Mystery religions flourished in the Hellenistic world. They centered around deities including Mithras (Persia), Atargatis (Syria), Dionysos, Demeter, and Core (Greece), Meter, (Anatolia), and Isis (Egypt). Most of the deities associated with these cults have their beginning as agricultural fertility gods and the notion of the great divine Mother who begets and receives life force. The word “mystery” comes from the Greek muein, “to initiate.” Membership in the mysteries occurred on an individual and voluntary basis. Ritual practices, worship, and “inner” teachings were privy only to cult members – this contributing to the prestige of the cult. Subsequently, little is known about worship and the mysteries. Apuleius (Lucius Apuleius Platonicus ca. 123/125 CE–ca. 180 CE), in his Metamorphoses, provides a glimpse into the nature of the Isis cult in second century CE. He explains how he was directed in a night dream by Isis “the mother of the universe” to become an initiate (1989, XI. 5)...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Apuleius. (1989). Metamorphoses (trans: Hanson, J. A.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Aurelius, M. (1930). Meditations (trans: Haines, D. G.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Betz, H. D. (1986). The Greek magical papyri in translation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Plato, (1914). Phaedrus (trans: Fowler, H. N.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Pettis, J.B. (2020). Mystery Religions. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_448
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_448
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24347-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24348-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences