to the mysteries of were covered with a bear skin during their initiation. The mysterial rites re-enacting the birth of were represented in myth by his building of a cave dwelling at the same time as he was preaching to the Thracian aristocrats the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, after which suddenly disappeared from the Thracians, and hid from his tribe in this cave for three years. The Thracians were grieved at 's loss and mourned him as if he were dead, but on the fourth year he gathered his tribe in this cave and appeared to them in a mythical equivalent of a mysterial rite re-enacting his own birth. Similarly to the Orphic mysteries, the participants of the cult of gathered in a special house where only men gathered. Since the ancient Thracians were a highly patriarchal society, women were not allowed to participate in these rituals, and the very sanctuary of was forbidden to women. Since the mysteries were carried out in secret, little is known about the precise rituals involved during these religious ceremonies, although it is known that their essential doctrine was that of immortality and followed the myth of , which itself was an example of the passage of man into the afterlife through the threshold of death. Cultic personnel Among the Thracians, the Ctistae and the Kapnobatai were ascetic sects whose members were dedicated to the gods and lived celibate lives without women. These ascetics lived peacefully and were vegetarians who subsisted only on honey, milk and cheese. The Ctistae's and Capnobatae's abstention from eating any living being, not even the animals in their flocks was derived from their belief in the transmigration of souls. The Ctistae and the Capnobatae were highly respected and lived carefree lives without any fear because they had been initiated in the secrets of the mystery cult and were the ones who organised the male-only rituals. Temple worship The common people of Thrace were forbidden from participating in the mystery rites held in the mountains, and were allowed to worship only in the temples. In sanctuaries to , a priest would chant incantations in front of the stone altar to summon the goddess to appear to her worshippers during the ceremony. According to Macrobius, was worshipped in his temple on the hill of with "magnificent faith and reverence," and the god was called "Apollo" at noon and