This brochure by Brother Wright, a Masonic scholar of Oxford, England, contains the ripest scholarship on Eleusis, its rites, symbols, and legends. This study of the Grecian mysteries shows the ties between the rituals celebrated in the 7th century BC and the 19th cent Freemasonry tradition. As the author noted, there is a striking resemblance in many points to the Operative and Speculative Freemasonry practices, which laid the basis of this work.

The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece." It is thought that their basis was an old agrarian cult which probably goes back to the Mycenean period (c. 1600 - 1100 BC) and it is believed that the cult of Demeter was established in 1500 BC. The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with three phases, the "descent" (loss), the "search" and the "ascent," with the main theme the "ascent" of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome. The name of the town, Eleusis, seems to be Pre-Greek and it is probably a counterpart with Elysium and the goddess Eileithyia. The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept secret and consistently preserved from antiquity. The initiated believed that they would have a reward in the afterlife. There are many paintings and pieces of pottery that depict various aspects of the Mysteries. Since the Mysteries involved visions and conjuring of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from psychedelic agents."

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, composed in the late seventh or early sixth century B.C.E., is a key to understanding the psychological and religious world of ancient Greek women. The poem tells how Hades, lord of the underworld, abducted the goddess Persephone and how her grieving mother, Demeter, the goddess of grain, forced the gods to allow Persephone to return to her for part of each year. Helene Foley presents the Greek text and an annotated translation of this poem, together with selected essays that give the reader a rich understanding of the Hymn's structure and artistry, its role in the religious life of the ancient world, and its meaning for the modern world.

1875 These observances once represented the spiritual life of Greece, and were considered for two thousand years and more the appointed means for regeneration through an interior union with the Divine Essence. We can learn a valuable lesson in this rega.

Written by an international team of acknowledged experts, this excellent book studies a wide range of contributions and showcases new research on the archaeology, ritual and history of Greek mystery cults. With a lack of written evidence that exists for the mysteries, archaeology has proved central to explaining their significance and this volume is key to understanding a phenomenon central to Greek religion and society.

"Presented here is an astonishing solution to the Mysteries of Eleusis, the secret religious rites of ancient Greece that have remained a riddle for the Western World for close to 4,000 years. Acting on an insight into the true nature of the rites, R. Gordon Wasson sought the collaboration of Albert Hoffman, the renowned chemist who discovered LSD, and Carl A. P. Ruck, a classical scholar specializing in Greek ethnobotany. Wasson, the author of three books on the role of hallucinogenic mushrooms in human societies, has already uncovered the mushroom cult of Mesoamerica and identified the elusive "Soma" of the Vedic hymns. Closely coordinating their research, the three scholar-scientists first offered documentation on the religious rites at an International Conference on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms in late 1977. These sensational findings, given here in a much expanded version, leave little doubt that the ancient secret of Eleusis has at last been unveiled."--Pg. [4] of cover.