Mystery Religions in the Ancient World

177 Pages·1982·61.73 MB·English

by  Joscelyn Godwin

~YSTERY
RELIGIO 5
1M THE AMCIEMTWORLD
JOSCELYN GODWIN
~YSTERY
RELIGIONS
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
Iill
HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS, San Francisco
CIJ
Cambridge, Hagerstown, New York, Philadelphia,
1817 London, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Sydney
Acknowledgments
TheauthorisgratefultoJillPurceforhelping to
conceivetheideaofthisbook, andforherever
discerning criticism; toJanePowell, for
inspirationenroute; andtoJanetGodwin, for
helpinghim to finish it. Healso thankshis
colleaguesat Colgate University, particularly
William Skeltonand DexterMorrill, for their
kindly encouragementofhisbroaderinterests,
andfor materialassistancefrom theHumanities
Faculty DevelopmentFund.
General Editor:JillPurce
© 1981 ThamesandHudsonLtd, London.
Allrights reserved. No partofthisbook maybeusedor
reproducedinany mannerwhatsoeverwithout written
permissionexceptinthe caseofbriefquotationsembodied
incriticalarticlesandreviews. Forinformationaddress
Harper& Row, Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rdStreet, New
York, NY 10022. Publishedsimultaneouslyin Canadaby
Fitzhenry& Whiteside, Limited, Toronto.
FIRSTU.S. EDITION
PrintedinGreatBritain
Le: 81-47423
ISBN: 0-06-0631406
81 82 83 84 85 10 9 8 7 6 4 2
Contents
Introduction
7
THE PATH OF THE WARRIOR II
THE PATH OF THE MONK 17
THE PATH OF THE MAGICIAN 22
THE PATH OF LOVE 26
THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE 31
Chapters
I THE ROMAN GODS 38
II MYTHOLOGY 48
III THE IMPERIAL CULT 56
IV MAGICAL AND FOLK BELIEFS 64
V PHILOSOPHERS 7°
VI JUDAISM 78
VII GNOSTICISM 84
VIII CHRISTIANITY 9°
IX MITHRAS AND AION 98
X CYBELE AND ATTIS 110
XI ISIS AND SERAPIS 120
XII DIONYSUS 132
XIII ORPHEUS AND HERCULES 144
XIV THE OVERSEERS 15°
XV SYNCRETISM 164
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 172
PHOTOGRAPHIC ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 173
INDEX 173
MOMUS: Tell, me, 0 Zeus, however did Attis, and Corybas, and
Sabazius ever get trundled in upon us? Or Mithras over
there, the Mede, in his caftan and cap, who doesn't even
speak Greek? And you, too, dog-faced Anubis- how do
you think you'll pass for a god ifyou keep barking? I'm
ashamed, Zeus, to mention all the ibises, monkeys, billy
goats and worse beasts still, which have somehow been
smuggled out ofEgypt into Heaven. However can you
bear it, Gods, to see them worshipped as much as
yourselves, or even more? And you, Zeus, how can you
put up with those rams' horns they stick on your head?
ZEUS: All these points you mention about the Egyptians are in
truth unseemly. Nevertheless, Momus, most ofthem are
mattersofsymbolism; andonewho isnotanadeptin the
Mysteries really should not laugh at them.
(Lucian, The Parliament ofGods 9-1I)
Introduction
AnextraordinaryvarietyofpathswasopentotheMediterraneanand
European peoples in the last centuries before, and the first centuries
afterChrist. ThesubjectsoftheRoman Empireenjoyedafreedomof
choice in religious matters unparalleled until modern times. The
similarity goes further: so far, indeed, that it seems almost as though
thepresentepochisanacceleratedrecapitulationoftheearlierone. In
such acaseitis possible to use pasthistory as alens through which to
view more clearly our own age- and vice versa. In both epochs we
seetheoldreligionsdegenerating throughlossofgenuineenthusiasm
(in the original sense ofthe term). Priests and ministers cling to their
rituals out offear orhabit, and have nothing to teach the people but
morality. The old Roman religion had grown as fossilized and
uninspiring as modern 'Churchianity', yet the alternatives of
agnosticism or atheism, while useful as a cleansing reaction, left the
soulas bleak then as they do now. In answer to its need, illumination
comesfrom anotherdirection: luxex Oriente. Inthose daysitwas the
cultsofAsiaMinor, EgyptandtheNearEastthatshedtheirlightover
the Empire; in these it is especially the discovery ofthe Far Eastern
religions, in all their variety, which brings newlife to the aspirations
ofthose Westerners who are receptive to them. They proclaim that
the sole purpose oflife is spiritual development, for which each can
findameansbestsuitedinnatureandlevel. Ofcoursethiscouldleada
modern person back to Christ, but then it would be with a new
understanding andin anew relationship. Theory is transformedinto
experience, and mysteries- 'the hidden things' - become the central
concern oflife.
Too long have we learnt about ancient religion from unbelieving
academicsorfromChristianchauvinists, divorcingitontheonehand
fromlifeandontheotherfromfaith. Ihavethehighestrespectforthe
industry and dedication ofour archaeologists and classicists, but not
for the attitudethatapproaches theMysteriesin thesamespiritas the
classification of potsherds. Already the study of living religions is
7
escaping from the obligatory agnosticism which used to be
demanded by the modern Academy; and the case should be no
different with ancient religion. I do not want to learn about Plato
from a logical positivist, but from a Platonist. Is it possible to
comprehend that in which one does not believe?
Myframeofreferenceisthe'PerennialPhilosophy',whichIusefor
want of a better term to denote the philosophy that assumes a
transcendent unity behindall religions, andsees them allas attempts,
each valid for its time and place, to point the way to the true goal of
humanexistence. Manypeoplecanacceptthisasitappliestothegreat
religions current today: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam.
But it is a different matter when it comes to religions as remote as
thoseofCybele,MithrasorOrpheus. Oftentheyareregardedmerely
asbizarreandratherfin-de-siecle attemptstorepairalossoffaithinthe
old Roman religion. They were much more than this. There were
millions of devotees - human beings not so very different from
ourselves- who lived and died in these- to us - strange faiths.
A deliberate effort of the imagination is necessary in order to
comprehend them. It is not enough just to empathize with the
religious impulse in general: one must put one's own self in the
position, say, ofa person for whom Cybele is God, and all that that
canmean. Inthe caseofaMysteryinitiation, onemustimagineone's
entire life story, here and now, pivoting around the great event.
Consider the high points of your life, the irrevocable stages and
decisions that most affect your progress from birth to death:
marriages, the choice ofa career, meetings with remarkable persons
... Imagine that there looms with comparable importance your
initiation into the Mysteries of the Great Mother through the
taurobolium,theritualbull-sacrifice.Visualizeyourselfduringthedays
of preparation: your nervousness, the expense and difficult stage
management ofthe event, culminating in that moment when you
standinthepitandaredrenchedinwarmbloodasthebulldiesonthe
platform overhead. This is one ofthe things you have lived for, and
you are never the same again.
Ihavechosenanextremeexample- thoughnotthemostextreme,
asreaderswilldiscover. PersonallyIfindtheidearepulsive, butmuch
in the way that certain foods or diets may repel me. Ido not for that
reasoncallthempoison. Therearethosewhoarenourishedbythem,
and for whom they are absolutely right; and so I believe it is with
religion. But how can one discover the rightness in practices and
beliefs so far distanced from the modern appetite? Only through
understanding that there are many ways to the goal, and many sorts
8
and conditions ofmen, each treading his own path thither, whether
he knows it or not.
TheexperiencesandconcernsofMysteryinitiatesarenotthelotof
allpeople,andareofteninaccessibleeveninimaginationtothosewho
do notsharethem. Themoreintense they are, the more private they
tend to be: if aired in public they only run the risk of being
misunderstood. This is why there are 'mystery' religions. Mysteries
are things which are kept silent, in order to avoid useless arguments
and misapprehensions - and, at certain times and places, simply to
keep one's head. People in the mass are xenophobic and hate that
which they do not understand. Ifyouhavefound apearl, you do not
throw it to the pigs, 'lest they turn and rend you'.
Silencewas maintainedwithsuch admirable strictnessin antiquity
thattheinquisitiveresearchercandiscoververylittleofwhatwenton
intherituals ofthese religions. Theonly things that were committed
to writing were those which might be generally published; ofthe
rest, memorywasthebestvaultandsilencethebestguardian. Butthe
most eloquentlanguage ofthe Mysteries is not verbal but symbolic.
Symbolseludethelimitingprecisionofwords, aprecisionwhichpins
theideaslikebutterfliesto asingleplane, whiletheyshouldbefree to
flutter up and downall thelevels ofbeing andofmeaning. Itfollows
that in this book many of the visual images are susceptible to a
multitude ofinterpretations, ofwhich only one is suggested in the
caption. The continual shifting oflevels and ofperspectives, which
may atfirst seem capricious, is a deliberate exercise in expanding the
mental response to symbolism.
The plates divide the subject according to the different religions,
sects or cults, as they are usually studied by scholars. Ifone surveys
them from a broader viewpoint, certain basic spiritual attitudes or
orientations emerge, and these are described in the sections on the
five Paths below. These five Paths are not peculiar to the period in
question- theywouldmeanlittleifthey were. Oneormoreofthem
istobefoundineveryhumanaspiration, nomatterofwhatepochor
race. It is because they lead their followers along these archetypal
paths that the Mystery religions are both justifiable and compre
hensible.
9