Mystai

Description

The Dionysian themed frescos of Pompeii s Villa of the Mysteries constitute the single most important theurgical narrative to have survived in the Western esoteric tradition. ?No other practitioner account of the ritual process for conducting a mystery rite has survived down to today. The frescoes vivid and allusive imagery illuminates both the ritual activity of the participants as well as its esoteric import.nThe frescoes, created in the most private rooms of the extensive Roman villa, were never meant to be seen by anyone other than the members of the all-female Bakkhic thiasos who conducted their most secret rites within them.

Buried and preserved for posterity by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, these stu ing proto-Renaissance images guide the viewer through the consecutive stages of a theurgic rite of initiation into the mysteries of Dionysos.nUniquely, these newly restored and, here for the first time, stu ingly reproduced images guide the reader through the stages of initiation vividly illuminating the ritual activity.nTaking an interdisciplinary approach, Peter Mark Adams interprets the frescoes through the distinct performative lens of the ritualist drawing on current scholarship across the disparate fields of classical philology; the ritual dress codes of Greco-Roman priestesses; art history; and the comparative ethnography of rites of higher initiation to illumine the significance of the ritual grammar and the phenomenology of ritual participation.nArising from within the unique interface between Greek and Roman culture in Southern Italy, the frescoes attest to the survival of an unbroken initiatic tradition of mystery rites of Dionysos on the Italian peninsula stretching back to the fifth century BCE. Author Peter Mark Abrams Author Info Peter Mark Adams is an author, poet, esotericist and professional energy worker specialising in ?the ?ethnography ?and visuality of ritual, sacred landscape, esotericism, consciousness and healing. ?nPeter s esoteric non-fiction is published by Scarlet Imprint; non-fiction concerning energy healing and consciousness by I er Traditions.

Peter s literary prose and poetry has appeared in Corbel Stone Press literary journal Reliquiae: Journal of ? ?Nature, ?Landscape ?& ?Mythology and the Bosphorus Review of Books. Reviews of esoterically related works have appeared on the dedicated esoteric book review site, Paralibrum.nA range of essays examining other than human encounters have appeared in the peer reviewed journals ?Paranthropology: ?Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal and The Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology and are available on Peter s academia.edu page.

With a background in Philosophy from the University of Liverpool, Peter pursues advanced studies on iconology and iconographic; Renaissance art and material culture with the Warburg Institute s School of Advanced Studies in London. ISBN-13 978-1912316120 Publisher Bibliothéque Rouge Publication Date 2019 Edition 1st Binding Softcover Condition Used – Very Good Page Count 192 Pages