An initiate between Demeter and Persephone, from the Temple at Eleu. The Eleusinian mysteries as a model of a guided trip. Descending into Mother Earth to restore life, initiates were bound to secrecy about the ritual under penalty of death, and the full details of the ceremonies remain unknown. Plato said, âthe ultimate design of the Mysteries was to lead us back to the principles from which we were descended.â They were practiced without interruption for 2,000 years Guided trips have been an aspect of religious ceremonies in many cultures. Historically the most important of these were the Eleusinian Mysteries. Famous initiates include Socrates, Plato, Caesar, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. They walked the 19 kilometers from Athens to Eleusis called the Sacred Way. For much of early Greek history, the Sacred Way was the only true road in central Greece. In the course of a seven-day ritual, initiates enacted the story of Demeter and Persephone and drank âkykeon,â a barley-based drink Rituals hearken to a time when God visited us in our dreams, sacred places existed and we experienced the world with awe and reverence. The neurosis of modern man, according to the German theologian Hans Kung, is his inability to experience God. Perhaps, the resurgent popularity of psychedelic use in therapy relates to their ability when used correctly, to re-experience the world with wonder and awe. The sacred mountains, caves and springs where God spoke to us are gone, but we still yearn for them. From: THE WISDOM OF DREAMS: Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul by Greg Mahr M.D. and Christopher L. Drake Ph.D. https: //thewisdomofdreamsbook.com
