In this little book (59 pages) Bizzi takes a stand against the Traditionalist idea that there is a “transcendent unity of religions; that there is one Source. He bluntly claims that:
the Mystery Traditions of the Eleusinian Mother branch has always vigorously opposed such a view. (Note: “Mother” means the purest and most original branch of the Eleusinian Mysterial tradition and its priesthood. Its derivations (such as, for example, the Orphic branch and the Samothracian branch) were conventionally called “Daughter”.
Yet, I find his reasoning unconvincing. It seems that Bizzi is of the opinion that long ago a rift occurred between “Titanic” and “Olympian” traditions. The “Olympian” version prevailed and Traditionalists talk about that “Olympian” source. Bizzi’s own Eleusinian organisation can be traced back to the “pre-Olympian, and therefor pre-Hellenic, Titanic” branch.
So yes, for us Eleusinians there is a Primordial and original Tradition.
Just not the same as that of the Traditionalists… They are talking about an “Olympian” tradition and Eleusinians are talking about a “Titanic” tradition.
In my opinion the entire discussion is flawed. When -with Traditionalists- you say that there is one Divinity (how can there be multiple?), then there is the one Source, is there not? Does it really matter if one or more traditions sprang from that Source, if these traditions split and split again or if at some point, there was a new, but direct link to the Source? So Bizzi’s Tradition is another (older) one than that of initiatic organisations or religious traditions of today, that does not really answer the question that is asked in the title.
That said, Bizzi’s approach to the subject is somewhat different and therefor ‘refreshing’. Even though I do not agree with everything he writes, the book is somewhat interesting.
2023 Edizioni Aurora Boreale, isbn 979-1255044178
