Taylor - Eleusianian and Bacchic Mysteries.pdf - Platonic Philosophy

210 Bacchic Mysteries.like wool : and hence Isidorus derives theLatin word lana, wool, from laniando, asvettus from vellendo. Nor must it pass unobserved, that Xfjvoc, in Greek, signifies wool,and XTJVO^,a wine-press.* And, indeed, thepressing of grapes isas evident a symbol ofdispersion as the tearing of wool ;and thiscircumstance was doubtless one principalreason why grapes were consecrated to Bacchus :for a grape, previous to its pressure,aptly represents that which is collected intoone ;and when it is pressed into juice, it noless aptly representsthe diffusion of thatwhich was before collected and entire.Andlastly, the aatpayaXoc, astragalos, or miklebone,as it is principallysubservient to theprogressive motion of animals, so it belongs,with great propriety, to the mystic symbolsof Bacchus; since it doubtless signifies thegoing forth of that deity into the departmentof physical existence : for nature, or thatdivisible life which subsists about the body,* The practice of punning, so common in all the old rites, ishere forcibly exhibited. It aided to conceal the symbolism andmislead uninitiated persons who might seek to ascertain thegenuine meaning.