The devotee who gives everything and is buried and returns
Warning
His ecstasy and his loss are one rite
Resonance
Those in total devotion those who have given something irreversible
Symbols
PineDrumIvyCymbals
Mythology Summary
Attis is the consort of Cybele who castrates himself in a frenzy beneath a pine tree, dies and is mourned and rejoiced over in the spring rites of the Hilaria. His myth is the ancient pattern of the dying god and the cost of total devotion.
Modern Practice
Attis is approached with care: his rites are mourning followed by rejoicing, and his practice is fasting and return. He is not a god to invoke casually for grief, because the grief in the story is enacted rather than witnessed.