Book: Mystery Religions of Ancient World–quotes of interest to Mormons

These are all quotes from my recent read, Mystery Religions of the Ancient World.  They might seem random and nonsensical to some of my readers but others will find them particularly interesting.  In no particular order:

“Certain information was also given at Eleusis by word of mouth, including the ‘password to the Paradise of Demeter’ to be used after death.  … So the Lesser Mysteries give the initiates theoretical knowledge which chnages their whole view of man and the cosmos, and stands them in better stead when they have to leave this world for the unknown.  The Greater Mysteries, or higher grades of initiation, were conducted individually rather than collectively… But the primary object of these initiations was to take the candidate through the gates of death.”

 ”For the Maenads of Dionysus one of the tasks of Christ was to open this path of direct intimacy with God to every person without distinction”

“In the Mysteries all five senses might be elevated through wine, music, lights, incense and sexuality, to say nothing of drugs, in order to create an unforgettable experience enad encourage hope of heavenly bliss.” (the emphasis on enlivening the senses)

 ”Some scholars imagine the Mysteries of Eleusis and other institutions to have been merely a sacred drama played by actors to fill an impressionable audience with holy…the great hall at eleusis the Telesterion was filled with pillars.”

“Mystery texts describe the soul at first going to Hades, but this underworld is clearly no longer a dark place beneath the earth’s surface as it was in traditional religion. “  He describes this Hades as the “underworld over which Serapis rules is the lowest of the heavens, ie the phere beneath the moon.  At the Gates of Hades, the soul is said to meet its earthly master; alternatively, it may meet a celestial psychopomp such as Hermes, Jesus, Mithras or Anubis, who acts as its guide and guardian.  Some form of judgmet follows, after which , in abbreviated accounts, the soul proceeds to its appointed place:  good souls to blissful union with the gods.”

“Above Hades lie the seven planetary spheres, which must eventually be crossed.  These are expereinced as obstacles or gates, and the Mystery relgions offered special knowledge to assist the soul in passing each one: passwords, formulae, seals.”

“One garment, the ‘phrygian’ cap, became a universal symbol of the Oriental cults, being worn by Mithras, Attis, the Kabeiroi, the Dioscuri, and their servitors.  Later it became the headgear of medival Masons, the sansculottes, and La Liberte herself.  Its symbolism is one of supreme spiritual attainment, represented also in Osiris’ white crown, Buddha’s topknot, Shou-hsing’s swollen creanium, and the tiaras of shiva and the Pope. “

“Early Christian art, shunning altogether the subject of the Crucifixion, often shows Jesus as the teacher of his disciplines, passing on the Word of God, reminding us of the Gnostic tradition that there was a secret dimension to his teachings which was reserved for the closer disiplines.”