Editing Greco-Roman mysteries (section)

==Eleusinian Mysteries==
{{Main|Eleusinian Mysteries}}
The Eleusinian Mysteries were the earliest and most famous of the mystery cults and lasted for over a millennium. Whenever they first originated, by the end of the 5th century BCE, they had been heavily influenced by [[Orphism (religion)|Orphism]], and in Late Antiquity, they had become allegorized.{{sfn|Bremmer|2014|pp=1-20}}

=== Myth ===
The basis for the Eleusinian Mysteries can be found in a myth concerning the kidnapping of [[Persephone]], daughter of [[Demeter]], the goddess of agriculture, by [[Hades]], the god of the underworld, as told in the [[Homeric Hymns]]. Anguished by this event and wishing to persuade [[Zeus]], the king of the gods, to allow the return of her daughter, Demeter caused famine and drought across the land, killing many and depriving the gods of proper sacrifice and worship. Eventually, Zeus permitted Persephone to rejoin her mother, prompting Demeter to end the pestilences which deprived the world of its prosperity. However, because the Fates decreed that whoever ate or drank in the underworld was doomed to spend eternity there, Persephone was still forced to remain in the realm for either four or six months of the year (depending on the telling),<ref name=":1">Keller 1988, pp. 38-40.</ref> as she was tricked by Hades into eating pomegranate seeds of a corresponding amount. Thus, Demeter, in her sadness, neglects to nourish the earth for the months that Persephone is gone, only doing so when she returns, until the process repeats again. These episodic periods became the winter and spring seasons, with the "death" and "rebirth" of Persephone being allegorical for the cycle of life and the experience of all beings.<ref name=":1" />

===Initiation===
In the 15th of the month of Boedromion (September/October) in the [[Attic calendar]], as many as 3,000 potential initiates would have gathered in the agora of [[Athens]], the gathering limited to those that spoke Greek and had never killed (as the emphasis on purity grew, this ban would include those who had "impure" souls). Like other large festivals such as the [[Diasia]] and [[Thesmophoria]], the prospective initiates would bring their own sacrificial animals and hear the festivals proclamation as it began. The next day, they would have gone to the sea and purified themselves and the animals. Three days of rest would pass until the 19th, the agora was once more filled with the initiates at the procession at the sanctuary of [[Demeter]] and her daughter [[Persephone]]. Two Eleusinian priestesses were at the front of the procession followed by many Greeks holding special items in preparation for the rest of the ceremony, and the procession would leave the city on an hours-long 15-mile journey constantly interrupted by celebration, dances, etc, to the city of [[Eleusis]]. The initiates would carry torches on the way to the city. Once the city was reached, the pilgrims would dance into the sanctuary. The next day would begin with sacrifices, and at sunset, the initiates would go to a building called the ''telestêrion'' where the actual initiations would commence. The initiates washed themselves to be pure and everyone sat together in silence surrounded by the smell of extinguished torches. The initiation may have taken place over two nights. If so, the first night may have concerned the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades and ended with the goddess's return, whereas the second night concerned the ''epopteia'' (the higher degree of the Mysteries) which was a performance that included singing, dancing, potentially the showing of a phallus, a terrifying experience for the audience by the skilled Eleusinian clergy, and the climax of the event which must have included displaying a statue of Demeter and showing of an ear of wheat and a "birth" of agricultural wealth. Hence, these mysteries had associations with fertility and agriculture.{{sfn|Bremmer|2014|pp=1-20}} In an attempt to solve the mystery of how so many people over the span of two millennia could have consistently experienced revelatory states during the culminating ceremony of the Eleusinian Mysteries, numerous scholars have proposed that the power of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from the [[kykeon]]'s functioning as an [[entheogen]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Webster|first=P.|date=April 1999|title=The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries. Twentieth Anniversary Edition, by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Carl A.P. Ruck, Hermes Press, 1998. (Originally published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1978). ISBN 0-915148-20-X|journal=International Journal of Drug Policy|volume=10|issue=2|pages=157–166|doi=10.1016/s0955-3959(99)00012-2|issn=0955-3959}}</ref>

===Aftermath===

The day of the completion of the initiation was called the Plemochoai (after a type of vessel used to conclude a libation), and the new members could now wear a myrtle wreath like the priests. Eventually, the initiates would leave and utter the phrases ''paks'' or ''konks'', which referenced the proclamation of a conclusion of an event. The clothing worn by the new members during their journey were used as lucky blankets for children or perhaps were given to their sanctuary.{{sfn|Bremmer|2014|pp=1-20}}