Apocrypha

The term "Apocrypha" derives from the Greek word apokryphos (ἀπόκρυφος), meaning "hidden" or "secret." It signifies writings that are concealed, either due to their esoteric content or their disputed status within a religious canon. The concept of hidden texts predates Christianity, appearing in various ancient traditions.

Very erroneously exj)lained and adopted as doubtful, or spurious. The word means simply sicrct, isotcric, hidden. Apollo Belvidere. Of all the ancient statues of Apollo, the son of Jupiter and Latona, called Phopbus, Ilelios, the radiant and the Sun, the best and most perfect is the one known by this name, which is in the Belvidere gallery of the Vatican at Rome. It is called the I'jiihian Apollo, as the god is represented in the moment of his victory over the serpent Python. The statue was found in the ruins of Antium. in loO^. Apollonius of Tyana (Gr.). A wonderful philosopher born in Cappadoeia about the beginning of the first century; an ardent Pythagorean, who studied the Ph(enician scit^ices under Euthydemus; and Pythagorean philosophy and other .studies under Euxenus of lleraclea. According to the tenets of this school he remained a vegetarian the whole of his long life, fed only on fruit and herbs, drank no wine, wore vestments made only of j)lant-fibres, walked barefooted, and let his hair grow to its full length, as all the Initiates before and after him. lie was initiated by the i)riests of the temple of yEsculapius (Asclepios) at -^gR'. and learnt many of the "miracles" for healing the sick wrought by the god of medicine. Having prepared himself for a higher initiation by a silence of five years, and by travel, visiting Antioch, Ephesus, Pamphylia and other parts. he journeyed via Babylon to India, all his intimate diseiples having abandoned him, as they feared to go to the "land of enchantments". A casual disciple, Damis, however, whom he met on his way, accompanied him in his travels. At Babylon he was initiated by the Chaldees and ^lagi, according to Damis, whose narrative was copied by one named Philostratus a hundred years later. After his return from India, he shewed himself a true Initiate, in that the pestilences and eartluiuakes, deaths of kings and other events, which he prophesied duly happened. At Lesbos, the priests of Orpheus, being jealous

The term "Apocrypha," when stripped of its often pejorative connotations of spuriousness, points to a fundamental aspect of human knowledge acquisition: the existence of layers, of depths accessible only through dedicated exploration. Mircea Eliade, in his studies of shamanism and archaic religions, consistently highlighted the importance of initiation and the gradual unveiling of sacred knowledge, a process that inherently involves what is kept "hidden" from the uninitiated. This is not merely about secrecy for its own sake, but a recognition that certain truths require a specific disposition, a prepared mind and spirit, to be truly understood and integrated.

Consider the Gnostic texts, often relegated to the apocryphal status by early Christian authorities. They offered alternative cosmologies and soteriologies, speaking of a hidden divine spark within humanity and a complex spiritual hierarchy. These were not simple fables but intricate philosophical and theological systems, their "hiddenness" a consequence of their challenge to prevailing orthodoxies and their demand for a particular mode of understanding. Similarly, in the realm of alchemy, the texts were notoriously dense with symbolism and allegory, their true meaning veiled to the uninitiated practitioner. It was a language of the soul, requiring not just intellectual acumen but a sympathetic resonance with the processes described.

The modern seeker, often inundated with readily available information, can find value in the concept of the apocryphal. It serves as a reminder that not all wisdom is broadcast. There are depths that require patient excavation, texts that demand more than a cursory glance. It encourages a discerning approach to knowledge, an understanding that authenticity is often found not in ubiquity but in the careful cultivation of understanding, in seeking out those hidden streams that nourish the more profound aspects of the human spirit. The very act of seeking out what is labeled "hidden" can be a form of spiritual discipline, a commitment to a deeper form of knowing.

RELATED_TERMS: Gnosticism, Esotericism, Mysticism, Initiation, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Hidden Wisdom, Secret Knowledge