Mount Tagyetos, Sparta, Greece

Thirteen people who had completed Esoteric Wisdom and above participated in this retreat that took place in Mount Taygetos, in the town of Sparta, a famous military stronghold in ancient Greece, guarded from three sides by mountains, at around 900m above sea level.

The purpose of this retreat was to learn more about goal setting. By using the retreat to set goals, everyone was able to gain greater understandings of how vital they are to keep focused and how they can be used to help us achieve things in our quest for knowledge and peace.

The overall goal of the retreat was experiencing astral projection. The way the group set out to achieve this was to look for how they could improve their practices by seeing what could be improved in their own inner work during the day.

Students then also used practices for self-knowledge to investigate any areas that needed improving. With everyone working towards a common goal the group strength was amazing and helped everyone's practices.

There were many walks taken in the forests nearby and the group visited the ancient city of Mycenes, which according to the tradition, was founded by Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae. Tradition relates that Perseus founded Mycenae and used the mythical giants, the Cyclops (giant builders who had but one eye in the middle of their forehead) to built its mighty walls, which are therefore called ‘cyclopean'.

Now here are some photos from the retreat below and comments from the students about their experiences of the retreat.

Reaching the refuge of Taygetos at 1500 meters after an awareness walk up the mountainside.

A photo stop with a backdrop of fog and snow on the mountains.
L-R, back row: Yionik, Edith, Betty, Mary, Alex, Kostantinos, Kostas, Mary & Nikoleta.
L-R, seated: Ioannis, Kaliopi, Janus, Evelina.

Everyone seated for dinner.
L-R: Betty, Mary, Nikoleta, Edith, Ioannis, Alex, Mary, Yionik, Kostas, Evelina, Janus & Kaliopi.

Ready to set out on a walk:
L-R, standing: Kostas, Kostantinos, Yionik, Ioannis, Janus, Evelina, Kaliopi, Alex, Betty, Nikoleta & Mary.
Seated: Edith.

The entrance of the cyclopians' walls of Mycenes.

The Lions Gate of Mycenes fortress.

The Treasury of Atreas (king of Mycenes).
L-R, back: Yionik, Alex, Mary, Janus, Betty, Nikoleta & Ioannis.
L-R, front: Kostas, Evelina, Edith, Kaliopi & Mary.

Everyone sitting around the fireplace catching up on how they all went with the night's practices.

Seated on a huge rock along the path.

Kostas, Mary, Kaliopi, Mary, Alex and Kostantinos walking back along the snowy path leading to the accommodation place.

Student Comments

The chance to be in a Gnosticweb retreat with the purpose to investigate yourself is unique. It helps you to know unknown sides of your psychology and review things that you think you know. The energy that is created when a group of people is trying the same thing in the esoteric investigation is powerful, and when you take advantage of this energy the results and the experiences you get are wonderful. This is something that was proven not only during the retreat but also afterwards.

Yionik

The retreats that are held by Gnosticweb so far have given me the chance to apply more intensively my efforts and realize how important it is to step out of the daydreaming. I was given a lot of chances to work through the group.

Janus

This retreat was the second one for me. It has helped me incredibly, maybe because the circumstances were different, or maybe because I was a little bit different. The energy of the group was very obvious and stayed with me for many days after the retreat. I thank the Universe that gave me the chance to find Gnosticweb and Ioannis. I wish Ioannis and the whole group all the best.

Betty

The Mount Taygetos is a cloudy mountain in a very historical city of Sparta. This city brought out soldiers with the greatest abilities in ancient history - soldiers with the greatest will. This is what I was thinking of the morning of the last day, while in the sunny dinning room with view of the tall and snowy mountain when we were gathering for breakfast - the power of will and how important it is in the esoteric ‘war'.

If something was clear for me in this retreat, it was how important is to have will in the esoteric work in order to overcome obstacles. Being half-hearted won't bring any result and postponing something for the next day won't lead us anywhere. There is a need for a schedule and for will.

When I saw my fellow students waking up every two hours during the night to do visualization and mantras with enthusiasm, will, and faith that they will succeed, it showed me that I need to be much more active in order to get results.

The snowy Taygetos was white and imposing when we were leaving from the shelter in order to go back to Athens, where our jobs and daily obligations are waiting for us. I wonder if we will take with us some of the will that we have tasted in this retreat and hold it forever with us.

Kostas

This retreat is the second one for me. It was very different from the previous one not only because I was more mature and I knew why I was participating but also because the group was closer with a common purpose to work together and there was a lot of energy and much more discipline compared to the previous one. For me it was a very strong boost to my enthusiasm and my will to work more upon myself. I have got a lot of strength. This is the reason why such retreats should be done.

I consider myself lucky to have found Gnosticweb and Ioannis. I wish the whole team a lot of strength, awareness and strength to continue. Thanks a lot Ioannis.

Evelina

This retreat was very important for me. It helped me understand observation and the disintegration of the egos. I have understood more about the power of concentration and I have managed to go deeper with the work of retrospection and how it really works. I have a lot of enthusiasm and I have found what I was looking for. I am very happy and this retreat gave me so much strength that I can not wait to go for practising. I want and I will try to do this esoteric work. I am glad that I am in Gnosticweb.

Kaliopi

This is my first retreat. What we earn from these retreats is that we can be practicing the whole day without any distractions. And by doing this we get a taste of how it would be if we could apply it to our everyday lives.

So far in all previous courses I haven't put any serious efforts - it was just here and there. But in this retreat I have understood that it should be a priority and what that means, otherwise it is just playing and this has nothing to give us.

I have been searching for a long time to do this work with a group of people. You are giving us the chance to do this job seriously. I have asked for help in the past to find something like this, and when Janus (my son and senior student of Gnosticweb of Athens) told me that he had found this and told me to come and see, so I came to see if my son was in something bad. But I came to attend the courses without prejudice, clean, and when I saw what it was then I said ‘This is what I have been looking for'.

A few years ago, there was a period of my life where I could be more aware but then I lost it. And when I lost it, then nothing from my life was the same anymore. It was like my life didn't have any meaning anymore. And now I have found it again. I have found the work again. All the books I read had nice words and beautiful theories, but they didn't relate how to do it and see it for myself. You just read books that made you feel good and continue your life as it is. But now through Gnosticweb I have the chance to really work and get this back. Maybe in this life I won't achieve anything, but I do not intend to let it go in anyway. When I lost it, I said I will fight until death, like a warrior until I find it again.

Edith

This retreat was as good as the previous one, but this one helped me much more because in this retreat I have realized that the efforts must be continuous and without stopping; otherwise we will always approach the goal but we will always miss it.

Alex