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The Lost Art of Resurrection: Initiation, Secret Chambers, and the Quest for the Otherworld
Reveals the radical ancient practice of living resurrection, in which initiates ritually died and were reborn into a state of higher consciousness
• Explores living resurrection initiation practices from world cultures, including Egyptian, Greek, Gnostic, Chinese, Celtic, and Native American traditions
• Describes the secret chambers and temples where Mystery Schools practiced “raising the dead”
• Shows why this practice was branded a heresy and suppressed by the Church
More than two thousand years before the resurrection of Jesus, initiates from spiritual traditions around the world were already practicing a secret mystical ritual in which they metaphorically died and were reborn into a higher spiritual state. During this living resurrection, they experienced a transformative spiritual awakening that revealed the nature of reality and the purpose of the soul, described as “rising from the dead.”
Exploring the practice of living resurrection in ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, Persian, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Celtic, and Native American traditions, Freddy Silva explains how resurrection was never meant for the dead, but for the living--a fact supported by the suppressed Gnostic Gospel of Philip: “Those who say they will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not first receive the resurrection while they live, when they die they will receive nothing.” He reveals how these practices were not only common in the ancient world but also shared similar facets in each tradition: initiates were led through a series of challenging ordeals, retreated for a three-day period into a cave or restricted room, often called a “bridal chamber,” and while out-of-body, became fully conscious of travels in the Otherworld. Upon returning to the body, they were led by priests or priestesses to witness the rising of Sirius or the Equinox sunrise.
Silva describes some of the secret chambers around the world where the ritual was performed, including the so-called tomb of Thutmosis III in Egypt, which featured an empty sarcophagus and detailed instructions for the living on how to enter the Otherworld and return alive. He reveals why esoteric and Gnostic sects claimed that the literal resurrection of Jesus promoted by the Church was a fraud and how the Church branded all living resurrection practices as a heresy, relentlessly persecuting the Gnostics to suppress knowledge of this self-empowering experience. He shows how the Knights Templar revived these concepts and how they survive to this day within Freemasonry.
Exploring the hidden art of living resurrection, Silva shows how this personal experience of the Divine opened the path to self-empowerment and higher consciousness, leading initiates such as Plato to describe it as the pinnacle of spiritual development.
• Explores living resurrection initiation practices from world cultures, including Egyptian, Greek, Gnostic, Chinese, Celtic, and Native American traditions
• Describes the secret chambers and temples where Mystery Schools practiced “raising the dead”
• Shows why this practice was branded a heresy and suppressed by the Church
More than two thousand years before the resurrection of Jesus, initiates from spiritual traditions around the world were already practicing a secret mystical ritual in which they metaphorically died and were reborn into a higher spiritual state. During this living resurrection, they experienced a transformative spiritual awakening that revealed the nature of reality and the purpose of the soul, described as “rising from the dead.”
Exploring the practice of living resurrection in ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, Persian, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Celtic, and Native American traditions, Freddy Silva explains how resurrection was never meant for the dead, but for the living--a fact supported by the suppressed Gnostic Gospel of Philip: “Those who say they will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not first receive the resurrection while they live, when they die they will receive nothing.” He reveals how these practices were not only common in the ancient world but also shared similar facets in each tradition: initiates were led through a series of challenging ordeals, retreated for a three-day period into a cave or restricted room, often called a “bridal chamber,” and while out-of-body, became fully conscious of travels in the Otherworld. Upon returning to the body, they were led by priests or priestesses to witness the rising of Sirius or the Equinox sunrise.
Silva describes some of the secret chambers around the world where the ritual was performed, including the so-called tomb of Thutmosis III in Egypt, which featured an empty sarcophagus and detailed instructions for the living on how to enter the Otherworld and return alive. He reveals why esoteric and Gnostic sects claimed that the literal resurrection of Jesus promoted by the Church was a fraud and how the Church branded all living resurrection practices as a heresy, relentlessly persecuting the Gnostics to suppress knowledge of this self-empowering experience. He shows how the Knights Templar revived these concepts and how they survive to this day within Freemasonry.
Exploring the hidden art of living resurrection, Silva shows how this personal experience of the Divine opened the path to self-empowerment and higher consciousness, leading initiates such as Plato to describe it as the pinnacle of spiritual development.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 27, 2017
Wow! The concept introduced here is revolutionary - what if we in the modern world are totally misunderstanding what the ancients actually MEANT by Resurrection? What if it was a secret initiation ritual esoteric groups from Gnostics, to the mystery cults of Greece and Rome, to the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt - and many more - practiced while ALIVE? Might this explain the pyramids with empty sarcophagi whose pharaohs are buried elsewhere? The complex, intricate instructions for life after death in Egyptian pyramids and temples? Is this the Holy Sacrament - lost to us now - practiced by Gnostic Christians called the Bridal Chamber? For that matter, is that why the Gnostic Gospel of Phillip says, "Those who say that the Lord died first and (then) rose up are in error, for he rose up first and (then) died. If one does not first attain the resurrection he will not die. As God lives, he would..."?
It's not as far-fetched as you might first think. In recent years, I've learned about the Indian Masters of Sant Mat Meditation, including reading some fascinating works by Kirpal Singh, a recent Master. Kirpal insisted that a Master's initiation included the same kind of out-of-body experience Silva describes here as being the result of the "resurrection" initiation ritual! They regard the Masters in their lineages as God-men - incarnations of God on Earth - and according to Kirpal, the proof was in their ability, after the initiate's preparation, to give them their first taste of this divine experience. This is a path and a practice happening NOW that goes back thousands of years. It's not a stretch to suggest it's also a practice once valued but now lost in the West.
The concept is revolutionary and mind-blowing, and I applaud Silva for sharing it with us. This book, however, suffers from a sort of jagged style of writing as he relates the concept, provides possible examples, groups that may have practiced it, places where they may have performed the initiation. It's good, solid information, but it suffers a bit in the presentation. His clear antagonism for the Church also taints the work unnecessarily with an anti-religious bias that's not really evident in the hypothesis.
It's not as far-fetched as you might first think. In recent years, I've learned about the Indian Masters of Sant Mat Meditation, including reading some fascinating works by Kirpal Singh, a recent Master. Kirpal insisted that a Master's initiation included the same kind of out-of-body experience Silva describes here as being the result of the "resurrection" initiation ritual! They regard the Masters in their lineages as God-men - incarnations of God on Earth - and according to Kirpal, the proof was in their ability, after the initiate's preparation, to give them their first taste of this divine experience. This is a path and a practice happening NOW that goes back thousands of years. It's not a stretch to suggest it's also a practice once valued but now lost in the West.
The concept is revolutionary and mind-blowing, and I applaud Silva for sharing it with us. This book, however, suffers from a sort of jagged style of writing as he relates the concept, provides possible examples, groups that may have practiced it, places where they may have performed the initiation. It's good, solid information, but it suffers a bit in the presentation. His clear antagonism for the Church also taints the work unnecessarily with an anti-religious bias that's not really evident in the hypothesis.
October 12, 2024
Rating: 3.5 stars
Interesting. Provides food for thought.
Interesting. Provides food for thought.
January 4, 2021
Everyone should read this book.
October 14, 2017
Silva takes a worthy topic and degrades it through pseudo-scholarship.
I am sure there is a lot of good information in this book. If nothing else, the photographs of ancient chambers and passages oriented to solar and stellar tides strongly suggest similar intentions by peoples of different cultures in different locations. The problem is that the surviving lore is fragmentary and suggestive rather than explicit, but Silva's conclusions use words like "obviously" and "clearly" when "it would be easy to believe" or "strongly suggests" would be more appropriate to the lack of evidence.
I am not an expert on ancient Greek or Roman mystery traditions, nor Celtic or Meso-American lore, but I am very well versed in the Bible, and because several of his assertions about biblical texts are simply not true, it makes me doubt all his other footnotes.
For example: he claims that Mary Magdalene was the daughter "Jayrus" and that Jesus raised Jayrus from the dead. He provides a footnote citing Matthew 9:18-26 as a reference. The problem is that the text clearly states that Jesus raised Jairus's daughter, not him. And I know of no tradition in which Magdalene had anything to do with Jairus. Silva also claims that "according to the Bible" Jesus was conceived on the Spring Equinox and born on the Winter Solstice, while John the Baptist was conceived on the Fall Equinox and born on the Summer Solstice, but this time he doesn't footnote. Associating them with those Solstices is a tradition, and has no textual basis in the bible. These are very easy claims to look up and validate or dismiss.
I'm honestly curious about what I would find if I took the time to locate all his references and check what they actually say against his claims, but I don't have that kind of time.
Is there a widespread human spiritual tradition of mysteries in which candidates were ritually taken through an experience of death, the afterlife, and resurrection? Almost certainly. But that *almost* is key -- and Silva would have done better by his readers and those traditions by being more honest and humble in his treatment of the authentically striking texts and monuments he writes about.
I am sure there is a lot of good information in this book. If nothing else, the photographs of ancient chambers and passages oriented to solar and stellar tides strongly suggest similar intentions by peoples of different cultures in different locations. The problem is that the surviving lore is fragmentary and suggestive rather than explicit, but Silva's conclusions use words like "obviously" and "clearly" when "it would be easy to believe" or "strongly suggests" would be more appropriate to the lack of evidence.
I am not an expert on ancient Greek or Roman mystery traditions, nor Celtic or Meso-American lore, but I am very well versed in the Bible, and because several of his assertions about biblical texts are simply not true, it makes me doubt all his other footnotes.
For example: he claims that Mary Magdalene was the daughter "Jayrus" and that Jesus raised Jayrus from the dead. He provides a footnote citing Matthew 9:18-26 as a reference. The problem is that the text clearly states that Jesus raised Jairus's daughter, not him. And I know of no tradition in which Magdalene had anything to do with Jairus. Silva also claims that "according to the Bible" Jesus was conceived on the Spring Equinox and born on the Winter Solstice, while John the Baptist was conceived on the Fall Equinox and born on the Summer Solstice, but this time he doesn't footnote. Associating them with those Solstices is a tradition, and has no textual basis in the bible. These are very easy claims to look up and validate or dismiss.
I'm honestly curious about what I would find if I took the time to locate all his references and check what they actually say against his claims, but I don't have that kind of time.
Is there a widespread human spiritual tradition of mysteries in which candidates were ritually taken through an experience of death, the afterlife, and resurrection? Almost certainly. But that *almost* is key -- and Silva would have done better by his readers and those traditions by being more honest and humble in his treatment of the authentically striking texts and monuments he writes about.
January 28, 2020
Unnecessarily harsh, even hostile, to Christianity making this one more document in the Cultural Marxist enterprise.
If you loathe Christianity this is the book for you. If you are Christian or indifferent to Christianity this book may be grating in its hostility to the faith and those that follow it.
If you loathe Christianity this is the book for you. If you are Christian or indifferent to Christianity this book may be grating in its hostility to the faith and those that follow it.
March 20, 2022
The Probable Truth Behind the Resurrection of Jesus
In my opinion, Freddy Silva is an excellent researcher. Much of the information to be found in THE LOST ART OF RESURRECTION and several of his other books has informed my own research in various areas. But no more than in the area of whether or not Jesus truly died and was actually resurrected from the dead.
If what Silva has uncovered is true (and I suspect that it is, based on my own research and the research of others), Jesus himself – who has also been determined to have studied with the Essenes (at the least) – followed their teachings and belief system which included Egyptian teachings. And because Jesus has been determined to have traveled to Egypt with his parents when he was a young boy, it’s very likely that while he was in Egypt, he had been taught The Art of Resurrection and likely took part in the Egyptian Mystery Schools which would have included this teaching.
Great addition to your library.
In my opinion, Freddy Silva is an excellent researcher. Much of the information to be found in THE LOST ART OF RESURRECTION and several of his other books has informed my own research in various areas. But no more than in the area of whether or not Jesus truly died and was actually resurrected from the dead.
If what Silva has uncovered is true (and I suspect that it is, based on my own research and the research of others), Jesus himself – who has also been determined to have studied with the Essenes (at the least) – followed their teachings and belief system which included Egyptian teachings. And because Jesus has been determined to have traveled to Egypt with his parents when he was a young boy, it’s very likely that while he was in Egypt, he had been taught The Art of Resurrection and likely took part in the Egyptian Mystery Schools which would have included this teaching.
Great addition to your library.
June 1, 2022
This book gives a really fresh perspective on the phenomenon of "resurrection" as a concept. Filled with both historical fact and personal anecdotes from the author, along with a bit of speculation to fill in gaps, this is a fantastic read about the ritualistic practices of former civilizations.
Those feeling the concept of resurrection is all about death and rebirth in the literal sense will find a lot to learn in this book. Not something I'd recommend to highly religious folks that see the bible as a literal truth rather than an historical allegory.
Those feeling the concept of resurrection is all about death and rebirth in the literal sense will find a lot to learn in this book. Not something I'd recommend to highly religious folks that see the bible as a literal truth rather than an historical allegory.
May 3, 2022
Freddy Silva nem sempre é fácil de acompanhar no sentido que mistura às vezes parte histórica com parte subjectiva pessoal. Mas tal como no outro seu livro sobre os Templários em Portugal, mostra outros pontos díspares da linha comum que podem abrir mais horizontes e explicar muitas coisas.
April 23, 2025
Interesting read. I just disagree with his final premise: resurrection is for the living, not the dead.
His research may be correct- people may have practiced all he notes, but that does not prove or disprove the Jesus story.
His research may be correct- people may have practiced all he notes, but that does not prove or disprove the Jesus story.
February 26, 2018
Life changing!
April 15, 2019
Excellent ideas on the "Ancient Stream" Lots of reference to the path through the Egyptian mythos, Greek, Roman, Pagan, and Gnostic paths.
February 5, 2024
Great book, very interesting facts and very well written!
November 8, 2021
So many connections drawn that expanded my way of thinking and how I see things around me. I love the dense with information this book is. Being able to eloquently write about secretive spiritual practices seems hard enough, Freddy Silva does it like a pro. Highly recommend the read.
May 14, 2017
Really amazing title, have been looking for this info regarding the Mysteries since the early 2000's. His theory is the Skeleton Key that makes sense of a lot of the strange facts and unexplained oddities surrounding Megaliths, Ancient Religions, Temples, and Texts. Wish it had a little more info on Praxis but still a phenomenal read and great jumping off point to go deeper!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews