HUMAN AND DIVINE REALMS

That which is burned turns largely to smoke and ascends to the upper regions. It is transferred to the gods by a process of sublimation. This is how the Greek burnt sacrifice, the thysia, was conceived, and also burnt offerings of the Jews

In India, Agni is the Hindu fire god, the one to whom sacrifice is offered. In Hindu thought, “it is through fire that man could communicate with higher states of being, with the gods and the heavenly spheres. Through fire he could take part in the cosmic life, cooperate with the gods. He could feed them through the mouth of fire. `Agni is the mouth of the gods; through this mouth they take their breath' ”(fig. 002.11)

Shiva Dancing in a Circle of Fire

SACRIFICIAL FIRE OF

Speaking of the sacrificial fire of the Greek thysia, Iamblichus says: “thus also the fire that is with us, imitating the energy of divine fire, destroys everything which is material in sacrifices, purifies the things which are offered, liberates them from the bonds of matter, and renders them, through purity of nature, adapted to the communion of the gods. It likewise liberates us, after the same manner from the bonds of generation, assimilates us to the Gods, causes us to be adapted to their friendship, and conducts our material nature to an immaterial essence” ( Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, p. 247 )

Similarly, certain myths speak of the fire bath that conveys immortality. For example, Demeter, in her sorrowful wanderings after the abduction of Persephone, accepts the hospitality of Celeus and Metaneira, king and queen of Eleusis. In gratitude she plans to make their young son Demophoön immortal by holding him in the fire. Metaneira sees this procedure and interrupts it by her screams