Theos-Talk Archives (September 2004 Message tt00677)

Dear,



You said:

...There where no Kabeiroi as it is called, in Samothrace...

 

First of all I have been studying the Greek mysteries for few years now, and my description has nothing to do with early twenty century as you mentioned. Which references you would like me to offer first? Blavatsky or Orpheus? Historical or Mythological?  

 

According with Orpheus the beginning of the Greek Mysteries and Rites was with the mysteries of Samothrace (Kabeiria Mysteries) and the Eleusian mysteries are derived from them. The Kaveiria Mysteries were dedicated to the Mystery of Human Birth, and the Eleusian Mysteries dedicated to the Mysteriesof death. 

 

They were also practicing the Kabeiria mysteries in other areas of Greece, in Thessaloniki they used to have coins also in homenage to the Samuthrace mysteries. Jason is accounted as the person that took the Kabeiria mysteries from Samothrace to Thebes and Trojan.

 

Also Pausanias refers to the Athenian Methapos, who had reorganized the Mysteries there, as having also established the celebration of the Mysteries of the Kabeiroi for the Thebans. Pausanias (4, 1, 7). 

 

The mysteries of Samuthrace interest me from long time now. In the island there is one of the highest mountains of Greece whose pick name is Selene (moon) in Greek. The island is famous for its healing waters and many nascents. The Temple of the Kabeiria mysteries is still there and it is called the temple of the Megalon Theon - Great Gods. Unfortunately such place today here in Greece is used for satanists performing obscure rites.

 

The word Kabeiria is probably from the arabian: 

Kebir: Great. 

Or Sanscrit: CAWIRA Strong.

 

Lets see what Blavatsky says about it:

 

The earliest Mysteries recorded in history are those of Samothrace. 

(The Object of Mysteries)

 

Samuthrache: An island famous for its Mysteries, perhaps the oldest ever established in our present race. The Samothracian Mysteries were renowned allover the world. (Theosophical Glossary)

 

Now let us see other quotes:

 

You say:

 

...There where no Kabeiroi as it is called, in Samothrace...

 

Grottoes of the Kabeiroi and Korybantian cliffs on the island of Samothrake.” –Dionysiaca 4.184

 

Diodorus Siculus 5.48.2

Zeus desired that the other of his two sons Iasion of Samothrake might alsoattain honour, and so he instructed him in the initiatory rites of the mysteries [of the Kabeiroi of Samothrake, which had existed on the island since ancient times but was at that time, so to speak, put in his hands; it is not lawful, however, for any but the initiated to hear about the mysteries.And Iasion is reputed to have been the first to initiate strangers into them and by this means to bring the initiatory rite to high esteem. After this Kadmos, the son of Agenor, came in the course of his quest for Europe [his sister abducted by Zeus] to the Samothrakians, and after participating inthe initiation [into the mysteries of Samothrake] he married Harmonia, whowas the sister of Iasion and not, as the Greeks recount in their mythologies, the daughter of Ares ...
Now the details of the initiatory rite [of the Mysteries] are guarded amongthe matters not to be divulged and are communicated to the initiates alone; but the fame has travelled wide of how these gods [the Kabeiroi] appear to mankind and bring unexpected aid to those initiates of their who call upon them in the midst of perils. The claim is also made that men who have taken part in the mysteries become both more pious and more just and better inevery respect than they were before. And this is the reason, we are told, why the most famous both of the ancient heroes and of the demi-gods were eagerly desirous to taking part in the initiatory rite; and in fact Jason andthe Dioskouroi, and Herakles and Orpheus as well, after their initiation attained success in all the campaigns they undertook, because these gods appeared to them. 

Herodotus 2.50.1

"The Athenians were then already counted as Greeks when the Pelasgians cameto live in the land with them and thereby began to be considered as Greeks. Whoever has been initiated into the rites of the Kabeiroi, which the Samothrakians learned from the Pelasgians and now practice, understands what mymeaning is. Samothrake was formerly inhabited by those Pelasgians who cameto live among the Athenians, and it is from them that the Samothrakians take their rites. The Athenians, then, were the first Greeks to make ithyphallic images of Hermes, and they did this because the Pelasgians taught them.The Pelasgians told a certain sacred tale about this, which is set forth in the Samothracian mysteries.

Strabo Bk 7 Frag 47

Iasion and Dardanos, two brothers, used to live in Samothrake. But when Iasion was struck by a thunderbolt because of his sin against Demeter, Dardanos sailed away from Samothrake, went and took up his abode at the foot of Mount Ida, calling the city Dardania, and taught the Trojans the SamothrakianMysteries.-

Argonautica 1.916f

 

They [the Argonauts] beached this ship at Samothrake … He [Orpheus] wished them, by holy initiation, to learn something of the secret rites, and so sail on with greater confidence across the formidable sea. Of the rites I say no more, pausing only to salute the isle itself and the Powers [the Kabeiroi] that dwell in it, to whom belong the mysteries of which we must not sing.

 

Diodorus Siculus 4.43.1

There came on a great storm and the chieftains [Argonauts] had given up hope of being saved, when Orpheus, they say, who was the only one on ship-board who had ever been initiated in the mysteries of the deities of Samothrake[the Kabeiroi, offered to these deities prayers for their salvation. And immediately the wind died down and two stars fell over the heads of the Dioskouroi, and the whole company was amazed at the marvel which had taken place and concluded that they had been rescued from their perils by an act of providence of the gods. For this reason, the story of this reversal of fortune for the Argonauts has been handed down to succeeding generations, and sailors when caught in storms always direct their prayers to the deities of Samothrake and attribute the appearance of the two stars to the epiphany of the Dioskouroi. 

Diodorus Siculus 4.48.6

The Argonauts] had already reached the middle of the Pontic Sea when the ran into a storm which put them in the greatest peril. But when Orpheus … offered up prayers to the deities of Samothrake [the Kabeiroi], the winds ceased and there appeared near the ship Glaukos the Sea-God, as he is called ... and he counselled them, accordingly, that so soon as they touched theirlands they should pray their vows to the gods [the Kabeiroi] through the intervention of whom they had twice already been saved. 

Diodorus Siculus 4.49.8

The Argonauts, they say, set forth from the Troad and arrived at Samothrake, where they again paid their vows to the great gods [the Kabeiroi] and dedicated in the sacred precinct the bowls which are preserved there even to this day. 

Aelian On Animals 15.23

They say that the pilot-fish is sacred not only to Poseidon but is also beloved of the gods of Samothrake the Kabeiro. 

Valerius Flaccus 2.431

Electra’s island [Samothrake] grows larger [as the Argonauts sail towardsthe island], guarding the secret of the Thracian rites [of the Kabeiroi and other gods]; for here dwells the great and terrible god, and here are ordained penalties for an unguarded tongue. No storm sent by Jove [Zeus] ever dares to beat with its billows upon this land; of his own will the god makes fierce his waves, what time he would forbid faithless sailors to touch his shores. But Thyotes the priest meets the Minyae [Argonauts] and bids themwelcome to the land and to the temples, revealing their Mysteries to his guests. Thus much, Samothrace, has the poet proclaimed thee to the nations and the light of day; there stay, and let us keep our reverence for holy mysteries. The Minyae, rejoicing in the new light of the sun and full of theirheavenly visions, seat themselves upon the thwarts [and depart from the island. 

 

Erica Letzerich

worlduni_news <worlduni_news@yahoo.com> wrote:
Reg."Kaviria mysteries held in the Greek Island Samothrace" 

There where no Kabeiroi as it is called, in Samothrace. Also the 
description you quote seems typical for an early twentieth century 
interpretation when Eugenetics became a buzword and occultists next 
started claiming they knew of an 'ancient' and of course 
very 'secret' Eugenic Occultism.Rudolf Steiner was one of them but 
also Aleister Crowley started mentioning 'magical' operations to 
create a ('moon') child.

The derivation of the name from Semitic/kabir/, "lord", "mighty one" 
was proposed by J.J. Scaliger in 1619. And at Lemnos there were 
three Kabeiroi and three Kabeirid nymphs, and the Kabeiroi were 
associated at an early date with the principal deity of the island, 
Hephaistos. At Thebes, there were two Kabiroi , who were also 
associated - but only in a casual, unsystematic way - with Dionysos 
and his circle, or with Hermes and Pan.

They were Greek and it seems there where not many of them, perhaps 
only a family group, who settled in the countryside west of Thebes. 

Although mentioned by Diodoros , the following passages by 
Pausanias are generally accepted as the best available primary 
source. I found a good translation in Anth. Palat. 6, 245),;
When one has gone on for 25 stades from here [i.e. the deserted 
western suburbs of Thebes], there is a grove of Demeter Kabeiria and 
Kore: those who have been initiated are permitted to enter. The 
sanctuary of the Kabeiroi is about seven stades away from this 
grove. With regard to who the Kabeiroi are, and the nature of the 
rites performed for them and the Mother, I must be excused by men of 
good will if I keep silent. But nothing hinders me from revealing at 
least what the Thebans say was the origin of the rites. For once 
upon a time, they say, there was a city in this place, and men named 
Kabeiraians, and Demeter came to know Prometheus, one of the 
Kabeiraians, and Aitnaios son of Prometheus, and entrusted 
some¬thing to them. It seemed to me impious to write down what this 
thing was, and what happened to it: sufficc@»it to say that the 
cele¬bration of the mystery is a gift of Demeter to the Kabeiraians.

At the time of the expedition of the Epigonoi and the capture of 
Thebes, the Kabeiraioi were uprooted by the Argives, and the 
cele¬bration of the mystery lapsed for a time. Later on, they say, 
Pelarge, daughter of Potneus, and her husband Isthmiades established 
the ritual, to begin with at the same place, but then transferred it 
to the so-called Alexiarous. But because Pelarge had performed 
initiations outside the ancient boundaries, Telondes and those of 
the clan of Kabeiritai who were left, returned to the Kabeiraia. 
They were required, in accordance with an oracle from Dodona, to 
establish various rites in honour of Pelarge, including the 
sacrifice of a beast bearing another in its womb.

The wrath which emanates from the Kabeiroi cannot be avoided by men, 
as has been made clear on many occasions. For some laymen had the 
temerity to perform the Theban rites in the same way at Naupaktos, 
and punishment came upon them soon there¬after. And again, when some 
members of Xerxes' army who had been left in Boiotia with Mardonios, 
slipped into the sanctuary, possibly in the hope of plunder, but 
more, I think, through impiety, they were immediately driven mad and 
perished by throw¬ing themselves off cliffs and into the sea. And 
when Alexander, victorious in battle, was setting fire to Thebes 
itself and the whole of the Thebais, some men from Macedonia who had 
come into the sanctuary of the Kabeiroi, as being in enemy 
territory, were struck by thunder and lightning and killed. This is 
how revered this sanc¬tuary has been from the very beginning.
(Pansanias 9, 25, 5-10)


Pausanias wrote much of his work during the reign of Marcus Aurelius 
(AD 161-180). This was a time when renewed interest in the past of 
Hellas was at its highest point. Sanctuaries which had previously 
fallen into disuse were open once again, and rituals and festivals 
which had lapsed were being practised and celebrated anew. Many of 
those which Pausanias describes had been revived fairly recently. So 
it was, too, with the Kabirion and its cult. It is hardly to be 
expected, therefore, that there would have been consistency any more 
than there was continuity of activity. make this clear. (See M. B. 
Cosmopoulos, ed., Greek Mysteries: The Archaeology And Ritual Of 
Ancient Greek Mystery Cults, 2003, pp. 112-114).


Called In ancient Greek its called --- In theos-
talk@yahoogroups.com, "Erica Letzerich" wrote:
> In ancient Greece the Kaviria mysteries held in the Greek Island 
> Samothrace, it was the most ancient mystery and it was dedicated 
to 
> the mystery of human birth. They believed that they could attract 
> enlightened souls to reborn. So with special way of life the women 
> that were part of the misteries were preparing themselves to have 
> the possibility to be mothers of enlightened souls.
> 
> Olympia the mother of Great Alexander when she left Egypt and went 
> to Samothrace she was taking part of the Kaviria mysteries, 
actually 
> she meet Philip her husband there. But of course they were not 
> making anything bizarre. This was part of an ancient and very 
> mysterious rite they had in antiquity. After many years the 
Kabiria 
> mysteries were as many others corrupted and lost their original 
> meaning taking different forms and different interpretations 
through 
> history.
> 
> Erica




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Erica Letzerich .'.






		
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