The Ramblings and Wanderings

What is a Mystery?

So what are these Mysteries Pagans, especially Wiccans, are always talking about? Why does the word get a capitol “M”?

A Mystery is a “Divine Secret” or spiritual truth. It is the very moment of enlightenment. A Mystery is something that causes one of those earth shattering, life changing, spiritual moments that changes who you are as a person.  Basically, a Mystery is when something happens that causes you to take a leap or sprint ahead on that development of your soul. The Mystery is the wisdom, knowledge, realization, inspiration etc that comes from those moments in time.

You do not have to be Wiccan to experience such things, nor do they have to occur during an initiation. Mystery is simply the word Wiccans (and most modern Pagans) use to describe a very old thing. A great example of this is the “Shamanic death” it in itself is an initiation of a different sort (and horrifically traumatic), it is certainly not Wiccan, but it is a Mystery that has been part of the human spiritual experience since we lived in caves.

And it’s simply that such things tend to occur during (or shortly before or after) initiations, but not only then.

It is the Gods, our guides, totems and ancestors who are the custodians of the Mysteries. A High Priestess, teacher, or some such person may guide you toward the Mysteries. But it is up to the spiritual beings in your life to decide when you are ready to receive a Mystery, and what that Mystery may be. I’d like to point out that experiencing a Mystery can be rather traumatic, due to the fact that it changes not only your perceptions but it changes YOU. This is why it is safer to have a teacher, friend, or group to help you, and why a solitary practice is so difficult.

I have been both prepared and supported for such things, and not at all. When left on my own and not ready (mistakenly thinking that I was) it was rather like being an insignificant worm that has just been stepped on. The recovery and assimilation from/of the Mystery is incredibly difficult on your own. It can be difficult with the support of others as well, and they can only do so much for you. Each Mystery is a personal experience.

When you are new to your Path, it’s natural to want to rush headlong into such things, like the short child desperate for a growth spurt. I know I was once desperate to FEEL some special spiritual something…looking for some sort of validation or proof.

There is a fantasy novel by one of my favorite authors in which a rather bitter saint (someone who has talked to the gods and done their “dirty work”) comes across a group of pilgrims. One pilgrim talks the saints ear off about her devotion to the Mother and what she would do if the goddess ever showed Herself to her. The saint thought to herself something along the lines of ;
“Yeah right, if the Mother showed herself to you; you’d be kneeling on the floor, pissing yourself from fright and weeping at the unfathomable-ness of it”

Do not allow someone to claim they can teach you the Mysteries, they can only guide. Do not allow someone to claim the Mysteries belong to their Tradition alone, this is not truth. Do not feel left out or like there is something wrong with you if you have not experienced such a thing, it will come when you are ready. Keep studying, keep practicing, keep meditating and eventually it will come. Be prepared to not be the same person you were before it did.

Juniper