The festival of Attis was brilliantly celebrated in Rome at the spring equinox in the second half of the month of March. It evidently possessed the main characteristics of the wild and ecstatic worship as practised in the native home of the cult. It was introduced by a preparatory cere- mony on 15th March, when the cannophori, or reed-bearers, had their procession, commemorating some forgotten event or rite in the remote cere- monial life of Asia Minor. The reed played an important part in the commemoration of Cybele, but only speculation can explain its connexion with her worship. A week later, on 22nd March, a pine or fir tree was cut down in the sacred grove of the goddess and was borne by the dendrophori, or tree-bearers, in procession to the temple of the Ida=an mother on the Palatine. Its branches were garlanded with violets and its trunk swathed with ^vooUen bands. It represented the dead body of Attis, and the garlands were woven of violets, because violets sprang from the blood-drops which fell from his person wlieii he unmanned himself at the foot of the pine. Julius Firmicus Maternus, who wrote about A.D. 347, is responsible for the
58 MYSTERY, MYSTERIES
MYSTERY, MYSTERIES
statement tliat the etK-y of a youth , apparentlj of Attis, was bound to the tree {ile hn: 1 mj. KUiq. xxvii. 1). The succeeding day was passed in mourning the death of Attis. It is possible that on tliis day the mourners joined in the lubi- lustrium, or the Keast of Trumpets, when the trumpets, used at the sacrilice, were punhed. I.ut our sources do not assure us of this. 1 he --Ith was the dies sanguinis, the day of blood, when the mouniin- reached its highest intensity. Under the shrill sounds of various instruments, the hoarse cries of the Galli, and the spectacle of their whirling dances, the crowd of worshippers were lifted to unrestrained ecstasy, in which they slashed themselves with knives that the blood mi-ht sprinkle the statue of the goddess, and when the neophyte, insensible to pain, emasculated himself in her honour with a sharp stone. Uis use of the sharp stone to complete his self-consecration to the deity is but another indication of the con- servatism of religion, which preferred to retain in the sacred rite the ancient means rather than adopt the more modern means of metal. Uur sources, however, give us but slight information concerning this stage of the ceremonies. 1 he real initiation was probably consummated under the light of torches and in the sanctuary of <^ybele durinf the hours of the succeeding night, ihis can be gathered only from hints of early writers and from a few existing monuments relating to the cult The 25tli was called the Hilaria, the joyous festival, when the announcement of the resurrec- tion of Attis was made and the expressions of mourning were turned into extravagant expres- sions of joy. It was characterized by a sort ot carnival, when a certain amount of freedom was permitted in the public streets. Later, in the 3rd cent., this masked and hilarious procession had become one of the most important among Roman festivals. The next day was given up to quiet and rest. But on the 27th, called the Lavatio, the cere- monies were resumed. The silver image of the goddess was borne on a wagon drawn by cows from the sanctuary on the Palatine through the Porta Capena to the Almo, which entered the Tiber not far from Rome. There the Archigallus bathed the image in the stream, and thoroughly washed the wagon and the rest of the sacra. On the return of the procession to the sanctuary the wagon was filled with flowers cast into it by the people who lined the way, and the Galli made good use of their opportunity to receive alms from the charitable. So the great celebration of the rites of Attis and Cybele was closed. , , ^ _,. .
We infer from formulae recorded by Firmicus and Clement of Alexandria that a sacramental meal was administered to the candidate during the initiation. Firmicus, quoting the Greek equiva- lent of his Latin formula, gives it as, ' I have eaten from the tambourine, I have drunk from the cymbal, I have become a mystic of Attis {de Err. Prof Eeliq. xviii. 1). Clement gives the same formula more fully (Protrept. ii. 15). It is prob- able that the rite was celebrated at the beginning of the initiation as a preparation for other rites, such as the • holy marriage,' though we have but the slightest evidence that the ' holy marriage (i.'ured in the cult. The elements of the com- niunion were, according to M. Bruckner {Der ster- bends und auferstehende Gottheiland. Tubingen, 1911 p. 24) and Hepding (Attis, p. 186), bread, wine, and the fish. The belief that the fish was one of the elements is based by Hepding on the much-dis- cussed inscription found on the tomb of Abercius, who he thinks was a follower of Attis, and not, as others affirm, a Christian bishop (Attis, p. 188). It is true that certain species of fish were sacred to Atarf-atis, the Pha;nician goddess, and were eaten
sacramentally by her priests. Phoenicia lay not far away from Plirygia. But the proof that the features of her communion meal cliaracterized that of Phrygia resolves itself under close examination into mere supposition. Hepding himself confesses that his opinion rests only on assumption. How tlie Attis communicant regarded his sacramental meal is also open to conjecture. Dieterich, reasoning from words of Firmicus which follow his quotation of the Attis formula, concludes that the communi- cant recognized in this sacrament a real preseiice of the deity (Elne Mithrasliturgie, p. 103 ; see also O Pfleiderer, The Early Christian Conception of Christ, London, 1905, p. 127). O. Seeck says dog- matically that ' what he consumed was regarded as the flesh and blood of Attis, which he absorbed in order to deify his mortal body' (Gesc/achte des Untergangs der antiken Welt, iii. [Berlin, 1909] l'>8) Hepding falls back on the theory of Robert- son Smith that the solemn act of eating and drinking together is the ceremonial introduction to personal relationship to the deity and to the common life of the community (BS-, London, 1894, p 265). Yet Hepding adds that, while in the mys- teries the idea of admission to a brotherhood is not ignored, ' the personal relation of the indi- vidual to the deity was emphasized (Attis, p. 188). Cumont takes a similar view of the sacrament (Oriental Religions, p. 69). But the evidence cited for the belief of the Attis worshipper in a real presence of the deity in, with, and under the elements is not wholly assuring. W e do not know from any trustworthy source what conception he had of the elements, as consecrated, though the chances are that it was decidedly realistic. Ihe position of the sacrament in the initiation is also unknown. It probably followed the fast, and, as Bruckner suggests, was the first step in the cere- monies. The final ceremony was the resurrection of Attis. When the rites had reached their most impressive stage, amid the gloom and the singing of mournful hymns, a bright light suddenly irradi- ated the atmosphere ; the tomb was opened, and the god arose. The priest whispered to theinitiates, ' Be of good cheer, oh mystics, the god is saved ; for there shall be salvation to you from your tna Is (Firmicus, de Err. Prof. Belig. xxu. 1). Ihe words are significant, for they reveal the aim of the mysteries of Attis-escape from perdition and the assurance of a bright immortality. Thenceforth, not throuMi the sacrament, but through the resur- rection of "Attis and his share in it, the initiate was a mystic of Attis. . ■ ■■ xu