Mysteries, Lesser and Greater

At Eleusis, there were two sets of mystery festivals: the Lesser Mysteries (which occurred around the spring equinox) and the Greater Mysteries (which occurred around the autumn equinox). It is the latter of these that are mythically recorded in part as the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (and which I talked about as the Mystery of Isis). Thomas Taylor (Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries I) says that "the Lesser Mysteries occultly signified the miseries of the soul while in subjection to the body, so those of the Greater obscurely intimated, by mystic and splendid visions, the felicity of the soul both here and hereafter, when purified from the defilements of a material nature and constantly elevated to the realities of intellectual vision."

That is probably all historically factual; but be that as it may, I think the distinction is mistaken. The Mysteries of Isis/Demeter aren't the true Greater Mysteries; neither are those of Osiris/Dionusos or even those of Horos/Apollo. All of these are Lesser Mysteries in the sense that they are preparatory; learning to reflect upon them and discern what they mean is meant to give you the tools to unpack the Greater Mysteries.

Even if the Lesser Mysteries should not be spoken of—and this is for good reason; those of you who have been following my Horos series have been taking them with salt, right?—it is possible to speak of them. The Greater Mysteries are those which cannot be spoken of even in theory: these are the mysteries of your soul itself, that which is strictly internal to you. Only you can experience that myth and explore that terrain, therefore only you can master those mysteries.

Hearing the Lesser Mysteries makes you an apprentice. Mastering the Lesser Mysteries means you know how to use the tools of the mysteries; in a sense, you become a journeyman, capable of work but not yet having constructed a masterpiece. Mastering the Greater Mysteries is constructing your masterpiece, and that masterpiece is your Soul.

Having mastered them, you as Kassandra are both blessed with Illumination and cursed with being unable to communicate it. Still, one should have the good hope of joining the ranks of those who, too, have Seen...