Mystery School 12,000 B.C.E—The Initiation Process Through the Paleolithic Cavern-Temple
Report Topics:
- The forgotten story of prehistoric shamanic teaching techniques in the sacred cavern-temples of the Cro-Magnons
Full Report:
To enter into the cavern sanctuary of Magdalenian Cro-Magnon man of the Stone Age was to enter into a totally different world, one of mystery and wonder for the prehistoric Initiate. Many major cavern temples were accompanied by open-air sites with significant remains of portable art objects, indicating that these were places of learning, Mystery School locations for preparing the Initiate before entering the inner Earth experience.
At the cave entrance itself the Initiate was faced with symbols that would be familiar to fellow seekers of the Greater Mysteries for twelve millennia to come—a footprint in black and red, sign of the first footstep of the One Prepared to Enter. Or as at Les Trois Freres caverns, the image of two large cave-lion heads, the spirit protectors of the doorway, prehistoric echoes of the sphinx guardians of ancient Egypt.
The Initiation process which followed usually involved either a single individual or small group of individuals, mostly children, ranging form eight to fourteen years of age. At Tuc d’Audoubert, the heel prints preserved in the clay floors show four or five children of puberty age having performed dance movements, while at Niaux of the five hundred prints discovered within over half are of children. No prints have been found so far in any of the cavern temples which are exclusively that of adults.
The first stage of Initiation within the Paleolithic sanctuary appears to have been one of sensory deprivation in which the Initiate was led, probably blindfolded, into the first inner chamber of the cavern system and then left alone in the dark for a prescribed period of time, as preparation for what was to come. In some cases this took place in chambers of crystal stalagmites, or where crystal stones were brought as gifts, to be used as sources of energy transformation and divination tools in the processes following.
For the Cro-Magnon, the cave was an environment completely opposite to what he or she was familiar with. Because of the constant temperature within, anyone entering in from a summer heat would feel the sudden chill, while for those coming inside from a winter cold the cave offered a sensory shock of warmth and dampness. The outside world was one of open spaces, where nature was in constant flux, and growth measured by the cycles of sun, moon and stars. In the inner world, however, all space and time stood still. In the total darkness of the cave the route was difficult and uncertain, the Initiate testing his or her footing below, and guarding the head against low ceilings from above, all the while fighting inner fears of being lost or stuck in tight places within this restricted environment of labyrinthine tunnels, chambers, passages and niches.
Likewise the world outside offered the constant reassuring din of life and nature in action. But inside the cave was a world of silence. When a sound was made inside, it was a single punctuation in the overwhelming stillness, amplified b reverberations from the cavern walls. With no further stimulation, the mind began to focus on each water drop, each falling pebble, the squeak of bats overhead, and the muffled sound of feet scraping over rock surfaces.
The outside, too, was an environment of wind, breezes and fresh air. But sitting alone deep within the still and damp air of the cave, breathing became heavier, irregular, the oxygen supply to the brain being slowly reduced.
All these factors—temperature shock, fear of confinement, darkness, silence and lack of air—were psychological tools for heightening awareness and at the same time triggering changes of perception and consciousness that would prepare the Initiate’s mind to be receptive to knowledge of an intuitive level.
Into this environment of sensory deprivation, the prehistoric Master of Initiation, who had secretly accompanied the Initiate into the cave and had gone through his or her own preparation, now began to slowly add specific sensory input, to both further cause the Initiate to detach from ego and left brain reasoning powers and began activating right brain perceptions and creative learning. Thus began the second stage of Initiation, that of overcoming outer fears and opening inner wisdom.
At first the Initiate’s dark world was shattered by flashes of light from a lamp flame lit and quickly extinguished, or moved quickly from one location to another creating changing shadows that further disoriented the Initiate’s perceptions of space. The Teacher, as a performer, began moving out of the blackness and into an illumined space, often in a distant entranceway, then disappeared again into the blackness. These lights and images were accompanied by sounds of distant voices, flutes, bullroarers and drums, all amplified and echoing, the distortion of acoustics offering no apparent source of origin, instead enveloping the Initiate in a sea of etheric sounds.
The drum rhythms, ever-increasing, slowly induced semi-trance states of mind, further opening mental receptivity. With the mind starving for sensory stimulation, this new sensory bombardment of light and sound, carefully controlled by the Teacher, became the total focus of the Initiate, so that every event stimulated total attention, taking on paramount importance and was remembered afterwards in vivid detail.
From out of this sensory bombardment next came the reassuring voice of the Master Teacher, sometimes distant, sometimes near, who instructed the Initiate to arise, light his or her own lamp, and begin gazing at the painted images upon the cavern walls, as the new focus of the learning process now began in this, the third stage of the Initiation process.
It is clear that each Paleolithic cavern temple does not contain a haphazard array of individual art, but instead is a collective phenomenon, a systematic use of space implying established tradition. Every image is related to all others, forming a single sacred composition. The layout of the figures in particular indicates a pre-planned route the Initiate was to take into selected chambers, with certain images to be seen before others, in a system of thought stimulation. This in turn presupposes the existence of a system of classification, of bodies of information not easily accessible, of degrees of esotericism, a hierarchy of hidden knowledge which could be penetrated only by the awakened state stimulated by the controlled supersensory environment of the cavern temple itself.
As the Initiate proceeded along, the voice of the Teacher, accompanied by continued light flashes, music and drumbeats, gave hints at the multi-leveled meanings of each picture or scene witnessed. Each image focused on became a mnemonic device for remembering specific information in specific orders of appearance, with the encoded information speaking directly to the right brain intuition every time the image was brought to mind. Since the pictures were of animals and objects seen in everyday Cro-Magnon life, the Initiate was for the rest of his or her existence constantly reminded of the secret wisdom instilled within them in the cave temple, when confronted with the same image in outer world reality.
On one level, as in many Initiation processes, the prehistoric paintings and symbols were meant to be outer reflections of inner Transformation, the overcoming of physical limitations and the Transcendence of the spirit. On another level, however, the cavern art and experiences were designed to open the mind to the guidance and wisdom of unseen spirit worlds, to contact the Divine flow, and know the Oneness of All Things.
Today, when the Paleolithic paintings are viewed in straight electric light, they invoke little response. But after spending time first in utter darkness, then gazing upon the images in the flickering flame of a candle or lamp like what the Cro-Magnons themselves possessed, the animal figures appear to come alive with the illusion of actually breathing and hearts beating. A whole herd will appear to move silently together deeper into the cavern, becoming the Initiate’s guides, directing the seeker onward.
What is symbolized here is not the portrayal of the animals themselves, but the spiritual power of the animals, as they are a part of the Spirit of All Things, expressions of the One Spirit, and the Divine pattern of nature.
The spiritual, etheric aspect of these forms was accented by different techniques employed by the Paleolithic artists themselves. Many animal figures are shown not in their natural stance, but are floating in space. Many, while depicted in great detail and realism, are nevertheless incomplete, indicating they are not totally of the physical world. Some figures, in fact, have no counterpart in reality, being fantasy creatures, astral images. Other images appear distorted from every angle but one, as if the animals are entering in from another dimension for only a moment before departing. Certain other images are likewise totally invisible unless a light is held at a certain angle and distance, and as the Initiate walked through the cavern, these would suddenly flash into view, appearing and disappearing, in a brief second of time. In a few cases, the prehistoric images are true thought forms, magical pictures with life of their own that periodically move in and out of this reality. Modern observers have noted examples of images seen by several eye-witnesses and even photographed, but which then disappear, never to be seen again.
Along with the animal figures are abstract designs—tectiforms and clavicorns—which acted as focalizers, identifying figures as imparting specific information. The Initiate probably learned the meaning of these during the course of his or her cavern instruction, serving as guideposts to understanding what was being viewed and experienced.
Curiously, while great detail was given to both animal images and accompanying symbols, the human figure in the cavern temple is never seen in a true form. The reason for this is that these were not the sanctuaries of humanity, but of the spirit world. Many humanoid images appear, but they are always with vague or ghostly features, or combined with animal attributes. They are indeed not human, but were the spirit guides of the temple, who guided the actions of both the Master Teacher and the Initiate.
The most famous of these images is one overlooking the Les Trois Freres central chamber, called the “Sorcerer,” and taking the form of a dancer with human arms and legs, the body and phallus of a lion, a bearded human face, owl eyes and antlered head. Two other similar images appear in the same cave, with fifty-two other distinct examples found throughout Paleolithic art, and hundreds of indistinct examples. No doubt the Master Teachers, in their symbolic performances for the Initiates in the cavern temples, attired themselves similarly with animals skins and headdresses. But it is clear they were merely reflecting actual entities and temple guardians seen in altered states of consciousness, a physical allusion to a spiritual reality.
The cavern sanctuary also, it should not be forgotten, was the place where the Initiate came in direct contact with the energies of the Earth Mother, and utilized these energies for personal spiritual growth and the heightening of the Initiation process. In some instances, as in Tuc d’Audoubert, the earth energy spots were marked with clay spirals and man-made stalactite spikes, acting as amplifiers. In other caverns the skeleton of a snake or wavy line patterns painted upon the rock walls delineated the places where prehistoric Initiates actively took part in energy exchanges with the Earth. Those locations where the major animal portraits are found were also situated alongside energy centers, where the Initiate stood or sat to contemplate the scenes. Paleolithic artists used only these specific spaces for their paintings, often with other equally suitable spaces nearby remaining totally ignored or blank, because of the absence of a power source.
Also in association with the Earth Mother, the cavern temple, energized by power lines and points, stimulated healing as well as oracles, prophecies and spiritual visions. In more recent ages this was reflected in the cave of miracles at Lourdes, and the cavern pronouncements of the Delphic Pythia, the enactment of the Mysteries in the subterranean passages beneath Dendera dedicated to the Egyptian Hathor, the underground sources of the Sibylline oracles, the Mother worship in the labyrinths of Minoan Crete, the prophetic voices from the Loltun caves of the Maya Yucatan and from beneath the Toltec Pyramid of the Sun, and the Dreamtime memories in the ancestral rock shelters of the Native Australians.
For the Cro-Magnon Initiate as well, the cavern temple of over sixteen millennia ago was the Sacred Space of the Vision Quest, a transcending beyond the laws of everyday life to see both the planetary and Divine patterns unfolding, and the individual seeker’s place within the great invisible spiritual framework that surrounded them. With such a Vision revealed, the Cro-Magnon Initiate, hand in hand with his or her Master Teacher, walked together out of the womb of the Earth Mother, possessing the gift of secret Wisdom She had revealed, out into the light of new Birth and a new Understanding.
[Copyright 2009. Joseph Robert Jochmans. All Rights Reserved.]
