I return now to my overview/commentary on Instructions for the Netherworld: The Orphic Gold Tablets by Alberto Bernabé and Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristóbal (Brill: 2008). If you missed my first few posts on this topic, you can see them here: First, Second, Third, and Fourth.

One of the key features of the inscriptions found on these gold plates is the expression of the desire of the deceased to obtain a crown at the end of their long journey in the Netherworld.  On one tablet we find this phrase, a form of which is common to many of the inscriptions:

I launched myself with agile feet after the longed-for crown.¹

The Greek term used here is στεφανος (stéphanos), which is commonly translated as “crown”.  Interestingly, although I would have thought the answer would be quite straightforward, scholars have debated what kind of crown we are dealing with here, and what its meaning is in the religious context of these texts (p. 122). A number of theories have been offered:

• That the “crown” was a given place in the Netherworld that the deceased was trying to reach. Because stéphanos can mean “a crown of fortifications”, the theory was that the term was used to refer to some sort of fence that encircled the kingdom of Persephone, or the dwelling of the blessed. This theory is improbable due to the lack of any description of such a fence in any Orphic or Greek myths.
• Another similar theory is that crown refers to a cycle or “orbit” that the deceased enters into after death — an astral cycle as opposed to the earthly cycle of life that one must endure until freed from it by following the correct path in the afterlife.  This theory, however, is also unacceptable because there is no mention anywhere in the tablets of an astral or heavenly part of the afterlife experience–it all takes place in the Underworld of the Earth itself.
• The third theory mentioned is perhaps the simplest, but most logical: that the term crown should be taken literally to mean a physical crown that is placed on the head.  There is much precedence in Greek culture and religion for the use of crowns, both for the living and for the dead.

It is this third theory that the authors argue for and which we will discuss here.  In Greek culture, literal/physical crowns were used in banquets, funerary rites, triumph in athletic competitions, certain rituals, and in many mystical symbols (p. 123).

It is a significant insight into the Greek understanding of the afterlife that it was their tradition to place crowns on the heads of deserving deceased at their burial (pp. 123-4).  It was believed that doing so represented the soul of the blessed being crowned and adorned with garlands in the Beyond. It was a symbol of the believer’s victory after a lifetime of struggle.

The wearing of crowns at banquets symbolized the glorious banquet at which the just will be seated for Eternity.

Crowns were also used in the rites of the mystery cults, used to identify those who had been initiated.  According to Harpocration:

Those who carry out the Bacchic rites crown themselves with white poplar because the tree is chthonic (of the Underworld), and Dionysus, son of Persephone, is chthonic.

If I understand this correctly, initiates would wear a crown of white poplar (or either myrtle or ivy) because this tree represented the Tree of Life–they would wear a crown of the branches  of the Tree of Life, symbolizing their victory over death.  Similar to the athlete who is crowned after winning the race, the initiates are rewarded, having ensured for themselves immortal glory in the Beyond.

A certain philosopher, Theo of Smyrna, described the stages of an initiatory ritual that consisted of:

• Purification
• The performance of a ritual
• Contemplation
• The initiate’s coronation

It was claimed that this ritual was supposed to produce a state of great happiness in the initiate (p. 128).

Another important part of these coronation rituals (and this relates to my earlier post on the nurturing Mother Goddess) included what seems to be a symbolic return into the womb of the Mother Goddess.  If understood in this context, such phrases found in the tablets as the following become meaningful:

I plunged beneath the lap of my lady, the subterranean queen.

The initiate re-enters the goddess’ womb in order to be reborn as a god (p. 131).  Then the phrase, which I have previously cited — “A ram, you fell into the milk”–can be interpreted as the the “newly-born” initiate becoming a nursling of the goddess’ milk.  This process is common to many ancient rituals and myths (p. 131).  After having been born of a mortal mother’s womb, the individual is eventually received at his death by the womb of Mother Earth (here Persephone), from which he is reborn, but to a new, higher, and divine life.  He is resurrected and becomes a god. All this is done in imitation of a god who once went through the same process of death and rebirth.

Of course this is all familiar territory for Christians. Just as Christ died and was reborn, and then crowned with glory, the same is promised to each faithful Christian “initiate” (Heb. 2:9; 1 Cor. 9:25; 1 Thes. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10).

Moving further back in time, we see that the granting of crowns in the afterlife was a common feature in many Jewish apocalyptic and ascension texts.  Ezekiel the Tragedian, apparently a Jew who wrote a Hellenistic-style play called Exagoge (Exodus), depicted Moses as ascending to heaven, and there being crowned and seated on a throne.  Similar traditions exist for Abraham, Enoch, and many other visionary figures.

In the Old Testament, while the kings obviously underwent a very similar coronation, the chief priest was also to wear a “holy crown” (Exo. 29:6).  When the priest (or king) wore the crown that bore the sacred name of YHWH, he was seen as representing the Lord who would die as a sacrifice, whose blood would be taken into the Temple, and who would emerge with new life.

Image source: http://www.templeinstitute.org/vessels_gallery_15.htm

For Latter-day Saints, the crown is an oft-repeated motif, especially in the Doctrine and Covenants. The crown is explicitly linked to the rituals of the Temple. For example, in D&C 124:55, the Lord makes the saints the following promise:

And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place, that you may prove yourselves unto me that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that I may bless you, and crown you with honor, immortality, and eternal life.

What is figurative in ritual will one day be a reality, as indicated in D&C 29:12–13:

12 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, and it hath gone forth in a firm decree, by the will of the Father, that mine apostles, the Twelve which were with me in my ministry at Jerusalem, shall stand at my right hand at the day of my coming in a pillar of fire, being clothed with robes of righteousness, with crowns upon their heads, in glory even as I am, to judge the whole house of Israel, even as many as have loved me and kept my commandments, and none else.

13 For a trump shall sound both long and loud, even as upon Mount Sinai, and all the earth shall quake, and they shall come forth—yea, even the dead which died in me, to receive a crown of righteousness, and to be clothed upon, even as I am, to be with me, that we may be one.

The “longed-for crown” is the crown of the dying and resurrecting God who invites his mortal followers to follow him and likewise be rewarded with great honor, immortal glory, eternal life, and heavenly kingdoms (D&C 75:5; 78:15).

1. From L 9, 6 as cited in Bernabé and San Cristóbal, p. 121

We now move on to that next phase — a system the authors of Instructions for the Netherworld: The Orphic Gold Tablets call “a ritual for the dead.” Our understanding of this ritual and its place in the journey of the Afterlife comes principally from two tablets found at ancient Pelinna in Thessaly. According to Bernabé and San Cristóbal, these inscriptions are extremely important and have revolutionized what is known about the “Orphic” afterlife journey (p. 61).  I post here the text of the longer of the two inscriptions:

You have just died and have just been born, thrice happy, on this day.

Tell Persephone that Bacchus himself has liberated you.

A bull, you leapt into the milk.

Swift, you leapt into the milk.

A ram, you fell into the milk.

You have wine, a happy privilege

and you will go under the earth, once you have accomplished the same rites as the other happy ones.

I don’t know about you, but this text just didn’t do much for me when I first read it. However, the commentary of the authors greatly enlightens the significance of these rather enigmatic words. The authors initially reason that they must either be part of funerary rites or a part of the initiation. The rather odd references to milk and wine should probably be understood as referring to offerings/libations that accompany the utterance of the formulas (p. 63).  Whether these rites were performed at a funeral or at the initiation is not known.

A Death that is Life — Rebirth into Godhood

The inscription begins with a narrator addressing the deceased, proclaiming that their death is a happy experience in which the individual is at the same time reborn.  Others of the Orphic tablets go into greater detail concerning this rebirth and the initiate’s newly acquired status (p. 64):

–You have been born a god, from the man that you were.

–Happy and fortunate, you will be god, from mortal that you were.

–Come, Caecilia Secundina, legitimately changed into a goddess.

The authors note that the inscriptions, without a doubt, have to do with a “mystery ritual, in which happiness after death is promised” (p. 64). This happiness (trisolbie — “thrice happy”) is linked to the achievement of a particular knowledge, generally proceeding from initiation. Sophocles, with regard to the mysteries, declared (cited p. 64):

Thrice happy those mortals who, having carried out the initiatory rites head for Hades, since life is reserved for them, whereas the others suffer great evils.

The lines about leaping and falling into the milk, along with the suggestion that the initiate has “just died”, indicate that there is some urgency and some instantaneous action occuring with the death. The authors conclude that this could be a rite performed either at the funeral or at the initiation, and that it doesn’t really matter which, as, apparently, “for the Orphics both are one and the same thing” (p. 64). There have been many attempts to explain the significance of the milk. It is known that both milk and wine were important elements in the Greek worship of Dionysus/Bacchus.  The initiate/deceased could have been immersed in milk, whether literally or figuratively.  Some reason that there is reference here to a return to live in the “Milky Way”, and that the mention of the kid and bull are references to the zodiacal signs of Aires and Taurus.  Milk can also be an allusion to the rebirth of the individual. There are a number of ancient rites that involve drinking of the milk of Mother Earth/Goddess, as if a newborn. The philospher Sallustius informs us that food consisting of milk was also known in the Attic mysteries:

after this, feeding by milk like the newborn, which is followed by manifestations of joy, crowns, and something similar to an ascent towards the gods (p. 78).

It is likely that this act of drinking milk like a newborn is a symbol of rebirth, purity, and innocence.  Finally, there is the possibility that the references to the kid, bull, and ram are meant to indicate that the initiate is reborn and thereafter identified with the god Dionysus, who is often described/depicted as any of these animals. The point of mentioning this imagery in the inscription seems to be to emphasize to the initiate that he is being identified with the god, being reborn to a new life, will be nourished like a newborn, and greeted and protected by his mother the goddess (p. 83).

Egyptian: Rudimentary depiction of tree/goddess nursing an individual

More detailed image of same theme

The presence of wine is also very important. Wine is a symbol of the feasting/abundance and happiness that will be the initiate’s reward in the Afterlife. Drinking wine is understood to be an initiatory rite, a solemn sacrament which essentially entails drinking the god in order to participate in his immortality (p. 85).  The joint partaking of the wine by members and new initiates indicates an integration into the initiated group.  Wine was associated with the god Dionysus and the “liberation” that he offered.

The Soul Liberated by Bacchus/Dionysus

From the tablets anyalyzed in the last post of this series, we saw that the soul of the deceased, in order to arrive in the presence of the goddess Persephone, must pass the test of the guardians beforehand, giving them the correct password/phrase.  However, in the above-mentioned inscription from Pelinna, we read that the soul is to “Tell Persephone that Bacchus himself has liberated you.”

Persephone, goddess of fertility and Queen of the Underworld, is the principal figure that the deceased is to meet in the Afterlife. It is to her paradisaical dominion, “the sacred meadows and groves of Persephone”, that the initiate is trying to reach.  Persephone is a type of “Heavenly Mother” — the mother of all mortals, according to the Orphic myth, and the figure whom the deceased call “mother” (p. 68).  The goddess fulfills a salvific function, and the initiate confides in her.  It is hard for me to tell the difference between her role and that of Hades, her husband, who is usually depicted as the enthroned figure in the Afterlife scenes, with Persephone standing near him (see image below), but the authors indicate that it is the goddess who is the judge and determines the soul’s destiny (p. 70). Perhaps her role is to decide whether the soul is worthy for acceptance into the most sacred place where Hades is enthroned.

In the tablets from Hipponion and Entella, the soul must answer the question of the guardians, but their only real function is to pass the correct answer to the goddess, who makes the ultimate decision.  The guardians attract the attention of the goddess to the initiate, who grants him entrance to the blessed condition after she has heard the correct passwords.  Persephone judges their worthiness and then protects them throughout the rest of their journey.

The other major figure mentioned in this inscription is Bacchus, who is cited as having “liberated” the initiate.  Bacchus, also known as Dionysus, is most famously known as the god of wine, fertility, and wild parties.  He also seems to be a sort of sponsor for initiates into the mysteries.  The reason for this is rather complicated, and I will not go into it here — it is sufficient to say that the Greeks believed that Dionysus was the only god who could forgive the human race from the ancient sin of their ancestors (the Titans who ate Dionysus’ flesh long ago), and thus liberate them.  Dionysus acts as a mediator, guiding the initiate and interceding for them with his mother, Persephone (note the important mother-son deity relationship common to many ancient cultures).  Those who undergo the mystery rites (which include purification) during their lifetime will have the right to have the god Dionysus as their liberator, advocate, and guide after they die.  Dionysus has entered into a pact with Hades which allows for the liberation of the initiate from the grasp of Death.

Detail from above vase, depicting "dextrarum iunctio" handshake between Dionysus and enthroned Hades, with Persephone at right (Instructions for the Netherworld, Ap. II, N. 6)

(For more on the dextrarum iunctio, or sacred handclasp, see Stephen Ricks’ article here)

Apparently, because of this pact with Hades, mortals can be “initiated into” Dionysus, who liberates them from their sins and through whom they are initiated into Persephone and immortal glory.  In the fragments of the Theogonies, Proclus explains:¹

Taking the soul to the happy life, after the wanderings around the world of becoming, which those who in Orpheus are initiated into Dionysus and Kore (Persephone), pray to obtain “liberation from the cycle and a respite from disgrace”.

As long as the individual has been initiated into the mysteries, led a life subject to specific norms of purity, and submitted himself to the god’s judgment, he will be purged of his own sins and of the sins of the “original sin” of his ancestors. Sometimes the process requires that the initiate undergo some form of painful punishment, until he can say:

I have paid the punishment that corresponds to impious acts…(p. 75)

The point that the authors emphasize, however, based on the testimony of many texts, is the importance of undergoing the initiation. They note:

The accomplishment of the rites of the mysteries marks the separations between initiates and non initiates, and determines the happy destiny of the former, who will live next to the gods, compated to the suffering that awaits the latter.

They then cite Plato:

It could be that those who instituted the initiations for us were not inept, but that in reality it has long been indicated in symbolic form that whoever arrives in Hades uninitiated and without having carried out the rites “will lie in the mud”, but that he who arrives purified and having accomplished the rites, will live there with the gods…and these are none other than the true philosophers (p. 92).

The Orphic participation in teletai (initiatory rites) dates at least, based on textual evidence, to the 4th century B.C.  These rites included (there are many details that I do not yet have) dressing initiates in animal skins, purifications, ritual sayings/oaths regarding obedience, crowning with crowns of white poplar, and the setting apart of the initiate from the world and from non initiates.  Initiates were to commence a new life of happiness and were taught to lose fear of death (p. 93).   They were promised that they would be able to cease the cycle of mortal life and be reborn as a god. These rituals were not invented by the Orphic cult, nor any of the other Greek mystery religions, but were adapted from the traditions of more ancient cultures. I would like to know the exact trajectory of how these ideas reached the Greek peoples, whether it was from Egypt or Anatolia or elsewhere, but it is known that there was much interaction among the Eastern Mediterranean peoples and they held many beliefs and practices in common.

1. Proclus in Tim. III 297, 3

In this post I will share the contents of these inscriptions and comment on their significance. I will subsequently discuss the importance of the Goddess Mnemosyne, the personification of Memory, who is featured as a major character in the tablets. Apparently, the Orphic tradition believed memory, or specifically the ability to remember certain key concepts, to be essential to one’s journey towards immortality.

Arrival in the Subterranean World

The four main tablets discussed in this chapter (those from Hipponion, Entella, Petelia, and Pharsalus) read very similarly. They start out describing what one sees as soon as he/she enters the realm of the dead. Interestingly, it appears that the initiate who is on his death bed should see these things before he dies, as something of a preview of what will happen, and that he should remember this vision and get it engraved in gold as a type of memory cue for when he actually dies.

Currier and Ives -- "Tree of Life", Public Domain Image

Upon arrival, the soul sees the great palace/mansion of Hades (god of the Underworld). I will quote directly from the English translation of the tablet from Petelia:

You will find, to the left of the mansion of Hades, a fountain, and next to it, a white cypress erect. You must not approach this fountain, not even a little! But on the other side, from the lake of Mnemosyne, you will find water flowing fresh.

And very nearby there are some guardians. Say: “I am the son of Earth and starry Heaven, but my race is heavenly: know this you too. I am dry with thirst and dying. Give me quickly then water from that which flows fresh from the lake of Mnemosyne”. And they will give you water to drink from the sacred fountain and afterwards you will reign with the other heroes.

This is the work of Mnemosyne. When a hero is on the point of dying, let him recall and get this graved on gold, lest the murk cover him and lead him down in dread (pp. 10-11, originally formatting altered here, emphasis mine).

The opening description is striking and strangely reminiscent of Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8, in which he sees a large field, a great and spacious building, a river and fountain, and a great white tree. When Nephi is granted the same vision, he provides some further details:

16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of ^afilthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the ^briver of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of ^chell (1 Ne. 12:16–17)

And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the ^atree which my father had seen; and the ^bbeauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the ^cwhiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow (1 Ne. 11:8).

And it came to pass that I beheld that the ^arod of iron, which my father had seen, was the ^bword of God, which ^cled to the fountain of ^dliving waters, or to the ^etree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God (1 Ne. 11:25).

Although the descriptions are very brief in the Orphic tablets, and differ somewhat one from the other, it appears to be safe to say that they describe two fountains/rivers/lakes. One was to the left of the white tree while the other was to the right (called the “fountain of eternal flow” and sometimes described as being right next to the tree). Apparently, the arriving soul is warned not to drink from the one on the left, but is then encouraged to persuade the guardians to give them to drink from the one on the right. The spring on the left is likely to be identified with the Spring of Lethe (forgetfulness), and the one on the right is the Spring of Mnemosyne (memory). The soul should desire to drink of the flowing waters of memory, which leads to life¹. In the Greek tradition, forgetfulness is linked to sin and death, whereas remembering is linked to life and immortality (this basic idea is also common in Book of Mormon thought).

Perhaps, as in 1 Nephi, the Orphic tradition conceived of a filthy river or fountain (in both the tablets and in 1 Nephi, the two words are used interchangeably), and also a fountain of clean or living (meaning flowing) water alongside the white cypress. Scholars have called the Orphic tree the “Tree of Life”². The focus in the 1 Nephi vision is on the tree and partaking of its fruit. However, the focus in the tablets is on drinking from the living waters. Interestingly, the Nephi account makes eating from the tree and drinking from the waters equivalent (in Egyptian texts, the water often comes from the tree, sometimes by the had of a goddess located inside it).  The tablets specify that drinking from the fountain of memory starts the soul on the “sacred way” that the other initiates have gone which leads to glory, immortality and the right to “reign with the other heroes.” On the other hand, the tablets agree in giving a stern warning not to drink from the first fountain. It is interesting to note that the oldest of the tablets found (from 400 BC) nearly dates to the time of Lehi.

There are many other interesting ideas in this introduction to the journey of the Afterlife. The presence of preliminary guardians (there are others who follow) who ask questions and demand a particular answer is noteworthy. These beings are mentioned in many traditions — for example, in the Genesis story of the Cherubim who guard the way to the Tree of Life.  In the Orphic tablets, they are to be told that although the soul is a son/daughter of the Earth, he is also born of Heaven and is of the celestial race. The Entella tablet, although the last lines are hard to decipher, seems to say that the guardians, after receiving this response, will consult with the Goddess Persephone (queen of the dead), and then either give or require certain passwords. This encounter with these first guardians is not the end of the journey, but only the beginning.

The Essential Role of Memory

The tablets take care to mention that they are “the work of Mnemosyne.” As previously mentioned, the Goddess Mnemosyne is the personification of Memory. Mnemosyne was a daughter of Uranus, wife to Zeus, and mother of the Muses (the inspiration of the poets). The text of the tablets was the work of Mnemosyne because they were something to be remembered. This is one of the reasons the inscriptions are in verse — to facilitate its memorization (p. 15). The responsibility of the Muses was to help poets remember their poetry. The authors of Instructions to the Netherworld expand on the role of Memory:

The goddess takes care that the initiate recalls what he must do, and the instructions that have been revealed to him while alive (probably in the course of initiation), thus becoming the protectress of souls and the guide of his journey (p. 15).

One of the main purposes for seeking the waters of Memory, then, is for those who have been initiated into the mysteries while alive to be able to remember the details of those rituals when they die and have to use them practically in the Afterlife. The authors explain further:

What is hoped for from Mnemosyne is that she may make the initiates remember the ritual, probably that of initiation. At an elementary level, one has recourse to Mnemosyne in order to prevent an unexpected lapse of memory in a moment that is crucial for the initiate: that is, when he presents himself before the guardians and confronts their obligatory interrogation (p. 16).

Beyond this, the authors suggest that some Greek philosophers consider memory as “an instrument of salvation.” While tied by them to the concept of reincarnation, this concept is quite enlightening. The Greeks believed that if you drank from the river Lethe/Forgetfulness, you would forget your previous life and be forced to live another lifetime without progressing. However, if you could remember the lessons learned in your previous live(s) (i.e, because you drank from the fountain of Memory), you could move on to immortality and glory. Those who forget the mistakes of the past will not progress. With the memory of his previous faults, the soul can bring the cycle of destiny to a close and, by paying the price for his injustices, be liberated from the world and death (p. 17).

In Greek, the very concept of “truth” means, etymologically, the “absence of forgetting.” To remember therefore also means “to know” (p. 17). The authors note: “Whereas Forgetfulness is the water of death, because no one can approach the realm of shadows without having lost memory and consciousness, Memory, by contrast, is the fount of immortality, since he who conserves the memory of things in Hades transcends the mortal condition” (p. 17). The general path of the soul is to forget/lose consciousness/die — drinking from the waters of life cause one to take the higher path of memory/knowing/life. As Christ taught, “And this is ^alife ^beternal, that they might ^cknow (remember) thee the only true ^dGod, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast ^esent” (John 17:3). Perhaps this is why the Scriptures tell us so often to remember — 212 times in the Bible and about 120 times in the Book of Mormon.

While a whole post could be written on the subject of memory and its significance, I want to briefly mention a few items for those interested in this topic. My father, David R. Larsen, is the director of Advanced Memory Dynamics, an educational consulting company, and has extensive resources for those interested in learning how to preserve your brain and improve your memory. To learn more, I highly recommend visiting his website at www.4abettermemory.com.

David R. Larsen is also the author of a series of books developed to coincide with LDS Gospel Doctrine annual readings on how to remember scripture: How to Remember Everything in the Old Testament, New Testament, Boof of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Church History. You can go to http://www.cedarfort.com/kahuga/gallery.jsp and enter “How to Remember” in the search window on top for a short review of each volume. These books are full of practical insights for improving memory and also memorizing the scriptures. Also, you can buy any or all of them directly from the author for 20% off the list price. Just e-mail him at: ServgU@aol.com.

1. In his 1982 BYU Studies article, “The Book of Mormon as an Ancient Book,” C. Wilfred Griggs analyzes these arguments in greater depth
2. Griggs, p. 9

Demeter and Persephone, Eleusinian Mysteries Initiation Relief

The mystery religions, or cults, involved initiation into secret rites and the performance of sacred dramas that presented the initiate with hidden knowledge pertaining to the afterlife and the gods. Often there was a promise of immortality resulting from initiation into the cult. The Greek word “musterion” here means “secret rite or teaching,” and a “mystes” was one who had been initiated. Many times, these cults were not religions, per se, but were groups attached to more mainstream belief systems. The mystery cults were very widespread, being found in various cultures and times, the most famous being the Eleusinian, Orphic, Dionysian, Cybellic, and Mithric.

Although there are differences between them, most of the mysteries involved fertility rites and harvest celebrations. Often they entailed a dramatic representation of the fertility god’s death and journey to the underworld and subsequent resurrection and immortality. The initiate would usually re-enact or otherwise imitate the god’s journey, thus obtaining the same immortality as the god. The details of these rites were generally not written down and were to be kept secret, death being the penalty for revealing them. There is much in early Christianity, with its dying and rising God and secret apostolic traditions, that can be compared to these mysteries.

The Telesterion of Athens, portrayed in the model above, was the location where the main part of the Eleusinian initiation was performed, after initiates had undertaken a symbolic journey that led to this final destination.  Compare “telesterion” and “telestai” to “telestial” of LDS terminology.  Telestai is a Greek term meaning “initiates.” The telestai were initiated in the Telesterion.  While I have not seen any place where Joseph Smith explicitly defined Telestial as having to do with initiation, it makes sense that the telestial world, which is descriptive of the world we live in, is the place where initiation needs to take place before one can enter a celestial world.  For Latter-day Saints, the temple is our telesterion where we become telestai. 

In his Immortality of the Soul, Plutarch writes that “the soul at the moment of death, goes through the same experiences as those who are initiated into the great mysteries. The word and the act are similar: we say telentai (to die) and telestai (to be initiated).”  

A couple of months from now (after school is done), I hope to start a series of posts that comment on the translation of some gold plates that have been discovered buried with the bodies of initiates into the Orphic mysteries.  These small gold plates are inscribed with instructions that detail what the deceased person must do and say when he reaches the Netherworld.  This is fascinating material and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Dr. Brian Hauglid (one of my favorite BYU professors): Ancient Temple Architecture: Beliefs and Practices in Light of the Restored Temple Idea

All our temple features existed in the Ancient world. Almost every civilization has had some portion of truth.

The temple is a cosmic observatory

• faces East
• represents organizing principles of creation
• place where one can get bearings on Universe
• sits at intersection of four directions
• there are three temples: heavenly, earthly, and underwordly
• tempe is the “umphalos” or center place of the earth

The temple is built to be boxed to the compass

Of the three temples–heavenly, earthly, and underwordly–we are in the middle, both physically and spiritually

A common symbol is the “mandala”–the intersection of the circle and square, which represents the cosmos

Bountiful Temple detail

The circle represents continuous motion and the heavens. The square represents the earth and solidity.  This imagery can be seen in many LDS temples, including Provo, Manti and Bountiful.

• symbol related to tokens in temple
• squares us to course of life–Christ
• we need to “square the circle”

We need to see realities beyond the symbols.

Solstices and equinoxes could be predicted from the Temple because of its positioning

Initiation Rites

Christian baptism was related to the Temple–but not immersion. Christian baptism became associated with washing, anointing, clothing, and giving of new name. A white garment was put on newly baptized–symbolized the garment of light that was ours in the pre-existence and that we hope to put on again after death.

Coronation ceremonies involved similar rites–washing, anointing, clothing, new name

Naming = coming into existence

There is, in ancient tradition, a repeated motif for entering holy space–give name and answer questions

Creation Dramas

–Are a sacramental renewal of creation

The notion of “creation ex-nihilo” goes against this temple concept.

Manti Temple Pageant

Creation dramas involve:

• ritualized combat scene
• ritual return to the gods
• mediated by prophet or king

Theater/Arts originated in the temple

Cultural Celebration performed by the youth of the Twin falls Temple district August 23, 2008 Photo by Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News.

Exchange of words/tokens — indentification/security

• give token and name
• ritual embrace = fusing of identities
• Jacob’s wrestle with angel = embrace — Jacob given new name and passed through veil

Goal of going to temple was to see God

Matthew Brown: Kingship Initiation Motifs in Ancient Israel

Ancient Israelite kingship initiation ceremonies were built around the imagery of creation and the conquest of Chaos.

Ps. 89 — Yahweh crushed chaos monster, calmed sea–symbol of God’s kingdom

• 89:25–share in victory over chaos
• 89:4-12–earth founded and throne established

The kings throne was seen as the throne of Yahweh–it was set atop 7 levels of steps–elevation = primordial mound

Plummet line and square represent righteousness and judgment as foundation–attributes of king in imitation of King of Heaven

Throne = Judgment — line across knees symbolizes throne

Building of sanctuary = process of creation

The recitation of the creation drama was a part of the liturgical cycle.

Temple = Garden of Eden

Laver — oxen represented rivers = the sea

Oxen also represented Joseph = firstborn

The king ascended the throne at the Gihon spring

The king represented Adam

• Ps. 2 –God put Adam in Eden (on hill)
• Ps. 1 & 2 together — the Holy One represented as a tree; King = Tree

Fig apron represents tree

Ps 19 — Tree of Life — King imitates Father Adam

–Kings David and Solomon given wisdom (tree)

Ps 89 is a coronation text; depicts king as Adam

Ps 72 — Adamic imagery – composed by David

• compare Gen 1-3
• enemies will lick the dust

Ezek 28 — compares king to Adam

• compare king and high priestly clothing
• king = signet = Adam = image of God
• high priest = Adam
• priestly clothing of king = garment of Adam
• beauty and brightness = protection and shielding — compare to veils

King –> temple :: Adam –> Garden of Eden

King is reborn, renamed, adopted; he wears priestly clothing –he is a priest after the order of Melchizedek

King is washed in the Gihon spring — seen as a river of Paradise

King is anointed with scented olive oil

King = gardener of the Tree of Life

Thoth, Seshat and Amun write the name of the King on the Tree of Life.

The Ark contained bread, rod/branch/sceptre, tablets of law –> these items given to king at coronation

The king “cut” a covenant with God –animal (a substitute for the king/Adam) was cut, portraying punishment for breaking covenant

Adam wore priestly robes, as did king

King = Adam