As I mentioned on Twitter, I was just having a momentary bout of sensitivity based on a two day indulgence in idealistic and nuanced cultural critique, and perhaps a bit of sentimentality for the complexity of Mediterranean expressions of devotion.

The use of the term "pseudo-religion" sent me into a tailspin, which the comments by whoever is behind the Fennris30 handle did a bit to assuage. If you were using "pseudo-religion" in terms of it being a specialized branch of Mediterranean religion, that would make sense.

It's difficult to express in a single article the fascinating interplay of socio-religious ideologies in the Greco-Roman cultic system.

Jake Stratton Kent has written extensively on the various Mystery cults in his work Geosophia, which presents a detailed exploration of the pre-Grecian origins of these practices via the transmission and understanding of Goetic practice. It took him two massive volumes for that one book, and he just scratched the surface. Scholars have spent centuries debating the details of these practices, and it's only recently that many of the pieces (via advances in scholarship across a number of different disciplines) are falling into place for a more accurate understanding of what they were about.

In terms of contemporary revivals, I think something like Chris Knowle's Secret History of Rock & Roll gives a better understanding of the active potential in these rites than a reenactment group, but that's just my personal predilection for phenomenological approaches to understanding religious and cultic groups. Also looking at Masonic rituals, which use many of the same methods as the Mystery cults, would provide another active and contemporary example of what these groups of worshipers were doing.

When I read "psychedelic" I think of an active engagement with the psyche, not necessarily via an entheogen, and I think that this broader perspective is something that has been shown to be a very important part of the Mystery cults. Their use of mythological narratives, along with seasonally significant rites, manipulation of the senses, and dramatic elements, is very specific. All of these elements combine, in the case of the Eleusinian Mysteries, to form a structure that was known to cause irrevocable belief in the adherents who reached higher levels of initiation.

I think this is something that bears relevance to social critique. It provides a way to understand how contemporary media is effective at sculpting culture, as Ioan Couliano points out in his work Eros & Magic in the Renaissance.

So...basically I'm a bit tired after a long week, have spent too many years reading about these things, just got off a couple days of over-indulgent binging on fringe scholarship, and was hit sideways by reading an introductory article on a topic that I have deeply invested myself in.

The late Karl Kerényi (if interested) provides a beautiful and poetic glimpse into the depth of Mediterrenean belief. His work on Hermes is incredible: [www.psybernet.co.nz]

Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to an online version, or preview, of his work on Eleusis.

It was incredibly nice of you to offer a chance to respond and clarify my hesitancy with the article. Whatever aetheric cloud was burst by the term pseudo-religion was replaced with a warm sense of general communicative reciprocity by your gesture.