The Ancient Mysteries

The Ancient Mysteries are a fascinating topic that date back to the origin of the universe itself. We are aware that there were mystery schools in Egypt thousands of years ago, and knowledge from these schools was passed along through individual instruction to Greece, India, and later to the West. Key individuals throughout history had journeyed to Egypt at various points, received instruction in the mysteries, and later brought them back to their own lands. Some even started their own mystery schools to perpetuate the tradition. But where did the mysteries originate? Were they discovered by humanity, or passed along by others for our subsequent discovery?

There is a fascinated passage within the book Ponder On This that was originally retrieved from The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 330/2, and The Reappearance of the Christ, pp. 122/5 that describes the origin and purpose of the mysteries:

“These ancient mysteries were originally given to humanity by the Hierarchy, and were - in their turn - received by the Hierarchy from the Great White Lodge on Sirius. They contain the clue to the evolutionary process, hidden in numbers and in words; they veil the secret of man’s origin and destiny, picturing for him in rite and ritual the long, long path which he must tread. They provide also, when rightly interpreted and correctly presented, the teaching which humanity needs in order to progress from darkness to Light, from the unreal to the Real, and from death to Immortality…

The Mysteries will be restored in other ways also, for they contain much besides that which the Masonic rites can reveal, or that religious rituals and ceremonies can disclose; they contain within their teaching and formulas, the key to the science which will unlock the mystery of electricity…; though much progress has already been made by science along this line, it is as yet only embryonic in nature, ,and only when the Hierarchy is present visibly on Earth, and the Mysteries of which the Masters  are the Custodians are given openly to man, will the true secret and nature of electrical phenomena be revealed.

The Mysteries are, in reality, the true source of revelation, and it can be only when the mind and the will-to-good are closely blended and conditioning human behaviour, that the extent of the coming revelation will be grasped, for only then can humanity be trusted with these secrets. They concern those capacities which enable the Members of the Hierarchy to work consciously with the energies of the planet and of the solar system, and to control forces within the planet; They will put the ordinary psychic powers (today so stupidly approached and so little understood), in the their rightful place, and guide man towards their helpful usage.

The Mysteries will restore colour and music as they essentially are to the world, and do it in such a manner that the creative art of today will be to this new creative art, what a child’s building of wooden blocks is to a great cathedral, such as Durham or Milan. The Mysteries, when restored, will make real - in a sense incomprehensible to you at present - the nature of religion, the purpose of science, and the goal of education. These are not what you think today.

The ground is being prepared at this time for this great restoration. The Churches and Masonry are today before the judgment seat of humanity’s critical mind, and the word has gone forth from the mass mind, that both of them failed in their divinely assigned tasks. It is realised everywhere that new life must be poured in, and great changes wrought in the awareness and the training of those who work through and in these two media of truth. Those changes have not yet been carried out, for it will take a new vision and a new approach and to life experience, and this only the coming generation is capable of giving; they and they alone can bring about the needed alterations and the revitalisation, but it can and will be done.

“That which is a mystery shall no longer be so, and that which has been veiled will now be revealed; that which has been withdrawn, will emerge in light, and all men shall see, and together they shall rejoice. That time will come when desolation has wrought its beneficent work, when all things have been destroyed, and men, through suffering, have sought to be impressed by that which they had discarded in vain pursuit of that which was near at hand and easy of attainment. Possessed it proved to be an agency of death - yet men sought life, not death.”

So runs the Old Commentary when referring to the present cycle through which mankind is passing.”

-Ponder On This (Pages 19 - 21)

I am continually intrigued by the subject of the Ancient Mysteries, perhaps even more so in the context of the preceding passage. A number of subjects within this passage stand out:

• The Great White Lodge on Sirius
• Clues to the evolutionary process hidden in numbers and words
• Unlocking the mystery of electricity
• The Mysteries as a true source of revelation
• Alignment of the mind and will-to-good
• Restoration of color and music
• The true nature of religion, the purpose of science, and the goal of education
• Restoration of Masonry and the Church as messengers of truth

As with her other works, Ms. Bailey provides some intriguing information that is truly worth pondering over.

First, I have always found the Great White Lodge to be a fascinating topic. The idea that the Lodge originates in Sirius and has passed along veiled information to humanity in order to expedite our progress along the evolutionary Path is an intriguing one. The veiled information, hidden in numbers and words, is available for humanity to find should we be willing to spend the time and effort to pursue such an endeavor. Pieces of the veiled information may be present within all religion as well as the mystical and occult traditions throughout our world. This veiled information may exist piecemeal across various groups and traditions, awaiting the discovery by worthy candidates.

Next, the unlocking of the mystery of electricity is a fascinating topic as well. Our knowledge of electricity has been around for a long time as described by research scientists at University of California Santa Barbara:

• 600 BC: Electrical charge in static electricity discovered by the Greeks.
• 1600 AD: English physicist William Gilbert writes books on the attractive nature of amber and uses the Latin word “electricus” to describe it.
• 1752 AD: Ben Franklin’s kite experiment proves that lightning and tiny electric sparks were the same thing.
• 1800 AD: Alessandro Volta discovered that a kind of electrical potential between two metals could cause an electrical charge to flow through a metal wire like water flowing through a pipe.
• Later scientists such as Michael Faraday and Nikola Tesla built upon this early work.

One of the more interesting aspects of the information presented by the UC Santa Barbara research scientists is:

“Electricity has been known to exist from thousands of years, because we know from texts that Egyptians knew of shocks from some electric fish.”

Beyond awareness of the electrical currents within fish, the ancient Egyptians very well may have known about and even mastered electrical currents through their studies of the Ancient Mysteries.

So really, electricity, or our knowledge of electricity has been around for a really, really long time. So what more will a study of the Ancient Mysteries reveal concerning electricity? Perhaps it has something to do with the work on wireless electricity conducted by Nikola Tesla. Although I am aware of companies pursuing wireless power, to the best of my knowledge they have not achieved the same level of demonstration as Tesla. Whereas present day companies are charging mobile phones on a charging pad within a few inches or feet, Tesla was lighting bulbs from miles away in Colorado. Perhaps Tesla had an innate understanding of the essence of electricity, and when we discover that as well, our whole understanding and world will change. Tesla claimed that he lit 200 light bulbs at a distance of 26 miles in 1899.

Beyond a deeper understand and mastery of electrical phenomenon, the study and uncovering of the Ancient Mysteries will be a true source of revelation, perhaps across all knowledge. This may be part of what we are seeing with the rapid change by which our society is presently undergoing across all industries. Consider this: the average lifespan of a S&P 500 company is now 18 years, as opposed to 61 years in 1958. Perhaps we are beginning to scratch the surface of the mysteries within ourselves and nature.

A hindrance to the disclosure of the knowledge contained within the Ancient Mysteries is the lack of alignment between the mind and will-to-good. Simply stated, this just means humanity in general has not overcome their dominance based on physical and emotional urges. The average individual is not the master of their physical body, emotions, and intellect. Rather, the average individual is ruled by their instinct, physical urges, emotions, and/or intellect.

It is all a question of control and motive. Dr. Stephen Greer within the documentary Sirius had reported that wrong motive was a concern among higher entities, specifically extraterrestrials. Dr. Greer had stated within this documentary that in general extraterrestrials avoid humanity for fear of warlike tendencies, or the capture and use of their technologies for warlike purposes. He had also made reference to a planetary quarantine imposed upon humanity until we evolve beyond aggressiveness and can use the technology peacefully. This lines up nicely with the idea of aligning the mind and will-to-good. Humanity in general will only evolve to a certain point until we have demonstrated mastery of our physical bodies, emotions, and intellect, and the ability to demonstrate that we have the capacity to put to use technologies and powers for the overall benefit of humanity and the environment.

Next, the restoration of color and music may allude to the music of the spheres or something to that effect; the idea that each individual or entity possesses a unique color and tone. Perhaps as we unlock this mystery, so to will our unique contribution to the universe be revealed as well. An interesting treatment of the individual tones inherent to each human as well as the role of music within the universal scheme may be found in the book The Harmony of the Spheres: A Sourcebook of the Pythagorean Tradition in Music by Jocelyn Godwin which is available for purchase at the Celestial Source Bookstore.

The true nature of religion, the purpose of science, and the goal of education may also be an allusion to instruments used to unlock the latent potential existent within all humanity. Once unlocked, humanity will unfold at an increased rate as well as intuitively know their creative role within the expansion of the universe at large.

The final point which we have chosen to discuss is the restoration of Masonry and the Church as messengers of truth. One of the key truths we have discovered from our spiritual studies is that all religion and spirituality is basically describing the same one thing, but from different aspects. Just as a diamond has many facets, so to does the truth and mysteries of the universe. Depending upon which facet is viewed and from what angle, the light will appear differently, as viewed from the differing perspective. An interesting book  the provides an example of how perspective changes the viewing of a single point within the context of Masonry and religion is Freemasonry and Catholicism.