The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion

The legends and rites associated with the Phrygian god Attis bear similarities to those surrounding Adonis. Attis was a handsome young herdsman who was loved by Cybele, the Mother of the Gods, who may have been his mother. He may have been killed by a boar, like Adonis, or he may have died after castrating himself at the foot of a pine tree. In commemoration of this latter version of the myth, the priests of Attis were often castrated to become eunuchs. The cults of Cybele and, presumably, Attis were adopted by the Romans in 204 BC.

During the spring festival of Cybele and Attis, a sacred pine tree was selected and decorated with wreaths of violets, flowers believed to have sprung from the blood of Attis. On the third day, the priest and other clergy drew blood and scattered it on the altar and the tree. This may have been the occasion on which the novice priests were castrated. This parallels other traditions of creating eunuch priests in the service of Artemis of Ephesus and Astarte of Hierapolis. This “Day of Blood” was followed by a carnivalesque celebration of the god or goddess’s resurrection.

During the same period, individual worshippers could undergo an initiation ritual during which a sacramental meal was followed by baptism in the blood of a bull.