CISTA MISTICA. — A container of interwoven wicker in the shape of a cylindrical box, with a lid.
Originally it was not a cultic object; only in Demosthenes and Theocritus is the word found used in connection with worship. An essential element of the ancient Greek mysteries, it was intended to conceal from the eyes of the uninitiated the sacred and mysterious objects revealed to the initiates during initiation. It is often depicted on monuments and coins; sometimes a serpent emerges from II.