 While Lao Tzu was busy sharing Taoism in China, and the Buddha was showing the Hindus and Tibetans the path to Enlightenment, the great Greek sages and philosophers, Pythagoras and Plato and the Eleusinians, were refining the mystical wisdom of the ancient mystery schools that were being brought from further east. Before they were introduced to the West, the Arabic Empire absorbed and integrated many of the secret wisdom teachings in the many religions where it became dominant. During the Crusades, the Christian intelligentsia that accompanied the crusading soldiers gained initiation from their Arabic and Persian counterparts before bringing the teachings back to Europe. The mystery schools formed the major inspiration for all subsequent Western esotericism and are the foundation of much of our modern culture. They are the birthplace of science and mathematics, rational philosophy and the liberal arts, the Olympic games, performing arts such as theater and music. And while many of these activities are regarded as secular today, having little to do with spirituality, they all ultimately grew from the fertile soil of ancient mysticism. These schools of thought were great mystic universities and centers for learning. For the study of the mysteries of life and death, the truths of which were only revealed to initiates known as the Miss Day. The most famous thinkers, artists and statesmen of the ancient world, people who excelled at abstract science, who created exquisite works of art, who assembled the first libraries, who built the pyramids and the Parthenon, were all mystic initiates in one way or another, and all who which held the sacred mysteries to be the very height of their culture. The ancient Egyptian mystery schools were venerated by the Greeks and the Greek mysteries were held in esteem by the Romans. The Roman statesman Cicero once said, The rites of the mystery schools are called initiations, and in truth we have learned from them the first principles of life. We have gained the understanding not only to live happily, but also to die with better hope. The mystery schools revealed through direct experience that life is a journey of spiritual awakening, a process by which humans may find their higher nature and even become what the ancients called, gods. The ancient mystics taught that each individual is a spark of the one fire of life as represented by the sun. The mystics teach us to concentrate all of our desires onto the one desire to know God, concentrating on the essential sense of being, our feeling of I am, and then finally, as we cross the threshold of realization, to be ready to abandon this also. Especially in our society today, we miss our simple yet essential nature because of our own fears and desires. Desire is the memory of pleasure which we seek to repeat, and fear is the memory of pain which we seek to avoid. Both of these keep us from the present moment because they are rooted in experiences of the past and future. According to Plato, the ultimate design of the mysteries was to lead us back to the principles from which we descended, a perfect enjoyment of intellectual, spiritual, good. While the concept of mystery schools as we know it comes from the Greeks, the Greeks themselves oftentimes said that they got the idea from the Egyptians. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing for sure what form the Egyptian mystery schools took, but from what we know of Egyptian religion, each temple often contained libraries and centers of learning, the most famous of which being the Per Ankh, or House of Life, one of the greatest medical and philosophical libraries of their world. Even the Temple of Neith in Sais, where Solon was said to have received the story of Atlantis before it was acquired by Plato, contained a medical school that taught philosophy and spiritual practice. While mysticism was nearly destroyed in mainstream culture for almost a thousand years, it experienced a rebirth during the Renaissance, a word literally translating to rebirth, when many ancient philosophical texts were discovered and re-translated. Most notably, the Corpus Hermeticum returned to the modern culture and influenced the direction of modern society, including how people interpreted Christianity. Even into the modern world today, we find that the mysteries have influenced modern science in profound ways. For example, nearly all of the founders of quantum physics were into some form of mysticism or Eastern philosophy, which shaped their understanding of the universe and supported them in pioneering some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in the world today. And today, the mysteries are still alive. Last year, we enrolled the first students into the Spirit Science Mystery School. Spirit Mysteries was inspired by a mystical visitation from Thoth and a calling to create a space, both digital and physical, that brings people together with the intention of cultivating a higher consciousness and doing soulful work in the world. Where Spirit Science is about facilitating the conversation about science and spirituality, Spirit Mysteries is about each of us evolving our consciousness for real. In the last year, Spirit Mysteries has come a long way. Initially, we only had a few programs and several live events every month, but over this past year, the Mystery School has evolved tremendously. As we approach our one-year anniversary of Spirit Mysteries, we look back to see where we came from, become present with where we are now, and chart a course for the future. Today, members of Spirit Mysteries have access to over 50 events in any given month, including live workshops, sacred ceremonies, social gatherings, and meditations. On top of the community events and the live and recorded workshops, we also now offer free one-on-one counseling sessions as well as tarot and astrological readings available with every membership. Thousands of members have experienced Spirit Mysteries in some way, shape, or form, and what they've shared about the experience is beyond words. And I have to say that it is unlike anything that I have ever experienced. It is a lot of fun for one, and it is also just full of love, full of light, and full of just this outstanding inspiration of people that want you to succeed. Thank you so much for putting together Spirit Mysteries. I have been yearning and longing for a community like this, and I am so excited to enroll right after this. But the seven-day transformation course was so impactful, empowering. I am extremely grateful for these videos. They have really upped my knowledge base. And in all honesty, it's been incredibly helpful, super insightful. It really gets you to hone in and focus, be dedicated to your spiritual practice, build some discipline to keep it going. I'm really glad that the course is available forever. So that means if I ever get off track again, I can use it. And the videos were phenomenal, especially this video on love meditation. I've been listening to it every day for like a week now. And I just love for myself and love for everyone, and I'm just hopeful in all areas. Each day, the lessons permeated throughout the rest of the day. I felt more conscious and more present. The level of caring that you feel being in this program, and curiously like it being an online program with videos, but the level of support that you feel like I generally felt connected to other people. I felt the intention of that community. This is your opportunity. This is your time. Are you going to take it? So I just, I really appreciated that. Looking forward to the future. Once the borders and travel opens up, we will also facilitate several in-person events on a yearly basis, including group trips to Rhythmia as well as yoga and other meditation retreats. Since we began, Spirit Mysteries was accessible generally through a higher cost as we looked to cultivate a community of truly invested seekers. And so memberships ranged between $500 and $1,500. However, today, we are excited to announce a massive shift in memberships which are now more affordable for everyone and still include everything offered to other members, such as access to the entire community, one-on-one counseling, invitations to events both online and in-person, and the Full Spirit Mysteries Library, the works. Remember, the ancient mysteries were considered to only be available to people who genuinely felt a deep inner calling to participate. If you feel it in your heart and you're ready to step into a new wave of life, connect with your spirit family, and rapidly shift and elevate your vibration and consciousness, click the link below to experience the magic and life-changing mystical experience that is the Mysteries Reborn. Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you on the inside.