The Pagan Heart
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July-August 2005 Issue
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The Opening of the Mundus Cereris
By Anne S.
The Mundus Cereris is a doorway to the world of Ceres, Great Mother of all growing things. On three days a year, markers of the harvest period, it was opened and offerings from the harvest would be placed within the Mundus for Ceres. These offerings were in acknowledgement of her favour during the year and a plea for her favours in the future. We no longer have the Mundus Cereris to open - although archaeological findings suggest the ancient doorway has been found. But we can still observe the religious nature of the day. Dig a hole into the ground, line it with stones, and create a cap for it. Consecrate it to Ceres and make offerings and libations in her name. This will be the Mundus Cereris for your observations. Ceres is one of the Dii Consentes, the twelve Great Gods of Greco-Roman mythology, and also one of the DII Novensiles - foreign gods adopted by Rome. Her dominant role is as Goddess of Agricultural fertility, with a focus upon cereals. Indeed, her name is the originator of the word cereal. Grains are one of the most basic building blocks to human diet, and thus Ceres is of great importance. This is shown in her position as overseer of the grain distribution and the administration of the frumentationes (grain distribution to the urban plebs). Ceres also holds sway over the fields, bread, and the labour involved in producing grain. Aside from her agricultural role, Ceres also rules over liminality - the transitions we pass through as we progress through life. There is the transition of life to death - clearly an important one that Ceres has a role in. Ceres lives beneath the earth, amongst the roots of the growing things. From her springs life, reaching out of the Underworld into this world. When it dies it returns to her. Like the plants, the dead pass from this world to the Underworld - a physical and spiritual transition. She is not a deity of the dead, however, so do not confuse her with that role. She is the threshhold we pass across, the guardian of our voyage, the guide we walk beside as we move from one state to another. However, some of the transitional parts of our lives are very much under her aegis. Ceres holds an especially important position with regards to the rites of marriage and divorce. This is probably due to her role as the embodiment of castitas, or chastity. Chastity is not necessarily the same as virginity - a chaste woman can be married and a mother - it all depends upon whether she follows the moral and legal ideas and laws of her society that embody chastity. Under the ancient Roman ways, violation of chastity threw a woman out of her social class and over the boundary into a lower one - forever. And such violation angers Ceres. There is confusion as to whether the Mundus Cereris is also a way to the Underworld of Hades, or not. I tend to feel that even if it wasn't initially, opening it does open a way to the Underworld through both the physical intrusion into the earth, and through Ceres' liminal aspect. And thus a pathway for the shades of the ancestral dead is opened - a threshhold between life and death comes into being. Suitable offerings (such as beans, milk, and honey) should be left for any ancestral spirits that may choose to come forth. The Opening of the Mundus Cereris is traditionally a time when honour to Ceres as a liminal deity can be paid. A time to offer recognition of changes throughout the past year, requests for guidance and support with upcoming transitions, and for strength and knowledge to maintain chastity within one's life. A time to remember the dead who've passed the last threshhold. The physical act of opening the Mundus mirrors the opening of the way from one stage of life to another, beginning with the birth canal, and ending with the passage from life to death. The three days when it is opened are a time to honour Ceres and remember the ancestors. According to the Roman calendar, they occured on 7 Kalends of September (24th August by the modern Calendar), 3 Nones of October (5th October), and 5 Ides of November (8th November). Interestingly these three days correspond to harvest festivals in many Pagan traditions and their tendency to celebrate transitions between life and death. It seems that the metaphysical nature of opening the Mundus Cereris is a universal one. These days of opening fall under the category of 'religiosus', which means the following 'religiones' (or laws) apply:
Outside this, the comitia and other normal public activities are permitted, although it isn't considered advisable to engage in business. As for honouring the goddess herself, there are many ways of doing so. Leaving cornucopias of harvest foods is always acceptable. Picking first fruits and flowers is suitable. Grain, being her specialty, is of course sacred to her - and corn dollies are a lovely way to bring some of her power into the home through the winter months. But the porca praecidanea is the traditional offering - and for any harvest ritual, it is a prerequisite to any ritual held in Ceres' honour. According to Cato a pumpkin makes an appropriate substitute for a pig (or any other sufficiently large food article) - which gives me cause to wonder how much of the pumpkin traditions at Halloween have remote ties to Ceres. However, back to the porca praecidanea. Usually this would be a pig. It would be cleansed and sanctified in Ceres' name, sacrificed and the entrails removed. These form the offering to Ceres - they would be thrown onto the ritual fire so the smoke might rise up to her. Or you might choose to bury them in the earth. If you choose to observe this festival, you can use a pig, or a pumpkin. It might make a strong addition to Samhain traditions if you are open to utilising different traditions. With a pumpkin, slice it open, scoop out the seeds and offer these to Ceres, much as one would if using the actual pig. Pour out a libation of wine to Ceres and offer up your prayers. Then prepare the pumpkin as a centrepiece to the feast. Whether you choose to make the pumpkin into a carved face or not, you should use the flesh in the meal. Because Ceres is both a goddess of vegetation and of transition, it is appropriate to offer to both aspects. The feast does this - created by fruits of the harvest, abundant and overflowing, it acknowledges and honours Ceres as the Mother whose bounty feeds us. And it acknowledges the changing season - which is mirrored in us as we age and move through our own cycles. But it is also important to pay particular honour to her as the doorway through which we step when we pass from one stage of life to the next. Think carefully about how you might do this. What transitions have you made during the last year? Her particular province is the realm of law, order, and social tranquility, so offerings of thanks to her for good fortune in those areas would be appropriate. Thoughts upon your own chastity, your marriage (if married), your relationships with others - these are all areas you might want to think about. For me, chastity refers to how well I uphold the ethical and moral boundaries I have set myself. For these boundaries define what I consider to be good and pure - and if I follow them then I too remain pure in spirit. Naturally - being human - I make mistakes. But I resist temptation to make the big ones, the ones my conscience could not tolerate. And I take the time to make amends and pay my dues for the smaller ones. So overall, I live a chaste life. And I take great joy in that proclamation - despite the misunderstanding our Christianised society applies to it. For by Christian standards I probably am not a chaste person. But it is not their standards that define me. This Mundus Cereris I will be offering the first of three pumpkins to Ceres and celebrating the threshholds I have crossed this year. What will you do?
Honour to Ceres by Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.341 onwards Dame Ceres first to breake the Earth with plough the maner found,
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Secondary Article - Odin's Ordeal
Secondary Article - Holy Day: Lughnasadh
Secondary Article - Holy Day: Rugiu Svente
Secondary Article - Holy Day: Norse Midsummer
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