STONE MUSHROOMS OF THRACIAN MEGALITHIC
SANCTUARIES IN THE AEGEAN THRACE: A ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL APPROACH
Stavros D. Kiotsekoglou - Spyros P. Pagkalis
The
stone mushrooms in the Aegean Thrace, that were located in
Southern Evros (Kirki), central Evros (Petrotopos Kotronia,
Lagyna, Dadia, Kornofolia) constitute a common phenomenon of
Thracian megalithic sanctuaries that have the mushroom as a totemic
symbol. With this form Thracians used to portray the
omnipotent deity they worshipped. Usually a sculptured
anthropomorphic niche next to it represents an earthy female
deity that is co – worshipped. These forms take advantage of
pre-existing natural geological features and you can find them in
various geological environments. Their material varies from
conglomerates with silica matrix in the Kirki area to a soft argilized
brecia dyke in the Lagyna area (all of them are of the local bed
rock). In some of them the human intervention to the natural rock is
clear.
Introduction
Μy presentation shall
focus on certain cosmic Epiphaneies that have been found by the
EPOFE Research Team in the Aegean Thrace, revealing the divine on
various cosmic levels: the Earth, the Water, the Rocks. These
Epiphaneies describe the dialectics of the sanctuary as well as the
structures it is placed at a certain historical point underlining the
primitive Thracian people’s way of thinking according to which the stone
or the water is linked to sanctity. The solidity, the roughness, the
duration of the matter all represent an Epiphaneia in the religious
consciousness. The water sublimates, rebirths, heals, prophesies,
reassure the eternal life, absorb the evil due to the absorptive and
decomposing power. Water and stone-rock emerge in one and result in an
Epiphaneia and are the main elements of the sacred place.
The most ancient sacred monuments we are aware of take the form of a
microcosm, where one can trace stones, forests, water (springs,
streams, rivers), paintings of animals or plants. All the
above-mentioned are totemic centres of the ancient sacred places. The
popular belief according to which the animal or plant worshipping
preceded that of anthropomorphic gods is corroborated in Thrace. This
corroboration relies on the fact that totemism as an original form of
religion leads us to the system of belief in which animals and plants
functioned as forerunners of the ancient Greek gods, that is
animals-gods and plants-gods ( Burkert 1993, 151). In Thrace of the
Early Iron Age (1050-7th century BCE) and in the following years, the
sacred places are revealed on engraved stone mushrooms
and even
the presence of anthropomorphic niches depict the deity of the Earth,
the Mother Goddess, Demeter or Cybele. The main and basic element of
these sacred places is either the totemic symbol, which determines the
totemic center or anthropomorphic stone carvings and menhirs.
Geological
Approach: General. If you walk along the hills and the mountain
valleys of the Aegean Thrace, there is a great probability to fall upon
some stone monuments of the Thracian people who lived in the area in
ancient times. You will be certainly intrigued by the shape of some of
these monuments which resemble mushrooms. Why this form was chosen by
the Ancient Thracians has or will be defined by archaeologists. The
problem that a geologist has to resolve is this one: are these mushroom
shaped stones genuine artifacts or are they natural occurred.
The only way to be absolutely certain about this is to find a
mushroom of a non local rock, a rock different than the rocks you find
in the area. In few words I will give you a summary of the geology of
the region.
Geology of the region. At the bottom of the rock
formations there is a basement complex which forms the Rhodope Massif.
This comprises meta-sediments, gneisses and amphibolites, thought to be
of Palaeozoic age. The rocks show multiple phases of deformation and
metamorphism and occur in a series of thrust sheets and isoclinal folds.
Unconformably overlying the Massif is a sequence of
metamorphosed Mesozoic rocks which form the Circum-Rhodope Belt. This
sequence largely comprises meta-sedimentary and meta-volcanic series
that are thought to represent a series of island arcs related to
underlying subduction-related magmatism. The series were folded,
metamorphosed and thrust onto the Rhodope Massif during the Alpine
Orogenesis, in late-Cretaceous times, creating a larger basement block
which subsequently acted as an integral unit.
During
the Tertiary, the collision of the African and Eurasian plates resulted
in the development of subduction-related volcanic activity along an 800
km island arc which extended westwards from northern Turkey, under the
Rhodope Massif and curved northwards towards Yugoslavia. A number of
volcano-sedimentary basins bounded by syn-sedimentary normal faults
formed in areas of divergent stress within the Massif, such as that in
the Sappes area. A basal series of Middle Eocene age comprising
conglomerate with marl and nummulitic limestone, and an Upper Eocene
series of conglomerates, shales, sandstones and interlayered volcanics
were deposited within the basins. During Oligocene times, volcanic
activity resulted in the development of a series of andesites, dacites
and
rhyolites emplaced as tuffs, volcanic breccias and domes, and
sub-volcanic rhyolitic porphyry dykes and granitoid plutonic stocks.
A widespread series of Neogene and Quaternary sediments,
comprising both terrestrial and marine facies overlie the earlier
formations.
Worshipping
How do we determine on
the sanctuary or the sacred place? The Homeric Hymn which is dedicated
to Demeter and is dated back to the 7th or the beginning of the 6th
century, narrates incidents that had occurred in the Mycenaean period,
long before it was composed. As one can see in lines 270-272 the
construction of a temple in Eleusina is under request: “Come! and build,
for Demeter a splendid temple, and an altar too, on top of the
prominent hill.” The temple, the altar and the presence of water are
thus the main characteristics of the sanctuary of the prehistoric and
historic times, all of which we shall trace in the open air sanctuaries
that are to be described. In the archaeology of religion what is deemed
to be necessary is the religious ritual that presupposes cult acts to
the deity or the supernatural being, as Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn
mention. The four main categories are:1) focusing of attention, 2) the
boundary zone between this world and the next, 3) the presence of the
deity 4) Participation and offering. (Renfrew-Bahn 2001, 425-428)
Therefore “The stone mushrooms of Thrace” and the anthropomorphic niches
are accepted as sanctuaries or sacred places since they fulfill several
of the above mentioned criteria.
The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) of Lagyna Nr.1
GeorgaphicalCoordinates 41° 06΄ 07.001΄΄ 26° 15΄ 54.221΄΄ The photograph was taken on : 11-10-2008
Photograph Companion:1. Dimensions: Height 4 m. stem perimeter 5m. Found by Angelos Nalbandis
At the area around Lagyna village you can see a stone
hillock standing upright on a slope with its upper part resembling a
pointed shape. (Fig.1 ) The rich morphology of the adjacent stones and
rocks and the bizarre outlines had an important significance for the
religious consciousness of the primitive man, who shaped a lower
mushroom-like hill turning it into a more intense mushroom-like stone.
Its sanctity stems from the view of the surrounding landscape, the
impression that the geography of the area creates and the fact
that
the rays of the sun illuminate the top of the stone mushroom once they
have been over the pointed top. All the above influence the
primitive man’s religious consciousness.
Hand-made pottery has been found 300 m. southern within the enclosure and dates back to the Iron Age (9th – 8th cent. BCE).
GA:
This is a breccia dyke, clasts and matrix are the same rock and it is
intensively argilised (dyke is a column of rock; the breccia is
comprised from angular clasts and matrix that connects these clasts).
The surrounding rock was eroded away and a part of the dyke stood free.
It was easy for the ancient sculptor to shape it according to his wishes
due to the softness of the rock.
The stone sanctuary of Lagyna with the anthropomorphic niche Nr.2
Georgaphical Coordinates 41ο 10΄ 75΄΄ 26ο 27΄ 19΄΄ Altitude : 178 m. Photograph Companion: 2. Found by
Stamatis Palazis. The photograph was taken on : 20-05-2010
On the south slope of the “Psilokorifi” hillock at the
Lagyna area we can see two anthropomorphic elongated niches carved on
the rock (fig. 2) acknowledges an open air Thracian sanctuary dedicated
to a female earth deity, the Mother Goddess, Demeter, Cybele or Bendis. A
stone basin with stone-cut channel had been carved over the
anthropomorphic niche, fact which allows the interpretation of the
existence of an altar to honour the chthonic Mother. House foundations
and winepress have been found underneath the anthropomorphic niche.
The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) of the Petrotopos, Kotronias area Nr.3
Geographical Coordinates : 41ο 08΄ 29.567΄΄ 26ο 04΄ 00.354΄΄Altitude : 559 m. Dimensions : 1,40 m.
Photograph Companion : The photograph was taken on: 21-11-2008. Found by Angelos Nalbandis
At the area of Petrotopos, a place on the stone mountain
range of Rhodope, they have found monumental tombs, dolmens, which
enrich the challenging chapter of the Thracian prehistory, aiding to a
better understanding of the esoteric secrets.
(Triandaphyllos 1980, 152, fig.10. Τριαντάφυλλος 1994,42).
Nearly thirty dolmens and burial cysts cover the area of the
small plateau on the north elongated side of which a small stream
flows. In a place above the stream where local schist was vaguely
resembling a mushroom, Thracian artisans carved it to what we see today.
(Fig. 3) The carving of the stone mushroom, i.e. a totemic symbol,
turned the
rock into an Epiphaneia which is not a worldly object
anymore; it acquires a new dimension, that of sanctity. (Eliade
1981,54-56).
It goes without saying that the mushroom
comprises the expression of immortality, the birth with no seeds
(parthenogenesis) and the continuous rebirth, fact that surprised the
ancient people even more when the consumption of some entheogenic
mushrooms caused visions, inspiring thus the religious sentiment to the
man who felt restricted by new invisible powers, that were interpreted
as contact with the deity.
GA: This is comprised entirely from
schist and is cris-crossed by quartz veining. The schist is part of the
Circum-Rhodope Belt. Initially a part of the schist slipped along the
schistosity plane and was cut from the main rock body. This produced a
vaguely mushroom shape and the ancient sculptors gave it the form we see
today.
The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) of Dadia Nr. 4
The photograph was taken on: 30-06-2011. Photograph Companion : Found by K. Pistolas
At the area “Duo Vrahi” (Two Rocks) near the Dadia village
and specifically on the southeast side of one of these two rocks we
witness elongated (fig. 4) and semicircular burial niches that have been
carved on the rocky side with an iron tool as well as an alley for
easier access to the top of the hillock and the carved tombs. A menhir
in shape of a mushroom has been carved on the left hand side of the
above mentioned rock (fig.4), the existence of which stands along to the
burial niches in Petrotopos and Kirki reassuring the dead that their
god, the stone mushroom deity will not leave them in the inglorious
darkness that the non-initiated shades dwell.
The
east side of the second rock bears basin carvings around the two burial
niches that were possibly for offerings to the buried dead. On the back
side of the rock you can see a ledge that had been carved with
anthropomorphic characteristics.
The stone sanctuary of Kirki with the anthropomorphic niche Nr. 5
Geographical Coordinates : 40° 58΄ 48΄΄ 25° 48΄ 25 ΄΄ Altitude : 219 m.Photograph Companion :
Found by St.Kiotsekoglou. Date: 20-01-2001
We can see a characteristic Thracian necropolis that
belonged to the Cicones 1300 m to the northeast of the Kirki village on a
wide stone hillock. There are two streams flowing through the rocky
hillock from north to south and are supplied with water from the
springs
on the slopes of the Panigiri mountain. On the west and east side of
the rocky hillock we can see carved tombs – niches and basins on the
tombs, which were used for offerings to the buried dead. On the east
side of the rocky hillock we can see a carved anthropomorphic niche.
(Fig.5) 15 metres further north than the anthropomorphic niche there
exists an oval rock carved in shape of a table with a flat top surface.
A natural rock stands between the stone table and the anthropomorphic
niche and the basin-like shape on top corroborates its usage as an
altar. Smaller burial niches lie underneath the anthropomorphic niche.
The presence of water, the anthropomorphic Mother Goddess, Cybele,
Demeter or Persephone and the stone table all document that besides a
burial space it was also a gathering worshipping place, that is a
“sacred place”, reassuring an open-air Thracian sanctuary in honour of a
female deity as depicted on the silver- and gold-plated tablets bearing
facial characteristics (fig.6) that have been found at Demeter’s
sanctuary at the Zoni (-Mesimvria) site (Βαβρίτσας 1973, 70-86,
πίν.93β).
The archaeological investigations at the
site of Kirki provide us with interesting facts about the Iron Age
(1050-7th cent. BCE). My hypothesis on the chronology of the
anthropomorphic niche after the 7th century BCE is based on the fact
that Greeks established the Zoni (– Mesimvria) colony towards the end of
7th and the beginning of 6th
BCE. Their worshipping of anthropomorphic gods influenced the Thracian tribes.
(Tριαντάφυλλος 1994, 36)
The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) A of Kirki Nr.6
Photograph
Companion : Dimensions : Height 1.40 m. Found by Alexander
Hennig & Stavros Kiotsekoglou Date : 23-03-09
A stone mushroom carved on the natural rock stands upright 50 metres
to the north of the open-air sanctuary with the anthropomorphic niche.
(Fig.8) Small basins have been carved on the rock next to the stone
mushroom and they were used as a place for offerings to the deity the
mushroom depicted. A stream flows before the stone mushroom and the
basins and is supplied with water by the Panigiri mountain springs.
At this open-air sanctuary with the mushroom as its totemic
symbol, the offerings to the seminal deity took place in October, when
the mushrooms appear in large numbers.
Two feasts were celebrated
in Dionysus’ honour: the spring Anthesteria and the autumn Dionysean
Mysteries, also known as Ambrosia (=the gods’ food) In October they
celebrated the bacchic feasts in Thrace and Thessaly, the Ambrosia,
named after the autumn Dionysean feast, at which the hallucinogenic
mushroom inspired divine madness.
(Graves 1998, 235, 446). A
tomb monument from Dascyllus, ancient Bithynia, on the south coast of
the Black Sea informs us about the symbolism of the mushroom as a sacred
mediator with the world of the dead. (Fig.13) The dead Lysandra is
depicted seated between two butterfly-souls on the carved niche on the
cap of the mushroom, whereas Hermes the psychopomp is depicted carved on
the stem of the mushroom among dag drawings. Hermes was just a sacred
mediator, a messenger between the world and the Underworld. “Hecate’s
chthonic dogs and the soul depictions suggest that Lysandra had been
initiated to some mystery religion, probably the great Eleusinian rite.
Or judging by the splendid tomb monument she may have been a priestess
who had tried the special mushroom communion, which was intended for the
chosen only”. (Ruck 2009, 63) The mushrooms of Kirki (fig. 7, 8, 9,)
with the carved niches intended for the first fruits offerings assuredly
reveal their worshipping purpose.
GA: The head is a silica
matrix conglomerate. The upper part of the body is a soft rock in the
process to become sandstone. This rock is abundant in the area; it is a
river-stream deposit, soft and easily eroded- weathered. The lower part
of the body is also a conglomerate.The shape was produced once again by
erosion –weathering and the effect was intensified by the work of the
ancient sculptors.
The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) B of Kirki Nr.7
Photograph Companion: Fig. 8. Dimensions: Height 2.5 m. Found by Antonis Roussis, St. Kiotsekoglou, Stylianos
Tziamtzis. Date: 23-02-2004
The stone mushroom is situated 500 m far from monuments Nr. 5
and 6. The 2.5m high rock carved in shape of a mushroom (fig. 8) is
straightforward associated with the water element. A small stream
supplied with water by a nearby spring flows on the left hand side of
the menhir and on the right hand side, 30 metres far from it a river
flows through the level and large plateau of Kirki. As I have already
mentioned the association spring (water) – stone defines the most
ancient sacred place. (Eliade 1981)
The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) C of Kirki with the burial niche Nr.8
Photograph Companion: Fig. 9. Dimensions: Height: 3.70 m. Burial niche length: 1.35m. Width: 0.75 m
Found by Alexander Henning and Stavros Kiotsekoglou. Date: 30-03-2008
The stone mushroom was carved on the already existent rock on
its north and west side as it is apparent nowadays and there exists a
carved burial niche as well as a basin on
the stem for offering
rites to the buried dead people.(Fig.9) The association stone mushroom –
water – burial niches has become known through the megalithic mushroom
of the dolmens monumental cemetery at Kotronias (Nr.3), Dadia (Nr.4) and
the stone mushroom at the necropolis of Cicones at Kirki (Nr.6) The
similarity and the association of the Thracian deity-mushroom with
Dionysus and the ruler of the realm of the dead clearly show that the
Cicones worship a seminal god, who is the God of the rebirth of life and
also protector and mediator with the Underworld at the same time. It is
now comprehensible why people used to honour the dead people at several
main festivals, such as the Anthesteria and the Agrionia. The
priviledged dead (be it male or female) of the burial niche asked god
for a unification with him, reassuring the existence of the future of
the dead god, the victory over death, the resurrection and their
triumphal apotheosis. (Λεκατσά 1999,237-238)
We find
similar mushroom-like burial spaces at the burial monuments of the
megalithic culture in South India called “hood-stone” (fig. 22) and are
associated with the worshipping of the dead. (Samorini 2002, 67-76) We
also witness similar mushroom-like burial spaces at burial urns at
Etruria, ancient Tarquinia at Tuscan, Ital. (Fig. 21). GA: This
comprised by a silica matrix conglomerate head with a softer ferricrite
matrix conglomerate body and it is in situ. Both rocks are found
locally The mushroom shape was the result of the differential erosion –
weathering (the ferricrite body was more readily eroded weathered than
the silicified head) and it was enchased by the work of the ancient
Thracians who saw a rock looking like a mushroom and sculpted it in
order to give a more intense look. This is supported also by the
existence of the burial conch in the side of the mushroom. The ceiling
of the conch follows the dip of the rock but the floor is cut against
the dip creating an oval shape.
The Dionysus Sabazius sanctuary at Magazi (Ancient Zirinia, Zirinis or Zervae) Nr.9
Geographical
Coordinates: 26° 30΄ 60΄΄ 41° 13΄ 5΄΄ Altitude: 16 m.
Photograph Companion : 10,11,12. Found by Stamatis Palazis. Date :
20 -04-2010.
At the Magazi area which is situated
near Kornofolia village, the ancient springs and the road network of the
Roman period imply the existence of the ancient town called Zervae or
Zirinis which had functioned as a station on the North-South artery
route which intersected ancient Via Egnatia near Aenus (Sustal 1991,
504-505. Tab. Peutinger. Seg. VIII 4. Γουρίδης 2006). At the above
mentioned site we have found a relief mushroom on
a flat rock
next to two carved solar disks (fig. 10,11), which may have been used as
a worshipping gathering and rites place, which is reassured by the
small wine press(fig. 12), the product (must) of which they used to mix
with the entheogenic plant and was the necessary drink for the Dionysus
Sabazius rituals (Αr. Vesp, 9-30). The carved solar disks imply
worshipping of the Sun since carving or cutting on rocky hillocks is a
usual practice in the whole region of Thrace.
The symbolic co-existence of the solar disks and the relief mushroom at
the Magazi area confirms the unification of the two worshipping
practices, after the mythological Lycurgus' conflict with Dionysus. The
two worships, the solar and the chthonic were opposed to Dionysus’ final
winning over Lycurgus, the new religion and the unification of the two
elements. Homer provides us with this piece of information ( Οd. 9,
196-199) since Maron, who was Apollo’s (God of the Sun) priest, offers
Odysseus twelve amphorae of wine, a symbol of Dionysus and the historic
period. Also Macrobius refers to the Thracians worshipping some God
Sabazius, who merges Dionysus and Sun (Μacrob. Saturn. 1, 18, 11),
documenting thus the existence of an open-air sanctuary dedicated to
Dionysus Sabazius. The existence of the relief mushroom at the Magazi
area did not only symbolize the plant expression of rebirth and the
chthonic god it represented, but it also stood as a symbol of the
entheogenic plant, which held the “god property” within its subject
matter. Its consumption by the faithful or the ritual participants would
lead them beyond the boundaries of this world, within the
“Divine Presence”. GA:Conclusion. None of stone mushrooms
examined was made from rocks transported from other areas. Every one of
them was made from local rocks in situ and each of them more or less was
sculpted by the worshippers. This work is more obvious in the Lagyna
and Kotronia mushrooms.I made no reference to the mushroom glyph at
Mangazi because I don’t believe that anyone can really dispute its
human origin. There is no way that nature could create this.
The Great Mother Goddess and Dionysus Sabazius
Thrace
The co-existence of stone mushroom and anthropomorphic niche
(anthropomorphic – deity) at the rocky sanctuary at Kirki, Lagyna and
Dadia area depict the co-existence of a Thracian deity-mushroom
(Sabazius), whom the Thracians used to worship and a female deity, the
Great Mother Goddess at the same time (Strab. Geog. 10,15), fact which
is confirmed through both Homer’s and Hesiod’s work, according to which
the gods beared
human characteristics and properties. The Greek
colonists who settled the Zoni area believe in such a religious notion
and it was at this exact same place where researchers have found
Demeter’s sanctuary with the known tablets on which the Thracian earth
goddess’s facial characteristics are illustrated. The relief mushroom
as well as the solar disks at the Magazi site (Nr.9) corroborate the
fact that an open air sanctuary built in honour of an ecstatic deity,
which is symbolized by a chthonic and a solar symbol and could be no
other than Dionysus Sabazius (Κιοτσέκογλου 2012 ).
Macedonia
Along with the political deities trinity (Zeus, Hercules,
Asclepius), in those days they used to worship a great female deity with
her two aspects and properties both the maternal and the virgin one
merged in one; that is the Mother Goddess at times and also the duality
mother-daughter, such as Demeter and Persephone. They used to worship a
male deity, who during the Classical and Hellenistic period beared the
figure and name of Dionysus. (Hatzopoulos 1994, 52-53 and 60-61).
Amanita Muscaria
The ethnomycologists Gordon and Valentina Wasson in their
book titled Μushrooms, Russia and History, Pantheon, New York 1957,
assisted by the prominent French mycologist R. Heim and based upon
mainly in linguistic data from Sanskrit support that the enigmatic Soma
(found in the sacred ancient Vedic Books and referred to at the
pantheon of gods) was not (as it has been deemed to the present day)
some kind of plant such as Ephedra vulgaris, Asclepias acidum etc.,
but the Amanita muscaria mushroom(Fig.14).
Some
of the traits of the sacred mushroom that are mentioned in the ancient
religious Indian literature Rig Veda have led Wasson to identify it to
the Agarius mushroom, since the Soma grew in the mountains, it was red,
juicy and fleshy, had no leaves, roots, seeds or flowers. Its
consumption strengthened power, wisdom and perceptiveness, raised
religious energy to excitement to the boundaries of sacred inebriation.
According to a Vedic Hymn (Samorini 2002, 18):
“We drank the Soma and transformed to immortal,
We reached light, Gods revealed before us
Who can harm us anymore, what dangers can touch us now
O! Immortal Soma! (…) Drink penetrated into our souls
Immortal to us, the mortal”
Dionysus Sabazius: The God of Ecstasy in ancient iconography
If we have a closer view, it is attested that the ecstatic
experience which stems from Dionysian festivals differs from the
alcoholic inebriation, of the symptoms of which we are all aware. Wine
consumption, but for extremes, does not create hallucinations. The
features of the Dionysian ecstasy are enraged stimulation, sexual
arousal, remarkable muscular strength, prophetic vision, identification
with the deity. Dionysus in his original form was not the god of wine,
the image and the properties of this strange deity underwent numerous
alterations, before and during his slow entering to the Olympic Gods
coterie, until Dionysus transformation to his final form , the god of
wine, whom we are aware of, in the way the classical writers had
described and bequeathed. The most ancient Dionysian myths included only
few hints about the role he should have had during the introduction and
invention of the wine. However, no reference was made to Dionysus
regarding the origin of the wine and the vine. From his introduction,
this deity was directly associated with hallucinogenic plants, the
identity of which is subject to much debate and research. (Fig.15)
According to the Greek literary tradition, Dionysus was a deity coming
from the north and several mythic motifs placed him in the Indo-European
religious tradition. Some writers think that Dionysian hallucinogenic
substances that preceded the wine and vine are included in the ambrosia
(water and honey) and in fermented from wheat and other cereals drinks.
However the possible association with the Indo-European cultures creates
a direct link of this ecstatic deity to the hallucinogenic mushrooms
and especially the Indo-European mushroom Amanita Muscaria. For some
writers Dionysus is a Hellenized version of the Thracian-Phrygian
Sabazius, whose worship has significant common elements to the Haoma and
Soma worships (Wohlberg 1990, 333-342). Several illustrations of
Dionysian topic depict wine and clusters of grapes. The frame of these
clusters in some cases looks more like a mushroom than a cluster.
(Fig.16).
A hypothesis exists that there is a moment
in the Greek civilization that the ancient entheogenic Dionysian
mushroom becomes a religious taboo and hides under a layer esoteric
symbolism.At this time a unification of both symbols, the mushroom and
the cluster takes place. The escorts of the God – some of them
initiated in Dionysian
mysteries – intentionally tried to conceal
the occult knowledge especially that of the mushroom, behind widely
recognizable interpretative forms. Thus they created images that were
subject to dual reading – interpretation, one the sacred (mushroom) and
the other the non religious (cluster of grapes). (Samorini - Camilla
1995, 307-326). In figure (17) we can see the bearded
Dionysus, wearing a himation and holding a sprig with a cluster of
grapes that in a strange way resemble and have the shape of a mushroom.
The God offers Persephone who is sitting on a throne a drinking cup
(kantharos). Persephone is holding a rooster and an ear of corn, which
are fertility symbols of the animal and the plant world
respectively.The irregular shape of the clusters and the regular
allocation of the dots on their surface intentionally reminds us of the
Agarius mushroom. As it is shown in the above mentioned illustration, we
are at the moment of the unification of these two symbols, which are
characterized as Dionysus’ special symbols.
(Orsi 1909, 424, fig. 7. Samorini 1998, 60-63).
All the above verify that the special power of the pure wine
(with no water in it) attests to the fact that the Greek wine had plant
additives, especially the wine used at rituals because it supposed to
lead to insanity. (Diog. Laert. 3, 39).
On the short
relief from Farsala, Thessaly which is dated back from the second half
of the 5th century BCE and is now exhibited in the Louvre museum
(fig.18) Demeter and
Persephone, the two goddesses of the
Eleusinian Mysteries are shown exchanging plants that are acknowledged
as mushrooms. It is possible that on this votive relief the various
sources of hallucinations and the Eleusinian visions are depicted. It is
also considered that the mushrooms belong to the Dionysus’ sphere and
their presence on the votive relief refers to a final period of the
Eleusinian worship and psychopharmacology∙ it is thus possible to deem
the presence of the mushrooms as Dionysian influence, an influence
recognizable after a point in the history of the Eleusinian worship.
One of the three illustration on the outer side of the
marble pot (fig.19) we can see an hierophant (it may be Eumolpus, the
first Hierophant in the history of Eleusis) pouring water onto the small
pig which is to be sacrificed, whereas in his other hand he is holding a
plate, on which we can clearly discern three objects, that were
defined as opium poppy seeds by Lovatelli. The opium poppy had
been the plant of the Eleusinian deities (Lovatelli 1879,5 ff).
According to Ruck the width of the stalks is too thick to be a poppy and
the shape of these plants resemble more the shape of mushrooms.
Across the Thrace mainland, where the open-air sanctuaries
have been found, there is the island of Samothrace and the known Cabeiri
Sanctuary where religious activity is
documented even from the 7th century BCE. It was considered that through the Samothrace
Mysteries
they achieved safety from sea dangers and fruitful journeys, whereby to
face the danger of death and the encountering with the gods of the
underworld mainly aimed at protection from death itself. Is it possible
that at the initiating rites they used sacred drinks with entheogenic
properties so that they could bring humans at the threshold of death and
the world of visions? The answer to this question is provided by the
illustrated message on the pot (fig.20) which is exhibited in the Thebes
Museum and depicts comic figures surrounded by vine, from which we can
see hanging huge mushrooms instead of grapes. The dynamic mushroom-like
shape of these vines implies a lot, even it is found in the general
frame of “schematic representation” of the real clusters, which the
researchers acknowledge as a “simple and pure” graphic development. The
direct association of the pot with the rituals at the Sacred Cabeiri
Sanctuary is documented by the certain bowls that have been found at the
Thebes Cabeiri Sanctuary and had been used at similar rituals in
relation to the Cabeiri worship.
Six formal criteria are used to establish the identity of Soma with Dionysus (Sabazius) (Wohlberg 1990, 333-342):
1) both cults had the same aim (to cause ecstatic behavior);
2) both cults required the attainment of the same spiritual state (purity);
3)
both cults had an idiosyncratic myth in common; 4) both cults showed
the identical word root in the name of the worshiped god;
5) both cults had identical zoological and botanical associations with their god;
6)
the alcoholic god (Dionysus) was depicted as having the same physical
effects on human beings as that of the ancient non alcoholic god (Soma).
The worship of Sabazius, a Thracian-Phrygian god,
was known across Greece from the 5th century, whereas in Phrygia they
used to worship him as Zeus Sabazius and in Asia
Minor in
general, where even earlier, from the Pre-Christian years they had
identified him with Attis and Mithras. It was also associated with the
worship of Cybele, the Mother-Goddess and Artemis. The tablets on which
the god is depicted are mainly small metallic or bigger marble ones,
which show him at a hieratic posture, blessing using one or both
hands.
(Fig. 23, 24, 25) The characteristic movement of his fingers is of the
same hieratic posture when blessing (benedictio latina). The snake
dominates the bronze hand which was found in Edessa and it was the snake
that was considered as embodiment of the Sabazius.
The snake
rolled around the wrist and ended to the basin (Καραμανώλη Μ. Σιγανίδου
1967, 149-155), from which he might have drank the “intoxicating” drink
of his rites. Another symbol Sabazius bears is the fir cone – the fir
was considered the sacred tree and is illustrated among the three
fingers on the hand of Edessa and also on the similar hands that have
been found to the present day. The fir and the birch are the botanical
bonds of the mushroom the apotheosis of which resulted in Haoma - Soma
god.
Concluding
1. Sabazius, who the Cicones of the Early
Iron Age worshipped embodied into an entheogenic mushroom god, Amanita
Muscaria, which is the same as Haoma – Soma, the god of the ancient
Idian – Iranian people. Haoma – Soma was also the source of the sacred
immortality drink. The plant entheogenic mushroom-deity they used to
worship in Thrace and was called Sabazius, was adopted and incorporated
in the deity the Greeks called Dionysus, that is di-wo-nu-so-jo, as it
had been first read out on the steles in Pylos (Xa06) and Knossos, dated
back from 1450-1200 BCE.
2. The above mentioned stone
mushrooms-deities (Nr 3, 4, 6, 8) are found in cemeteries, fact which
denotes the association of the mushroom-deity with the buried dead
people. This is not to surprise us since the Anthesteria festival, a
Dionysian festival was actually an ecstatic festival which had to do
with visions of the dead.
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Fig. 1. The sacred stone mushroom of Lagyna Nr.1
Fig.4. Symbolic depiction of menhir stone mushroom in the elevation (Nr.4) near the rock cut tombs of Dadia
Fig.5. Anthropomorphic niche of Kirki Nr.5
Fig. 6. Metal sheet with anthropomorphic characteristics that was found in Sanctuary of
Demetra in the area Zoni.
Fig.2. The stone sanctuary of Lagyna with the antrhropomorphic niche Nr.2
Fig. 3. The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) of Petrotopos, Kotronias
area Nr.3, which dominates the dolmens
Fig.7. The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) A of Kirki Nr.6
Fig.8. The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) B of Kirki Nr.7
Fig.9. The sacred stone mushroom (Epiphaneia) C of Kirki Nr.8 with the burial niche
Fig.10. Bass relief mushroom at
Magazi Nr.9
Fig. 11. Two carved solar disks with bass relief mushroom
Fig. 12. Wine-press near the relief mushroom
Fig. 13. Tomb monument of
Lysandra from Dascyllus ancient Bithynia.
Fig. 14. Amanita muscaria var. Flavivolvata
Fig. 16. Red-figure crater with Semeli, Dionysos and
Hermes representation, late 4th cent.BC., Tampa
Florida
Fig.17. Pinax from the sanctuary of Persephone at Locri, first half of 5th cent.
BC., Reggio Calabria Museum
Fig. 15. Black-figure vase depicting mushrooms between Dionysus and
Satyr
Fig. 18. Relief from Farsala (Thessaly) 5th cent. BC., Louvre
Fig. 19. ‘‘Urna Lovatelli,’’ with theme related to the Eleusinian Mysteries (2nd cent. AD)
Fig.
20. Skyphos from Cabeirion of Thebes decorating with mushroom
formations. Late 5th cent. BC., National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Fig. 21. Stone urn from Etruria shaped in form of mushroom (700 B.C)
Fig. 22. Kuda-kallu (“umbrella-stone”) from Cheramangad, Kerala, India
Abbreviations
AΔ = Αρχαιολογικό Δελτίο
AnnMusRov = Annali dei Musei civici di Rovereto
BCom = Bullettino della Commissione archeologica comunale di Roma
ΓΓΠΑΜΘ = Γενική Γραμματεία Περιφέρειας Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας και Θράκης
EntR = Enteogen Review
JPD = Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
NSc = Notizie degli scavi di antichitá
ΠΑΕ = Πρακτικά Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρίας
Stavros D. Kiotsekoglou, Archaeologist, S.T.L.S.
Member of the History and Ethnology Department, D.U.TH.
Email: stavroskiotsekoglou@gmail.com
Spyros P. Pagkalis, Geologist, indipendent researcher Email: s1234pyros@yahoo.com
