Book Review: Secrets of Greek Mysticism: A Modern Guide to Daily Practice with the Greek Gods and Goddesses - George Lizos

A book on Greek religion that is alive!

There are many books on ancient Greek religion written for modern Pagans; however, it is rare that you encounter Greek authors in this genre. One of the recent additions to this list is George Lizos’ "Secrets of Greek Mysticism: A Modern Guide to Daily Practice with the Greek Gods and Goddesses.

From the back cover

Secrets of Greek Mysticism is the first spiritual book about the Greek gods and goddesses written by a native, practicing priest of Hellenic Polytheism. It goes beyond the simplistic and archetypical representation of the Greek pantheon and instead introduces the gods and goddesses from a theological perspective.

Secrets of Greek Mysticism teaches readers how to find each god or goddess within them. This is achieved through grounded insights on the gods’ virtues as they relate to modern life (i.e., practicing bravery with Ares, cultivating endurance with Demeter, and embodying love with Aphrodite), explaining the deeper spiritual meaning of popular myths, practicing guided meditations, activating the gods’ energies with mantras and hymns, and performing simple rituals.
 
In helping readers build a spiritual connection with the gods and goddesses, Secrets of Greek Mysticism reveals the beginnings of the practice as well as practices for everyday life:
 

·       The twelve gods’ birth stories, essences, and virtues

·       The foundation of ancient Greek spirituality, cosmology, and theology

·       How to live and work with the gods on a daily basis

·       Setting up altars

·       Symbols, hymns, and meditations to guide readers’ practice of connecting with the gods

 
Secrets of Greek Mysticism also makes the claim that for the Divine Feminine to rise, the Divine Masculine needs to rise, too. Rather than solely focusing on female goddesses, it brings together the male and female deities of the Greek pantheon to help readers experience divine union.

Because so few books in this genre are written by Greek authors, I had to check it out and give my thoughts. My initial thoughts were that Secrets of Greek Mysticism is a bridge that connects the new age and adjacent spiritual communities to the Greek religion of today practiced by the Greeks. Because of this bridging of two different communities with two different styles and vocabularies, Secrets of Greek Mysticism is somewhat of a hybrid work (vocabulary wise) that seeks to meet people where they are and help them develop a Greek understanding of the Gods.

In this book, I pull back the curtain and share with you the truth about Greek spirituality, religion, and gods and goddesses. Whether you’re a practicing pagan, witch, or lightworker, or you’re just interested in learning about the ancient Greeks or Earth-based spirituality, this book will give you a solid foundation in Greek mysticism that you can use to deepen your practice. - Introduction

This hybridity may be off-putting to more strict polytheists who avoid terms like “lightworker” or “earth-based religion.” While the book's light ‘new age’ tone is visible, it should not be a hurdle to discerning eyes. You will miss gold if you quit reading too soon.

Secrets of Greek Mysticism is well structured and guides the reader progressively into Greek religion. The book is broken into three parts. (1) The Nature of the Gods, (2) Getting to Know the Gods, and (3) Living with the Gods.

The Nature of the Gods - offers an introduction to ancient Greek spirituality, cosmology, and theology, essential for understanding the Gods beyond common mythological interpretations. Through this section, you will learn the distinctions between mythology and theology, explore the concepts of the Universe, the cosmos, and divine beings, and discover the soul's ascension journey. This knowledge will assist you in advancing your spiritual development.

Getting to Know the Gods - covers the 12 Olympian Gods, with each chapter dedicated to a different deity. The chapters discuss each God's specific attributes and virtues and include an ascension toolkit. This toolkit comprises a mantra, journal prompts, symbols, hymns, practices, and activations designed to enhance your connection with the Gods.

Living with the Gods - provides methods for engaging with the Gods and Goddesses daily, monthly, and annually. It begins with an outline based on the Greek Wheel of the Year and then provides instructions for establishing altars. Additionally, it includes scripts for conducting rituals during the new moon, full moon, and other occasions and offers techniques for seeking and interpreting clear signs and intuitive messages from the deities.

Photo by Freya Ingva on Unsplash

My Critiques

As my past reviews demonstrate, I am usually critical in my reviews of Greek pagan-themed books. Staying true to my style and nature, I must also be critical of this book—it is only fair. Greeks do not get a free pass. If anything, we should be most critical of each other, holding one another accountable for what we put out into the world that will impact the souls of people who are seeking the Gods.

One of the things I do not like is the use of pagan.  Pagan appears across the book; George describes himself as a “Greek pagan priest” and uses terms like “Greek paganism.” These are not terms that Greeks use themselves. It is not a popular term and is largely rejected, if not universally. However, given the audience, those who are going to read the book, these are terms that are familiar to them. So, the use of pagan/paganism is more about audience and marketing rather than reflecting internal identities and terms for Greeks and Greek religion. However, not everyone has this level of discernment, and I fear that using terms like Greek paganism will lead to more confusion between Greeks and Pagans. This is a topic I have written about before.

Another matter I am critical of is the use of Mysticism in the title. I would not classify the book as Greek Mysticism. Mysticism implies something esoteric, such as the mystery traditions, secret teachings, and theurgy. Instead, the book is more exoteric. I think George does a great job of making known what is hard for many to obtain – an insider’s perspective of Greek religion as it is practiced and understood today by Greeks. This is not mysticism; instead, it is a detailed introductory guide to exoteric Greek religion.

This is not to say there is no mysticism in the book. Broadly understood, mysticism relates to practices centered on achieving a direct, personal divine experience; George emphasizes the practical connection with the Greek Gods and Goddesses. This includes understanding and integrating their virtues into daily life, such as practicing bravery with Ares or embodying love with Aphrodite. He outlines various practices, rituals, meditations, and ‘activations’ designed to help readers meet their guardian God or Goddess and receive guidance. George outlines how to set up altars, perform new moon and full moon rituals, and daily, monthly, and yearly practices to honor the Gods​. While some of the practices may be seen as mysticism, they are not necessarily Greek Mysticism per se – in my honest opinion.

What I love

There is a lot to love in this book. I love that the translations of the Orphic Hymns included are from the best-selling translations by Apostolos Athanassakis and Benjamin Wolkow! Too many people are producing bad translations of the Orphic Hymns these days but George was able to get the best English translations out there in his book! This is great benefit to readers. Note, if you buy the e-book version the Orphic Hymns are the Thomas Taylor translations. If you have to buy the paperback to get the Athanassakis translations.

I loved that much of what George wrote I recognize as teachings from the tradition taught to me and or from my own studies. It feels good to read something and know it is connected to your tradition and teachings. No other book has given me that feeling of relatability.

It was fun to see how George bridged the Greek world for his audience. I think it will help people in the long run. One of those things which will help people is the distinction between mythology and theology. George writes, “[m]ost misconceptions about the Greek gods are a result of their mythology.” Indeed, this is true; the reception of myth without exegesis has fueled endless misconceptions. The topic of theology is largely absent from other pagan books.  On the distinction between mythology and theology, George writes:

Theology is the study of the gods and religious practices, while mythology is an allegorical collection of stories that draw from theology in an effort to communicate the gods’ qualities in both an educational and entertaining way…the myths are subject to symbolic interpretation and deliberation, and are not to be taken literally.

Too many pagan authors over-focus on the myths and or secondary sources from scholars to provide explanations. While secondary sources are always welcomed as a means to gain a better historical understanding, Greeks, I think it safe to say, prefer to read the primary sources from antiquity and grapple with them directly first. Another thing I love about George’s book is that being a Greek and a priest in a living Greek religion with teachings and an organized means to approach the Gods – George can do something that other authors can’t do – make clear statements like the Gods are “Loving” without have to play the ‘citation game’ to justify himself like other authors.

…the gods share the Universe’s qualities of purity and loveliness. In contrast to their portrayal in myths (see Chapter 4 for more about mythology), they’re free from human passions and have no malice. There’s nothing evil or mean-spirited about them, and their common purpose is to uphold the Universal laws they represent and ensure the smooth running and evolution of the cosmos.

I love the inclusion of philosophical ideas that tie into the Gods. It is essential to cover philosophy when discussing the Gods. It helps people understand the deeper aspects of Hellenic worship/ the Hellenic worldview and ways of thinking. For example, with Zeus, George teaches us that Zeus’ two main virtues are Justice and Orderliness.

The virtue of justice, or dikaiosyne in Greek, originates from the word dike, meaning "judgment." This virtue is defined as the compliance with and impartial application of Universal and human laws. It encompasses personal justice, collective justice, and spiritual justice. George tells us that personal justice is achieving harmony with one's soul's desires and essence, recognizing unique gifts and talents, and following one's life purpose. George adds in Plato, who describes justice as “the unanimity of the soul with itself, and the good discipline of the parts of the soul with regards to each other and concerning each other.” Collective Justice is respecting and complying with the divine order of the cosmos and civic laws. This involves recognizing oneself as part of the collective, standing up for justice, and participating in maintaining world order. Spiritual Justice is a Universal law that maintains divine order in the cosmos, ensuring the natural course of things. This virtue is led by Zeus but is binding on all Gods to ensure the cosmos operates harmoniously.

Zeus's second virtue, orderliness or eutaxia, involves recognizing and aligning with the order of the cosmos to maintain personal and cosmic harmony. Zeus is the container and framework maintaining cosmic order, ensuring natural harmony and beauty within the Universe. Nurturing inner order by observing the natural order in the cosmos and aligning one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors accordingly. This practice leads to balanced and healthy thinking and living. George beautifully writes “this virtue is about transforming ourselves into human jewels, personal cosmos that are beautiful, balanced, and in order.” Together, Zeus's virtues of justice and orderliness are fundamental principles guiding both the cosmos and human conduct, promoting harmony, fairness, and alignment with the Universal laws.

This leads me to what I love about the book the most – it is alive. What do I mean by alive? It is alive because it comes from a Greek priest of a living tradition. It is alive because it comes from an author who is deeply thinking about how to bring a difficult subject to a wide audience without watering it down to the point of it becoming nothing while at the same time preventing the subject from being impenetrable. You as the reader, actually learn how to do something in a coherent manner.

It is alive in its uniqueness. As a book written by a Greek, there is something special about that, which is why Greek authors matter in this genre. It gives you a glimpse of a lived religion from a community of people doing that religion. After reading it, you end up feeling like you can partake in something that is indeed alive. In other books, I have noticed that other authors usually stick to a reconstructionist methodology and will display their competency by citing as many scholars as possible and or will list out and compare the various myths of a God without any cohesion or meaningful explanation at the end.  There is something very dead about those books, religiously speaking. I have read those books and I am left scratching my head going “ok what is the point?” Those books and authors are disconnected in a deep way from the subject which that write about and it takes discerning eyes to see it.

As I said above, I think it is important, as a Greek, when reviewing another Greek author’s book to examine how what is being written will impact the souls of people seeking the Gods. I think Secrets of Greek Mysticism will have a positive impact on those who are seeking the Gods because George does not leave the reader confused and uncertain about what he has written. George provides cohesion and a strong foundation for understanding Greek religious thinking.