kykeon

Information about kykeon

Kykeon (Gr. κυκεών, from κυκάω, "to stir, to mix") was an Ancient Greek drink made mainly of water, barley and herbs. It was used at the climax of the Eleusinian Mysteries to break a sacred fast, but it was also a favourite drink of Greek peasants.

Kykeon is mentioned in Homeric texts: the Iliad describes it as consisting of barley, water, herbs, and ground goat cheese (XV, 638–641). In the Odyssey, Circe adds some honey and pours her magic potion in it (X, 234). In the The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the goddess refuses red wine but accepts kykeon made from water, barley and pennyroyal.

It was supposed to have digestive properties. Hermes recommends it in Aristophanes' Peace (v. 712) to the hero who ate too much dry fruit and nuts. Aristocrats shunned it as a peasant drink. Theophrastus depicts in his Characters (IV, 2–3) a peasant whose thyme breath inconveniences his neighbours at the Ecclesia.

In an attempt to solve the mystery of how so many people over the span of two millennia could have consistently experienced revelatory states during the culminating ceremony of the Eleusinian Mysteries, it has been posited that the barley used in the Eleusinian kykeon was parasitized by ergot, and that the psychoactive properties of that fungus triggered the intense experiences alluded to by the participants at Eleusis.

Various modern attempts to duplicate the kykeon using ergot have yielded inconclusive results.

For more on the possibilities of the Kykeon's psychoactive properties, see entheogenic theories of the mysteries.

Bibliography

  • French Armand Delatte, Le Cycéon, breuvage rituel des mystères d'Éleusis, Belles Lettres, Paris, 1955

External links

The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια) were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece.
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Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. Concerning that from which one fasts, and the period of fasting, a fast may be total or partial.
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Homer is the name given to the purported author of the early Greek poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is now generally believed that they were composed by illiterate aoidoi (rhapsodes) in an oral tradition in the 8th or 7th century BC.
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iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.

Description

Main specifications:
  • an 8.1-inch (20.

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The Odyssey (Greek Οδύσσεια (Odússeia)) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the Ionian poet Homer. The poem is commonly dated circa 800 to circa 600 BC.
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Circe or Kírkē (Greek Κίρκη, falcon), was a Queen goddess (or sometimes nymph or sorceress) living on the island of Aeaea.
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Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees (and some other species of bee), and derived from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board and various international food regulations, "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow
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M. pulegium

Binomial name
Mentha pulegium
L.

The herb Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium
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Hermes (Greek, Ἑρμῆς, IPA: /ˈhɝmiːz/), in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and
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Aristophanes, son of Philippus (Greek: Ἀριστοφάνης, IPA: [æ:ɹɪs:tɒf:æ:niːz], ca. 456 BC – ca.
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Theophrastus (Greek: Θεόφραστος; 370 — about 285 BC), a native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school.
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Thymus
L.

Species

About 350 species, including:
Thymus adamovicii
Thymus altaicus
Thymus amurensis
Thymus bracteosus
Thymus broussonetii
Thymus caespititius

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Ecclesia (lat) is a term derived from the Greek root ekklesia [εκκλησία], which literally means a "gathering" of citizens, in an ancient Greek city-state, or a "called out assembly"; usually defined as "gathering of the called out
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The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια) were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece.
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Claviceps

Species

About 50, including:
Claviceps africanum
Claviceps fusiformis
Claviceps paspali
Claviceps purpurea

Ergot is the common name of a fungus in the genus Claviceps
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Eukarya
Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
(unranked) Opisthokonta

Kingdom: Fungi
(L., 1753) R.T. Moore, 1980[1]

Subkingdom/Phyla

Chytridiomycota
Blastocladiomycota

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French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃ˈsɛ]) is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 300 million people around the world as either
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