Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MYSTERY CULTS

“Mystery cults” or “mystery religions” refer to a pattern of religious expression in the Greco-Roman world. The “mysteries” were initiation rituals in which the initiate (mýstēs) had an extraordinary experience about which participants were forbidden to speak afterwards. Elements of these rituals (teletaí, “completions”) could include: legómena (“things spoken”), recitations or enactments of ritual words or the myth of the cult deities; deiknýmena (“things shown”), cult objects often hidden in a basket; and drṓmena (“things performed”), ritual actions or dramatic enactments. The word “mystery,” from Gk. mýein (“to close”), indicates the initiate’s closed eyes, later opened to see what was revealed in the ritual, as well as the initiate’s closed mouth keeping secrecy.

Beyond the common factor of the initiation ritual, the mystery cults varied in origin and organization. Various themes figured in the initiations: life and death, suffering, sexuality, fertility, and well-being. Cult worship was not confined to initiation rituals but also included public ceremonies and personal devotional acts. Initiation was an individual choice, but most cults did not require exclusive loyalty.

Similarities which characterize these cults as mysteries can be attributed to their development within the framework of common social institutions and conditions in the Greco-Roman world. In a context of social dislocation, individuals sought personal ritual experiences to connect them to their deities. The mysteries provided one opportunity.

The mysteries are best understood as particular cults. The Eleusinian mysteries, commemorating the myth of Demeter and Persephone, were based at Eleusis, 21 km. (13 mi.) from Athens. Most Athenians were initiated, and members from all levels of society were admitted. Primary positions in the cult were filled by two prominent Athenian families. The Greater Mysteries, the second of three stages of initiation, were celebrated annually in autumn. Initiates were purified at the seashore, where each brought a piglet which was ritually washed and killed and the blood sprinkled on the initiate. A few days later, the initiates formed a procession from Athens to Eleusis along the Sacred Way, carrying the sacred objects and statues, crying “Iache! Iacce!” (lit., “Shout!”). They arrived at night, carrying torches, and entered the Telesterion, the temple of initiation, where a distinctive sacred meal was part of the ritual. Initiation promised a better afterlife in the underworld.

On the Aegean island of Samothrace, the Samothracian mysteries honored deities known simply as the Great Gods (Theoi Megaloi). In Greco-Roman times, visitors came from throughout the Mediterranean world to experience initiation there. Samothracian initiation was said to protect seafarers. The initiation took place in two stages, the mýēsis in a large central torchlit chamber, and then the epopteía for a more limited group in a smaller room. The nocturnal rituals included sacrifices and dancing, and probably a water purification ceremony. The Rule of the Andanian mysteries, an inscription from the Peloponnesus dated 92/91 b.c.e., provides information about the rules and organization of another such cult of several deities, but does not reveal the secrets of the cult.

The mysteries of Dionysus (Bacchus) had no central sanctuary and took diverse forms throughout the Hellenistic world. The cult was noted for frenzied wine-drinking rituals in which participants wandered the forested mountainsides wearing fawn skins and carrying staffs (thýrsoi) adorned with ivy leaves and a pine cone. They also reputedly tore live animals to pieces with their bare hands and ate the flesh raw. Many of the participants were women, known as maenads. Euripides’ play, The Bacchae, provides an image of their orgiastic cult. Other evidence suggests more sedate rituals and regulated cult associations. The cult was especially associated with actors. A fresco from the Villa Item near Pompeii probably provides images of a Dionysiac mystery initiation. Orphism was also related to Dionysian mysteries.

The mysteries of Isis and Osiris, the ancient Egyptian goddess and her brother and lover (also known as Sarapis), spread from Egypt to become one of the most prominent mysteries across the Greco-Roman world. In ancient Egypt, Isis and her divine family had played a role in the orderly succession of the pharaohs. Ceremonies using actual or symbolic water from the Nile played a central role in the cult, and sacred meals were held in honor of Sarapis. The closest to an eyewitness account from any mystery cult is found in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (Book 11), which describes a mýstēs’ experience of initiation into the Isis cult with an approach to death and a revelation of the light as essential elements. Extant Isis aretalogies from the cult list the mighty deeds of the goddess in the form of “I am” statements.

Evidence of the cult of Cybele and Attis spans the Roman Empire. The cult center was the Anatolian city of Pessinus. In 204 b.c.e. a meteorite identified with the goddess was brought to Rome, where her temple occupied a prominent location on the Palatine. Her annual festivals there took place on successive days in late March. The most notable personal experience of initiation was that of the galli of the goddess, who castrated themselves during her annual frenzied rituals and afterwards became her permanent servants, dressed in feminine cultic garb. In the late Roman era, another form of initiation became prevalent. In the taurobolium or criobolium, the initiate descended into a pit covered by grillwork and was showered in the blood of a bull or ram sacrificed above. The cult of the Syrian goddess Atargatis with her galli bears many similarities to that of Cybele, but was a distinct cult throughout the Roman era.

The cult of Mithra rose to popularity as a Greco-Roman mystery cult during the 2nd century c.e. Scholars debate the relationship of Mithra’s Persian origins to the mystery cult of Greco-Roman times. The cult was restricted to men and especially popular among Roman soldiers. Most sanctuaries of Mithra from the Roman era were partially underground to replicate the cave which figures in the Mithra myth. Such a Mithraeum was often decorated with artwork representing the figure of Mithra as the bull-slayer (tauroktonos) and with astronomical images. Mithraic initiation took place in seven stages. Each level was named by a different symbol and protected by a different celestial body. A common meal was also an important cultic activity.

The rituals and initiation ceremonies of early Christianity developed in a context in which these mystery cults were also developing. Similarities between early Christianity and the mysteries are not surprising, and the nature of the relationship has been the subject of scholarly debate.

Bibliography. U. Bianchi, The Greek Mysteries. Iconography of Religions 17/3 (Leiden, 1976); W. Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults (Cambridge, Mass., 1987); B. M. Metzger, “A Classified Bibliography of the Graeco-Roman Mystery Religions, 1924-1973, with a Supplement 1974-77,” in ANRW II.17,3 (Berlin, 1984), 1259-1423; M. M. Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook (San Francisco, 1987); J. Z. Smith, Drudgery Divine: On the Comparison of Early Christianities and the Religions of Late Antiquity. Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religions 14 (Chicago, 1990).

Susan (Elli) Elliott

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MYSTERY CULTS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)