Many people have e-mailed asking how to join a Mystery School . Virtually all of them were destructed or displaced primarily by Christianity in the form of the Catholic Church. Mysticism itself is not respected by the academic, scientific, or religious communities. The big mystery is what we refer to as death. Preparing for it in a rational way is nothing more than intelligent. Learning how to render it irrelevant was the work of the Mystery Schools, not as a matter of belief or worship, but as a matter of control of consciousness.

Information contained in many of the topics at Open Cheops have come through the printed page. No need to reinvent the wheel where forerunners have left well researched and inspired text. The subjects of metaphysics, mysticism, and the occult have been culled mainly from a few key authors. The effort is to gather that which has been scattered and refine them in a coordinated way to make the path more understandable and easier to traverse. The following list will help all on the path to a greater understanding. Nobody else can walk this path for you. You have to walk it for yourself.

1. THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES by Manly Palmer Hall. This book contains a chronological history of mystic teachings from Atlantis to the founding of the United States . Just this one book will elevate the reader over and above 90% of all the people on the planet. It gives a tremendous jump start to a mystic life. A must read you won't regret.

Founder of The Philosophical Research Society, Manly Palmer Hall left an entire library of esoteric history to posterity. All of his books and tapes are tremendously important to those sincerely interested in spiritual disciplines. I first read THE SECRET TEACHINGS … as a teenager. I have read it another 6 or 7 times since. After listening to many of his taped lectures I now hear his voice speaking the text of his books clairaudiently as I read. Magic does happen!

2. THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT PYRAMID, THE MAGIC OF OBELISKS, and MYSTERIES OF THE MEXICAN PYRAMIDS by Peter Tompkins. This trilogy touches many bases. He also authored THE SECRET LIFE of PLANTS. Tomkins was a magnificent man. Truly a man for all seasons. His trilogy will fascinate and inform in completely understandable ways. Essential reading. Don't miss these.

3. THE EGYPTIAN BOOK of the DEAD, EGYPTIAN RELIGION, EGYPTIAN MAGIC, and THE MUMMY by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge. Budge was a master scholar and Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum towards the end of the Victorian era. Unlike others, Budge was not concerned with artifacts that can be dug up, but rather by the philosophies that generated the monuments, art, and artifacts. This man dived deep. We are all the better for him having done so. For instance, did you know that hieroglyphics are not of Egyptian origin, but were inherited from an unidentified predecessor civilization?

4. THE POWER OF MYTH, MYTHS of LIGHT, THE INNER REACHES of OUTER SPACE, PATHWAYS TO BLISS, THE MYTHIC IMAGE and REFLECTIONS on the ART of LIVING by and about Joseph Campbell. Another man for all seasons whose scholarship and experience are impeccable. Easily readable, non-proselytizing, non-sectarian exposition of the oriental philosophies and their migration into the modern world. Many twice told tales to be found here.

5. The SIGN and the SEAL, FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS, UNDERWORLD: The Mysterious Origins of Civilizations, by Graham Hancock; and TALISMAN by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval ( see interview with Robt. Bauval ) Ten times better than any fictionalized novels.

6. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANCIENT EGYPT by Margaret Brunson. A straight textual alpha listing of topics. Very good for primary reference.

7. The ENCYCLOPEDIA of ANCIENT EGYPT by Helen Strudwick. A presentation by topic with lavish illustrations.

8. NEW LAROUSSE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHOLOGY : Introduction by Robt. Graves . Pretty good reference book of religions and philosophies in a time line from pre-historic times to the present divided into geographical regions. Provides the high points of various philosophies and religions well, if in a somewhat abbreviated way.

6. EGYPT and THE HOLY LAND by Francis Frith. A compilation of the photographs of Francis Frith in the 19 th century. These are some of the oldest available to us at the present. Frith traveled the deserts in a conestoga type wagon, mixed his own emulsions, coated his own photo plates, developed and printed under unimaginably impossible conditions.

7. WIKIPEDIA an invaluable research site

8. EGYPT : Treasures of the Great Pharaohs by T.G.H. James. Excellent comparison of the legacies of Pharaohs Tutankhamon and Ramesses II. Probably the most spectacular presentation of ancient Egyptian art and artifacts with text chronology. The pictures in this book are absolutely stunning. James was a later keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum . Like Budge, he specialized in texts on stone and papyrus, and in writing history, with aspects of Egyptian life, the country, its monuments, and its art. Unlike Budge, he had modern photography and printing processes to incorporate into his epigraphic works. This work contains the very best photographs of Egyptian antiquities that has ever been published, particularly jewelry. James also authored HOWARD CARTER: The Path to Tutankhamon , A SHORT HISTORY of ANCIENT EGYPT , Egypt Revealed, Tutankhamon and Ramesses II.

Note: The curators of antiquities of the British Museum eschewed speculation and embellishment. Their scholarship is beyond question.

9. The King James Version of the Bible. Everyone owes it to themselves to read at least the Pentateuch ( the first five books said to be authored by Moses,) just to see how badly the text has been bastardized beyond recognition. No literate person should rely on the interpretation of others. The time has more than come for all of us to think for ourselves.

There are uncounted numbers of great books on Egypt in every bookstore on the planet. In particular there are major pictorial works on the antiquities of Egypt . There are also hundreds if not thousands of works regarding the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, ancient mystics, etc. which are not works of fiction, yet fictionalized accounts abound. Fiction may be entertaining but it useless to serious students of the hidden path. Moreover, there is a tendency for fictional works to be taken as fact in the minds of the reading public. To some degree this disinformation is detrimental to actual facts. Movies based on fictional works are even worse.

It is imperative for serious seekers to keep their crap detectors in gear and guard against the onslaught of misinformation that passes for reality so much of the time. Seekers may not know the actual truth, but the first power ( or ability ) on the mystic path is to be able to recognize what is not true. Truth by definition is limited to that which can not be changed in the past, in the present, or in the future.

Some of the best and most informative books are out of print. Used bookstores must be mined for these treasures. The internet is great for finding these, but to search the internet one must know the title of the work first. So often one runs across a title or topic of profound interest that was unknown prior to stumbling across it. Let the force be with you. Move as the spirit moves you, and you will find what is important to you in this life popping up all around you. Gather that which has been scattered and connect the dots in your own mind, for your own self.

This list of books will be updated on a regular basis. Meanwhile this list is more than enough to keep one busy for months, if not years.

Believe nothing

No matter where you read it

Or who has said it

Even if I say it

Unless it agrees with your own reason

And your own common sense

Gautama the Buddha