domain of hades was through the groves of

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

(such as vase-painting) it has been possible to glean some general idea of these. that is not to say that the heart of the mystery is revealed by any such illustrations, but that these, supplemented by what the christian fathers were able to glean regarding these mystic cults, give useful hints for further investigations. eleusis the mysteries of eleusis had for their primal adoration demeter and persephone (the mother and the daughter. other nameless divinities appear to have been associated with eleusinian mysteries, usually signified by terms such as the gods or the goddesses. mythological science suggests that such nameless gods are merely those whose higher names are hidden and unspoken. in egypt, for example, the concept of the concealed name was extremely common. the name of the pow

pear to have been two grades in the celebration, and we know that a year elapsed before a person who had achieved one grade became fit for election to the higher. regarding the actual ritual in the hall of mystery, a great deal of controversy has taken place, but it is certain that a dramatic representation was the central point of interest, the chief characters in which were probably demeter and persephone, and that the myth of mysteria mystica aeterna encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 1080 the lost daughter and the sorrowing mother was enacted before an audience. of scenic display there was probably little or none, as excavation has proved that there was not room for it, and we find nothing regarding scenery in the accounts presented in many inscriptions; but the apparel

y and sanctity. we know that the original symbols of deity are jealously guarded by many priesthoods. for example, the uapes of brazil kept careful watch over the symbols of jurupari, their god, and they were shown only to the initiated. any woman who cast eyes on them was instantly poisoned. it was also stated by hippolytus that the ancients were shown a cut corn stalk, the symbol of demeter and persephone. this, however, is debatable, as is the theory that the eleusinians worshiped the actual corn as a clan totem. corn as a totem is not unknown elsewhere, as for example in peru, where the cconopa or godlings of the maize fields were probably originally totemic. but if the eleusinian corn was a totem, it was certainly the only corn totem known to greece, and corn totems are rare. the tote

eon usually slowly evolved, in which full-fledged gods took the place of the old totemic deities. the corn appears as a living thing. it is growth, and within it resides a spirit. therefore the deity that evolves from this concept is more likely to be of animistic than of totemistic origin. the neophyte was then made one with the deity by partaking of holy food or drink. this recalls the story of persephone, who, upon reaching the dark shores of hades, partook of the food of the dead.thus rendering it impossible for her to return. once the human soul eats or drinks in hades, it may not return to earth. this belief is universal, and it is highly probable that it was symbolized in the eleusinian mysteries. m. foucart ingeniously put forward the theory that the object of the eleusinian myster

olized in the eleusinian mysteries. m. foucart ingeniously put forward the theory that the object of the eleusinian mysteries was much the same as that of the egyptian book of the dead, i.e, to provide the initiates with elaborate rules for avoiding the dangers of the underworld, and to instruct them in the necessary magical formula. thus, friendship with the holy mother and daughter (demeter and persephone, to the eleusinian votary, was the chief assurance of immortality. dionysiac a great many offshoots of the eleusinian cult were established in several parts of greece. the most important cult next to the eleusinian was the orphic, which probably arose in phrygia, and which came to be associated with dionysus, originally a god of vegetation, who was also a divinity of the nether world. b

h, symbolic of the ecstasy of a drug cult. more recently it has been revived approvingly in the journal revision (vol. 10, no. 4, spring 1988, together with the suggestion that amaita muscaria was the forbidden fruit from the tree in the garden of eden in the old testament story. wasson s research found little approval in the scholarly world. he died december 23, 1986. sources: wasson, r. gordon. persephone s quest: entheogens and the origins of religion. new haven: yale university press, 1986. soma: divine mushrooms of immortality. the hague: mouton, 1968. reprint, new york: harcourt brace, 1971. the wondrous mushroom: mycolatry in mesoamerica. new york: mcgraw, 1980. wasson, r. gordon, and valentina pavlovna wasson. mushrooms, russia, and history. new york: pantheon, 1957. waterfall astr

FAUST

ncircles me. and this man? chiron him hath this ill-fated night caught in its whirl and brought here to your sight. helena, go his wits a-spinning, helena he has dreams of winning, but knows no way to make beginning, most worthy, aesculapian cure to prove. manto who yearns for the impossible i love. chiron is already far away. manto enter, audacious one, glad shall you be; the gloomy way leads to persephone. within olympus cavern foot she lists in secret for prescribed salute. here did i smuggle orpheus in of old. use your turn better! quick! be bold! they descend. by the upper peneus sirens [by the upper peneus as before. plunge ye in peneus flood! meetly splashing, swimming, fording, linking songs in tones according, for these ill-starred people s good. without water weal is none! if our

reate them, deeply bowed lament no more: earth again will generate them as it ever did of yore. complete pause. the music ceases. helena [to faust] alas, an ancient truth is verified in me: that bliss and beauty never lastingly unite. the bond of life is rent no less than that of love; bewailing both, i say with sorrow: fare thee well! and cast myself once more, once only, in thine arms. receive, persephone, receive the boy and me. she embraces faust, she herself vanishes, robe and veil remain in his arms. phorkyas [to faust. hold fast what now alone is left to thee! let not the garment go. already demons are twitching at its skirts and they would like to snatch it to the lower world. hold fast! it is no more the goddess whom thou lost, but godlike is it. make use of the high and priceless

ar confounding and still worse the inner sense. hence, down to hades! where our queen has hastened on, with solemn steps descending. let her footsteps be directly followed by the steps of faithful maids. her shall we find beside the throne of the inscrutable. chorus. everywhere indeed do queens ever like to be, and in hades too do they stand supreme; proudly with their peers are they allied, with persephone most intimate. we, however, in the background of deep, asphodelian meadows, with far-reaching poplars and unfruitful willows joined, what diversion shall we have there? bat-like to squeak and twitter in whispers undelighting, spectral. panthalis who hath not won a name nor wills a noble deed, belongs but to the elements, so fare thy way! hotly i wish to join my queen. not merit alone, f

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

able rose. he is at last saved by the goddess isis, who supplies the needed faith in the gods. he bathes seven times in the sea, and perceives theaporrhetain a vision,*receives the true rose, regains his human form, and is restored to mental and spiritual health. this story should be studied by all freemasons and rosicrucians*'1approached the confines of death, and having trod on the threshold of persephone, i returned fromit,being carried through all the elements. at midnight i saw the sun shining with a splendid light, and i manifestly drew near to the gods beneath above, and near at hand. i adored them.'276themagical masonit has also been held that virgil in the sixth book of l243.neid is referring to some details concerning the sacred mysteries in the visit of l243.neas to hades. a sma

rough which alone could any person pass to the greater mysteries, were held once in each year bythepriesthoodduringmany centuries ofthehistory of greece, at agroe, on the river iiyssus, duringtheninthmonth,called elaphebolion, which corresponded toourmarch (plutarch gives anthesterion or february).theywere ceremonialsofa religious nature, associated with the legendary historyofproserpine, kore or persephone,thedaughter of demeter, who was called bytheromans, ceres. at the origin278themagical masonof the institution the inhabitants of attica were alone eligiblefor admission. the candidate received was called mystes, meaningsilenced,and the ceremony was called a pro-catharsis, a cleansing or preparation.themystes received moral and religious instruction, and was taught such details of theolo

hould commence with the lowliest duties.themystes had access only to the vestible of the temple of demeter, and was excluded from the sanctuary of the goddess. the mystes was obliged to await his admission into the greater mysteries and pass a whole year of unblemished conduct.itis probable that the theme of the lesser mysteries of eleusis was the story of the goddess demeter, and of her daughter persephone. demeter, whose name is a form of gemeter, or earth mother, was by the romans later called ceres. she was fabled as the daughter of kronos and rhea, having as sisters hestia (vesta) andjuno,and brothers zeus (jupiter, neptune, and pluto. demeter was goddess of earth and agriculture and the bestower of harvests. demeter by jupiter had a daughter persephone (proserpine) who became very no

pents, pomegranates, and poppy capsules, accompanied by crowds of people crying aloud:'kairedemeter,hail to ceres!'thefifth, or torch day, waslampadonemera.during the evening there was a torch-light procession of the mystai from athens to the temple of demeter at eleusis, where they remained during the night.thiswas a symbolic representation of the wanderings of demeter in search of her daughter, persephone.thesixth day was named that ofiakchos,son of jupiter and demeter, who was one form of the god, bakchos, or bacchus.thiswas the most important day of the festival.astatue of the god, bearing a torch and garlanded with myrtle, was carried in procession along theiera ados -sacred way- once halting to rest atiera suke -the sacred fig tree- amid joyful songs and dancesandthe beating of braze

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

solden/ d. bore those in mind that there should die, or, as lachmann in terprets it, desired them for his band (conf. p. 848. these investigations will hardly have left it doubtful, that the heathen death is one of a secondary order of gods; hence too he coincides more especially with the semi-divine valkyrs and norns, he is dependent on osinn and hel; of the grecian gods, it is hermes and hades, persephone and the ferryman charon that come nearest to him. but his nature is also not unrelated to that of elves, homesprites and genii. chap. xxiv. has explained how he got mixed up with one of the time-gods, winter; no wonder therefore that he now and then reminds us of kronos. in our heldenbuch, death figures as a false god, whom the heathen belligan serves above all other gods, and whose ima

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

n by what he says further as follows: now of the deaths we die, the one makes man two of three and the other one of (out of) two. the former is in the region and jurisdiction of demeter, whence the name given to the mysteries, telein, resembled that given to death, teleutan. the athenians also heretofore called the deceased sacred to demeter. as for the other death, it is in the moon or region of persephone. here you have our doctrine, which shows man a septenary during life; a quintile just after death, in kamaloka; and a threefold ego, spirit-soul, and consciousness in devachan. this separation, first in "the meadows of hades" as plutarch calls the kamaloka, then in devachan, was part and parcel of the performances during the sacred mysteries, when the candidates for initiation enacted t

nacted the whole drama of death, and the resurrection as a glorified spirit, by which name we mean consciousness. this is what plutarch means when he says: and as with the one, the terrestrial, so with the other celestial hermes doth dwell. this suddenly and with violence plucks the soul from the body; but prospina mildly and in a long time disjoins the understanding from the soul (proserpina, or persephone, stands here for postmortem karma, which is said to regulate the separation of the lower from the higher principles: the soul, as nephesh, the breath of animal life, which remains for a time in kamaloka, from the higher compound ego, which goes into the state of devachan, or bliss) for this reason she is called monogenes, only begotten, or rather begetting one alone; for the better part

ISIS UNVEILED

digitizecoy google 284 isis dnvbiled" now of the deaths we die, the one twtket man two of three, and the other, one of [out of] two. the former is in the region and jurisdictiob of demeter, whence the name given to the mysteries, rtatnu, resembled that given to death, rixnn. the athenians also heretofore called the deceased sacred to demeter. as for the other death, it is in the moon or region of persephone. and as with the one the terrestrial, so with the other the celestial hermes doth dwell. this suddenly and with violence plucks the soul from the body; but proserpina mildly and in a long time disjoins the understanding from the soul. for this reason she is called monogenei, only-begotten, or rather begetting one alone; for the better part of man becomes alone when it is separated by he

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

relationship and feeling and mature love. the goddess of both spiritual and passionate love. athena. the virgin goddess of war and wisdom and limitlessness, she encourages warriors to gentleness, the patron of useful and elegant arts. artemis. mistress of animals and all wild untamed things, symbolizes female independence, healing goddess, values solitude. demeter. ancient greek mother goddess of persephone. giver of fruitfulness and abundance. blesses us with coming joy, abundant life and hope. other goddesses who have made an impact through time are. kwan yin. chinese goddess of infinite mercy and compassion. said t0 be born from buddha s tears for the suffering of the world. protects women and children and works with the healers of the world. mother mary. the creator goddess known as st

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

spect; and the legend of his death and resurrection corresponded closely with that of osiris, and was taught with the same signification in the mysteries of greece. phoebus apollo, the god of the sun and of music, whose symbol was the lyre, seems originally to have been orpheus; so that in venerating him the greeks in reality offered their love to the great world teacher. demeter and her daughter persephone or kore were especially reverenced at eleusis. these two deities were personifications of the great forces of nature, the first of the brooding motherhood of the earth, and the second of that creative life which makes the earth to flourish and blossom with corn and flowers and fruit, and then withdraws once more at the onset of winter into a kind of hibernation- a hidden life within, on

from manifestation to manifestation without end. this was explained by the hierophant to the initiates, and the simplicity of the symbol and the beauty and profundity of the meaning underlying it formed a fitting climax to a wonderful ceremony. 372. the myths of the greater mysteries 373. the meaning of various myths was explained in detail in the instruction given to the initiates. the legend of persephone or proserpine (kore) is clearly an occult parable of the descent of the soul into matter. if we remember how the story tells us that proserpine was carried away while she was plucking the flower of the narcissus, at once we have a suggestion of connection with that other myth of the soul s life. narcissus is represented to have been a young man of extraordinary beauty who fell in love w

the mysteries of adonis or tammuz were celebrated at byblos or gebal, where lived the gibelim or stone-squarers, deriving their name from that of the town. the legend of these mysteries is an interesting combination of those of egypt and eleusis, the death and resurrection of adonis being interwoven with a theme upon his exile and return for six months of the year, which reminds us of the fate of persephone. 410. this cult appears in many forms, some of them savage and sanguinary, evidently derived from the dark and debased delusions of prehistoric and even cannibal tribes. some hint of these may be seen in the account given on p. 000. 411. the mysteries of attis and cybele in phrygia had many points in common with the last-named, the death and resurrection of attis being the central myth

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

lthough his violation of the condition that he not look at her until they were completely back in the world resulted in the loss of eurydice. the theme of the failure of the hero to complete his task in the underworld realm of the departed represents the effort of the human imagination to come to grips with the unavoidable fate of death. in the greek world, a somewhat related myth is the story of persephone. persephone was kidnapped by hades. her mother demeter, goddess of grain, mourned the loss of her daughter, which resulted in the death of vegetation and humankind s starvation. the gods eventually agreed that persephone should be returned to her mother. in the meanwhile, however, hades had made persephone eat the fruit of the dead (seeds of pomegranate, symbol of fertility and blood, a

loss of her daughter, which resulted in the death of vegetation and humankind s starvation. the gods eventually agreed that persephone should be returned to her mother. in the meanwhile, however, hades had made persephone eat the fruit of the dead (seeds of pomegranate, symbol of fertility and blood, and thus bound her to the realm of the dead. the final agreement was that, for half of the year, persephone was the ruling queen of hades, and for the other half, she was with her mother demeter. although this myth was originally interpreted as explaining the vegetation cycle, various elements indicate the characteristics of a process of female initiation: her descent to the underworld that ended with her marriage to hades (she became queen of hades) could symbolize her death as virgin and th

rsuading kore to eat a pomegranate, symbolic of marriage and a promise of return. this trickery forced zeus into a compromise, by which kore would have to spend one-third (or one-half, depending on the source) of each year in the underworld, the part of the year when demeter is once again sorrowful and nothing grows. thus did kore, a fertility figure by relation to demeter, become identified with persephone, the wife of hades and a figure of death. three platonic dialogues the gorgias, phaedo, and republic include a mythical account of what happens after death. plato does not merely repeat standard stories, but artfully mixes together elements from the cultural heritage, the tragedies, and mystery religions. the myth in the gorgias describes the judgment of a soul after death. the soul has

rocess. the netherworld of ancient egypt, as depicted in the book of the dead, was ruled by osiris (originally, possibly a divinity of the vegetation) who according to myth was dismembered by his jealous brother and recomposed by his wife isis. a less negative conception of the underworld was found in greco-roman civilization where the underworld was ruled by king hades (roman pluto) and his wife persephone (roman proserpina: upon death, the individual s soul was believed to assume a ghostly shape that resembled the person when alive. death leveled all social or moral distinctions among the dead, bound to live forever in a state of boredom. those bound to some sort of punishment or suffering either had remained unburied or were not fed enough sacrificial food. the kingdom of hades was a da

LIBER 777

atma darshana wotan zeus, iacchus 2. odin athena, uranus[[hermes] 3. frigga cybele, demeter, rhea, her[[psych, kronos] 4. wotan poseidon[[zeus] 5. thor ares, hades 6 vishvarupa-darshana. iacchus, apollo, adonis[[dionysus, bacchus] 7. freya aphrodit, nik 8. odin, loki hermes 9. zeus (as d, diana of epheus (as phallic stone[[and[[eros] 1010 vision of the higher self, the various dhyanas or jhanas. persephone [adonis, psych 11 vaya-bhawana valkyries zeus 12. hermes 13 vision of chandra. artemis, hekat 14 success in bhaktioga freya aphrodit 15. athena 16 success in hathayoga, asana and prana-yama [her] 17. castor and pollux, apollo the diviner[[eros] 18. apollo the charioteer 19. demeter [borne by lions] 20 [attis] 21. zeus 22. themis, minos, aeacus and rhadamanthus 23 apo-bhawana. poseidon 2

LIBER ASTARTE

hilosophus, or that of an adept within is most suitable; or, the robe best fitted for the service of the particular deity, as a bassara for bacchus, a white robe for vesta. so also, for vesta, one might use for instrument the lamp; or the sickle, for chronos. 10. concerning the incense and libations. the incense should follow the nature of the particular deity; as, mastic for mercury, dittany for persephone. also the libations, as, a decoction of nightshade for melancholia, or of indian hemp for uranus. 11. concerning the harmony of the ceremonies. let all these things be rightly considered, and at length, in language of the utmost beauty at the command of the philosophus, accompanied, astarte vel liber berylli 4 if he have skill, by music, and interwoven, if the particular deity be jocund

in that order. the modern volume titled the holy books of thelema (equinox iii (9, additionally contains the .class a. libri 1, 10, 66, 90, 156, 231, 370 and 400, as well as a facsimile of the ms of liber al. t.s] svb figvra clxxv 7 cornelia and caius gracchus, and the love of bacchus and ariadne, and the love of cupid and psyche, and the love of endymion and artemis, and the love of demeter and persephone, and the love of venus and adonis, and the love of lakshmi and vishnu, and the love of siva and bhavani, and the love of buddha and ananda, and the love of jesus and john, and many more. also there is the love of many saints for their particular deity, as of st francis of assisi for christ, of sri sabhapaty swami for maheswara, of abdullah haji shirazi1 for allah, of st ignatius loyola

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

s, the children of my children, for them that understand not easily our high mysteries; for in thy pen is, as it were, a river of clear water; without vagueness, without ambiguity, 1 aum! the sacred word. 2 qy. j (the cart) becomes o (a wheel. the commentators who have suspected the horrid blasphemy implied by the explanation .becomes k, the wheel of fortune. are certainly in error. 3 demeter and persephone. 4 ch= j; h= hades. see the tarot cards, and classical mythology, for the symbols. mirabilia. i. signum. ii. signum. iii. signum alia signa. pater jubet: scientiam scribe. ambrosii magi hortis rosarum 89 without show of learning, without needless darkening of counsel and word, dost thou ever reveal the sacred heights of our mystic mountain. for, as for him that understandeth not thy wri

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

ries nanna. in a subsequent battle balderus defeats him. balderus is plagued by dreams of his desired nanna. hotherus is now chosen king of the danes, but in his absence the danes vote again, and this time they choose balderus. in a third battle hotherus is put to flight. in their final battle he wounds balderus. balderus dreams of proserpina (as saxo calls her, using the roman name for the greek persephone, who like hel presided over the underworld, dies, and is buried in a mound. the story now turns to vengeance. a sorcerer advises othinus that he must seduce rinda, the daughter of the king of the rutenians. after three failed attempts, first disguised as a warrior, then as a smith, and then as a knight, othinus returns a fourth time, disguised as a woman, and becomes a serving maid to t

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

nician, carthaginian, and greek expeditions to the british isles for the purpose of procuring tin. others are of the opinion that the mysteries as celebrated by the druids were of oriental origin, possibly buddhistic. the proximity of the british isles to the lost atlantis may account for the sun worship which plays an important part in the rituals of druidism. according to artemidorus, ceres and persephone were worshiped on an island close to britain with rites and ceremonies similar to those of samothrace. there is no doubt that the druidic pantheon includes a large number of greek and roman deities. this greatly amazed c sar during his conquest of britain and gaul, and caused him to affirm that these tribes adored mercury, apollo, mars, and jupiter, in a manner similar to that of the la

assed in their ritual of regeneration. next: the ancient mysteries and secret societies, part three sacred texts esoteric index previous next p. 29 the ancient mysteries and secret societies part three the most famous of the ancient religious mysteries were the eleusinian, whose rites were celebrated every five years in the city of eleusis to honor ceres (demeter, rhea, or isis) and her daughter, persephone. the initiates of the eleusinian school were famous throughout greece for the beauty of their philosophic concepts and the high standards of morality which they demonstrated in their daily lives. because of their excellence, these mysteries spread to rome and britain, and later the initiations were given in both these countries. the eleusinian mysteries, named for the community in attic

greater, in the fall (the time of the autumnal equinox) at eleusis or athens. it is supposed that the former were given annually and the latter every five years. the rituals of the eleusinians were highly involved, and to understand them required a deep study of greek mythology, which they interpreted in its esoteric light with the aid of their secret keys. the lesser mysteries were dedicated to persephone. in his eleusinian and bacchic mysteries, thomas taylor sums up their purpose as follows "the lesser mysteries were designed by the ancient theologists, their founders, to signify occultly the condition of the unpurified soul invested with an earthy body, and enveloped in a material and physical nature" the legend used in the lesser rites is that of the abduction of the goddess persepho

purpose as follows "the lesser mysteries were designed by the ancient theologists, their founders, to signify occultly the condition of the unpurified soul invested with an earthy body, and enveloped in a material and physical nature" the legend used in the lesser rites is that of the abduction of the goddess persephone, the daughter of ceres, by pluto, the lord of the underworld, or hades. while persephone is picking flowers in a beautiful meadow, the earth suddenly opens and the gloomy lord of death, riding in a magnificent chariot, emerges from its somber depths and, grasping her in his arms, carries the screaming and struggling goddess to his subterranean palace, where he forces her to become his queen. it is doubtful whether many of the initiates themselves understood the mystic meani

s of animals sacrificed for the purpose, and vowed that death should seal his lips before he would divulge the sacred truths which were about to be communicated to him. through indirect channels, however, some of their secrets have been preserved. the teachings given to the neophytes were substantially as follows: the soul of man--often called psyche, and in the eleusinian mysteries symbolized by persephone--is essentially a spiritual thing. its true home is in the higher worlds, where, free from the bondage of material form and material concepts, it is said to be truly alive and self-expressive. the human, or physical, nature of man, according to this doctrine, is a tomb, a quagmire, a false and impermanent thing, the source of all sorrow and suffering. plato describes the body as the sep

ut by their senseless (hence dead) animal personalities. transmigration and reincarnation were taught in these mysteries, but in a somewhat unusual manner. it was believed that at midnight the invisible worlds were closest to the terrestrial sphere and that souls coming into material existence slipped in during the midnight hour. for this reason many of the eleusinian click to enlarge the rape of persephone. from thomassin's recucil des figures, groupes, themes, fontaines, vases et autres ornements. pluto, the lord of the underworld, represents the body intelligence of man; and the rape of persephone is symbolic of the divine nature assaulted and defiled by the animal soul and dragged downward into the somber darkness of hades, which is here used as a synonym for the material, or objective

as referring to a seeker after truth according to the dictates of the heart along the path of faith, is probably derived from this ancient word, for faith is belief in the reality of things unseen or veiled. the greater mysteries (into which the candidate was admitted only after he had successfully passed through the ordeals of the lesser, and not always then) were sacred to ceres, the mother of persephone, and represent her as wandering through the world in quest of her abducted daughter. ceres carried two torches, intuition and reason, to aid her in the search for her lost child (the soul. at last she found persephone not far from eleusis, and out of gratitude taught the people there to cultivate corn, which is sacred to her. she also founded the mysteries. ceres appeared before pluto

in quest of her abducted daughter. ceres carried two torches, intuition and reason, to aid her in the search for her lost child (the soul. at last she found persephone not far from eleusis, and out of gratitude taught the people there to cultivate corn, which is sacred to her. she also founded the mysteries. ceres appeared before pluto, god of the souls of the dead, and pleaded with him to allow persephone to return to her home. this the god at first refused to do, because persephone had eaten of the pomegranate, the fruit of mortality. at last, however, he compromised and agreed to permit persephone to live in the upper world half of the year if she would stay with him in the darkness of hades for the remaining half. the greeks believed that persephone was a manifestation of the solar en

and agreed to permit persephone to live in the upper world half of the year if she would stay with him in the darkness of hades for the remaining half. the greeks believed that persephone was a manifestation of the solar energy, which in the winter months lived under the earth with pluto, but in the summer returned again with the goddess of productiveness. there is a legend that the flowers loved persephone and that every year when she left for the dark realms of pluto, the plants and shrubs would die of grief. while the profane and uninitiated had their own opinions on these subjects, the truths of the greek allegories remained safely concealed by the priests, who alone recognized the sublimity of these great philosophic and religious parables. thomas taylor epitomizes the doctrines of th

ssuming a terrestrial form. the secret exercises for spiritual unfoldment given to disciples of the higher degrees are unknown, but there is every reason to believe that they were similar to the brahmanic mysteries, since it is known that the eleusinian ceremonies were closed with the sanskrit words "konx om pax" that part of the allegory referring to the two six-month periods during one of which persephone must remain with pluto, while during the other she may revisit the upper world, offers material for deep consideration. it is probable that the eleusinians realized that the soul left the body during steep, or at least was made capable of leaving by the special training which undoubtedly they were in a position to give. thus persephone would remain as the queen of pluto's realm during t

t the eleusinians realized that the soul left the body during steep, or at least was made capable of leaving by the special training which undoubtedly they were in a position to give. thus persephone would remain as the queen of pluto's realm during the waking hours, but would ascend to the spiritual worlds during the periods of sleep. the initiate was taught how to intercede with pluto to permit persephone (the initiate's soul) to ascend from the darkness of his material nature into the light of understanding. when thus freed from the shackles of clay and crystallized concepts, the initiate was liberated not only for the period of his life but for all eternity, for never thereafter was he divested of those soul qualities which after death were his vehicles for manifestation and expression

dge--were presented to the mysteries unclothed, being first: given the skin of an animal and later a consecrated robe to symbolize the philosophical teachings received by the initiate. during the course of initiation the candidate click to enlarge ceres, the patron of the mysteries. from a mural painting in pompeii. ceres, or demeter, was the daughter of kronos and rhea, and by zeus the mother of persephone. some believe her to be the goddess of the earth, but more correctly she is the deity protecting agriculture in general and corn in particular. the poppy is sacred to ceres and she is often shown carrying or ornamented by a garland of these flowers. in the mysteries, ceres represented riding in a chariot drawn by winged serpents. p. 31 click to enlarge the processional of the bacchic ri

ne and music. the romance of orpheus and eurydice is one of the tragic episodes of greek mythology and apparently constitutes the outstanding feature p. 32 of the orphic rite. eurydice, in her attempt to escape from a villain seeking to seduce her, died from the venom of a poisonous serpent which stung her in the heel. orpheus, penetrating to the very heart of the underworld, so charmed pluto and persephone with the beauty of his music that they agreed to permit eurydice to return to life if orpheus could lead her back to the sphere of the living without once looking round to see if she were following. so great was his fear, however, that she would stray from him that he turned his head, and eurydice with a heartbroken cry was swept back into the land of death. orpheus wandered the earth f

n tells her that this is the experience of all who enter the somber domain of death. enraged upon beholding ishtar, the mistress of hades inflicts upon her all manner of disease and imprisons her in the underworld. as ishtar represents the spirit of fertility, her loss prevents the ripening of the crops and the maturing of all life upon the earth. in this respect the story parallels the legend of persephone. the gods, realizing that the loss of ishtar is disorganizing all nature, send a messenger to the underworld and demand her release. the mistress of hades is forced to comply, and the water of life is poured over ishtar. thus cured of the infirmities inflicted on her, she retraces her way upward through the seven gates, at each of which she is reinvested with the article of apparel whic

e the seven sacred wanderers, later called the planets. while a vast number of deities are associated with the samothracian mysteries, the ritualistic drama centers around four brothers. the first three--aschieros, achiochersus, and achiochersa--attack and murder the fourth--cashmala (or cadmillus. dionysidorus, however, identifies aschieros with demeter, achiochersus with pluto, achiochersa with persephone, and cashmala with hermes. alexander wilder notes that in the samothracian ritual "cadmillus is made to include the theban serpent-god, cadmus, the thoth of egypt, the hermes of the greeks, and the emeph or sculapius of the alexandrians and phoenicians" here again is a repetition of the story of osiris, bacchus, adonis, balder, and hiram abiff. the worship of atys and cybele was also in

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

p [strike, by the flames of banal [strike, by the power of the east [strike, and by the silence of the night [strike, by the holy rites of hecate [strike, i conjure and exorcise thee, spirit [name [strike, to present thyself here [strike] and answer truly our demands [strike. so mote it be [strike (the "hecate" invoked here is the classical greek goddess of witchcraft. she is three-formed, having persephone and selene, goddesses of the dead and the moon respectively, as her other aspects) at this point replenish the thurible with more necromantic incense, extinguish all lights upon the altar table so that the room is plunged into darkness, and again moving backwards, carefully pass to the west rim of the circle, to kneel down, facing the triangle of manifestation upon the floor. cross your

aggressiveness of wand and the athame. it would be truer to say that the witch symbolism of the chalice was rather more akin to that surrounding the elven-folk, the fays, and enchantresses of medieval legend, vivian, brisen, nimue, lady of the lake, morgan le fay, and of course melusine. the may queens and corn maidens of european folklore are all partakers of the same symbolism along with greek persephone and euridice, retracing their steps to the underworld during the cold winter months when the sun has grown dark and the days short; the lord of the dead holds rule over the land for the first three months of the witches' year beginning on the first day of november, the feast of all hallows. the lady of delight is known by many names among witches, some of them classical in inspiration l

, ops, cybele, and rhea; the great earth mothers, in fact. many witches refer to the earth power as hulda, erda, or hertha. our words "earth" and "hearth" are derived from the last two names. hertha is so closely related to habondia that these two goddesses are often related to one another in magical legend as mother and daughter, thus tying in superficially with the old greek myth of demeter and persephone. however, many modern witches consider habondia and hertha to be but different aspects of the same power, which they refer to simply as the goddess. it was mother hertha that you invoked as the third power in the planetary spell of the last chapter. as a beginner witch who intends to pursue the path, it is essential that you place yourself and your home under some sort of protective spe

arters as a duly consecrated high priest and wizard, or high priestess and queen of the sabbat, whichever the case may be. in the second ritual, instead of the progress of the aspirant through the four elements, the myth of the goddess is implied, where the witch goddess andred, aradia, habondia, or whatever other name you may care to know her by, descends into the world of the dead somewhat like persephone in hades or ishtar in the realm of ereshkigal, and receives the scourge and fivefold kiss of the horned god of death and subsequent conferment of power. sometimes this myth itself is enacted during the initiation rite, in the manner of a mystery, but this is a supernumerary addition, the myth itself being implicit in the entire initiation ceremony. as you can see, both rituals have many

MEANING OF MASONRY

ables which at once expressed theosophic teaching to the discerning and veiled it from the car eless and ignorant. myth-making was a science, not an indulgence in irresponsible fiction, and by exhibiting some of these myths in dramatic form candidates were instructed in various fundamental verities of life. one of the chief and best known of the numerous myths was that of demeter and her daughter persephone, annually performed with great ceremony and elaboration at the eleusinia, and of which it may be useful to speak briefly. it told how the maiden persephone strayed away from arcadla (heaven) and her mother demeter, to pluck flowers in the meads of enna, and how the soil there opened and caused her to fall through into the lower dark world of hades ruled over by pluto. the despair of her

over by pluto. the despair of her mother at the loss reached zeus, the chief of the gods, with the result that he relieved the position by ordaining that, if the girl had not eaten of the fruit of hades, she should forthwith be restored to her mother for ever, but that if she had so eaten she must abide a third of each year with pluto and return to demeter for the other two thirds. it proved that persephone had unfortunately eaten a pomegranate in the lower world, so that her restoration to her mother could not be permanent, but only periodic. this myth, and the importance once attached to it, will be appreciated only upon understanding its interpretation. it is the story of the soul and is of the same nature as the mosaic myth of adam and eve and the apple, and as the cosmic parable of th

t only periodic. this myth, and the importance once attached to it, will be appreciated only upon understanding its interpretation. it is the story of the soul and is of the same nature as the mosaic myth of adam and eve and the apple, and as the cosmic parable of the prodigal son, neither of these being meant to be regarded as historically true, but as a fiction spiritually true of cosmic facts. persephone is the human soul, generated out of that primordial incorruptible mother-earth which the greeks personified as demeter, just as the mosaic narrative speaks of god forming man out of the dust of the ground. her straying from her arcadian home and heavenly mother in quest of flowers (or fresh experiences on her own account) in the fields of enna, corresponds with the same promptings of de

sobedience in eden and his fall thence to this outer world. all unruly desires end in dissatisfaction and bitterness, and" enna (signifying darkness and bitterness) is the same word as still meets us in gehenna. one may, however, profit by one's mistakes. it is they which breed wisdom, and it is the riches of wisdom and experience that are signified by pluto, the god of riches, into whose kingdom persephone falls. she might have returned thence to her mother for ever, zeus decreed, had she not still further injured herself by eating of the fruit of the lower world, but having done so her restoration can only be partial and temporary. this alludes to the soul's still further self-soilure and degradation by lusting after the inferior pleasures of this lower plane, which, as the pomegranate s

eur. humanity, instead of being a collective united organ ic whole, has become shattered into innumerable fragmentary separated parts, not one stone standing upon another of its ruined building. it has lost consciousness of the genuine secrets of its own origin and nature and has now to be content with the spurious substituted knowledge it picks up from sense-impressions in this outer world. like persephone it has eaten the pomegranates of pluto's dark realm in preference to the ambrosia of arcady, and until that poison is eliminated from its system it cannot permanently reattain its unfallen state, but at best must endure a rhythm of deaths and rebirths and of intermittent periods of labour in this world and refreshment beyond it. but it may become cleansed; the temple can be rebuilt, and

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

towards the goddess incarnation of the witch cult and many lines of sorcery. the moon is represented as a significant feminine force, based and connected with the element water. hecate is rumored to be of thracian origin although her base was within the roman and greek pantheons. though daughter of two light based deities, perses and asteria, hecate dwelled in the underworld along with hades and persephone. her individual powers were discovered through the shadows deep within her own being. residing with her as well was thanatos (god of death, hypnos (god of sleep) and morpheus (god of dreams. hecate is known as the goddess of witches, being that of sorcery and the cunning craft. the aspects of hecate within roman and greek culture show hecate mostly in a dark or hidden aspect, having thr

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

re those long dead gesture and stumble aimlessly; a place where hope is not to be found. hades sided with zeus and the other olympians in the war against the titans. in the night before a major battle between the olympians and the titans, hades put on his helmet of darkness that made him invisible, after which he crept into the enemy camp, and destroyed the titan s weapons. hades has a wife named persephone who dwells with him in the underworld. with the titans defeated, the three brothers zeus, poseidon, and hades divided creation between each other. zeus ruled the heavens, poseidon the seas, and hades would rule the underworld. and there hades rules today, upon a black throne. even the worst magicians will recommend against invoking or evoking hades, and even--michael wynn's "the soul tr

MORALS AND DOGMA

at the birth of dionusos. hence the significancy of the _phallus, or of its inoffensive substitute, the obelisk, rising as an emblem of resurrection by the tomb of buried deity at lerna or at sais. dionusos-orpheus descended to the shades to recover the lost virgin of the zodiac, to bring back his mother to the sky as thyone; or what has the same meaning, to consummate his eventful marriage with persephone, thereby securing, like the nuptials of his father with semele or dana, the perpetuity of nature. his under-earth office is the depression of the year, the wintry aspect in the alternations of bull and serpent, whose united series makes up the continuity of time, and in which, physically speaking, the stern and dark are ever the parents of the beautiful and bright. it was this aspect, s

lf the light and change evolving their varieties. in the egean islands he was butes, dardanus, himeros or imbros; in crete he appears as iasius or even zeus, whose orgiastic worship, remaining unveiled by the usual forms of mystery, betrayed to profane curiosity the symbols which, if irreverently contemplated, were sure to be misunderstood. he was the same with the dismembered zagreus, the son of persephone, an ancient subterranean dionusos, the horned progeny of zeus in the constellation of the serpent, entrusted by his father with the thunderbolt, and encircled with the protecting dance of curetes. through the envious artifices of her, the titans eluded the vigilance of his guardians and tore him to pieces; but pallas restored the still palpitating heart to his father, who commanded apol

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

gons, at others she stands erect, her figure drawn up to its full height, and always fully draped; she bears a sheaf of wheat-ears in one hand and a lighted torch in the other. the wheat-ears are not unfrequently replaced by a bunch of poppies, with which her brows are also garlanded, though sometimes she merely wears a simple riband in her hair. demeter, as the wife of zeus, became the mother of persephone (proserpine, to whom she was so tenderly attached that her whole life was bound up in her, and she knew no happiness except in her society. one day, however, whilst persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow, attended by the ocean-nymphs, she saw to her surprise a beautiful narcissus, from the stem of which sprang forth a hundred blossoms. drawing near to examine this lovely flower, w

r men could give her the comfort which her soul so hungered for. at last, on the tenth day, the disconsolate mother met hecate, who informed her that she had heard her daughter's cries, but knew not who it was that had borne her away. by hecate's advice demeter consulted helios, whose all-seeing eye nothing escapes, and from him she learnt that it was zeus himself who had permitted aides to seize persephone, and transport her to the lower world in order that she might become his wife. indignant with zeus for having given his sanction to the abduction of his daughter, and filled with the bitterest sorrow, she abandoned her home in olympus, and refused all heavenly food. disguising herself as an old woman, she descended upon earth, and commenced a weary pilgrimage among mankind. one evening

espatched iris and many of the other gods and goddesses to implore demeter to return to olympus; but all their prayers were fruitless. the incensed goddess swore that until her daughter was restored to her she would not allow the grain to spring forth from the earth. at length zeus sent hermes, his faithful messenger, to the lower world with a petition to aides, urgently entreating him to restore persephone to the arms of her disconsolate mother. when he arrived in the gloomy realms of aides, hermes found him seated on a throne with the beautiful persephone beside him, sorrowfully bewailing her unhappy fate. on learning his errand, aides consented to resign persephone, who joyfully prepared to follow the messenger of the gods to the abode of life and light. before taking leave of her husba

lms they were bound to remain there for ever. of course the ruler of the lower world had to prove this assertion. this, however, he found no difficulty in doing, as ascalaphus, the son of acheron and orphne, was his witness to the fact.[25] zeus, pitying the disappointment of demeter at finding [56]her hopes thus blighted, succeeded in effecting a compromise by inducing his brother aides to allow persephone to spend six months of the year with the gods above, whilst during the other six she was to be the joyless companion of her grim lord below. accompanied by her daughter, the beautiful persephone, demeter now resumed her long-abandoned dwelling in olympus; the sympathetic earth responded gaily to her bright smiles, the corn at once sprang forth from the ground in fullest plenty, the tree

it is exceedingly difficult, as in the case of all secret societies, to discover anything with certainty concerning these sacred rites. the most plausible supposition is that the doctrines taught by the priests to the favoured few whom they initiated, were religious truths which were deemed unfit for the uninstructed mind of the multitude. for instance, it is supposed that the myth of demeter and persephone was explained by the teachers of the mysteries to signify the temporary loss which mother earth sustains every year when the icy breath of winter robs her of her flowers and fruits and grain. it is believed that in later times a still deeper meaning was conveyed by this beautiful myth, viz, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. the grain, which, as it were, remains dead for a tim

iad, how, when aneas was wounded in battle, she came to his assistance, regardless of personal danger, and was herself severely wounded in attempting to save his life [59] aphrodite was tenderly attached to a lovely youth, called adonis, whose exquisite beauty has become proverbial. he was a motherless babe, and aphrodite, taking pity on him, placed him in a chest and intrusted him to the care of persephone, who became so fond of the beautiful youth that she refused to part with him. zeus, being appealed to by the rival foster-mothers, decided that adonis should spend four months of every year with persephone, four with aphrodite, whilst during the remaining four months he should be left to his own devices. he became, however, so attached to aphrodite that he voluntarily devoted to her the

onless; tantalus forgot his perpetual thirst; the wheel of ixion ceased to revolve; and even the furies shed tears, and withheld for a time their persecutions. undismayed at the scenes of horror and suffering which met his view on every side, he pursued his way until he arrived at the page 88 palace of aides. presenting himself before the throne on which sat the stony-hearted king and his consort persephone, orpheus recounted his woes to the sound of his lyre. moved to pity by his sweet strains, they listened to his [82]melancholy story, and consented to release eurydice on condition that he should not look upon her until they reached the upper world. orpheus gladly promised to comply with this injunction, and, followed by eurydice, ascended the steep and gloomy path which led to the realm

is representations, and with the exception of a short mantle which falls from his shoulders, is unclothed. he stands against the trunk of a tree, up which a serpent is creeping, and his left arm is outstretched, as though about to punish. hecate. hecate would appear to have been originally a moon-goddess worshipped by the thracians. she became confounded, and eventually identified with selene and persephone, and is one of page 93 those divinities of whom the ancients had various conflicting accounts. hecate was the daughter of perses and "gold-wreathed" astraa (the starry night[32, and her sway extended over earth, heaven, and hell, for which reason she is represented in works of art as a triple divinity, having three female bodies, all young and beautiful, and united together. in later ti

es of whom the ancients had various conflicting accounts. hecate was the daughter of perses and "gold-wreathed" astraa (the starry night[32, and her sway extended over earth, heaven, and hell, for which reason she is represented in works of art as a triple divinity, having three female bodies, all young and beautiful, and united together. in later times, when this divinity becomes identified with persephone, she is supposed to inhabit the lower world as a malignant deity, and henceforward it is the gloomy, awe-inspiring side of her character which alone [86]develops itself. she now presides over all practices connected with witchcraft and enchantments, haunts sepulchres, and the point where two roads cross, and lonely spots where murders have been committed. she was supposed to be connecte

rticular would afford to her ministers, the evil spirits of the lower world, who hovered round the worshippers, an opportunity for entering among them, and exerting their baneful influence. at the end of every month food was placed wherever two roads met, in readiness for her and other malignant divinities. in studying the peculiar characteristics which hecate assumes when she usurps the place of persephone, the rightful mistress of page 94 the lower world, we are reminded of the various superstitions with regard to spectres, witchcraft &c, which have, even down to our own times, exerted so powerful an influence over the minds of the ignorant, and which would appear to owe their origin to a remote pagan source. selene (luna. just as helios personified the sun, so his sister selene represen

oint of resemblance, and decided that metra should henceforth be regarded as identical with artemis. in her character as the love which pervades all nature, and penetrates everywhere, they believed her also to be present in the mysterious realm of shades, where she exercised her benign sway, replacing to a certain extent that ancient divinity hecate, and page 101 partly usurping also the place of persephone, as mistress of the lower world. thus they believed that it was she who permitted the spirits of the departed to revisit the earth, in order to communicate with those they loved, and to give them timely warning of coming evil. in fact, this great, mighty, and omnipresent power of love, as embodied in the ephesian artemis, was believed by the great thinkers of old, to be the ruling spiri

ds had entitled them. this tribunal was guarded by the terrible triple-headed dog cerberus, who, with his three necks bristling with snakes, lay at full length on the ground;.a formidable sentinel, who permitted all shades to enter, but none to return. page 148 the happy spirits, destined to enjoy the delights of elysium, passed out on the right, and proceeded to the golden palace where aides and persephone held their royal court, from whom they received a kindly greeting, ere they set out for the elysian fields which lay beyond.[47] this blissful region was replete with all that could charm the senses or please the imagination; the air was balmy and fragrant, rippling brooks flowed peacefully through the smiling meadows, which glowed with the varied hues of a thousand flowers, whilst the

less task. page 151 page 152 aides is usually represented as a man of mature years and stern majestic mien, bearing a striking resemblance to his brother zeus; but the gloomy and inexorable expression of the face contrasts forcibly with that peculiar benignity which so characterizes the countenance of the mighty ruler of heaven. he is seated on a throne of ebony, with his queen, the grave and sad persephone [136]beside him, and wears a full beard, and long flowing black hair, which hangs straight down over his forehead; in his hand he either bears a two-pronged fork or the keys of the lower world, and at his feet sits cerberus. he is sometimes seen in a chariot of gold, drawn by four black horses, and wearing on his head a helmet made for him by the cyclops, which rendered the wearer invis

iously accounted for. according to hesiod, they sprang from the blood of uranus, when wounded by cronus, and were hence supposed to be the embodiment of all the terrible imprecations, which the defeated deity called down upon the head of his rebellious son. according to other accounts they were the daughters of night. their place of abode was the lower world, where they were employed by aides and persephone to chastise and torment those shades who, during their earthly career, had committed crimes, and had not been reconciled to the gods before descending to hades. but their sphere of action was not confined to the realm of shades, for they appeared upon earth as the avenging deities who relentlessly pursued and punished murderers, perjurers, those who had failed in duty to their parents

y wear bright garments, bespangled with stars, and are seated on radiant thrones, with crowns on their heads. it was considered the function of the moira to indicate to the furies the precise torture which the wicked should undergo for their crimes. they were regarded as prophetic divinities, and had sanctuaries in many parts of greece. the moira are mentioned as assisting the charites to conduct persephone to the upper world at her periodical [141]reunion with her mother demeter. they also appear in company with eileithyia, goddess of birth. nemesis. nemesis, the daughter of nyx, represents that power which adjusts the balance of human affairs, by awarding to each individual the fate which his actions deserve. she rewards, humble, unacknowledged merit, punishes crime, deprives the worthle

ssible. in these [153]she was always assisted by invisible, beneficent beings, sent to her by eros, who still loved her, and continued to watch over her welfare. page 171 page 172 psyche had to undergo a long and severe penance before she became worthy to regain the happiness, which she had so foolishly trifled away. at last aphrodite commanded her to descend into the under world, and obtain from persephone a box containing all the charms of beauty. psyche's courage now failed her, for she concluded that death must of necessity precede her entrance into the realm of shades. about to abandon herself to despair, she heard a voice which warned her of every danger to be avoided on her perilous journey, and instructed her with regard to certain precautions to be observed. these were as follows:

m of shades. about to abandon herself to despair, she heard a voice which warned her of every danger to be avoided on her perilous journey, and instructed her with regard to certain precautions to be observed. these were as follows:.not to omit to provide herself with the ferryman's toll for charon, and the cake to pacify cerberus, also to refrain from taking any part in the banquets of aides and persephone, and, above all things, to bring the box of beauty charms unopened to aphrodite. in conclusion, the voice assured her, that compliance with the above conditions would insure for her a safe return to the realms of light. but, alas, psyche, who had implicitly followed all injunctions, could not withstand the temptation of the last condition; and, hardly had she quitted the lower world, wh

atic performances, representing particular episodes in the lives of the gods and heroes, frequently took place. we subjoin a few of the most interesting of the greek and roman festivals. page 227 greek festivals. eleusinian mysteries. one of the most ancient and important among the festivals observed by the greeks was that of the eleusinian mysteries, which was celebrated in honour of demeter and persephone. the name was derived from eleusis, a town in attica, where the mysteries were first introduced by the goddess herself. they were divided into the [197]greater and lesser mysteries, and, according to the general account, were held every five years. the greater, which were celebrated in honour of demeter, and lasted nine days, were held in autumn; the lesser, dedicated to persephone (who

he greater, which were celebrated in honour of demeter, and lasted nine days, were held in autumn; the lesser, dedicated to persephone (who at these festivals was affectionately called cora, or the maiden, were held in spring. it is supposed that the secrets taught to the initiated by the priests.the expounders of the mysteries.were moral meanings, elucidated from the myths concerning demeter and persephone; but the most important belief inculcated was the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. that the lessons taught were of the highest moral character is universally admitted "the souls of those who participated in them were filled with the sweetest hopes both as to this and the future world" and it was a common saying among the athenians "in the mysteries no one is sad" the initiation

at his approach, meleager and medusa alone excepted. about to strike the latter with his sword, hermes interfered and stayed his hand, reminding him that she was but a shadow, and that consequently no weapon could avail against her. arrived before the gates of hades he found theseus and pirithous, who had been fixed to an enchanted rock by aides for their presumption in endeavouring to carry off persephone. when they saw heracles they implored him to set them free. the hero succeeded in delivering theseus, but when he endeavoured to liberate pirithous, the earth shook so violently beneath him that he was compelled to relinquish his task. proceeding further heracles recognized ascalaphus, who, as we have seen in the history of demeter, had revealed the fact that persephone had swallowed th

fame of her beauty, which was destined to play so important a part in the history of greece, had already spread far and wide. theseus and pirithous forcibly abducted her, and then having cast lots for her, she fell to theseus, who placed her under the charge of his mother athra. pirithous now requested theseus to assist him in his ambitious scheme of descending to the lower world and carrying off persephone, the queen of hades. though fully alive to the perils of page 301 the undertaking theseus would not forsake his friend, and together they sought the gloomy realm of shades. but aides had been forewarned of their approach, and scarcely had the two friends set foot within his dominions when, by his orders, they were seized, bound with chains, and secured to an enchanted rock at the entran

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

overeign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are. holding the world together in the mysteries of eleusis in ancient greece, the great goddess formed the central focus of greek religion (see p. 29. these rituals, open only to the initiated, related to the myth of the grain goddess demeter, and her daughter persephone, the ineffable maiden. those who witnessed the rites were assured of a new birth in death. the mysteries were thought by the greeks to hold the entire human race together. such a belief illustrates the crucial importance of myth in holding the world together, just as the cosmic serpent coils securely around the earth in the fon creation story. australian aborginal stories about the drea

hope that was so dear to the initiates of eleusis, that there may be a new life beyond this one. the egyptians hoped to be reborn to live a new life in the field of reeds, which was a perfected version of the egypt they knew. they were sustained triptolemus, culture hero triptolemus, who taught mankind how to use the plow, stands between the two goddesses of the eleusinian mysteries, demeter, and persephone. demeter is handing him a golden ear of grain (now lost. this marble relief of the second half of the fifth century bc was found at eleusis, probably in the temple of triptolemus. the hero heracles this greek vase shows heracles killing the stymphalian birds, the sixth of his 12 labors (see pp. 50-51) in which he killed or captured several ogres and monsters. before performing the last

religious rituals. young girls were often nicknamed kitten. but cats were also trained for the hunt, and are depicted in egyptian art retrieving birds felled by their masters throwing sticks. the greeks identified bastet with artemis, goddess of the hunt (see pp. 36 37, and herodotus describes her annual festival as an orgy. osiris, isis, and horus 16 like the greek demeter during her search for persephone (see p. 29, isis, in her search for osiris, becomes a nursemaid to a prince; both goddesses try to give the boys immortality by burning away their mortal parts, but they are interrupted. isis uttered so terrible a cry on seeing osiris corpse that it killed the baby prince she was caring for. osiris, isis, and horus osiris, the ruler of the underworld, was originally a king in the upper

will melt, and each man and woman will pass through the stream of molten metal and emerge purified. to the good, the stream will feel like a bath of warm milk; to the evil, it will be agony, as their sins are burned away. the new world will be immortal and everlasting, and free of taint. gods of olympus 22 hades hades (see pp. 28 29, zeus brother, was the god of the underworld. he was married to persephone (see above. cronos and rhea this couple may depict zeus parents, cronos and rhea, who were banished to tartarus in the underworld. cronos, whose name means time, castrated his father uranus with a sickle. t he gods of the ancient greeks lived at the top of mount olympus, the highest peak in greece. later their home was conceived of as a heaven in the skies. from olympus, the gods loved

odite aphrodite (see pp. 26 27, the goddess of sexual love, was born from the foam after cronos cast his father s genitals into the sea. she had power over everyone except hestia, athena, and artemis. poseidon poseidon was the god of the sea. he is shown here astride a fish, carrying his three-pronged trident. poseidon is particularly noted for his persecution of the hero odysseus (see pp. 64 65. persephone persephone was the daughter of demeter and zeus. she was seized by hades to be his bride in the underworld (see pp. 28 29. hestia hestia, zeus sister, was goddess of the hearth and a sworn virgin. she was more important to the romans than the greeks and was venerated as vesta, and served by the vestal virgins. gods of olympus athena athena, zeus daughter by the nymph metis, was goddess

) this 16th-century ceiling painting shows the gods and some of the immortals of mount olympus. it would have been painted to suggest the power and glory of the patron. artemis artemis (see pp. 36 37) was apollo s twin sister and the goddess of hunting and archery. all wild animals were in her care. demeter demeter, zeus sister, was the greek earth-goddess. her brother zeus fathered her daughter, persephone. her search for persephone formed the basis of the mysteries of eleusis (see p. 29. dionysus dionysus (see pp. 58 59, god of ecstasy and wine, was the child of zeus by a mortal, semele. he is shown with goat s legs and horns. hercules hercules (see pp. 50 51) was a son of zeus by a mortal. hera hated him. he earned immortality by performing 12 impossible tasks. when he went to olympus h

r east. she is related to the goddess ishtar (see p. 19; her love for adonis (see pp. 32 33) echoes that of ishtar and tammuz, and the existence of temple prostitutes in her temple in corinth reflects the custom in the temples of ishtar. herodotus points out that the babylonian custom of every woman prostituting herself once in the temple of the goddess was also to be found in cyprus. the rape of persephone 28 the rape of persephone persephone (roman proserpine, the daughter of zeus (jupiter) and demeter (ceres, was carried off by hades (pluto) to be his queen in the underworld. devastated, demeter, the earth goddess, refused to fulfil her duties until she was returned to her. but persephone had eaten a pomegranate seed while she was away, which bound her to hades. zeus agreed to a comprom

phone 28 the rape of persephone persephone (roman proserpine, the daughter of zeus (jupiter) and demeter (ceres, was carried off by hades (pluto) to be his queen in the underworld. devastated, demeter, the earth goddess, refused to fulfil her duties until she was returned to her. but persephone had eaten a pomegranate seed while she was away, which bound her to hades. zeus agreed to a compromise: persephone would spend four (some sources say six) months on earth with her mother and the rest of the year in the underworld. this story explains the annual death and rebirth inherent in nature s cycle when persephone is away, demeter is too sad to fulfill her duties, but when she returns, demeter works with renewed vigor. the myths of persephone are complex because in their inner meanings they g

go to the heart of ancient greek religion. in one version of her story, zeus himself falls in love with her, and seduces her by taking the form of a snake and enveloping her in his coils the resulting child is dionysus (bacchus. in the more common version, she is abducted by hades but a hades who reveals many features of dionysus in his archaic role as lord of the underworld (see p. 59. hades and persephone hades was sometimes called pluto, which derives from the greek word for riches. the recipent of buried treasure, he was, therefore, considered the god of agricultural wealth. as such, he exerted influence over crops and cultivation hence his marriage to the earth goddess daughter (in earlier times persephone and demeter may have been a single divinity) hades in love hades carries persep

ter may have been a single divinity) hades in love hades carries persephone away. according to ovid s roman version of the story, aphrodite (venus) instructed eros (cupid) to pierce the underworld god with an arrow of desire for his niece, in order to demonstrate her power over the other gods. royal trident hades struck the ground with his trident to open up a way to the underworld, where he took persephone to be his queen. weeping water nymph when hades seized persephone, the nymph cyane rose from the lake and rebuked him but he ignored her. desolate, cyane wept so much that her blood turned to water, and she dissolved. when persephone s grieving mother demeter came looking for her, all the mute cyane could do was bear up persephone s lost girdle on the surface of the water. cerberus hade

t he ignored her. desolate, cyane wept so much that her blood turned to water, and she dissolved. when persephone s grieving mother demeter came looking for her, all the mute cyane could do was bear up persephone s lost girdle on the surface of the water. cerberus hades galloped over the fields, guarded by cerberus, the three-headed watchdog of the underworld, breathing venomous fire. pure maiden persephone, first known as core, the maiden, was pure and beautiful. persephone means bringer of destruction as hades queen, no one could die unless she cut a hair from their heads. persephone the island of sicily the story is set in sicily, where the maiden core is wandering innocently through the meadows picking flowers- usually said to be poppies, which were sacred to demeter, although violets

, was pure and beautiful. persephone means bringer of destruction as hades queen, no one could die unless she cut a hair from their heads. persephone the island of sicily the story is set in sicily, where the maiden core is wandering innocently through the meadows picking flowers- usually said to be poppies, which were sacred to demeter, although violets and lilies are also mentioned. the rape of persephone 29 persephone was stolen away from the island of sicily. the earth giant typhoeus was imprisoned beneath the island and his struggles were creating earthquakes. hades was concerned in case the earth gaped open and let in daylight, which would frighten the dead. black horses hades black horses drew his fiery chariot towards the chasm of the underworld. they were among his most prized pos

des was concerned in case the earth gaped open and let in daylight, which would frighten the dead. black horses hades black horses drew his fiery chariot towards the chasm of the underworld. they were among his most prized possessions, along with his helmet of invisibility, which he once lent to perseus (see pp. 46 47. demeter is shown on this greek blackfigure amphora, together with her daughter persephone and the god apollo in his chariot. snake snakes have many meanings in greek myth depending on the context. a symbol of fertility in earlier religions, the snake had similar connotations as an attribute of persephone s mother, demeter, the earth/grain goddess. the artist may also be referring here to the story of zeus taking the form of a snake and enveloping persephone in his coils. the

t. a symbol of fertility in earlier religions, the snake had similar connotations as an attribute of persephone s mother, demeter, the earth/grain goddess. the artist may also be referring here to the story of zeus taking the form of a snake and enveloping persephone in his coils. the rape of pers eph one by christoph schwartz (or shwarz (1545 92) the painting shows the early part of the story of persephone, when her uncle, hades, whisks her into his infernal chariot and carries her off to be his queen in the underworld. he ignores the pleas of the water nymph cyane, who sees what is happening and tries to stop him. chariot snake ornament the story of demeter t he daughter of cronos (saturn) and rhea (ops, demeter was sometimes portrayed with a horse s head. one of the olympians, she left

le, hades, whisks her into his infernal chariot and carries her off to be his queen in the underworld. he ignores the pleas of the water nymph cyane, who sees what is happening and tries to stop him. chariot snake ornament the story of demeter t he daughter of cronos (saturn) and rhea (ops, demeter was sometimes portrayed with a horse s head. one of the olympians, she left olympus in despair when persephone disappeared. one day, she came to eleusis, near athens, where she stayed with the king and queen in the guise of an old nurse. grateful for their kindness, she bathed their son in fire each night to make him immortal. but one night she was interrupted and the spell was broken. she then revealed herself in her divine form and ordered that a temple should be built to her (see below. she a

eligion, and it was believed that they held the whole human race together. therefore, it was vital to observe them each year. initiates were seen as superior beings because of the vision they had received of life beyond death. the secrecy the initiates maintained was so strict that it is not known exactly what they experienced, but they seem to have had a three-fold revelation: the assurance that persephone had given birth in fire to a divine child, the aeon; a beatific vision of the maiden herself; and the display of an ear of wheat, with its promise of new life. the mysteries were observed for 2,000 years; they came to an end when alaric, king of the goths, sacked eleusis in 396 ce. orpheus and eurydice 30 lord of the dead hades was made ruler of the dead when he and his brothers zeus an

rs; they came to an end when alaric, king of the goths, sacked eleusis in 396 ce. orpheus and eurydice 30 lord of the dead hades was made ruler of the dead when he and his brothers zeus and poseidon drew lots for the lordship of the sky, the sea, and the underworld. the earth was left as common territory, though hades rarely ventured there except when absolutely necessary as he did when he seized persephone to be his bride (see pp. 28 29. orpheus and eurydice orpheus was married to the nymph eurydice, whom he loved dearly. one day she was walking by the banks of a river when she met the shepherd aristaeus. amazed at her beauty, aristaeus immediately fell in love and pursued her through the countryside. eurydice fled, but as she ran, she stepped on a snake. the bite proved fatal. desolate a

by the banks of a river when she met the shepherd aristaeus. amazed at her beauty, aristaeus immediately fell in love and pursued her through the countryside. eurydice fled, but as she ran, she stepped on a snake. the bite proved fatal. desolate at her loss, orpheus determined to journey into the underworld (from which no living mortal had ever returned, to beg for his wife to be returned to him. persephone (roman proserpine, queen of the underworld, was so moved by his sorrow, that she agreed to his request on condition that he did not look at eurydice on the way back to the daylight. but as they neared the end of their journey, orpheus could not help glancing back to make sure his beloved was still with him, and as he looked she faded before his eyes, lost to him forever. orpheus never r

said to have been torn apart by the maenads, who were punished by dionysus. the fates the three fates were the daughters of the night: clotho( the spinner, lachesis( the drawer of lots, and atropos( the inevitable. even zeus was not more powerful than the fates, who measured out each man s destiny like a length of thread one spun it, one measured it, and the third cut it. queen of the underworld persephone, the dreaded queen of the underworld, was the mother of the god of the orphic mysteries, dionysus zagreus, who was fathered by zeus in the form of a serpent. this may be the reason why she took pity on orpheus, the poet who had sung dionysus praises. orpheus in th e underworld reclaiming eurydice, or the music by jean restout ii (1692 1768) this painting shows orpheus begging hades (plu

readed queen of the underworld, was the mother of the god of the orphic mysteries, dionysus zagreus, who was fathered by zeus in the form of a serpent. this may be the reason why she took pity on orpheus, the poet who had sung dionysus praises. orpheus in th e underworld reclaiming eurydice, or the music by jean restout ii (1692 1768) this painting shows orpheus begging hades (pluto) and his wife persephone, rulers of the underworld, to return his wife eurydice to him because he cannot live without her. he is singing and playing his lyre in an attempt to soften their hearts. the usually merciless hades signals to his wife persephone that he has relented. the muses the nine muses were the daughters of zeus and the titaness mnemosyne (memory. they were regarded as the goddesses of art, poetr

injured foot. when she was returning to the upper world, this caused her to lag behind orpheus, making him doubt that she was still with him and glance back. orpheus singing the singing of orpheus even eased the torments of the damned. according to ovid, the ghosts ceased from their rounds of fruitless labor and constant torment, and listened to his plea in tears. even the furies cried. hades and persephone were so moved that they could not refuse him. guide of souls the god hermes (mercury) has a role in the underworld as the psychopompos, or guide of souls. here, he leads eurydice down to her new home. unusually, he is shown with wings, rather than winged sandals. orpheus was torn apart by maenads, the wild women in the retinue of dionysus (see pp. 58 59, because he would not join in the

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

vers of paradise and the letters of the holy name. he is also axieros, the first of the samothracian kabiri, as well as zeus and osiris. the left hand figure below, rising from the earth is samael, the ruler of volcanic fire. he is also axiokersos, the second kabir, pluto and typhon. the right hand figure below is anael, the ruler of astral light. she is also axiokersa, the third kabir, ceres and persephone, isis and nephthys. she is, therefore, represented in duplicate form, and rising from the waters. around both these figures dart flashes of lightning <105> these three principle figures form the fire triangle, and further rep resent fire operating in the other three elements of earth, air, and water. the central lower figure with his back turned, and his arms in the sign of the two equa

RUBY TABLET OF SET

too, and many another of the poets who are divinely inspired. what they say is this. see whether you think they are speaking the truth. they say that the soul of a man is immortal. at one time it comes to an end. that which is called death. and at another is born again, but is never finally exterminated. on these grounds a man must live all his days as righteously as possible. for those from whom persephone receives requital for ancient doom in the ninth year she restores again their souls to the sun above from whom rise noble kings and the swift in strength and greatest in wisdom, and for the rest of time they are called heroes and sanctified by men. thus the soul, since it is immortal and has been born many times, and has seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned ever

SATANIC BIBLE

rsonification of satan yaotzin- aztec god of hell yen-lo-wang- chinese ruler of hell the devils of past religions have always, at least in part, had animal characteristics, evidence of man's constant need to deny that he too is an animal, for to do so would serve a mighty blow to his impoverished ego. the pig was despised by the jews and the egyptians. it symbolized the gods frey, osiris, adonis, persephone, attis, and demeter, and was sacrificed to osiris and the moon. but, in time, it became degraded into a devil. the phoenicians worhipped a fly god, baal, from which comes the devil, beelzebub. both baal and beelzebub are identical to the dung beetle or scarabaeus of the egyptians which appeared to resurrect itself, much as the mythical bird, the phoenix, rose from its own ashes. the anc

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

rate initiations, including purification rites (rituals to clean the new members and make them pure, accepting occult or magical knowledge, and acting out a sacred drama. many of these mystery cults celebrated a cycle of death and rebirth. the eleusinian mysteries, held at the sacred site of eleusis near athens, for example, reenacted for believers the myth of the goddess demeter and her daughter persephone. the story tells that persephone was so beautiful that hades himself kidnapped her and carried her off to be queen of the underworld. demeter, mourning for her daughter, caused all growing things to fade. this so alarmed the rest of the gods that they ordered hades to release persephone to her mother. hades could not do so lawfully, however, because persephone had eaten a tiny amount of

er and carried her off to be queen of the underworld. demeter, mourning for her daughter, caused all growing things to fade. this so alarmed the rest of the gods that they ordered hades to release persephone to her mother. hades could not do so lawfully, however, because persephone had eaten a tiny amount of food while she was in the underworld, tying her to it. the compromise worked out was that persephone had to spend six months of the year with hades in the underworld and six months with her mother. on one level this is a story about the seasons and fertility, but on another it is a story of death and resurrection, or rising from the dead. historians believe that initiates to the mystery cults were given a chance to symbolically die and were then brought symbolically back to life. 224 w

offman photo library/ alamy. 382 world religions: almanac neo-paganism throughout history many cultures, including the ancient greeks, romans, and egyptians, worshipped goddesses. the names of some of these goddesses include anat, aphrodite, aradia, arianrhod, artemis, astarte, brigid, ceres, demeter, diana, eostre, freya, gaia, hera, ishtar, isis, juno, kali, lilith, maat, mary, minerva, ostare, persephone, venus, and vesta. some historians of religion would add mary, the mother of jesus christ (c. 6 bce c. 30 ce, to this list because mary has been venerated, or highly respected, by many christians throughout history. in modern times the feminist movement has renewed interest in goddess worship. feminists want equal rights and treatment for women. they believe that western culture and civ

ed to the underworld. this version of the story never became as popular as the version in the kojiki. the story of the journey to the underworld is remarkably similar to a story told in greek mythology. like izanagi, the greek god orpheus also made the mistake of looking at his mate against her wishes when he sought her in the underworld. izanami made an error similar to that of the greek goddess persephone by eating the food of the underworld, forcing her to remain in the world of the dead. records from the tenth century show that several shrines were built to izanagi and izanami in the kinki area of japan, an area that encompasses the cities of kyoto, osaka, and kobe. later, the taga shrine was built for the worship of izanagi in omi, which is now the shiga prefecture, or district, and t

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

s took place in february, the greater mysteries in september. initiation into the mysteries took place in connection with these festivals. the climax of the initiatory proceedings was a symbolic enactment of the human and cosmic drama on the site. the temples at eleusis were dedicated to the goddess demeter. she is a daughter of kronos, and before his marriage to hera, zeus had by her a daughter, persephone. once while persephone was out playing, pluto, the god of the underworld, carried her off. demeter went wandering through the world lamenting and seeking for her. at eleusis she sat down on a stone, and there she was found by the daughters of celeus, a governor of eleusis. in the form of an old woman, she was taken into the service of the family of celeus, as nurse to the queen s son. s

f the family of celeus, as nurse to the queen s son. she wished to endow the son with immortality, and to this end she hid him every night in the fire. but when his mother learned of it she cried and wailed, after which the bestowal of immortality was no longer 84 christianity as mystical fact possible, and demeter left the house. it was then that celeus built the temple. the grief of demeter for persephone was boundless, and spread sterility over the earth. to avert total disaster, the gods had to find a way of appeasing her, so zeus induced pluto to let persephone return to the upper world. however, before he let her go he gave her a pomegranate to eat, and because of this she was compelled to return to the underworld ever after at regular intervals; for a third of the year she dwelled i

and because of this she was compelled to return to the underworld ever after at regular intervals; for a third of the year she dwelled in the underworld, and for two thirds in the upper world. comforted, demeter returned to olympus. but at eleusis, where she had undergone her grief, demeter founded the cult-festivals in which her fate was ever afterward commemorated. the mythology of demeter and persephone is not hard to interpret. it is the soul that lives alternately in the underworld and in the upper regions; the myth clothes in a picture the eternal nature of the soul that persists throughout its endless transformations, its births and deaths. the soul has an immortal mother demeter but is carried away into the realms of transitoriness, and even induced to share in the destiny of the

however, cannot bear the pure energy of fire (or spirit) and demeter has to cease her attempt. all she can do is to institute the temple cult. through this, so far as they are able, human beings can participate in the divine nature. the festivals at eleusis were an eloquent confession of the belief in the immortality of the human soul. the conviction was expressed in the imagery of the myth about persephone. but alongside demeter and persephone at eleusis, the god dionysus was honored. if demeter stood for the divine origin of the eternal within humanity, dionysus was worshipped as the divine presence in the world, which assumes an endless variety of forms. he is the god poured out into cosmic existence, torn apart in order to be reborn spiritually. he rightly takes his place beside demete

1990; also mysteries of the east and christianity (rudolf steiner press, london, 1972, which relates it to the stages of initiation-experience which are hinted at in the account of his voluntary death and new birth by apuleius, the golden ass or, metamorphoses xi. the latter text is translated in meyer, the ancient mysteries, pp. 176ff. at the climactic moment he says: i crossed the threshold of persephone; i was caught rapt through all the elements; i saw the sun shining at midnight with a radiant light; i stood before the upper and the lower gods, drew near and adored (xi, 23) 78. empedocles, fragment 26. 79. empedocles, fragment 20. 80. this epistemological doctrine given expression in goethe s saying: 220 christianity as mystical fact w r nicht das auge sonnenhaft, wie k nnten wir das

in athen, in philologus, supplementary volume iii, part 3 (r.st) for a more up-to-date account, see g. mylonas, eleusis and the eleusinian mysteries (princeton university press, princeton, 1961, chs. vi and vii. 84. there are further discussions of the eleusinian mysteries by steiner in wonders of the world and mystery knowledge and mystery centres. the official eleusinian account of the demeter-persephone myth is contained in the homeric hymn to demeter from around the seventh century b.c; it is translated in meyer, the ancient mysteries, pp. 20ff. an important survey of the eleusinian cult is contained in mircea eliade, history of religious ideas, vol. i (university of chicago press, chicago, 1981, pp. 290-301. 85. the spirit of the eleusinian mysteries is brilliantly captured by edouar

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he ritual drama. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d afterlife mysteries 33 the eleusinian rites were held at a fixed time in the early fall after the seeds had been entrusted to the fields, and were conducted by a hereditary priesthood called the eumolpedie. the eleusinian drama reenacted the myth of the rape, abduction, and marriage of kore (persephone) by hades, god of the underworld, and her separation from her mother, demeter, the goddess of grain and vegetation. when, in her despair, demeter refuses to allow the earth to bear fruit and brings about a time of blight and starvation that threatens to extinguish both humans and the gods, zeus recalls persephone from hades. filled with joy at the reunion with her daughter, demeter once

orld, and her separation from her mother, demeter, the goddess of grain and vegetation. when, in her despair, demeter refuses to allow the earth to bear fruit and brings about a time of blight and starvation that threatens to extinguish both humans and the gods, zeus recalls persephone from hades. filled with joy at the reunion with her daughter, demeter once again allows the earth to bear fruit. persephone, however, will now divide the days of each year between her husband, hades, in the underworld, and her mother, ensuring a bountiful harvest. essentially, the rites imitated the agricultural cycles of planting the seed, nurturing its growth, and harvesting the grain, which, on the symbolical level, represented the birth of the soul, its journey through life, and its death. as the seed of

from such infamy. m delving deeper gordon, stuart. the encyclopedia of myths and legends. london: headline house, 1993. orphic mysteries orpheus may have been an actual historic figure, a man capable of charming both man and beast with his music, but god or human, he modified the dionysian rites by removing their orgiastic elements. dionysus zagreus, the horned son of zeus (king of the gods) and persephone (daughter of zeus and demeter, was the great god of the orphic mysteries, who was devoured by the evil titans while zeus was otherwise distracted. athena managed to save dionysus zagreus s heart while the enraged zeus destroyed the titans with his thunderbolts. zeus gave the heart of his beloved son to the earth goddess semele who dissolved it in a potion, drank thereof, and gave birth

returned to greece, he was known only by the name that he had received in the initiation rites, orpheus of arpha, the one who heals with light. orpheus next changed the cult of bacchus/ dionysus and set about restructuring the spiritual soul of greece, recreating the mysteries by blending the religion of zeus with that of dionysus. orpheus taught that dionysis zagreus, the horned son of zeus and persephone, the great god of the orphic mysteries, was devoured by the evil titans while zeus was otherwise distracted. athena managed to save dionysus zagreus s heart while the enraged zeus destroyed the titans with his thunderbolts. zeus gave the heart of his beloved son to the earth goddess semele who dissolved it in a potion, drank thereof, and gave birth to dionysus, the god of vegetation, wh

of the same divinity. descended into hell, the underworld, and braved its challenges and subdued the demons of the pit. the disciples of the orphic/dionysus schools were promised the celestial fire of zeus, the light retrieved by orpheus, that enabled their souls to triumph over death. these things would all be enacted in the mystery play that depicted orpheus descending into hades and observing persephone, the queen of the dead, being awakened by dionysus and being reborn in his arms, thus perpetuating the cycle of rebirth and death, past and future, blending into a timeless immortality. while other schools of reincarnation see the process of rebirth as an evolving of the soul ever higher with each incarnation, the orphic concept introduces the aspect of the soul being gradually purged o

k: st. martins, 1991. eleusis the sacred eleusinian mysteries of the greeks date back to the fifth century and were the most popular and influential of the cults, and it has been said that nowhere did the ancient mysteries appear in such human, vital, and colorful form. the cult of eleusis centered around the myth of demeter (ceres, the great mother of agriculture and vegetation, and her daughter persephone, queen of the greek underworld, the original name of the goddess of death and regeneration. the drama enacted for the initiates symbolized the odyssey of the human soul, its descent into matter, its earthly sufferings, its terror in the darkness of death, and its rebirth into divine existence. some contemporary students of the mysteries have portrayed the myth as the story of the fall o

ession began the journey to eleusis, where, upon the arrival of the priests, the initiates were received by the high priest of eleusis, the hieroceryx, or sacred herald, who was dressed in a manner suggesting the god hermes (mercury, holding the caduceus, the entwined serpents, as a symbol of his authority. once the aspirants had assembled, the sacred herald led them to a sanctuary of the goddess persephone hidden in a quiet valley in the midst of a sacred grove. here, the priestesses of persephone, crowned with narcissus wreaths, began chanting, warning the newcomers of the mysteries that they were about to perceive. the initiates would learn that the present life that they held so dear was but a tapestry of illusion and confused dreams. after a stern admonition that the aspirants be care

ove. here, the priestesses of persephone, crowned with narcissus wreaths, began chanting, warning the newcomers of the mysteries that they were about to perceive. the initiates would learn that the present life that they held so dear was but a tapestry of illusion and confused dreams. after a stern admonition that the aspirants be careful not to desecrate the mysteries in any way lest the goddess persephone pursue them forever, they were allowed to partake of food and drink. for the next several days, the initiates fasted and participated in cleansing rituals and prayers. on the evening of the last day of the celebration of the mystery, the candidates gathered in the most secret area of the sacred grove to attend the rape of persephone. the eleusinian drama reenacted the myth of the rape

ver, they were allowed to partake of food and drink. for the next several days, the initiates fasted and participated in cleansing rituals and prayers. on the evening of the last day of the celebration of the mystery, the candidates gathered in the most secret area of the sacred grove to attend the rape of persephone. the eleusinian drama reenacted the myth of the rape, abduction, and marriage of persephone (kore) by hades, god of the underworld, and her separation from her mother, demeter (ceres, the goddess of grain and vegetation. when, in her despair, demeter refuses to allow the earth to bear fruit and causes a time of blight and starvation that threatens to bring about the extinction of both humans and the gods, zeus recalls persephone from hades. filled with joy at the reunion with

tion from her mother, demeter (ceres, the goddess of grain and vegetation. when, in her despair, demeter refuses to allow the earth to bear fruit and causes a time of blight and starvation that threatens to bring about the extinction of both humans and the gods, zeus recalls persephone from hades. filled with joy at the reunion with her daughter, demeter once again allows the earth to bear fruit. persephone, however, will now divide her time between her husband hades in the underworld and her mother on earth, ensuring a bountiful harvest. essentially, the rites imitated the agricultural cycles of planting the seed, nurturing its growth, and harvesting the grain, which, on the symbolical level, represented the birth of the soul, its journey through life, and its death. as the seed of the ha

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e of europe during the middle ages has commented on the fact that the common folk simply went underground with their worship of diana, or made the motions of giving reverence to the virgin mary, while secretly directing their true devotion to the goddess. gchristianization forced the old religionists underground in the twelfth century, but the sculptors paid tribute to their goddesses demeter and persephone by creating the madonna and female jesus. in ancient times people worshipped at the temple of demeter in enna, sicily, where they celebrated her daughter persephone fs resurrection from the underworld to become goddess of souls and immortality. to this day the sicilians worship the female deity more than the male, and every city has its sainted patroness. h sources: grimassi, raven. enc

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

l life, from gods, plants, animals, and humans, are her children by her consort. however, this section focuses on mythologyand the divine/mythological figure of the daughter of the mother is central to this discussion. the mother s daughter is called by the clan of orvendale tara de rosilea, but the concept of the goddess of all having a daughter is as old as the hills- demeter s daughter kore or persephone springs to mind here, and this example is particularly apt in this case, because persephone was seen, in the classical world, as the queen of the dead, or the queen of the underworld- the queen of elfhame. before we continue this short discussion on the daughter, something has to be clarified: the title queen of elfhame can be confusing, as it is given to the mother and her daughter- bu

mm s canon, for instance) end with the princess or maiden bearing a child, is interesting to say the least. what is very important about the mysteries of the daughter is that she (and the feminine mysteries in general) are more representative of the craft worldview, as well as those of the ancient mysteries, all the way up to gnosticism, in which the soul was seen as a feminine power. the kore or persephone of hellenic paganism likewise was a symbol of the human soul- this was part of the key to understanding the hallowed eleusinian mysteries. a myth-pattern for the daughter goes like this: the father, in his rather sky based form of worldly fertility mates with the mother, and the daughter is born. the daughter is then abducted or otherwise seduced/taken down into the underworld by a dark

stion or origins is known to everyone: wine comes from grapes, and bread from wheat. and here we begin to build parallels: the earth itself represents both the mother of all, and the earth father, the impregnating force of nature; the earth and waters are the primal parents. the grape vines and wheat plants are children of the primal parents. like in the greek mysteries, if demeter was the earth, persephone was the grain or wheat that grew out of it. the grape vines and wheat/barley are the children. they occupy the same place in the housle as the daughter or the son/lightbringer occupy in the mythology. we have seen how both the son and the daughter (and all human souls) have to undergo many tribulations, pains, births, deaths, and journeys throughout their fated involvement with the worl

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

ve urges, inferior dreams, and complexes. this is the personal unconscious which is the storehouse of hidden memories, repressed psychic content, and the shadow personality. this part of the psyche is accessed by working with hypnosis, trance, and imagery. archetypes of the lower unconscious include all underworld deities, such as the sumerian goddess ereshkigal and the greek divinities hades and persephone. if we were to add anything to assagioli's model it would be the body, or manifest psyche, which must be considered in a holistic psychology. mind and body are interrelated extensions of one another. just as physical discomfort can affect the mind, the mind, through focused visualization, can affect the body. archetypes of the manifest psyche include all earth deities, such as the egypt

THE PAGAN BOOK OF WORDS PRAYERS CHANTS AND RHYMES

sin, forget! i stand tall. i feel strong. i am free! patience chant to be said when you feel a loss of patience and feel the stirrings of anger. air of silence, surround me. quell the flame within me. breathe in the tranquility around me. may the calmness fill and ground me. eliza fegley http//www.sacredspiral.com isis moonlight beauteous love enamoured raven mourning dove spiral helix cosmos sky persephone underworld mother butterfly triple goddess morrigu this is the calling of the chosen few. writer s chant mnemosyne. mnemosyne. muse of the ancient time. keeper of the ancient rhyme. memory of that ancient age when poetry was kept on tongue, not page. whisper to me those ancient utterings. send pen and ink fluttering. eliza fegley http//www.sacredspiral.com acorns fallen from up above ar

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

oth brilliant and flashing; and as are the sides of the heptagonal vault, so also will be the contents of these seven chapters. but here at least we shall alone content ourselves with quoting from one poem. gorpheus, h and then only loose from the massive setting a few of its flashing stones. in book i the invocation of venus is very fine. the third verse being: down to the loveless sea where lay persephone violate, where the shade of earth is black, crystalline out of space flames the immortal face! the glory of the comet-tailed track blinds all black earth with tears. silence awakes and hears the music of thy moving come over the starry spheres *orpheus, vol. iii, p. 168. the song of gthe hours, h*1. and gspring, h*2. are also magnificent, as are the invocation of hecate;*3. the three ju

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

s upon a vestal virgin, hercules of jove, buddha of vishnu in the form of a white elephant with six tusks, jesus of jehovah upon a virgin, and many another. even true gods were born of mortal mothers, as dionysius of semele. also they recount many loves of heaven for earth, diana for endymion, zeus for leda, danae, europa, and the rest; even hades issued from his gloomy kingdom to ravish the maid persephone. there are also loves of gods for nymphs, bacchus for the ariadne, zeus for io, pan for syrinx; there is no end of these. and satyrs, fawns, centaurs, dryads, a thousand gracious tribes, leap lightly and lustfully through their legends. again we have the loves of fairies for mankind, and the commerce of the beni elohim with the daughters of men; and yet again the marriage of orpheus wit

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

ery religions had an enormous influence on the greek conscience, enabling it to comprehend the value of the christian message 'orphism was the most important of these deriving its name from its alleged founder. it was a particular form of that orgiastic and ecstatic religion which originated in the worship of dionysus and consisted in living over again his myth. zagreus, the son of zeus and kore (persephone, is slain at hera's instigation by the titans who tear him to pieces and devour him except for his heart which athene saves and of which is born, as the son of zeus and semele, the second dionysus. palingenesis here consisted in dying and being reborn again in zagreus. mankind had birth from the ashes of the titans smitten by the thunderbolt of zeus in punishment for their crime. this i

the wrath of hera. this kid which is being suckled symbolises the infancy of dionysus, and silenus is present because he is to be the pedagogue of the god; the scene represents symbolically the new birth of the neophyte. she is seen again in zagreus under the form of a kid, which is why there is found on the golden tablets buried with the initiated at sybaris the soul of the dead appearing before persephone and saying "i am born again '5. the neophyte is born again in zagreus; she has begun to live the life of the god, but terrible tests await her. silenus seated on a double plinth shows her a hemispherical silver case on which a youth gazes in ecstasy while his companion holds on high behind him a dionysiac mask. silenus turns to the neophyte, identified by the sindon, and utters that to

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