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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Eleusinian Mysteries

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Beholding Mystery

If I had to compare our Samhain to anything, it would be to the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Of course, the comparison is inexact, and maybe even a little misleading. Certainly we did not—consciously, at any rate—structure what we do on the ancient Mysteries of the Barley Mother. In fact, although we've been enacting this ritual for more than 30 years now, the analogy with Eleusis has only just occurred to me: interestingly, as I attempted to describe it to a first-time guest.

Really, though, such a resemblance is hardly to be wondered at. That Mystery should variously speak a like tongue in different times and places should surprise no one.

As such, the immemorial principle of Holy Silence obtains. There's much that I cannot tell, nor would I if I could.

But this much I may say.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Eleusinian Impact

Ye gods.

In 37 years, we've done a lot of Samhains together. But none like this one.

Naked and cold in the dark, in the cave.

Then the light flares, and the Mystery is revealed.

Of course, I already knew what the Mystery was; Hell, I'd helped write the ritual.

And still, it hit me like a thunderbolt, like love, with an impact frankly Eleusinian.

The mystery revealed in the dark. You see it, and you know that it's true.

True.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Steven Posch
    Steven Posch says #
    Over and over, all around the wold, Samhain reveals itself. Happy new year, dearest!
  • Aline "Macha" O'Brien
    Aline "Macha" O'Brien says #
    Amazing how similar our experiences were! There were few of us and it was cold and rainy, so instead of climbing the hill I once

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Demeter, Gaia, and the Sacred Marriage

 

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Posted by on in Pagan News Beagle
PaganNewsBeagle October 13

Howdy and Good Monday, Beagle fans! Today we have an Airy Monday featuring stories for looking up (astronomy) and looking into the past (archaeology.) First, in space: check out the upcoming Solar Eclipse; photos from an astronaut orbiting Earth; the supercluster Laniakea. Next, in the past: discovery of a shrine to Brigitana in England; the tomb of the father of Alexander the Great; and the great Sex and Death mystery rituals of the past.

Spectators in Western North America will be in a great position to observe the upcoming partial Solar Eclipse, reports Sky and Telescope magazine.

...
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THE DIVINE DRAMA AND THE UNIVERSALITY OF DEATH


In Greece the liturgies of lent and especially of the week before Easter are known as the “divine drama,” in Greek theodrama.  This may refer to the “drama” of the capture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and to the suffering of God the Father and Mary.

However, it is important to recall that the drama in ancient Greece referred to both the tragedies and comedies, most specifically, those that were performed in the theater of Dionysios in Athens.  While we have been taught that the Greek tragedies celebrated “downfall of the hero” due to his “tragic flaw,” it is important to remember that Dionysios was the original protagonist of the Greek tragedy: it was his death and rebirth that was first celebrated.

Some have argued that the Greek tragedies should never be “read” alone, for they were always “performed” in tandem with the comedies, which were followed by the bawdy phallic humor of the satyr plays.  The tragedies end in death and irreparable loss.  But if the comedies and satyr plays are considered an integral part of the cycle, death is followed by the resurgence of life.

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