##### TRANSCRIPTS BY NEURALVIBES @ DEMONOID ##### ##### LINES WITH '///' ARE PRESENTER COMMENTARY ##### /// HELLO.

I'M SUSAN SARANDON. /// IN THE PREVIOUS PROGRAM OF "MYTHOS", /// JOE CAMPBELL DISCUSSED THE HISTORICAL ROOTS /// OF THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN THE EXODUS. /// BUT HISTORY TELLS JUST HALF OF THE STORY. /// AS THE PHILOSOPHER NOVALIS SAID, /// "THE SEAT OF THE SOUL /// IS WHERE THE INNER AND OUTER WORLD MEET." /// THE OUTER WORLD OF HISTORY CHANGES WITH TIME. /// THE INNER WORLD, THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, /// IS CONSTANT TO THE HUMAN RACE, /// AND IT IS MYTH THAT PROVIDES THE LINK BETWEEN THESE 2 WORLDS. /// IT IS ONE OF CAMPBELL'S STRONGEST BELIEFS /// THAT OUR INHERITED TRADITION EMPHASIZES THE OUTER WORLD, /// AN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION OF RELIGIOUS EVENTS, /// TO THE VERY GREAT DETRIMENT OF OUR INNER WORLD. /// THE LINK MYTH USUALLY PROVIDES HAS BEEN BROKEN. /// CAMPBELL INSISTS ON A DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION /// AN INTERPRETATION THAT CAN BE FOUND IN ANCIENT GREECE. /// HE CONCLUDES THIS FIRST SET OF PROGRAMS IN THE "MYTHOS" SERIES /// WITH AN EXPLORATION OF THE MYSTERY RELIGION OF ELEUSIS, /// WHERE FAMILIAR SYMBOLS OF WORSHIP /// TAKE ON SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT MEANING. I'VE BEEN THINKING WHAT ASPECT OF THE LATER FORMS WE'VE GONE THROUGH A LONG HISTORY HERE, ALMOST 200,000 YEARS. AND WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST CONCLUSION? AND I DECIDED THAT THE GREEK CLASSICAL MYSTERY RELIGIONS WOULD BE A GREAT CONCLUSION.

THE - AHEM - ESSENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE INTENDED IS THAT OF SHIFTING CONSCIOUSNESS. FROM THE PURELY PHENOMENAL ASPECT OF ONE'S LIFE TO THE SPIRITUAL, THE DEEP, THE ENERGETIC ETERNAL ASPECT. AND HERE WERE MANY, MANY RITUALS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. THEY GO WAY BACK INTO THE BRONZE AGE IN THEIR BEGINNINGS. AND WITH THE COMING IN THEN OF THE HOMERIC PATRIARCHAL WARRIOR PEOPLE, THEY MOVED INTO THE BACKGROUND FOR A WHILE, THEN CAME FORWARD AGAIN. THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS, THIS WONDERFUL SHRINE JUST OUTSIDE OF ATHENS WHICH WAS THE SACRED SPOT FOR THE ELEUTHENIAN POPULATION, HAS A BACKGROUND WAY INTO THE BRONZE AGE. AND IT SURVIVED, THEN, IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD THROUGH ROMAN TIMES. UNTIL THE CONVERSION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. INTO A CHRISTIAN EMPIRE WITH THEODOSIUS. WITH CONSTANTINE AROUND 327 OR SO A.D., CHRISTIANITY WAS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE PERMITTED RELIGIONS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. AND VERY SHORTLY LATER, WITH THEODOSIUS, END OF THE 4th CENTURY AND BEGINNING OF THE 5th, CHRISTIANITY WAS DECLARED TO BE THE ONLY PERMITTED RELIGION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. AND NOT ONLY CHRISTIANITY, BUT THE SPECIFIC FORM OF CHRISTIANITY THAT WAS THAT OF THE BYZANTINE THRONE. AND SO A SYSTEM OF VIOLENT PERSECUTION

AND VANDALISM BEGINS. THE DESTRUCTION OF SHRINES. AND THE MORE SACRED THE SHRINE, THE MORE VIOLENT THE DESTRUCTION. AND WHAT HAPPENED IN ELEUSIS IS AN EXAMPLE. MEANWHILE, HOWEVER, IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD, UP TO THAT CRISIS IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION, MANY OF THE EARLIER MYSTERY CULTS HAD COME BACK INTO MANIFESTATION. AND IT'S MY BELIEF THAT THE GREAT INSIGHT THAT ST. PAUL HAD ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS WAS THAT THE DEATH OF CHRIST, OF JESUS, ON THE CROSS COULD BE INTERPRETED IN TERMS OF THE CLASSICAL MYSTERY RELIGIONS OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE SAVIOR. THE DEATH TO ONE'S PURELY MATERIAL ANIMAL EXISTENCE AND THE BIRTH, THEN, OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. THIS IS SYMBOLIZED IN THE CHRISTIAN TERMINOLOGY WITH THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE OLD ADAM INTO THE NEW ADAM. AND YOU HAVE THE THEME OF "O FELIX CULPA", "O HAPPY FALL", THAT IN THE GARDEN, THE FALL OF MAN INTO THE FIELD OF TIME OUT OF THE TIMELESS RAPTURE, YOU MIGHT SAY, OF EDEN, WAS FOLLOWED THEN BY THE COMING OF THE SAVIOR, WHO REPRESENTED A SUBLIMATION, A HIGHER MANIFESTATION OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF HUMANITY THAN THAT WHICH HAD BEEN REPRESENTED IN THE GARDEN. SO WITHOUT THE FALL, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO SAVIOR.

AND ALL OF THIS IS REALLY MYSTIC LANGUAGE FROM THE GREEK MYSTERIES. SO I THOUGHT I WOULD START A RUN THROUGH SOME OF THE MATERIAL OF THE GREEK MYSTERY RELIGIONS. WE ACTUALLY KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THEM, BECAUSE THEY DID REMAIN MYSTERIES. NO ONE WAS ALLOWED TO BETRAY OR TALK ABOUT WHAT WENT ON IN A SANCTUARY. WE HAVE TO DEPEND ON OUTSIDE OBSERVATIONS, SOME OF THE OBSERVATIONS BEING THOSE OF PEOPLE LIKE CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA WHO WERE ATTACKING THE CLASSICAL MYSTERIES. AND FROM THEM, WE CAN JUDGE SOMEWHAT WHAT THE RITUALS WERE LIKE. BUT THE BEST EVIDENCE, I THINK, IS IN THE ART CERAMIC ART AND OTHER ART, WHERE WE HAVE LITTLE CLUES. SO I JUST WANT TO RUN THROUGH SOME OF THIS AND TRY TO CONVEY SOME SENSE OF WHAT THE RITUALS INTENDED AND WHAT THEIR FORMS WERE. NOW, IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD, THE PLANTING TIME WAS IN THE FALL, AND THE HARVEST WAS IN THE SPRING. AND THEN THE FRUITS OF THE HARVEST, THE GRAIN, WERE STORED IN SILOS IN THE GROUND DURING THE FIERCE HEAT OF THE SUMMER FOR, THEN, PLANTING, AGAIN, IN THE FALL. CONSEQUENTLY, THE RICHNESS, THE WEALTH, OF THE COMMUNITY WAS IN THE KEEP OF THE UNDERWORLD, THE ...UNDERWORLD DIVINITY, PLUTO OR HADES.

HERE IS ATHENE GIVING GRAIN TO PLUTO IN HIS ASPECT AS PUER ETERNIS, THE ETERNAL BOY. THE NOTION - THE MYTHOLOGY, THE CULT IDEA WAS THAT ELEUSIS WAS THE PLACE WHERE GRAIN AGRICULTURE WAS FIRST INVENTED BY DEMETER THE GODDESS OF THE TELLURIC EARTH. THAT'S JUST A MYTHOLOGICAL IDEA. THIS IS NOT THE PLACE OF THE ORIGIN OF GREAT AGRICULTURE, AS WE ALL KNOW. BUT FOR THE CULT, SO IT WAS. AND HERE IT IS BEING GIVEN TO PLUTO, THE ETERNAL BOY. NOW, A DEITY LIKE PLUTO, AND THIS IS TRUE, ALSO, IN THE CELTIC STORIES OF MERLIN, CAN BE REPRESENTED EITHER AS A YOUTH OR AS AN OLD MAN. AND HERE IS PLUTO AS THE AGED ONE WITH THE CORNUCOPIA WITH THE BOUNTY OF OUR LIFE IN HIS KEEP. THE NOTION THAT IT'S OUT OF THE ABYSS THAT LIFE COMES IS VERY IMPORTANT, OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF ABYSS, THE CATHONIC REALM. AND SO THESE CULTS ARE VERY MUCH ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEATH INTO THE UNDERWORLD AND THE LIFE AGAIN. AND THIS WAS SYMBOLIZED THROUGH THE ANALOGY OF THE PLANTING OF SEED AND THE COMING TO LIFE AGAIN. THE USE OF AGRICULTURAL IMAGERY TO RENDER A SPIRITUAL MESSAGE IS WHAT WE HAVE HERE. THIS IS FROM A VASE IN THE MUSEUM IN NAPLES. HERE WE HAVE THE CANDIDATE FOR ILLUMINATION

BEING RECEIVED BY THE ... THE GUIDE OF THE SANCTUARY. OVER HERE STANDS A FIGURE, AND THE CLUB TELLS US WHO IT IS. IT IS HERACLES, OR HERCULES, AND WE'RE GOING TO SEE HIM IN AN INTERESTING SITUATION A LITTLE ON IN THE CEREMONIAL ADVENTURE. HERE, THEN, BEARING A TORCH, WHICH MEANS WE'RE GOING INTO THE DARK REALM, THE CANDIDATE IS CONDUCTED INTO THE SHRINE. NOW HERE IS A SARCOPHAGUS, ALSO IN THE NAPLES MUSEUM, THAT SHOWS SOMETHING OF WHAT WENT ON. AND I'M GOING TO DEAL WITH IT NOW, STEP BY STEP. FIRST, WE START HERE. HERE IS A LAUREL TREE, WHICH IS APOTROPEIC, THAT IS TO SAY IT DEFENDS THE THRESHOLD AGAINST EVIL PRESENCES. IT HAS A SANCTIFYING POWER AS A THRESHOLD TREE. BESIDE IT IS AN ASPECT OF BACCHUS OR DIONYSUS, THE SAME DEITY, KNOWN AS JACHOS, WHICH IS A CRY OF GREETING THAT WAS UTTERED AT A CERTAIN MOMENT IN THE CEREMONY WHEN THE REVELATION, THE SHOWING FORTH OF THE NEW BIRTH WAS RENDERED. HE STANDS HERE BY AN ALTAR WITH FRUITS OF OFFERING. AND HERE WE HAVE THE TORCH WHICH ALWAYS INDICATES THE UNDERWORLD OR THONIC ADVENTURE. WE MOVE THEN ALONG, AND HERE ARE THE 2 GREAT GODDESSES. THIS IS DEMETER, OR DEM-E-TER, SEATED ON THE SACRED BASKET WITH THE SERPENT. AND HERE IS HER DAUGHTER PERSEPHONE,

WHO IS THE ONE WHO DIES AND IS RESURRECTED. SHE IS TO BE ABDUCTED AND THEN WILL RETURN, THE ANADOS AND CATHADOS OF THE MAIDEN. THE TORCH OF DEM-E-TER, OR DEMETER IS HELD UPWARD, PURIFYING THE UPPER REGIONS; THAT OF PERSEPHONE DOWNWARD, PURIFYING THE LOWER. SO THIS IS A PURIFICATION PASSAGE, AND THESE 2 FIGURES ARE GOING TO BE THE DOMINANT FIGURES IN THIS WHOLE CULT. THE DUAL GODDESS. THE GODDESS OF LIFE, AND THE GODDESS OF THE UNDERWORLD OUT OF WHICH THROUGH LIFE COMES. HERE, THEN, IS THE CANDIDATE WITH HIS HEAD COVERED. HE IS GOING TO EXPERIENCE A REVELATION, AN EPIPHANY, A SHOWING FORTH. AND AN EPIPHANY IS THE SHOWING FORTH OF THE MYSTERY TO A PERSON WHO EXPERIENCES IT FOR THE FIRST TIME HERE IS THE GUIDE WHO GUIDED US IN, POURING OFFERINGS. AND THIS FIGURE STANDING HERE IS BACCHUS DIONYSUS. AND THE FIGURE BEHIND HIM IS HECATE. THAT IS THE DARK, NEGATIVE ASPECT OF THE GODDESS, OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH WITCHCRAFT. AND SO HERE'S THE STORY. PERSEPHONE, THE DAUGHTER OF DEMETER, WAS OUT PICKING FLOWERS IN THE SPRING. AND SUDDENLY PLUTO, OR HADES, APPEARS IN HIS CHARIOT AND RUSHES OFF WITH HER. NOW, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME VERY INTERESTING

RECENT RESEARCHES MADE IN THE PLANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE CULTS. AND BARLEY IS VERY CLOSELY ASSOCIATED. THERE'S A BARLEY DRINK THAT IS CONSUMED BY THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO GO THROUGH THE GREAT CEREMONY BEFORE ATTENDING THE RITES. ONE OF THE IMPORTANT HALLUCINOGENS IS ERGOT, WHICH IS A PARASITE ON BARLEY. AND IT IS BELIEVED NOW BY MANY THAT THE BARLEY BROTH CONTAINED A BIT OF THIS ERGOT. THERE WAS A FAMILY THAT FOR MANY, MANY CENTURIES HAD BEEN IN CHARGE OF THE RITES. THERE IS A VERY FINE STUDY CALLED "THE WAY TO ELEUSIS" PUBLISHED BY - WRITTEN BY HOFFMAN, WHO IS THE MAN WHO INVENTED LSD, AND GORDON WASSON, AND A CLASSICAL SCHOLAR WHOSE NAME JUST DOESN'T COME TO ME RIGHT NOW. THIS BOOK DEALS WITH THE WHOLE RITUAL OF ELEUSIS IN DETAIL AS A CEREMONY ASSOCIATED WITH A MATCHING OF THE STATE OF RAPTURE OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE DRINK AND THE THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE THAT IS RENDERED IN THE WAY OF AN EPIPHANY SO THAT THERE'S AN INWARD READINESS AND AN OUTER FULFILLMENT THAT WORKS. SOCRATES HIMSELF IS REPORTED TO HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE TO HIM OF THE EXPERIENCE AT ELEUSIS. THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WAY OF A REVELATION WAS ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED THERE. SO SHE IS CARRIED OFF TO THE UNDERWORLD.

NOW HER MOTHER DEMETER, JUST AS ISIS WAS BEREAVED OF OSIRIS, SO DEMETER OF PERSEPHONE. SHE GOES TO FOLLOW HER AND FIND HER LOST DAUGHTER. NOW WHEN DEMETER COMES TO ELEUSIS, SHE SAT DOWN BY A WELL, JUST AS ISIS SAT DOWN OUTSIDE OF THE PALACE WHEN SHE CAME TO THE PLACE WHERE HER HUSBAND'S BODY AND SARCOPHAGUS WERE ENCLOSED IN THE PALACE PILLAR. AND PEOPLE COME OUT TO THE WELL TRIED TO COMFORT HER. THAT WELL IS STILL THERE. IT'S BEEN RECONSTRUCTED, AS YOU CAN SEE, BEEN PUT TOGETHER AGAIN. HERE SHE IS AT THE WELL. THE PEOPLE COME TO COMFORT HER, BUT SHE IS DISCONSOLATE, UNTIL AN OBSCENE LITTLE CREATURE COMES NAMED BAOBO AND DOES AN OBSCENE DANCE. AND THEN DEMETER HAS TO LAUGH, THAT'S ALL. AND THIS IS A WONDERFUL MOTIF. THE OBSCENITY - YOU MOVE OUT OF THE SPHERE OF THE DEVELOPED PERSON BACK INTO THE SPHERE OF THE NATURE DYNAMICS OF GENERATION AND REGENERATION AND ALL THAT INTO ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE AND ARE RELEASED FROM THE BONDAGE OF YOUR GRIEF. HERE NOW, WE HAVE THE RETURN OF THE MAIDEN. THIS BEAUTIFUL THING WAS FOUND IN AN ITALIAN ESTATE, THE GARDEN OF AN ITALIAN ESTATE. BUT THOSE WHO KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS

DECLARE THAT THE STYLE IS THAT OF 5th-CENTURY GREECE. AND IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING, THE TENDERNESS OF THE WHOLE COMPOSITION OF THE RETURN NOW, AFTER HAVING GONE DOWN INTO THE AGONIES OF WHATEVER IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN THE UNDERWORLD. THE RETURN OF PERSEPHONE. THIS GORGEOUS THING. THERE SHE IS. THIS IS A LOVELY BRONZE OF PERSEPHONE. AN EQUIVALENT TO HER IS THE GOLDEN STALK OF WHEAT. NOW, CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA MOCKS THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND SAYS WHAT A SILLY THING TO HAVE THE CULMINATING MOMENT BE THAT OF THE ELEVATION OF A GRAIN OF WHEAT. THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MASS KNOW THAT THE CULMINATION IS THE ELEVATION OF A WAFER OF WHEAT. IT'S NOT THE OBJECT. IT'S THE REFERENCE THAT IS THE SENSE OF A RITUAL, AND ANY OBJECT CAN BECOME THE CENTER OF THE CULT. AND IN THIS CASE, IT IS THE WONDERFUL FOOD PLANT, THAT WHICH NOURISHES OUR PHYSICAL LIFE AS THE NOURISHER, ALSO, OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE BY BEING CONSUMED WITH UNDERSTANDING THAT IT IS THE DIVINE GIFT. THE EARLIEST PRIMITIVE RITES ASSOCIATED WITH FOOD PLANTS THE TYPICAL MYTH IS, THE UNDERLYING MYTH, OF A DEITY OF SOME KIND WHO HAS BEEN KILLED, CUT UP, AND BURIED. AND OUT OF THE BURIED PART OF THE DEITY, THE GRAIN COMES... OR WHATEVER THE FOOD PLANT.

LONGFELLOW'S "HIAWATHA" SPEAKS OF THE VISIONARY EXPERIENCE OF A YOUNG MAN WHO WENT FORTH THROUGH VISION. AND A YOUNG DEITY COMES TO HIM AND WRESTLES WITH HIM FOR 3 NIGHTS AND THEN ON THE 4th NIGHT SAYS, "NOW YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME AND BURY ME, AND OUT OF THIS COMES THE GRAIN OF MAIZE." THE MEDITATION IS THAT WE ARE EATING DIVINE SUBSTANCE, AND THIS DIVINE SUBSTANCE IS WHAT IS FEEDING US. AND IT ISN'T JUST PHYSICAL SUBSTANCE. AND THAT'S PART OF THE MEDITATION, HOW OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A LIFE THAT IS SUPPORTED BY THE GIVING AND YIELDING OF SOME TRANSCENDED POWER. PEOPLE ASK ME SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, "WHAT RITUALS CAN WE HAVE?" YOU'VE GOT THE RITUALS, ONLY YOU'RE NOT MEDITATING ON THEM. WHEN YOU EAT A MEAL, THAT'S A RITUAL. JUST REALIZE WHAT YOU'RE DOING. WHEN YOU CONSORT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, THAT'S A RITUAL. JUST THINK WHAT YOU'RE DOING. WHEN YOU BEGAT A CHILD OR GIVE BIRTH TO A CHILD, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT? HERE IS THIS YOUNG YOUTH, NOW, PHILOCTETES, WHO IS GOING TO GO FORTH WITH THE GRAIN. HE IS BEING BLESSED BY DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE. AND THERE HE GOES, BEING BLESSED. AND HERE IS THE VEHICLE. HERE HE IS AS AN OLD MAN ON THIS MYSTIC VEHICLE WITH THE BLESSING OF THE WHEAT, THE GRAIN,

AND HERE IS HERMES, WHO IS LEADING HIM WITH THE CADUCEUS AS HIS STAFF. NOW WE'RE GONNA TURN THIS VASE AROUND, AND WE SEE DIONYSUS BEING LED BY A SATYR. THE BREAD AND THE WINE OF THE MASS. WHAT THE RITUALS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITION WERE BUILT ON WERE RITUALS THAT WERE ALREADY THERE. AND SO WE GET A SENSE OF HOW RITES AND MYTHS DO DEVELOP ORGANICALLY WITHOUT BREAKING OFF. NEW READINGS, NEW VOCABULARIES, NEW SOPHISTICATIONS ARE BROUGHT IN. THIS IS THE CHALICE OF THE MASS WITH THE BLOOD OF DIONYSUS, WHICH IS THE WINE, THE TRANSUBSTANTIATED WINE. BUT IN THIS RITUAL, IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE TRANSUBSTANTIATED. 'CAUSE IT IS ALREADY THE DIVINE WINE. NOW THE STORY OF THE BIRTH OF DIONYSUS HE'S BORN FROM THE THIGH OF ZEUS. ZEUS HAD A WAY OF GIVING BIRTH TO CHILDREN. HE SWALLOWED ATHENE'S MOTHER WHEN HE KNEW THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT. AND THEN OF COURSE ONE DAY HE HAS A FINE HEADACHE. SHE'S GIVEN BIRTH ALREADY, AND HE'S GOT TO BE THE MEDIUM. AND HE'S SCREAMING WITH A HEADACHE. WHEN THE VULCAN, THE CANOC OF THE GODS COMES IN, AND WITH AN AX SPLITS ZEUS' HEAD OPEN. AND OUT JUMPS ATHENE, FULLY ARMED - VOILA! AND HERE WE HAVE A SIMILAR THING NOW WITH DIONYSUS. UM...

SEMELE, DIONYSUS' MOTHER, HAD CONCEIVED OF ZEUS, AND SHE HAD THE INDISCRETION TO BOAST OF THIS TO HERA, ZEUS' WIFE. AND HERA SAID, "YES, DARLING, "BUT ZEUS HAS NOT REVEALED HIMSELF TO YOU IN THE SAME MAJESTY WITH WHICH HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO ME." SO NEXT TIME ZEUS COMES ALONG, SHE'S SULKING. AND HE SAYS, "WHAT'S THE MATTER?" SHE SAYS, "WELL, YOU HAVEN'T REVEALED YOURSELF TO ME IN THE SAME MAJESTY AS TO HERA." "WELL," HE SAID, "NOW, LOOK OUT. "YOU'RE NOT QUITE READY FOR THIS." [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] AND SHE SAID, "WELL, YOU'VE ALWAYS TOLD ME YOU'D DO ANYTHING I ASKED." SO HE SAID, "ALL RIGHT, LOOK OUT, GIRLIE." BANG! AND THAT WAS THE END OF HER, BUT THEN HE WAS VERY MUCH CONCERNED ABOUT THE FETUS IN HER WOMB. AND SO HE TOOK IT OUT AND SLIT OPEN HIS THIGH AND PUT DIONYSUS IN THERE. SO DIONYSUS IS THE ONE OF 2 WOMBS. THE FEMALE MOTHER LIFE AND THEN THE MALE INITIATION RITE. AND THEN OF COURSE HE HAS A PAIN IN HIS LEG ONE DAY AND HERE COMES HERMES NOW TO RECEIVE THE LITTLE CHILD, WHO'S JUST BEING BORN, ON A GOLDEN CLOTH. AND HE TURNS IT OVER TO THE 3 NYMPHS. AND SO LITTLE DIONYSUS IS RAISED AND BROUGHT UP

BY THE NYMPHS. HERE HE IS AT THE TREE. HERE IS THE SERPENT. HERE'S THE WHOLE STORY AGAIN. WONDERFUL THE WAY THESE THINGS RECUR. DOESN'T TAKE TOO MUCH TIME AND STUDY TO LEARN THIS PICTORIAL VOCABULARY. IT'S A PICTORIAL SCRIPT. AND THE REARRANGING OF THE FORMS REARRANGES THE ORDER OF THE EXPERIENCE. THE DEPTH OF THE EXPERIENCE, OR THE PRECISE RELEVANCE TO THIS OR THAT MYTH. THIS NOW IS THE YOUNG DIONYSUS. HE TURNED OUT TO BE QUITE A LOVELY CHAP. NOW, ASSOCIATED WITH DIONYSUS... THE APOLLONIAN RELIGION OF THE OLYMPIANS - ZEUS AND SO FORTH WAS LIGHT-ORIENTED. DIONYSUS REPRESENTS THE DYNAMIC OF THE DARK. AND SO HE'S PROPERLY ASSOCIATED WITH THESE MYSTERY RITUALS. I WOULD SAY THAT THE BEST, AT LEAST IN MY EXPERIENCE, THE BEST DISCUSSION OF THE TWO, DIONYSUS AND APOLLO, THE DYNAMIC OF TIME, WHICH DESTROYS IN ORDER TO BRING FORTH, TIME ROLLS THROUGH ALL THINGS, BRINGING FORTH NEW FORMS AND DESTROYING OLD. AND IN CONTRAST TO THAT, THE LIGHT WORLD OF APOLLO AND ITS INTEREST IN THE EXQUISITE DIFFERENCES OF FORMS, THE ATTENTION TO THE DIFFERENCES OF FORMS, WHAT NIETZSCHE CALLS THE "PRINCIPIUM INDIVIDUATIONIS",

AND THE INDIFFERENCE TO THE DIFFERENCES BUT JUST THE REPRESENTING OF THE DYNAMIC THIS IS WHAT IS REPRESENTED BY THE CONTRAST OF THESE 2 GODS. AND IN NIETZSCHE'S BOOK, "THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY," THEY ARE SHOWN IN RELATION TO THE WHOLE WORLD OF THE CLASSICAL ARTS. THE POWER OF DIONYSUS IS TO RIDE ON THE FULL FURY OF THE LIFE FORCE. THAT'S WHAT HE REPRESENTS. THERE'S DIONYSUS HIMSELF AS THE SOURCE OF THE PLANTS. AND THESE ARE THE ... CELEBRATING HIM. HERE HE IS AS AN IMAGE BEING WORSHIPPED. AND HERE HE IS AS THE CONTENT OF THE BASKET. THE OLD RATHER THAN THE YOUNG. SO THE ESSENTIAL MESSAGE OF THE RITES APPARENTLY IS THAT OF A REALIZATION IN A PROPERLY PREPARED WAY OF THE DYNAMIC OF INEXHAUSTIBLE NATURE, WHICH POURS ITS ENERGY INTO THE FIELD OF TIME AND WITH WHICH WE ARE TO BE IN HARMONY WITH BOTH ITS DESTRUCTIVE AND ITS PRODUCTIVE ASPECTS. IT'S AN EXPERIENCE OF THE LIFE POWER IN ITS FULL CAREER. HERE IS DIONYSUS. HERE IS SEMELE, HIS MOTHER. HERE IS THE CUP OF HIS BLOOD. I'M REMINDED OF MEDIEVAL PICTURES OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN BY HER SON JESUS, WHERE THE TWO ARE SHOWN ABOUT THE SAME AGE, 35 OR SO, AND HERE IS THE CUP, THE CHALICE OF THE MASS

AND THE CUP OF THE BLOOD OF DIONYSUS, THE LORD OF THE ENERGIES OF LIFE. /// THE GODS AND GODDESSES ARE UNFAMILIAR, /// THEIR NAMES CONFUSING. /// PLUTO AND HADES ARE ONE AND THE SAME /// AS ARE HERACLES AND HERCULES /// OR BACCHUS AND DIONYSUS. /// THE STORIES FOLD AND WRAP TOGETHER, /// AND THE MYSTERIES ARE INDEED MYSTERIOUS. /// BUT CERTAIN THINGS EMERGE, /// AND WE BEGIN TO RECOGNIZE ECHOES /// OF OUR OWN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES. /// JOE DOES NOT JUDGE THESE MYTHS RIGHT OR WRONG /// BUT RATHER EFFECTIVE OR INEFFECTIVE. /// DO THEY PROVIDE US WITH AN EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD /// THAT SATISFIES OUR NEEDS BOTH AS PRACTICAL HUMANS /// AND AS HUMAN HUMANS /// WHO ARE AWARE OF THE ETERNAL SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF LIFE? /// CAMPBELL GIVES US A STEP-BY-STEP INITIATION /// INTO THE SPIRITUAL WORLD /// BY INTERPRETING THE STAGES ANCIENT INITIATES WOULD FOLLOW /// IN THEIR RITUAL EXPERIENCE. NOW WHAT I WANT TO DO IS TALK ABOUT THIS BOWL. IT'S CALLED A PIETRO ASSA BOWL. IT WAS DUG UP ABOUT, OH...100 YEARS AGO IN ROMANIA. IN A PLACE CALLED PIETRO ASSA. IT'S A GOLDEN BOWL DUG UP TOGETHER WITH A WHOLE HORDE OF GOLD OBJECTS. IT WAS TAKEN TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND REPRODUCED. THIS IS FROM THE REPRODUCTION.

DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, WHEN THE GERMANS WERE MOVING INTO ROMANIA, IT WAS THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD TO PROTECT THIS FROM THE GERMANS, WHO MIGHT TAKE IT AND PUT IT IN THE BERLIN MUSEUM, PERHAPS. SO IT WAS BROUGHT TO RUSSIA, TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER GOLD PIECES, WHERE IT WAS, OF COURSE, MELTED DOWN INTO GOLD, SO WE DON'T HAVE IT. WHAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IS THE REPRODUCTION. HERE IS THE GODDESS SEATED IN THE CENTER ON THE BASKET. WITH THE VINE THAT IS TO BECOME THE WINE THAT IS IN THE CHALICE HERE, OR THE GRAIL. THAT'S THE MOTHER UNIVERSE WITH THE BLOOD OF HER CHILD, HER SON. HERE IS THE VASE ITSELF. NOW, THERE ARE 16 FIGURES ROUND ABOUT. IN THE CENTER IS THE GODDESS WITH THE VASE. AND I'VE HAD THIS TURNED INTO A DRAWING SO THAT WE CAN GO THROUGH THE STORY STEP BY STEP. AND THIS WILL BE OUR INITIATION. THIS IS ORPHEUS, ORPHEUS THE FISHER. THE THEME OF THE FISHING, OF FISH OUT OF THE WATER INTO THE LIGHT IS ASSOCIATED WITH INITIATION. HERE WE ARE LOST IN THE WATERS OF IGNORANCE, AND ORPHEUS THE FISHER WILL FISH US OUT. IN THE GRAIL ROMANCES, THIS IS A THEME RELATED TO THE FISHER KING.

IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION, WHEN JESUS CALLED HIS APOSTLES WHO WERE FISHERMAN, HE SAID, "I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN." THIS IS THE SAME ORPHIC IDEA. THE POPE'S RING IS KNOWN AS THE FISHERMAN'S RING. AND ON IT IS AN ENGRAVING OF THE HALL OF FISHERS. AND SO HERE WE HAVE ORPHEUS WITH HIS FISHING ROD, WITH THE NET, AND UNDER HIM HERE THE FISH. THIS, NOW, IS THE CANDIDATE BEARING A TORCH. AS HE ENTERS THE SANCTUARY, HE TAKES FROM A BASKET A CONE, A PINE CONE. THE BASKET IS ON THE HEAD OF A DOOR GUARDIAN. HERE IS ONE OF THESE DOOR GUARDIANS. THIS MAGNIFICENT THING IS IN THE MUSEUM AT ELEUSIS. IT'S ONE OF THE PIECES THAT WAS SMASHED BY THE ZEALOTS OF LOVE. [AUDIENCE CHUCKLES] THE BASKET ON THE HEAD IS THE SACRED BASKET. THIS IS IN THE VATICAN. IT'S ABOUT 12 FEET HIGH. IT IS A BRONZE PINE CONE THAT WAS FORMERLY IN THE ROMAN FIELD OF MARS. PINE CONE IS WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM THE BASKET BY THE CANDIDATE. WHY A PINE CONE? WHAT IS IT THAT IS IMPORTANT IN A PINE CONE? WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THE SEED AND NOT THE CONE. AND SO IN EACH OF US WHAT IS IMPORTANT

IS THE SEED OF CONSCIOUSNESS, WHICH IS TO BE RELEASED. THE NEW ADAM, THE REBORN ONE AFTER THE DEATH OF THE OLD. THIS IS A CHRISTIAN LAMP OF ABOUT THE 3rd CENTURY. AND WHAT IT REPRESENTS IS THE JONAH LEGEND AS SYMBOLIC AS THE COMING OF THE HUMAN OUT OF THE FISH CONDITION. SO YOU CAN TAKE A LEGEND AND READ INTO IT A MYSTIC READING, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE JONAH STORY OF THE MISSIONARY WHO WAS TO GO UP TO NINEVEH OR SOMEPLACE LIKE THIS, AND THEN WAS A SOURCE OF TROUBLE TO EVERYONE. EVIDENTLY HE WAS OFF-CENTER. HE WAS A NEGATIVE PRESENCE. THROWN OVERBOARD, CONSUMED BY A FISH, AND THEN OUT OF THE FISH AGAIN. THIS IS THE NIGHT SEA JOURNEY. IT'S AN OLD, OLD STORY. HIAWATHA WAS CONSUMED BY A FISH. THE RAVEN HERO OF THE NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS WAS CONSUMED BY A FISH, AND SO FORTH. THIS IS THE GOING DOWN INTO THE ABYSS, COMING OUT AGAIN, THE SAME MYTHOLOGY THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH HERE. AND SO OUR FRIEND HAS TAKEN THE PINE CONE, AND NOW LED BY A FEMALE GUIDE WITH THE LITTLE PAIL OF THE ELIXIR OF IMMORTALITY, HE IS BROUGHT TO THE SANCTUARY OF THE TWO GODDESSES. THEY ARE DEMETER, WITH THE RAVEN OF DEATH ON HER SHOULDER. SHE IS THE ONE IN THE FIELD OF BIRTH AND DEATH,

BIRTH AND DEATH, WHAT WE CALL THE TELLURIC EARTH, THE EARTH FROM WHICH THE PLANTS GROW. AND BESIDE HER, THEN, IS PERSEPHONE WITH THE TORCH WHO REPRESENTS THE CATHONIC EARTH, THE DEEP CAVES OF THE ABYSS. THIS IS THE FIRST STAGE OF HIS INITIATION. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE RITES WERE THAT WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PAIR, BUT WE DO KNOW WHAT THE MESSAGE IS. YOU COME INTO THAT HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH THESE 2 ASPECTS OF OUR BEING. AND THEN WHEN THE HERO HAS GONE THROUGH THIS, HE IS SYMBOLICALLY OLDER, AND SO IS REPRESENTED WITH A BEARD BEING BLESSED THEN BY FORTUNA. NOW, THAT'S HIS FIRST INITIATION. IT'S THE FIRST GRADE OF INITIATION THROUGH THE GODDESSES. THE SECOND GRADE IS NOW TO COME. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE DEPTH INITIATION. HERE IS PLUTO, OR HADES. THE GOD OF THE ABYSS. AND UNDER HIS FEET IS A KIND OF ALLIGATOR MONSTER OF THE ABYSSAL WATERS. HE HOLDS AN ENORMOUS CORNUCOPIA IN HIS HAND. HERE IS OUR CANDIDATE NOW IN THE ASPECT OF YOUTH AGAIN ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE ANOTHER INITIATION. HE HOLDS THE PALM IN HIS HAND, WHICH IS THE PALM OF THE PILGRIM.

AND THE SCHOLARS WHO HAVE EXAMINED THIS SUGGEST THAT WHAT IS IN HIS RIGHT HAND HERE IS A POPPY PLANT, WHICH WOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH DREAMS AND SLEEP AND VISION. AND NOW WHAT IS TO BE THE FRUIT OF THIS EXPERIENCE OF THE ULTIMATE DEPTH? THIS FIGURE IS HERACLES. HE IS IN THE GARB OF A WOMAN. THE MOST MACHO OF ALL THE GODS IS HERE IN WOMAN'S GARB. ONE OF THE EXPERIENCES OF THIS INITIATION IS TO BE ABOUT TRANSCENDENT ANDROGENEITY, THAT IN TIME, WE ARE SIMPLY ONE FRACTION OF WHAT WE TRULY ARE, AND SO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE ANDROGYNE, ANDROGENEITY. HERACLES AS A WOMAN. AND OF COURSE IN THE HERACLES LEGEND, THERE'S THE STORY OF HIS SERVICE IN THE FEMALE ROLE AT ONE TIME. AND NOW THESE TWO ARE THE TWIN HEROES, CASTOR AND POLLUX. CASTOR IS MORTAL, AND POLLUX IS IMMORTAL. THEY ARE TWINS, AND SO ARE WE BOTH MORTAL AND IMMORTAL. SO THE SENSE OF THIS FINAL INITIATION IS NOT ONLY OF THE ANDROGENEITY, THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE PAIR OF OPPOSITES OF OUR SEXUAL IDENTIFICATION, BUT ALSO THE RECOGNITION THAT OUR MORTALITY AND OUR IMMORTALITY ARE ONE.

THIS IS THE UNION OF THE LUNAR AND THE SOLAR CONSCIOUSNESS THAT I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR TWO DAYS. AND SO WE HAVE OUR HERO WHEN HE HAS PASSED THROUGH THIS INITIATION. THE BREASTS - MY ARTIST DIDN'T BRING THEM OUT AS STRONGLY AS HE SHOULD HAVE. THEY'RE THE WOMEN'S BREASTS. ON HIS HEAD ARE THE WINGS OF THE SPIRIT. AND IN HIS HAND IS A BOWL READY TO HAVE CONTENTS PUT INTO IT. HE IS MALE AND FEMALE. AND HERE, THEN, ARE THE TWIN HEROES, POLLUX AND CASTOR. THIS IS THE MORTAL ONE, AND HERE'S THE RAVEN OF DEATH ON CASTOR'S SHOULDER. SO WE'VE COME BACK, CYCLED AROUND, AND DEATH IS COMING BACK TO US. AND THEN WE COME FORTH FROM THE INITIATION IN ONE CHARACTER, NAMELY MORTAL MALE OR MORTAL FEMALE. AND THE BOWL IS NOW FULL OF THE FRUIT OF WISDOM. HERE IS THE FEMALE GUIDE THAT LEADS US ON. AND SHE BRINGS OUR HERO WITH HIS FULL BOWL TO THE VERY THRONE OF APOLLO, THE LORD OF LIFE. ISN'T IT WONDERFUL, WE HAVE THE DIONYSEAN AND THE APOLLONIAN PRINCIPLES IN HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP HERE? AND HE HOLDS IN HIS HAND THE LYRE OF THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES WHO SINGS TO ALL THINGS.

UNDER HIS THRONE, THERE LIES A DEER, WHICH IS AN ANIMAL ASSOCIATED WITH APOLLO. AND NOW I WANT TO GO TO THE MIDDLE OF THE PIETRO ASSA BOWL. THIS FIGURE WITH THE CHALICE WE'VE ALREADY SEEN. THIS IS THE CONDITION OF THE UNINITIATED MIND. THE MIND THAT HAS NOT EXPERIENCED THE INITIATION. IT IS AS IT WERE IN SLEEP. AND HERE WHAT IT SEES IS THE DOG CHASING A RABBIT. IT SEES A LION CONSUMING A GAZELLE. IT SEES A LEOPARD CONSUMING A GAZELLE. IT SEES 2 GAZELLES CONSUMING A PLANT. ALL IS SORROWFUL. OH, DEAR, OH, DEAR. BUT THE ILLUMINATED ONE KNOWS THAT THIS IS A MANIFESTATION IN SECONDARY FORMS OF THE DYNAMIC OF THE PROCESS OF BEING. /// IN THE EARLY YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY, /// A SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION OF ITS STORY EXISTED SIDE BY SIDE /// WITH A STRICTER HISTORICAL READING OF THE SAME STORY, /// BUT THIS WAS NOT TO LAST. /// THE BYZANTINE CHRISTIANITY /// ESTABLISHED AS THE ONLY OFFICIAL RELIGION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, /// THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS WERE SUPPRESSED /// AND WITH THEM THE MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIANITY. /// THIS INTERPRETATION WOULD REMAIN CLOSED TO THE WEST /// UNTIL THE RENAISSANCE. /// JOE DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF SYMBOLS /// ONE READ MYSTICALLY /// BY CONNECTING THE IMAGERY OF THE GREEK PAGAN WORLD /// TO THAT OF CHRISTIANITY. /// HE CONCLUDES WITH A POINTED DISCUSSION

/// OF THE CORE BELIEFS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. NOW I WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE SYMBOLISM OF THIS APOLLONIAN IDEA AS IT WAS REAWAKENED IN THE RENAISSANCE. THIS WHOLE THING WAS REALLY LOST DURING THE DEEP MIDDLE AGES. HOWEVER, DURING THE FIRST 3 CENTURIES OF THE CHRISTIAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEAR EAST, THERE WAS DEVELOPING ALONG SIDE OF IT I MEAN, BEFORE THEODOSIUS CAME DOWN WITH THE AX OF LOVE, THERE WAS DEVELOPING BESIDE IT THE CLASSICAL HERMETIC TRADITIONS AND A BODY OF TEXT KNOWN AS THE "CORPUS HERMETICUM" DEVELOPED. AT THE TIME OF THE RENAISSANCE, COSIMO DE MEDICI ASKED FICINO - MARSILIO FICINO TO MAKE A TRANSLATION FROM A GREEK TEXT THAT WAS BROUGHT FROM BYZANTIUM BY A GREEK MONK; TO MAKE A TRANSLATION FROM THE GREEK INTO LATIN OF THE "CORPUS HERMETICUM." FICINO DID SO. AND IMMEDIATELY, MEDIEVAL ART TOOK ON A WHOLE NEW RADIANCE. BOTTICELLI WAS ABSOLUTELY FILLED WITH THIS. AND WHAT WAS RECOGNIZED WAS THAT THE SYMBOLIC IMAGERY OF THE PAGAN WORLD WAS EQUIVALENT IN ITS MYSTIC MEANING TO THE MYSTICALLY INTERPRETED SYMBOLOGY OF CHRISTIANITY. THERE'S A ROOM IN THE PRADO WITH ABOUT 5 TITIANS FROM THIS TIME, SOME OF THEM OF OLD TESTAMENT, YOU KNOW, FALLEN IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN,

OTHERS OF CLASSICAL THEMES, AND THEY'RE ALL SINGING THE SAME SONG. THIS WAS A GREAT MOMENT IN THE RENAISSANCE. AND IT BROUGHT FORTH, AS YOU KNOW, A GLORY OF ART. AND IT CAME PRECISELY FROM THE INSPIRATION OF THIS TRANSLATION OF THE "CORPUS HERMETICUM," WHERE THE VERY SYMBOLS OF THE CHRISTIAN CULT, WHICH, AS WE HAVE SEEN, GO BACK TO THE CLASSICAL WORLD, COULD BE REINTERPRETED IN TERMS OF HERMETIC, RATHER THAN OF MOSAIC MYTHOLOGY. IN THE BORGIA CHAMBERS OF THE VATICAN, THERE IS A GREAT PICTURE BY PINTURICCHIO OF THE GODDESS ISIS ON A THRONE INSTRUCTING 2 DISCIPLES. ONE OF THEM IS HERMES, AND THE OTHER IS MOSES. THESE ARE THE 2 WAYS OF READING SYMBOLIC FORMS HERMES, THE HERMETIC, SYMBOLIC WAY. MOSES, THE LITERAL, PROSAIC, HISTORICAL WAY. THERE ARE 2 ASPECTS. TAKE THE ONE YOU WANT. THIS IS A FRUIT OF THIS GREAT MOMENT. THIS IS ONE PAGE FROM A BOOK CALLED "PRACTICA MUSICA" BY A MAN NAMED GARFORIUS, AND THE DATE IS 1493. AND WHAT IT SHOWS IS THE WHOLE MYSTERY OF THE 9 MUSES AND THE 3 GRACES IN RELATION TO THE PTOLEMAIC SEQUENCE OF THE PLANETS. EARTH, MOON, MERCURY, VENUS, SUN, MARS, JUPITER, SATURN, AND THE FIXED STARS.

I WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS NOW IN SOME DETAIL. IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMATION AHEM OF BOTH RENAISSANCE AND CLASSICAL MYSTERIES. ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THE PLANETS IN THIS PTOLEMAIC SEQUENCE IS A MUSE. THERE ARE 9 MUSES. THE MUSES ARE CLOTHED. ART IS THE CLOTHING OF A REVELATION. WHEN WE GET UP HERE AT THE VERY THRONE OF APOLLO, WE HAVE 3 GRACES NAKED. THERE THE REVELATION IS ACHIEVED AND RENDERED TO WHICH THE ARTS ARE POINTING. 9 MUSES, AND THE SQUARE ROOT OF 9 IS 3. WHEN DANTE BEHELD BEATRICE, SHE WAS 9 YEARS OLD. AND THEN HIS SECOND BEHOLDING OF HER, SHE WAS 18, AND SO WAS HE. AND HE SAID, "SHE IS A 9, BECAUSE HER ROOT IS IN THE TRINITY." SHE WAS HIS MUSE. THE MUSES ARE 9, AND THEIR ROOT IS IN THE TRINITY, WHICH IN THE HERMETIC SYSTEM IS REPRESENTED IN FEMALE FORM, WHEREAS IN THE CHRISTIAN IT IS IN MALE FORM. THE 3 PERSONS IN THE ONE SUBSTANCE OF THE ONE SUBSTANCE OF THE DIVINE TRINITY IN ITS MYSTERY. THE SUBSTANCE HERE IS PERSONIFIED AS APOLLO, MALE, AND THE MOVED FEATURES ARE FEMALE. THE TEXT SAYS, "THE RADIANCE"

THIS OF THE APOLLONIAN MIND MOVES EVERYWHERE THE MUSES. THE MUSES, THE INSPIRATIONS OF POETRY, WHICH IS TO SAY OF RELIGION, OF MYTHOLOGY, ARE MOVED BY THE RADIANCE OF GOD. FIRST WE HAVE THIS FANTASTIC TALE OF A SERPENT CULMINATING IN 3 FACES. WHEN DANTE WAS LOST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WAY OF OUR LIFE, HE WAS IN A DANGEROUS WOOD AND WAS THREATENED BY 3 ANIMALS. ONE WAS THE LION, WHICH REPRESENTED PRIDE, HANGING ON TO EGO, HANGING ON TO YOURSELF. THE SECOND WAS A LEOPARD, REPRESENTING LUST. IN THIS CASE, IT'S REPRESENTED BY A DOG'S FACE. DESIRE. THE THIRD ANIMAL WAS A WOLF, WHICH REPRESENTS FEAR. THE PAST, WHICH TEARS AWAY WHAT YOU'VE GOT. AND SO THESE 3, THEY GO TOGETHER. THIS IS THE TEMPTATION OF THE BUDDHA. IF HE HUNG ONTO HIS EGO, LUST AND FEAR WOULD HAVE MOVED HIM. THEY DIDN'T. THEY'RE MOVING US, AND SO WE'RE STUCK. THE FIRST OF THE MUSES - HER NAME IS THALIA IS SHOWN UNDER THE GROUND. SHE'S CALLED "SILENT THALIA" 'CAUSE WE CAN'T HEAR HER. AS LONG AS WE'RE HANGING ONTO EGO AND FEAR AND DESIRE. WE'RE NOT HEARING THE VOICE OF THE UNIVERSE WHEN WE'RE HANGING ONTO OUR OWN PERSONAL PROBLEM.

SO RELAX. I THINK I SHOWED HERE THE FIGURE OF DEATH PLAYING THE VIOLIN TO THE ARTIST. LET DEATH TALK TO YOU, AND YOU'LL BREAK OUT OF YOUR EGO PRIDE. THAT MEANS YOU'VE GOT TO PUT YOUR FACE IN THE MOUTH OF THE LION. FACE THE REAL EXPERIENCE OF TODAY. DON'T REREAD IT IN TERMS OF PAST EXPERIENCES. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF ZEN IS THAT OF HAVING AN EXPERIENCE. PEOPLE TALK ABOUT TRYING TO LEARN THE MEANING OF LIFE. LIFE HAS NO MEANING. WHAT'S THE MEANING OF A FLOWER? WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR IS AN EXPERIENCE OF LIFE, GETTING THE EXPERIENCE. AND WE'RE SHUTTING OURSELVES OFF FROM THE EXPERIENCE. BY NAMING, TRANSLATING, AND CLASSIFYING EVERY EXPERIENCE THAT COMES TO US. WE FALL IN LOVE. OK. IS THING GOING TO LEAD TO MARRIAGE, OR IS THIS ILLICIT OR WHAT YOU'VE CLASSIFIED AND LOST THE EXPERIENCE. SO, UM... PUT YOUR HEAD IN THE LION AND JUST THINK, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON." STUFF WILL COME OUT OF IT. THE EXPERIENCE WILL BE THEN GRADED ACCORDING TO THE DISTANCE ALONG THIS BODY. THIS IS CALLED CERBERUS, THE 3-HEADED DOG THAT GUARDS THE SEAT OF HELL.

AND THIS IS THE TAIL UP WHICH WE COME. TO THE VERY THRONE OF GOD, AS WE RISE ALONG THE SCALE HERE. THROUGH THIS EXULTATION, WE COME FINALLY TO THE RADIANT, THE APOLLONIAN RADIANCE WHICH MOVES THE 3 GRACES. HERE IS EUPHROSINE POURING THE ENERGY DOWN INTO THE WORLD. OVER HERE IS AGLAIA, SPLENDOR, CARRYING IT BACK. AND IN THE MIDDLE IS THALIA, THE SAME NAME AS OUR GODDESS DOWN HERE WHO UNITES THE TWO. NOW, REMEMBER, THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE CLASSICAL PAGAN HERMETIC SYMBOLOGY. IN THE BIBLICAL TRANSLATION THAT WAS RECOGNIZED, THESE 3 FEMALE FORMS BECOME THE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY, THE MALE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY. JESUS POURING THE GRACE INTO THE WORLD, COMING IN LOVE. THE PEROCLES CARRYING US BACK. AND THE FATHER IN WHOSE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES ARE THESE 2 POWERS. AND THEN INSTEAD OF SIMPLY THE RADIANT SUBSTANCE, WE HAVE PERSONIFICATION OF THAT SUBSTANCE AS APOLLO. NOW, THESE NOTES HERE REPRESENT THE CONJOINT TETRACHORD. THIS IS WHAT WE NOW WOULD CALL THE "A" MINOR SCALE. MUSIC IN THESE DIFFERENT MODES REPRESENTING THE DIFFERENT MOODS AND GRADES OF THIS EXULTATION. AND THESE, THEN, ARE THE NAMES ACTUALLY OF THE NOTES OF THE SCALE IN THEIR CLASSICAL FORM. NOW, THIS IS A VERY COMPACT STATEMENT

OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ARTS TO EXULTATIONS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. AND NOW, IN ONE OF THE CATACOMBS I FORGOT WHICH ONE WE HAVE AT THE CEILING ORPHEUS PLAYING THE LYRE WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE EXPECTED TO SEE THE CHRIST. THE ANIMALS - THE LION WILL LIE DOWN WITH THE LAMB. NOT AT ALL. THE LION'S GOING TO EAT THE LAMB. BUT DON'T WORRY. NOTHING'S HAPPENING. YOU SEE? HERE, THEN, ARE FIGURES FROM THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. A COORDINATION HERE IN EARLY CHRISTIAN ROME OF NOT ONLY OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, BUT NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PAGAN TRADITION. AND WHY NOT? YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF DISCUSSION IN THE FIRST 4 CENTURIES AS TO WHETHER CHRISTIANITY HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH JUDAISM. THAT IS TO SAY, WAS THE SON JESUS THE SON OF YAHWEH OR OF A HIGHER POWER OF WHICH YAHWEH WAS IGNORANT? YAHWEH WAS CALLED THE FOOL, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WAS A HIGHER POWER THAN HIMSELF. HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOD. AND THE SUN, THEN, WHO WAS TO CARRY US PAST THIS WAS A REVELATION OF A HIGHER LIGHT. AND SO YAHWEH WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEMI-URGE, WHO BROUGHT ABOUT ALL THE AGONY AND EVIL AND SORROW IN THE WORLD. THIS IS A VERY DEFINITE THRUST

IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITION. AND IT WAS SIMPLY A MATTER OF FORTUNE THAT THE NEW AND OLD TESTAMENTS WERE THEN UNITED AND THE NEW SEEN AS A FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE OF THE OLD. THAT'S WHY WHEN YOU READ OR OPEN A BIBLE, IF YOU'RE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT YOU'LL SEE A LOT OF FOOTNOTES POINTING TO PREDICTIONS FOR TEXT IN THE NEW AND VICE-VERSA. SO THEY WERE WOVEN TOGETHER. WELL, YOU COULD HAVE WOVEN IT BACK TO THE GREEK TRADITION JUST AS WELL. THERE WERE THOSE TRADITIONS ALSO. BUT WHY SHOULD THEY BE SEPARATED? SO READ MYSTICALLY AND THIS IS THE POINT I'D LIKE TO BRING OUT. READ MYSTICALLY, ALL OF THESE TRADITIONS ARE TELLING US THIS GREAT, GREAT STORY OF OUR IDENTITY WITH THE ETERNAL POWER. AND OUR LOSS OF THAT SENSE OF IDENTITY WHEN WE GET INVOLVED IN THE EGO-RESTRICTED, AND BOUND WORLD OF FEAR AND DESIRE. NOW, THE RELIGIOUS TRADITION THAT WAS PUT INTO YOU IN INFANCY IS STILL THERE. THERE'S NO USE GETTING RID OF IT. AND JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T INTERPRET THESE FORMS IN TERMS OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC REALIZATIONS, THEY CANNOT HAVE BEEN AN ASCENSION TO HEAVEN. THEY CANNOT HAVE BEEN AN ASSUMPTION TO HEAVEN. THERE IS NO HEAVEN. AS I SAY EVEN AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT,

THOSE BODIES WOULD NOT BE OUT OF THE GALAXY YET. AND THEY WERE TAUGHT THAT THIS WAS A PHYSICAL ASSUMPTION AND ASCENSION. CAN'T HAVE BEEN. THIS IS LOSING THE MESSAGE IN THE SYMBOL. AND THE COORDINATION OF EARTHLY AND SPIRITUAL REALIZATIONS CAN BE INTERPRETED OUT OF THOSE SYMBOLS. NOW HERE IS ANOTHER ASPECT OF ORPHEUS TORN APART, AS JESUS WAS TORN APART IN THE SCOURGING AND CRUCIFIXION. AND WHAT DOES THIS REPRESENT IN THE OLDER, LET'S SAY "CORPUS HERMETICUM" WAY OF READING IT? THE ETERNITY IS IN LOVE WITH THE FORMS OF TIME, BUT TO COME INTO THOSE FORMS, IT HAS TO BE DISMEMBERED. AND THEN YOU AS A SEPARATE ENTITY IN THE FORM OF TIME IN ORDER TO LOSE YOUR COMMITMENT TO THIS LITTLE INSTANCE YOU MUST BE DISMEMBERED AND OPEN TO THE TRANSCENDER. SO THE CROSS IN THIS TRADITION REPRESENTS THE THRESHOLD FROM ETERNITY TO TIME, AND FROM TIME BACK. AND THOSE ARE THE TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL IS THE TREE OF GOING FROM UNITY INTO MULTIPLICITY AND THE TREE OF ETERNAL LIFE IS GOING FROM MULTIPLICITY TO UNITY. IT'S THE SAME TREE IN 2 DIRECTIONS. IN SOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS OF THE RABBINICAL MIDRASH AND ARGUMENTS OF THOSE THE FIRST 5 CENTURIES OR SO OF THE JEWISH TRADITION IN THE DIASPORA, THE QUESTION OF WHAT ABOUT THE 2 TREES IN THE GARDEN

IS DISCUSSED. AND THEY'RE SEEN IN VARIOUS ASPECTS BUT IT ALL COMES OUT IN THESE 2 SENSES. AND SO ORPHEUS COMING INTO THE WORLD AND THEN BEING TORN APART AND HIS HEAD RIPPED OFF. AND THE HEAD FLOATS DOWN OUT TO LESBOS, STILL SINGING SINGING THE SONG OF THE MUSE. AND HERE'S A YOUNG COMPOSER WHO'S LISTENING TO THE SONG AND WRITING IT DOWN, AND HE'LL SELL IT. [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] SO THIS IS THE WAY TO GET YOUR ART... FROM THE MUSES. AND FINALLY, YOU SEE WHAT WE HAVE HERE. ORPHEUS, BACCHUS CRUCIFIED. THERE'S THE CRUCIFIXION AS METAPHYSICAL SYMBOL, AND ORPHEUS IN THE SAME SENSE AS THE CHRIST. AND HE GOES TO THE CROSS LIKE A BRIDEGROOM TO THE BRIDE. AND YOU HAVE THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION MOTIF WITH THE MOON, THE 7 PLANETS. AND YOU REMEMBER THE 7 LITTLE FIGURES STANDING WITH PIGTAILS IN THE FIGURE? ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SPEND A LITTLE WHILE WITH THESE THINGS, AND THEY SING TO YOU. AHEM. AND SO NOW, UH... I WANT TO COME TO JUST A BRIEF REFERENCE TO WHAT HAPPENED WITH CHRISTIANITY

IN THOSE EARLY CENTURIES. WHAT HAPPENED WAS A CONFLICT BETWEEN THE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CHRIST EITHER AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE MYSTERY HERO WHO DIES TO BE RESURRECTED OR AS THE UNIQUE INCARNATION. THAT WAS THE BIG ARGUMENT BETWEEN THE GNOSTICS AND THE ORTHODOX COMMUNITY. AND THE ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OPTED FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HISTORICITY OF THE INCARNATION. AND TO KNOW WHAT THE CHRISTIAN BELIEF IS, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS RECITE THE CREDO WITH ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. "I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH." THAT'S THAT. "AND IN JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD, "WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, "BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY... "WAS CRUCIFIED "JUDGED BY PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED, AND WAS BURIED." NOW, THOSE LINES - "JUDGED BY PONTIUS PILATE, CRUCIFIED, DIED, AND WAS BURIED" ARE THE ONLY HISTORICAL STATEMENTS IN THAT SENTENCE. THE REST OF IT IS MYTHOLOGY. "HE DESCENDED INTO HELL." THIS IS ALL TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY. "THE THIRD DAY, HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. "HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN,

"SITTETH AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER, FROM WHENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD." DO YOU BELIEVE THOSE THINGS LITERALLY? Man: YES. GOOD FOR YOU. "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST - " Man: YES. "THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS - " Man: YES! "THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS - " [MAN INDISTINCT] "THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY - " [MAN INDISTINCT] GOOD FOR YOU. Man: "AND LIFE EVERLASTING. " AMEN. NOW, THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY, I CAN GIVE YOU SOME ASSURANCE ON THAT. YOU'LL BE 35 YEARS OLD. THIS IS THE BODY IN ITS PERFECTION. SO TRY TO REMEMBER HOW IT WAS BACK THERE, OR GET READY FOR A GOOD-LOOKING CONDITION AND YOU'LL HAVE LIFE EVERLASTING. 35 YEARS OLD, AND WON'T IT BE A BORE? [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] OK, THAT'S THE STORY. /// WE'VE COME A LONG WAY FROM THE BIRTH OF MYTHOLOGY /// IN THE HUMAN SOUL /// TO THE EMERGENCE OF OUR JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION

/// IN EGYPT AND GREECE. /// ALL ALONG, JOE CAMPBELL HAS BEEN TELLING 2 STORIES /// AT THE SAME TIME. /// THE STORY OF OUR OUTER WORLD, HUMANKIND'S DEVELOPMENT /// THROUGH HISTORY, /// AND THE STORY OF OUR INNER WORLD, /// THAT OF THE UNIVERSAL THEMES CONSTANT TO THE HUMAN RACE. /// IN THE NEXT SET OF PROGRAMS IN THE MYTHOS SERIES, /// JOE CAMPBELL TURNS EAST TO INDIA AND THE ORIENT. /// HE EXPLORES HOW THESE UNIVERSAL THEMES TAKE DISTINCT /// AND, JOE ARGUES, MORE SOPHISTICATED FORM /// IN THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM. /// SEE YOU NEXT TIME.