Astral Initiation

by Matt Johnson

In ancient times, seekers would travel to far off places to seek initiation into mystery schools. One reads of such things in the Timaeus and Critias of Plato. Within these works, we learn that there were many ancient civilizations that have risen and fallen long before Egypt. The most famous of these is first taught here, that being Atlantis. I will explore that another time.

Among the Greeks alone we read of great philosophers and teachers, such as Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras and Solon, who studied not only the mystery schools of their own country, but also that of Egypt and in some cases as far as India.

They sought out great learning and to be initiated. This was often done in elaborate and secret ceremonies involving all sorts of theatrics. Often, the usage of entheogens was included. All of these techniques allowed the person seeking initiation to not only learn the great truths of existence, but also to get out of their body and see things beyond this earthly plane.

Anyone who has ever tried LSD, DMT, mushrooms or other types of entheogens has had a taste of this experience. However, this can also be accomplished through meditation.

One does not have to join a secret order or go to a far off land anymore to learn ancient metaphysical wisdom. All of the “secrets” that used to be protected are now on the Internet for anyone to read. The age of secrecy is over. Indeed, all of these things have been in print at least since the 1800s thanks to authors and teachers such as Helena Blavatsky, Manly P. Hall and others.

Because of the Internet, we can read countless works for free online at websites such as sacred-texts.com. Anything you could possibly think of is there. We also have the ability to type any question our minds can conceive and “google” it. From there, we can get the opinions of thousands of people.

All of that can be quite hard to sift through and this is one of the many reasons I strongly recommend becoming a student of the University of Metaphysical Sciences. Everything is there in one place and there are advisors to help you on your journey.

Now, what about initiation? Do we still need to even worry about that? Here is my take on initiation: originally, there was a certain amount of fear surrounding it. There were two sets of “religion”. There was the religion of the people which was quite simple. It had gods or goddesses who ruled by fear and demanded worship or tributes. We still have this today with Christianity where one must tithe a portion of their income and one must believe what is taught or hellfire awaits. There are also stories such as Jonah and the whale or Moses parting the Red Sea which push the limits of credulity. The same was true of Greek, Roman or Egyptian mythology. The masses believed in this “Sunday School” level of religious instruction and used it to guide their lives. That was fine and useful for them.

However, there have always been a small number of people who were not satisfied with such explanations. They simply found it hard to believe. They wanted more. Some of them simply found it all to be nonsense and went about their lives as private atheists. An even smaller number of these people sought out the second religion of the wise. They knew there had to be more. They were sworn to silence because they knew the masses could not handle the truths behind their myths. They knew that the religion of the masses was an allegory for a higher, deeper and perhaps an even more scientific understanding of reality. If this were to be taught publicly, the usual result was to be killed as a heretic. So, the wise kept their secrets and only let the trusted few through the process of initiation to have access to them. If these people could survive the sometimes brutal initiation process, they would be taught the mysteries of the ages.

Thanks to our freedom of religion and freedom of speech (I am an American), we do not have to worry about being burned as heretics. Also, thanks to the Internet, everything has been laid bare for the whole world to see. Humanity seems, at least to me and many others, to be ready to hear these things on a mass scale. They might still be shocked, but not so much that they cannot handle it. There will be no collapse of civilization because of these things or people running amok and burning “heretics”. We who are privy to these truths can teach without fear in many countries across the world now.

So what of initiation in our age? Do we still need it? My understanding of it now is that it is more of a marker of your spiritual progress. How does one know if one has been truly initiated into the mysteries?

Many teachers believe that once you have achieved a “body of light” that you are initiated. I agree with this. There are as many different ideas about what a “body of light” is, but here is my simple understanding of it. Basically, when you are able to do the things I described in my previous article “How To Do Psychic Mediumship (For Yourself and Others)”, you are there. I also go into more detail in my book “Universalism” which you can read for free online.

Once you are astrally travelling to the place I describe as a temple and go inside it, you ARE an initiate. You did it. Only you can know this. Many have described this place and I believe, no..I KNOW…it is a real place. You must go there to learn more. Once you make it there, you have been properly initiated and the really interesting part of your journey has begun.

From that point on, use the teachings of UMS, my writings and any other books you can get your hands on. Also, use the spirit guides you will encounter there in that temple. In my next article, I will come up with a list of books I have found to be helpful in my quest for truth, greater knowledge and deeper wisdom.

Matt Johnson is a spiritual teacher. His calling in life is to teach humanity the truth behind all truths…Universalism. He teaches this in his book “Universalism” which is available for free online. He is also a graduate of the University of Metaphysical Sciences. You can learn more about him at: universalismofficialpage.blogspot.com