Mystery. In modern colloquial English, a mystery is a subgenre of detective fiction (see mystery fiction). Mystery! is a PBS program showing British detective fiction series. Also in modern colloquial English, a mystery is something which is unknown or unexplained. Originally mystery was a religious term. Thus the Sacred Mysteries were rites into which only the initiated were admitted, lest they become the object

Read more here: » Mystery: Encyclopedia - Mystery

See also:

Eleusinian Mysteries, Eleusinian Mysteries - The Mysteries, Eleusinian Mysteries - End of the Eleusinian Mysteries, Eleusinian Mysteries - Entheogenic theories

Read more here: » Eleusinian Mysteries: Encyclopedia II - Eleusinian Mysteries - The Mysteries

MYSTERIES: profound, metaphysical facts which underlie life, death, the nature of the world and the universe. Such truths must be perceived not only with the intellect but with the deepest part of the subconscious as well.

(See also: MYSTERIES, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times these were held to be the ones of greatest importance. These myths and mysteries later spread to Rome. The rites and cultic worships and beliefs were kept secret, and initiation rites united the worshipper with god including promises of divine power and rewards in life after death. Eleusinian Mysteries - The Mysteries. Eleusis ...

Including:

• Eleusinian Mysteries - The Mysteries
• Eleusinian Mysteries - End of the Eleusinian Mysteries
• Eleusinian Mysteries - Entheogenic theories

Read more here: » Eleusinian Mysteries: Encyclopedia - Eleusinian Mysteries

A Caribbean Mystery (published in 1964) is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie featuring the detective Miss Marple. A Caribbean Mystery - Plot. "Would you like to see a picture of a murderer?", Jane Marple is asked by a stranger whilst on a luxurious holiday in the Caribbean. But before she has a chance to answer, the man vanishes, only to be found dead the next day. But what happened to the photo? Why is the hotelier prone to nightmares? Why doesn't the most talked-about guest, a re ...

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• A Caribbean Mystery - Plot
• A Caribbean Mystery - Trivia
• A Caribbean Mystery - Film versions

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The term Western mystery tradition (also Western Esoteric tradition) refers to the collection of the mystical esoteric knowledge, such as Kabbalah, of the western world. Western mystery tradition - History. The Western mystery tradition traditionally started in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Rome and Israel, while it contains many characteristics from the Pagan people of Ancient Britain and Scandinavia, such as the Celts. Ancient figures associated with the Western tradition include Plato, Pyt ...

Including:

• Western mystery tradition - History
• Western mystery tradition - The Dark Ages
• Western mystery tradition - The European Enlightenment
• Western mystery tradition - The Second World War
• Western mystery tradition - The Collapse of the Soviet Union
• Western mystery tradition - Today
• Western mystery tradition - Philosophy
• Western mystery tradition - Initiation
• Western mystery tradition - The Main Themes
• Western mystery tradition - The Teachings
• Western mystery tradition - Organisations
• Western mystery tradition - People
• Western mystery tradition - Texts

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ADOM (short for Ancient Domains of Mystery) is a roguelike game in which your aim is to stop the forces of Chaos which are invading the world of Ancardia. Like most roguelike games, ADOM uses ASCII graphics to represent the game world. The player can create their character as male or female, any of ten races and any of twenty character classes, giving 400 possible combinations requiring widely varying playing styles. Races include human, troll, high/grey/dark elf, dwarf, gnome, orc, hurthling (hobbit), and drakeli ...

Including:

• Ancient Domains of Mystery - JADE

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The Winchester Mystery House is a unique mansion located at 525 Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California. Its construction began in 1884, and was financed and built by Sarah L. Winchester, the heiress of the man who invented and manufactured the Winchester rifle. Construction continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, until her death 38 years later in 1922. This has been estimated to have cost about 5.5 million dollars. The mansion is famous for its large size, and the fact that it followed no overall pla ...

Including:

• Winchester Mystery House - The house today
• Winchester Mystery House - Depictions in popular culture

Read more here: » Winchester Mystery House: Encyclopedia - Winchester Mystery House

Mysteries:

Secret rituals usually involving the display of sacred mandalas and other objects to, and the performance of various mudras with and in front of, and the chanting of mantras and dharanis in the hearing of, properly initiated worshipers, for theurgical purposes in this life and the next.

(See also: Mysteries, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

A Theosophical definition of Mysteries :

Mysteries

The Mysteries were divided into two general parts, the Less Mysteries and the Greater.

The Less Mysteries were very largely composed of dramatic rites or ceremonies, with some teaching; the Greater Mysteries were composed of, or conducted almost entirely on the ground of, study; and the doctrines taught in them later were proved by personal experience in initiation. In the Greater Mysteries was explained, among other things, the secret meaning of the mythologies of the old religions, as, for instance, the Greek.

The active and nimble mind of the Greeks produced a mythology which for grace and beauty is perhaps without equal, but it nevertheless is very difficult to explain; the Mysteries of Samothrace and of Eleusis  - the greater ones  - explained among other things what these myths meant. These myths formed the basis of the exoteric religions; but note well that exotericism does not mean that the thing which is taught exoterically is in itself false, but merely that it is a teaching given without the key to it. Such teaching is symbolic, illusory, touching on the truth  - the truth is there, but without the key to it, which is the esoteric meaning, it yields no proper sense.

We have the testimony of the Greek and Roman initiates and thinkers that the ancient Mysteries of Greece taught men, above everything else, to live rightly and to have a noble hope for the life after death. The Romans derived their Mysteries from those of Greece.

The mythological aspect comprises only a portion  - and a relatively small portion  - of what was taught in the Mystery schools in Greece, principally at Samothrace and at Eleusis. At Samothrace was taught the same mystery-teaching that was current elsewhere in Greece, but here it was more developed and recondite, and the foundation of these mystery-teachings was morals. The noblest and greatest men of ancient times in Greece were initiates in the Mysteries of these two seats of esoteric knowledge.

In other countries farther to the east, there were other Mystery schools or "colleges," and this word college by no means necessarily meant a mere temple or building; it meant association, as in our modern word colleague, "associate." The Teutonic tribes of northern Europe, the Germanic tribes, which included Scandinavia, had their Mystery colleges also; and teacher and neophytes stood on the bosom of Mother Earth, under Father Ether, the boundless sky, or in subterranean receptacles, and taught and learned. The core, the heart, the center, of the teaching of the ancient Mysteries was the abstruse problems dealing with death. (See also Guru-parampara)

See also: Mysteries, Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul)

MYSTERY

From Gk. myein, "to keep the mouth shut". Mysteries are occult truths to be deliberately kept from the uninitiated. "Swine" is a metaphor for the uninitiated. And we are warned not to "cast pearls" before them or at least not to manifest the unmanifest idly. To Keep Silent is perhaps the most important of the tetramorphic commands.

There is a practical reason for keeping silent about private or creative projects, especially while they're still in the planning stage. Any talking about a plan will be a talking out of it, because talking is an action of it own and automatically substitutes for physical action. Those poets and novelists who hang out in coffee shops engaging one another in endless serious discussions should hardly be surprised when they return to their silent rooms only to find they have nothing left over to put on paper!

Plans must also be hidden until the moment comes to act or others will interfere with them.

It has been said that the wise man speaks in riddles as much as possible. Enlightenment is best expressed through ritual, works of art, joking and exotic behavior, rather than through actual messages in so many explicit terms. Esoteric words are used to ensure that the seeker can understand only if he has reached a certain level on his own. For example, to convince an ignorant person that he is a God would be to unleash not merely an intolerable egotism but could even trigger overt psychopathic behavior. The greatest truths are multi-dimensional life-long fonts of revelation, disclosing themselves to successive stages of understanding, little by little, in keeping with one's experiences.

But throughout all of this, notice that the command is "Silence" and not isolation. It is permissible to read and write books at any level, because the reader can exercise selectivity and can stop and start wherever he chooses at the writer's "silent" words on paper (or vidscreen). One is always a captive audience of the spoken word, whereas to read is an outgoing, positive activity taking place in total freedom. Therefore, the reader has proved, by virtue of his persistence and attentionality that he is entitled to instruction - having found the tree he is allowed to extract its fruit. Then, having tasted, he will discover for himself whether or not it is life-sustaining.

(See also: MYSTERY, Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul, )

Mysteries. Greek teletai, or finishings, celebrations of initiation or the Mysteries.

They were observances, generally kept secret from the profane and uninitiated, in which were taught by dramatic representation and other methods, the origin of things, the nature of the human spirit, its relation to the body, and the method of its purification and restoration to higher life. Physical science, medicine, the laws of music, divination, were all taught in the same manner.

The Hippocratic oath was but a mystic obligation. Hippocrates was a priest of Asklepios, some of whose writings chanced to become public. But the Asklepiades were initiates of the Esculapian serpent-worship, as the Bacchantes were of the Dionysia; and both rites were eventually incorporated with the Eleusinia. The Sacred Mysteries were enacted in the ancient Temples by the initiated Hierophants for the benefit and instruction of the candidates.

The most solemn and occult Mysteries were certainly those which were performed in Egypt by "the band of secret-keepers", as Mr. Bonwick calls the Hierophants. Maurice describes their nature very graphically in a few lines. Speaking of the Mysteries performed in Phile (the Nile-island), he says that "it was in these gloomy caverns that the grand and mystic arcana of the goddess (Isis) were unfolded to the adoring aspirant, while the solemn hymn of initiation resounded through the long extent of these stony recesses".

The word "mysteries" is derived from the Greek muo, "to close the mouth", and every symbol connected with them had, a hidden meaning. As Plato and many other sages of antiquity affirm, the Mysteries were highly religious, moral and beneficent as a school of ethics.

The Grecian mysteries, those of Ceres and Bacchus, were only imitations of the Egyptian; and the author of Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, informs us that our own "word chapel or capella is said to be the Caph-El or college of El, the Solar divinity".

The well-known Kabiri are associated with the Mysteries. In short, the Mysteries were in every country a series of dramatic performances, in which the mysteries of cosmogony and nature, in general, were personified by the priests and neophytes, who enacted the part of various gods and goddesses, repeating supposed scenes (allegories) from their respective lives. These were explained in their hidden meaning to the candidates for initiation, and incorporated into philosophical doctrines.

(See also: Mysteries, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Mysteries, The [from Greek mysteria Mysteries from mystes one initiated into the Mysteries from mueo to initiate from muo to close the eyes or lips]

Applies chiefly to Greece, but once extended to Asiatic cults of religio-philosophical character, it acquired a wider range under the Romans, and is used in The Secret Doctrine in reference to equivalent institutions in any part of the world. The most celebrated in Greece were those of Eleusis pertaining to Demeter and Persephone, which gave rise to many branches and influenced schools of older foundation.

Others were those of Samothrace, the Orphic Mysteries, and the Festivals devoted to Dionysos. Schools like that of Pythagoras diffused their influence, as did Academies such as that of Plato. The history of Greece furnishes notable examples of great men who had been initiated into such Mysteries. The Mysteries came into Greece from India and Egypt, and their origin goes back to Atlantean times. They were in historic times, what remained of the means whereby man's divine ancestors communicated truths concerning the mysteries of cosmos and of human nature and of the communion divinity and man.

In times when sacred knowledge was whole and not divided into sacred and profane, the human body, not yet desecrated, was held as sacred as any other part of function of human nature; so that the teaching embraced medicine, hygiene, singing, dancing, the useful arts and crafts; and the teachers of religion, philosophy, science, and of crafts, the founders of cities, and great artists derived their powers from this source.

The Mysteries were divided into the Greater and Less, inner and outer, esoteric and partly exoteric; and, as the former were guarded by well-observed secrecy the sources of ordinary information are mostly based on the latter. The more recondite Mysteries could not, from their very nature, be publicly divulged; they were revelations, appreciable only by an awakened spiritual perception and incommunicable to anyone not thus awakened. The Greater Mysteries were successive initiations for prepared candidates. The Less consisted of symbolic and dramatic representations for the public, in which, among other things, the profound symbology of the Greek mythology was employed.

The elevating and unifying influence of these institutions was acknowledged by Greek and Roman authorities and is apparent from a study of Greek history. With the advance of a cycle of materialism, the Mysteries became degraded, especially in Asia Minor in Roman times; the symbolism was perverted and even made to palliate licentious practices. What little was left to abolish was formally abolished by Justinian, who closed the mystic and quasi-esoteric Neoplatonic School of Athens in 529.

In a recognition of the ancient Mysteries we find a clue to the meaning of the universal prevalence, among peoples fallen into a degenerate and falsely called primitive state of life, of strange rites and black magical practices. These are the very dregs and distortions of the ancient holy teachings; but even here unprejudiced inquirers find that, when sympathetically approached, the existence of secret cults which preserve at least remnants of some of the essential teachings of the ancient wisdom.

As formal institutions, the Mysteries had their earliest origin during the fourth root-race, Atlantis, after its fourth subrace. Indeed, the still more primitive roots of the Mysteries can be traced to a much earlier time, probably during the third subrace of the Atlanteans, when the rapid degeneration of mankind into the worship of matter had brought about the absolute need of segregating the nobler and finer spirits of the human race into groups or schools where they could, under the vows of inviolable secrecy, study the deeper mysteries of nature and their own oneness with the divine. From that time the Mysteries became with every subrace more and more secret and entrance into them became ever more difficult. After the fifth root-race came upon the scene, the Mysteries had become well established in all countries of the globe, and their rites and functions, both of the Greater and the Less, were conducted as functions of the State.

Even from the time of the incarnation of the manasaputras in the third root-race, there has been an unbroken line, stream, or succession of lofty spiritual teachers guarding the ancient god-wisdom received in primordial ages from the dhyanis; and the Mysteries, even in their heyday of splendor and in their most secret lines of work, were the outer side of clothing of this inner stream of inspiration and sublime teaching. The light has not yet died from off the earth, and the spiritual stream still exists and does its work in the world, although for ages it has been acting more secretly and esoterically than ever. However, the time is coming when the Mysteries will again be reestablished and will receive the common reverence and respect from mankind that in former ages they universally had.

(See also: Mysteries, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Mystery film - 1930s. The Thin Man (1934) The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939) The Saint Strikes Back (1939) Mystery film - 1940s. Rebecca (1940) The Maltese Falcon (1941) The Falcon Takes Over (1942) Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1942) Farewell, My Lovely (1944 ...

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Mystery film, Mystery film - History, Mystery film - Movie sleuths, Mystery film - Mystery films, Mystery film - 1930s, Mystery film - 1940s, Mystery film - 1950s, Mystery film - 1960s, Mystery film - 1970s, Mystery film - 1980s, Mystery film - 1990s, Mystery film - 2000s

Read more here: » Mystery film: Encyclopedia II - Mystery film - Mystery films

Apart from this basic outline the Mysteries remain largely just that, a mystery, as very little knowledge of them has been passed down to us. Our current knowledge is largely based on the speculation of various scholars (notably Carl Kerenyi and W F Otto), drawing on contemporary descriptions and imagery and comparative cross cultural studies. The sophisticated Dionysian Mysteries of mainland Greece and Rome are generally thought to have evolved from a more primitive initiatory cult that was widespread in the Mediterranean region by t ...

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Dionysian Mysteries, Dionysian Mysteries - The Mysteries Unveiled, Dionysian Mysteries - A Brief History of the early Dionysos Cult, Dionysian Mysteries - The Emergence and Evolution of the Dionysian Mysteries, Dionysian Mysteries - The Mystery Rites, Dionysian Mysteries - The Public Rites, Dionysian Mysteries - The Temple and its Officers, Dionysian Mysteries - Ritual Miscellanies, Dionysian Mysteries - Some primary texts on Dionysianism, Dionysian Mysteries - Secondary texts

Read more here: » Dionysian Mysteries: Encyclopedia II - Dionysian Mysteries - The Mysteries Unveiled

There are no reliable reports of Dave’s life following his departure from Dodge. Dave’s friends said that he had to stay away from town because of a vengeful mob that wanted to kill him, but they did not disclose his whereabouts. Different stories have wildly different accounts of Mysterious Dave’s final fate. One account had him living in New Mexico as a bank-robber named Mysterious Dave Taylor. Another account by one William Waters, claims that Dave travelled to Vancouver where joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was ...

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Mysterious Dave Mather, Mysterious Dave Mather - Early Life, Mysterious Dave Mather - Life on the Prairie, Mysterious Dave Mather - Las Vegas, Mysterious Dave Mather - Dodge City, Mysterious Dave Mather - The Mystery of Mysterious Dave, Mysterious Dave Mather - Legends, Mysterious Dave Mather - Mysterious Dave's Legacy, Mysterious Dave Mather - Sources

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The Dionysian Mysteries are believed to have consisted of two sets of rites, the secret rites of initiation just outlined and the outer public, or Dionysia The public rites are generally held to be the most ancient of the two. Dionysian Mysteries - The Public Rites. In Athens and the Attica of the Classical period the main festivities were held in the month of Elaphebolion (around the time of the Spring Equinox) where the Greater, or City, Dionysia had evolved into a great drama festival - Di ...

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Dionysian Mysteries, Dionysian Mysteries - The Mysteries Unveiled, Dionysian Mysteries - A Brief History of the early Dionysos Cult, Dionysian Mysteries - The Emergence and Evolution of the Dionysian Mysteries, Dionysian Mysteries - The Mystery Rites, Dionysian Mysteries - The Public Rites, Dionysian Mysteries - The Temple and its Officers, Dionysian Mysteries - Ritual Miscellanies, Dionysian Mysteries - Some primary texts on Dionysianism, Dionysian Mysteries - Secondary texts

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These secrets are not to be profaned (pro + fanum "beyond the fane, or religious precinct"). By their very nature mysteries are ineffable, beyond what can be expressed in words, or esoteric. As in Gnosticism, gnosis, "knowledge", is conveyed experientially, thus mysteries and mystery religions do not produce a body of scripture that is claimed to be "revealed" by the prophet of a deity.

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Mystery religion, Mystery religion - Mystery religion, Mystery religion - Components, Mystery religion - Recorded histories, Mystery religion - Initiation, Mystery religion - Early Christians, Mystery religion - Other religious forms, Mystery religion - Examples of current mystery religions, Mystery religion - Examples of mystery religions no longer practised

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The Roman emperor Theodosius I closed the sanctuaries by decree in CE 392 in an effort to destroy pagan resistance to the imposition of Christianity as a state religion. The last remnants of the Mysteries were wiped out in CE 396, when Alaric, King of the Goths, invaded accompanied by Christians "in their dark garments", bringing Arian Christianity and desecrating the old sacred sites. The closing of the Eleusinian Mysteries in the 4th century is reported by Eunapios, a historian and biographer of the Greek philosophers. Eunapios had been in ...

See also:

Eleusinian Mysteries, Eleusinian Mysteries - The Mysteries, Eleusinian Mysteries - End of the Eleusinian Mysteries, Eleusinian Mysteries - Entheogenic theories

Read more here: » Eleusinian Mysteries: Encyclopedia II - Eleusinian Mysteries - End of the Eleusinian Mysteries

Mystery Men - Mystery Men. Ben Stiller - Furious William H. Macy - Shoveler Hank Azaria - Blue Raja Janeane Garofalo - Bowler Kel Mitchell - Invisible Boy Paul Reubens - Spleen Wes Studi - Sphinx Mystery Men - Superheroes. Greg Kinnear - Captain Amazing Mystery Men - Bad guys. Geoffrey Rush - Casanova Frankenstein Lena Olin - Dr Anabel Leek Eddie Izzard - Tony P Artie Lange - Big Red ...

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Mystery Men, Mystery Men - Plot, Mystery Men - Basis, Mystery Men - Cast, Mystery Men - Mystery Men, Mystery Men - Superheroes, Mystery Men - Bad guys, Mystery Men - Citizens, Mystery Men - External link

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