OVER $10,000 RAISED! HELP US REACH OUR NEXT TARGET: $15,000! 

Be a part of creating this educational series about the evolution of human spirituality and our collective quest for understanding!!

With your support, we will create the first ever in-depth series on the history of mysticism.  It will take the audience on an epic journey around the world and throughout time to follow the evolution of the world’s great mystical traditions and meet some of the mystical philosophers who have imparted their wisdom teachings to humanity.

This fascinating story of human spirituality will begin more than 5,000 years ago as we explore the Shamanic traditions of hunting gathering societies.  We will then follow the evolution of Eastern and Western mystical philosophy, and end with the modern spiritual integration movement, which seeks the parallels that connect all mystical teachings, and their correlation with modern scientific theory.

Ultimately, this series is about the evolution of human consciousness, and humanity’s search for the unified theory of everything that will help unite the world in common understanding.

"The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness"

   -Lao Tzu

DONATE $100 OR MORE and you will receive exclusive access to view three complete interviews of your choice with some of the great teachers, philosopher sages, mystics, historians, and scientists that we will be interviewing.

mys·ti·cism

1)  the experience of mystical union or direct communion with ultimate reality reported by mystics

2)  the belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (as intuition or insight)

3)   a theory postulating the possibility of direct and intuitive acquisition of ineffable knowledge or power

Who are the Mystics?

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."

     -Carl Jung

The mystics are shamans, druids, and philosopher sages of ancient China and Greece. They are the gurus and Vedic philosphers of India, and the oracles of ancient Egypt.  They are the prophets and magi of the Middle East.  They are Alchemists, Hermeticists, and Theosophists. They are the Taoists, Buddhists, Gnostic Christians, Jewish Kabbalists, Sikh Masters and Muslim Sufis.

The mystics all believe that there is more to reality than we can perceive with our limited five senses, and that through training, all human beings can transform their minds in order to experience higher states of consciousness.  To mystics, the ultimate goal of life is enlightenment or Gnosis, Greek for “knowing.”  Each provided different teachings that led to the same place, a deep connection or Oneness with a cosmic consciousness, known as God, Allah, the Tao, Spirit, the Matrix, the Unified Field, or  The Universe.  They also taught various techniques for transforming the mind to achieve states of eternal happiness.

Learning to Live in Harmony

"The Great Tao Flows everywhere.  All things depend on it for life, and it does not turn away from them. One may think of it as the mother of all beneath heaven.  We do not know its name, but we call it Tao.  Deep and still, it seems to have existed forever"

   -Lao Tzu

At the core of all mystical traditions is non-duality, the idea that we are intimately connected to a cosmic web of consciousness.

In addition to this concept, many mystics throughout the ages have claimed the Earth itself is a sentient, living organism.  Just as we have trillions of individual cells working in harmony to make our bodies function, so are we organisms that make up the global organism.  When organisms within our body destroy the host organism they are called viruses or cancers.

"This world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence... a single living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related... [Furthermore] the cosmos is a single living creature which contains all living creatures within it."

   -Plato

It is for this reason that the core message of all spiritual teachings are about love and compassion.  For the whole organism to thrive, each organism within it needs to have a purpose and work towards a collective goal.  This is why Taoism talks about learning to be in harmony with the Tao.  Buddhists and Hindus call it Dharma, living in harmony with cosmic law.

Humanity must come to understand this basic principle if we are to survive on this planet and become its guardians.

"Just as a mother would risk her life to protect her child, so should one cultivate a limitless heart of compassion for all beings."

-The Buddha

The Hijacking of Christianity

While this series will cover many different spiritual traditions, the story of Gnostic Christianity is perhaps the most fascinating because few people know the story, especially Christians.  Out of Gnosticism comes the story of the various Western "Inner Transformation" traditions: the Kabbalah, Alchemy, Hermeticism, Sufism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Transcendentalism, Theosophy, and the modern "New Age" movement.  Gnosticism to the West, is the Taoism/Buddhism/Hinduism/Sikhism of the East.  They all use different language, look at different aspects of the One Thing, and teach different paths, but they all teach people how to overcome suffering by transforming their minds, and living in peace and harmony with our fellow citizens.

There are currently more than 2 Billion Christians worldwide. Unfortunately, due to manipulation of information and destruction of early documents, many people are completely uninformed as to the contemplative "inner knowing" tradition of the Jesus mystery teachings.  Instead, many Christian traditions have adopted the very dogma that early Christians were opposed to.   

This series will explore the roots of early Christianity which evolved out of a mixture of teachings that were prevalent in the region including Greco-Buddhism (a combination of Greek Philosophy and Buddhism), Jewish Kabbalistic thought, and the Egyptian mystery teachings.  Early Christianity conveyed teachings to students on how to achieve Gnosis, or a direct "knowing" of what Christians call God.  To Gnostic Christians, God was not a human-like deity, but an ineffable, mysterious source of eternal wisdom, or a cosmic consciousness.  Much like the eastern mystical traditions as well as the Greek and Egyptian mystery traditions, early Christians promoted meditation as a way to reach "heaven".

"Find a place of stillness within yourself...  The Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.  When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father."

    -Jesus, According to Thomas

There is also evidence to show that early Christians were nature worshippers and believed in balanced approach to the masculine and feminine. For example, in some early Christian texts, the prayer "Our father who art in heaven", was followed by the prayer "our mother who art in earth".  It is also clear they believed the tree to be sacred.  When the Roman Catholic church went to war on nature worship and feminine wisdom, they were attacking the very foundations of early Christian thought.

The Roman controlled Church also wanted to keep hidden the fundamental concept of Gnosis.  They wanted Christians to believe the only way to heaven was through the church.  The Roman Empire also saw Gnosis as a threat because it was difficult to control a society of free thinkers.  The word "heretic" come from the Greek word hairetikos which means "able to choose." 

Until this time many of the teachings of Gnosis were hidden or secret, only shared with society's elites through the ancient mystery schools.  Gnostic Christianity, with its teachings that every person is a divine emanation of the One, was a threat to the powerful elites who wanted to contain this knowledge for themselves.  It was believed the masses could not grasp the concepts and should be kept in ignorance as they would be easier to control.

"The Pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter others who wish to."

   -Jesus, according to Thomas 

When Rome decided to adopt Christianity, they created a hierarchy based in Rome which they could control.  The Church taught a literalist approach to the bible and banned any other interpretation.  Anyone who did not follow the strict rules set down by the Church were considered "heretics."  Those who were "able to chose" were often tortured into submission, or else burned alive. 

God to the Romans was the human formed Zeus, and Zeus was famed for fathering children of virgins.  Thus the popular idea of Jesus as the son of Zeus/God was adopted.  It should be noted that Alexander the Great and Plato were also believed to be the son of Zeus/God. 

Any Christian texts that were inherently esoteric or Gnostic were destroyed.  From that point forward, the Church patriarchy declared war on knowledge, science, nature worship, and worship of the feminine divine.  Anyone who did not follow the strcit rules set down by the Church were considered "heretics."  Those who were "able to choose" were often tortured into submission, or else burned alive.  Thus began the dark ages.

Today, many Christians are unaware of their spiritual roots and the ideas promoted during the Dark Ages still prevail.  This series will open their minds to the early teachings and demonstrate their similarities to both Eastern and Western mystical philosophy.   This will ultimately help to break down the barriers that have been created by religious dogma, and help in the syncretism of global spiritual traditions.

"When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside... and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same... then you will enter the kingdom."

  -Jesus, according to Thomas

Exploring the Mystical Experience

Considering that millions of people throughout history have had powerful mystical experiences, can we simply cast those experiences aside as collective delusions of mass hysteria, or is there something more that humans can experience by changing our brainwave frequencies to enter waking dream states?  Is there a collective unconscious as Carl Jung theorized?  Could this be the cosmic memory field, known as the Akashic record described by Indian gurus, or the Quantum field as theorized by modern science? If this field exists, is it self aware and intelligent?  Is there a pervasive energy or life force that flows through everything as described by the Taoists, Kabbalists, and the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten?  Is it possible that both the Earth and the Universe are conscious living organisms as described by Plato or the world's indigenous people?  Are there grand cosmic cycles that affect human consciousness as suggested by the Mayans and Indian scripture?  When the Buddhists say the world is an illusion, is this what quantum physicist Max Planck meant when he said "all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration," or could the Holographic Universe theory be plausible?    These are just a few of the questions we will explore as we weave together our historical narrative.

About Me

Hi, my name is Erik Paulsson and I’m the producer and director of "The Mytsics".  I’ve dedicated my life to creating a peaceful and harmonious world by raising consciousness through film and television.  I have more than twenty years of experience as a professional filmmaker, and made multiple award-winning feature films and television programs.  I produced the feature film Eve & the Fire Horse, which won the Sundance Special Jury Prize in 2006. My historical documentary Island of Shadows, which I produced and directed, won multiple Canadian television industry awards including a Leo Award for Best Director of a documentary.  I produced the feature length documentary Army of One, which won the award for best feature length documentary at Hot Docs, North America’s premiere documentary festival, and was broadcast on the BBC, CBC, SBS Australia, and the Discovery-Times Network. In addition to these highlights I have produced and/or directed numerous other projects including an historical documentary series for the Knowledge Network called The Edge of the World.

What drew me to this story?

 My parents are both atheists.  My father is an Oxford educated historian, and my mother is a human rights activist.  Because human history has been plagued with violence caused by wars of differing religious beliefs, the attitude of my family and myself was that religion caused too much suffering and violence.  From the great inquisitions to the slaughter and forced conversion of indigenous peoples, to the sectarian wars that have plagued humanity, religious intolerance has brought great misery to our world. How could people, whose religions preach love and compassion, kill each other?

It is on this basis that I rejected religion.  I believe in the rationality of modern science, and as such I decided spirituality was fanciful thinking and the product of people’s imaginations in order to explain the great mysteries of the universe.

While I rejected religion, I did embrace the beautiful wisdom teachings of ancient sages from Lao Tzu, to the Buddha, and Jesus, to modern spiritual leaders from Gandhi to Martin Luther King.

But then something happened to me.  In my early twenties I had a profound experience, which my rational scientific mind could not explain.  One night I had a vivid dream, and hours after waking that dream played itself out in reality.  I had an experience of pre-cognition.

Unable to explain the experience, I dismissed it.  But as the years went on I had more and more “mystical” experiences that were unexplainable to my rational mind.  I spoke with numerous people who told me about their own incredible experiences. That was when I began reading everything I could, from books and articles on neuroscience, psychology, and quantum physics, to the writings of Carl Jung, Carlos Castaneda, Joseph Campbell, and Manly P Hall, to the writings of ancient philosophers from the Hindu Vedas, to the Tao Te-Ching, to Plato, to the recently uncovered Gnostic gospels, and the philosophies behind alchemy, hermeticism, and theosophy.  I found myself fascinated by the history of human spirituality.  The more I read, and the more anecdotal evidence I heard, the more I opened my mind to the possibility that there might be more to reality than what we can perceive with our limited senses. 

Our Team (so far)

Producer/Director  -  Erik Paulsson   Producer of  Eve & the Fire Horse, Army of One, Protection, Say I Do, producer/director of  Edge of  the World, Island of Shadows, Peacing it Together   www.redstorm.ca

Associate Producer -  Jeni Lyon   Producer/Director of Courage of a Lyon and long time restorative justice, human and animal rights advocate.

Project Consultant -  Velcrow Ripper   Director of  Fierce Light, Scared Sacred,       Occupy Love  www.velcrowripper.com

Music Composer - Adham Shaikh   Emmy nominated producer of sacred global music including musical scores for Sacred Planet and National Geographic's Untamed America   www.sonicturtle.com

Outreach Consultant - Nova Ami   Producer of Occupy Love and Army of One, and Director of Say I Do: Unveiling the Stories of Mail-order Brides

Why is this story important?

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. "

-Albert Einstein

For thousands of years, humanity has been divided between US and THEM.  The "us" includes our immediately family and friends, which widens to our community, our city, our region, to our nation, but alienates all others as "them."  What the world needs right now is to understand that “they” are in fact “us” and “we” need to work together!  People need to understand that we are not solitary beings living isolated lives, but that we are all part of the whole.  This lack of connection to the whole is causing the rampant individualism that pits the individual against the other.  It is the source of war, and human and environmental exploitation.  It drives people to greed, selfishness, and uncaring for the suffering of others.  Those who feel disconnected often find themselves adrift in a sea of suffering, loneliness, depression, and anger.  Too many of us are disconnected from community, and disconnected from nature.  Because of this our world is experiencing a profound existential crisis.

This series will help by demonstrating that hidden amongst all spiritual traditions and modern scientific discovery are gems of truth that once understood, will help humanity find common understanding.  At the core of these teachings is love for one another.  If we want to survive on this  earth and live together without bloodshed and exploitation of people, animals, and our environment, then it is imperative that we find the common ground that will unite us as a global community.

How will we use your contribution?

We need funding to complete the next phase of development and early production.  We need to conduct preliminary interviews with various people around the world including spiritual leaders, mystics, shamans, historians, theologians, philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists, and quantum physicists.  While we gather these interviews, we will also be gathering breathtaking images from sacred sites around the world.

We need to hire crew including cinematographers, sound recordists, writers, researchers, consultants, editors, web designers, and a team to help us create computer animated effects.

Once we've generated some footage, we will put together what we need to pitch to international broadcasters and big funders:  a well researched and written treatment and script, a website template, and a powerful trailer.

Our First Goal:  $10,000

This will allow us to buy a camera, sound and lighting package needed to do interviews.  It will also allow us to hire a small crew and cover travel and living costs to conduct some interviews on the west coast of North America.

Our Second Goal:  $25,000

With additional money, we will be able to do more interviews in North and South America, hire some professional researchers, writers, and historical consultants.   We will also be able to hire an editor and so some graphic animatiors to create a fantastic trailer that will attract big funders and international broadcasters.

Our Third Goal:  $50,000

This will allow us to visit some important international archives, and gather some international interviews and footage from the UK, France, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, India and Nepal.  We will also be able to hire a more complete team of researchers and do some more detailed work on the website and our trailer to make it awesome!

The Perks of Donating

We are providing our donors with a fantastic array of perks to thank you for your contribution.  These perks include:

• A PDF of recommended readings and films for those interested in expanding their knowledge
• DVDs and downloads of completed episodes
• Exclusive access to a select number of uncut interviews with some of the greatest minds on Earth
• Books signed by some of the authors interviewed for the series
• The series soundtrack, which will include sacred music from around the world
• Access to behind the scenes material on the making of the series
• A specially created meditation CD that will help you reach deeper states of meditation
• A frame able print from a select number of photographs and artwork featured in the series
• Tickets to our gala screening and after party
• A private meeting or Skype chat with the series creator
• Invitation to dinner with some of our key creatives
• A VIP pass including room and meals to attend a 3-day retreat/workshop that will feature a screening of the entire series as well as discussions with some of the great minds featured in the series 

Help us raise Consciousness and the Creation of a Peaceful and Harmonious World.

"We are what we think.  All that we are is the result of what we have thought. With our thoughts we make the world."

-Buddha

This series will provide a new understanding of human history from a unique perspective.  We want to provide people with knowledge that will help them expand their minds, and question their deeply held beliefs. Ultimately we want to help people transform their minds to reach higher states of consciousness, which will lead to greater happiness and increased compassion. 

If that is something that you want to support, then PLEASE DONATE.

Other Ways to Help

1)  WE NEED CONNECTORS

• PLEASE FORWARD OUR VIDEO to as many people as you can
• Share our video through EMAIL, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and other social media.  
• Help us facilitate interviews with some of the world’s greatest minds, from spiritual leaders, to modern mystics, to historians and scientists.
• Help to connect us with funders and philanthropists, including individuals, ethical companies, and foundations.
  

2)  WE NEED COLLABORATORS

We are looking for people who want to help make this series become a reality.  Our goal is to assemble a great team including co-producers, writers, researchers, consultants, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, web designers, and computer graphics wizards. 

Contact us if you'd like to be part of our team.

3) WE NEED OTHER KINDS OF SUPPORT

Since we will need to travel around the world to film and do interviews, pleased donate AIR MILES and ACCOMMODATIONS.

INVITATIONS TO WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES:  If you are part of organizing any lecture series or conferences, please consider inviting us to attend, and help us to interview some of the guests in attendance.

TO CONTACT US EMAIL:  themysticseries@gmail.com

VISIT OUR WEBSITE:  www.redstorm.ca

Cosmic Cycles and their affect on human consciousness

One topic this documentary will explore is whether or not cosmic cycles have an affect on human consciousness.  To learn more, read the PDF attachment featured in our gallery section.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.  Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.  It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of the mystery everyday.”

–Albert Einstein

**The images and music used in our trailer were borrowed solely for the purpose of fundraising.  Once we've raised the funds for production, we will be acquiring adequate licences and will be sure to pay fees for the use of all artwork and music.