No amount of training in art will produce a ‘great’ portrait painter compared with a person who has naturally ‘got-it’, the same with writing. Damien Stone has ‘got-it’ – this book is beautifully written, moves along at a fast pace, is totally engaging, and highly informative at the same time.

I have read so many scholarly books which are boring, convoluted, and basically annoying to read, even though the academic writers know their subject very well, this book then is like a breath of fresh air. The Secret Sacred makes a difficult subject available to the general reader and specialist alike, as Stone says, “This book aims to provide an introduction to the Mysteries for a general reader. In each of the following chapters, a combination of written and visual sources is used to interpret each of the major mystery cults of Greece and Rome.” (p. 14)

I think it is an important book because it unwittingly exposes the underpinning to our present global situation regarding religious tension and intolerance, continuing wars, and the ‘hard-wired’ human psychology of the ‘have and have-not’ syndrome – more later.

The book is nicely illustrated with some familiar, and some rarely seen archaeological treasures, has nine chapters followed by a Glossary of Gods, References, Bibliography and Index. The chapter titles are informative of the various cults and mysteries investigated as follows:

Chapter 1 – What is a Mystery Religion?

Chapter 2 – Demeter, Persephone and the Eleusinian Mysteries

Chapter 3 – Greco-Roman Egyptomania: Isis and Serapis

Chapter 4 – Mithraism: A Boy’s Club

Chapter 5 - The Samothracian Mysteries and the Kabeiroi

Chapter 6 – Orphism and the Dionysian Mysteries

Chapter 7 – Gods from Anatolia

Chapter 8 -  Gyclon, or, How to start your own Religious Cult in Antiquity

Chapter 9 – From Early Christianity to Modernity

Chapter 9 is fairly ‘light-on’, and I think could have been expanded to be more convincing and have covered the many aspects of these ancient religions, including Paganism which have directly influenced modern Christianity, especially Catholicism. This is certainly within the scope of this book.

Another matter worth mentioning, is the lack of reference to or discussion of any Asian/Oriental cults/religions, for example the Tibetan Bon cults, then Buddhism, Shintoism and so on, these were active at the same time as the Greco-Roman cults, that is, pre-Christian. This is not really a criticism as such, as it is perhaps not within the scope of this book, maybe a companion volume concentrating on these religion cults would be most instructive.

This book raises and informs, perhaps unintentionally, two vitally important issues for humanity’s future.

(1) Is control, power, acquisition of wealth (food, money, land) at any cost a hard-wired  human genetic trait? Most of the cults Stone discusses, apart from securing a good position in the (imaginary) afterlife, were concerned with gaining advantage over the non-initiated, both socially and financially, hence their highly secretive practices? The existence of armies, control of individuals and mistrust of these cults was a major aspect of ancient life, very similar to what is happening globally today!

“By virtue of their secrecy, we will never fully understand the mystery religions of Classical antiquity. But in the surviving evidence that has been examined in this book, we can see that a common theme of initiate experience was the overcoming of ignorance. Hidden truths were revealed. Mystery rituals were rich in symbolism, providing initiates with exclusive knowledge to achieve an elevated state of contact with the [supposed] divine.” (p.172)

(2) What is known of these ancient cults indicated inclusion of natural phenomena, cycles of the moon and planets, birth–life–death , belief in invisible entities in the forests and heavens, seeming miracles (not science of course), and the complete mythology and pantheon of the various gods with their heaven and hell concepts, such as Hades and the Underworld.

Since recorded history began, humans have tried to make sense of existence; perhaps life would seem meaningless to most if the fact of a non-afterlife existed? The discussion of these two matters is certainly not within the scope of this book, but it does show, loudly and clearly, by looking at history we can possibly modify our present, and immediate future.

Again, a well written, highly informative, and thoroughly enjoyable book.