This is Thomas Taylor's brilliant inquiry into the mysteries that were central to religious life and society of ancient Greece and even Rome. The inner teachings of these Mediterranean mystery religions were lost with the ascent of Christianity, but Taylor found the skeleton key to unlock their secrets and give us insight into what people believed and what moved their lives.The Eleusinian Mysteries were the ones of greatest importance. They go back to an old agrarian cult and were possibly influenced by Egyptian and even Indian religion. These observances once represented the spiritual life of Greece, and were considered for two thousand years and more the appointed means for regeneration through an interior union with the Divine Essence. However absurd, or even offensive they may seem to us, we should therefore hesitate long before we venture to lay desecrating hands on what others have esteemed holy. We can learn a valuable lesson in this regard from the Grecian and Roman writers, who had learned to treat the popular religious rites with mirth, but always considered the Eleusinian Mysteries with the deepest reverence.A pukka classic from www.arepo.biz