Orphism and the Initiatory Tradition Author:Raphael - Asram Vidya Order Dionysus! This name has been on the lips of thousands of people in different places since the earliest of times. And if he is still written about, it means that He is present. Herodotus tells us that he originated in Egypt. Other writers have suggested Thrace, Lydia or Phrygia; others still indicate Crete where tablets dating back t... more »o the XV century B.C. have been found. On them the names of Dionysus and the "Lady of the Labyrinth", Ariadne, are inscribed. Homer mentions Dionysus too, long before the majority of Greeks came to accept him as the Savior. We should agree that there are certain names behind which a Universal Principle is hidden. Indeed all Traditions, whether from the North, South, East or West speak of deities which, in the end, are equivalent. And Orpheus? What can be said of this great Sage, Magus, Theologian, Innovator, Rectifier; this Rsi, to use Vedanta terminology?
As it will be attempted to demonstrate in these pages, Orpheus is another bridge-mediator, a great Avatara, who rectified the cult of Dionysus which had been degraded into superstitious practices. Orpheus unveiled Truths of the intelligible order and, through music, created a science of Rite and of number. He instituted the Lesser and the Greater Mysteries, and left behind him such a profound mark, and vibration that they can still be perceived today. Furthermore, he had a considerable influence on the minds of the philosophers of ancient Greece and, consequently, on all the philosophers who came after him.« less