What exactly is a Mystery School?

The answer to that question is part of the mystery, and it depends on who you ask.

In the broadest sense, mystery schools were secret, hidden teachings that explored fundamental spiritual truths. Most ideas that fall under the headings of “metaphysics” or “new age” have their roots in the teachings of various mystery schools. 

One thing that all true mystery schools have in common is that they are experiential. You don’t learn about the teachings in a classroom. You inhabit them and experience them for yourself. Mystery schools are about knowing truth, not knowing about it. 

I had the great fortune of attending a Mystery School for a number of years. 

We didn’t call it a mystery school, and it’s only on reflection that I realized that’s what it was. But for many years, I was a part of a community in San Diego who participated in powerful, experiential classes facilitated by Rev. Dr. Alice Bandy. 

Alice herself had spent many years in formal training learning a number of energy tools and was skilled at both offering intuitive readings and training others to develop these skills. We began with a class that explored the Kybalion — the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus that form the basis of virtually every spiritual and metaphysical principle — by working with Divine Magic, Doreen Virtue’s gloss on the original text. 

A year or so later, Alice created a program where we explored the entire Kabbalistic Tree of Life (and named ourselves The Tree of Life Community after that experience). 

I’ve incorporated these tools in my counseling practice for years, but was careful about teaching them to others. 

The main hesitation to teach these tools is that because they are so experiential, I wasn’t convinced they could be taught online to the same effect. When exploring these tools in a live, in-person setting, there’s an intimacy and immediacy that is hard to create in a virtual space. 

Hard, but not impossible. 

One of the things that amazed me when I began to share my spiritual development programs online was the level of intimacy and community that existed among the participants in these programs. My students were literally from around the world, and yet we formed deep and lasting bonds with each other by sharing our stories and experiences in an online bulletin board forum. 

And yes, there are a number of advanced tools that simply must be taught in person. But I’ve discovered how to incorporate a range of simple, yet powerful tools and spiritual practices in these online programs. 

The Real Astrology Academy Mystery School offers experiential classes in spiritual development. 

Personal Practical Astrology introduces you to the core spiritual practices and gives you the opportunity to gently question your story and begin to elevate the truth quotient of your life. 

Practical Prosperity has been updated and is now available for registration. It's a self-guided experience that introduces you to spiritual principles, energy tools, and spiritual pratcices that will create wealth, health, and happiness. 

I'm planning a new class, tentatively called Mental Alchemy, that will explore the Hermetic Axioms, the fundamental principles of all metaphysics, as explored in The Kybalion. I hope to launch this class in 2022.

Archetypal Astrology: The Hero’s Journey Online Experience is the oldest spiritual development program, and it’s also by far the most advanced and the most challenging. Students will need to complete the group experience of both Personal Practical Astrology and Practical Prosperity before being ready to experience The Hero’s Journey.