The ancients based their approach to reality and their vision of life on metaphysical and mystical principles. These traditions provided structuring and deep foundations through initiatory knowledge transmitted in so-called mystery schools, offering a progressive educational framework and a conducive social environment.
Then as history progressed and these traditional initiatory forms withered and became more and more hidden, these traditions were lost. New mystical traditions arise here and there, often degraded versions of the original traditions: partial, mixed or misunderstood. Where pieces of recent local histories, current ideologies have been added; so as to fit within the framework of a modern theoretical concept, which will in all cases lack the depth of the original metaphysical concept. Many New Age movements fall into this category.
The narration is loaded with fragments of Europe, the Middle East or Eurasia; based on a fascination with charismatic individuals and sometimes even sprinkled with secrets. The new tradition is elaborated by current images and transformed into a belief system that is both modern and antediluvian.
The modern world has seen in its recent history a great profusion of mystical or quasi-mystical groups, promoting and disseminating a localized aspect of ancestral wisdom, so that they are attractive. It is no surprise that such sudden emergences of age-old wisdom generate twisted or partial initiatory processes, confirming the adage that partial knowledge is sometimes more dangerous than no knowledge.
We must face the facts: thousands of years of wars, book burnings, censorship… have caused us to lose the link uniting us to this wisdom. The texts and teachings that have passed through the ages have been translated & retranslated, modified according to the vanquished and the victorious, and cognitive & political developments. Certain texts preserved deep in caves are necessarily partially destroyed and their deeper meanings must be found. The reading keys must be relearned.
As modern society no longer offers an authentic framework, it is up to individuals to find their own wisdom, to build their own metaphysical and mystical foundations. Some will find it in societal movements, in the worldly context of a so-called initiatory society. Others in the solitude of nature or a religious institution. Others in totally different lifestyles and thoughts…
In all cases, we must personalize our relationship with truth and reality. Write our own gospel and live our own myth… Here we are free, it is up to us to be conscious and creative.