DeConick A.D

43
THE MATRIX OF ANCIENT SPIRITUALITY
gling piglet twenty-seven miles to the sea until the initiate is absolutely
exhausted. They might be deprived of sleep, given special drink, stripped
and reclothed, masked with animal faces, drugged or otherwise intoxicated,
held in isolation, branded, or castrated. All of these activities were
meant to dissolve the human body and to prepare for transfiguration into
another form that could traverse the otherworld and find the hidden god.
The breakdown of the body was not a metaphor. Actual death rituals
were extended into the initiation ceremonies themselves. Use of ointments
reserved for burial often came into play, smeared on the initiate’s
body, mimicking preparations of the corpse. This action was thought to
release the person from the body so that the person could take on a new
form that was capable of surviving in the otherworld. Journeys into the
underworld through physical caves or other types of portals were undertaken.
Ascents into the heavens in star chariots and sky barges were plotted
along the Milky Way pillar and around the zodiac, to be flown at
special times of the year when the stars were properly aligned.
Initiations often were graduated, allowing for a progressive transformation
of the newly formed body from its state as a newborn babe to its
youth to its adulthood. The levels were marked with special names that
described the state of transformation or the location of the invader in the
otherworld. Souvenirs such as laurel crowns were given to the initiates to
designate their progress or triumph. Protective amulets were worn and
used to thwart harm as the journey progressed into more and more dangerous
territories, closer and closer to the god.
Initiatory stages and progressive transfiguration was quite pronounced
in the mysteries of Mithras, the sun god who was worshipped by Roman
soldiers around the beginning of the first century CE (Beck 2007). The
mysteries of Mithras are better known than most in the ancient world,
which remain concealed behind vague literary references, because a large
number of Mithraic caves have been unearthed, enabling us to reconstruct
many of their activities (figure 1.3).
In particular, we know that they organized their ceremonies into seven
levels or grades. Each grade was associated with a planet that located the
person spatially, a name that identified the person’s transformed state, and
souvenirs or amulets that marked their progress. For instance, the first
level of initiation was linked to the planet Mercury. The person who attained
this level was called a Raven and received a cup and a caduceus. The
second level was associated with Venus. The initiate was given a soldier’s