"And so long as you have not grasped this — Die and become! you are but a dim guest upon the dark earth." - Goethe, Selige Sehnsucht, from West-östlicher Divan "Adam, our first Parent, created after the Image of God, the great Architect of the Universe, must have had the Liberal Sciences, particularly Geometry, written on his Heart; for even since the Fall, we find the Principles of it in the Hearts of his Offspring." - James Anderson, The Constitutions of the Free-Masons (1723)
The Mystery School: Gateway to the Living Tradition
Book VIII traces the Mystery School as the vessel of initiation: from the ancient rites and temple schools, through chivalric, Rosicrucian, Masonic, and occult orders, into the Royal Art as a wholistic Mystery School for the modern seeker.
- The Mystery School: Path of Initiation
- I. The Gate of the Mysteries
- II. The Universal Pattern of Initiation
- Initiation, Death, and Rebirth
- III. The Ancient Mysteries
- IV. Paideia: Education
- V. Guild, Craft, Geometry, and the Operative Tradition
- VI. The Knights Templar and Chivalric Orders
- VII. Freemasonry and the Building of the Temple
- VIII. The Fraternity of the Rose-Cross
- The Rose
- Crowley, The A∴A∴
- IX. Modern Occult Orders and the Reorganization of the Mysteries
- X. Arcana, Secrecy, and the Language of the Mysteries
The Mystery School: Path of Initiation
The Mystery School is the vessel of transmission: lineage becomes order, myth becomes rite, symbol becomes degree, knowledge becomes initiation, craft becomes discipline, the Temple becomes lodge, the Quest becomes vow, and the hidden Tradition becomes a living brotherhood.
I. The Gate of the Mysteries
The Castle of the MysteriesThe Mystery SchoolThe MysteriesInitiates of the MysteriesUnknown Superiors, Secret Chiefs & Ascended MastersII. The Universal Pattern of Initiation
InitiationThe Universal Initiatic MythAscending to God: The Immortal QuestThe Mountain of InitiationMystery Plays, Initiation CeremoniesInitiation & Death by Tommy WestlundInitiations of the Body, Soul & SpiritSelf-InitiationThe 7 Steps of InitiationThree Degrees, Three Baptisms…PalingenesisThe Rite of the PhoenixThe Cocoon of SilenceThe Greater & Lesser MysteriesThe Page, the Squire, the Knight, the Prince & the KingInitiation, Death, and Rebirth
Dying-and-rising godKatabasis: The Journey to the Underworld
Immortality: Physical & Spiritual
III. The Ancient Mysteries
Pythagoras: Pythagorean Mysteries
The Essenes: Children of the Light
Greek and Hellenistic mystery traditions
The Eleusinian synthema (the password of the mysteries)
"I fasted; I drank the kykeon; I took from the chest; having done my task, I placed in the basket, and from the basket into the chest." - The Eleusinian formula (preserved in Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus II.21)
"Nature loves to hide." - Heraclitus, Fragment 123 (physis kryptesthai philei)
IV. Paideia: Education
PhilosophyPhilosophical ArchitectureFoundations of PhilosophyThe True, The Beautiful, & The GoodHaving a clear and comprehensive cosmology, metaphysics, ….The Questions of PhilosophyYour Own Understanding of the Universethe two-level ontology and the two-level truth criterionWhat is Intelligence?True EducationA Classical EducationPaideiaThe Laws of ExistenceV. Guild, Craft, Geometry, and the Operative Tradition
The Western Way: GuildsThe Guild / Sacred Craft TraditionSacred Geometry, The Building of the Temple & the Perfection of the StoneThe Mystery of the CathedralsNaometria: Temple MeasurementTemplumThe FoundationBuilding The Temple in The KingdomVI. The Knights Templar and Chivalric Orders
The Knights Templar: The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of SolomonThe TempleisenKyot: Grail PoetKnightly Chivalric OrdersChivalric Occult OrdersTemplar RitesThe Templar Roots of FreemasonryThe Cathars & AlbigensiansThe BaphometRosslyn ChapelVII. Freemasonry and the Building of the Temple
FreemasonryThe Lost Word of MasonryThe Legend of Hiram AbiffThe Royal ArchMasonic Identification: Sign, Grip, & WordThe York & Scottish RitesFreemason GlossaryEgyptian Roots of FreemasonryThe Sacred Vault of EnochThe Emerald Tablet of Hermes — found after the Flood in the Valley of HebronHebrew & Hermetic TraditionThe Two Pillars of Hermes"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"G: The Great Architect of the UniverseA Mythic Fable of FreemasonryThe Well of SoulsTemple Cosmology: The Temple as MicrocosmThe Third Temple: The Temple of the Holy SpiritJachin & BoazThe Tau CrossThe Double-Headed EagleThe Acacia SprgSon of the Widow