The intention of all mystic ceremonies ..
Riffing on Eternity #13
“The intention of all mystic ceremonies is to conjoin us with the world and the gods.”- Sallust
There is a sweetness of realization in which we are brought not only into the realm of the gods, but simultaneously further into the world. In ceremony, we offer ourselves to the world of matter as conduits - bringing from the heavens into the manifest world all the divinity of light and life that the gods may be able to pour through us. Enabling this magical purpose of the soul is the reason for all the mystic ceremonies. They are, in fact, established ways to bring the heavens into matter, and for the matter thus transmuted to offer back into the heavens the gratitude and love which has become “real” on earth. Such ceremony is an offering of total surrender, in which the matter allows itself to be kneaded, developed, and evolved.
First the human being must give the soul its rightful place in the scheme of things. The soul escapes by “death” then returns with a mission, and is then living in the body but is also living in heaven at the same time, coming and going at will, as the word bhagavan represents.
Here the articulated reality of the so-called heavens is put to the test, as the soul cannot become lost in this very direct journey. The maze of the minotaur, the labyrinth, can be seen also descriptions of the actions taken by the soul in the return journey. The ladders and signposts left down through the ages by the wise ancients can be easily followed and they light the way. The image of the path is already indelibly printed in the inner soul and this imprint acts as a living guide through all the byways.
The nature of the journey is of a dance, not a direct straight run. The dance is circular, as it goes up and down the mountains, into and out of all the elements in turn and through their varied and convoluted combinations.
At each instant we are confronted by new circumstances and it is up to us to find the way through these using the light of the virtues to show us how exactly we may find the truth of wisdom in the midst of the clouds of existence.
Many people have tried but only go so far before falling back into the pit of emotions and mistaken thinking. We find our best way by going as close to the light as possible, and then when there seems to be a barrier, to rest a bit, and to appreciate the world around us before once again going forward. Even when this seeming delay happens, the world becomes touched in beauty and painted by the light of the grateful resting soul, who may yet again be thrown back into the pit of the cruel daimons of earth.
The gods and the strength of the soul persist. They can combine to rain blessings of magical dew on all circumstances and things to bring about conditions that enable the soul to once again find its way upward.
The mystic ceremonies help this happen. They formally put the gods and humans in right relation and act as a waystation between them. A sharp impulse is emitted by a ceremonial action and this enlivens the sluggish circumstances, creating openings, opening the world to its receptive causes, and opening the people in the ceremony to the greater divine within and around us.
We lift up. We rise up. We become timeless, we are held and nurtured, and we are given more oracular instructions for the furtherance of life on earth. Then empowered and strengthened by this we work to go forward, and act within the world according to the purpose of the soul’s unfolding.
More of my notes on Plato study here, at Riffing on Eternity.