Cara2000
Seated at the fire
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(6/2/04 7:16 am)
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cybele
Magna Mater or Cybele
The full name was Magna Mater deorum Idaea: Great Mother of the gods, who was worshipped on Mount Ida. The cult spread through Greece from the 6th to 4th century, and was introduced in Rome in 205 BCE. Also known as Kybele and Magna Mater and the Mother of the Gods, the worship of this goddess spread throughout the Roman Empire.
Originally Phrygian, she was a goddess of caverns, of the Earth in its primitive state; worshipped on mountain tops. She ruled over wild beasts, and was also a bee goddess.
Her festival came first on the Roman calender.
Along with her consort, the vegetation god Attis, Cybele was worshipped in wild, emotional, bloody, orgiastic, cathartic ceremonies. According to most stories, Attis was the indirect son of Agdistis. Agdistis was the hermaphrodite son of Zeus, born of his semen dropped upon Mount Ida next to where the Great goddess Cybele lay sleeping. Later the gods made Agdistis drunk and tied his genitals to a tree. He was castrate when he awoke and moved, and the almond tree grew up from his severed sexual organs. Nana, a nymph daughter of the river god, gathered the fruit into her lap and later gave birth to Attis.
In some stories, he was the beloved of Cybele (Kybele). She chose him to be her priest and imposed a vow of chastity on him. He fell in love with a river nymph however, and Cybele caused him to go mad. In his fit of insanity, he castrated himself. Once he recovered and discovered his mutilation, he intended to kill himself, but Cybele changed him into a fir tree. According to another story, Agdistis appeared in the form of Cybele on the day of Attis’ wedding to a young maiden. Furious to see him professing his love to another woman, the girl killed herself. Mad with grief over her death, Attis then castrated himself under a pine tree. In a third version of the story, Attis was gored to death by a boar sent by Zeus. Spring flowers sprang up from his blood.
Each year at the end of March (March 22nd), a five day festival was held in honor of Attis. The first day was one of mourning. A sacred fir tree representing Attis was taken from the grove near Cybele’s temple. It was bound in bandages and decorated with ribbons and flowers before being carried through the streets. On the second day, Cybele’s priests carried on frenzied dances in effeminate clothes, culminating in their castrations or bloody slashes on the third day. They used their own blood to sprinkle the altar and effigy of Attis. On the fourth day, the resurrection of Attis was celebrated, and the fifth day was one of rest. A ritual marriage between Cybele and Attis was included in the celebrations, with her high priest acting the part of Attis.
Cybele was the goddess of nature and fertility. Because Cybele presided over mountains and fortresses, her crown was in the form of a city wall. The cult of Cybele was directed by eunuch priests called Corybantes, who led the faithful in orgiastic rites accompanied by wild cries and the frenzied music of flutes, drums, and cymbals. Her annual spring festival celebrated the death and resurrection of her beloved Attis.
Her Greek mythology counterpart was Rhea.
Galli The hierodules or priests of Cybele, who castrated themselves in identification with the goddess. The Roman name for the Corybantes.
Cara
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