I knew Graves was a poet, I knew he was a classicist. I never knew he was so into mushrooms. ( )

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The Greek poets tell how when Dionysus' maenads tore off Orpheus' head, it continued to prophesy. The head of Pentheus, another figure in the Dionysus myth, was torn off by his own mother Agave; both incidents could refer to the practice of tearing the mushroom head from its stalk - heads alone are used at Mexican oracles. The Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred to the Goddesses Demeter and Persephone, and also to Dionysus, were preceded by fasting and a ritual bathe in the sea, where devotees transferred their sins to scape-pigs. They then entered a temple, drank mint-water and ate pastries baked in magical shapes and carried in baskets. As a result, they saw celestial visions which could never afterwards be forgotten. The meaning of the Greek word MYSTERION ('mystery') is disputed, but since the mysteries were an autumnal festival complementary to the Spring ANTHESTERION; and since this means 'flower springing' , MYSTERION may well mean MYKO-STERION, or 'mushroom-springing'.
from The Universal Paradise, p. 84 ( )