Christianity as Mystical Fact
GA 8
4. Mystery Wisdom and Myth
[ 1 ] The mystic sought within himself for forces, for beings which remain unknown to man so long as he is limited by the ordinary conception of life. The mystic formulates the great question about his own spiritual forces, which go beyond lower nature, and their laws. With his ordinary materialistic, logical conception of life, man creates gods for himself, or if he gains insight into this creation he disowns them. The mystic perceives that he creates gods; he perceives why he creates them; he can, so to speak, see beyond the natural laws of the creation of gods. It is the same with him as it would be with a plant if it suddenly acquired knowledge and learned to know the laws governing its own growth and development. The plant develops in innocent unconsciousness. If it knew its own laws it would have to acquire an entirely new relationship to itself. The plant which has acquired knowledge would have before it as an ideal what the poet experiences when he sings about it, what the botanist thinks when he investigates its laws. The same is true of the mystic with respect to his laws and the forces working within him. As one who knows, he must create beyond himself a divine element. This was the attitude of the initiates toward what the people had created beyond nature. This was their attitude toward the popular world of gods and myths. They wished to perceive the laws of this world of gods and myths. Where the people had a divinity, a myth, there they sought a higher truth. Let us consider an example: The Athenians were compelled by the Cretan King Minos to deliver to him seven boys and seven girls every eight years. These were thrown as food to the Minotaur, a fearful monster. When for the third time the sad consignment was to leave for Crete, the king's son, Theseus, traveled with them. When he arrived in Crete, King Minos' own daughter, Ariadne, took his part. The Minotaur lived in a labyrinth, a maze from which, once one had wandered into it, he could not find his way out again. Theseus wished to free his homeland from the disgraceful tribute. He had to enter the labyrinth, into which the monster's prey was usually thrown. He wished to slay the Minotaur. He undertook this task; he overcame the fearful foe and again reached freedom with the aid of a ball Of thread which Ariadne had given him. The mystic had to recognize how the creative spirit of man comes to form such a tale. As the botanist contemplates the growth of a plant to discover its laws, so the mystic wished to contemplate the creating spirit. He sought truth, wisdom, where the people had set up a myth. Sallustius discloses the attitude of a mystic-sage toward such a myth: “The universe itself can be called a myth, since bodies and material objects are apparent in it, while souls and minds are concealed. Furthermore, to wish to teach all men the truth about the gods causes the foolish to despise, because they cannot learn, and the good to be slothful, whereas to conceal the truth by myths prevents the former from despising philosophy and compels the latter to study it.”54Sallust the Platonist, De Diis et mundo, Concerning Gods and the Universe, Par. III. Translated by A. D. Nock, Cambridge University Press, 1926.
[ 2 ] The mystic was conscious that by seeking the truth contained in a myth, he was adding something to what was present in the consciousness of the people. It was clear to him that he was placing himself above this consciousness of the people just as a botanist places himself above the growing plant. He said something quite different from what was present in the mythological consciousness, but he looked upon what he said as a deeper truth which was symbolically expressed in the myth. Man confronts the material world as if it were a monstrous enemy. To it he sacrifices the fruits of his personality. It devours them. It does so until the conqueror (Theseus) awakens in man. His cognition spins for him the thread by which he finds his way when he enters the maze of the material world to slay his foe. The mystery of human cognition itself is expressed in this conquering of the material world. The mystic knows this mystery. It indicates a force in the human personality. Ordinary consciousness is unaware of this force. But the latter works within it nevertheless. It engenders the myth which has the same structure as the mystical truth. This truth is symbolized in the myth. What then are myths? They are a creation of the spirit, of the unconsciously creative soul. The soul is governed by entirely definite laws. It must work in a definite direction in order to create beyond itself. On the mythological level it does this in pictures, but these pictures are built up according to the laws of the soul. We could also say that when the soul progresses beyond the plane of mythological consciousness to the deeper truths, these bear the same stamp as the myths did before, because one and the same force is active in their creation. The Neoplatonic philosopher, Plotinus (204–269 A. D.), referring to the Egyptian priest-sages, speaks thus about this relationship between the way of thinking common to pictorial myths and higher cognition:
[ 3 ] “The wise of Egypt—whether in precise knowledge or by a prompting of nature—indicated the truth where, in their effort toward philosophical statement, they left aside the writing, forms that take in the details of words and sentences—those characters that represent sounds and convey the propositions of reasoning—and drew pictures instead, engraving in the temple-inscriptions a separate image for every separate item: thus they exhibited the thought-content in which the Supreme goes forth. For each manifestation of knowledge and wisdom is a distinct image, an object in itself, an immediate unity, not an aggregate of discursive argument and detailed discussion. Later from this wisdom in unity there appears, in another form of existence, an image, already less compact, which announces the original in an outward stage and seeks the causes by which things are such that the wonder arises how a created world can be so excellent.”55Plotinus, 5th Ennead, The Divine Mind, 8th Tractate, On Intellectual Beauty, 6. Plotinus (204–269 A.D.) was born of Roman parents in Egypt. Studied under Ammonius Saccas at Alexandria, attempted to go to the East to study philosophy there, but finally reached Rome where he established himself as a teacher of philosophy. He attracted a circle of distinguished pupils, including the Emperor Gallienus and his wife. Not long before his death, Plotinus collected his writings and arranged them in a series of 6 Enneads, later edited by his famous pupil, Porphyry. The Enneads “are the most authoritative exposition of Neoplatonism.”
[ 4 ] Whoever wishes to become acquainted with the relationship between mysticism and mythological tales, must see how mythology is dealt with by the world conception of those whose wisdom accords with the method of thinking of the Mysteries. Such accord exists to the fullest extent in Plato. His interpretation of myths and his use of them in his exposition, may be taken as a standard. In the Phaedrus, a dialogue about the soul, the myth of Boreas is introduced. This divine being, which was seen in the rushing wind, once glimpsed the beautiful Orithea, daughter of the Greek King Erechtheus, as she was picking flowers with her playmates. He was seized with a passion for her, abducted her and took her to his cave. In this dialogue Plato causes Socrates to reject a purely rational explanation of this myth. According to such an explanation an external, natural fact is supposed to be related symbolically in the tale. A gale is supposed to have seized the king's daughter and flung her down from the cliff. “Such explanations,” says Socrates, “are very subtle and may be very entertaining ... But when one has once begun to give a rational explanation to one of these mythological figures, one must go on and look at all the others with the same scepticism and reduce them one after another to the rules of probability ... This sort of explanation would be the business of a life. If anyone disbelieves in these mythological figures, and, with a rustic kind of wisdom, undertakes to explain each in accordance with probability, he will need a great deal of leisure. But I have no leisure for such inquiries ... So I dismiss these matters and, accepting the customary belief about them as I was saying just now, I investigate not these things, but myself, to know whether I am a monster of a more complicated structure and more savage than Typhon, or a gentler and simpler creature, whose nature partakes of divinity.”56Plato, Phaedrus, 229 D, E, 230 A. From this we see that a rationalistic, intellectual interpretation of myths was unacceptable to Plato. This must be considered together with the manner in which he himself makes use of myths to express his meaning through them. Where he speaks of the life of the soul, where he leaves the paths of the transitory and seeks out the eternal in the soul, where, therefore, the ideas supported by material perception and intellectual thought are no longer present, there Plato makes use of the myth. The Phaedrus speaks of the eternal in the soul. Here the soul is represented as a team of two many-winged horses with a charioteer. One of the horses is patient and wise, the other stubborn and wild. When the team encounters an obstruction in its path, the stubborn horse makes use of this to hinder the intentions of the good one and thwart the charioteer. When the team arrives at the point where it should follow the gods over the heavens, the bad horse brings it into a state of confusion. Whether the bad horse is overcome by the good and the team is able to enter the supersensible realm beyond the obstruction, depends on the power of the bad horse. So it happens that the soul is never able to raise itself unhindered to the realm of the divine. Some souls raise themselves to this vision of eternity in a greater degree than others. The soul which has seen the beyond remains safe until the next traverse; the soul which—because of the wild horse—has seen nothing, must make the attempt on a new traverse. By these traverses are meant the various incarnations of the soul. One traverse denotes the life of the soul in one personality. The wild horse represents the lower nature, the wise horse the higher nature, and the charioteer the soul longing for its apotheosis. Plato makes use of the myth to show the path of the eternal soul through various stages. Similarly, in other writings of Plato, myth or symbolical narrative is used to show the inner being of man, the part not perceptible to the senses.
[ 5 ] Here Plato is in full accord with the manner of expression by myth and parable used by others. In ancient Indian literature we find a parable attributed to Buddha. A man much attached to life, who on no account wishes to die, who seeks for sensual pleasure, is pursued by four serpents. He hears a voice which commands him to feed and bathe the four serpents from time to time. The man runs away for fear of the evil serpents. Again he hears a voice. This draws his attention to five murderers who are coming after him. Again the man runs away. A voice draws his attention to a sixth murderer who wishes to strike off his head with a drawn sword. Again the man flees. He comes to a deserted village. He hears a voice which tells him that thieves will shortly plunder the village. As he continues to flee he comes to a great expanse of water. He does not feel safe on this shore; he makes a basket for himself out of straw, sticks and leaves; in this he reaches the further shore. Now he is safe; he is a Brahmin. The sense of this parable is that man must pass through the most varied conditions to attain to the divine. In the four serpents may be seen the four elements, fire, water, earth and air. In the five murderers may be seen the five senses. The deserted village is the soul which has fled from the impressions of the senses, but is not yet safe when alone with itself. If the soul inwardly takes hold of its lower nature only, it must perish. Man must fashion a boat for himself which will carry him over the waters of the transitory from one shore, material nature, to the other, the eternal and divine.
[ 6 ] Let us consider the Egyptian mystery of Osiris in this light. Gradually Osiris had become one of the most important Egyptian divinities. His representation supplanted other representations of gods in certain parts of the country. A significant series of myths formed itself around the figures of Osiris and his consort Isis. Osiris was the son of the sun god; Typhon-Set was his brother and Isis his sister. Osiris married his sister. With her he reigned over Egypt. The evil brother, Typhon, plotted the destruction of Osiris. He caused a casket to be made of the exact size of Osiris. At a banquet the casket was offered as a gift to anyone who exactly fitted into it. No one succeeded in this but Osiris. He laid himself in it. Then Typhon and his accomplices hurled themselves upon Osiris, closed the casket and threw it into the river. When Isis received the dreadful news she was desperate and wandered everywhere searching for the corpse of her husband. When she had found him, Typhon again gained power over him. He tore him into fourteen pieces, which were scattered far apart in different districts. Various tombs of Osiris were shown in Egypt. Here and there in many places pieces of the god were said to have been laid to rest. Osiris himself ascended from the nether world and conquered Typhon; a ray from Osiris then fell upon Isis, who bore him the son Harpokrates or Horus.
[ 7 ] Now let us compare this myth with the way the world was understood by the Greek philosopher Empedocles (490–430 B. C.). He assumes that the single archetypal being was torn into the four elements, fire, water, earth and air—into the multiplicity of existence. He sets in opposition to each other two powers which affect growth and decay within the world of existence: love and strife. Empedocles says of the elements:
[ 8 ] “There are these alone; but, running through one another, They become men and the tribes of beasts. At one time all are brought together into one order by Love; At another, each is carried in different directions by the repulsion of Strife.”57Empedocles, Fragment 26.
[ 9 ] Then from Empedocles' standpoint what are the things of the world? They are the elements, variously mixed. They could come into existence only through the tearing apart of the archetypal One into the four entities. This archetypal One is diffused into the elements of the world. All the things that meet us partake of the diffused divinity, but this divinity is hidden within them. It first had to die, so that the things could come into existence. And what are these things? They are mixtures of portions of the god, influenced in their structure by love and hate. Empedocles says this distinctly:
[ 10 ] “This is manifest in the mass of mortal limbs. At one time all the limbs that are the body's portion Are brought together by Love in blooming life's high season; At another, severed by cruel Strife, They wander each alone by the breakers of life's sea. It is the same with plants, with fish that live in waters, With beasts living on hills, with seabirds sailing on wings.”58Empedocles, Fragment 20.
[ 11 ] Empedocles must take the view that the sage rediscovers the divine archetypal unity which is spellbound in the world, interwoven with love and hate. But if man is to find the divine he himself must become divine, for Empedocles takes his stand on the basis that only equals can recognize each other. His conviction of the laws of cognition is expressed in Goethe's saying, [ 12 ] “If the eye were not of the nature of the sun how could we see the light? If God's own power did not live within us how could we strive for the divine?”
[ 13 ] In the myth of Osiris the mystic is able to find these thoughts about the world and man, which transcend the experience of the senses. The divine creative force is diffused in the world. It appears as the four elements. The god (Osiris) has been slain. Man, with his cognition, which is of a divine nature, is to wake him again; he is to find him again as Horus (Son of God, Logos, Wisdom) in the antithesis of Strife (Typhon) and Love (Isis). Empedocles expresses his basic conviction in Greek form with ideas reminiscent of the myths. Aphrodite is Love; Neikos, Strife. They bind and release the elements.
[ 14 ] Such an exposition of the content of a myth must not be confused with a merely symbolical or allegorical interpretation. This is not intended here. The pictures comprising the content of a myth are not invented symbols for abstract truths, but real soul experiences of the initiate. He experiences the pictures with spiritual organs of perception as a normal man experiences the representations of material things with his eyes and ears. Just as the representation is of little value by itself if it is not activated by perception of the external object, so the mythological picture is of little value without its activation through real occurrences in the spiritual world. It is only with respect to the material world that man at first stands outside the activating things; on the other hand, he can experience the mythological pictures only when he stands within the corresponding spiritual events. To be able to stand within the latter, in the opinion of the ancient mystics, he must have passed through initiation. There the spiritual events which he sees are illustrated as it were, by the mythological pictures. Whoever is unable to take mythology as such an illustration of true spiritual events, has not yet advanced to a comprehension of mythology. For the spiritual events themselves are supersensible, and pictures whose content is reminiscent of the material world are not in themselves spiritual, but are merely an illustration of the spiritual. Whoever lives only in pictures, lives in a dream; he lives in spiritual perception only when he has reached the point of experiencing the spiritual in the picture, just as in the material world one experiences the rose through the representation of the rose. This is also the reason why the pictures presented by myths cannot have only a single meaning. Because of their illustrative character the same myths can express various spiritual facts. It is, therefore, no contradiction when interpreters of myths apply them now to one spiritual fact and again to a different one.
[ 15 ] From this point of view a thread can be found running through the manifold Greek myths. Let us consider the legend of Hercules. The twelve labors imposed on Hercules are seen in a higher light when one reflects that before the last and most difficult one he was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. At the command of King Eurystheus of Mycenae he was to fetch Cerberus, the hound of hell, from the nether world, and take him back there again. To be able to undertake a journey into the nether world, Hercules had to be an initiate. The Mysteries led man through the death of the transitory and thus into the nether world; through initiation they wished to save the eternal element in him from destruction. As a mystic he could overcome death. Hercules overcame the dangers of the nether world as a mystic. This justifies the interpretation of his other deeds as stages of the inner development of the soul. He overcame the Nemean lion and brought him to Mycenae. This means that he became master of the purely physical force in man; he tamed it. Next he slew the nine-headed Hydra. He overcame it with firebrands, dipping his arrows in its gall so that they would never miss their mark. This means that he overcame lower knowledge, the knowledge of the senses, through the fire of the spirit, and out of what he had gained from this lower knowledge he drew the strength to see the lower world in the light belonging to the spiritual eye. Hercules caught the doe of Artemis. The latter is the goddess of the chase. Hercules hunted down what the free nature of the human soul can offer. The other labors can be interpreted in a similar way. We cannot follow them in every detail here; our intention is only to show how the general sense of the myth itself points to inner development
[ 16 ] A similar interpretation is possible for the voyage of the Argonauts. Phrixus and his sister Helle, children of a Boeotian king, suffered greatly at the hands of their stepmother. The gods sent a ram with a golden fleece to them, which carried them away through the air. As they crossed the straits between Europe and Asia, Helle was drowned. Hence the straits are called the Hellespont. Phrixus reached the king of Colchis on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. He sacrificed the ram to the gods and presented the fleece to the King Aetes. The latter had it hung in a grove and guarded by a frightful dragon. The Greek hero, Jason, together with the other heroes, Hercules, Theseus and Orpheus, undertook to fetch the fleece from Colchis. Jason was charged with difficult tasks before he could reach the treasure of Aetes. But Medea, the daughter of the king, who was versed in magic, helped him. He tamed two fire-breathing bulls; he ploughed a field and sowed dragons' teeth, so that armed men grew out of the earth. On the advice of Medea he threw a stone among the men, whereupon they murdered one another. By means of a magic potion from Medea, Jason put the dragon to sleep; then he was able to obtain the fleece. With this he embarked upon the return journey to Greece. Medea accompanied him as his wife. The king pursued the fugitives. To delay him, Medea slew her little brother Absyrtus, scattering his limbs upon the sea. Aetes was delayed in gathering them up. Hence the couple were able to reach Jason's home with the fleece. Here every single fact demands a deeper explanation. The fleece is something belonging to man, something of infinite value to him; in ancient times it was separated from him and its recapture involves the overcoming of terrible powers. So it is with the eternal in the human soul. It belongs to man. But he finds himself separated from it. His lower nature separates him from it. Only when he overcomes this lower nature, puts the latter to sleep, can he regain it. This is possible when his own consciousness (Medea) comes to his aid with its magic force. Medea becomes for Jason what Diotima, as the teacher of love, was for Socrates. Human wisdom possesses the magic force to reach the divine after overcoming the transitory. Out of the lower nature can come only a lower human element, the armed men, which is overcome by the force of the spiritual element, the advice of Medea. Even when man has found his eternal element, the Recce, he is not yet safe. He must sacrifice a part of his consciousness (Absyrtus). This is demanded by the material world, which we can conceive of only as manifold (torn to pieces). We could penetrate still more deeply into the description of the spiritual events lying behind these pictures, but here we intend only to indicate the principle of myth formation.
[ 17 ] Of particular interest in relation to such an interpretation is the saga of Prometheus. Prometheus and Epimetheus were the sons of the Titan, Japetos. The Titans were the children of the oldest generation of the gods, of Uranos (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). Kronos, the youngest of the Titans, dethroned his father and seized the rulership of the world. For this, together with the remaining Titans, he was overpowered by his son Zeus. And Zeus became supreme among the gods. In the battle with the Titans, Prometheus stood at the side of Zeus. On his advice Zeus banished the Titans into the nether world. But the Titans' attitude of mind continued to live in Prometheus. He was only half a friend to Zeus. When Zeus wished to destroy men for their presumption, Prometheus took their part, teaching them the art of numbers and writing, as well as other things leading to culture, especially the use of fire. Because of this Zeus was angry with Prometheus. Hephaestus, the son of Zeus, was commissioned to fashion the image of a woman of great beauty, which the gods adorned with all kinds of gifts. This woman was known as Pandora, the all-gifted. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, brought her to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. She brought him a casket as a gift from the gods. Epimetheus accepted the gift, despite the fact that Prometheus had advised him on no account to accept a gift from the gods. When the casket was opened, out flew all kinds of human plagues. Hope alone remained inside, and that only because Pandora quickly closed the lid. Therefore Hope has remained as the doubtful gift of the gods.—At the command of Zeus, Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus because of his relationship with men. An eagle constantly fed upon his liver, which continually renewed itself. Prometheus had to pass his days in tortured solitude until one of the gods voluntarily sacrificed himself, that is, dedicated himself to death. The tortured one bore his suffering steadfastly. He had learned that Zeus would be dethroned by the son of a mortal woman if he did not marry her. Zeus was anxious to know this secret; he sent the messenger of the gods, Hermes, to Prometheus to discover something about it. Prometheus denied him any information. The legend of Hercules is linked with that of Prometheus. During his travels Hercules also came to the Caucasus. He killed the eagle which was consuming the liver of Prometheus. The centaur, Chiron, who could not die, although suffering from an incurable wound, sacrificed himself for Prometheus. Then the latter was reconciled with the gods.
[ 18 ] The Titans are the force of will streaming from the original cosmic spirit (Uranos) in the form of nature (Kronos). Here we must not think of merely abstract forces of will, but of real beings of will. Prometheus belongs among the latter. This characterizes his being. But he is not entirely a Titan. In a certain sense he sides with Zeus, the spirit who assumed the rulership of the world after the unbridled nature-force (Kronos) had been tamed. Prometheus, therefore, represents those worlds which have given man that forward-striving, which is a force half of nature, half of spirit—the will. On the one side the will is directed toward good, on the other side toward evil. Its destiny is formed according to whether it inclines toward the spiritual or the transitory. This destiny is the destiny of man himself. Man is chained to the transitory. The eagle gnaws at him. He must endure it. He can only attain the heights when he seeks his destiny in solitude. He has a secret. Its content is that the divine (Zeus) must marry a mortal, human consciousness itself, which is bound to the physical body, in order to bring forth a son, human wisdom (the Logos), who will redeem the god. Through this, consciousness becomes immortal. Man may not betray this secret until a mystic (Hercules) approaches him and removes the power which continually threatens him with death. A being, half animal, half human—a centaur—must sacrifice himself to redeem man. The centaur is man himself, the half animal, half spiritual man. He must die so that the purely spiritual man may be redeemed. What Prometheus, the human will, despises, is taken by Epimetheus, the intellect, shrewdness. But the gifts offered to Epimetheus are only troubles and plagues. For the intellect clings to nothingness, to the transitory. And only one thing remains—the hope that out of the transitory, one day the eternal may be born.
[ 19 ] The thread running through the legends of the Argonauts, Hercules and Prometheus, also holds good for the poem of the Odyssey by Homer. The use of this method of interpretation in studying the latter work, may appear forced. But upon a closer examination of everything that has to be considered, even the most hardened doubter must lose his misgivings about such an interpretation. Above all, it must surprise us to find it related of Odysseus also that he descended to the nether world. Whatever we may think of the author of the Odyssey in other respects, it is impossible to credit him with causing a mortal being to descend to the nether world without bringing him into relationship with all that the journey to the nether world signified in the Greek world conception. It signified the overcoming of the transitory and the awakening of the eternal in the soul. That Odysseus achieved this must, therefore, be admitted. With this his experiences, like those of Hercules, gain a deeper meaning. They become a description of something which does not belong to the material world, a description of the soul's path of development. In addition, the Odyssey is not related as one would expect of a sequence of external facts. The hero makes voyages on magic ships. Actual geographical distances are treated in a most arbitrary way. Material reality is simply irrelevant. This becomes comprehensible if the actual events are related only in order to illustrate spiritual development. Furthermore, the author himself states in his introduction to the work, that it deals with the search for the soul: [ 20 ] “Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had reached the sacred citadel of Troy. Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea, seeking to win his own soul and the return of his comrades.”59Homer, Odyssey, Book I, 1–5.
[ 21 ] Here we have a man seeking for the soul, the divine element, and his wanderings in search of this divine element are related. He comes to the land of the Cyclops. These are ungainly giants with one eye in their foreheads. Polyphemus, the most terrible of them, devours several of his companions. Odysseus saves himself by blinding the Cyclops. Here we are dealing with the first stage of life's pilgrimage. Physical power, the lower nature, must be overcome. Whoever does not deprive it of its strength, whoever does not blind it, will be devoured by it.—Odysseus then reaches the island of the witch Circe. She transforms some of his companions into grunting swine. She also is conquered by him. Circe represents the lower spiritual force which clings to the transitory. Through abuse of this force she can thrust humanity only deeper into its animal nature. Odysseus must overcome her. Then he can descend into the nether world. He becomes a mystic. Now he is exposed to the dangers which beset a mystic on his ascent from the lower to the higher stages of initiation. He reaches the Sirens who lure passing travelers to their death with sounds of enchanting sweetness. These are the images produced by the lower fantasy, the first things to be followed by anyone who has freed himself from the material world. He has come as far as free creative activity, but not as far as the initiated spirit. He chases after illusory images and must free himself from their power. Odysseus must traverse the awesome passage between Scylla and Charybdis. In his early stages the mystic wavers between spirit and sensuality. He is still unable to grasp the full content of the spirit, but sensuality has already lost its earlier value. All Odysseus' companions perish in a shipwreck; he alone saves himself and finds the nymph Calypso, who receives him in friendship and cares for him for seven years. At last, at the command of Zeus, she releases him to return to his home. The mystic has reached a stage at which all who are striving with him, fail, except Odysseus, who alone is worthy. In peace this worthy one enjoys gradual initiation for a period defined by the mystically symbolical number seven. Before Odysseus reaches his home, however, he comes to the island of the Phaeacians. Here he is hospitably received. The king's daughter is interested in him and King Alcinous himself entertains him and does him honor. Once again Odysseus encounters the world and its pleasures, and the spirit which cling to the world (Nausicaä) awakens in him. However, he finds the way home to the divine. At first nothing good awaits him at home. His wife, Penelope, is surrounded by numerous suitors. To each she promises marriage when she has finished a certain piece of weaving. She avoids keeping her promise by unraveling at night what she has woven during the day. The suitors must be overcome by Odysseus so that he may be reunited with his wife in peace. The goddess Athene transforms him into a beggar so that he will not be recognized at once upon entering his house. Then he overcomes the suitors. Odysseus seeks his own deeper consciousness, the divine forces of the soul. He wishes to be united with them. Before the mystic finds them he must overcome everything which lays claim to this consciousness in the form of a suitor. This crowd of suitors comes from the world of lower reality, of transitory nature. The logic applicable to this world is a weaving which continually unravels itself after it has been spun. Wisdom (the goddess Athene) is the sure guide to the deepest forces of the soul. She transforms man into a beggar, i.e. she divests him of all that is derived from the transitory.
[ 22 ] The Eleusinian Festivals, celebrated in Greece in honor of Demeter and Dionysus, appear steeped in Mystery wisdom. A sacred road led from Athens to Eleusis. It was marked with secret signs which could bring the soul into a mood of deep reverence. In Eleusis were secret temple buildings which were served by priestly families. Dignity and the wisdom with which this dignity was connected, were inherited in these priest families from generation to generation. (Information concerning these places of worship may be found in the book, Ergänzungen zu den letzten Untersuchungen auf der Acropolis in Athen by Karl Bötticher, Philologus, Suppl. Vol. 3 Section 3.) The wisdom making it possible for services to be enacted there, was the Greek Mystery wisdom. The festivals, celebrated twice yearly, displayed the great cosmic drama of the destiny of the divine in the world and the destiny of the human soul. The Minor Mysteries were celebrated in February, the Major Mysteries in September. Initiations were connected with the festivals. The symbolical presentation of the drama of man and the cosmos formed the concluding act of the initiations undertaken there. The Eleusinian temples were erected in honor of the goddess Demeter. She is a daughter of Kronos. She bore a daughter, Persephone, to Zeus, before his marriage to Hera. Once while Persephone was playing, she was kidnaped by Pluto, the god of the nether world. Demeter, lamenting, hastened to search for her all over the earth. In Eleusis the daughters of Keleus, a local ruler, found Demeter sitting on a rock. Taking the form of an old woman she entered the service of Keleus' family as nurse to the son of the ruler's wife. She wished to endow this son with immortality. Therefore she hid him every night in the fire. When the mother once observed this, she wept and lamented. Henceforth the bestowal of immortality was impossible. Demeter left the house. Keleus built a temple. Demeter's sorrow for Persephone was limitless. She caused famine to spread over the earth. To avoid disaster the gods were obliged to placate her. Pluto was persuaded by Zeus to allow Persephone to return to the upper world. Before this, however, the god of the nether world gave her a pomegranate to eat. Because of this she was compelled to return to the nether world again and again at regular intervals. From then on she spent one third of the year in the nether world and two thirds in the upper world. Demeter was reconciled; she returned to Olympus. But in Eleusis, the place of her anguish, she founded the service of the festivals to commemorate her fate for ever.
[ 23 ] The meaning of the Demeter-Persephone myth is not difficult to recognize. It is the soul which alternates between the lower and the upper world. The eternity of the soul and its eternal transformation through birth and death, is represented pictorially. The soul is descended from Demeter, the immortal. But it is carried off by the transitory and becomes destined to share in the fate of the transitory. It has eaten the fruit in the nether world; the human soul is satiated with the transitory and therefore cannot dwell continually in the divine heights. It must always return to the realm of the transitory. Demeter represents that being from which human consciousness has sprung; but this consciousness must be thought of as having been able to come into existence through the spiritual forces of the earth. Thus Demeter is the archetypal being of the earth, and her gift to the earth in the form of the forces in the seeds and the produce of the fields, only indicates a still deeper aspect of her being. This being wishes to endow humanity with immortality. Demeter hides her nursling in the fire at night. But man cannot endure the pure power of fire (the spirit). Demeter must desist. She can only found the temple service through which man may participate in the divine insofar as he is able to do so.
[ 24 ] The Eleusinian Festivals were an eloquent acknowledgment of belief in the eternity of the human soul. This acknowledgment found pictorial expression in the myth about Persephone. Dionysus was celebrated in Eleusis, together with Demeter and Persephone. As in Demeter was worshiped the divine creatrix of the eternal in man, so in Dionysus was worshiped the divine element, ever changing in the whole world. The god who had been diffused into the world and had been torn to pieces in order to be re-born spiritually, had to be celebrated together with Demeter. (A splendid presentation of the spirit of the Eleusinian Mysteries is to be found in the book, Sanctuaires d'Orient by Édouard Schuré. Paris, 1898.)
Die Mysterienweisheit und der Mythos
[ 1 ] Der Myste suchte in sich Kräfte, er suchte Wesenheiten in sich auf, die dem Menschen so lange unbekannt bleiben, als er in der gewöhnlichen Lebensanschauung steckt. Der Myste stellt die große Frage nach seinen eigenen geistigen, über die niedere Natur hinausgehenden Kräften und Gesetzen. Der Mensch mit der gewöhnlichen, sinnlich-logischen Lebensanschauung schafft sich Götter, oder wenn er zu der Einsicht des Schaffens kommt, dann leugnet er sie. Der Myste erkennt, daß er Götter schafft; er erkennt, warum er sie schafft; er ist sozusagen hinter die Naturgesetzmäßigkeit des Götterschaffens gekommen. Es ist mit ihm so, wie wenn die Pflanze plötzlich wissend würde und die Gesetze ihres eigenen Wachstums, ihrer eignen Entwicklung kennen lernte. Sie entwickelt sich in holder Unbewußtheit. Wüßte sie um ihre Gesetze, müßte sie ein ganz anderes Verhältnis zu sich selbst gewinnen. Was der Lyriker empfindet, wenn er die Pflanze besingt, was der Botaniker denkt, wenn er ihren Gesetzen nachforscht: Das würde einer wissenden Pflanze als Ideal von sich selbst vorschweben. — So ist es mit dem Mysten in bezug auf seine Gesetze, auf die in ihm wirkenden Kräfte. Als Wissender muß er über sich hinaus ein Göttliches schaffen. Und so stellten sich auch die Eingeweihten zu dem, was das Volk über die Natur hinaus geschaffen hätte. So stellten sie sich zu der Götter- und Mythenwelt des Volkes. Sie wollten die Gesetze dieser Götter- und Mythenwelt erkennen. Da wo das Volk eine Göttergestalt, wo es einen Mythos hatte: da suchten sie eine höhere Wahrheit. — Man betrachte ein Beispiel: Die Athener waren von dem kretischen König Minos gezwungen worden, ihm alle acht Jahre sieben Knaben und sieben Mädchen zu liefern. Diese wurden dem Minotaurus, einem fürchterlichen Ungeheuer, als Speise vorgeworfen. Als das dritte Mal die traurige Sendung nach Kreta abgehen sollte, zog der Königssohn Theseus mit. Als dieser in Kreta eintraf, nahm sich Ariadne, des König Minos eigene Tochter, seiner an. Der Minotaurus hauste in dem Labyrinth, einem Irrgarten, aus dem sich niemand herausfinden konnte, der hineingeraten war. Theseus wollte seine Vaterstadt von dem schimpflichen Tribut befreien. Er mußte in das Labyrinth, in das sonst des Ungeheuers Beute geworfen wurde. Er wollte den Minotaurus töten. Er unterzog sich dieser Aufgabe; er überwand den furchtbaren Feind und gelangte wieder ins Freie mit Hilfe eines Fadenknäuels, das ihm Ariadne gereicht hatte. — Dem Mysten sollte klar werden, wie der schaffende Menschengeist dazu kommt, eine derartige Erzählung auszubilden. Wie der Botaniker das Pflanzenwachstum belauscht, um seine Gesetze zu finden, so wollte er den schaffenden Geist belauschen. Er suchte eine Wahrheit, einen Weisheitsgehalt da, wohin das Volk einen Mythos gesetzt hatte. Sallustius verrät uns die Stellung eines mystischen Weisen gegenüber einem solchen Mythos: «Man könnte die ganze Welt einen Mythos nennen, der die Körper und Dinge sichtbarlich, die Seelen und Geister verborgener Weise in sich schließt. Würde allen die Wahrheit über die Götter gelehrt, so würden sie die Unverständigen, weil sie sie nicht begreifen, gering schätzen, die Tüchtigeren aber leicht nehmen; wird aber die Wahrheit in mythischer Umhüllung gegeben, so ist sie vor Geringschätzung gesichert und gewährt den Antrieb zum Philosophieren. »
[ 2 ] Wenn man den Wahrheitsgehalt eines Mythos als Myste suchte, so war man sich bewußt, daß man etwas hinzufügte zu dem, was im Volksbewußtsein vorhanden war. Man war sich klar, daß man sich über dieses Volksbewußtsein stellte, wie sich der Botaniker über die wachsende Pflanze stellt. Man sagte etwas ganz anderes, als im mythischen Bewußtsein vorhanden war; aber man sah das, was man sagte, als eine tiefere Wahrheit an, die sich symbolisch im Mythos zum Ausdrucke brachte. Der Mensch steht der Sinnlichkeit als einem feindlichen Ungeheuer gegenüber. Er opfert ihr die Früchte seiner Persönlichkeit. Sie verschlingt sie. Sie tut es so lange, bis im Menschen der Überwinder (Theseus) erwacht. Seine Erkenntnis spinnt ihm den Faden, durch den er sich wieder zurechtfindet, wenn er sich in den Irrgarten der Sinnlichkeit begibt, um seinen Feind zu töten. Das Mysterium der menschlichen Erkenntnis selbst ist in dieser Überwindung der Sinnlichkeit ausgesprochen. Der Myste kennt dieses Mysterium, Es ist durch dasselbe auf eine Kraft in der menschlichen Persönlichkeit gedeutet. Das gewöhnliche Bewußtsein ist sich dieser Kraft nicht bewußt. Aber sie wirkt doch in ihm. Sie erzeugt den Mythos, der dieselbe Struktur hat wie die mystische Wahrheit. Diese Wahrheit symbolisiert sich in dem Mythos. — Was liegt also in den Mythen? Es liegt in ihnen eine Schöpfung des Geistes, der unbewußt schaffenden Seele. Die Seele hat eine ganz bestimmte Gesetzmäßigkeit. Sie muß in einer bestimmten Richtung wirken, um über sich hinaus zu schaffen. Auf der mythologischen Stufe tut sie das in Bildern; aber diese Bilder sind nach Maßgabe der Seelengesetzmäßigkeit gebaut. Man könnte auch sagen: wenn die Seele über die Stufe des mythologischen Bewußtseins hinaus zu den tieferen Wahrheiten vorschreitet, dann tragen diese dasselbe Gepräge wie vorher die Mythen, denn eine und dieselbe Kraft ist bei ihrer Entstehung tätig. Plotin, der Philosoph der neuplatonischen Schule (204–269 n. Chr.), spricht sich über dieses Verhältnis von bildlich-mythischer Vorstellungsweise zu höherem Erkennen mit Bezug auf die ägyptischen Priesterweisen aus:
[ 3 ] «Die ägyptischen Weisen bedienen sich, sei es auf Grund strenger Forschung, sei es instinktiv, bei der Mitteilung ihrer Weisheit nicht der Schriftzeichen zum Ausdruck ihrer Lehren und Sätze als der Nachahmungen von Stimme und Rede, sondern sie zeichnen Bilder und legen in ihren Tempeln in den Umrissen der Bilder den Gedankengehalt jeder Sache nieder, so daß jedes Bild ein Wissens- und Weisheitsinhalt, ein Objekt und eine Totalität, obschon keine Auseinandersetzung und Diskussion ist. Man löst dann den Gehalt aus dem Bilde heraus und gibt ihm Worte und findet den Grund, warum es so und nicht anders ist.»
[ 4 ] Will man das Verhältnis der Mystik zu mythischen Erzählungen kennen lernen, so muß man sehen, wie die Weltanschauung derjenigen sich zum Mythischen verhält, die sich mit ihrer Weisheit im Einklang wissen mit der Vorstellungsart des Mysterienwesens. Ein solcher Einklang ist im vollsten Maße bei Plato vorhanden. Wie er Mythen auslegt und wie er sie innerhalb seiner Darstellung verwendet, kann als maßgebend gelten. Im «Phädrus», einem Gespräche über die Seele, wird der Mythos von Boreas angeführt. Dieses göttliche Wesen, das in dem einherbrausenden Winde gesehen wurde, erblickte einst die schöne Orithya, die Tochter des attischen Königs Erechtheus, die mit ihren Gespielinnen Blumen pflückte. Er wurde von Liebe zu ihr ergriffen, raubte sie und brächte sie in seine Grotte. Plato läßt in dem Gespräch den Sokrates eine rein verstandesmäßige Auslegung dieses Mythos zurückweisen. Darnach soll eine ganz äußerliche, natürliche Tatsache symbolisch in der Erzählung dichterisch ausgesprochen sein. Der Sturmwind soll die Königstochter erfaßt und von dem Felsen hinabgeschleudert haben. «Derartige Deutungen», sagt Sokrates, «sind gelehrte Klügeleien, so beliebt und gewöhnlich sie heutzutage auch sein mögen. Denn wer eine dieser mythologischen Gestalten zersetzt hat, der muß der Konsequenz wegen auch alle übrigen in derselben Weise zweifelnd beleuchten und natürlich zu erklären wissen. . . . Aber selbst wenn eine solche Arbeit zu Ende gebracht werden könnte: unter allen Fällen würde sie auf seiten dessen, der sie vollführt, keine glückliche Begabung, sondern nur einen gefälligen Witz beweisen, eine bäuerische Weisheit und eine lächerliche Voreiligkeit. . . . Deswegen lasse ich solche Untersuchungen fahren und glaube, was allgemein davon gehalten wird. Nicht sie untersuche ich, wie ich eben schon sagte, sondern mich selber, ob ich nicht etwa auch ein Ungeheuer bin, mannigfacher gestaltet und infolgedessen verworrener als eine Chimäre, wilder als Typhon, oder ob ich ein zahmeres und einfacheres Wesen darstelle, dem ein Teil sittsamer und göttlicher Natur verliehen worden ist. » Was Plato nicht billigt, ersieht man daraus: eine verstandesmäßige, rationalistische Deutung der Mythen. Das muß man zusammenhalten mit der Art, wie er selbst Mythen verwendet, um durch sie sich auszusprechen. Da, wo er von dem Leben der Seele spricht, wo er die Pfade des Vergänglichen verläßt und das Ewige in der Seele aufsucht, wo also die Vorstellungen nicht mehr vorhanden sind, die sich an das sinnliche Wahrnehmen und an das verstandesmäßige Denken anlehnen, da bedient sich Plato des Mythos. Von dem Ewigen in der Seele redet der «Phädrus ». Da wird denn die Seele dargestellt als ein Gespann, das zwei nach allen Seiten mit Flügeln versehene Pferde hat und einen Führer. Das eine der Pferde ist geduldig und weise, das andere störrig und wild. Kommt dem Gespann ein Hindernis in den Weg, so benützt dies das störrige Pferd, um das gute in seinem Willen zu behindern und dem Führer Trotz zu bieten. Wenn das Gespann da anlangt, wo es den Göttern auf dem Rücken des Himmels nachfolgen soll, da bringt das schlechte Pferd das Gespann in Unordnung. Von der Gewalt, welche es hat, hängt es ab, ob es von dem guten Pferde überwunden werden und das Gespann sich über das Hindernis in das Reich des Übersinnlichen begeben kann. So geschieht es also der Seele, daß sie nie ganz ungestört sich in das Reich des Göttlichen erheben kann. Einige Seelen erheben sich zu dieser Ewigkeitsschau mehr, die anderen weniger. Die Seele, welche das Jenseits geschaut hat, die bleibt unversehrt bis zum nächsten Umzuge; diejenige, welche — wegen des wilden Pferdes — nichts geschaut hat, die muß es mit einem neuen Umzuge versuchen. Mit diesen Umzügen sind die verschiedenen Seelenverkörperungen gemeint. Ein Umzug bedeutet das Leben der Seele in einer Persönlichkeit. Das wilde Pferd stellt die niedere, das weise Pferd die höhere Natur, der Führer die sich nach Vergöttlichung sehnende Seele dar. Plato greift zum Mythos, um den Weg der ewigen Seele durch die verschiedenen Wandlungen hindurch darzustellen. In gleicher Weise wird, um das Innere des Menschen, das Nicht-Sinnlich-Wahrnehmbare, darzustellen, in andern platonischen Schriften zum Mythos, zur symbolischen Erzählung gegriffen.
[ 5 ] Plato befindet sich da völlig im Einklänge mit der mythischen und gleichnisartigen Ausdrucksweise anderer. In der altindischen Literatur findet sich ein Gleichnis, das dem Buddha zugeschrieben wird. Ein am Leben hängender Mann, der um keinen Preis sterben will, der die Sinnenlust sucht, wird von vier Schlangen verfolgt. Er hört eine Stimme, die ihm befiehlt, die vier Schlangen von Zeit zu Zeit zu füttern, zu baden. Der Mann lief aus Furcht vor den bösen Schlangen davon. Er hört wieder eine Stimme. Die macht ihn auf fünf Mörder aufmerksam, die hinter ihm her sind. Abermals läuft der Mann davon. Eine Stimme macht ihn auf einen sechsten Mörder aufmerksam, der ihm den Kopf abschlagen will mit einem gezückten Schwert. Wieder flüchtet der Mann. Er kommt in ein menschenleeres Dorf. Er hört eine Stimme, die ihm sagt, daß baldigst Diebe das Dorf plündern werden. Als der Mann weiter flieht, kommt er an eine große Wasserflut. Er fühlt sich am diesseitigen Ufer nicht sicher; aus Strohhalmen, Hölzern und Blättern macht er sich einen Korb; in ihm kommt er ans andere Ufer. Jetzt ist er in Sicherheit; er ist Brahmane. Der Sinn dieser Gleichniserzählung ist: Der Mensch muß durch die verschiedensten Zustände hindurchgehen, bis er zum Göttlichen kommt. In den vier Schlangen sind die vier Elemente: Feuer, Wasser, Erde, Luft zu sehen. In den fünf Mördern die fünf Sinne. Das menschenleere Dorf ist die Seele, die den Eindrücken der Sinne entflohen ist, aber auch noch nicht sicher ist, wenn sie mit sich allein ist. Ergreift sie in ihrem Innern nur ihre niedere Natur, so muß sie zugrunde gehen. Der Mensch muß sich den Kahn zusammenfügen, der ihn über die Flut der Vergänglichkeit von dem einen Ufer, der sinnlichen Natur, zu dem andern, der ewig-göttlichen, trägt.
[ 6 ] Man betrachte in diesem Lichte das ägyptische Osirismysterium. Osiris war allmählich zu einer der wichtigsten ägyptischen Gottheiten geworden. Die Vorstellung von ihm verdrängte andere bei gewissen Volksteilen vorhandene Göttervorstellungen. Um Osiris und seine Gemahlin Isis hat sich nun ein bedeutungsvoller Mythenkreis gebildet. Osiris war der Sohn des Sonnengottes, sein Bruder war Typhon-Set, seine Schwester Isis. Osiris heiratete seine Schwester. Er regierte mit ihr über Ägypten. Der böse Bruder Typhon sann darauf, Osiris zu vernichten. Er ließ einen Kasten verfertigen, der genau die Leibeslänge des Osiris hatte. Bei einem Gastmahle wurde der Kasten demjenigen zum Geschenk angeboten, der genau hineinpaßte. Keinem außer Osiris gelang das. Er legte sich hinein. Da stürzten sich Typhon und seine Genossen auf Osiris, schlossen den Kasten zu und warfen ihn in den Strom. Als Isis das Furchtbare vernahm, schweifte sie verzweifelnd überall umher, um den Leichnam des Gatten zu suchen. Als sie ihn gefunden hatte, brachte ihn Typhon neuerdings in seine Gewalt. Er zerriß ihn in vierzehn Stücke, die in die verschiedensten Gegenden verstreut wurden. Verschiedene Osirisgräber wurden in Ägypten gezeigt. Da und dort, an vielen Orten, sollten Teile des Gottes bestattet sein. Osiris selbst aber entstieg der Unterwelt, besiegte den Typhon; und es beschien ein Strahl von ihm die Isis, welche dadurch den Sohn, Harpokrates oder Horus, gebar.
[ 7 ] Und nun vergleiche man mit diesem Mythos die Weltauffassung des griechischen Philosophen Empedokles (490 bis 430 v. Chr.). Er nimmt an, daß das eine Urwesen einst in die vier Elemente Feuer, Wasser, Erde und Luft oder in die Vielheit des Seienden zerrissen worden ist. Er stellt zwei Mächte einander gegenüber, welche das Werden und Vergehen innerhalb dieser Welt des Seienden bewirken, die Liebe und den Streit. Von den Elementen sagt Empedokles:
[ 8 ] Sie selbst bleiben dieselben, doch durcheinander verlaufend
Werden sie Menschen und all die unzähligen anderen Wesen,
Jetzt in der Liebe Gewalt sich zu einem Gebilde versammelnd;
Jetzo durch Haß und Streit sich als einzelne wieder verstreuend.
[ 9 ] Was sind also die Dinge der Welt vom Standpunkte des Empedokles? Es sind die verschieden gemischten Elemente. Sie konnten nur entstehen dadurch, daß das Ur-Eine zerrissen worden ist in die vier Wesenheiten. Dieses Ur-Eine ist also in die Elemente der Welt ausgegossen. Tritt uns ein Ding entgegen, so ist es eines Teiles der ausgegossenen Gottheit teilhaftig. Aber diese Gottheit ist in ihm verborgen. Sie hat erst sterben müssen, damit die Dinge entstehen konnten. Und diese Dinge, was sind sie? Mischungen der Gottesbestandteile, bewirkt in ihrer Struktur durch Liebe und Haß. Deutlich sagt das Empedokles:
[ 10 ] Hier zum klaren Beweise den Bau aus menschlichen Gliedern,
Wie durch Liebe sich jetzt in Eins die Stoffe verbinden
Alle, so viele der Körper besitzt in der Blüte des Daseins;
Dann, in verderblichem Hader und Streit auseinandergerissen,
Irren sie wiederum einzeln umher am Rande des Lebens.
Ebenso ist's bei den Sträuchern und wasserbewohnenden Fischen
Und bei dem Wild des Gebirgs und den flügelgetragenen Schifflein.
[ 11 ] Es kann nur des Empedokles Ansicht sein, daß der Weise die in der Welt verzauberte, in Liebe und Haß verschlungene göttliche Ur-Einheit wieder findet. Wenn aber der Mensch das Göttliche findet, muß er selbst ein Göttliches sein. Denn Empedokles steht auf dem Standpunkte, daß Gleiches nur durch Gleiches erkannt werde. Seine Erkenntnisüberzeugung drückt Goethes Spruch aus:
[ 12 ] Wär nicht das Auge sonnenhaft,
Wie könnten wir das Licht erblicken?
Lebt nicht in uns des Gottes eigene Kraft,
Wie könnt uns Göttliches entzücken?
[ 13 ] Diese Gedanken über die Welt und den Menschen, die über die Sinneserfahrung hinausgehen, konnte der Myste in dem Osiris-Mythos finden. Die göttliche Schöpferkraft ist in die Welt ergossen. Sie erscheint als die vier Elemente. Gott (Osiris) ist getötet. Der Mensch mit seiner Erkenntnis, die göttlicher Art ist, soll ihn wieder erwecken; er soll ihn als Horus (Gottessohn, Logos, Weisheit) wiederfinden in dem Gegensatz zwischen Streit (Typhon) und Liebe (Isis). In griechischer Form spricht Empedokles selbst seine Grundüberzeugung mit den Vorstellungen aus, die an den Mythos anklingen. Liebe ist Aphrodite; Neikos der Streit. Sie binden und lösen die Elemente.
[ 14 ] Die Darstellung eines Mytheninhaltes in einem Stile, wie er hier beobachtet wird, darf nicht mit einer bloß symbolischen oder gar allegorischen Ausdeutung der Mythen verwechselt werden. Eine solche ist hier nicht gemeint. Die Bilder, welche den Inhalt des Mythos ausmachen, sind nicht erfundene Symbole für abstrakte Wahrheiten, sondern wirkliche seelische Erlebnisse des Eingeweihten. Dieser erlebt die Bilder mit den geistigen Wahrnehmungsorganen, wie der normale Mensch die Vorstellungen erlebt von den sinnlichen Dingen mit den Augen und Ohren. So wenig aber eine Vorstellung für sich etwas ist, wenn sie nicht in der Wahrnehmung durch den äußeren Gegenstand erregt wird, so wenig ist das mythische Bild etwas ohne die Erregung durch die wirklichen Tatsachen der geistigen Welt. Nur steht in bezug auf die Sinneswelt der Mensch zunächst außerhalb der erregenden Dinge; während er die Mythenbilder nur erleben kann, wenn er innerhalb der entsprechenden geistigen Vorgänge steht. Um aber innerhalb zu stehen, muß er, nach alter Mysten-Meinung, durch die Einweihung gegangen sein. Die geistigen Vorgänge, in welchen er schaut, sind durch die Mythenbilder dann gleichsam illustriert. Wer nicht als solche Illustration der wahren geistigen Vorgänge das Mythische zu nehmen vermag, ist noch nicht zum Verständnisse vorgedrungen. Denn die geistigen Vorgänge selbst sind übersinnlich; und Bilder, die in ihrem Inhalt an die Sinneswelt erinnern, sind nicht selbst geistig sondern eben nur eine Illustration des Geistigen. Wer bloß in den Bildern lebt, der träumt; wer es dahin gebracht hat, so das Geistige im Bild zu empfinden, wie man in der Sinneswelt die Rose empfindet durch die Vorstellung der Rose, der erst lebt in geistigen Wahrnehmungen. Es liegt hier auch der Grund, warum die Bilder der Mythen nicht eindeutig sein können. Wegen ihres Charakters als Illustrationen können dieselben Mythen verschiedene geistige Tatsachen ausdrücken. Es ist deshalb auch kein Widerspruch, wenn Mythenerklärer einen Mythos einmal auf diese, ein andermal auf eine andere geistige Tatsache beziehen.
[ 15 ] Man kann von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus einen Faden durch die mannigfaltigen griechischen Mythen finden. Man betrachte die Herakles-Sage. Die zwölf Arbeiten, die Herakles auferlegt werden, erscheinen in einem höheren Lichte, wenn man bedenkt, daß er sich vor der letzten, der schwersten, in die eleusinischen Mysterien einweihen läßt. Er soll im Auftrage des Königs Eurystheus von Mykene den Höllenhund Cerberus aus der Unterwelt holen und ihn wieder hinabbringen. Um einen Gang in die Unterwelt unternehmen zu können, muß Herakles eingeweiht sein. Die Mysterien führten den Menschen durch den Tod des Vergänglichen, also in die Unterwelt; und sie wollten durch die Einweihung sein Ewiges vor dem Untergang retten. Er konnte als Myste den Tod überwinden. Herakles überwindet die Gefahren der Unterwelt als Myste. Das berechtigt, auch seine anderen Taten als innere Entwicklungsstufen der Seele zu deuten. Er überwindet den nemeischen Löwen und bringt ihn nach Mykene. Das heißt, er macht sich zum Herrscher der rein physischen Kraft im Menschen; er bändigt diese. Er tötet weiter die neunköpfige Hydra. Er überwindet sie mit Feuerbränden und taucht in ihre Galle seine Pfeile, so daß sie unfehlbar werden. Das heißt, er überwindet niedere Wissenschaft, das Sinneswissen durch das Feuer des Geistes und nimmt aus dem, was er an diesem niederen Wissen gewonnen hat, die Kraft, um das Niedere in dem Lichte zu sehen, das dem geistigen Auge eignet. Herakles fängt die Hirschkuh der Artemis. Diese ist die Göttin der Jagd. Was die freie Natur der Menschenseele bieten kann, das erjagt sich Herakles. Ebenso können die anderen Arbeiten gedeutet werden. Es kann hier nicht jedem Zuge nachgegangen werden; und nur wie der Sinn im allgemeinen auf die innere Entwicklung hindeutet, das sollte dargestellt werden.
[ 16 ] Eine ähnliche Deutung ist für den Argonautenzug möglich. Phrixus und seine Schwester Helle, die Kinder eines böotischen Königs, litten viel von ihrer Stiefmutter. Die Götter sandten ihnen einen Widder mit einem goldenen Fell (Vlies), der sie durch die Lüfte davontrug. Als sie über die Meerenge zwischen Europa und Asien kamen, ertrank Helle. Die Meerenge heißt daher Hellespont. Phrixus gelangte zum Könige von Kolchis, am östlichen Ufer des Schwarzen Meeres. Er opferte den Widder den Göttern und schenkte das Vlies dem Könige Aëtes. Dieser ließ es in einem Haine aufhängen und von einem furchtbaren Drachen bewachen. Der griechische Held Jason unternahm es, im Verein mit andern Helden, Herakles, Theseus, Orpheus, das Vlies aus Kolchis zu holen. Es wurden ihm behufs Erlangung des Schatzes von Aëtes schwere Arbeiten aufgetragen. Aber Medea, die zauberkundige Tochter des Königs, unterstützte ihn. Er bändigte zwei feuerschnaubende Stiere, er pflügte einen Acker und säte Drachenzähne, so daß geharnischte Männer aus der Erde hervorwuchsen. Auf Medeas Rat warf er einen Stein unter die Männer, worauf sie sich gegenseitig mordeten. Durch ein Zaubermittel der Medea schläfert Jason den Drachen ein und kann dann das Vlies gewinnen. Er tritt mit demselben die Rückfahrt nach Griechenland an. Medea begleitet ihn als seine Gattin. Der König eilt den Flüchtenden nach. Medea tötet, um ihn aufzuhalten, ihr Brüderchen Absyrtus und streut die Glieder ins Meer. Aëtes wird durch das Einsammeln aufgehalten. So konnten die beiden mit dem Vlies Jasons Heimat erreichen. — Jede einzelne Tatsache fordert da eine tiefere Sinnerklärung heraus. Das Vlies ist etwas, das zum Menschen gehört, das ihm unendlich wertvoll ist; das in der Vorzeit von ihm getrennt worden ist, und dessen Wiedererlangung an die Überwindung furchtbarer Mächte geknüpft ist. So ist es mit dem Ewigen in der Menschenseele. Es gehört zum Menschen. Aber dieser findet sich getrennt von ihm. Seine niedere Natur trennt ihn davon. Nur wenn er diese überwindet, einschläfert, dann kann er es wieder erlangen. Es ist ihm möglich, wenn ihm das eigene Bewußtsein (Medea) mit seiner Zauberkraft zu Hilfe kommt. Für Jason wird Medea, was für Sokrates die Diotime als Lehrmeisterin der Liebe wurde. Die eigene Weisheit des Menschen hat die Zauberkraft, um das Göttliche nach Überwindung des Vergänglichen zu erlangen. Aus der niederen Natur kann nur ein Menschlich-Niederes hervorgehen, die geharnischten Männer, die durch die Kraft des Geistigen, den Rat der Medea, überwunden werden. Auch wenn der Mensch schon sein Ewiges, das Vlies, gefunden hat, ist er noch nicht in Sicherheit. Er muß einen Teil seines Bewußtseins (Absyrtus) opfern. Dies fordert die Sinnenwelt, die wir nur als eine mannigfaltige (zerstückelte) begreifen können. Man könnte für alles dieses noch tiefer in die Schilderung der hinter den Bildern liegenden geistigen Vorgänge eingehen; doch sollte hier nur das Prinzip der Mythenbildung angedeutet werden.
[ 17 ] Von besonderem Interesse, im Sinne einer solchen Deutung, ist die Prometheus-Sage. Prometheus und Epimetheus sind Söhne des Titanen Japetos. Die Titanen sind Kinder der ältesten Göttergeneration, des Uranos (Himmel) und der Gäa (Erde). Kronos, der jüngste der Titanen, hat seinen Vater vom Throne gestoßen und die Weltherrschaft an sich gerissen. Dafür wurde er nebst den übrigen Titanen von seinem Sohne Zeus überwältigt. Und Zeus wurde der oberste der Götter. Prometheus stand im Titanenkampfe auf der Seite des Zeus. Auf seinen Rat hat Zeus die Titanen in die Unterwelt verbannt. Aber in Prometheus lebte doch die Gesinnung der Titanen fort. Er war dem Zeus nur halber Freund. Als dieser die Menschen verderben wollte wegen ihres Übermutes, da nahm sich Prometheus ihrer an, lehrte sie die Kunst der Zahlen und der Schrift und anderes, was zur Kultur führt, namentlich den Gebrauch des Feuers. Darob zürnte Zeus dem Prometheus. Hephaistos, der Sohn des Zeus, mußte ein Frauenbild von großer Schönheit bilden, das die Götter mit allen nur möglichen Gaben schmückten. Pandora hieß die Frau: die Allbegabte. Hermes, der Götterbote, brachte sie zu Epimetheus, dem Bruder des Prometheus. Sie brachte diesem ein Kästchen mit als Geschenk der Götter. Epimetheus nahm das Geschenk an, trotzdem ihm Prometheus geraten hatte, auf keinen Fall ein Geschenk von den Göttern anzunehmen. Als das Kästchen geöffnet wurde, flogen alle möglichen menschlichen Plagen heraus. Darinnen blieb nur die Hoffnung, und zwar darum, weil Pandora den Deckel schnell verschloß. Die Hoffnung ist also als zweifelhaftes Göttergeschenk geblieben. — Prometheus wurde auf des Zeus Befehl wegen seines Verhältnisses zu den Menschen an einen Felsen im Kaukasus geschmiedet. Ein Adler frißt beständig an seiner Leber, die sich immer wieder ersetzt. In quälendster Einsamkeit muß Prometheus seine Tage verbringen, bis einer der Götter freiwillig sich opfert, das heißt sich dem Tode weiht. Der Gequälte erträgt sein Leid als standhafter Dulder. Ihm ward kund, daß Zeus durch den Sohn einer Sterblichen werde entthront werden, wenn er sich nicht mit dieser Sterblichen vermählen werde. Dem Zeus war es wichtig, dieses Geheimnis zu kennen; er sandte den Götterboten Hermes zu Prometheus, um darüber etwas zu erfahren. Dieser verweigerte jede Auskunft. — Die Herakles-Sage ist mit der Prometheus-Sage verknüpft. Herakles kommt auf seinen Wanderungen auch an den Kaukasus. Er erlegte den Adler, der des Prometheus Leber verzehrte. Der Kentaur Chiron, der, obwohl an einer unheilbaren Wunde leidend, doch nicht sterben kann, opfert sich für Prometheus. Dieser wird dann mit den Göttern versöhnt.
[ 18 ] Die Titanen sind die Kraft des Willens, die als Natur (Kronos) aus dem ursprünglichen Weltgeist (Uranos) hervorgeht. Dabei hat man nicht etwa bloß an Willenskräfte in abstrakter Form zu denken, sondern an wirkliche Willenswesen. Zu ihnen gehört Prometheus. Damit ist sein Wesen charakterisiert. Aber er ist nicht ganz Titane. Er hält es in gewissem Sinne mit Zeus, dem Geiste, der die Weltherrschaft antritt, nachdem die ungebändigte Naturkraft (Kronos) gebändigt ist. Prometheus ist also Repräsentant jener Welten, welche dem Menschen das Vorwärtsdrängende, das halb Natur-, halb Geisteskraft ist, den Willen, gegeben haben. Der Wille weist auf der einen Seite zum Guten, auf der andern zum Bösen. Je nachdem er zum Geistigen neigt oder zum Vergänglichen, gestaltet sich sein Schicksal. Dieses Schicksal ist das Schicksal des Menschen selbst. Der Mensch ist an das Vergängliche geschmiedet. An ihm nagt der Adler. Er muß dulden. Er kann Höchstes nur erreichen, wenn er in der Einsamkeit sein Schicksal sucht. Er hat ein Geheimnis. Es besteht darinnen, daß das Göttliche (Zeus) sich mit einer Sterblichen, dem an den physischen Leib gebundenen menschlichen Bewußtsein selbst vermählen muß, um einen Sohn, die Gott erlösende menschliche Weisheit (den Logos) zu gebären. Dadurch wird das Bewußtsein unsterblich. Er darf dieses Geheimnis nicht verraten, bis ein Myste (Herakles) an ihn herantritt und die Gewalt beseitigt, die ihn fortwährend mit dem Tode bedroht. Ein Wesen, halb Tier, halb Mensch, ein Kentaur, muß sich opfern, um den Menschen zu erlösen. Der Kentaur ist der Mensch selbst, der halb tierische, halb geistige Mensch. Er muß sterben, damit der rein geistige Mensch erlöst werde. Was Prometheus, der menschliche Wille, verschmäht, das nimmt Epimetheus, der Verstand, die Klugheit. Aber die Gaben, die dem Epimetheus dargereicht werden, sind nur Leiden und Plagen. Denn der Verstand haftet ja an dem Nichtigen, dem Vergänglichen. Und nur eines bleibt — die Hoffnung, daß auch aus dem Vergänglichen einmal werde das Ewige geboren werden.
[ 19 ] Der Faden, der durch die Argonauten —, die Herakles und die Prometheus-Sage führt, bewährt sich auch bei der Odysseus-Dichtung Homers. Man kann die Anwendung der Auslegungsweise hier gezwungen finden. Doch bei näherer Erwägung alles in Betracht Kommenden müssen selbst dem stärksten Zweifler an solchen Auslegungen alle Bedenken schwinden. Vor allen Dingen muß die Tatsache überraschen, daß auch von Odysseus erzählt wird, daß er in die Unterwelt hinabgestiegen ist. Man mag über den Dichter der Odyssee im übrigen denken, wie man will: unmöglich kann man ihm zuschreiben, daß er einen Sterblichen in die Unterwelt steigen läßt, ohne damit ihn in ein Verhältnis zu dem zu bringen, was innerhalb der griechischen Weltanschauung der Gang in die Unterwelt bedeutete. Er bedeutete aber die Überwindung des Vergänglichen und die Auferweckung des Ewigen in der Seele. Daß Odysseus solches vollbracht hat, muß also zugegeben werden. Und damit gewinnen seine Erlebnisse ebenso wie diejenigen des Herakles eine tiefere Bedeutung. Sie werden zu einer Schilderung eines Nicht-Sinnlichen, des Entwicklungsganges der Seele. Dazu kommt, daß in der Odyssee nicht so erzählt wird, wie das ein äußerer Tatsachenverlauf verlangt. Auf Wunderschiffen legt der Held Fahrten zurück. Mit den tatsächlichen geographischen Entfernungen wird in der willkürlichsten Weise umgesprungen. Es kann eben gar nicht auf das Sinnlich-Wirkliche ankommen. Das wird verständlich, wenn die sinnlich-wirklichen Vorgänge nur erzählt werden, um eine Geistesentwicklung zu illustrieren. Außerdem sagt ja der Dichter selbst im Eingänge des Werkes, daß es sich um das Suchen nach der Seele handelt:
[ 20 ] Sage mir, Muse, vom Manne, dem vielgewandten, der vielfach
Umgeirrt, nachdem er die heilige Troja zerstöret:
Vieler Menschen Städte gesehn, und Sitte gelernt hat,
Auch so viel im Meere der kränkenden Leiden erduldet,
Strebend zugleich für die eigene Seel und der Freunde Zurückkunft.
[ 21 ] Einen Mann, der die Seele, das Göttliche, sucht, hat man vor sich; und die Irrfahrten nach diesem Göttlichen werden erzählt. — Er kommt nach dem Lande der Zyklopen. Das sind ungeschlachte Riesen mit einem Auge auf der Stirn. Der fürchterlichste, Polyphem, verschlingt mehrere Gefährten. Odysseus rettet sich, indem er den Zyklopen blendet. Man hat es mit der ersten Station der Lebenspilgerschaft zu tun. Die physische Gewalt, die niedere Natur muß überwunden werden. Wer ihr die Kraft nicht nimmt, sie nicht blendet, wird von ihr verschlungen. -Odysseus gelangt dann auf die Insel der Zauberin Circe. Sie verwandelt einige seiner Gefährten in grunzende Schweine. Sie wird auch von ihm bezwungen. Circe ist die niedere Geisteskraft, die am Vergänglichen hängt. Sie kann den Menschen durch Mißbrauch nur noch tiefer in die Tierheit hinabstoßen. — Odysseus muß sie überwinden. Dann kann er in die Unterwelt hinabsteigen. Er wird Myste. Nun ist er den Gefahren ausgesetzt, denen der Myste beim Aufstieg von den niederen zu den höheren Graden der Einweihung ausgesetzt ist. Er gelangt zu den Sirenen, die den Vorüberfahrenden durch süße Zauberklänge in den Tod locken. Das sind die Gebilde der niederen Phantasie, denen der zunächst nachjagt, der sich von dem Sinnlichen freigemacht hat. Er hat es bis zum frei schaffenden, aber nicht bis zum eingeweihten Geiste gebracht. Er jagt Wahngebilden nach, von deren Gewalt er sich befreien muß. -Odysseus muß die grauenvolle Durchfahrt zwischen Szylla und Charybdis vollziehen. Der angehende Myste schwankt hin und her zwischen Geist und Sinnlichkeit. Er kann noch nicht den vollen Wert des Geistes erfassen; aber die Sinnlichkeit hat doch auch schon den früheren Wert verloren. Ein Schiffbruch bringt alle Gefährten Odysseus' ums Leben; er allein rettet sich zu der Nymphe Kalypso, die ihn freundlich aufnimmt und sieben Jahre pflegt. Endlich entläßt sie ihn auf des Zeus Befehl in die Heimat. Der Myste ist auf einer Stufe angekommen, auf der außer dem Würdigen, Odysseus allein, alle Mitstrebenden scheitern. Dieser Würdige aber genießt eine Zeitlang, die durch die mystisch-symbolische Zahl sieben bestimmt wird, die Ruhe allmählicher Einweihung. — Noch bevor Odysseus in der Heimat anlangt, kommt er auf die Insel der Phäaken. Hier findet er gastliche Aufnahme. Die Tochter des Königs schenkt ihm ihre Teilnahme; und der König Alkinous selbst bewirtet ihn und ehrt ihn. Noch einmal tritt an Odysseus die Welt heran mit ihren Freuden; und der Geist, der an der Welt hängt (Nausikaa), erwacht in ihm. Aber er findet den Weg nach der Heimat, nach dem Göttlichen. In seinem Hause erwartet ihn zunächst nichts Gutes. Seine Gemahlin Penelope ist von einer zahlreichen Freierschar umgeben. Sie verspricht einem jeden die Heirat, wenn sie ein bestimmtes Gewebe fertig habe. Sie entgeht der Einhaltung ihres Versprechens dadurch, daß sie stets in der Nacht wieder auflöst, was sie bei Tag geweht hat. Die Freier müssen von Odysseus überwunden werden, damit er wieder in Ruhe mit seiner Gattin vereint sein könne. Die Göttin Athene verwandelt ihn in einen Bettler, damit er bei seinem Eintritte zunächst nicht erkannt werde. So überwindet er die Freier. — Das eigene tiefere Bewußtsein, die göttlichen Kräfte der Seele sucht Odysseus. Mit ihnen will er vereint sein. Ehe sie der Myste findet, muß er alles überwinden, was als Freier sich um die Gunst dieses Bewußtseins bewirbt. Es ist die Welt der niederen Wirklichkeit, die vergängliche Natur, aus welcher die Schar dieser Freier stammt. Die Logik, die man an sie wendet, ist ein Gespinst, das sich immer wieder auflöst, wenn man es gesponnen hat. Die Weisheit (die Göttin Athene) ist die sichere Führerin zu den tiefsten Seelenkräften. Sie verwandelt den Menschen in einen Bettler, das ist, sie entkleidet ihn alles dessen, was aus der Vergänglichkeit stammt.
[ 22 ] Ganz in die Mysterienweisheit getaucht erscheinen die eleusinischen Feste, welche zu Ehren der Demeter und des Dionysos in Griechenland gefeiert wurden. Eine heilige Straße führte von Athen nach Eleusis. Sie war mit geheimnisvollen Zeichen besetzt, welche die Seele in eine erhabene Stimmung bringen konnten. In Eleusis waren geheimnisvolle Tempelgebäude, deren Dienst von Priesterfamilien besorgt wurde. Die Würde und die Weisheit, an die die Würde gebunden war, erbten sich in den Priesterfamilien von Generation zu Generation fort. (Über die Einrichtung dieser Stätten findet man belehrende Aufschlüsse in den «Ergänzungen zu den letzten Untersuchungen auf der Akropolis in Athen» von Karl Bötticher; Philologus Suppl. Band 3, Heft 3.) Die Weisheit, welche befähigte, hier den Dienst zu tun, war die griechische Mysterienweisheit. Die Feste, die zweimal im Jahre gefeiert wurden, boten das große Weltdrama von dem Schicksal des Göttlichen in der Welt und dem der Menschenseele. Die kleinen Mysterien wurden im Februar, die großen im September begangen. Mit den Festen waren Einweihungen verbunden. Die symbolische Darstellung des Welt- und Menschendramas bildete den Schlußakt der Mystenweihen, die hier vorgenommen wurden. Der Göttin Demeter zu Ehren sind ja die eleusinischen Tempel errichtet worden. Sie ist eine Tochter des Kronos. Dem Zeus hatte sie vor dessen Vermählung mit Hera eine Tochter, Persephone, geboren. Diese war einst beim Spiel von Pluto, dem Gott der Unterwelt, geraubt worden. Demeter durcheilte wehklagend die weite Erde, sie zu suchen. In Eleusis wurde sie auf einem Stein sitzend von den Töchtern des Keleus, eines Gebieters von Eleusis, gefunden. Sie trat in Gestalt einer alten Frau in den Dienst der Familie des Keleus, zur Pflege des Sohnes der Gebieterin. Sie wollte diesem Sohne die Unsterblichkeit geben. Deshalb verbarg sie ihn jede Nacht im Feuer. Als die Mutter das einmal gewahrte, da weinte und wehklagte sie. Die Erteilung der Unsterblichkeit war fortan unmöglich. Demeter verließ das Haus. Keleus erbaute einen Tempel. Die Trauer der Demeter um Persephone war unendlich groß. Sie ließ Unfruchtbarkeit über die Erde kommen. Die Götter mußten sie versöhnen, wenn nicht Furchtbares geschehen sollte. Da wurde Pluto von Zeus bewogen, die Persephone wieder in die Oberwelt zu entlassen. Vorher aber gab ihr der Gott der Unterwelt noch einen Granatapfel zu essen. Dadurch war sie gezwungen, doch immer und immer wieder periodenweise in die Unterwelt hinabzusteigen. Ein Dritteil des Jahres verbrachte sie fortan in der Unter-, zwei Dritteile in der Oberwelt. Demeter war versöhnt; sie kehrte zum Olymp zurück. In Eleusis aber, der Stätte ihrer Angst, stiftete sie den Festdienst, der fortan immer an ihr Schicksal erinnern sollte.
[ 23 ] Unschwer erkennt man den Sinn des Demeter-Persephone-Mythos. Was abwechselnd in der Unter- und der Oberwelt ist, das ist die Seele. Die Ewigkeit der Seele und deren ewige Verwandlung durch Geburt und Tod hindurch wird im Bilde dargestellt. Vom Unsterblichen, der Demeter, stammt die Seele. Sie ist aber von dem Vergänglichen entführt, und selbst zur Anteilnahme an dem Schicksal der Vergänglichkeit bestimmt worden. Sie hat von der Frucht in der Unterwelt genossen: die menschliche Seele ist mit dem Vergänglichen gesättigt; sie kann daher nicht dauernd in den Höhen des Göttlichen wohnen. Sie muß immer wieder zurück ins Reich der Vergänglichkeit. Demeter ist die Repräsentantin jenes Wesens, aus dem das menschliche Bewußtsein entsprungen ist; aber es muß dieses Bewußtsein dabei so gedacht werden, wie es durch die geistigen Kräfte der Erde hat entstehen können. Demeter ist also die Urwesenheit der Erde; und die Begabung der Erde mit den Samenkräften der Feldfrüchte durch sie deutet nur auf eine noch tiefere Seite ihres Wesens hin. Dieses Wesen will dem Menschen die Unsterblichkeit geben. Demeter verbirgt des Nachts ihren Pflegling im Feuer. Aber der Mensch kann die reine Gewalt des Feuers (des Geistes) nicht ertragen. Demeter muß davon ablassen. Sie kann nur einen Tempeldienst stiften, durch den der Mensch, soweit er es vermag, des Göttlichen teilhaftig werden kann.
[ 24 ] Die eleusinischen Feste waren ein laut sprechendes Bekenntnis des Glaubens an die Ewigkeit der Menschenseele. Dieses Bekenntnis fand in dem Persephone-Mythos seinen bildhaften Ausdruck. Zusammen mit Demeter und Persephone wurde in Eleusis Dionysos gefeiert. Wie in Demeter die göttliche Schöpferin des Ewigen im Menschen, so wurde in Dionysos das ewig in der ganzen Welt sich wandelnde Göttliche verehrt. Der Gott, der in die Welt ausgegossen, zerstückelt worden ist, um geistig wieder geboren zu werden (vergleiche Seite 72 f), mußte mit der Demeter zusammen gefeiert werden. (Eine glänzende Darstellung des Geistes der eleusinischen Mysterien findet man in dem Buche «Sanctuaires d'Orient» von Edouard Schuré. Paris 1898.)
Mystery wisdom and the myth
[ 1 ] The Mystic searched for forces within himself, he searched for entities within himself that remain unknown to man as long as he is stuck in the ordinary view of life. The Myste asks the great question about his own spiritual forces and laws that transcend the lower nature. Man with the ordinary, sensual-logical view of life creates gods for himself, or when he comes to the insight of creation, he denies them. The Myste recognizes that he creates gods; he recognizes why he creates them; he has, so to speak, come to understand the natural laws of the creation of gods. It is as if the plant suddenly became aware and learned the laws of its own growth, its own development. It develops in a state of unconsciousness. If it knew its laws, it would have to gain a completely different relationship to itself. What the lyricist feels when he sings of the plant, what the botanist thinks when he investigates its laws: that is what a knowing plant would have in mind as an ideal of itself. - So it is with the mystic in relation to his laws, to the forces at work within him. As a knower, he must create a divine beyond himself. And so the Initiates, too, stood by what the people would have created beyond nature. This is how they approached the world of gods and myths of the people. They wanted to recognize the laws of this world of gods and myths. Where the people had a god, where they had a myth, they sought a higher truth. - Consider an example: the Athenians had been forced by the Cretan king Minos to give him seven boys and seven girls every eight years. These were thrown to the Minotaur, a terrible monster, as food. The third time the sad mission was to leave for Crete, the king's son Theseus went along. When he arrived in Crete, Ariadne, King Minos' own daughter, took care of him. The Minotaur lived in the labyrinth, a maze from which no one who had fallen in could find their way out. Theseus wanted to free his hometown from the shameful tribute. He had to enter the labyrinth into which the monster's prey was usually thrown. He wanted to kill the Minotaur. He undertook this task; he overcame the terrible enemy and got out into the open again with the help of a ball of thread that Ariadne had handed him. - The mystic should realize how the creative human spirit comes to form such a narrative. Just as the botanist eavesdrops on plant growth in order to find its laws, he wanted to eavesdrop on the creative spirit. He sought a truth, a wisdom where the people had placed a myth. Sallustius reveals to us the position of a mystical sage in relation to such a myth: "One could call the whole world a myth, which includes bodies and things in a visible way, souls and spirits in a hidden way. If the truth about the gods were taught to everyone, the unintelligent would hold it in low esteem because they do not understand it, but the more capable would take it lightly; but if the truth is given in a mythical wrapping, it is protected from contempt and provides the impetus for philosophizing. "
[ 2 ] When one sought the truth content of a myth as a myth, one was aware that one was adding something to what was present in the popular consciousness. One was aware that one was placing oneself above this popular consciousness, just as the botanist places himself above the growing plant. One said something quite different from what was present in the mythical consciousness; but one regarded what one said as a deeper truth, which expressed itself symbolically in the myth. Man confronts sensuality as a hostile monster. He sacrifices the fruits of his personality to it. It devours them. It does so until the overcomer (Theseus) awakens in man. His knowledge spins him the thread by which he finds his way again when he enters the maze of sensuality to kill his enemy. The mystery of human knowledge itself is expressed in this overcoming of sensuality. The mystic knows this mystery, it is indicated by the same to a power in the human personality. Ordinary consciousness is not aware of this power. But it does work in it. It produces the myth, which has the same structure as the mystical truth. This truth symbolizes itself in the myth. - So what lies in the myths? They are a creation of the spirit, of the unconsciously creating soul. The soul has a very specific law. It must work in a certain direction in order to create beyond itself. At the mythological level it does this in images; but these images are built according to the laws of the soul. One could also say that when the soul progresses beyond the level of mythological consciousness to the deeper truths, these bear the same imprint as the myths before, for one and the same force is at work in their creation. Plotinus, the philosopher of the Neoplatonic school (204-269 AD), speaks about this relationship between figurative-mythical imagination and higher cognition with reference to the Egyptian priestly ways:
[ 3 ] "The Egyptian sages, whether on the basis of rigorous research or instinctively, do not use written characters to express their teachings and sentences as imitations of voice and speech when communicating their wisdom, but they draw pictures and lay down in their temples the thought content of each thing in the outlines of the pictures, so that each picture is a content of knowledge and wisdom, an object and a totality, although no argument and discussion. One then extracts the content from the picture and gives it words and finds the reason why it is so and not otherwise."
[ 4 ] If you want to get to know the relationship between mysticism and mythical stories, you have to see how the world view of those who know that their wisdom is in harmony with the conception of the Mystery Being relates to the mythical. Such harmony is present to the fullest extent in Plato. How he interprets myths and how he uses them in his presentation can be regarded as authoritative. In "Phaedrus", a conversation about the soul, the myth of Boreas is cited. This divine being, who was seen in the rushing wind, once saw the beautiful Orithya, the daughter of the Attic king Erechtheus, who was picking flowers with her playmates. He was seized by love for her, stole her away and took her to his grotto. In the conversation, Plato has Socrates reject a purely intellectual interpretation of this myth. According to this interpretation, a completely external, natural fact is symbolically expressed in the story. The storm wind is said to have seized the king's daughter and hurled her off the rock. "Such interpretations," says Socrates, "are learned sophistry, however popular and common they may be today. For whoever has decomposed one of these mythological figures must, for the sake of consistency, also cast doubt on all the others in the same way and know how to explain them naturally. . . . But even if such a work could be brought to completion, in all cases it would not prove a happy talent on the part of the person doing it, but only a pleasing wit, a peasant wisdom and a ridiculous rashness. . . . Therefore I abandon such examinations and believe what is generally held of them. I do not examine them, as I have just said, but myself, whether I am not also a monster, more manifoldly formed and consequently more confused than a chimera, wilder than Typhon, or whether I represent a tamer and simpler being, to whom a part of a decent and divine nature has been bestowed. " What Plato does not approve of can be seen from this: an intellectual, rationalistic interpretation of the myths. This must be kept together with the way in which he himself uses myths to express himself through them. Where he speaks of the life of the soul, where he leaves the paths of the transient and seeks out the eternal in the soul, i.e. where the ideas no longer exist that are based on sensory perception and intellectual thinking, Plato makes use of myth. The "Phaedrus" speaks of the eternal in the soul. There the soul is depicted as a team of two horses with wings on all sides and a leader. One of the horses is patient and wise, the other stubborn and wild. If an obstacle gets in the way of the team, the stubborn horse uses it to hinder the good one in its will and to defy the leader. When the team arrives at the place where it is to follow the gods on the back of heaven, the bad horse throws the team into disarray. It depends on the power it has whether it can be overcome by the good horse and whether the team can get over the obstacle into the realm of the supernatural. Thus it happens to the soul that it can never rise completely undisturbed into the realm of the divine. Some souls rise to this eternal vision more, others less. The soul that has seen the hereafter remains unharmed until the next procession; the one that - because of the wild horse - has seen nothing, must try a new procession. These moves refer to the various incarnations of the soul. A procession means the life of the soul in a personality. The wild horse represents the lower nature, the wise horse the higher nature, the leader the soul longing for deification. Plato resorts to myth to depict the path of the eternal soul through the various transformations. In the same way, other Platonic writings turn to myth, to the symbolic narrative, to depict the inner being of man, the non-sensually perceptible.
[ 5 ] Plato is completely in tune with the mythical and parable-like expression of others. In ancient Indian literature, there is a parable attributed to the Buddha. A man who is attached to life, who does not want to die at any price, who seeks sensual pleasure, is pursued by four snakes. He hears a voice commanding him to feed and bathe the four snakes from time to time. The man runs away for fear of the evil snakes. He hears a voice again. It draws his attention to five murderers who are after him. The man runs away again. A voice draws his attention to a sixth murderer who wants to cut off his head with a drawn sword. The man flees again. He comes to a deserted village. He hears a voice telling him that thieves will soon plunder the village. As the man flees further, he comes to a great flood of water. He does not feel safe on this side of the river; he makes himself a basket out of straws, wood and leaves; in it he reaches the other bank. Now he is safe; he is a Brahmin. The meaning of this parable is that man has to pass through various states until he reaches the divine. The four snakes represent the four elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air. The five murderers represent the five senses. The deserted village is the soul that has escaped the impressions of the senses, but is not yet safe when it is alone with itself. If it seizes only its lower nature within itself, it must perish. Man must put together the boat that will carry him across the flood of transience from one shore, the sensual nature, to the other, the eternal-divine one.
[ 6 ] Consider the Egyptian Osiris mystery in this light. Osiris had gradually become one of the most important Egyptian deities. The idea of him supplanted other ideas of the gods that existed among certain sections of the population. A significant mythical circle now formed around Osiris and his wife Isis. Osiris was the son of the sun god, his brother was Typhon-Set, his sister Isis. Osiris married his sister. He ruled Egypt with her. The evil brother Typhon was bent on destroying Osiris. He had a box made that was exactly the length of Osiris' body. At a banquet, the box was offered as a gift to the person who fitted into it exactly. No one but Osiris succeeded. He lay down in it. Then Typhon and his comrades pounced on Osiris, closed the box and threw it into the river. When Isis heard the horror, she wandered around desperately looking for the body of her husband. When she found him, Typhon seized him again. He tore it into fourteen pieces, which were scattered in various places. Various Osiris tombs were shown in Egypt. Here and there, in many places, parts of the god were said to have been buried. Osiris himself, however, emerged from the underworld, defeated Typhon, and a ray from him shone on Isis, who thereby gave birth to the son, Harpocrates or Horus.
[ 7 ] And now compare this myth with the world view of the Greek philosopher Empedocles (490 to 430 BC). He assumes that the one primordial being was once torn into the four elements of fire, water, earth and air or into the multiplicity of existence. He contrasts two powers which bring about the becoming and passing away within this world of being, love and conflict. Empedocles says of the elements:
[ 8 ] They themselves remain the same, but running through each other
they become human beings and all the countless other beings,
now gathering together in love's power to form one entity;
now scattering again as individuals through hatred and strife.
[ 9 ] So what are the things of the world from Empedocles' point of view? They are the various mixed elements. They could only come into being because the primordial One has been torn into the four entities. This primordial One is thus poured out into the elements of the world. When we encounter a thing, it is a part of the poured-out divinity. But this divinity is hidden within it. It first had to die so that things could come into being. And what are these things? Mixtures of the components of God, brought about in their structure by love and hate. Empedocles says this clearly:
[ 10 ] Here for clear proof the structure of human limbs,
How through love the substances now unite in one
All, as many as the body possesses in the flower of existence;
Then, torn apart in pernicious strife and contention,
They again wander about individually on the edge of life.
It is the same with the shrubs and water-dwelling fish
And with the game of the mountains and the winged ships.
[ 11 ] It can only be Empedocles' view that the wise man finds again the divine primal unity that has been enchanted in the world and entwined in love and hate. But if man finds the divine, he himself must be a divine. For Empedocles is of the opinion that the same can only be recognized through the same. Goethe's saying expresses his conviction of knowledge:
[ 12 ] Were not the eye sunlike,
How could we behold the light?
Does not God's own power live in us,
How can the divine delight us?
[ 13 ] These thoughts about the world and man, which go beyond sensory experience, could be found in the myth of Osiris. The divine creative power is poured into the world. It appears as the four elements. God (Osiris) is killed. Man with his knowledge, which is of a divine nature, is to awaken him again; he is to find him again as Horus (son of God, Logos, wisdom) in the contrast between conflict (Typhon) and love (Isis). In Greek form, Empedocles himself expresses his basic conviction with the ideas that resonate with the myth. Love is Aphrodite; Neikos is strife. They bind and unbind the elements.
[ 14 ] The representation of a myth's content in a style such as that observed here must not be confused with a merely symbolic or even allegorical interpretation of the myths. This is not what is meant here. The images that make up the content of the myth are not invented symbols for abstract truths, but real spiritual experiences of the initiate. He experiences the images with the spiritual organs of perception, just as the normal person experiences the images of sensual things with his eyes and ears. But just as little as an imagination is something in itself if it is not aroused in perception by the external object, so little is the mythical image something without the arousal of the real facts of the spiritual world. It is only in relation to the sense world that man stands at first outside the exciting things; whereas he can only experience the mythical images if he stands within the corresponding spiritual processes. But in order to stand within, he must, according to the old mystical opinion, have gone through initiation. The spiritual processes in which he looks are then, as it were, illustrated by the mythical images. He who is not able to take the mythical as such an illustration of the true spiritual processes has not yet penetrated to understanding. For the spiritual processes themselves are supersensible; and images that are reminiscent of the sensory world in their content are not themselves spiritual but merely an illustration of the spiritual. He who lives merely in images is dreaming; he who has brought himself to feel the spiritual in the image, as one feels the rose in the sensory world through the imagination of the rose, lives only in spiritual perceptions. This is also the reason why the images of myths cannot be unambiguous. Because of their character as illustrations, the same myths can express different spiritual facts. It is therefore not a contradiction if myth explainers refer one myth to this spiritual fact and another to a different one.
[ 15 ] From this point of view, you can find a thread running through the various Greek myths. Consider the legend of Heracles. The twelve labors imposed on Heracles appear in a higher light when one considers that he allows himself to be initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries before the last, the most difficult one. On behalf of King Eurystheus of Mycenae, he is to fetch the hellhound Cerberus from the underworld and bring him back down again. In order to be able to enter the underworld, Heracles must be initiated. The Mysteries led man through the death of the ephemeral, i.e. into the underworld; and they wanted to save his eternal from destruction through initiation. As Myste, he was able to overcome death. Heracles overcomes the dangers of the underworld as Myste. This justifies interpreting his other deeds as inner stages of the soul's development. He overcomes the Nemean lion and brings it to Mycenae. In other words, he makes himself the ruler of the purely physical power in man; he tames it. He goes on to kill the nine-headed Hydra. He overcomes them with fires of fire and dips his arrows into their bile so that they become infallible. In other words, he overcomes lower science, sensory knowledge, through the fire of the spirit and takes from what he has gained in this lower knowledge the strength to see the lower in the light that is suitable for the spiritual eye. Heracles catches the hind of Artemis. She is the goddess of the hunt. Heracles hunts for what nature can offer the human soul. The other works can be interpreted in the same way. It is not possible to follow every course here; and only how the meaning in general points to the inner development should be presented.
[ 16 ] A similar interpretation is possible for the Argonaut train. Phrixus and his sister Helle, the children of a Boeotian king, suffered much at the hands of their stepmother. The gods sent them a ram with a golden coat (fleece), which carried them away through the air. When they crossed the strait between Europe and Asia, Helle drowned. The strait is therefore called the Hellespont. Phrixus reached the king of Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. He sacrificed the ram to the gods and gave the fleece to King Aëtes. He had it hung up in a grove and guarded by a terrible dragon. The Greek hero Jason, together with other heroes, Heracles, Theseus and Orpheus, undertook to fetch the fleece from Colchis. He was given difficult tasks in order to obtain the treasure of Aëtes. But Medea, the king's magical daughter, supported him. He tamed two fire-breathing bulls, plowed a field and sowed dragon's teeth so that men in armor grew out of the earth. On Medea's advice, he threw a stone among the men, whereupon they killed each other. Jason puts the dragon to sleep with Medea's magic and is then able to win the fleece. He returns to Greece with it. Medea accompanies him as his wife. The king hurries after the fugitives. To stop him, Medea kills her brother Absyrtus and scatters his limbs in the sea. Aëtes is stopped by collecting them. This is how the two were able to reach Jason's homeland with the fleece. - Every single fact demands a deeper explanation of its meaning. The fleece is something that belongs to man, something that is infinitely valuable to him; something that was separated from him in ancient times and whose recovery is linked to the overcoming of terrible powers. So it is with the eternal in the human soul. It belongs to man. But he finds himself separated from it. His lower nature separates him from it. Only if he overcomes it, puts it to sleep, can he regain it. This is possible if his own consciousness (Medea) comes to his aid with its magic power. Medea becomes for Jason what Diotime became for Socrates as a teacher of love. Man's own wisdom has the magic power to attain the divine after overcoming the transient. Only a human-lower nature can emerge from the lower nature, the harnessed men who are overcome by the power of the spiritual, the advice of Medea. Even if man has already found his eternal, the fleece, he is not yet safe. He must sacrifice a part of his consciousness (Absyrtus). This is demanded by the world of the senses, which we can only understand as a manifold (fragmented) world. For all this, one could go even deeper into the description of the spiritual processes behind the images; however, only the principle of myth formation should be indicated here.
[ 17 ] The legend of Prometheus is of particular interest in terms of such an interpretation. Prometheus and Epimetheus are sons of the Titan Japetus. The Titans are children of the oldest generation of gods, Uranos (heaven) and Gaea (earth). Kronos, the youngest of the Titans, overthrew his father from the throne and seized control of the world. In return, he and the other Titans were overpowered by his son Zeus. And Zeus became the supreme god. Prometheus sided with Zeus in the battle of the Titans. On his advice, Zeus banished the Titans to the underworld. But the attitude of the Titans lived on in Prometheus. He was only half a friend of Zeus. When Zeus wanted to destroy mankind because of their arrogance, Prometheus took care of them, taught them the art of numbers and writing and other things that lead to culture, namely the use of fire. Zeus was angry with Prometheus for this. Hephaestus, the son of Zeus, had to create an image of a woman of great beauty, whom the gods adorned with every possible gift. Pandora was the name of the woman: the all-gifted one. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, brought her to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. She brought him a small box as a gift from the gods. Epimetheus accepted the gift, even though Prometheus had advised him never to accept a gift from the gods. When the box was opened, all kinds of human plagues flew out of it. All that remained inside was hope, because Pandora quickly closed the lid. Hope therefore remained as a dubious gift from the gods. - Prometheus was forged onto a rock in the Caucasus at Zeus' command because of his relationship with humans. An eagle constantly feeds on his liver, which is constantly being replaced. Prometheus has to spend his days in agonizing loneliness until one of the gods voluntarily sacrifices himself, that is, consecrates himself to death. The tormented man endures his suffering as a steadfast sufferer. It was made known to him that Zeus would be dethroned by the son of a mortal if he did not marry this mortal. It was important to Zeus to know this secret; he sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to Prometheus to find out about it. He refused to give any information. - The legend of Heracles is linked to the legend of Prometheus. Heracles also comes to the Caucasus on his travels. He killed the eagle that ate Prometheus' liver. The centaur Chiron, who, although suffering from an incurable wound, cannot die, sacrifices himself for Prometheus. He is then reconciled with the gods.
[ 18 ] The Titans are the power of will, which emerges as nature (Kronos) from the original world spirit (Uranos). We should not just think of forces of will in abstract form, but of real beings of will. Prometheus belongs to them. This characterizes his nature. But he is not quite a Titan. In a certain sense, he is like Zeus, the spirit who assumes world domination after the untamed force of nature (Kronos) has been tamed. Prometheus is therefore a representative of those worlds that have given man the forward-moving, half natural, half spiritual force, the will. On the one hand the will points towards good, on the other towards evil. Depending on whether it tends towards the spiritual or the transient, its destiny is shaped. This destiny is the destiny of man himself. Man is forged to the transitory. The eagle gnaws at him. He must endure. He can only achieve the highest if he seeks his destiny in solitude. He has a secret. It consists in the fact that the divine (Zeus) must wed itself to a mortal, the human consciousness bound to the physical body, in order to give birth to a son, the human wisdom (the Logos) that redeems God. This makes the consciousness immortal. He must not reveal this secret until a Myste (Heracles) approaches him and removes the violence that continually threatens him with death. A being, half animal, half human, a centaur, must sacrifice himself in order to redeem man. The centaur is man himself, the half-animal, half-spiritual man. He must die so that the purely spiritual man can be redeemed. What Prometheus, the human will, spurns, Epimetheus, the intellect, the wisdom, takes. But the gifts offered to Epimetheus are only sufferings and plagues. For the mind clings to the void, to the transitory. And only one thing remains - the hope that the eternal will one day be born from the transient.
[ 19 ] The thread that runs through the Argonauts, Heracles and Prometheus saga also proves itself in Homer's Odysseus poem. One may find the application of the interpretation forced here. But on closer consideration of everything that comes into consideration, even the strongest doubter of such interpretations must lose all doubts. Above all, the fact that Odysseus is also said to have descended into the underworld must come as a surprise. One may think what one likes about the poet of the Odyssey: it is impossible to attribute to him the fact that he allows a mortal to descend into the underworld without relating him to what the passage into the underworld meant within the Greek world view. But it meant the overcoming of the transient and the resurrection of the eternal in the soul. It must therefore be admitted that Odysseus accomplished this. And thus his experiences, like those of Heracles, take on a deeper meaning. They become a description of something non-sensual, of the development of the soul. In addition, the Odyssey is not narrated in the way that an external course of events demands. The hero travels on miracle ships. The actual geographical distances are dealt with in the most arbitrary way. The sensual-real cannot matter at all. This becomes understandable if the sensual-real processes are only told in order to illustrate a spiritual development. Moreover, the poet himself says at the beginning of the work that it is about the search for the soul:
[ 20 ] Tell me, Muse, of the man, the many-souled one, who many times
wandered, after he destroyed the holy Troy:
saw many cities and learned custom,
also endured so much in the sea of grievous suffering,
striving at the same time for his own soul and the return of his friends.
[ 21 ] A man who seeks the soul, the divine, is before us; and the wanderings in search of this divine are told. - He comes to the land of the Cyclopes. These are hulking giants with one eye on their foreheads. The most fearsome, Polyphemus, devours several companions. Odysseus saves himself by blinding the Cyclops. This is the first stage of the life pilgrimage. Physical force, the lower nature, must be overcome. Whoever does not take away its power, does not blind it, will be devoured by it. Odysseus then arrives on the island of the sorceress Circe. She transforms some of his companions into grunting pigs. She is also defeated by him. Circe is the lower spiritual power that clings to the ephemeral. She can only push man deeper into animality through abuse. - Odysseus must overcome her. Then he can descend into the underworld. He becomes Myste. Now he is exposed to the dangers to which the Myste is exposed when ascending from the lower to the higher degrees of initiation. He reaches the sirens, who lure the person passing by to his death with sweet magic sounds. These are the creations of the lower imagination, which are first pursued by those who have freed themselves from the sensual. He has made it as far as the freely creative spirit, but not as far as the initiated spirit. He pursues delusions from whose power he must free himself. -Odysseus must make the horrible passage between Scylla and Charybdis. The budding Myste wavers back and forth between spirit and sensuality. He cannot yet grasp the full value of the spirit; but sensuality has already lost its former value. A shipwreck kills all Odysseus' companions; he alone rescues himself to the nymph Calypso, who takes him in kindly and cares for him for seven years. Finally, at Zeus' command, she releases him to his homeland. The Myste has arrived at a stage where all but the worthy one, Odysseus alone, fail. This worthy one, however, enjoys the peace of gradual initiation for a time, which is determined by the mystical-symbolic number seven. - Even before Odysseus reaches home, he arrives on the island of the Phaeacians. Here he finds a hospitable welcome. The king's daughter offers him her hospitality, and King Alcinous himself entertains and honors him. Odysseus is once again confronted by the world and its pleasures; and the spirit that clings to the world (Nausikaa) awakens in him. But he finds his way home, to the divine. At first, nothing good awaits him in his home. His wife Penelope is surrounded by a host of suitors. She promises to marry each of them when she has finished a certain fabric. She avoids keeping her promise by always unraveling at night what she has woven by day. The suitors must be overcome by Odysseus so that he can be reunited with his wife in peace. The goddess Athena transforms him into a beggar so that he will not be recognized when he enters. This is how he overcomes the suitors. - Odysseus seeks his own deeper consciousness, the divine powers of the soul. He wants to be united with them. Before the Myste finds them, he must overcome everything that competes for the favor of this consciousness as a suitor. It is the world of the lower reality, the transient nature, from which the crowd of these suitors originates. The logic that is applied to them is a web that always unravels once it has been spun. Wisdom (the goddess Athena) is the sure guide to the deepest powers of the soul. She transforms man into a beggar, that is, she strips him of everything that comes from transience.
[ 22 ] The Eleusinian festivals, which were celebrated in honor of Demeter and Dionysus in Greece, appear to be completely immersed in mystery wisdom. A sacred road led from Athens to Eleusis. It was studded with mysterious signs that could put the soul in a sublime mood. In Eleusis there were mysterious temple buildings whose service was provided by priestly families. The dignity and wisdom to which the dignity was linked were passed down from generation to generation in the priestly families. (You can find instructive information about the furnishings of these sites in the "Supplements to the last investigations on the Acropolis in Athens" by Karl Bötticher; Philologus Suppl. Vol. 3, No. 3.) The wisdom that enabled them to serve here was Greek mystery wisdom. The festivals, which were celebrated twice a year, offered the great world drama of the fate of the divine in the world and that of the human soul. The minor mysteries were celebrated in February, the major ones in September. The festivals were associated with initiations. The symbolic representation of the world and human drama formed the final act of the Mystic Consecrations, which were performed here. The Eleusinian temples were built in honor of the goddess Demeter. She is a daughter of Kronos. She gave birth to a daughter, Persephone, to Zeus before his marriage to Hera. She was once stolen by Pluto, the god of the underworld, during a game. Lamenting, Demeter hurried across the wide earth in search of her. In Eleusis, she was found sitting on a stone by the daughters of Keleus, an inhabitant of Eleusis. She entered the service of Keleus' family in the form of an old woman to care for her mistress' son. She wanted to give this son immortality. That is why she hid him in the fire every night. Once the mother realized this, she wept and lamented. From then on, it was impossible to grant immortality. Demeter left the house. Keleus built a temple. Demeter's grief for Persephone was immense. She caused the earth to become barren. The gods had to reconcile her if terrible things were not to happen. So Pluto was persuaded by Zeus to release Persephone back into the upper world. But first the god of the underworld gave her a pomegranate to eat. As a result, she was forced to descend to the underworld again and again periodically. From then on, she spent a third of the year in the underworld and two thirds in the upper world. Demeter was reconciled; she returned to Olympus. But in Eleusis, the place of her fear, she founded the festival service that would henceforth always serve as a reminder of her fate.
[ 23 ] It is easy to recognize the meaning of the Demeter-Persephone myth. What alternates between the underworld and the upper world is the soul. The eternity of the soul and its eternal transformation through birth and death is depicted in the image. The soul comes from the immortal, Demeter. But it has been abducted by the perishable and has itself been destined to share in the fate of transience. It has partaken of the fruit in the underworld: the human soul is saturated with the transitory; it cannot therefore dwell permanently in the heights of the divine. It must always return to the realm of transience. Demeter is the representative of that being from which human consciousness has arisen; but this consciousness must be thought of as it could have arisen through the spiritual forces of the earth. Demeter is therefore the primordial being of the earth; and the endowment of the earth with the seed-powers of the crops through her only points to a still deeper side of her being. This being wants to give man immortality. Demeter hides her fosterling in the fire at night. But man cannot bear the pure violence of the fire (the spirit). Demeter must refrain from it. She can only establish a temple service through which man, as far as he is able, can partake of the divine.
[ 24 ] The Eleusinian festivals were a loudly spoken confession of faith in the eternity of the human soul. This confession found its pictorial expression in the Persephone myth. Together with Demeter and Persephone, Dionysus was celebrated in Eleusis. Just as Demeter was the divine creator of the eternal in man, Dionysus was worshipped as the eternally changing divine in the whole world. The god who was poured out into the world, dismembered in order to be spiritually reborn (see page 72 f), had to be celebrated together with Demeter. (A brilliant description of the spirit of the Eleusinian Mysteries can be found in the book "Sanctuaires d'Orient" by Edouard Schuré. Paris 1898.)