MYSTIC MATERIALISM
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These they call Giants by name among the Blessed Gods, for that they were born from Earth (Ge) and from the blood of Heaven (Ouranos). [1] THE KOSMOS IN ITS PRIMORDIAL STATE The primordial situation of the Kosmos is not able to be defined, as the Neo-Platonic philosopher Damaskios states, it is ineffable [2] or what Orphefs (Orpheus; Gr. Ὀρφεύς) called Unutterable, concerning which it would seem that Hesiod, Orphefs, the Chaldean Oracles, Plato, and Socrates are all in agreement. [3] This Unutterable Principle is the Universe. THE ROLE OF ANANGKI The force of Anangki (Anangke; Gr. Ἀνάγκη), Necessity, pushed a portion of the primordial mixture into the division of its constituent parts, resulting in the birth of a new condition. The creative force of Anangki is the greatest force in the universe. The primordial Anangki is not dependent on Ærohs (Eros; Gr. Ἔρως, ἜΡΩΣ), Attraction. Anangki causes the potential of the Unutterable Principle to be expressed. This is true not just once in remote history but at every evolutionary step and is continuous. The constituent parts of the primordial mixture which are pushed into division are called matter, material, or substance. This material is of two kinds. MYSTIC MATERIALISM Mystic Materialism is the view that the Kosmos consists of material substances. This material is primordial and does not arise out of "nothing," as is said in the Derveni Papyrus: "...beings that are now come to be from the already subsistent..." and "...the beings that are now come to be from (or: out of) subsisting things." [4] THE TWO PRIMORDIAL COSMOGONIC SUBSTANCES Of the material from which the Kosmos consists, there are two primordial cosmogonic substances, what Orphefs calls Earth (Gi or Ge; Gr. Γῆ) and Water (Ythohr or Hydor; Gr.ὝΔΩΡ). In various cosmogonies we find more substances: Earth, Water, Fire, and Aithir (Ether; Gr. Αἰθήρ), but Water = Fire = Aithir. It is not so much that Water equals Fire equals Aither, but, as Plato in Timaios (56d-57a) describes in the section following triangles, these three elements can become one another, whereas Earth always remains Earth. So from this perspective there are two: Earth and Water-Fire-Aithir. This is called Mystic Dualism. There is no emptiness: the Water or Aither fills all the space. There is no immaterial God. For this reason, we do not use the term "spiritual" in Hellenismos: all the Kosmos is material substance. Earth is receptive and called "female." Water is active and formative and is called "male." Earth is receptive to the active and formative nature of Water. Earth is able to be divided and is called in Greek the Meristi (divisible or particulate) substance (Meristi Ousia; Gr. Μεριστἠ Οὐσίἁ). Water is not able to be divided and called in Greek the Synehis (continuous) Substance (Synehis Ousia; Συνεχἠς Οὐσίἁ). [5] Earth represents the infinite number of undivided material atoms which Pythagoras calls Apeiron ("endless, formless;" Gr. Ἀπείρων) and the Indefinite Dyas or Dyad (Gr. Δυάς). Out of the Primordial Mixture, Earth was substantiated first, hence, Pythagoras calls Her Tolma (Gr. Τόλμᾰ), "daring." Because of its formative nature, Pythagoras gives Water the name Protefs (Proteus; Gr. Πρωτεύς). Plato calls Earth, the divided substance, "many." Plato calls Water-Aithir the continuous substance, "one," monad, or Hen. The terms Hen or monad include the following: the Unutterable Principle being an indefinite material mixture, the continuous nature of Aithir being undivided and therefore One, and, the result of the mixture of the two Cosmogonic substances. THE SOUL AND THE EGG The two cosmogonic substances vibrant eternally, but each has its own vibratory character. When these two attain a harmony, they unite. This unification forms the tiniest cell, what Orphefs (Orpheus; Gr. Ὀρφεύς) called an Egg. The Egg is that which transforms to become the soul. [6] THE GODS AND THE TWO SUBSTANCES According to the mythology, Zefs (Zeus; Gr. Ζεύς) is the king of Gods and the father of Gods and men. Ira (Hera; Gr. Ήρα) is said to be his sister and wife. The meaning of this mythology is that Zefs is the manifestation of the active cosmogonic (from "Cosmos") substance, Water, called variously, from this perspective, Water/Fire/Aithir. Ira is the manifestation of the receptive cosmogonic substance: Earth. These cosmogonic substances are primal, from the beginning, and exist together. Therefore, poetically, they are siblings, i.e. brother and sister. Without the interaction of Earth and Water, Zefs and Ira, there is no creation; therefore, they are, poetically, married. CONCLUSION The ideas presented on this page are fundamental. This is the foundation of our philosophy. It is not so much that one must accept the details presented, the critical point to realize is that Hellenismos offers a logical and sensible way of viewing the cosmos, based on Natural Laws and derived from observation. We do not believe in the spiritual, i.e. non-material things that must be accepted on faith. RELEVANT QUOTATIONS Earth and Water Damaskios (Gr. Δαμάσκιος) describing the cosmogony according to Ierohnymos Rothios (Hieronymus of Rhodes; Gr. Ιερώνυμος Ῥόδιος) or Ællanikos (Hellanicus; Gr. Ἑλλάνικος): "Originally there was water, he (Orpheus) says, and mud, from which the earth solidified: he posits these two as first principles, water and earth...The one before the two, however, he leaves unexpressed, his very silence being an intimation of its ineffable nature." [7] In another translation of the Damaskios: "The theology according to Hieronymus (ed. Ierohnymos Rothios) or Hellanicus (ed. Ællanikos), even if the latter is not the same personage, is as follows. In the beginning, he says, there were water and matter, from which earth was coagulated, and these he establishes as the first two principles, water and earth, the latter as capable of dispersion, and the former as providing coherence and connection for earth. He omits the single principle (before the two) [on the grounds that it is] ineffable, since the fact that [Hieronymus] does not even mention it, shows its ineffable nature. But as for the third principle after the two, it arose from these, I mean from water and earth, ..." [8] He then goes on to describe the whole of creation, all arising from Water and Earth. From the writings of Thomas Taylor: "According to Orpheus, as related by Proclus, in Tim. p.292. Earth is the mother of every thing, of which Heaven (ed. literally Ouranos, Sky, being the poetic word to express Aithir) is the father." [9] The two substances delineated by divisibility and the creation of the soul Plato in Timaios speaks of the two substances being combined to create the soul: "And now I shall explain how he made soul and what materials he used. He combined the two kinds of substance--the one indivisible and never changing, and the other the divided and created substance of the physical world--into an intermediate, third kind of substance, and then again, in the case of both identity and difference, he likewise formed intermediates between, in each case, that aspect of them which is undivided and that aspect of them which is divided in the physical realm." [10] Damaskios, in his commentary on Phaedo, states: "Creation being twofold, either indivisible or divided, the latter, according to the commentator, is ruled by Dionysus, and therefore divided." [11] We are born of the two substances From the Golden Tablet 29 (Thessaly) a phrase oft-repeated in many of the golden tablets: "I (masculine) am parched with thirst and am dying; but grant me to drinkfrom the ever-flowing spring. On the right is a white cypress. 'Who are you? Where are you from?' I am a son of Earth and starry Sky. But my race is heavenly." [12] The Gods are born of the two substances From the Orphic Rhapsodies: "These they call Giants by name among the Blessed Gods, for that they were born from Earth (Ge) and from the blood of Heaven (Ouranos)." [13] In this quotation, the author (Orphefs) is not speaking of the "Giants" as in the Theogonia of Isiothos (Hesiod; Gr. Ἡσίοδος); he is speaking of the Olympian Gods and all the great Gods, describing them as mighty ones, hence Giants. Water, Fire, and Aither can transform into one another, but Earth cannot pass into another form "Earth will keep moving when it happens to meet with fire and has been dissolved by its acuteness, whether this dissolution takes place in pure fire or in a mass of air or of water; and this motion will continue until the particles of earth happen to meet together somewhere and reunite one with another, when they become earth again; for assuredly earth will never change into another form. But water, when broken up by fire or even by air, is capable of becoming a compound of one corpuscle of fire with two of air; and the fractions of air which come from the dissolving of one particle will form tow corpuscles of fire..." [14] TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Mæristi Ousia or Meristi Ousia - (Gr. Μεριστἠ Οὐσίἁ, ΜΕΡΙΣΤἨ ΟΥΣΊἉ) The Mæristi Substance is Earth, one of the two basic material cosmogonic substances. Earth is a receptive, female, and represented by Ira (Hera; Gr. Ήρα). The other cosmogonic substance is the Synækhis Ousia, called variously Water(-Fire-Aithir), and is represented by Zefs (Zeus; Gr. Ζεύς). Water is active, formative, male; Earth is receptive, female. Water is continuous; Earth is divisible. Plato calls these two substances the One (Monad) and the Other. There is a story from mythology that Ærmis (Hermes; Gr. Ἑρμῆς) brought the infant Iraklis (Herakles; Gr. Ἡρακλῆς) to suckle the breast of the sleeping Ira, but she awoke and pulled away her breast, spraying milk throughout the universe creating the galaxy of the Milky Way. [15] gala (Gr. γάλα) means "milk" [16] ; Galaxias (Gr. Γαλαξίας) means "the Milky Way." [17] The Mæristi Ousia in the Cosmos is symbolized by the milk of Hera. Mæristi comes from mæris (Gr. μερἰς), part, portion. [18] Lexicon entry for Ousia: οὐσί-α, II. stable being, immutable reality. 2. substance, essence. 3. true nature of that which is a member of a kind. 4. the possession of such a nature, substantiality. 5. in the concrete, the primary real, the substratum underlying all change and process in nature. Etc. [19]
Synækhis Ousia or Synehis Ousia - (Gr. Συνεχἠς Οὐσίἁ, 'ΣΥΝΕΧἨΣ ΟΥΣΊἉ) The Synækhis Substance is Water(-Fire-Aithir), one of the two basic material cosmogonic substances. Synækhis is a God, male and formative, represented by Zefs (Zeus; Gr. Ζεύς). The other cosmogonic substance is the Mæristi Substance, Earth, a Goddess, female, represented by Ira (Hera; Gr. Ήρα). Water is active; Earth is receptive. Water is continuous; Earth is divisible.. Plato calls these two substances the One (Monad) and the Other. Lexicon entry for Synækhis: συνεχἠς, holding together : I. of Space, continuous. II. of Time, continuous, unintermitting. III. of persons, constant, persevering. [20]
Aithir, Æther, Aether, Aither, or Ether - (Gr. Αἰθήρ, ΑἸΘΉΡ) The Synækhis Substance is called variously Aithir-Water-Fire, one of the two basic material cosmogonic substances. In the Orphic theogony, Aithir is the child of Khronos (Chronus; Gr. Χρόνος) and Ananki (Necessity). "To mortal men, and to the initiants (of) the Great Mysteries;First the implacable necessity of age old Chaos I disclosed, Then Time who in his endless laps bare Ether..." [21] In Hesiod, Aithir is the son of Erebos (Darkness) and Night (Nyx). [22] Aithir is the pure air breathed by the Gods. Aristotle calls aither the "fifth element" (quinta essentia): earth, water, air, fire, and aither.Earth - (Gi or Ge; Gr. Gή) Earth (the
Mæristi substance - Ira) is one of the two basic material cosmogonic substances. The other cosmogonic substance is Aithir (also called, in this view, Water/Fire - the
Synækhis substance). Earth is receptive female. Aithir is active, formative male. Earth is divisible. Aithir is continuous. Plato calls these two substances the One (Monad) and the Other. SEE ALSO: ORPHIC COSMOGONY. We have all one mother---the Earth. Victor Hugo Les Misérables [23] (A list of abbreviations can be found on this page: Glossary Home) [1] Orphic Fragment 63 from the Hieros Logos, The Orphic Rhapsodies, as found in Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1952 but in the 1993 edition, Princeton Univ. Press, p.137. [2] Damaskios, presenting the view of Hieronymus, Princ. 123c bis {i. 317-19 R.}; = Orphic fragment 54. [3] "That Orpheus greatly availed himself of the licence of fables, and manifests every thing prior to Heaven by names, as far as to the first cause. He also denominates the ineffable, who transcends the intelligible unities, Time; whether because Time pre-subsists as the cause of all generation, or because, as delivering the generation of true beings, he thus denominates the ineffable, that he may indicate the order of true beings, and the transcendency of the more total to the more partial; that a subsistence according to Time may be the same with a subsistence according to cause; in the same manner as generation with an arranged progression. But Hesiod venerates many of the divine natures in silence, and does not in short name the first. For that what is posterior to the first proceeds from something else, is evident from the verse,
For it is perfectly impossible that it could be produced without a cause; but he does not say what that is which gave subsistence to Chaos. He is silent indeed with respect to both the fathers of intelligibles, the exempt, and the co-ordinate; for they are perfectly ineffable. And with respect to the two co-ordinations, the natures which are co-ordinate with the one, he passes by in silence, but those alone which are co-ordinate with the indefinite duad, he unfolds through genealogy. And of this account Plato now thinks Hesiod deserves to be mentioned, for passing by the natures prior to Heaven, as being ineffable. For this also is indicated concerning them by the (ed. Chaldean) Oracles, which likewise add "they possess mystic silence," σιγ' εχε μυστα (ed. sig ækhæ mistah). And Socrates himself in the Phædrus, calls the intellectual perception of them μυησις (ed. miisis) and εποπτεια (ed. æpohptia), in which nearly the whole business is ineffable and unknown." (Extract from the Manuscript Scolia of Proklos On the Cratylus of Plato, found in The Theology of Plato/Proclus, trans. Thomas Taylor, Prometheus Trust, Vol. VIII of The Thomas Taylor Series, p.679-680) [4] Derveni Papyrus, Col. 16, trans. by Gábor Betegh; quoted from The Derveni Papyrus: Cosmology, Theology and Interpretation, Cambridge University Press, 2004, p.35. Professor Betegh, in his commentary on the poem, states: "...the Derveni author is making here an explicit ontological claim. His point is that the things which exist now were not created out of nothing, but were formed out of already existing things." (Ibid. Betegh, p.225.) [5] "For the female is the cause of progression and separation, but the male of union and stable permanency." (Extract from the Manuscript Scolia of Proclus On the Cratylus of Plato, found in The Theology of Plato/Proclus, trans. Thomas Taylor, Prometheus Trust, Vol. VIII of The Thomas Taylor Series, p.684) [6] "For the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and without feet." (Plato Timaeus 34A; DPII = Plato; translated by Benjamin Jowett, 1892, volume 2 of the 1937 Random House edition of The Dialogues of Plato, p.16 [7] Damaskios, presenting the view of Hieronymus, Princ. 123c bis {i. 317-19 R.}; = Orphic fragment 54. As found in The Orphic Poems by M.L. West, 1983; quoted here from the Sandpiper Books Ltd. 1998 edition, p.178. [8] Damaskius' Problems and Principles Concerning First Principles, Chap.123.2 [this text gives the numbering slightly differently], trans. Sara Ahbel-Rappe, Oxford Univ. Press, 2010 copy. by The American Academy of Religion, pp.415-416. [9] The Hymns of Orpheus trans. by Thomas Taylor, 1792; this passage found in a note attached to XXV. To The Earth, on p.150. [10] Plato Timaios 34c-35a, trans. Robin Waterfield in Timaeus and Critias, Oxford World's Classics (Oxford and New York), 2008, pp.22-23. [11] Damaskios Commentary on Phaedo. 3. Dionysus and the Titans; trans. L.G. Westerink from The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo, Vol. II, Damascius, Amsterdam, Oxford, and New York: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1977. This excerpt from Westerink was found in The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic Philosophy, Selected and edited by Algis Uždavinys, 2004, World Wisdom, p.274. [12] Golden Tablet 29 (Thessaly), translation found in Ritual Texts for the Afterlife by Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, Routledge, 2007, p.41. [13] Orphic Rhapsodies Fragment 63, translation found in Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1906, in the 1993 Princeton edition on pp.137-142. [14] Plato's Timaios 56d-e, trans. R. G. Bury in 1929; found here in the 2005 edition of Plato: Timaeus-Critias-Cleitophon-Menexenus-Epistles, Harvard Univ. Press (Cambridge MA and London England), Loeb LCL 234, on pp. 137-139. [15] Hyginus' Astronomica II.43.
[16] L&S p.335. right column. [17] L&S p.336. left column. [18] L&S p.1104, left column. [19] L&S p. 1274, right column. [20] L&S p. 1714, left column. [21] Orpheus' Argonautica 12-14, translated by S.P. Petrides in Orphica Vol. Two, 2005, (published by the author?) p.41. [22] Hesiod Theogonia 124. [23] This said in response to the death of Fantine, from Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Fantine Book Eighth, near the conclusion of Chapter V: "We have all one mother---the earth. Fantine was restored to this mother." Translated by Charles E. Wilbour in 1862; it can be found on p.301 of the 1998 Everyman's Library edition, Alfred A. Knopf. 
The logo to the left is the principle symbol of this website. It is called the CESS logo, the Children of the Earth and the Starry Sky. The Petelia and other golden tablets having this phrase are the inspiration for the symbol. The image represents this idea: Earth (Hera-Earth) and the Sky (Zeus-Æther) are the two Cosmogonic substances. The twelve stars represent the Natural Laws, the Actions of the Olympian Gods on the soul. In front of these symbols is a kithara the lyre of Apollo. It represents the bond between Gods and mortals and is representative that we are the children of Orpheus.
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MYSTIC MATERIALISM |