Across the Internet, you see about as much mention of Mystery Religions as you do Gnosticism, some promoting them, others horrified by them. Let me try to explain.
Among the Ancient cultures, many taught, not by discourse, not by liturgy, but by initiation. Someone wishing to learn about a certain sect was led through a series of steps, each preparing him for the next and finally culminating in the full revelation of whatever truth they claimed to have. The idea was that some truths just have to be experienced. In this way, they bore a loose resemblance to Gnosticism, but there was a difference. The 'truth' revealed in the Mysteries led the initiate to adapt to the World, not ready himself for departure, and there is the danger.
Inevitably, no matter how well intentioned the founders of the Mystery cult were, they degenerated to systems of control. In leading the initiate through the steps, they broke down, his personality and remolded them in the way that suited the Priests of the cult. To tell of the Mysteries procedures and truths was almost always a crime punishable by death.
To be honest, we know almost nothing about the exact steps in any of the initiations or of the supposed 'truths' revealed because almost no written records were kept, not surprising since they were 'mysteries' with severe punishment for any who revealed them. The Greeks left one sketchy report but it is none too detailed.
Each of the cults centered around a certain god or goddess. As discussed in the last post, the annoying spiritual entities that plague mankind often pose as deities. See the problem. Yet, there are those today who seem to long for the return of the 'old gods' and their Mystery cults. This is the problem with such groups as the neo-pagans who seem to pop up here and there on websites across the Internet. There are elements of this also in the fascination with some branches of Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, voodoo, and the old religions of Latin America. There is also strong hints of this in the otherwise inexplicable interest in the heroes of the now nearly ancient DC and Marvel comic books. Those heroes were modeled after the various pagan gods and goddesses and learning their lore is almost like going through an initiation.
I have even seen some wishing to equate exposure to occult based rock shows or extreme hardcore punk with initiation into a sort of nebulous cult, especially when psychedelics are thrown in. All who long for a return to the pagan past should remember one thing. The cultures that embraced these religions all collapsed. Yes, some remnants remain but, for the most part, they are so marginalized as to be non-existent. And, yet, here they are trying to reappear and some very foolish folks are calling them. They need to ask themselves, 'why did they disappear?'
The answer is simple. The Western Civilization, which is still hanging on, despite attempts to destroy it, are based, mostly, on Judeo-Christian roots with a bow here and there toward the Greek philosophers. These beliefs include the idea that the Creator made a Cosmos that is rational, that follows laws that can be discerned. Now, they made a lot of mistakes along the way, but this idea has led us to create the World we now live in, a world of comfort, fast transportation, instant communication, a world where if we think and study, we can grasp the laws of Nature and get at least a glimpse of the Mind of God. This line of thought led to the recognition of Man as an important being and the concept of the worth of the individual. It has given us a world where we can store food safely, see doctors that might actually cure us, the ability to pick up a phone and talk to Mom or get in a car and go see Dad. In short, Western Civilization began when we abandoned the belief in appealing to whimsical spirits and started to explore the rational World God gave us.
Now, let me be clear. Science, the logical exploration of the cosmos, is not perfect. There are questions it will never be able to answer, and thus is a terrible substitute for Spiritual Beliefs. A society that looks to science for spiritual answers will end up like the old Soviet Union, cold and bleak, but science is a fantastic tool, when practiced properly. By that I mean that science should fit theory to facts, not pick a theory and fit the facts to that, especially when that theory is popular only because it is the favorite of the guys paying for the research. But, you do not throw out the baby with the bathwater and you do not throw away the scientific method because it is misused.
In short, I would like to know how many would be neo-pagans really want to return to those days of yore when many women died in childbirth, many kids died when young, typhoid and cholera and smallpox were widespread and the average life expectancy was less that 40? How many wish to pay homage to the old gods and return to days when most never traveled more than a few miles from home in a lifetime, night was a time full of fearsome predators and the Priests of the local Temple to whatever God was popular where you live ruled the kingdom and if that God seemed a bit peevish might want to sacrifice your kids to cool thing out? If you can truly say yes, then great. Get yourself a piece of land, far away from the rest of us, and have at it. Me, I much prefer sitting in a comfortable air conditioned room, going to nice restaurants, golfing and dealing with a Creator who is rational and relatively easy to get along with. Next post, cults.
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