I’ve already written at great length about how the Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies tap into various primal archetypes, and how that might relate to its Masonic connections. Again, the point isn’t to score some kind of point in favor of the Church’s truth claims, but, in a sense more interestingly, to appreciate the universality and Jungian richness of the Latter-day Saint temple tradition, whether you think the temple ceremonies were inspired from a God who spoke to other children and traditions using the same themes and motifs, or whether Joseph Smith was a religious genius that was able to tap into universal religious themes from a low-church backwater Protestant background and a dash of Masonry (or a mix of the two). (To be clear, as I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a fairly traditional believer in the revelatory provenance of the temple ceremonies, but for this post I’m temporarily bracketing the discussion so that it doesn’t take up all the oxygen here).
A common touchstone for ancient/modern temple comparisons are the Elueysian mysteries, by far the most prominent “mystery cult” in the ancient world. For a thousand years both Roman Emperors and Greek philosophers travelled to the temple outside of Athens to reenact the “fall and redemption” story of Demeter being captured by Hades and then returned to the world so that crops could grow again. The climax of this liturgical reenactment and religious festival was a sacred ceremony held in the most sacred part of the temple where very secret things were done–so secret, that to this day scholars can only guesstimate what they might have been.
“What happens in Eleusis during the mystery rites themselves remains, in large part, a secret. To be sure, there were legomena, dromena, and deiknymena, but exactly what was spoken, performed, and shown is unclear.” (Meyer : The Ancient Mysteries, a Sourcebook of Ancient Texts).
(Evidently they were better at keeping a secret than we have been with the temple ceremonies. I sometimes wonder if anthropologists a thousand years from now with an archived YouTube database will know all about the vengeance oaths but will have only the fuzziest idea that temples have anything to do with ancestors).
Through his Book of Abraham-related and other works Nibley drew out the thematic connections between the temple ceremonies and the mystery cults, but since then I get the sense that the pendulum has swung against doing this kind of esoteric modern/ancient temple comparison. This kind of comparative religious comparison is not new, of course. In a different era, Herodotus and other ancient Greeks explicitly connected the ancient Greek mysteries to a similar ritual conducted in Egypt reenacting the death and resurrection of Osiris, and the Masons made a similar connection.
I initially planned to do a two-parter on the Ancient Greek endowment and the Ancient Egyptian endowment, but in the little reading I did it’s hard to disentangle authentic earlier ancient Egyptian Osiris rituals where they liturgically reenacted the death and resurrection of Osiris from the later largely Greco-Roman mystery cult, even though the latter at least has some similarities like having the ritual end in the presence of Gods in a well-lit room. (And, according to Plutarch, the rituals “revealed the divine things to those who are truly and rightly called ‘carriers of sacred things’ and ‘wearers [or keepers] of sacred robes” and “the reason why the [mystery] priests shave off their hair and wear linen garments.”)
So here we’ll focus on the Ancient Greek endowment.
Taking advantage of my access to a decent academic library with interlibrary loan I decided to check out the latest scholarship on the Mysteries. Again, because of the secretive nature of the mystery cults we only have vague allusions, at least after the initial festivities when they retired to the sacred temple structure. The primary sources we have are threadbare but elucidating.
While accusing a man of violating the secrecy, Lysias said:
“This man donned a ceremonial robe, and in imitation he revealed the secret things to the uninitiated, and spoke with his lips the forbidden words.” (Bowden, Mystery Cults of the Ancient World, 38).
So robes, initiations, and secret words.
Another account comes from Clement of Alexandria: “I fasted, I drank the kykeon, I took from the chest, when I had done the deed I put into the basket, and from the basket into the chest.”
So the Elueysian mysteries also involved a holy object in a chest. A lot of ink has been spilled about what was in that chest but we really don’t know. The most common speculation was that it was a common ear of corn as a symbol of Demeter.
The same Bowden book has the following account (42), but it’s unclear which primary sources it’s drawing from.
“Suddenly, the Telestrion [their Holy of Holies] opens, and the hierophant stands in the doorway, silhouetted against a brilliant light streaming from the interior. The initiates enter, passing from darkness into an immense space blazing with extraordinary light, coming from thousands of torches held by the Epoptai.”
So the climax of the Mysteries was a moment when they pass into a version of the celestial room.
Like our endowment, the Roman statesman Cicero alluded to the Mysteries as aiding one in the afterlife:
“Just as they are called initiations, so in actual fact we have learned from them the fundamentals of life, and have grasped the basis not only for living with joy but also for dying with a better hope” (Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook).
Of course, we can’t just cherry pick the similarities and ignore places where they don’t fit. One very common, almost ubiquitous aspect in Mystery cults is the Sacred Object. We don’t really have anything like that in temples. As I’ve written about, we have Sacred Spaces, Sacred Sounds, and the like, but there is no object that can fit in, say, a box that is the focal point of our worship or that can only be seen with certain eyes. (And again, this isn’t just a Mediterranean theme, the imperial regalia of Japan can only be seen by the Emperor and a few select Shinto priests. When the capital of Japan moved a special train car was built just to house the Sacred Mirror, the holiest of the regalia).
Finally, in my reading I was surprised at how common these mystery cults were. There were at least a dozen of them, probably more, with the Elueysian rites simply being the most prominent. (And maybe one of the more banal; the cover of the Meyer Sourcebook had a fresco from Pompeii showing a woman giving fellatio to a man during the Bacchus rituals- now that’s how you sell books), so again, the central themes are found throughout time and space, although the mystery cults probably influenced each other. In a sense if the official Roman state religion was the staid establishment churches and mainline Protestants, the mystery cults were the circuit-riding evangelicals, and was where intense religiosity was vectored in late-period pagan Rome.
So to summarize, the sacred oaths, robes, sacred performances, sacred and secret words and symbols, and a passing-through-the-veil admission into a central, brightly lit space, all of which is meant to aid one in the afterlife, is found throughout the Mediterranean in a religious context, and is one example of the common themes our temple worship taps into, whether through revelation or Joseph Smith’s own primal religious insight.
Comments
16 responses to “The Ancient Greek Endowment”
As far as sacred objects go, that makes me think of the tabernacle/temple worship of ancient Israel and how certain objects could only be touched by certain people. Or maybe just the ark and what was in it?…
A post very close to my heart! https://juvenileinstructor.org/restoring-what-was-lost-the-endowment/
I argue in my dissertation (see the link) that the endowment looks to be patterned after the description of the Eleusinian mysteries in the the third edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Lots of Mormon stuff in that Encyclopedia! Most of those lines you quote are in the entry on Eleusis!
This all fits within my larger argument over Joseph Smith and was was called in his time “the ancient theology.” Ancient Greek and Mediterranean truths that Christian esotericists felt lined up with Christianity, but that orthodox Protestants wanted to attack as corrupting. I agues JS was clearly on the esotericists side against Protestant orthodoxy. Masonry would fit that esoteric camp, but it was a much larger mode of thought than simply Masonry.
JS sought to restore was what was lost to the Bible and orthodox Protestantism, and the ancient theology was a major corpus of what he sought to restore (or so I argue!). Thanks for this!
Personally, I’ve come to the conclusion that the LDS Temple Endowments (and other rituals) are nothing more the “Spiritual Cosplay”; yes – they may provide avenues for people to channel their hopes, dreams and higher aspirations. But, necessary for some kind of salvation? I don’t think so.
“Cosplay” seems a little harsh, LHL. I do agree with you that God himself doesn’t require them for you gets into heaven or not, but I also know that religious ritual is powerful for us human beings. I guess you could call that “cosplay” but I would pick another term. Ways for us humans to tap into the sacred ARE very important to us, and I think God uses those means for us.
I love this.
Stephen C, I really appreciate the post and thoughtful reflection. I’m very much in line with Fleming’s perspective on Joseph’s overall approach. There’s a way of lining up his theory of dispensation so that it looks less like a Mormon insistence on sameness in style and organization with clear and distinct periods of apostasy and restoration, and more like what I think is the best way to read Nibley: dispensationalism as a powerful means of helping us to recognize that our deepest spiritual longings and likewise God’s most profound means for both teaching and shaping our sensibilities is seen repeated in numerous ways throughout history and often centers on forms of temple worship. We should feel a deep kinship to and an ability to be taught by the Spirit as we learn and study these wherever we find them.
Stephen C., Stephen F., and James, thank you all for your comments. I agree “our most profound longings” and “God’s most profound” teachings occur throughout history and often center on forms of temple worship. Study of ancient esoteric religious writings reveal many striking parallels and correspondences if we are always on the lookout for temple teachings in the scriptures. For instance, there are numerous references to temple ceremonies and teachings in the Book of Revelation if you can decipher the layers of symbolism that shield the information from the casual reader. Is there a forum for more discussion on this subject? Thanks again!
We’re unusual in not having sacred objects. Ancient Israel had the ark (as Adam F mentions), which traditionally contained the tablets with the ten commandments, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, representing the word of God, divine aid in the wilderness, and divinely conferred authority. The Nephites had the brass plates, the Liahona, and the sword of Laban in the same roles.
I blame the disenchanting influence of the enlightenment, though Joseph Smith came to it later in life and we can see how things might have gone differently if he hadn’t (from the Urim and Thummim to Oliver Cowdery’s dowsing rod).
Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of the enlightenment. But it can lead to feeling like LHL. (No judgement–I get it.)
We have Joseph Smith’s seer stones, but we haven’t given them any special value.
So much was lost with Joseph Smith.
“but there is no object that can fit in, say, a box that is the focal point of our worship or that can only be seen with certain eyes.”
Would the seer stones not count here? Or is it because they are not explicitly used in the temple?
Also the plates were in a box
the seer stones were hidden- because the narrative was the “urim and thummim” which sounded a lot more magical and amazing. And people like brad wilcox liken them to cell phones—-really? They are rocks. The plates were not even used, and in many cases not even in the room.
The art work depicting all this was ordered down—I know- I got the letter–and I removed it from the walls. New photos of jesus were sent to be hung in their place. We will see crucifixes soon, and celebrate lent, ash wednesday, palm sunday, and others that 20-30 years ago were part of the “great and abominable” church- which was taught as the catholic church.
And members wonder why they are disrespected and not called christians—-because for all my 70 years, we told THEM that we were the only true church, they were a great and abominable church, and the whore of babylon and worse. Now we want to be buddies.
Those wounds are deep, they take their faith seriously just like many members do- and don’t appreciate it when other faiths mock them or discredit their religion because they “think” they are the only correct one and everyone else draws near me with their lips but their heart is far from me. Just think about that. Its so incredibly arrogant and unchrist like to do and say those things. Then—want them to respect our rock as sacred and members taught otherwise to respect it as sacred. We were taught for years and years that it was anti mormon and to only listen to church leaders who told us it was the urim and Thummim. Well it seems they were lying.
hidden as in kept secret by the q15. Just as the various versions of the first vision- one of which joseph fielding smith cut out of Joseph smiths letter book. The seer stones were a non subject- no one would talk about them because they were associated only with money digging. Then- someone found a diary- or one was printed—and that blew the lid off things. It would have been far better had the church leaders just said “yes the seer stones are in our possession and were used in various ways by Joseph Smith including translation of the book of mormon. We need researchers to study this before we are prepared to discuss it further but will do so. BUT NO—-you brought it up- you were excommunicated Ask the september 6. excommunicated for telling the truth- and the church leaders were not.
carey F. Yes they were- but no one saw them. Joseph had a cabinet maker make a box Given the dimensions which is known- the plates would have weighed about 100 lbs. But he ran–out ran- a gang trying to get them, and was able to get away and hide them in a barrel of beans or corn.
I challenge anyone to run carrying 100 lbs of metal with sharp edges and corners, thru woods–not a road or trail, and outrun 4-5 people. I’m 70, I will chase whoever wants to carry them. Get a 20 yr old olympian.
Oliver, a couple notes: The evidence that Joseph Smith didn’t use the plates actually isn’t all that strong. There are statements in favor of both his using the plates and not using them, including contradictory statements in favor of both from David Whitmer. See here.
There were both official and unofficial witnesses to the plates’ physical existence. People felt them and lifted them. They were heavy and metallic.
I think it is virtually impossible that we will celebrate Lent or Ash Wednesday anytime soon.
What other churches think of us has almost nothing to do with what we think of them. That would presuppose that they even notice what we’re saying, which they don’t.
I don’t believe anyone was excommunicated up for bringing up seer stones.
I am so puzzled at what you all see in the temple.
I love the reverence for all that is sacred, I say this not in a spirit of attack, but as far as covenants go, I really thought I’d already made these covenants at baptism. But I find no specific enrichment in anything I do in the temple. I experience all kinds of sacred space in my every day life. In a room full of sunshine or a tai chi class or in sacred spaces in nature or gardens. In libraries or classrooms or spaces in which children play.
I experience sacred instruction in scripture, poetry or books, theatre or music, or simply in prayerful living and experience in real time.
I love Jungian ideas and genuinely experience aspects of his thinking as spiritually useful. So I’d always thought that temple worship would be a good fit for me. Had no negative expectations.
So, 40 years on I’m still trying to work out what is ‘literal’ and what ‘figurative’. Maybe I get to make it up as I go along? In which case can’t I just go for a walk and think about the eternal import of trees and soil? Or birth and death? I get the sealing aspects as necessary, but in terms of what I learn from the temple, I actually can’t think of anything 1specific. So then I just finish up thinking I’m bad and wrong and so it becomes a negative experience for me. Which I can live without in a difficult life of caring for sick relatives. Because someone has to do that stuff whilst others enjoy the abstraction of their temple experience.