ELEUSINIA. The name by which the rites and ceremonies originally celebrated at Eleusis were known, and by way of eminence called "The Mysteries."* These, like the Egyptian mysteries, were of two kinds—the lesser and the greater which were also esoteric and exoteric *—held at different periods of the year, and at different places; the lesser, which was introductory to the greater, being celebrated at Agrte, on the banks of the Eyssus; the greater at Eleusis, a town of Attica in Greece. They were subsequently extended into Italy and even to Britain.* These mysteries were instituted in honor of Ceres and Proserpine, and commemorated the search of Ceres after her daughter Proserpine, who had been forcibly carried by Pluto to the infernal regions. The exoteric celebration of the greater mysteries occupied nine days, chiefly devoted to sacrifices, processions and other acts of worship; and during this period the judicial tribunals were closed; an armistice was proclaimed; private enmities were hushed; and death was decreed by the Athenian senate against r.ny one, .high soever in rank, who should disturb•the sanctity of the rites. The esoteric ceremonies of initiation into both the lesser and greater mysteries were conducted by four priests of the most illustrious families of Greece, called the Hierophant or Mystagogne, who wore the emblems of the supreme deity; the Daduchus, or Torch-bearer, who was a type of the sun ; the Hiero-Ceryx, or Sacred Herald, who enjoined silence on those who were candidates for initiation, and commanded the profane to withdraw; the Altar-Minister, who attended at the altar, and bore the symbol of the moon; Basilens, king, who judged and punished those who disturbed du: solemnities. Besides these leading ministers there was a multitude of inferior priests and servants. Priestesses were also mentioned in connection with these rites. The examin ation of those who had been purified by the lesser mysteries, and who were preparing for the greater, was exceedingly rigorous. All foreigners, all who -had even involuntarily committed homicide, all who had been declared infamous by the laws, or had been guilty of a notorious crime, were ex cluded. Women and children were admissible; and a child, styled the "Child of Holiness," whose innocence, it was believed, of itself endowed him with capacity to fulfill the requirements of the mysteries, was selected to conciliate the deity in the name of the initiated. The ceremonies of admission were performed at night. Into this branch of the mysteries the qualifications for initiation were maturity of age, perfectness in physical conformation, and purity of conduct.* The postulant was held under a solemn obligation to conceal whatever he saw or heard within the hallowed precincts; and he who violated the obligation was not only put to death,' but devoted to the execration of all posterity. Crowned with myrtle, and enveloped in robes, which from this day were preserved as sacred relics, the neophyte was conducted beyond the boundary impassable to the rest of men. Lest any should be introduced not sufficiently pre
pared for the rites, the Herald•proclaimed, " Far from hence the profane, the impious, all who are polluted by sin !" If any such were present, and did not instantly depart, death was the never-failing doom. The skins of new-slain victims were now placed under the feet of the novice; he was thus duly prepared, and amid the singing of hymns in honor of Ceres, he passed on, when soon the whole scene changed; utter darkness surrounded him; a low deep sound rose from the earth; the lightning flashed, mighty winds were heard, terrific thunder broke forth, and specters glided through the vast obscurity, moaning, sighing and groaning. Myste rious shades, the messengers of the infernal deities- Anguish, Madness, Famine, Disease, and Death—flitted around; and the explanations of the Hierophant, delivered in a solemn voice, added t' the horrors of the scene. This was intended as a representation of the infernal regions, where misery had its seat. As they advanced, amidst the groans which issued from the darkness were distinguished t, those of the suicides—thus punished for cowardly deserting the post which the gods had assigned them in this world. But the scene which the novice had heretofore beheld seemed to be a sort of purgatory, where penal fires and dire anguish, and the unutterable horrors of darkness, were believed, after countless ages of suffering, to purify from the guilt acquired in this mortal life. Suddenly the bursting open of two vast gates, with a terrific sound, dimly displayed to his sight, and faintly bore to his ears, the torments of thqse whose state was everlasting—who had passed the boundA beyond which there is no hope. On the horrors of this abode of anguish and despair a curtain may be dropped; the subject is unut terable. Onward proceeded the novice, and was soon con ducted into another region; that of everlasting bliss, the sojourn of the just—of those who had been purified and whose minds had been enlightened by "the Holy Doctrine."* This was Ecystum—the joys of which were equally unutter able, equally incomprehensible, to mortals not admitted into these mysteries. Here a wail was in like manner thrown over this scene, and the ceremonies' were closed. These rites inculcated the doctrine of one God, and the dignity and destiny of the human soul; they instructed the people in the knowledge of nature and of the universe, and taught them to see the presence of the Eternal in the splendor and beauty of the natural world. It is evident that these mys teries constituted the great educational institution of ancient Greece. They formed the Grecian mind, and led in the development of Grecian ideas. Nearly all ancient writers speak of their eminent utility and salutary influence. Arrien, Pausanias, Euripedes and Cicero, unite their testimony in their favor, and speak of them as peculiarly calculated to "reform the manners, and perfect the education of mankind."