There is a difference between a Concept or understanding that can be passed or given and a Mystery. A real Teacher, or Guru if you prefer the term, has the primary focus of the liberation of the Spirit of the Student. As a teacher, all you can do is hope to help a student claim for themselves what life's experience may have to offer. Not to copy or repeat what you think you know in the same way as you have grasped it. But to claim the root of what you have had the good fortune to touch, in the hopes that, within their lifetime their grasp may reach further than what could be possible for you, in your lifetime. This is the way the Legacy and the Great Work of the Old Ones may become enfleshed.
Any one person’s understanding of the Mystery would be too limiting. If I were to pass only my understanding of the Mysteries, and bind myself in the belief that my reading was the last word on the matter, I would be limiting my students to understanding and repeating only what I believe as Truth. To copy me. And when something or someone is copied, it is always less than the original. This bevomes Dogma. Where the Heart is lost in favour of concrete dogma that can be traced and defended to whatever would be an acceptable source for that group, or belief. The Ancestors understood that the Mysteries were an interactive Spiritual Insight which required the receiver to be in a certain frame of mind, or mindset, in order to receive Gnosis or insight to the Truth of the root of these life changing understandings. These Mysteries may be spoken of in dimmed reflections of the Truth of them. But the experience of them is so profound that they truly change your life. And therefore how you claim them becomes very important.
There are folks who focus on their own Egos. They want to sit like Guru's and dish out Pearls of Knowledge. They claim to have the Truth and recognize only puppets of themselves. These are the ones who suffer from what you speak of - Guru Syndrome. And yes, they do sometimes spout the idea of Mysteries rather than give something of value. They have not truly experienced the Mysteries and so they cover their deficits with smoke screens about the Mysteries..
To my mind you as a True Teacher (I hate the Term Guru, but as a True Teacher serving the Old Ones) will nurture the Spirit in others. And support the process of Sacred Union between the ego of those folk and their True Spirit as it dwells naturally within them. Not dictate how this union shall manifest… Not explain any Right or Wrong path for any other… But simply Watch and Ward by the Light of your own True Spirit. And, when you can, help others to grasp for themselves the Mysteries in their own way - which frees and liberates them to go where their Spirit dictates.
Hence a real Teacher will make use of the Mysteries to help in this process rather than undermine this process by explaining away something that could have been the key to liberating the Spirit of a seeker to a greater Universe of Wonder..
The Ancestors buried the Mysteries in a certain way for a reason. They could have passed concept to us. But their World is not the World of Reason we understand today. And what they offer us is the Keys to their World. But those keys are to be found beyond the realm of reason as we may see it today.
I've been wrestling with some of these Mysteries since Initiation in 1975. I thought that I had them down many times. I thought that I truly knew them, that I’d got them figured out. But as I grow older, I go ever deeper and these Mysteries Humble me before them. I believe now I will never truly know them and this knowledge actually comforts me. I'm sure some would say that I'm just lacking and that's why I will never feel I truly understand them. Who knows… Perhaps that's true. Perhaps I am lacking something. But whatever that something is, I thank the Gods I don't have it! What a Magical Gift my Life has been, and it's not stopped yet.
Is this Witchcraft? In a way. But really it's for all. Everyone needs to find their path and wed their Spirit. That's what I call becoming a True Winner in this life. What others think isn't important. Union with your Spirit is… Wherever that takes you. The Cunning path is not an easy path for most folks. You truly have to be Borne to it. And then Made. For the Lord has two Horns! Most people are too inflexible to walk a true crooked path. So of all paths that could become fashionable, the Craft should not be one of them. Pagan… yeah sure… though I'm not sure what that term really means today. But Craft folk are a breed unto themselves. And those I've met don't need recognition or admiration. There's always more than meets the eye. And the Mysteries are the means to grasp this unseen world.
Know Thyself!
Griffin
