THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
The Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece are one of the greatest kept secrets of antiquity. As the nature of “mystery” suggests, the rites and practices were only known to participants. However, while the rituals and experiences were never written down, ancient and contemporary scholars have surmised the overall intention of these Mysteries to be a ritual drama externalizing the experience of spiritual union with Source. Self-knowledge, personal transformation, and an understanding of the cycles of life, death, and rebirth were key.
So, here is what we do know, described in modern terms:
Overall theme
The myth of Demeter and Kore/Persephone
The underworld descent and subsequent ascent of the Goddess
Life and death
Experience: personal transformation
The Greater Mysteries
Celebrated in Fall
Death
Experience: death of Self, union with Source, and personal transformation
The Lesser Mysteries
Celebrated in Spring
Life
Experience: return of the enlightened being and a wholly integrated Self
And a little more detail:
As a duality, Demeter and Kore/Persephone are mother and daughter with Demeter as the earth and Kore/Persephone as the perennial energy of the changing seasons.
As the triple goddess, they are birth (Kore), life (Demeter), and death (Persephone), with Kore (Maiden of Life) going through personal transformation to become Persephone (Queen of the Underworld).
At the Greater Mysteries in Fall, Kore travels to the underworld leaving her mother to mourn her absence, which is reflected in the death on earth.
At the Lesser Mysteries in Spring, Persephone returns enlightened and empowered, Demeter rejoices, and the earth once again teems with life.
VENUS
As mentioned above, Venus is the higher octave of Earth, which means she resonates with the same general energy but with greater intensity and depth.
Like the Earthly Kore/Persephone, the Venusian Inanna travels to the underworld. However, Inanna’s descent is a more intense journey in which she sacrifices pieces of herself at the seven gates of the underworld in order to gain access to her sister, Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld (and Inanna’s Shadow). At the instance of their meeting, Inanna is struck dead by Ereshkigal and hung on a hook for three days and nights… experiencing true death and consequent union with the primordial source of all. (“The Descent of Inanna” is the original and archetypal descent myth.)
Being the mighty queen that she is, Inanna prepared for just such an outcome and helpers are dispatched to resurrect the Goddess. Inanna then makes the ascent through the seven gates – regaining all of herself – and returns with a deep understanding of the primordial cycle of life, death, and rebirth to sit her throne as Queen of the Heavens.
In the telluric myth, Earth (Demeter/Kore/Persephone) experiences the ebb and flow of life force energies, along with the accompanying joy and sorrow of love and loss.
Venus (Inanna), on the other hand experiences death itself. Kore travels to the underworld and transforms into Persephone – the Shadow – but she does not herself experience death. Inanna meets the Shadow and dies to experience a complete union with the primordial source of all.
THE DYING-and-RISING GOD
While the original myth (Inanna) has the Goddess travelling to the Underworld and experiencing her own death, many variations of this myth have the God in this position, especially when it comes to life on earth.
Given the Goddess is considered eternal (transforming but never actually dying) and the God represents that which grows, is harvested, and dies, it does make sense. Vegetation gods abound and the Dying-and-Rising God is the motif which follows the cycle of life, death, and rebirth we rely upon here on earth. I won’t go into individual myths, but here are a few of the more common Gods:
Dumuzi (Sumerian)
Tammuz (Mesopotamian)
Attis (Phrygian)
Adonis (Greek)
Dionysus (Greek)
Osiris (Egyptian) is sometimes listed among these other Gods but, while he is killed and is reborn, he does not actually resurrect on earth. He remains “alive” in the afterlife, taking on the role of Lord of the Underworld.
DUALITY & SINGULARITY
Take a moment on this day of balance to consider death and its necessity at a primordial level… and then appreciate the rebirth of life here on earth.
Assimilation of the Lesser and Greater Mysteries ultimately shows the womb and tomb to be a singularity, the Source from which we came and to which we will return…
The cosmic ocean…
The primordial sea…
The Great Goddess!
Blessed Be!