Come now on a sacred journey and enter a site dedicated
to the goddess
Demeter. Enter her temple and learn her mysteries.
Enter beauty. Enter
grace. Enter the heart-into ecstasy2
Ela...Dea...Orea...(Come beautiful Goddess)3
Demeter is a Greek Goddess whose name seems to have begun with time itself for the Greeks. She is a goddess of grain, the earth, mothering, and the harvest itself. Her sacred objects are few, the pig, sheaves of uncooked grain, and other objects from the fruits of the earth.
Parallels can be drawn between Demeter and Isis in Egypt. It seems as though Greeks adapted some nighttime mystery rites of Isis in the story of Demeter (pg. 144 Regula). Some Egyptians believed that the very mysteries themselves of Demeter originated with Greeks learning of Isis in Egypt. This was especially true during the Hellenized times in Greece after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. Very few distinctions were made between Egyptian and Greek gods, and were often worshipped side by side in many temples. Parallels between Demeter can also be drawn between Ops and Ceres in Rome.
Demeter had a massive following all over the Greco-Roman empire. But the temple we know most about is that which lay in a town called Eleusis-which is about 14 miles from Athens. It was here that people were initiated into her teachings-The Lesser Mysteries and the Greater Mysteries.
The Lesser Mysteries
"I crown you in the name of all Holy Demeter
Her blessings are sealed upon you
For joy in life, for wisdom, and for compassion
May Her joy rise up from your heart
O beloved initiate of the Great Mother
Go in peace" 4
The lesser mysteries took place in the early spring during the Greek month of Anthesterion (which is late February, early March by our calendar). Not much is known of any of the practices by either initiate or priest/ess during any of these rites. They were to take an oath of secrecy about the teachings, and these people took almost all of these teachings to the grave. One can only imagine how special a transformation this must have been for these people to have never divulged a single tale.
Bits and pieces from accounts by Homer and archaeological artifacts are known about some of the practices. Such as they honored Demeter and her daughter Persephone. They learned the complete story of her myth. They made sacrifices, fasted, and walked in a great procession to a cave near the sea, and through many courtyards by the temple. After this procession and the rites that followed, they would become a Demetreioi, or "beloved of Demeter"5 or "Demeter's people"6. It is said that these people returned with great knowledge and had lost their fear of death itself.
The Greater Mysteries
The Greater Mysteries took place at approximately the
end of September to early October. "Messengers were sent out to all
Greek city-states to announce the coming of the Great Mysteries and to
proclaim a 55-day truce-requiring all conflicts to cease and arms laid
down. The truce commenced before the Greater Mysteries and ended
after they concluded."7
It was during the Greater Mysteries that the initiate was called a mystai-a
Greek word meaning "initiate". The mystai needed a mystagogos8
who would be their sponsor. They were taught the sacred laws of Demeter
- the Thesmoi9.
They partook in the sacred drink called kykeon10
which may have been made by mint, barley, and some sort of psychotropic
agent, and it was only after one had taken a sip of this sacred drink that
the initiation would be complete.
What follows is a ceremony to be done on a New Moon from Jennifer Reif's book The Mysteries of Demeter. (Pg. 315)
Supplies: Icon of image of Demeter, two white taper candles, 1 votive candle, Lustration bowl (a bowl filled with water for anointing), bowl of wheat, barely, or other mixed grain, myrrh or sandalwood incense, dish of salt, and some sort of edible offering for the Goddess
Ritual:
Light incense and votive candle. Say:
Hail Hestia!
Ancient Hearth Mother
And goddess of the Spiritual Flame
Come and enter herein.
Ask Hestia to make your altar a place of spiritual focus.
Ask for her
blessings on your home with peace, safety, and beauty.
Pick up the incense and begin to smudge the area.
Return to the altar and say:
Hail Hestia!
Next sprinkle some salt into the bowl of water.
Place a hand into the water
and say:
I call to the mother of the sea
To Daira of deep oceans and bright dolphins
As Demeter is to the vast Earth,
so are you to the primordial sea
Come Lady. Refresh my spirit
Filling my soul with peace
May your waters bless me
in this time of the new crescent.
Hold the bowl of grain on your lap and say:
All Holy Demeter
Pure Luminous Mother of Creation
with your great powers
you turn barren fields into rich lands with wheat and
barley
You entice orchards to grow lush and green
and to bear the weight of their sweet fruit in your name.
Meadowlands are covered with brilliant flowers
As in its time
The patient ewe gives milk for the lamb
Panagaia, come to me, shining your beauty on my heart
Goddess of ever more than harvest time
but of all life's seasons.
O hear my prayer.
Great Mother, enter now into the house of your votary
Come and bless me.
As the iridescent moon begins her cycle once again.11
Anoint yourself and then partake in the offering your
brought for Demeter and
leave some portion of the food for Demeter on your altar
overnight. 12
It is my hope that you have enjoyed your journey. Since this site began with a morning time or invocation prayer, so it shall end with an evening prayer. May you know your immortal being and drink from her cup everlasting (from the Thesmoi as written by Jennifer Reif in The Mysteries of Demeter).
Evening Prayer
Evening Falls,
and honoring the gift of life,
I give thanks for another day.
As the sun descends below the horizon,
I pause to remember Her.
The Great Creatress.
O Beloved Mother.
You who have birthed all things,
thank you for creating me.
Come and bless my night's journey,
as I in peaceful sleep,
ascend in spirit,
into the Holy Realms.
So be it.14
By MoonDancer
All Rights Reserved
Endnotes
1. Monaghan, Patricia. The Goddess Path:
Myths, Invocations, and Rituals.Llewellyn Publications, MN, 1999.
p. 137
2. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter:
Rebirth of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 51
3. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter:
Rebirth of the Pagan Way. Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 52
4. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way. Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 216
5. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter:
Rebirth of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 10
6. Gadon, Elinor. The Once and Future Goddess:
A Symbol for Our Time.Harper Collins Publishers, NY 1989. p. 144
7. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of
Demeter: Rebirth of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 195
8. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter:
Rebirth of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 315
9. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 35
10. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 314
11. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 315
12. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 67-69
13. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 35-36
14. Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way.Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999. p. 53
Bibliography
Gadon, Elinor. The Once and Future Goddess: A Symbol
for Our Time. Harper Collins Publishers, NY 1989.
Monaghan, Patricia. The New Book of Goddesses
and Heroines. Llewellyn Publications, MN 1998.
Monaghan, Patricia. The Goddess Path: Myths, Invocations,
and Rituals. Llewellyn Publications, MN, 1999.
Regula, DeTraci. The Mysteries of Isis: Her
Worship and Magick. Llewellyn Publications, MN 1999.
Reif, Jennifer. The Mysteries of Demeter: Rebirth
of the Pagan Way. Samuel Weiser Inc. ME, 1999.
All Material Here is the Intellectual Property of MoonDancer
Copyright 2001