THE CHALICE OF BLASPHEMY

HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM

HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS1

"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-called 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…" 2

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) after being
rejected inseminated the rock which then gave birth to a demonic entity. Zeus "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."3

Pausanias enhances the myth by describing the demon as having two sexual organs
reflecting the primal forces that resulted in the impregnation of the rock. 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 the 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…"4

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. "Indeed
in the Phrygian cosmology an almond figured as the father of all things, perhaps
because its delicate lilac blossom is one of the first heralds of the spring, appearing on
the bare boughs before the leaves have opened." 5

In synthesis with this vegetative resurrection 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." 6

The blood that was shed during the act of castration committed by Attis fell to earth and
from this sprang violets. This was a colour that was associated with the bruising of
human 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."7
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."8

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
linked to a transaction with the deities that ultimately purifies the mortal nature of
humans.

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 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."9

The genital parts were buried in subterranean chambers where like seeds they
celebrated the resurrection of flowers in the spring. "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." 10

In the related myths of Adonis the deity enters the earth through the gates of Hades to
be reborn in the spring. Adonis is genitally gored by a 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. "Pomegranates were supposed to have sprung from
the blood of Dionysus, as anemones from the blood of Adonis and violets from the blood
of Attis: hence women refrained from eating seeds of pomegranates at the festival of
Thesmophoria."11

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. The blood-red flower of the anemone
is comparable to that of the pomegranate.
"'... 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."12

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 for 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."
Pausanias reveals the relationship of the poppy to the goddess and ultimately to the
mysteries 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." 13

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 or mutilating
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… 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.'"14

Homer describes the use of a drug, potentially opium, that is added to wine to achieve a
narcotic state where feelings of pain are subdued or erased. He traces the origin of the
drug to Thebes in Egypt. "Straightway she cast into the wine of which they were drinking
a drug to quiet all pain and strife, and bring forgetfulness of every ill… Such cunning
drugs had the daughter of Zeus, drugs of healing, which Polydamna, the wife of Thon,
had given her, a woman of Egypt, for there the earth, the giver of grain, bears the
greatest store of drugs."15

This text matches the depictions of the poppy heads shown together with ears of corn.
Both grain and opium are the beneficial products of the earth and the text suggests that
the ingredients of the sacrament in the mysteries may also have included opium along
with the barley. Homer’s text suggests that opium and ears of corn were not seen as
mutually exclusive.

Diodorus Siculus refers to this section of text confirming the derivation of the drug from
Egypt. Nepenthe (nepenthes pharmakon), literally 'no pain,' is used as a more
descriptive name for opium which is identified with this quality. "And as proof of the
presence of Homer in Egypt they adduce various pieces of evidence, and especially the
healing drink which brings forgetfulness of all past evils, which was given by Helen to
Telemachus in the home of Menelaus. For it is manifest that the poet had acquired
exact knowledge of the 'nepenthic' drug which he says Helen brought from Egyptian
Thebes, given her by Polydamna the wife of Thon; for, they allege, even to this day the
women of this city use this powerful remedy, and in ancient times, they say, a drug to
cure anger and sorrow was discovered exclusively among the women of Diospolis; but
Thebes and Diospolis, they add, are the same city." 16
Hesiod mentions the poppy within the context of sacrificial offerings to the gods. The
poppy is combined with the myth of Prometheus through association with Mecone, a
town named after the poppy. The myth is bound to the origin of sacrifices and these are
therefore linked to the divine nature of opium. "For when the gods and mortal men had a
dispute at Mecone… Prometheus… cut up a great ox and set portions before them,
trying to deceive the mind of Zeus."17

The poppy became a symbol of the Eleusinian Mysteries through an association

between grain and the opium-bearing poppy. At Eleusis the basket on the head of a
caryatid depicts poppy heads combined with ears of wheat. The dual symbolism is
repeated in statues and depictions of Demeter holding in her hands ears of grain and
poppy heads. These depictions unequivocally link poppy capsules to grain and suggest
that opium was added to the grain-based draught that was served at the mysteries.

A Minoan (Cretan) statue of the so-called 'Poppy Goddess' displays three poppy heads
protruding from the head of the goddess. Cypriot clay vessels, containing the trace
signature of opium, have been discovered in Israel representing the bulbous form of the
poppy capsule. This shape indicates the function of the vessels in transporting opium
and reveals the extensive pattern of an ancient trading network centred around opium.

An association is drawn between the bulbous form of the poppy capsule, replicated in
the containers that transported the opium, and the pregnant human form. Within the
womb the biological processes that create the fetus have an equivalence to the seed
container of the plant. The seed capsule swells up after the flower sheds its petals
leading to a divine association between humans and plants.

This alchemical fermentation process symbolized both human pregnancy and the fruit of
the plant, and was specifically symbolized by the poppy capsule. Hence Aristotle refers
to 'poppy-juice' that characterizes the birth of humans therefore implying that the
environment of the womb is equivalent to the interior of the poppy seed capsule. In this
context the umbilical cord becomes equivalent to the stem of the plant.

The process of burying an object in the earth which then engenders some form of birth
or rebirth is an indication that the mysteries are being referenced. In this magical garden
exists the field of beans that forms part of the history of Pythagoras. "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 alleged many manifest arguments." 18

Putrefaction is one of the stages of 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 are inferred 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, and 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."19

According to Diogenes Laertius the physical appearance of beans and human testicles
was 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…" 20

A process of fermentation is described here which compares to the text of Augustine on

the Eleusinian Mysteries where the dry seed of plants and the liquid seed of animals
(semen) are placed in the same context as the fermentation of wine. "Now as to the
rites of Liber, whom they have set over liquid seeds, and therefore not only over the
liquors of fruits, among which wine holds, so to speak, the primacy, but also over the
seeds of animals…"21
Hippolytus emphasizes the connection between the seeds, or beans, of the plant and
human seed. This foregrounds the relationship between human 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."22

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 that were
then eaten by Seth.

Archaic ritualistic initiation rites whereby 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. Semen was likened to
marrow and was seen as a precious substance that was stored in the protective
encasement of the spine. The visual similarity between the marrow contained in the
spine and the visceral substance of semen reinforced this belief.

The spine or stalk of the variety of lettuce relevant to the 'Contendings' myth exudes a
white latex when damaged and so replicates the seminal skeletal structure of humans.
Thus the divine semen exists in both plants and humans infusing them all with 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. From this semen, that was believed to be originally encased in the spine of the
bull, rise plants containing semen within their own metaphorical spinal columns.

The earliest genital mutilation myths can be traced at least as far back as those outlined
in the 'Kingship in Heaven.' This describes how the god Kumarbi 'swallows' or mutilates
the genitals of the archetypal Mesoptamian god Anu. By this act Kumarbi is inseminated
in an act of male-to-male gestation giving birth to multiple additional deities. "He
(Kumarbi) bit his (Anu’s) loins (so that) his manhood united with Kumarbi’s interior like
bronze."23

From this myth Hesiod draws inspiration for the genital mutilation of Ouranos by Saturn.
Droplets of blood that fell from the mutilated genitals of Ouranos led to the birth of new
entities that are metaphors for ears of grain that spring from the earth. The shape of an
ear of corn matches that of a spear with an additional association in colour with golden
armour.

"... for all the bloody drops that gushed forth the 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."24

The spears of grain are mutilated by the act of harvesting and are then incorporated into
the sacrament of the mysteries. The entire myth that informs the mysteries is based
around the symbolic synthesis of flowers and grain. It can therefore be adduced that
opium was added to the sacred grain-based draught with mint added to disguise the
bitterness of the drug.

"Then Metaneira… bade them mix meal and water with soft mint and give her to drink.
And Metaneira mixed the draught and gave it to the goddess as she bade. So the great
queen Deo received it to observe the sacrament…" 25
The synthesis of plants and the human genital organs opened up a path to the gods.
The formal relationship between the seed capsules of plants, especially the poppy, and
human genitalia is at the core of the mysteries.

"These are the secret mysteries of the Athenians; these Orpheus records. I shall
produce the very words of Orpheus, that you may have the great authority on the
mysteries himself, as evidence for this piece of turpitude:

'Having thus spoken, she drew aside her garments,

And showed all that shape of the body which it is improper to name,
And with her own hand Baubo stripped herself under the breasts.
Blandly then the goddess laughed and laughed in her mind,
And received the glancing cup in which was the draught.'" 26
Pliny describes the seed capsule of the poppy as a 'calix' (chalice) which therefore
corresponds to the Holy Grail of religious myth. This designation of the opium-bearing
seed capsule as a chalice reveals the symbolism that combines the narcotic quality of
the opium with the chalice of the Eucharist.

"... there are three varieties of the cultivated poppy... with reference to the cultivated
varieties, the calix of the white poppy is pounded, and is taken in wine as a soporific." 27

This then appears to be the origin of the myths of the Holy Grail. The calix or chalice of
the poppy contains a narcotic essence that brought humans into the realm of the gods.
The Eucharist celebrates this myth but has lost the narcotic catalyst that gave meaning
to the ritual. Within the calix of the poppy rests the mystery of the chalice of Christ.
1. The Eucharist
2. Augustine - City of God 7.25
3. Arnobius - Adversus Gentes 5.5
4. Pausanias - Description of Greece 7.17.11-13
5. James Frazer - The Golden Bough
6. Arnobius - Adversus Gentes 5.7
7. Augustine - City of God 7.25
8. Diodorus Siculus - Library of History 3.62
9. Lucian - De Dea Syria
10. James Frazer - The Golden Bough
11. Ibid.
12. Ovid - Metamorphoses 10
13. Pausanias - Description of Greece 2.10.5
14. Pliny - Natural History 20.76
15. Homer - Odyssey 4.220
16. Diodorus Siculus - Library of History 1.97
17. Hesiod - Theogony 535
18. Porphyry - Life of Pythagoras 44
19. Ibid.
20. Diogenes Laertius - Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 8.1.34
21. Augustine - City of God 7.21
22. Hippolytus - Refutation of All Heresies 1.2
23. Kingship in Heaven
24. Hesiod - Theogony 180-187
25. Homeric Hymn to Demeter
26. Clement of Alexandria - Exhortation to the Heaven 2
27. Pliny - Natural History 20.76