The lines in the Book of Jasher above referred to read as follows:
The ancient Hebrew version is an invocation for help. It appears in The ancient Hebrew version is an invocation for help. It appears in similar form in the Iliad. Homer relates that Agamemnon prayed to Zeus that the Sun might not set before Priam's dwelling was overthrown; and in the Odyssey the sunset was delayed for the sake of Ulysses. In the exquisitely beautiful initiatory epic, Ishtar and Izdubar, which has come down intact to this day from ancient Babylonia, and to which there have been previous references in these pages, Izdubar, a solar hero, when preparing for a conflict similar to those in which Agamemnon and Ulysses were engaged, received the following admonition from the oracle of Ishtar:
That such specific mention is made in various classics on spiritual illumination indicates to a careful student that these references to control of the Sun and the Moon have an important meaning, could we but find it. And so it is proven to students of the inner mysteries. The unified consciousness represented by control of the masculine (Sun) and the feminine (Moon) principles marks the culmination of Joshua's development as a pioneer of the Christed Dispensation. In this early day he was already consciously preparing for further and higher life cycles wherein his bright and luminous spirit was to furnish even more exalted initiatory ideals for man's emulation.
Each step in Joshua's progress moved toward this culmination, its every stage denoting a corresponding experience in the life of all aspirants, both ancient and modern.
The Sun controls the vital body; the Moon, the desire body. The purified extract or essence of these two vehicles provides material for weaving the golden wedding garment, the soul body, which is essential to the functioning of Initiate consciousness. Joshua, who belongs to the tribe correlated to the zodiacal sign Virgo, is the son of Nun, the fish, or Pisces. Herein is found in starry script the message of one who came as a herald of the Pisces-Virgo Era which was to usher in Christian initiatory teachings dealing with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, when the voice of the Great Initiator Himself would ask: "Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?"
Studied esoterically, the Bible ceases to offer the multitudinous problems encountered by the exotericist. Incidents such as the one under discussion cannot be accepted by thoughtful students as literally true, and its value as poetry may not be altogether apparent. But in the light of spiritual science and in the language of symbolism, Joshua's ability to stay the Sun and Moon in their courses is recognized as being true in relation to deep facts in the nature of man and the universe. The fundamentalist is right in his insistence on a literal reading of Holy Scriptures, he errs only in failing to recognize that his contention can be successfully defended only when interpretation is on the mystical and spiritual levels instead of from the historical and physical only.
By bringing into equalization (polarity) the masculine and feminine poles of spirit within himself, Joshua became a Christed person. He had brought the Sun and Moon, his own stars into equilibrium. He was now to be numbered among those who worked consciously in preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah.
From their inception the Mysteries have been divided into two groups: the outer and the inner, or preliminary work for the neophyte and higher grades for the Perfect. Joshua had now passed into the ranks of the latter.
— Corinne Heline
