Embryonic Article

The Secret Teachings of All Ages
Author Manly P. Hall

INTRODUCTION

Manly P. Hall was a man who, in his own words, was " ... strongly moved to explore the problems of humanity, its origin and destiny ..." What he refers to as the "Secret Teachings of All Ages" he refers to elsewhere as the "Mystery Schools," or the "ancient mysteries" or even the "sacred sciences" of antiquity.

The unifying purpose of all the "mystery schools" is described by Henry L. Drake in the foreword to the book as follows, "The end of the sacred sciences was the abstraction of the human soul from bondage to the senses and its preparation to receive within itself the light of vast truths."

Manly P. Hall himself states clearly in the second chapter "The Mysteries were organized for the purpose of assisting the struggling human creature to reawaken the spiritual powers which, surrounded by the flaming ring of lust and degeneracy, lay asleep within his soul."

END OF SECTION 1

The first three chapters -- after the introduction -- are a panoramic/cursory view of the "secret schools" of antiquity -- alternately referred to by M.P.H. as "mysteries" or "rites"

The Druidic Mysteries
The Rites of Mithra
The Gnostic Mysteriees
The Mysteries of Serapis
The Gothic Mysteries
The Eleusian Mysteries
The Orphic Mysteries
The Bacchic/Dionysiac Mysteries

Of the Eleusian Mysteries, M.P.H. writes "To the Eleusinian philosophers, birth into the physical world was death in the fullest sense of the word, and the only true birth was that of the spiritual soul of man rising out of the womb of his own fleshly nature."


PYTHAGOREAN THEORY

Regarding Pythagorus' influence on music theory, M.P.H. says the following,

"While the early Chinese, Hindus, Persians, Egyptians, Israelites, and Greeks employed both vocal and instrumental music in their
religious ceremonies, also to complement their poetry and drama, it remained to Pythagorus to raise the
art to its true dignity by demonstrating it mathematical foundation."