Customer Reviews:
Exactly what I was looking for........2006-01-02
I absolutely love this book! She gives you lots of facts about how the original priests worshiped Isis and then gives you advice on how to use that in a modern way. Oodles of stuff to keep you active like recipes, rituals, great chants, meditations and how to craft your own ritual tools. Truly a great and essential book if you are drawn to Isis and are looking for a way to bring more of Her into your life.
Truely magical in all respects!.......2005-08-23
I absolutely adore this book! It is basically a handbook for Egyptian devotees who have an affinity for Isis as the great Mother. It is well researched but not too scholarly or longwinded like most books on the subject.
Within are charming rituals, recipies for making natron(special bath),ritual tools, how to make a shrine to Isis, healing rites, dinner recipies, virtually everything under the sun about this multi purpose diety! It is all done with great love and devotion to Isis.
It is true there is not much else about the other gods of Egypt but it says right on the cover-Mysteries of Isis! This is all about the great mother, who faithfully answers most cries. I cannot think of any other goddess who was so revered in popular Western society since Roman times. Maybe the virgin Mary? who is really an emanation of Isis. I remember being in Paris at the old Roman site of her temple, now a Christian church. Her presence was still very strong!
It is easy to see how this goddess is so accesible to many, pagan or otherwise. She is truely the springtime of the human heart! Also within is the first incarnation of the scarab oracle. This is a very special connection to the mother for those who cannot hear her soft voice already...
Wonderful for Isis, Terrible for all others.......2003-09-23
In looking for books on Egypt, I had thought this would help. If I was an Isis worshiper, this would have been an invaluable resource in my libary. I recommend this book for all who wish to devote only to Isis.
However, to anyone else looking for information on any other God/dess or Egypt itself, this book is sorely lacking. Osiris, Horus, Re and other male gods were hardly mentioned except in cursory references to Isis. Hathor, Nebt-het, Sekmet/Bast and other Goddesses were demeaned only as aspects of Isis rather than the true Goddesses they are. In this and the History of Egypt, this book is lacking.
Wow, what Great Source Book on all things Isis.......2002-11-15
I am a Priestess Devoted to Isis and I have to say tht Ms Regula has outdone herself! If you like all things Isis and if you are interested in learning her Mysteries, Festivals, Magick, and New forms of Divination, this is the Book you need for your Library..She really gives some very true statements regarding initation and What it means to be a Priestess of Our Most Holy Queen Isis!
Isis Bless
Nefer Em Pet Sat Ast, Meryt Imhotep
Nice Mix.......2001-12-09
This is one of my favorate books about the worship of Isis. The Aurthor is very close to her subject. She mixes history, current thougths, and her own ideas very well. The book is set up as hours of the day, and include sections on divination, meditations, healing, etc. It also makes a great reference book.
Book Description
The Mithras cult first became evident in Rome towards the end of the first century AD. During the next two centuries, it spread to the frontiers of the Western empire. Energetically suppressed by the early Christians, who frequently constructed their churches over the caves in which Mithraic rituals took place, the cult was extinct by the end of the fourth century. Since its publication in Germany,
Manfred Clauss's introduction to the Roman Mithras cult has become widely accepted as the most reliable and readable account of this fascinating subject. For the English edition,
Clauss has updated the book to reflect recent research and new archaeological discoveries.
Customer Reviews:
Mithras - why everyone should know him.......2007-04-25
This is a truly wonderful work, and an absolute must for anyone with an interest in the pagan mystery religions. It is such a refreshing change to read an academically rigorous work that also manages to be a riveting read.
This book provides the most reliable and informative information available on Mithras and his cult, updated to reflect recent archaeological discoveries. Widely illustrated with 124 pictures, the book covers all aspects of what is known about Mithraism, and includes chapters on The growth of the cult, The Mithraeum, Sacred Narrative, Initiation, Utensils, the , and Mithras and Other Gods, Priestly Grades, Mithras and Christ, as well as chapters setting the context for all the material. This book is an essential for every bookshelf, that rare occurrence of material presented beautifully by an expert that leaves you wiser and hungry for more.
If you have any interest whatsoever in Mithras or the development of pagan religions ... there is no hesitation when I say ...Buy it!
Difficult.......2007-01-04
Please do not be put off by the title of this review. I did enjoy this book. It is somewhat of a difficult read since it deals with a religion and culture which can be considered radically different from any in the present era (my opinion).
The prevailing wisdom is that Mithraism is nearly identical to Christianity.
After reading this work of Professor Manfred Clauss, you will think otherwise.
Mithraism has very little in common with Christianity. The reader will find interesting the sacred rites of Mithraism and the seven levels of it's priesthood. Mithraism has a curious history. In the second and third centuries AD it was a competitor for adherents with the various pagan religions along with Christianity. Mithraism was a religion open only to men and the elect. An adherent had to endure several initiation rites. Mithraism could also be considered an ancient secret society (in my opinion).
If you enjoy reading about the early Christian era or The Roman Empire, this book is a valuable resource.
Best on the subject - without a doubt........2006-04-15
If you are interested in Roman Gods and Goddesses, if you are interested in Mithras and his worship, if you want to read a bit of good history.... then what are you waiting for?
Clauss' writing style is academic, but not boring. A great plus ++++ His research is great and indepth, bringing together so much great information in one volume, that this book is a must read for anyone with an interest on the subject. No need to say very much more, just read the book and get on with it!
An excellent overview.......2004-01-09
The Roman cult of Mithras is known to us from a large collection of its cave-temples, known as Mithraea, a certain number of inscriptions from a Mithraeum, and some sculpture. In addition there are scanty references to the cult in the Christian fathers, and a handful of other references. The cult was a mystery religion, and its beliefs and rituals must be inferred from this scanty base. Wild theorisings are unfortunately common.
The entire data base was published in the early 20th century by Franz Cumont. (An English language version of his conclusions is still available). He believed Mithras to be an importation of the ancient Persian deity Mitra, doubtless influenced by descriptions of Mithras as Persian. His work remained standard until the 1970's. Since then many theories have been published -- those of David Ulansey perhaps have attracted much attention.
This book by Manfred Clauss is a careful piece of scholarship, that will be of great use to the newcomer to Mithras studies. He believes the cult was invented in Rome itself, and points out that the 3 earliest inscriptions and the first literary mention, all ca. AD90, are indisputably by people with close links to the city of Rome. The story is taken through various aspects of the cult, as illustrated from the monuments and whatever literary information is available. Parallels with Christian practise are mentioned, but Clauss dismisses the idea of influence in either direction, preferring to point out the shared heritage of oriental religion in classical times. He highlights the close relation of Mithraism with other mystery religions, and rightly is sceptical about the idea that Mithraism always involved believing the same things. Regional and temporal variants are documented.
In short, no better introduction to the subject could be devised. Richard Gordon's translation is excellent -- no hint of another language underlying it comes through --, and his choice of translations for ancient texts likewise.
The only thing that I missed was a list of all the ancient literary sources, or indication of where to find these. The illustrations are far better chosen than those of Cumont. In short, the book is a gem.
Book Description
The tales told of Orpheus are legion. He is said to have been an Argonaut--and to have saved Jason's life. Rivers are reported to have stopped their flow to listen to the sounds of his lyre and his voice. Plato cites his poetry and Herodotus refers to "practices that are called Orphic." Did Orpheus, in fact, exist? His influence on Greek thought is undeniable, but his disciples left little of substance behind them. Indeed, their Orphic precepts have been lost to time.
W.K.C. Guthrie attempts to uncover and define Orphism by following its circuitous path through ancient history. He tackles this daunting task with the determination of a detective and the analytical rigor of a classical scholar. He ferries his readers with him on a singular voyage of discovery.
Customer Reviews:
Orphism was first and foremost a literature.......2004-12-14
Guthrie's tentative exploration of one of the most influential mysteries of the Ancient World, together with Eleusis, is very revealing.
The author situates the origin of Orphism with a Thracean hero/singer who was adopted as founder/teacher by mystical sects and whose songs became sacred texts. Although this sects contained only a small group of devotees, some aspects of their philosophical message were taken over by Plato and influenced indirectly Christian belief.
Like many other religions, Orphism's basis was man's aspiration of immortality.
The sacred texts included dogmas and precepts. Dogmas were a belief in a god as a creator and supreme ruler of the universe, man's original sin, a belief that purity of life and observance of the rites would be rewarded by perfect divinity (immortality) eventually after a cycle of rebirths and that punishment awaited the uninitiated and impure.
The precepts were directed towards eradication of sin through ascetism and prohibitions (e.g. meat-eating).
Life was considered as a period of trial and a practise for death. It was seen as a punishment for the soul for previous sins, wherefore the soul was fettered to a body. The body was seen as a source of evil.
Other important characteristics were the emphasis on free will and personal responsibility as well as misogynism.
Each individual had a divine part and a part prone to sin. He had to make a choice between them.
Guthrie explains clearly the crucial differences with Christianism. Orphism excluded the possibility of the resurrection of the body. It had no social ethic. It was selfish for one could save only his own soul.
He also shows the difference with the Eleusian Mysteries. The latter were only a ritual, whereas Orphism was a way of life.
This is a very rich book which treats also other important aspects of religion (e.g. syncretism).
It contains excellent illustrations and a very interesting introduction by Larry J. Alderink.
This book is an essential read for the understanding of a very influential Ancient Mystery.
an outdated "classic".......2004-06-29
As Alderink acknowledges in the Forward, a whole lot of new evidence and new scholarship has seen the light of day since the book's publication in *1935*, particularly the discovery in 1962 of the all-important Derveni papyrus and the discovery in the 1970s and 80s of revealing new gold burial leaves/plates.
(The present edition is a reprint of the second (1952) edition of Guthrie's book. Alderink says, "In the preface to the 1952 reprint, [Guthrie] remarked that he found major alterations unnecessary; his confidence in his earlier conclusions enabled him to use a supplement [pp. 275-278] to mention new writings on Orphics and to make minor corrections and additions" (xxiv). Guthrie's own explanation of this is: "No striking new evidence has appeared on the subject or is likely to appear" (xxxix). So, he explains, "[with regard to the new evidence/literature that has surfaced since the first edition] I have summed up my position, with some reference to later discussions, in ch. xi of my book _The Greeks and their Gods_ (Methuen, 1950), which there is no need to repeat" (xxxix-xl).)
As Alderink points outs, "Some of Guthrie's conclusions will stand and some will fall as new evidence and new interpretations put his work to new analyses" (xxxiii).
So this evidently is not the best place to start (unless one is interested specifically in history of scholarship), and certainly not the best place to finish. For a brief, excellent, and up-to-date overview of the evidence, see Robert Parker's "Early Orphism" in Anton Powell's _The Greek World_ (1995).
And thus... he sang..........2001-09-18
This work contains excellent notes,
supplements, and photographic plates, as
well as illustrations in the text itself
which have been taken from vases, reliefs,
and other sources.
Guthrie's work is an excellent source of
knowledge, insight, and inspiration concerning
Orpheus, this ancient figure who was poet,
harmonic musician, priest, prophet,
and oracular magus all in one.
Book Description
The foremost historian of Greek religion provides the first comprehensive, comparative study of a little-known aspect of ancient religious beliefs and practices. Secret mystery cults flourished within the larger culture of the public religion of Greece and Rome for roughly a thousand years. This book is neither a history nor a survey but a comparative phenomenology. Concentrating on five major cults. In defining the mysteries and describing their rituals, membership, organization, and dissemination, Walter Burkert displays the remarkable erudition we have come to expect of him; he also shows sensitivity and sympathy in interpreting the experiences and motivations of the devotees.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent comparative overview.......2006-04-20
I read _Ancient Mystery Cults_ with great interest. Burkert takes what I would call the "comparative approach" with this book, touching on aspects of the various cults and discussing them collectively. For example, his chapter titles are: 1. Personal Needs in This Life and After Death; 2. Organizations and Identities; 3. Theologia and Mysteries: Myth, Allegory, and Platonism; 4. The Extraordinary Experience. Thus, if you are interested in the general ideas about these mystery cults, and how they were interconnected, you will be most pleased with this book. Now, one thing that I will say that I didn't like about the book was this: if you are looking for info on a specific cult you will be a bit frustrated. There is no single chapter on the Eleusinian Mysteries, for example; he discusses them all throughout the book as they are applicable to the topic on hand. However, that is no reason not to read the book-- no cult existed in a vacuum, and knowing the general atmosphere in which even a single cult thrived is as important as knowing the details of that one particular cult.
Overrated.......2005-07-06
Beside simply being dated, the few pages in this book that "debunk" the thesis that drugs were used in ancient cults, particularly Eleusis, is so full of errors, scholarly and otherwise, that one has to wonder about the hidden motives for doing so. If you want the truth about Eleusis, try "The Road to Eleusis."
Lucid ideas about ancient mystery cults........2002-09-01
I recommend this book as an introduction for everybody who is interested in this daunting subject. Daunting, because it was forbidden for the initiated to speak about the mystery. Nearly everything we know (besides artwork - Athens - architectural sites) came to us indirectly (e.g. the formidable play 'Bakchai' by Euripides).
Furthermore, all sanctuaries were destroyed after the imperial decrees (391/392) of Theodosius the Great prohibiting all pagan cults.
The author analyses 5 mystery cults : Eleusis, Meter, Isis, Mithras, and the Dionysian and Bacchian mysteries.
As we can learn from the work of Karl Kerenyi, the influence of Eleusis on Christianity should not be underestimated. Apparently, through the myth of Demeter/Persephone, the initiated were 'shown' that there was life after death. Plato was initiated (as nearly all Roman emperors) and as Hannah Ahrendt tells us in her book 'The origins of Totalitarianism', Plato must be considered as one of the fathers of the Christian creed.
For the mysteries of Mithras, I recommend the work of J. Vermaseren.
As Burkert states, most of the mysteries were expensive clubs and the experience was purely individual. That is the reason why they disappeared so rapidly: they lacked any lasting organization as the Christian Church. Another reason for Burkert was the inclusion of the family as the basic unit of piety in Christianity. The Church got the upper hand for demographic reasons.
Contrary to Burkert, we know from the work of Kerenyi on Eleusis that the taking of drugs (the kykeon) was important (it was taken after a longer period of fasting).
Burkert gives us a very good summary indeed.
A great book, but one side of an argument.......2000-05-11
Walter Burkert is one of the greatest scholars of the twentieth century in the field of ancient Greek religion, and this contribution is an excellent book which, for the most part, lives up to such a standard. I recommend it to any and all students of Greek religion who are looking to expand their knowledge of the particulars of mystery cults and what they were all about. I do, however, have reservations about recommending it as an overview or introductory work for laymen or students just getting interested in the subject. Burkert's methodology, while a great improvement over the "myth and ritual" debates which dominated earlier scholarship, is very much oriented in a psychological viewpoint which sees ancient mystery religion as somehow fundamentally less psychologically satisfying than religions like Christianity ("confessional" religions). In every chapter he tries to make the point that these cults were nothing like early confessional religions like Christianity because he is responding to another faction of scholars who tried to assimilate the two, but, unfortunately, in doing so Burkert makes a number of misleading (and, some would say, wrong) arguments about the nature of mystery religion and the mentality of its devotees. It is for these reasons that I recommend this book highly to someone who already knows enough to recognize when Burkert is making controversial statements and would not take him at face value.
Book Description
Decodes the message inscribed on the Great Cross of Hendaye in France
• Uses the work of 20th-century alchemist Fulcanelli to predict the date of the fatal season of the apocalypse
• Shows how periodic galactic alignments may cause catastrophes on Earth
• Examines how the secret of the center of the galaxy reveals the true location of the lost civilization of Atlantis
• Reveals the alchemical secret of the imperishable Light Body of ancient Egypt deep within our DNA
The Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye reveals one of Western occultism's deepest secrets: The alchemical transformation of base metal into gold is also the transformation of the current Iron Age into the Golden Age. Based on the work of the enigmatic 20th-century alchemist Fulcanelli, authors Weidner and Bridges show how the greatest alchemical secret is that of time itself and that coded into an obscure monument in southwestern France--the cross in the town square of Hendaye--is the imminent date of the apocalypse. The authors' explorations of this symbolism lead them from the cross of Hendaye to the western facade of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the Pyrenees, ancient Egypt, and the secret origins of Atlantis in Peru, to reveal that we are indeed living in a "fatal season" and that this season is intimately connected to our solar system's alignment with the galactic center. The authors' in-depth examination of alchemy's connection with the coming end days also reveals that this astro-alchemical knowledge was part of the sacred science of the Egyptians and the Atlanteans, whose coded messages are, at last, deciphered to guide humanity to its future destiny.
Customer Reviews:
Don't waste your time.......2007-05-20
I had high hopes for this book. The author was featured on a radio program I listen to and gave a good interview, but on actually getting and reading the book I went from excited to mad in just a few chapters. Quite frankly, the author knows nothing about esotericism, to say nothing of a basic conceptualization of history. He starts out with talking about the book, then veers off into a discussion of Abraham, i.e. the mythical Patriarch, asserting that Abraham was given knowledge by god that the secret to the universe had to do with an alignment of the earth with the galactic center. Are you a little sceptical yet? You should be. After this revelation the author makes the assertion that the Tree of Life glyph in the Kabbalah actually refers to a constellation and that, moreover, when you fold it one way you get a mystical cube, which somehow has something to do with the galactic center. Absolutely no evidence is given for either one of these things.
It only gets better from there on. He goes on to talk about, for no obvious reason whatsoever, new age theories about how DNA generates photons.
The research, if there was any beyond an afternoon's worth, is terrible, the book makes no cogent arguments or presents any evidence to support the muddled assertions and in the end basically asks the reader to take it all on faith.
And because one permutation of the inscription on this cross at Hendaye yields the word "Urcos" and because the authors googled it, or looked it up in an Atlas I think they said, and found that there was a town named "Urcos" in Peru......suddenly Peru is the heart of an Atlantean civilization whose descendants are the Basque people of Spain and France, because Hendaye is close to the French Basque country.
The mind reels. It also reels at how exactly the authors can reconcile a literal belief in the existence of Abraham with a belief in some pre-cataclysmic civilization in South America.
Information filled!.......2007-05-12
This book held a lot of personal interest for myself, being Basque. I believe the Basque people are deeply involved in the "Salvation" of mankind and always have been.
DiaGnosis: Even more fascinating!.......2007-02-18
Un updated, much expanded edition of A Monument to the End of Time
In 1926, an enigmatic alchemist called Fulcanelli published a book called "Le Mystere des Cathedrales", or Mystery of the Cathedrals, which explains how Gothic cathedrals have hermetic and alchemical secrets encoded into their architecture and sculptures. In 1957, a second edition appeared, and included an extra chapter on the significance of a monument in the town of Hendaye in the Pyrenees. The monument - an engraved pedestal with a pillar and engraved cross - was built around 1680. The Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye is a thorough exposition of the hidden meaning encoded into this Hendaye Cross.
The authors have traced the alchemical thread back to Egypt; to the first Gnostic groups, and re-exposed the fact that behind alchemy lies a triple transmutation - inner, outer and time. The inner transmutation is the refining of the psycho-sexual energies and fluids; the outer is using the inner change to transmute physical states; the third is the same transmutation applied to the whole Earth, changing the Age of Iron to the Age of Gold. The 4 ages - Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron relate to the 26,000-year cycle of precession, with the Fall occurring when the Tree (the celestial axis, or earth's rotational axis), points away from the centre of the galaxy. "Resurrection"or "redemption", occurs when the Tree points towards the centre of the galaxy. This is the point when the "sparks of light" - our souls as fragments of God - return to the source.
The thread is traced from ancient Egypt to the Coptic Church, the Gnostics, the Hebrews, Islaam (the Sufis), the Order of Sion, and the Knights Templar, the grail romances, the tarot, and, with increasing persecution of heretics, the engraving of cathedrals, and finally, the Rosicrucian movement.
The 4 engravings on the pedestal are found to refer to the 4 tarot trumps; The Star; The Moon; The Sun, and Judgement. The pillar is the Djed, or Earth's rotational axis ( Moira Timms has already pointed this out see Raising the Djed). The two "x" engravings refer to the winding of the ecliptic and the equinoctial points, plus trump 20, judgement. The "ocruxaves pesunica" engraving means "the secret concerns a cross and a snake which somehow measures the 12th part". When combined, these clues (along with clues from the kabbalistic Tree of Life, whose 22 paths correlate to the 22 tarot trumps), the authors conclude that half a precessional cycle ago, the spring equinox fell on the cusp of Leo/Virgo; 12,960 years later, in 2002, the autumn (fall) equinox will be in the same position. The planetary attributions of the tarot trumps, combined with the orientation of the faces of the monument confirms that 22 September 2002 is the date in question. Trump 14, temperance (Alchemy), correlates to the direction of Galactic centre, while trump 21, the World, correlates to the opposing Galactic edge.
Fulcanelli implies that the cross at Hendaye signifies a "fatal period" of a "double catastrophe". If autumn equinox 2002 is the mid-point of a 20-year period (the XX engraving implies this), this may imply the last katun of the Mayan "Great Cycle"(13-Baktun cycle), since this is the nearest autumn equinox to the katun mid-point (12 Feb 2003, Long Count date 12.19.10.0.0). The authors were stunned to discover that Paul LaViolette has been warning the world of just such a double catastrophe, in the form of a galactic core explosion, which he already tentatively linked to the 2012 end-point. The first effects would be "electromagnetic shifts...crustal torque, pole shifts, tidal waves and high winds", the second catastrophe would be "an explosion of the sun's corona caused by the influx of cosmic dust pushed by the galactic superwave".
Fulcanelli also said that the inscription "ocruxaves pesunica" revealed a place of refuge. By clues from Fulcanelli, the authors arrived at 2 anagrams: Inca cave, Cusco, Peru, and Hail to the Cross at Urcos. The authors were again amazed to find not only caves at Cusco, but a nearby town called Urcos with a cross. Sadly, the original cross had been destroyed, but they concluded that the place of refuge may be either the caves at Cusco, or the legendary tunnels under the Andes, if someone finds an entrance.
The authors suggest that we should learn to "weave" our "Bardo or transitional body into nicely fractal flows of self-awareness" simply by meditating on compassion, as suggested by the work of Itzhak Bentov (Bentov explains in Stalking the wild Pendulum p.33-36 & 54-56 that in meditative states, the breathing is so gentle that it no longer interferes with the feedback of the aorta, allowing the system to become resonant, allowing the whole body to resonate at the same frequency as the earth - 7.8 Hz. How this is affected by the increasing rate of Schumann resonance remains to be researched). We shall thus be ready to be "harvested", to become a soul inhabiting a star, like the pharaohs of Egypt (see Star Birth Bardo in the Body of Orion). The Paris Papyrus gives some clues that the transformational process may be triggered by the light from the glow of the exploding galactic centre, triggering a cerebro-chemical outpouring which fuels an internal light that externalizes as "the shining light or star body of imperishable quality". The authors suggest that we need to prepare by performing a ceremony every equinox, in which the kabbalistic tree of life is "projected onto the Celestial sphere", a technique developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
The original review with links can be found at the diagnosis2012 website.
WOW.......2006-07-28
I've read many books regarding the "2012 dilemma," but none were as researched as this one. Weidner and Bridges bring alchemy and the great mysteries to the average reader. There are no hidden meanings here folks, just plain see it as it is reading.
Hats off to these authors! Even they have left the questions at the end unanswered, leaving the reader to come to their own conclusions. They have given us all the clues and what they and others have interpreted from them and left the reader to believe or not.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the "end times," the mysteries surrounding Fulcanelli, and alchemy!
Lord, what fools these mortals be..........2006-06-10
First, I paid full price for this hack piece that would make Llewellyn publications look like scholarly tomes. My primary reason for purchasing it was the endorsement blurb by Joselyn Godwin, a well respected esoteric scholar. And all I can ask is why? This convoluted piece of crazed analysis and manipulated gematria that is headache inducing, is a sad work indeed. Millenial nonsense is millenial nonsense no matter what guise it is under, be it a Meso-American calendar, the cryptograms of Nostradamus or Millerite blathering. This work is part of the cottage industry sprung up from the Rennes-le-Chateau, pseudo-Cathar, Fulcanelli "stuff". Any Occultist worth their alchemical salt will do well to avoid this numerological & laughable mishmash.
Book Description
Mystery cults represent the spiritual attempts of the ancient Greeks to deal with their mortality. The phenomenon is by no means restricted to Greece, but it is in Greece that it found its most profound philosophical explanation and justification. Given the lack of written testimonia, we rely on archaeology in trying to decipher the secrets of those mysteric cults. In the last few years, research in ancient Greek mystery cults has made serious advances thanks to a number of new analytical studies and archaeological discoveries in sanctuaries where mysteric cults where practiced.
This volume showcases the results of the new research by allowing scholars, and specialists the opportunity to present their work and to place their research with the general context of Greek mystery cults. Through its wide chronological range (from the Bronze Age to the Roman Imperial period) and broad geographical coverage (Greece and Greek Asia Minor), the book reconstructs the development of ideological and ritual practice over time and space. Although the major cults, such as Eleusis and Samothrace, figure prominently in such a volume, a conscious effort has been made to discuss in detail the strikingly large number of lesser mysteric cults and deities, in order to contribute to the understanding of Greek mystery cults as a whole.
Book Description
A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the 'mystery cults' popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods of anthropology of religion and the new cognitive science of religion to explore in detail the semiotics of the Mysteries' astral symbolism, which has been the principal subject of his many previous publications on the cult.
Customer Reviews:
Most Excellent book .......2006-05-26
This book is fantastic and contains a wealth of esoteric knowledge that will keep you dipping into it time after time.
It deals with the esoteric wanderings of Mark Hedsel as he goes on a pilgrimage for higher knowledge. His journey has him travelling, mostly through Europe, visiting places of esoteric significance.
The topics touched on really cover the smorgasboard of esoteric knowledge, but Hedsel usually just gives you snippets that will set you on the path.
David Ovason provides copious amounts of footnotes (over one hundered pages) at the back of the book, expanding on areas that Hedsel touches on in the text.
As time rolls on I'm beginning to see this book as very similar to Fulcanelli's "Mystery of the Cathedrals" in that it is somewhat of a puzzle that the avid reader needs to come back to time and time again to decode.
It is well worth the price of admission and will launch you on your journey into esoterica and aid you in your quest for higher knowledge.
Burning For Higher Knowledge And Insight ~ The Way Of The Fool.......2006-05-25
'The Zelator' by Mark Hedsel is a rather intimidating 490 pages in length, 354 pages of text with an additional 136 pages comprising an appendix and bibliographic notes.
This alleged true account of the late Mark Hedsels' mystical journey following the "Way of the Fool" in his persuit of arcane wisdom is quite a read. His journey emcompasses many continents, traditions and years as he works his way through the myriad avenues of esoteric study that comprise the Western Mystery Tradition.
I was quite excited about this book in the early pages, particularily so with his chance meeting with the legendary mystic/artist Austin Osman Spare and his coincidental procurement of one of his paintings. I'm particularily fond of synchronistic occurences and there were plenty of them in the early going to keep me reading. However, I must admit that my initial infatuation with his ponderous tale dulled the further I advanced into 'the mystery' and found myself looking forward to its eventual end.
There's some very interesting material within, but I'm not sure it's worth 490 pages to find it. Anyway that's my subjective opinion. Who knows, you may discover something I missed. Such is the way with enlightenment, many are called but few are chosen.
This is the one that got me started in esoterica.......2005-09-30
This is a great book. It's full of information that will get you interested on the esoteric path. But be warned on first read it may seem like some of it is gobbledy gook, but this is not the case. I returned to it again and again as I discovered new things and found I was led, by the snippets provided in the book, to go and research things for myself.
There are copious amounts of interesting foot notes by David Ovason (almost a little mini-book itself), that are informative and revealing.
This book provides a great introduction into occult (secret) teachings. It will get you started in the areas of:
- alchemy
- different bodies of man
- astrology
- language of the birds
- esoteric symbolism
- mystery religions
- fulcanelli
- astrology
Definitely a great book to get you started on the esoteric path. I would recommend it to anyone, along with Manly Palmer Hall's "Secret Teachings of All Ages".
Not enough info and too tedious.......2004-07-10
If you've never studied anything of this sort it might point you in a direction to find more as many of the references are good. However ... if you know anything of mystery schools and symbolism this book tells you I have a secret and I'm not gonna share it (although most books of this nature do that but they atleast throw you a bone). Nothing new or revolutionary is shared, the information can be found elsewhere a lot easier. I suffered through this book hoping that maybe some glimpse of a deep initiatic mystery might be exposed and was disappointed time and again. One or two stories were interesting such as the man who worked constantly at just about anything including moving his fingers knowing that any work yields results... but this is no prize. If you're deathly interested take the book out from the library.
raises more questions tha it answers.......2003-11-10
I guess it depends where you're at personally, but I think this is a useful book for any reader who doesn't feel overwhelmed by the amount of information on (for me) mostly unfamiliar works of art, literature & architecture.
In general -- since the details may not be that important after all -- this book teaches the reader to try to find meaning in everything. For this alone, the book is worth 5 stars.
My only negative reaction is the author's tendency to see danger in any area that he is not inclined to look closely into. He certainly has his flaws (like the rest of us), whoever he is/was.
Which brings up my final point: both authors' identities remain mysterious. The note on Hedsel's death must be regarded with skepticism, for we're not told who he is, and Ovason teases the reader with an anecdote about Hedsel's unrevealed age. And then, apparently, Ovason himself is probably writing pseudonymously, judging from what little information there is about him on the internet.
Unfortunately, I'm left wanting to play this (trivial?) game of identifying the authors, but I suspect the book will leave a lasting impression on me, perhaps in unsuspected ways.
Average customer rating:
- Exoteric history of the leading mystery schools and members
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Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects (Mysteries of the Unknown)
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ASIN: 0809463482 |
Customer Reviews:
Exoteric history of the leading mystery schools and members.......2002-07-17
The reason I own a copy of this book is despite the fact it was not written by someone within the tradition, any person could follow the story line (with the aid of the pictures and reproduced plates) well enough to obtain a working knowledge of the history of the events leading and influencing the Western Tradition making it what is today. Thus gaining an understanding of what it is to be a part of this fabulous tradition.
This book will be of interest especially to students and initiates of the Golden Dawn and Rosicrucians (from any of the various schools) and Freemasons. This book is almost a primer, giving a good and fairly comprehensive overview and alot of places where the reader could research further much more easily with the knowledge obtained of the different authors.
What really sets this book apart is the use of pictures. These make the story much easier to follow and much much more interesting. This takes the feeling of a history lesson right out of it! This is replaced by paintings, photographs, reproduced plates from alchemical texts and things like that. One thing that should be noted is that for every increment of fun, an equal amount of sholarly feel is removed. Then one should say this book is alot of fun.
I would own this book just to have a picture of Westcott in full G.D. regalia, fire wand and all. There are numerous things like this through out the book with an average of two or three of these pictures per page.
The material in this book starts of with initiation, and moves through Mithras, Isis and cults of old. Then Masonry covering prominent figures (George Washington, Sir Christopher Wren, Pike) and is very nicely done. The Templars and Shriners are in there, but for me the book really gets interesting examining the "Fama" and the various alchemists (Boehme, Maier) and Rosicrucians. H. Spencer Lewis and the AMORC is pictured but Max Heindel is only mentioned unfortunatly. As I said before there are pictures of all the founding fathers of the Golden Dawn, and I am now able to put names on the faces of the pictures on the website. The theosophical society is covered once again with pictures and reproduced plates. Next is the chapter on the beast himself. Aleister Crowley has an entire chapter devoted to a very one sided veiw of his career. The dates are correct and the pictures are outstanding but his masonic and buhddist history is downplayed if mentioned at all, painting an eccentric picture of the man in a somewhat unkind light. To be taken with a grain of salt.
The one thing that could have been added to this book is a little more on doctrine. This is why i recomend it as use in the way of a starter or primer. The knowledge here is based mainly historically, in other words the tree of life, the middle pillar, and the columns are not to be found in this book. It will be usefull to anyone trying to simplify and explain the history and what it means to be a member. Scholar wise, despite the obviously well done research, it is highschool book report material at best.
Plus if your just into learning about nifty secret societies that everyday people, senators, and even modern day presidents belong to, this book can show you with pictures to boot. That might take some of the mystery out of it, but its still really cool don't you think?
Book Description
Osiris, ruler of the netherworld, played a central part in the religious life of the ancient Egyptians, and his cult grew in popularity down the ages, resonating in all the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. This is the first book to tell the story of the cult of Osiris from beginning to end. Drawing together the numerous records about Osiris from the third millennium bc to the Roman conquest of Egypt, Bojana Mojsov sketches the development of the cult throughout 3,000 years of Egyptian history.The author proves that the cult of Osiris was the most popular and enduring in any ancient religion. She shows how it provided direct antecedents for many ideas, traits, and customs in Christianity, including the resurrection after three days, the concept of god as trinity, baptism in the sacred river, and the sacrament of the Eucharist. She also reveals the cult 's influence on other Western mystical traditions and groups, such as the Alchemists, Rosicrucians, and Freemasons.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book sums up effects of Egypts' ancient religions .......2007-08-12
The author is a well-known Egyptologist. This is an excellent book with some photographs and many pen and ink drawing, heavily annotated and with a list of all the Egyptian gods,two pages of maps, a glossary, and Egyptian chronology, to help with references. The author does not assume the reader is an ancient Egyptian scholar: she starts the Osiris myth saga as it changes and develops over 3000 years of documented Egyptian history in the easiest way, by using Egyptian history as the backdrop.
Osiris was the god of the underworld, of death, but also of resurrection, and important in that it was he who welcomed the newly dead but surviving souls to the life everlasting and to their first trial after death, the trial of the heart and the feather. Osiris had been a great god, one of the first in all of creation, but was killed by his perfidious brother Seth or Set. (whose name may be a root word for the Hebrew word which became Satan.) Now, he ruled the world of the dead, not a negative image at all, but positive: he was beloved and worshipped. His wife was his sister, Isis, who after his murder searched the whole world until she found his dis-membered body and was able to magically have it put together again, and to create the child Horus from Osiris' dead flesh. Osiris went to the afterlife to rule there. In his role as the god whom one met in the afterlife, his role was to judge and to guide and help. Every person faced a type of judgement of one's sins, and had to recite a "negative confession", such as: "I did not kill" "I did not steal milk from the mouth of babes" are two such of 40-some such. He or she then stated they had given to the poor, and so on. Finally, the deceased's heart was weighed against a feather. The heart, the seat of the soul, the mind, understanding and morality must not fail this test, and along with the verbal statements it determined if the deceased would be devoured by a terrible monster, or would stand the chance to go on to the immortal afterlife. If his heart survived that test, Osiris would give him bread and beer, a sort of communion, and point him on his way with his shepard's crook to the next passage to eternal life. pp48-49. The Egyptian afterlife was a place not ethereal and angelic, but like the real and usual world, and everything one could do in the real world, one could do in the afterlife, one reason why they prepared for the afterlife as if packing for a move to a new residence. A spell or prayer on a funeral papyrus says: "A spell for going out into the day. Of coming and going in the realms of the dead. Of entering the field of reeds...Having power there. Plowing there and reaping. Eating there, drinking there, making love there. Doing everything that used to be done on earth."
As for Osiris himself: Each year Osiris died again and was reborn again. It is believed that each year there was a public re-enactment of his death (murder) and his resurrection: "At last the procession arrived at the tomb of Osiris. Reading, chanting, and prayers for the god's resurrection were spoken at the tomb. Then, the priests entered the sepulcher by the western door and reverently laid the chest of Osiris on a bed of sand in the chamber...Plutarch described how every year the earth and silt from the inundation (of the Nile) were placed in a wooden chest with seeds to symbolize the body of Osiris. After the chest was buried the death of the god was mourned for three days and nights....Three images were made, symbolizing his dead, re-membered, and risen body. They possessed sacramental, magical power....the festival lived on for thousands of years, lasting as late as Roman times." pp51-53
The many changes and the ways in which Osiris, god of the dead, was seen, worshipped, and incorporated with other gods who then weakened and disappeared into him, is explained quite clearly. Ra, and Amun were two important gods who became interwoven in some ways with Osiris over many hundreds of years. Aside from this, the main gist of the book, quite a lot of time is spent on the influence Osiris and the rest of the Egyptian religion had on other religions---especially those touched by/carried away by the Roman soldiers who would finally conquer and occupy Egypt. Through them many Egyptian cults were spread to Rome and thus to the Roman Empire as a whole.
Worship of Osiris, Isis and their son Horus were among those. "Horus-the-Child,was conceived at the Spring Equinox at the time of harvest, and born at the winter solstice...the worship of Osiris explicitly encompassed the doctrine of One-in-Three: the Resurrected Redeemer, the Holy Mother, the Savior Child." pp91 She also traces the influence of the Osiris cult and others directly on later Christianity and Islam. For example, speaking of the god Amun, "once a year the statue of Amun of Karnak was carried in a procession on a barge...went to visit his harem, then made the rounds of the sacred places in Thebes. To this day in Thebes (modern Luxor)revelers carry boats on their shoulders every year to celebrate the feast of Abu el Hagag, the Muslim Saint..."p61 "The cult of Isis and Horus-the-Child was especially popular. Hundreds of bronze figures of Isis nursing her infant found in temples and households became the models for the Christian figures of the Virgin and Child. Steadily, the story of Osiris had spread beyond Egypt and around the entire Mediterranean."pp101
Eventually, after Christianity had conquered the entire region, including Egypt, by the 4th century, the pagan temples were closed and the great library in Alexandria Egypt, which had supposedly held every book in the then-known world, was burned to the ground by monks, pagan worship of the old gods went underground. "The cult of Isis, one of the last bastions of paganism...as late as the fifth century we here of the existance of pagan temples in Egypt and of an Isis fesitval celebrated by peasants in north Italy. At the beginning of the sixth century the statue of Isis was still carried up the Nile to Sudan to bless the crops...as late as the tenth century (medieval historians wrote)people from local villages still gathered at Philae for the annual feast of Isis. It is from Philae we have the last hierglyphic inscriptions." pp119."
Very good book, very accessable to reader who is interested in Egypt or in comparative relgion or comparative mythology. Not written for specialists or scholars, highly recommended.
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