THE SACRED MARRIAGE

An important mythical motif in the Pagan Mysteries was the sacred marriage between the godman and the goddess, symbolizing the mystical union of opposites. In Crete they celebrated the marriage of the goddess Demeter and the godman Iasion. Upon his yearly “arrival” in Athens, Dionysus was hailed as “Bridal One” and his marriage to the queen of the city, who repre­sented the goddess, was ritually celebrated.

In Mystery initiations, the initiate was often portrayed as the bride of Osiris-Dionysus. Initiations were carried out in special “bridal chambers” which have been found at Pagan sanctuaries. An ancient fresco shows scenes of those preparing for initiation being dressed in the attire of brides. After their initiation they were hailed as “brides.”

The bride represented the incarnate self or eidolon and Osiris-Dionysus represented the disincarnate Self or Daemon. The sacred marriage ritually united these two opposing parts of the initiate. Epiphanius tells us:

Some prepare a bridal chamber and perform a mystic rite accompanied by certain words used to the initiated, and they allege that it is a spiritual marriage.

The Pagan Mystery motif of the sacred marriage is missing from orthodox Christianity, but was important in Gnostic Christianity, which celebrated the sacred marriage between Jesus and Sophia. In Gnostic myth, Sophia is portrayed in a “fallen” state as representing the incarnate self. She is pictured as lost in the world searching for the ineffable Source. Looking for love in all the wrong places, she becomes a prostitute. Finally she begs God the Father for help and He sends her as a bridegroom the Firstborn Son of God, her brother Jesus. When the bridegroom arrives they make love passionately to become One.

This is an allegory of the Daemon or Spirit coming to the rescue of the incarnate self or psyche. According to The Gospel of Philip, only the person who has “remarried” the psyche with the Spirit becomes capable of with­standing physical and emotional impulses that, unchecked, could drive them toward self-destruction and evil.

The sacred marriage is a symbol of mystical unity, which was the goal of Gnosticism. In The Gospel of Thomas Jesus teaches his disciples:

When you make the two one, and when you make the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male be not male nor the female female then will you enter the kingdom.

Some Gnostic groups ritually celebrated the sacred marriage as part of their rites of initiation. Irenaeus tells us: “They prepare a bridal chamber and celebrate Mysteries.” The followers of the Gnostic sage Marcus performed an initiatory rite “with certain formulae, and they term this a spiritual marriage.” We are told that the followers of the Gnostic poet Valentinus practiced the rite of a spiritual marriage with angels in a nuptial chamber.” The Naassenes taught that the initiated “must cast off their garments and all become brides pregnant by the Virgin Spirit.” The Gospel of Philip explains that the process of initiation climaxed in the “bridal chamber” of mystical union, for “The holy of the holies is the bridal chamber. The redemption takes place in the bridal chamber.”

In the Jesus story, the fallen Sophia (the psyche) is represented by the figure of Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus (the Daemon) redeems from prostitution. According to the Gnostic sage Heracleon, this motif of a sacred marriage also appears in the Jesus story as the marriage feast in Cana where Jesus, like Dionysus before him, changes water into intoxicating wine. This miracle, Heracleon tells us, symbolizes that “divine marriage,” which trans­forms what is merely human into the divine.” The motif also occurs in a pas­sage from the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus explains that reaching the kingdom of Heaven will be like a maiden going to meet “the Bridegroom.”

In The Gospel of Thomas Jesus teaches that to experience this final level of initiation into mystical union, each initiate must enter the bridal chamber alone:

Many are standing at the door, but it is the solitary who will enter the bridal chamber.

click to enlarge

  Dante Gabriel Rossetti 

 Mary Magdalene at the Door of Simon the Pharisee
Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery
Pen and ink
Date: 1858

text from Freke & Gandy The Jesus Mysteries