Lucius, the protagonist of Apuleis' Golden Ass, is initiated into pagan mysteries (specifically those of Isis and Osiris) three separate times. Some interesting characteristics emerge -
1) Divine Authorization
When Lucius first sought initiation he was told to patiently wait for divine approval to be given to the priest who would officiate. For those in charge would not do so "unless personally ordered to do so" by the authorizing divinity.
2) Washing and anointing
"...when the priest said the moment had come, he led me to the nearest baths, escorted by the faithful in a body, and there, after I had bathed in the usual way, having invoked the blessing of the gods he ceremoniously aspersed and purified me." Asper is an unusual verb in 21st century English, meaning to sprinkle - mostly used in reference to the Catholic practice of sprinkling Holy Water.
3) Ceremonial Garments
"Then the uninitiated were all made to leave, I was dressed in a brand new linen robe, and the priest took me by the hand and conducted me to the very innermost part of the sanctuary."
At the end of the ceremony Lucius had assumed a somewhat more elaborate costume -
"...though my dress was only of fine linen it was colorfully embroidered, and from my shoulders there fell behind me to my ankles a costly cloak....This is what initiates call an Olympic robe....and my head was encircled with a beautiful crown of palm..."
"The very next night I dreamed that there appeared to me one of the faithful dressed in linen and carrying a wand tipped with ivy and other things I may not mention."
In a dream that urges him to be initiated a third time Lucius is reminded "the goddess's holy symbols which you received at Cenchreae are still in the temple there where you left them, so that here in Rome you cannot wear them to worship in on feast days or receive illumination from that happy attire when ordered to do so."
4) A Sacred Journey Towards Salvation
"the initiation ceremony itself took the form of a kind of voluntary death and salvation through divine grace."
"I came to the boundary of death and after treading Proserpine's threshold I returned having traversed all the elements; at midnight I saw the sun shining with brilliant light; I approached the gods below and the gods above face to face and worshiped them in their actual presence."
5) Sacred Saving Truth Imparted.
Lucius undertook religious disciplined to prepare himself to "better attain to the secret mysteries of this purest of religions." The information given was centered on "the keys of hell and the guarantee of salvation."
6) Content Points Towards a Regeneration of Life
Those who passed through initiation "had been as it were reborn."
"I celebrated my rebirth as an initiate..."
7) Content of Ceremony is a Sacred Mystery
In other words it is kept secret. The priest of Lucius' first initiation calls them the "holy mysteries of our faith."
"...he made me to stand at the goddess's feet and privately gave me certain instructions which are too sacred to divulge."
"I dare say, attentive reader, that you are all agog to know what was then said and done. I should tell you if it were lawful to tell it; you should learn it if it were lawful to hear it. But then your ears and my tongue would both incur equal guilt, the one for sacrilegious loquacity, the other for importunate curiosity."
"So all that can without sin be revealed to the understanding of the uninitiated, that and no more I shall relate."
"The very next night I dreamed that there appeared to me one of the faithful dressed in linen and carrying a wand tipped with ivy and other things I may not mention."
Quotations from
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Translated by E. J. Kinney
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