Voyage
of Saint Brandan. Connection of Fish with goddess Astarte. Cumont.
Connection of Fish and Dove. Fish as Fertility Symbol. Its use in
Marriage ceremonies. Summing up of evidence. Fisher King
inexplicable from Christian point of view. Folk-lore solution
unsatisfactory. As a Ritual survival completely in place. Centre of
action, and proof of soundness of theory.
CHAPTER X
The Secret of the Grail (1)
The Mysteries
The Grail regarded as an object of awe. Danger of speaking of Grail
or revealing Its secrets. Passages in illustration. Why, if survival
of Nature cults, popular, and openly performed? A two-fold element in
these cults, Exoteric, Esoteric. The Mysteries. Their influence on
Christianity to be sought in the Hellenized rather than the Hellenic
cults. Cumont. Rohde. Radical difference between Greek and Oriental
conceptions. Lack of evidence as regards Mysteries on the whole.
Best attested form that connected with Nature cults. Attis-Adonis.
Popularity of the Phrygian cult in Rome. Evidence as to Attis
Mysteries. Utilized by Neo-Platonists as vehicle for teaching. Close
connection with Mithraism. The Taurobolium. Details of Attis
Mysteries.
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