Are the Western Mystery Traditions worth studying?

[Andrey]

Hello.

I've recently been tracing the history of the western esoteric tradition, and was wondering if there's anything worth studying in terms of their teachings and philosophies. Apart from the ritual magic, are their systems worth studying from an armchair perspective (without rituals) for the purpose of gaining knowledge about the nature of consciousness and the universe? I'm talking about the study of kaballah, hermetic qabalah combined with tarot and western astrology, study of the elements, etc. I don't know much about these things, and was wondering if there's any authenticity to their teachings. Or is it just a lot of disinformation? I've heard some of the arguments where they say that these systems in the western mystery traditions can be useful for studying the nature of the psyche and the universe, but what do you guys think? Is it worth studying this stuff?

 

[echo]

Funny coincidence, I am randomly listening to a podcast with a guy named Marc Gafni who seems to have gone very deeply into the study of Kaballah (podcast is called know thyself) and was just asking myself the same question! It’s not a podcast I normally listen to I just sometimes work better when I listen to something.
The podcast, like so many these days, is along the “plant medicine” new age line and it’s difficult (for me at least) to weed out what he is really saying. I would be curious to hear what others have to say.

 

[axj]

I think there are a lot more Western mystery traditions than Hermeticism (kind of dubious, I think) and Kaballah, which I think is more or less the esoteric core of Judaism.

As far as astrology and tarot, both can be somewhat useful, but they are more like tools for a specific task and not all-encompassing mystery traditions.

Western mystery traditions that are used by many here are Esoteric Christianity (eg. Mouravieff), as well as Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's Fourth Way. Personally I also like Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy which is basically Christian mysticism.

 

[Ricardo]

Ra commented a bit on the tarot , as for kaballah , the C's have spoken of it as well ( in a broader perspective however , as they pertain to truth , ie. higher density knowledge they are the same ) , there are far more mentions of it in the scripts than the one here for example.

Session 5 October 1994 :

(...)

Q: (L) Is the Kaballah the true teachings of the good guys?

A: Close.

(...)

Kaballah @ transcripts

 

[Haldeman]

@Andrey For me the Western Mystery traditions have been useful, as you say, "for the purpose of gaining knowledge about the nature of consciousness and the universe." Partly, it was useful for comparing and contrasting Eastern traditions I was learning about (Advaita Vedanta, Theravada Buddhism, Tantra, etc.). So for the sake of "triangulating" just what the world's Traditions have been pointing to in common, what they disagree about, and the implications of those things, a study of the Western traditions is worthwhile, imo. Plus, there is so much of our world that is infused with the language and symbology of the Western traditions, it just felt to me like a unknown area worth exploring if for no other reason than to see more clearly just what the hell is scribbled all over our art, literature and architecture, and why...

There are no shortage of books and websites for learning about them. Like any popularized mystical subject, there are myriad offerings and writings that run the gamut from corrupt, to poor, to okay, to pretty good, etc. And like any good tradition, there's plenty of disagreement and obfuscation to go around!

If you'd like a recommendation, Manly P. Hall's "The Secret Teachings of All Ages" is a great place to start I think, since it covers quite the range of traditions and subjects. Laura quotes from it occasionally in the Wave Series.

 

[A Jay]

Apart from the ritual magic, are their systems worth studying from an armchair perspective (without rituals) for the purpose of gaining knowledge about the nature of consciousness and the universe?

Have you read The Wave series by Laura?

 

[Andrey]

Have you read The Wave series by Laura?

Yes I've read it but it was awhile back.

 

[Andrey]

I suppose "western mystery traditions" is a very broad term for so many schools of thought. What I should have meant to say was specifically western occultism. A lot of people get spooky impressions when they think about occultism, but I recently watched a video series that demystifies western occultism and talks about how, on the lighter side it is basically study of natural law, and aligning one's thoughts, emotions and actions to it and achieving "true intelligence," "true care" and "true will." While this knowledge can be used for impure purposes, he insists that this field should be studied as it can result in information about various aspects of the human soul/psyche. He makes a compelling case for it. Before I used to think it was disinformation, but his overall presentation about what occultism really is made me question this impulse. While there is certainly a lot of BS to sift through in this school of thought, I think there can be very useful information to be gleamed from studying this field. Here are the videos I'm talking about. It's by Mark Passio.

 

[Andrey]

Here is a print screen of one of the slides:

 

[Andrey]

another one:

 

[Andrey]

 

[Andrey]

I guess I'll say one last thing.

This guy in the video says that the ideas and symbols of western occultism are universal archetypes and that every human being's subconscious mind "contains" (for lack of a better term) these universal archetypes and that is why they should be studied. He also goes on to say that dark occultists exploit these symbols and archetypes and manipulate humanity from every vertical based on this knowledge. Again he makes a compelling case and I sort of believe him, which is why I'm interested in learning about this field. What do you guys think?

 

[axj]

I would say that traditions (and the symbols they use, such as the "all-seeing eye") that are used mostly for impure or even dark purposes become 'tainted' energetically. A lot of what is usually described as occult seems to be like that and the association of 'occult' with spooky or dark is not a coincidence.

Though I suppose some people can stay on the light side of the occult and get a lot out if it, if they are careful. Same as ouja board channeling, which can be used to tune into very high energies or very low ones, like a radio. But you definitely need to know exactly what you are doing.

Other mystery traditions seem to have less of this danger. And I would also say that astrology and tarot are pretty safe.

 

[Ricardo]

Other mystery traditions seem to have less of this danger

I'd say overall , what is "usually" called Occult is more of a mixed bag , where the intent is usually more of obfuscation than otherwise , semi / sorta what the tradition calls exotericism. (imo) , for example the pentagon and hexagon which frequently appear in so called occult.

Whereas :

Session 22 August 1998


Q: (L) I want to ask if you ever told us to do something with a Tesla coil which I failed to record or got lost somewhere?

A: Maybe. Gravity waves, pentagon is the foundation; hexagon is the conclusion.

 

[Liliea]

You have a lot of material to read and discover in the Cassiopeian channelings and Laura's books. Have you read from Paul to Mark? There is a lot of history to explore there...then you can cross check with other sources. For me after all mystery schools, while interesting, are labyrinths that that often just waste your time.