Chapter 4 - The Ancient Mysteries
"The One Who Knows The Secret Does Not Speak.
The One Who Speaks Does Not Know The Secret."
Alice Bailey, one of the key members of the New Age religion, wrote: "There is no question therefore that the work to be done in familiarizing the general public with the nature of the Mysteries is of paramount importance at this time. These Mysteries will be restored to outer expression through the medium of the Church and the Masonic Fraternity." 88 The question of just what the Ancient Mysteries were was answered, in part, by Albert G. Mackey, another 33rd degree Mason, in his two volume work entitled ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FREEMASONRY. He wrote this under the subject of the Ancient Mysteries: "Each of the pagan gods... had, besides the public and open, a secret worship paid to him to which none were admitted but those who had been selected by preparatory ceremonies called Initiation.
This secret worship was termed the Mysteries." 89
The student of the Masonic Order can know that when Mr. Mackey writes, his writings can be relied upon. He is considered to be one of the premier Masonic authors of all time. These are the comments from the biographical information presented on Mr. Mackey in the front of his ENCYCLOPAEDIA: "... his writings are universally esteemed for their sincerity, honest records and common sense. [He was] a leader in research... who valued accuracy." 90
Carl Claudy, another Mason who writes on the subject of the Lodge, also has words of praise for Mr. Mackey: "[He was] one of the greatest students and most widely followed authorities the Masonic world has ever known." 91
And in his book entitled, INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY, he praised Mr. Mackey with these words: "Albert Gallatin Mackey: one of the greatest students and most widely followed authorities the Masonic world has known. [He is] the great Master of Freemasonry." 92
So Mr. Mackey can be believed when he tells his readers that the worship of pagan gods had a secret, non-visible worship besides the public one. The reader can believe him when he identifies the name
of this secret worship. He told his readers: "This secret worship was termed the Mysteries."
Another who has written about the subject of the Ancient Mysteries was Manly P. Hall, another 33rd degree Mason. He has written in his book entitled, WHAT THE ANCIENT WISDOM EXPECTS OF ITS DISCIPLES: "In the remote past the gods walked with men and... they chose from among the sons of men the wisest and the truest.
With these specially ordained and illumined sons they left the keys of their great wisdom, which was the knowledge of good and evil. [This will be examined later.]
... these illumined ones, founded what we know as the Ancient Mysteries." 93
He wrote additional comments about these mysteries in another of the books he has written, called THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES: "The arcana [defined as being a secret or hidden knowledge] of the Ancient Mysteries were never revealed to the profane [defined as those not initiated into the inner mysteries] except through the media of symbols. Symbolism fulfilled the dual office of concealing the sacred truths from the uninitiated and revealing to those qualified to understand the symbols." 94
Mr. Hall dedicated the latter book to: "the proposition that concealed within the emblematic figures, allegories and rituals of the ancients is a secret doctrine concerning the inner mysteries of life, which doctrine has been preserved in toto [in the whole] among a small band of initiated minds since the beginning of the world." 95 He went on to mention that the Mysteries: "were secret societies, binding their initiates to inviolable secrecy, and avenging with death the betrayal of their sacred trusts." 96
Mr. Hall told the reader that no one is to know the identity of those who have received the secrets. He wrote: "The true Adept and Initiate shall reveal his identity to no man, unless that one is worthy to receive it." 97
He further explained where some of these initiates lived, when he wrote: "... no reasonable doubt can exist that the initiates of Greece, Egypt, and other ancient countries possessed the correct solutions to those great cultural, intellectual, moral, and social problems which in an unsolved state confront the humanity of the twentieth century." 98 He further amplified that thought when he added: "Neo-Platonism [defined by Mr. Hall as a school founded by Plotinus around 240 A.D., concerning itself with the problems of metaphysics, the study of knowledge] recognized the existence of a secret and all-important doctrine which from the time of the earliest civilizations had been concealed within the rituals, symbols and allegories of religions and philosophies.""
So, in summary, it is possible to understand what these Ancient Mysteries were. There appear to be at least four truths gleaned from the information provided in the comments made above. Those truths appear to be:
1. The Ancient Mysteries had two forms of worshipping the same god.
2. The knowledge of the true god was reserved for those who had been entrusted with the secrets.
3. Those who understood those secrets were sworn to the strictest secrecy.
4. Those who had knowledge of the secrets claimed to possess all of the answers to all of the problems of mankind.
There was an additional secret for the secret bearers: they had to be initiated in a private initiation ceremony. Albert Pike wrote a little about it: "Initiation was considered to be a mystical death; and the perfect Epopt was then said to be regenerated, newborn, restored to a renovated existence of life, light and purity." 100
In fact, this "new born" experience is similar to the experience the "born again" Christians go through. The Christians call their experience a second birth, just as the Masons do. In fact, Albert Pike calls a similar ceremony a "born again" experience.
He wrote: "In the Indian Mysteries, the Third degree, the Initiate is said to be 'born again.'" 101
The ceremony in the ancient mysteries has been described by the Masonic writer Manly P. Hall: "In the ancient system of initiation, the truth seeker must pass through a second birth, and those who attained this exalted state were known thereafter as 'the twice born.'
This new birth... must be personally earned through a complete regeneration of character and conduct." 102 This "new birth" ceremony involves a symbolic death, according to the Mason Kenneth Mackenzie. He wrote: "In the ancient mysteries, the aspirant could not participate in the highest secrets until he had been placed in the Coffin.
In this he was symbolically said to die, and his resurrection was to the light." 103
Modern day Masons participate in an almost similar ceremony to the one described by these Masonic writers. In the Third Degree, called the Master Mason degree, inside the Blue Lodge, the candidate is actually knocked off of his feet by several of the Masons in attendance. He is wrapped up in a blanket and moved to the western end of the Temple.
There, after further ceremony, he is "raised up" by a secret grip called "The Master's grip, or the lion's paw." 104
Those who learned the mysteries also learned that they had a secret project, one that was described by Albert Pike in his book entitled, MORALS AND DOGMA. Mr. Pike wrote: "Behold our object, the end, the result, of the great speculations... of antiquity; the ultimate annihilation of evil, and restoration
of Man to his first estate, by a Redeemer, a Masayah, a Christos, the incarnate Word, Reason, or Power of Deity." 105
Mr. Hall told his readers that those who had been initiated into the mysteries were the secret power behind the governments of the past. He wrote this about these ancient initiates in his book entitled, WHAT THE ANCIENT WISDOM EXPECTS OF ITS DISCIPLES: "[they]... are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while the invisible ones pull the strings. We see the dancer, but the master mind that does the work remains concealed by the cloak of silence." 106
Other writers have confirmed the thoughts of Mr. Hall. A Masonic scholar named George Steinmetz also acknowledged that these mysteries exist, and that some of the members inside the Masonic lodges are custodians of the secrets. He has written this in his book entitled, FREEMASONRY, ITS HIDDEN MEANING: "Ancient secret doctrine, which is concealed in Masonic allegory and symbolism... It was but to preserve these truths for future generations that Masonry was perpetuated." 107
Another who has officially connected the Ancient Mysteries to the Masonic Order was Manly P. Hall, who wrote this: "Much of the ritualism of Freemasonry is based on the trials to which candidates were subjected by the ancient hierophants [defined as the high priests of the mysteries] before the keys of wisdom were enthroned to them." 108
The Ancient Mysteries had a beginning, according to Mr. Mackey. He wrote about where they started: "The first of which... are those of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. The most important of these mysteries were the Osiric in Egypt." 109
Another writer, Edmond Ronayne, an ex-Mason, confirmed that the Masons were involved in the worship of Osiris, when he wrote this in his book entitled, THE MASTERS CARPET:
Masonry's "... ceremonies, symbols, and the celebrated legend of Hiram in the Master Mason's degree, were directly borrowed from the 'Ancient Mysteries,' or the secret worship of Baal, Osiris or Tammuz." 110 Albert Pike then detailed where the mysteries went after their beginnings in Egypt. He wrote this in MORALS AND DOGMA: "From Egypt, the Mysteries went to Phoenicia, and were celebrated at Tyre. Osiris changed his name, and became Adoni or Dionusos, still the representative of the sun. In Greece and Sicily, Osiris took the name of Bacchus..." 111
So the Ancient Mysteries conceal an important mystery kept secret from the average person. The mystics claim that this mystery has been concealed from the world for centuries.
Even though they had taken the mystery to other continents, those who believed in this religion were yet to take it to America.
That was yet to come.
"The One Who Knows The Secret Does Not Speak.
The One Who Speaks Does Not Know The Secret."
Alice Bailey, one of the key members of the New Age religion, wrote: "There is no question therefore that the work to be done in familiarizing the general public with the nature of the Mysteries is of paramount importance at this time. These Mysteries will be restored to outer expression through the medium of the Church and the Masonic Fraternity." 88 The question of just what the Ancient Mysteries were was answered, in part, by Albert G. Mackey, another 33rd degree Mason, in his two volume work entitled ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FREEMASONRY. He wrote this under the subject of the Ancient Mysteries: "Each of the pagan gods... had, besides the public and open, a secret worship paid to him to which none were admitted but those who had been selected by preparatory ceremonies called Initiation.
This secret worship was termed the Mysteries." 89
The student of the Masonic Order can know that when Mr. Mackey writes, his writings can be relied upon. He is considered to be one of the premier Masonic authors of all time. These are the comments from the biographical information presented on Mr. Mackey in the front of his ENCYCLOPAEDIA: "... his writings are universally esteemed for their sincerity, honest records and common sense. [He was] a leader in research... who valued accuracy." 90
Carl Claudy, another Mason who writes on the subject of the Lodge, also has words of praise for Mr. Mackey: "[He was] one of the greatest students and most widely followed authorities the Masonic world has ever known." 91
And in his book entitled, INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY, he praised Mr. Mackey with these words: "Albert Gallatin Mackey: one of the greatest students and most widely followed authorities the Masonic world has known. [He is] the great Master of Freemasonry." 92
So Mr. Mackey can be believed when he tells his readers that the worship of pagan gods had a secret, non-visible worship besides the public one. The reader can believe him when he identifies the name
of this secret worship. He told his readers: "This secret worship was termed the Mysteries."
Another who has written about the subject of the Ancient Mysteries was Manly P. Hall, another 33rd degree Mason. He has written in his book entitled, WHAT THE ANCIENT WISDOM EXPECTS OF ITS DISCIPLES: "In the remote past the gods walked with men and... they chose from among the sons of men the wisest and the truest.
With these specially ordained and illumined sons they left the keys of their great wisdom, which was the knowledge of good and evil. [This will be examined later.]
... these illumined ones, founded what we know as the Ancient Mysteries." 93
He wrote additional comments about these mysteries in another of the books he has written, called THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES: "The arcana [defined as being a secret or hidden knowledge] of the Ancient Mysteries were never revealed to the profane [defined as those not initiated into the inner mysteries] except through the media of symbols. Symbolism fulfilled the dual office of concealing the sacred truths from the uninitiated and revealing to those qualified to understand the symbols." 94
Mr. Hall dedicated the latter book to: "the proposition that concealed within the emblematic figures, allegories and rituals of the ancients is a secret doctrine concerning the inner mysteries of life, which doctrine has been preserved in toto [in the whole] among a small band of initiated minds since the beginning of the world." 95 He went on to mention that the Mysteries: "were secret societies, binding their initiates to inviolable secrecy, and avenging with death the betrayal of their sacred trusts." 96
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Mr. Hall told the reader that no one is to know the identity of those who have received the secrets. He wrote: "The true Adept and Initiate shall reveal his identity to no man, unless that one is worthy to receive it." 97
He further explained where some of these initiates lived, when he wrote: "... no reasonable doubt can exist that the initiates of Greece, Egypt, and other ancient countries possessed the correct solutions to those great cultural, intellectual, moral, and social problems which in an unsolved state confront the humanity of the twentieth century." 98 He further amplified that thought when he added: "Neo-Platonism [defined by Mr. Hall as a school founded by Plotinus around 240 A.D., concerning itself with the problems of metaphysics, the study of knowledge] recognized the existence of a secret and all-important doctrine which from the time of the earliest civilizations had been concealed within the rituals, symbols and allegories of religions and philosophies.""
So, in summary, it is possible to understand what these Ancient Mysteries were. There appear to be at least four truths gleaned from the information provided in the comments made above. Those truths appear to be:
1. The Ancient Mysteries had two forms of worshipping the same god.
2. The knowledge of the true god was reserved for those who had been entrusted with the secrets.
3. Those who understood those secrets were sworn to the strictest secrecy.
4. Those who had knowledge of the secrets claimed to possess all of the answers to all of the problems of mankind.
There was an additional secret for the secret bearers: they had to be initiated in a private initiation ceremony. Albert Pike wrote a little about it: "Initiation was considered to be a mystical death; and the perfect Epopt was then said to be regenerated, newborn, restored to a renovated existence of life, light and purity." 100
In fact, this "new born" experience is similar to the experience the "born again" Christians go through. The Christians call their experience a second birth, just as the Masons do. In fact, Albert Pike calls a similar ceremony a "born again" experience.
He wrote: "In the Indian Mysteries, the Third degree, the Initiate is said to be 'born again.'" 101
The ceremony in the ancient mysteries has been described by the Masonic writer Manly P. Hall: "In the ancient system of initiation, the truth seeker must pass through a second birth, and those who attained this exalted state were known thereafter as 'the twice born.'
This new birth... must be personally earned through a complete regeneration of character and conduct." 102 This "new birth" ceremony involves a symbolic death, according to the Mason Kenneth Mackenzie. He wrote: "In the ancient mysteries, the aspirant could not participate in the highest secrets until he had been placed in the Coffin.
In this he was symbolically said to die, and his resurrection was to the light." 103
Modern day Masons participate in an almost similar ceremony to the one described by these Masonic writers. In the Third Degree, called the Master Mason degree, inside the Blue Lodge, the candidate is actually knocked off of his feet by several of the Masons in attendance. He is wrapped up in a blanket and moved to the western end of the Temple.
There, after further ceremony, he is "raised up" by a secret grip called "The Master's grip, or the lion's paw." 104
Those who learned the mysteries also learned that they had a secret project, one that was described by Albert Pike in his book entitled, MORALS AND DOGMA. Mr. Pike wrote: "Behold our object, the end, the result, of the great speculations... of antiquity; the ultimate annihilation of evil, and restoration
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of Man to his first estate, by a Redeemer, a Masayah, a Christos, the incarnate Word, Reason, or Power of Deity." 105
Mr. Hall told his readers that those who had been initiated into the mysteries were the secret power behind the governments of the past. He wrote this about these ancient initiates in his book entitled, WHAT THE ANCIENT WISDOM EXPECTS OF ITS DISCIPLES: "[they]... are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while the invisible ones pull the strings. We see the dancer, but the master mind that does the work remains concealed by the cloak of silence." 106
Other writers have confirmed the thoughts of Mr. Hall. A Masonic scholar named George Steinmetz also acknowledged that these mysteries exist, and that some of the members inside the Masonic lodges are custodians of the secrets. He has written this in his book entitled, FREEMASONRY, ITS HIDDEN MEANING: "Ancient secret doctrine, which is concealed in Masonic allegory and symbolism... It was but to preserve these truths for future generations that Masonry was perpetuated." 107
Another who has officially connected the Ancient Mysteries to the Masonic Order was Manly P. Hall, who wrote this: "Much of the ritualism of Freemasonry is based on the trials to which candidates were subjected by the ancient hierophants [defined as the high priests of the mysteries] before the keys of wisdom were enthroned to them." 108
The Ancient Mysteries had a beginning, according to Mr. Mackey. He wrote about where they started: "The first of which... are those of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. The most important of these mysteries were the Osiric in Egypt." 109
Another writer, Edmond Ronayne, an ex-Mason, confirmed that the Masons were involved in the worship of Osiris, when he wrote this in his book entitled, THE MASTERS CARPET:
Masonry's "... ceremonies, symbols, and the celebrated legend of Hiram in the Master Mason's degree, were directly borrowed from the 'Ancient Mysteries,' or the secret worship of Baal, Osiris or Tammuz." 110 Albert Pike then detailed where the mysteries went after their beginnings in Egypt. He wrote this in MORALS AND DOGMA: "From Egypt, the Mysteries went to Phoenicia, and were celebrated at Tyre. Osiris changed his name, and became Adoni or Dionusos, still the representative of the sun. In Greece and Sicily, Osiris took the name of Bacchus..." 111
So the Ancient Mysteries conceal an important mystery kept secret from the average person. The mystics claim that this mystery has been concealed from the world for centuries.
Even though they had taken the mystery to other continents, those who believed in this religion were yet to take it to America.
That was yet to come.
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