Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

ELEPHANTA
ELEUSINIAN 237
Elephants. The cavern of Elephanta,
situated on the island of Gharipour, in the
Gulf of Bombay, is the most ancient temple
in the world, and was the principal place for
the celebration of the mysteries of India . It
is one hundred and thirty-five feet square and
eighteen feet high, supported by four massive
pillars, and its walls covered on all sides with
statues and carved decorations . Its adytunr
at the western extremity, which was accessible
only to the initiated, was dedicated to the
Phallic worship. On each side were cells and
pass ages for the purpose of initiation, and a
sacred orifice for the mystical representation
of the doctrine of regeneration . (See Maurice's
Indian Antiquities, for a full description
of this ancient scene of initiation .)
Eleusinian Mysteries . Of all the mysteries
of the ancient religions, those celebrated
at the village of Eleusis, near the city of
Athens, were the most splendid and the most
popular . To them men came, says Cicero,
from the remotest regions to be initiated .
They were also the most ancient, if we may
believe St . Epiphanius, who traces them to
the reign of Inachus, more than eighteen hundred
years before the Christian era . They
were dedicated to the goddess Demeter, the
Ceres of the Romans, who was worshiped by
the Greeks as the symbol of the prolific earth ;
and in them were scenically represented the
loss and the recovery of Persephone, and the
doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality
of the soul were esoterically taught .
The learned Faber believed that there was
an intimate connection between the Arkite
worship and the mysteries of Eleusis ; but
Faber's theory was that the Arkite Rites,
which he traced to almost all the nations of
antiquity, symbolized, in the escape of Noah
and the renovation of the earth, the doctrines
of the resurrection and the immortal life .
Plutarch (De Is. et Os .) says that the travels
of Isis in search of Osiris were not different
from those of Demeter in search of Persephone
; and this view has been adopted by
St. Croix (Myst . du Pag.) and by Creuzer
(Symb.) ; and hence we may well suppose that
the recovery of the former at Byblos, and of
the latter in Hades, were both intended to
symbolize the restoration of the soul after
death to eternal life. The learned have
generally admitted that when Vir ' , in the
sixth book of his fEneid, depicted the descent
of neas into hell, he intended to give a
representation of the Eleusinian mysteries .
The mysteries were divided into two classes,
the lesser and the greater . The lesser mysteries
were celebrated on the banks of the
Ilissus, whose waters supplied the means of
purification of the aspirants. The greater
mysteries were celebrated in the temple at
Eleusis. An interval of six months occurred
between them, the former taking place in
March and the latter in September ; which
has led some writers to suppose that there
was some m ystical reference to the vernal
and autumnal equinoxes . But, considering
the character of Demeter as the goddess of
Agriculture, it might be imagined, although
this is a mere conjecture, that the reference
was to seed-time and harvest . A year, however,
was required to elapse before the initiate
into the lesser mysteries was granted admission
into the greater .
In conducting the mysteries, there were
four officers, namely : 1 . The Hierophant, or
explainer of the sacred things . As the
pontifex maximus in Rome, so he was the
chief priest of Attica ; he presided over
the ceremonies and explained the nature of
the mysteries to the initiated . 2 . The Dadouchus,
or torch-bearer, who appears to
have acted as the immediate assistant of the
Hierophant . 3 . The Hieroceryx, or sacred
herald, who had the general care of the temple,
guarded it from the profanation of the
uninitiated, and took charge of the aspirant
during the trials of initiation . 4 . The Epibomus,
or altar-server, who conducted the
sacrifices .
The ceremonies of initiation into the lesser
mysteries were altogether purificato ry , , and
intended to prepare the neophyte for his
reception into the more sublime rites of the
greater mysteries . This, an ancient poet,
quoted by Plutarch, illustrates by sayin g that
sleep is the lesser mysteries of the death .
The candidate who desired to pass throu gh
this initiation entered the modest temple,
erected for that purpose on the borders of the
Ilissus, and there submitted to the required
ablutions, typical of moral purification . The
Dadouchus then placed his feet upon the
skins of the victims which had been immolated
to Jupiter . Hesychius says that only
the left foot was placed on the skins . In this
position he was asked if he had eaten bread,
and if he was pure ; and his replies being satisfactory,
he passed through other symbolic
ceremonies, the mystical signification of which
was given to him, an oath of secrecy having
been previously administered . The initiate
into the lesser mysteries was called a m stes,
a title which, being derived from a reek
word meaning to shut the eyes, signified that
he was yet blind as to the greater truths
thereafter to be revealed .
The greater mysteries lasted for nine days,
and were celebrated partly on the Thriasian
plain, which surrounded the temple and
partly in the temple of Eleusis itself . bf this
temple, one of the most magnificent and the
largest in Greece, not a vestige is now left .
Its antiquity was very great, having been in
existence, according to Aristides the rhetorician,
when the Dorians marched against
Athens . It was burned by the retreating
Persians under Xerxes, but immediately rebuilt,
and finally destroyed with the city by
Alarie, "the Scourge of God," and all that
is now left of Eleusis and its spacious temple
is the mere site occupied by the insignificant
Greek village of Lepsina, an evident corruption
of the ancient name .
The public processions on the plain and on
the sacred way from Athens to Eleusis were
made in honor of Demeter and Persephone,