Mystery Cults

This was a really challenging piece and setting to visualize because there aren't a lot of reference images for the sanctums and secret places where mystery cults met and practiced. I knew I wanted it to be the Orphic Cult because I'm a huge fan of Orpheus the character, and Orphism has some really fascinating and unique concepts to ancient Greece like vegetarianism and reincarnation. I also knew i wanted to have an initiate being cleansed with lustral water, though whether this is how that would have been done is hard to say. I added the skylight above as a way to draw a light source and the viewers eye to the initiate in the foreground.

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Welcome initiates, into the threshold of our sacred sanctuary. As the head priestess of our revered order, I am entrusted with the solemn duty of guiding members through the veil of mystery and into the depths of divine revelation. Within these hallowed halls, amongst the flickering torchlight and incense-laden air, the veil will be lifted of the eternal truths of the divine. As you know the communal aspects of ancient Greek religion are guided by civic duty and open to the general populace, but in these inner sanctums of our Mystery Cults we offer a more personal experience to our private members such as initiation rites, esoteric spiritual knowledge, and salvation in the afterlife. Let us explore together a few famous examples of ancient Greek mystery cults.

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