Page 82 - All About History 48 - 2017 UK

Roman Mystery Cults

had happened to them a closely guarded secret,
which served to strengthen the bonds between the
members of the cult.
Initiation into the Bacchanalia, the cult of
Bacchus, involved joining a group of Bacchic
worshipers and dancing with them in the
mountains. Most of these were women, called
Bacchants. Some might also have private initiation,
and in this case an initiate could be forced to
abstain from food for ten days. Then came a period
of feasting, after which they would ritually bathe as
a form of purification. Only then were they allowed
to enter into a shrine of Bacchus.
For the followers of Isis, known as the Lady of
the Mysteries, the initiation ritual was similar to that
of Bacchus. Her initiates bathed, and thus purified,
and abstained from food for ten days before
embarking on several days of feasting. The wearing
of ceremonial robes also featured in the initiation,
as well as the viewing of sacred hieroglyphs. The
promise of life after death was part of the attraction
of this benevolent goddess.
For those who wished to take part in the
Eleusinian Mysteries, which continued on in Greece
throughout the Roman imperial period, an initiate
was made to take part in the so-called Lesser
Mysteries that were held each spring in Athens,
which was nearby to Eleusis. This initiation process
involved sacrifices, ritual purification, fasting and the The Bacchus (Dionysian) Mysteries caused scandal in Rome, but
thisdidnotstopfigureslikeMarkAntonybecomingpatrons
singing of hymns.
The Great Mother was a figure representing the
elemental feminine in its fertility aspect. Magna
Mater’s male priests, the Galli, were eunuchs, Rites
and castrated themselves to be initiated into her
priesthood. This extreme act was inspired by the The cult of the Magna Mater, the Great Mother, was
myth that her lover, the god Attis, had done the popular all over the ancient world, and she was
same. Unlike the other mystery cults, Mithraism known by many names, including Rhea, Demeter,
accepted only men into its mysteries. and especially Cybele, the great goddess of Phrygia,
There were seven grades of Mithras’s cult, and whose cult image the Romans brought to Rome.
each of the seven corresponded to one of the She was the mother of not just all of the gods, but
known planets of the day. Each grade also had of all humanity, too. Her rites in Rome maintained
its own rites of initiation. In one, the naked and the link between the goddess and her original
blindfolded initiate, his hands tied behind him, was homeland in Asia Minor. Her sanctuary, set on the
made to kneel. Two other men stood beside him as Vatican Hill, was known as the Phrygianum, and
part of the ceremony. A sword was pointed at him, the leader of her cult was known as the Phrygian
and then he was made to lie prone on the floor. High Priest. There was an annual festival in Rome
He then had to wear a crown, and lie flat on the held in her honour, which ran for seven days and
ground. Another initiation ritual involved shooting included races in the circus. Rites included dancing
an arrow, thereby re-enacting a story from the life of and music, with the playing of flutes, cymbals,
Mithras in which the god launched an arrow into a This common scene of Mithras killing a bull horns and tambourines, and priests would slash
rock, causing water to flow from it. with his bare hands is known as tauroctony themselves with knives while performing an ecstatic

Inside the
Roman Jupiter Venus Apollo
Pantheon God of the sky, Jupiter The goddess of love, The son of Jupiter
was the greatest of she was irresistibly by Leto was the
Themysterycults the gods. He was the beautiful and had god of music and
husband of Juno and several affairs with the Sun. He was
supplemented,but the father of many of gods as well as also the brother
did not supplant,the gods and heroes. mortal men. of Diana.
Romans’ beliefintheir
traditionalgods
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