Reblogged from Symbol Reader:
Pytia in the Adyton (via link)
“Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead.”
William Blake, Proverbs of Hell
Is one even allowed to talk about the gods of the underworld? For Rudolf Otto, a twentieth-century theologian, the holy or the numinous manifests in two forms: as mysterium tremendum, which is a mystery that frightens and repels, and as mysterium fascinosum, which we are drawn to despite our fears. The Greek word hieros (sacred) was used to describe votive offerings, the ground on which temples were built as well as ways walked during Mysteries, for example the way to Eleusis, or days on which the gods were present. (1) A person could also be “hieros” if they were initiated in mysteries or worked in temples. Natural phenomena such as mountains, rivers or corn were also believed to possess sacred power. Sacred places were “surrounded by prohibitions,” for example the names of certain gods, especially underworld gods, were not to be uttered; temples contained abatons or adytons – restricted sanctuaries not to be entered by the prophane. (2) Gods were never described as “hieros,” but rather as “hagios;” while the concept of “hieros,” concludes Burkett, was “as it were the shadow cast by divinity.”
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Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Interesting read – and very timely – these exact topics rather found their way into my world via external sources this a.m. on in person and cyberland fronts – It’s still fascinating to me how so much around us – antiquity forward, revolves around what seems like symbolism for the act of sitting within the depths, and often not so pretty, of our inner selves – but how slogging through the bog, to the other side, has benefits – at least that’s the current perspective I often project (?) on to so many things of this nature – :). Thanks for sharing, so it landed in my lap! 🙂
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Monika’s posts are always interesting reads 🙂
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Yup – cruised through some of the titles/archives – (my mid day break is almost over and I had comments to reply to – 🙂 ). But following now and bookmarked to work my way through her archives! 🙂 Thanks again!
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You’ll find plenty to explore 🙂
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Yup – I pretty much guessed that about 1 paragraph in and before I ever clicked to ‘read more’ – and it was confirmed – – LOL. Meanwhile the 11 books on my shelf from library must be gotten through at some point to – ahh….one lifetime just isn’t enough for all the great reads that exist, right? 🙂
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Tellme about it 😉
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