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[German version] (κλειδοῦχος; kleidoûchos, ‘Holder of the keys’) referred to the person who had the keys to the house (Eur. Tro. 492), or the priest or priestess who held the keys to the temple (Aesch. Supp. 291). Some cults assigned a symbolic significance to this function (on Carian Hecate cults [1; 2]). Sometimes kleidoûchos was an epiclesis of a deity as well, in particular of Hecate in her soteriological role in the mysticism of late antiquity (such as Procl. In Platonis rem publicam vol. 2, 212,7 Kroll; Orph. H. 1,7; more in [2]). Kleidoûchos was also the Pythagorean term for the …

[German version] I. Mesopotamia The cult of the dead in Mesopotamia is documented in written as well as archaeological sources. In the written sources, the term kispum is used for the act of supplying the dead with food and drink (monthly or bimonthly). An important part of the ritual was the ‘calling of the name’ [3. 163] ─ kispum thus served to ensure not only the existence but also the identity of the dead in the  Underworld. In the absence of the cult of the dead, the Underworld changed into a dark, inhospitable place. The living also had an inter…

[German version] (θεουργία/ t heourgía), from Greek 'divine' ( theîos) and 'work' ( érgon): 'divinely oriented actions'. During the first few cents. AD, there arose a number of religious movements that combined elements of Platonic philosophy, practices drawn from traditional cult, and newer doctrines that adherents claimed were revealed to them directly by the gods. One of the most influential of these movements was Theurgie, which emphasized worshipping the gods through ritual. Theurgie was said to have been founded by a certain Julian, who came to be known as 't…