"Thou goest, O Lord, our chief,
To heaven through thy sorrows,
And guide him who believes
In thee on the same path.
Then take us all equally
To share in thy sorrows and kingdoms,
Guide us through thy gate of death,
Bring thy world into the light."
Firmicus relates concerning the Attis mysteries:
"Nocte quadam simulacrum in lectica supinum ponitur et per
numeros digestis fletibus plangitur; deinde cum se ficta lamentatione
satiaverint, lumen infertur: tunc a sacerdote omnium qui
flebant fauces unguentur, quibus perunctis sacerdos hoc lento murmure
susurrat: '[Greek: Tharrei~te my/stai tou~ Theou~ sesôsme/nou e)/stai ga\r hêmi~n e)k po/nou
sôtêri/a].'"[1]
Such parallels show how little human personality and
how much divine, that is to say, universally human, is
found in the Christ mystery. No man is or, indeed, ever
was, a hero, for the hero is a god, and, therefore, impersonal
and generally applicable to all. Christ is a
"spirit," as is shown in the very early Christian interpretation.
In different places of the earth, and in the
most varied forms and in the coloring of various periods,
the Savior-hero appears as a fruit of the entrance of the
libido into the personal maternal depths. The Bacchian
consecrations represented upon the Farnese relief contain
- ↑ On a certain night an image is placed lying down in a litter; there is weeping and lamentations among the people, with beatings of bodies and tears. After a time, when they have become exhausted from the lamentations, a light appears; then the priest anoints the throats of all those who were weeping, and softly whispers, "Take courage, O initiates of the Redeemed Divinity; you shall achieve salvation through your grief."
