greater mysteries, great university, mystery schools

“Just as the Lesser Mysteries discusses the prenatal epoch of man when the consciousness in its nine days was descended into the realm of illusion and assuming the veil of unreality, so the Greater Mysteries discussed the principles of spiritual regeneration and revealed to initiates not only the simplest but also the most direct and complete method of liberating their higher natures from the bondage of material ignorance. Like Prometheus chained to the top of Mount Caucasus, man’s higher nature is chained to his inadequate personality. The nine days of initiation were also symbolic of the nine spheres through which the human soul descends during the process of assuming a terrestrial form.” ~Manly P. Hall

Lesser and Greater Mysteries

There is something about spiritual development teachings that is not well-known. And many who have heard of this, simply don’t accept it, which is unfortunate. It is that there are essentially two levels of spiritual teachings. Hall calls them the lesser and greater teachings. They could also be called beginner teachings and advanced teachings. The difference between the two is not like going from first grade to second grade. It is more like going from a basic first-aid class to learning to be a medical doctor.

Those mysteries in the lesser category are often revealed to the public. Most of the greater mysteries are secret. Students are required to take a vow of secrecy before any of those mysteries can be revealed to them. In some ancient mystery schools, students would be severely punished for revealing them. At the very least, they are kicked out of the school. Unfortunately, many modern spiritual schools are run by people who themselves were never exposed to the greater mysteries. There schools can only teach the lesser mysteries as that is all they know. Naturally, they don’t tell their students that. That tell the students they are teaching all the mysteries.

Spiritual Regeneration

Hall says the greater mysteries dealt with principles of spiritual regeneration. What could he mean by that? Don’t we have a spirit and soul already? Yes, we do. But we come into the material world with those spiritual faculties in a dormant state. They can’t really be of any benefit to us as long as they remain dormant. So the purpose of the greater mysteries is to first, awaken those faculties, make them conscious. This is something far more than the simple recognition that the realm of matter is illusion and the realm of spirit is reality. That is a first step, but true awakening is more.

And the job is not done with awakening. That is like thinking that a newborn baby is fully developed. The newly awakened spirit and soul must be developed. Not in the same way that the body and mind are developed, but something similar with a more spiritual twist. Their frequencies need to be gradually increased and their level of consciousness increased. This is done primarily by taking in energy from the spiritual sun. The details of how to do that remain secret unless you are a student of the greater mysteries in a school that actually teaches them.

The Prometheus Allegory

There is more to the legend of Prometheus than most of us know. The part we do know is that Zeus punished him by having him chained to the side of a mountain where an eagle would attack him and eat his liver every day. At night, it would grow back. The next day, the same thing would happen.

While this gory tale sounds sick, it s allegorical, not literal. Prometheus was a champion of man among the Greek gods. As such, he represents man in this tale. Being chained to a mountain or a rock symbolized man’s being mentally “chained” to matter. Because most of us stay trapped in matter, and do little to go beyond it, we lose our spiritual strength every day symbolized by Prometheus having his liver eater. Having it grow back indicates that even though we are trapped in the realm of matter, we can awaken our spiritual faculties and escape. So make the effort to learn those Greater Mysteries.


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