CALIX

THE CHALICE

HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM

HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI

“During this time Androcles, the popular leader, produced sundry aliens and slaves who
accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating other sacred images, and of making a parody
of the mysteries of Eleusis in a drunken revel.” (Plutarch)

At the trial of Alcibiades an association was clearly drawn between the infamous mutilation of the phallic
herms that occurred in 415 BC and the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

This connection between the mutilation of these phallic pillars and the secrets of the mysteries that was
established in the trial provides some of the only existing tangible evidence of the content of the
Eleusinian Mysteries. The mutilation of the herms and the trial that followed alluded to the central
myths of the mysteries and the ensuing controversy is testament to this.
“Moreover, the mutilation of the Hermae, most of which, in a single night, had their faces and forms
disfigured, confounded the hearts of many, even among those who usually set small store by such
things… They looked on the occurrence with such wrath and fear, thinking it the sign of a bold and
dangerous conspiracy. They therefore scrutinized keenly every suspicious circumstance, the council and
the assembly convening for this purpose many times within a few days.” 1

These boundary markers had their equivalence in the boundary pillars of Babylon. The stele on which
the Code of Hammurabi is inscribed takes the phallic shape of these pillars in order to express the power
of the god and the king that was acting as his legal representative. The current orthodoxy of describing
this stele as being in the shape of a finger makes no sense in the context of an intent to express deified
power.

The association of a code of laws with the phallus is explained in the Bible. In one instance Abraham
commands his servant to “‘Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of
heaven and the God of earth’… So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and
swore an oath to him concerning this matter…”2

The biblical translators euphemistically used the term ‘thigh’ to obscure the archaic act of holding the
phallus in order to make a phallic oath. Legal weight was given to an oath that incorporated the phallus
in the same way that the Bible is used in court today. Essentially the original concept of giving an oath is
lost but is still preserved within the text of the Bible itself.

The eastern central pillar of Enclosure D at Gobekli Tepe exhibits a phallus that is incorporated into the
structure of the side of the pillar rising to the full height of the pillar. On either side of the pillar incised
representations of human arms stretch down towards the base of the phallus. In a sophisticated use of
the structure the hands bend at the knuckles on the sides of the pillar in order to hold the phallus. A
prominent belt traverses the pillar at the base of the phallus.

At the base of the T-shaped pillar is the clear representation of a man without a head. The headless
figure is ithyphallic (displays an erection) and this contradiction adds to the mystery that envelops
Gobekli Tepe. Adjacent to the figure are representations of long-necked birds and large scorpion. The tail
of the scorpion has phallic connotations not only in the obvious phallic shape but also because of the
potent capacity to sting an opponent.

There is therefore evidence in these pillars that suggests that the headless ithyphallic man is part of a
wider phallic universe. The depictions tend to reinforce each other in a play of phallic associations. The
depiction of the giant scorpion is especially conspicuous in this regard in that the scorpion’s tail points
down towards the headless man’s erection.

The T-shaped columns of Gobekli Tepe in their very structure symbolize the phallus. There appears to
have been an association in antiquity between the T symbol and the form of the human male genitalia
with the shaft in the centre and the testicles on either side. This equivalence can be perceived in
Egyptian temple depictions of the deities.

“... from under the body of the serpent springs the lotus or water lily… The figures of Isis, upon the Isiac
Table, hold the stem of this plant, surmounted by the seed-vessel in one hand, and the cross,
representing the male organs of generation, in the other; thus signifying the universal power, both active
and passive, attributed to that goddess.”3

Plutarch states that everywhere the Egyptians worshipped Osiris with emphasis on his phallic
manifestation. “Everywhere they point out statues of Osiris in human form of the ithyphallic type, on
account of his creative and fostering power; and they clothe his statues in a flame-coloured garment,
since they regard the body of the Sun as a visible manifestation of the perceptible substance of the
power for good. In the sacred hymns they call upon him who is hidden in the arms of the Sun.” 4

This ithyphallic quality is mirrored in the Egyptian creation myths and depictions of Min which show the
god with an erection in the temple complexes of Karnak. Lettuce was a sacred symbol of this deity and
central to his worship. Egyptian temple depictions show priests offering the lettuce to Min as he holds
his erect phallus. The deified semen that coursed through the universe existed in the white latex exuded
by the sacred lettuce.

The sacred nature of lettuce links these myths to the archaic initiation myth revolving around the
relationship between Horus and Seth. The Contendings of Horus and Seth is one of the earliest recorded
initiation myths extant in human history. The crux of the myth involves the ingestion of semen within the
context of a male initiation rite. Horus and Seth contend for the kingship of Egypt culminating in Horus
conspiring with Isis to smear his semen on lettuce leaves.

These are consumed by Seth in a male to male insemination that gives birth to the sun disc or, in some
versions, the birth of Thoth. The archaic ritualistic initiation rites during which males assumed adulthood
adopted in many documented cases the consumption of semen. This rite of insemination was a device
that symbolized the internalization of a vigorous life force.

“And Isis smeared the semen of Horus on the lettuce leaves.

And Seth came here as he did every day, and he ate the lettuce as usual.
And he became pregnant with the semen of Horus …” 5

Semen was seen as a precious substance stored in the spinal column. White skeletal bones reflected the
solidified nature of this substance. These white bones had formed and hardened as a result of the initial
creative action of the white foaming secretion.

The extraction of collagen from animal bones and hides was a reverse process in which a substance was
extracted that was analogous to semen. Hides were soaked in water and exposed to lime in a process
that ultimately released the glue liquor. This liquor reinforced the belief that semen existed in all animal
matter but was concentrated and stored in the marrow.

The lettuce leaves that are smeared with semen and eaten by Seth are symbolically linked to this
extraction process. The spine or stalk of this specific type of lettuce exudes a white latex when damaged
and so replicates the seminal structure of animals and also that of humans. Thus the semen infuses
them all as a potent life force that came from the gods.

In the Papyrus Jumilhac there is an association between Seth and the plants that spring from his semen
while he has assumed the form of a bull. Seth chases Isis while he is in the guise of a bull and when she
escapes scatters his semen on the ground. The papyrus states that his semen grew into plants that have
the unidentified hieroglyphic name of bddk3w.

There is a striking parallel between this unidentified plant and the latex exuding lettuce which is
identified with him in the Contendings. Thus there is a symbolic synthesis of the two plants which are
both associated with semen and with Seth.

The visual similarity between the marrow contained in the spine and the visceral gluey substance of
semen reinforced the belief that semen was stored in the spinal column. Consequently the semen that
was ejaculated by Seth, while he was in the form of a bull, came ultimately from the spine of the animal.
From this springs a plant that contains the divine semen within its own metaphorical spinal column.

According to Plato in the Timaeus semen was a substance like marrow that originated in the brain and
was stored and carried through the spinal column to its outlet located in the male genitalia. “... the body
of the marrow, which passes from the head along the neck and through the back (along the spine),
which in the preceding discourse we have termed seed. And the seed having life, and becoming
endowed with respiration, produces in that part in which it respires a lively desire of emission, and thus
creates in us the love of procreation. Wherefore also in men the organ of generation becoming rebellious
and masterful, like an animal disobedient to reason, and maddened with the sting of lust, seeks to gain
absolute sway …”6

The spine of Osiris was represented by the Djed-pillar so integrating the concept of a universe of deified
semen with the spinal column. The metaphorical spinal column of the Milky Way dissects the vault of
the night sky and performs the function of a ladder to the stars. The Unas Pyramid Texts state that Unas,
guided by Horus and Seth, ascends to the stars on a ladder formed by two Djed-pillars. He thus ascends
to the heavens on the stepped vertebrae of a stellar spinal column. 7

In the mysteries associated with the Great Mother the demon Agdestis is born from a rock that has been
inseminated by Zeus. Arnobius states that Jupiter (Zeus) “spent his lust on the stone” which became
pregnant from this act and after ten months gave birth to Agdestis. This allegorical myth appears to refer
to lightning striking the rock. This was the mechanism by which the deities interacted with the physical
plane.
“Within the confines of Phrygia, he says, there is a rock of unheard-of wildness in every respect, the
name of which is Agdus, so named by the natives of the district. The goddess (the Great Mother) given
over to rest and sleep on the very summit of the rock, Jupiter assailed with (the) lewdest desires. But
when, after long strife, he could not accomplish what he had proposed to himself, he baffled, spent his
lust on the stone. This the rock received, and… Acdestis (Agdestis) is born in the tenth month, being
named from his mother rock.”8

Pausanias enhances this myth by describing the demon as having two sexual organs reflecting the primal
forces that resulted in the impregnation of the rock either through lightning or the semen of Zeus that
fell on the ground. In this version of the myth an almond tree springs from the mutilated genitals of
Agdestis.

“Zeus, it is said, let fall in his sleep seed upon the ground, which in course of time sent up a demon, with
two sexual organs, male and female. They call the demon Agdistis (Agdestis). But the gods fearing
Agdistis, cut off the male organ. There grew up from it an almond-tree with its fruit ripe, and a daughter
of the river Sangarius, they say, took of the fruit and laid it in her bosom, when it at once disappeared,
but she was with child. A boy (Attis) was born…” 9

This myth replicates the more ancient Hurrian/Hittite myth named the ‘Song of Ullikummi’ thus
demonstrating again that the genesis of the most archaic myths can be traced back through the ages
towards their oral transmission at the time of Gobekli Tepe. The deity Kumarbi has intercourse with a
rock which consequently gives birth to Ullikummi.

“His (Kumarbi’s) desire was aroused and he slept with the rock. His manhood flowed into (the rock)…
The diorite (igneous rock) grows, the strong (waters) make him grow. In one day he increases one cubit,
in one month he increases one acre. The stone which is added to his stature presents an amazing
spectacle. When the fifteenth day came, the stone had grown high, he (was standing) in the sea with his
knees as a shaft. It stood out above the water, the stone, and in height it was like a (pillar). The sea
reached its belt like a loin cloth. Like a tower the stone is raised up and reaches up to the temples and
the dwelling of the gods in heaven.”10

These concepts of deified mutilation reappear in archaic myths whereby the blood shed from the
mutilated genitals of the god falls to earth and gives birth to a race of giants among other entities. The
substance of the myth is related by Hesiod in the Theogony which is recognized as being influenced by
these archaic mutilation myths. The blood of the archetypal deity is mixed with the earth in a procreative
act resulting from his castration.

“Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great sickle with
jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father’s members and cast them away to fall behind him.
And not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that gushed forth Earth received, and
as the seasons moved round she bore the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour,
holding long spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae all over the boundless
earth.”11

The vernal equinox of spring marked the resurrection of Attis from the underworld. Human fertility is
linked with the process of nature’s cycle of decay and rebirth. Attis castrates himself under a pine tree
saying “‘Take these Acdestis (Agdestis), for which you have stirred up so great and terribly perilous
commotions.’ With the streaming blood his life flies; but the Great Mother of the gods gathers the parts
which had been cut off, and throws earth on them, having first covered them, and wrapped them in the
garment of the dead. From the blood which had flowed springs a flower, the violet, and with this the
tree is girt.”12

The blood that was shed during the act of castration committed by Attis fell to the earth and from this
sprang violets. This was a colour that was associated with the bruising of skin and ultimately with death.
Violets consequently had a funerary colour and were used in wreaths that were presented to the deities.

“Varro has not spoken of that Atys (Attis), nor sought out an interpretation for him, in memory of whose
being loved by Ceres the Gallus is mutilated. But the learned and wise Greeks have by no means been
silent about an interpretation so holy and so illustrious. The celebrated philosopher Porphyry has said
that Atys signifies the flowers of spring, which is the most beautiful season, and therefore was mutilated
because the flower falls before the fruit appears. They have not, then, compared the man himself, or
rather that semblance of a man they call Atys, to the flower, but his male organs - these, indeed, fell
while he was living.”13

Diodorus Siculus compares the tearing apart of the body of Dionysus to the harvesting and pressing of
grapes to make wine. It is clear that it is the testicles of the deity that are seen as equivalent to the
grapes. Therefore the picking, pressing and boiling of the grapes have an equivalence to the castration of
Attis and the Galli. Dionysus has a first birth in the growth of the vine, a second birth on the clusters of
the grapes, and a third birth by being contained in the alcoholic nature of wine. The deity is torn apart
but reborn in the human consuming the wine.

“... the sons of Gaia tore to pieces the god, who was a son of Zeus and Demeter, and boiled him, but his
members were brought together again by Demeter and he experienced a new birth as if for the first
time, such accounts as this they trace to certain causes found in nature.” 14

Therefore the presence of the deity within the wine and subsequently in the human body is related to
resurrection. Diodorus Siculus directly states that these concepts are linked to the mysteries and cannot
be further revealed due to the prohibitions that are enforced on the uninitiated. In the context of the
parallel myths about the Great Mother and Attis the text only makes sense if the term ‘members’ refers
specifically to the testicles of the deity. Only these parts can be seen to be equivalent to grapes by
containing the essence, the seed or semen of the god.
“Again, the account of his members, which the ‘earth-born’ treated with despite, being brought together
again and restored to their former natural state, shows forth that the vine, which has been stripped of its
fruit and pruned at the yearly seasons, is restored by the earth to the high level of fruitfulness which it
had before. For, in general, the ancient poets and writers of myths spoke of Demeter as Ge Meter (Earth
Mother). And with these stories the teachings agree which are set forth in the Orphic poems and are
introduced in their rites, but it is not lawful to recount them to the uninitiated.” 15

The theme of transformation or metamorphosis is here related to resurrection. Zeus had ordained that
the body of Attis should not be corrupted in death. The act of castration is therefore linked to a
transaction with the deities that ultimately purifies the mortal nature of humans.

“Now the ancients record in their myths that Priapus was the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite and they
present a plausible argument for his lineage; for men when under the influence of wine find the
members of their bodies tense and inclined to the pleasures of love. But certain writers say that when
the ancients wished to speak in their myths of the sexual organ of males they called it Priapus. Some,
however, relate that the generative member, since it is the cause of the reproduction of human beings
and of their continued existence through all time, became the object of immortal honour.” 16

The concept of phallic mutilation formed part of the mysteries of the Great Mother (Cybele) and Attis
that can be seen to be related to the mysteries performed in Eleusis. On the Day of Blood, during the
rites of Attis, the Galli castrated themselves in a frenzy of ecstasy and offered the severed parts to the
goddess.

“During these days they are made Galli. As the Galli sing and celebrate their orgies, frenzy falls on many
of them and many who had come as mere spectators are afterwards found to have committed the great
act. I will narrate what they do. Any young man who has resolved on this action, strips off his clothes,
and with a loud shout bursts into the midst of the crowd, and picks up a sword from a number of swords
which I suppose have been kept ready for many years for this purpose. He takes it and castrates himself
and then runs wild through the city, bearing in his hands what he has cut off.” 17

These parts were symbolized by the pomegranate with its blood-red flesh that encased the multiple
seeds. Human genitalia in both the mysteries of the Great Mother and Attis and also those of Eleusis
represent the receptacles of seeds.

“These broken instruments of fertility were afterwards reverently wrapped up and buried in the earth or
in subterranean chambers sacred to Cybele, where, like the offering of blood, they may have been
deemed instrumental in recalling Attis to life and hastening the general resurrection of nature, which
was then bursting into leaf and blossom in the vernal sunshine. Some confirmation of this conjecture is
furnished by the savage story that the mother of Attis conceived by putting in her bosom a pomegranate
sprung from the severed genitals of a man-monster named Agdestis, a sort of double of Attis.” 18
The process of burying an object in the earth which engenders some form of birth or rebirth is an
indication that the mysteries are being referenced. Porphyry describes the doctrines of Pythagoras
whereby humans are born from an alchemical process involving the fermentation of beans that are
buried in the ground.

“Beans were interdicted, it is said, because the particular plants grow and individualize only after (the
earth) which is the principle and origin of all things, is mixed together, so that many things underground
are confused, and coalesce; after which everything rots together. Then living creatures were produced
together with plants, so that both men and beans arose out of putrefaction whereof he (Pythagoras)
alleged many manifest arguments.”19

Putrefaction is one of the stages in alchemy and the statement that “both men and beans arose out of
putrefaction” seems to have an alchemical genesis. The synthesis of vegetative fertility and human
reproduction is a known feature of the Eleusinian Mysteries. These mysteries can be recognized in the
description of the ritual process of burying the beans in an earthen container which then gives birth to
human infants or human sexual organs.

“For if anyone should chew a bean, and having ground it to a pulp with his teeth, and should expose that
pulp to the warm sun, for a short while, and then return to it, he will perceive the scent of human blood.
Moreover, if at the time when beans bloom, one should take a little of the flower, which then is black,
and should put it into an earthen vessel, and cover it closely, then bury it in the ground for ninety days,
and at the end thereof take it up, and uncover it, instead of the bean he will find either the head of an
infant, or the pudenda of a woman.”20

Hippolytus deviates from an otherwise similar interpretation of the myth by emphasizing the connection
between beans and human semen. This foregrounds the relationship between human seed or semen
and the testicular appearance of beans. “And of this he mentions the following indication, that if any
one, after having chewed a bean without the husk, places it opposite the sun for a certain period - for
this immediately will aid in the result - it yields the smell of human seed.” 21

One of the deities that is connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries was Cyamites who signified in his name
that he personified the cultivation of beans. This entity was specifically related to the Vicia faba or broad
bean. Plutarch states that this temple was strategically placed on the Sacred Way leading to Eleusis and
this location indicates his importance to the mysteries. “The last of these had a monument on the way to
the shrine of Cyamites, as we go to Eleusis by the Sacred Way, of which now remains only ruins.” 22

Pausanias confirms the existence and location of this temple and further emphasizes, albeit cryptically,
its symbolic significance to the Eleusinian Mysteries. “On the road stands a small temple called that of
Cyamites. I cannot state for certain whether he was the first to sow beans, or whether they gave this
name to a hero they may not attribute to Demeter the discovery of beans. Whoever has been initiated at
Eleusis or has read what are called the Orphica knows what I mean.” 23
The secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries were protected by a code of death that was executed on any one
who revealed them. In his text about Pythagorean history Iamblichus refers directly to this command.
“For it is not lawful to extend to every casual person, things which were obtained with great labours, nor
to divulge the mysteries of the Eleusinian Goddess to the profane.” 24

It can therefore be inferred that the Pythagoreans were protecting secrets that were linked to the
Eleusinian Mysteries. Iamblichus reveals that many Pythagorean concepts were derived from the
mysteries. “Many of the mandates of the Pythagoreans were introduced from the Mysteries.” 25

In these myths Pythagoras travels to Delos and so creates a confluence of concepts that ties the
Eleusinian Mysteries to those of Delos. This reveals an underground network of beliefs that united the
various threads of the mysteries. Pythagoras “was the author of a compound divine philosophy and
worship of the Gods; having learned some things from the followers of Orpheus; some from the
Chaldeans and Magi, and some also from the Mysteries performed at Eleusis, in Imbrus, Samothracia
and Delos, as well as in Iberia and by the Celtae.” 26

In contrast to Eleusis physical evidence of the cults on Delos survives in the monumental phallic forms
that dominate the Stoibadeion. These must be related to the mysteries performed in Delos and by
extension also those of Eleusis.

These Dionysian phallic monuments are partially destroyed but retain the bean-shaped testicles from
which the phalli rise. The relationship between the plant and the human therefore has a monumental
physical presence that is made explicit by the stylized rounded shape of the testicles.

According to Diogenes Laertius the physical appearance of beans and human testicles were referenced
by Aristotle with an additional connection to the gates of Hades. Thus a further Eleusinian reference is
added by incorporating the myth of Persephone’s descent into the earth through the gates of Hades.
“According to Aristotle in his work ‘On the Pythagoreans,’ Pythagoras counselled abstinence from beans
either because they are like the genitals, or because they are like the gates of Hades…” 27

In the related myths of Adonis the deity enters the earth through the gates of Hades to be reborn in the
spring. Adonis is shared between Aphrodite and the queen of Hades, Persephone, thus spending part of
the year underground as metaphorical seed that is resurrected in the spring. The blood-red flower of the
anemone that symbolizes Adonis is likened to the flower of the pomegranate.

The cutting away of the petals of the anemone by the action of the wind reflects the theme of mutilation
which gives birth to the seed of the flower. Thus the cycle of resurrection and mutilation is endlessly
replicated. Adonis is genitally gored by the wild boar but the goddess intervenes by sprinkling nectar on
the blood that soaks the earth. The lifeless body of Adonis is reborn as the anemone. This blood flower is
comparable to that of the pomegranate. The pomegranate flower mutates into a seed capsule with a
hard rind protecting the soft internal flesh.
“‘But your blood will be changed into a flower’… So saying, she (the Goddess) sprinkled the blood with
odorous nectar: and, at the touch, it swelled up, as bubbles emerge in yellow mud. In less than an hour,
a flower, of the colour of blood, was created such as pomegranates carry, that hide their seeds under a
tough rind. But enjoyment of it is brief; for, lightly clinging, and too easily fallen, the winds deflower it,
which are likewise responsible for its name, windflower: anemone.”28

Athenaeus further enhances this myth by stating that the lifeless body of Adonis was laid out by the
goddess on a bed of lettuce. There is therefore a consistent equivalence in these myths between the
mutilated phallus or genitals of the deity and a tree or plant.

“Callimachus, too, says that Aphrodite hid Adonis in a lettuce-bed… In that plant, the story goes, Kypris
once laid out Adonis when he died; therefore it is dead men’s food. And Cratinus says that Aphrodite,
when she fell in love with Phaon, hid him away in ‘four lettuce-beds’…” 29

Pomegranate seeds formed a central part of the Eleusinian Mysteries where the concept of natural
mortality is followed by resurrection in the spring. In these myths Persephone consumes pomegranate
seed and is compelled to inhabit the underworld for the duration of the gestation of the seed. In the
archaic ‘Hymn to Demeter’ the goddess demands to know if Persephone has tasted the food of the
underworld during her imprisonment there.

“... but if you have tasted food, you must go back again beneath the secret places of the earth, there to
dwell a third part of the seasons every year: yet for the two parts you shall be with me and the other
deathless gods. But when the earth shall bloom with the fragrant flowers of spring in every kind, then
from the realm of darkness and gloom thou shalt come up once more to be a wonder for gods and
mortal men… Then beautiful Persephone answered her thus… he secretly put in my mouth sweet food, a
pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will.” 30

Pausanias states that the image or statue of the goddess in the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Sicyon holds in
one hand an apple and in the other a poppy. This indicates the fluid classification in antiquity between
the generic term of the pomegranate (pomum granatum - apple having multiple seeds) and the poppy.
Both plants have hard-skinned containers or vials of seeds. “In less than an hour, a flower, of the colour
of blood, was created such as pomegranates carry, that hide their seeds under a tough rind.” 31

The relationship of the poppy to the goddess and ultimately to the mysteries is revealed in this
description of the image. “The image, which is seated, was made by the Sicyonian Canachus, who also
fashioned the Apollo at Didyma of the Milesians, and the Ismenian Apollo for the Thebans. It is made of
gold and ivory, having on its head a polos, and carrying in one hand a poppy and in the other an apple.” 32

When extracted from the seed container of the poppy the whitish liquid that emerged would have been
seen as equivalent to the semen of the plant. This was the semen of the gods that coursed through the
universe. The Greek word opos meaning ‘juice’ was applied to this seminal extract from the poppy
container. From this etymology comes the term ‘opium.’ This substance was the ultimate form of deified
semen and was a catalyst for the mysteries of Eleusis and the Eucharist of the Christian church which is
derived from these mysteries.

Pliny describes the process involved in the extraction of this seminal “juice” by making an incision into
the “head and calix of the plant” and thus effectively castrating, mutilating or decapitating the plant to
extract the contents.

“This is done at the third hour, in a clear, still, day, or, in other words, when the dew has thoroughly dried
upon the poppy. It is recommended to make the incision just beneath the head and calix of the plant
(incidi iuvent sub capite et calice); this being the only kind, in fact, into the head of which the incision is
made. This juice, like that of any other plant, is received in wool; or else, if it is in very minute quantities,
it is scraped off with the thumb nail just as it is from the lettuce, and so again on the following day, with
the portion that has since dried there. If obtained from the poppy in sufficiently large quantities, this
juice thickens, after which it is kneaded out into lozenges, and dried in the shade. This juice is possessed
not only of certain soporific qualities, but, if taken in too large quantities, is productive of sleep unto
death even: the name given to it is ‘opium.’” 33

HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI: MYSTERIUM FIDEI: QUI PRO
VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM

1. Plutarch - Parallel Lives - Life of Alcibiades 18-19

2. Genesis 24:2-9
3. Richard Payne Knight - A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus
4. Plutarch - Isis and Osiris 51
5. Contendings of Horus and Seth
6. Plato - Timaeus
7. Unas Pyramid Text - Utterance 271
8. Arnobius - Adversus Gentes 5.5
9. Pausanias - Description of Greece 7.17.11-13
10. Song of Ullikummi
11. Hesiod - Theogony 178-188
12. Arnobius - Adversus Gentes 5.7
13. Augustine - City of God 7.25
14. Diodorus Siculus - Library of History 3.62
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid. 4.6
17. Lucian - De Dea Syria
18. James Frazer - The Golden Bough
19. Porphyry - Life of Pythagoras 44
20. Ibid.
21. Hippolytus - Refutation of All Heresies 1.2
22. Plutarch - Lives of the Ten Orators 4
23. Pausanias - Description of Greece 1.37.4
24. Iamblichus - The Life of Pythagoras
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Diogenes Laertius - Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 8.1.34
28. Ovid - Metamorphoses 10
29. Athenaeus - Deipnosophists 132-133
30. Homeric Hymn to Demeter
31. Ovid - Metamorphoses 10
32. Pausanias - Description of Greece 2.10.5
33. Pliny - Natural History 20.76