Observations placeholder
Steiner, Rudolf - Anthroposophy Vol 4 No 3 - The Initiation process of the Celtic Mysteries
Identifier
013939
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Rudolf Steiner - Anthroposophy Vol 4 No 3
All that lies hidden behind the material world as the sun behind the clouds, the hidden Spirit, was known in these Mysteries by the name of Hu.
Ceridwen was the seeking soul. And all the rites of initiation were a means of revealing to the pupil that death is only one of the many processes in life.
Death changes nothing at all in the innermost core of man's being. In the Druidic Mysteries (Druid means an initiate of the third degree) the neophyte was put into a condition resembling death, so that his senses could not function as organs of perception.
A man whose only instrument of perception is the physical body or the physical brain has no consciousness if he is in a condition when his senses cease to function. But in initiation, the senses- feeling, hearing, and so on - cease to function, yet the neophyte is able to experience and observe.
The principle that observes was called, Ceridwen - the soul. And that which came to meet the soul (as light and sound come to meet our outer eyes and ears) was called Hu, the spiritual world.
The initiate experienced the union between Hu and Ceridwen. When we are told to-day that the ancients paid homage to a God EIu and a Goddess Ceridwen this is simply another way of describing initiation. And with this the true myths are always concerned.