Eleusinian Mysteries: Did you mean...?

In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in all areas of life. With formal rituals which included animal sacrifices and libations, myths to explain the origins of mankind and give the gods a human face, temples...

Mithra is the Persian god of the rising sun, contracts, covenants, and friendship. He also oversaw the orderly change of the seasons, maintained cosmic order, and was responsible for bestowing divine grace on kings, legitimizing their rule...

Julian of Norwich (l. 1342-1416 CE, also known as Dame Julian, Lady Juliana of Norwich) was a Christian mystic and anchoress best known for her work Revelations of Divine Love (Julian's original title: Showings). Almost nothing is known of...

It is rare when a new find creates renewed interest in an old subject. Here, the new find is a leontocephaline (lion-headed) figure of unknown provenance, weighing 5.8 kg and 37 cm in height with a width of 14 cm. Its base is partially broken...

In the ancient world, human sexuality was crucial for the survival of the tribe and clan as well as pleasurable, a gift from the gods. Thousands of native cults emphasized fertility through rituals and prayers, and ancient gods were depicted...

The Protestant Reformation was a period of religious history marked by a great defining, debating, and divergence on what it meant to be an orthodox, faithful Christian. To this end, many theologians offered their own explanations of the...

The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat is a short essay by anthropologist George Bird Grinnell (l. 1849-1938) explaining the origin and significance of the medicine arrows and buffalo hat, central to Cheyenne culture. The essay provides a...

Here is a little game to introduce Halloween into your social studies class without going off-topic! Instructions and a lesson plan included. Instructions Print the PDF Cut out each of the 8 cards Cut out the parts of the cards that you...

Life-size basalt statue of the Apis Bull dedicated by Hadrian to Serapis in Alexandria (Egypt), Osiris, Sunken Mysteries of Egypt exhibition, Paris (2015)

A marble funerary urn decorated with scenes depicting the intiation of Hercules into the Eleusian Mysteries. In the scene visible here a priestess holds a wicker screen over an initiate whose head is covered with a lion-skin. 1st century...