A related set of practices maintained by a secret society and centered around three locations: Samothraki, Lemnos, and Thebai.
Samothraki
This island in the Northern Aigean Sea is the location of the Sanctuary of the Gods.
Rheia, a one-time Queen of the Heavens, retreated to Samothraki when her son, Zeus, overthrew her husband, Kronos, and assumed the throne of Olympos. On Samothraki, Rheia remarried to a Golden Age mortal named Kasmilos, who may also have been her son, these mysterious details being a little sketchy even to the initiated. Rheia and Kasmilos have one son named Axieros, two daughters named Axiokersa and Axiokersos, and a set of twins of indeterminate gender who were turned into twin pillars of bronze within the Sanctuary and are now referred to as Heaven and Earth. Rheia, having suffered enough oppression under Kronos, rules her pantheon with Kasmilos as servant to her and the children alike. Outside of ritual practice, the names of these daimones are never spoken aloud, lest Kronos should emerge and try to take his revenge. Collectively, they are referred to as Kabeiroi (Grc: Κάβειροι), the "Great Ones."
Lemnos
This island is home to the Court of
Hephaistos and original workshop, which he established after being thrown from Mount Olympos and temporarily exiled. The court includes the smith's children and grandchildren, who are the masters of all types of craftsmanship. They are attended to by a race of mechanical bronze automotons created by Hephaistos. These daimones also are referred to as Kabeiroi, and are worshipped at an ancient sanctuary called the Kabeirium.
Thebai
Kavirian practice was brought to
City of Thebai by Harmonia, a native of Samothraki who married
Kadmos and became the first queen of the new-founded city. Local practice incorporates Hekate and other chthonic daimones who were established in prior settlements on the Theban plateau. Worshipers meet in secret underground places at night and are unknown or discussed only in whispers within Thebai itself.
Comments