Hugh Bowden, Mystery Cults in the Ancient World, Thames and Hudson, London, 2010.
Introduction.
p 6
I reached the boundary of death, and set foot on the threshold of Proserpina, and then I returned, carried through all the elements, in the middle of the night. I saw the sun blazing with bright light; I approached the gods below and the gods above face to face, and worshipped them from nearby.
Apuleius, Metamorphisis 11.23 ( The Golden Ass)
Thoughts- this is the essence of the esoteric, the mysteries are about the ecstatic experience which is beyond words.Kant talked about this in his Critique of Judgment-
We still see these experiences in many people today
the prophets and those who have experienced contact with the godhead- Abraham, Moses, Noah (Enoch), and Jacob in dream state, Ezekiel etc.
In the Golden Ass, this is the experience after initiation into the cult of Isis at Corinth following initiatory rites of purification, fasting and isolation in the temple.
initiation occurred in the cults of Isis, Bacchic cults of Dionysius, Eleusinian ( the two Goddesses, Demeter and Kore).
p 7. so forget a centralised religion, a text an authority. In fact the ancient civilisations reflect our current trend of a democratic approach, multiple gods, personal religion as well as State religions. Bowden says start with the concept of gods as there were many gods in the ancient Mediterranean. All the area beyond human control was the realm of the gods who were not seen but whose actions were apparent.
p 8 Bowden reflects on the emotional nature of awareness of gods and the supernatural on the basis of an evolutionary cognitive development that is aware of others for survival. He says that this existed in State and personal religions. He says that mostly it is Greek religion that has been studied in greater detail. He reflects the geography was originally Greek and then expanded across Asia Minor, Aegean Sea, Italy, North Africa, Sicily, Black Sea. Certainly in the time of Alexander and after his death, the Ptolemy of Egypt spread Greek religion.
I would also contend that all these places were in communication with Greece and influenced Greek mystery religions as much as Greece influenced the other communities. We know that trade, war, travel, migration, slavery kept the area in constant contact with one another and we know that many of the Greek religions come from other areas way back to pre-history. As he states even Herodotus ( 2, 50- 52) contends that the Greeks got their information from Egypt.
p 10. the Mediterranean basin was a series of city states after Alexander. The Romans ruled in this way, local authorities, self governing with their own religions. Every community had its own gods, festivals and regulations. Pausanias described 2nd C AD a world full of gods and thousands of religious sites, temples, altars, statues.
thought- all so Greek centred. If you use a more langue duree approach, the M sea is the cause of this, the centre of this as it was a relatively calm body of water with most of the land masses within short journeys of each other, so although there were local differences, these were not closed communities and they remained relatively the same over thousands of years.
Bowden describes this as shared understanding of the world, relationship between men and gods.
p 11 prayers, festivals to the gods, processions, performances, animal sacrifice. Gods were worshipped i their own sanctuaries which contained an altar with a cult statue. Some statues were taken on processions, and some were too huge. Cult activity took place in the open air.
I compare this to the Jewish concept of no icons. Also the rituals of the Jewish people are/ were in the open air. The holy of holies was limited to a few and the only area hidden away. Hence the tabernacle was built within which the god resided, protecting the people, but while they were on their journey they could carry it with them.
Bowden sees the relationship between humans and gods as transactional. As gods could do harm or benefit to humans, they negotiated with them for benefits, favours, hence offerings, sacrifice, a portion of hte harvest, booty
Same as in the Jewish- the tithe, the 1/10 portion of every loaf of bread, first fruits, glass of wine for prophets and the 1/7 fallow fields left to the gods.
the sacrifice was often shared with portion for the gods and the rest for human consumption..
This was probably the main meat meal for the community. eg this still happens in Nepal.
p 12 - the unknowability of the gods, so they relied on Hesiod and Homer to tell the people about the gods
p 13. so the relationship between myth and religion.
communication with the gods by divination, astronomy
p 14. Initiation and mystic rites
orgia, mysteria, teletai
took place at night, in secret, by and for individuals, frightening, loud, disturbing, alternating bright light and dark disoriented people, amy have been blindfolded, open to all
so not about communication or negotiation with the gods.
Anthropologist talk about doctrinal and imagistic modes of experience of the divine.
Imagistic is usually infrequent, dramatic rituals, small communities with not much hierarchy- so flashbulb memory of these important events, non-verbal, an earlier form of religion than doctrinal.
Doctrinal events are more semantically remembered, through habituation
p 18 Ecstatic cults
p 19 shamanistic, spirt possession, beyond their own control,
thought- brief psychotic episodes probably caused by sensory deprivation, starvation, heightened anxiety and maybe herbs. We see these frequently in current times, often the cause of murder
p 21 meeting the gods face to face
From Homer- the gods are ever present, and come in disguise to offer advice
seeing the god cases devastation, hence Selene , mother of Dionysius, was destroyed when she saw Zeus.
hence God's warning to Moses, that he could not cope with seeing God, but could view his shoulder as a gesture of faith.
Hence Rabbi Akiva reports that he alone travelled the heavens, and the secret gates to the Godhead, the others died, got lost or went mad. Contact with the Godhead requires support from others, especially a master, and a strong person to cope.
p 22 Eschatology
life after death
the Elysian fields-
There life is easiest for men: snow never falls, the winters are not long, and there are no rainstorms, but Oceanus forever sends breezes of the sweetly breathing West wind to refresh men
but Bowden postulates that the promise of a great afterlife was a small part if any in the participation in the mysteries.
Secret names, secret cult objects fear of punishment in breaking the code of secrecy.
Introduction.
p 6
I reached the boundary of death, and set foot on the threshold of Proserpina, and then I returned, carried through all the elements, in the middle of the night. I saw the sun blazing with bright light; I approached the gods below and the gods above face to face, and worshipped them from nearby.
Apuleius, Metamorphisis 11.23 ( The Golden Ass)
Thoughts- this is the essence of the esoteric, the mysteries are about the ecstatic experience which is beyond words.Kant talked about this in his Critique of Judgment-
We still see these experiences in many people today
the prophets and those who have experienced contact with the godhead- Abraham, Moses, Noah (Enoch), and Jacob in dream state, Ezekiel etc.
In the Golden Ass, this is the experience after initiation into the cult of Isis at Corinth following initiatory rites of purification, fasting and isolation in the temple.
initiation occurred in the cults of Isis, Bacchic cults of Dionysius, Eleusinian ( the two Goddesses, Demeter and Kore).
p 7. so forget a centralised religion, a text an authority. In fact the ancient civilisations reflect our current trend of a democratic approach, multiple gods, personal religion as well as State religions. Bowden says start with the concept of gods as there were many gods in the ancient Mediterranean. All the area beyond human control was the realm of the gods who were not seen but whose actions were apparent.
p 8 Bowden reflects on the emotional nature of awareness of gods and the supernatural on the basis of an evolutionary cognitive development that is aware of others for survival. He says that this existed in State and personal religions. He says that mostly it is Greek religion that has been studied in greater detail. He reflects the geography was originally Greek and then expanded across Asia Minor, Aegean Sea, Italy, North Africa, Sicily, Black Sea. Certainly in the time of Alexander and after his death, the Ptolemy of Egypt spread Greek religion.
I would also contend that all these places were in communication with Greece and influenced Greek mystery religions as much as Greece influenced the other communities. We know that trade, war, travel, migration, slavery kept the area in constant contact with one another and we know that many of the Greek religions come from other areas way back to pre-history. As he states even Herodotus ( 2, 50- 52) contends that the Greeks got their information from Egypt.
p 10. the Mediterranean basin was a series of city states after Alexander. The Romans ruled in this way, local authorities, self governing with their own religions. Every community had its own gods, festivals and regulations. Pausanias described 2nd C AD a world full of gods and thousands of religious sites, temples, altars, statues.
thought- all so Greek centred. If you use a more langue duree approach, the M sea is the cause of this, the centre of this as it was a relatively calm body of water with most of the land masses within short journeys of each other, so although there were local differences, these were not closed communities and they remained relatively the same over thousands of years.
Bowden describes this as shared understanding of the world, relationship between men and gods.
p 11 prayers, festivals to the gods, processions, performances, animal sacrifice. Gods were worshipped i their own sanctuaries which contained an altar with a cult statue. Some statues were taken on processions, and some were too huge. Cult activity took place in the open air.
I compare this to the Jewish concept of no icons. Also the rituals of the Jewish people are/ were in the open air. The holy of holies was limited to a few and the only area hidden away. Hence the tabernacle was built within which the god resided, protecting the people, but while they were on their journey they could carry it with them.
Bowden sees the relationship between humans and gods as transactional. As gods could do harm or benefit to humans, they negotiated with them for benefits, favours, hence offerings, sacrifice, a portion of hte harvest, booty
Same as in the Jewish- the tithe, the 1/10 portion of every loaf of bread, first fruits, glass of wine for prophets and the 1/7 fallow fields left to the gods.
the sacrifice was often shared with portion for the gods and the rest for human consumption..
This was probably the main meat meal for the community. eg this still happens in Nepal.
p 12 - the unknowability of the gods, so they relied on Hesiod and Homer to tell the people about the gods
p 13. so the relationship between myth and religion.
communication with the gods by divination, astronomy
p 14. Initiation and mystic rites
orgia, mysteria, teletai
took place at night, in secret, by and for individuals, frightening, loud, disturbing, alternating bright light and dark disoriented people, amy have been blindfolded, open to all
so not about communication or negotiation with the gods.
Anthropologist talk about doctrinal and imagistic modes of experience of the divine.
Imagistic is usually infrequent, dramatic rituals, small communities with not much hierarchy- so flashbulb memory of these important events, non-verbal, an earlier form of religion than doctrinal.
Doctrinal events are more semantically remembered, through habituation
p 18 Ecstatic cults
p 19 shamanistic, spirt possession, beyond their own control,
thought- brief psychotic episodes probably caused by sensory deprivation, starvation, heightened anxiety and maybe herbs. We see these frequently in current times, often the cause of murder
p 21 meeting the gods face to face
From Homer- the gods are ever present, and come in disguise to offer advice
seeing the god cases devastation, hence Selene , mother of Dionysius, was destroyed when she saw Zeus.
hence God's warning to Moses, that he could not cope with seeing God, but could view his shoulder as a gesture of faith.
Hence Rabbi Akiva reports that he alone travelled the heavens, and the secret gates to the Godhead, the others died, got lost or went mad. Contact with the Godhead requires support from others, especially a master, and a strong person to cope.
p 22 Eschatology
life after death
the Elysian fields-
There life is easiest for men: snow never falls, the winters are not long, and there are no rainstorms, but Oceanus forever sends breezes of the sweetly breathing West wind to refresh men
but Bowden postulates that the promise of a great afterlife was a small part if any in the participation in the mysteries.
Secret names, secret cult objects fear of punishment in breaking the code of secrecy.
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