Bible
Self-Study
Supplement
Old Testament:
New Testament:
Genesis:
- Genesis (KJV) »
- The Cosmic Pattern in the Life of Abraham (PDF) »
- The Rainbow Age — Cycles of Alternation; Noah's Vineyard — The Descent into Materiality (HTML) »
During the Atlantean Epoch the atmosphere was heavily laden
with moisture. In the present
post-Atlantean, Fifth Epoch the air is clear, light and
dry. In biological development, as presented in Genesis and as taught
in both physical and spiritual science, the amphibian stage precedes
the mammalian. In terms of physiological development, therefore,
only those Atlanteans survived the change from water to air who had
kept abreast of evolutionary requirements and developed lungs
necessary to functioning in the new element. It will be so in the
transition which humanity will make from the present Epoch to the
next. A new element of a fiery nature will then interpenetrate
the air, and only those will escape "destruction by fire" who, like Noah,
representative of the Atlantean remnant, have made physical progress
enabling them to adjust themselves to the new conditions. This is not
a momentary achievement. It is the result of obedience to nature's
progressive demands from day to day and life to life and age to age.
To miss a step is to fall behind the vanguard of the race, and the lot
of the laggard is hard. If his backward state persists, the laggard ends
by meeting, on his form side, violence and destruction — to the end
that his spirit may exert itself to make the advance necessary for its
own "salvation;" that is, a realization of its inherent divinity.
- Abraham —
The Cosmic Pattern
for the Man of the Fifth
Root Race (PDF) »
- Race Spirits and the Beginnings of Sub-Races (HTML) »
- Moses and Jacob — Initiate Sons of the Ancient Wisdom (PDF) »
- Serpent Symbology (HTML) »
The serpent, a symbol common to all world religions, represents
the serpentine or kundalini fire-force coiled and sleeping in the body
of man. In this universal application it signifies an inner power which
caused his original downfall and also the power by which he accomplishes his regeneration. It is the power which may lead him to
greater light and life or to death and destruction according to
whether it is used wisely or unwisely.
When the serpent force is directed downward for the gratification
of sensual desire, the inevitable result is sorrow, pain, disease and
death. Directed upward to the head, the spinal fire brings regeneration and builds the deathless body of the soul. While wandering in
the wilderness the Israelites suffered from the poisonous bites of
serpents that crawled in the dust (earthly sensualism) but were
healed by the selfsame serpents when uplifted (regeneration through
spiritual aspiration).
Thus the serpent symbol, in itself, represents neither good nor
evil but a dual power that can be used for either. In ancient Mystery
Schools it was used as a symbol of wisdom for this reason. It for the
same reason signified priestly powers. Druid priests were called serpents. The Grecian Cadmus and his wife, whose lives in many ways
parallel those of Abraham and Sarah, became serpent Initiates.
According to Clement of Alexandria, the ord Heva, meaning female
serpent was used in magical incantation. Many pre-Christian symbols
depict Eve accompanied by a male serpent.
- Where Were We at the Time of Creation? (PDF) »
- The Effect of the Fall on the Body of Man (HTML) »
- Bible Mysteries — Their Literal and Spiritual Interpretation (PDF) »
- Childhood and Youth — Biblical and Talmudic Records; The Fifth Epoch Teacher's Commission and Dedication (HTML) »
By God's command, Abram inaugurated a new departure in racial
progression. He was required to leave his country and kindred and to
go into a land that the Lord would reveal unto him. That land signifies new conditions — physical, political, social, religious and spiritual.
The guidance Abram was receiving came from God through the
mediation of the Race Spirit that presided over the destiny of the
people Abram was called to lead. That Race Spirit, like all others of
similar rank, belonged to the archangelic Hierarchy. His name is
Michael.
Touching the racial migration, Godfrey Higgins states in Anacalypsis
that when "the Vernal Equinox changed from Taurus to Aries,
several emigrations occurred from Mesopotamia and India towards
the West in consequence of civil wars then prevailing."
Notice is here taken of the precessional change in the heavens as
being coincident with movements of population from one geographic
location to another. It is also an interesting historical corroboration
of the account in Genesis. While this aspect of the Bible is altogether secondary, it is present throughout. The history of the Jewish
race becomes the external framework within which inspired writers
have constructed a spiritual history of mankind that is equally true
for all people at all times and in all places.
The promise made by the Lord to Abram, that in fulfilling the
mission assigned him he would be blessed, was not arbitrary protection granted because of personal favoritism. The Lord (Law)
automatically protects all those who are at one in purpose with
Him (it).
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Genesis, Chapter 11 (PDF) »
- Joseph Elevated to Office of Power (HTML) »
Joseph, (the higher mind) had been rejected by his elder brothers and
sent "down" into Egypt. But this descent of the divine principle into
materiality neither annihilated nor obscured it. By its inherent power
it transformed barrenness into fruitfulness. Whereas famine overtook
all other parts of the world, Egypt had corn enough to carry her
through the lean years, and not only for itself but for the suffering
lands as well.
Joseph had conserved the fruits of the field. He had stored up the
corn; that is, he had preserved the very essence of life itself by a life
of purity in keeping with the divine mind he symbolizes. It is squandering this life force that leads to weakness, impotency and want. It
was from this famine that the people suffered, and still suffer. To
learn the reason for such lack the less enlightened, older, more
dominant and aggressive brothers, went into Egypt.
The symbolism here indicates that the needed corn (sustenance) is
rightly sought for in Egypt (the sacral plexus) where it is gathered by
Joseph (higher mind) and stored in the granaries of the land (head
centers), and is thus available to all who seek it. This corn from
which the bread of life is made is without price. Astrologically,
Joseph came into possession of storehouses of corn under the powers
of his sign, Sagittarius, the sign governing the raising of the kundalini
fire from the sacral plexus to the head.
As Joseph commanded his brother's sacks to be filled, he also
ordered that their money be restored to them. When, on their return
journey, one of the brothers discovered that the purchase money had
been refunded, he exclaimed in amazement, "What is this that God
hath done unto us?"
God had indeed enriched them. No one aspires in vain. The seeker
after soul sustenance is never sent away empty. The measure is full
and running over. Joseph even provided his brothers with unsolicited
provisions for their homeward journey. The processes of transmutation bring an increase of good on every plane of manifestation.
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Genesis, Chapter 19 (PDF) »
- The Higher Self Withdraws from the Lower; The Spirit's Struggle with the Five Senses (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Genesis 19 (PDF) »
- The Cosmic Pattern in the Life of Abraham (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Genesis 7 (PDF) »
- The Mystic Marriage Is Consummated; Joseph — The Story of Self-Conquest (HTML) »
The Bible, being above all else a Book of Life, deals with death
only as the end of a certain phase of existence and the beginning of
another. In the lives of the principal characters whose biographies it
records, it invariably refers to the sublime transition wherein consciousness outgrows the personal, and in transcending the world of
time enters into a realization of the Life Everlasting.
Jacob reached the highest stage of attainment with the birth of his
two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, by his beloved Rachel. Their birth
followed upon pain and struggle. Rachel "travailed" while Jacob
11 wrestled," even to the disjointing of his thigh. The way of spiritual
progress is ever the way of the cross. "Wisdom is crystallized pain."
The birth of Benjamin, the last and best beloved of Jacob's sons,
could occur only after his experience at Peniel where he received the
name Israel. This was followed by the death of Rachel which occurred
in Bethlehem. The place is significant as a center of spiritual strength.
For ages the Great Ones were projecting spiritual forces into this
selected area in preparation for the supreme world event, the coming
of Christ Jesus. The place became a hallowed oasis suitable for cradling the Holy Child. Illumined Teachers and Seers of all time have
known this, and worked accordingly. It was, therefore, not by accident, but by design that Jacob chose this place wherein to consummate the final rites of the Mystic Marriage.
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Genesis 28 (PDF) »
- Jacob and the Path of Initiation (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Genesis 4 (PDF) »
- The Mystic Eucharist; The Law's Reward to the Father of Multitudes (HTML) »
Abram's victorious exploit in rescuing Lot was followed by a
transcendental experience which ranks among the most beautiful
and significant episodes recorded in the entire Old Testament. It was
Abram's meeting with Melchizedek, a man of mystery of whom
nothing is known concerning his residence, his birth, his years, his
future. He appears for a moment, bestows his blessing upon Abram,
and passes again beyond the veils of physical perception.
Melchizedek was the "king of Salem" and "the priest of the most
high God." Coming to Abram, he brought forth bread and wine,
"and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high
God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high
God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand." Genesis 14:18-20)
Melchizedek was the king of peace (Salem), while Christ Jesus,
Prince of Peace, was, according to Paul, a "high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek." He was not only a personality but a
principle.
In Melchizedek and Christ Jesus are blended the two principles of
head and heart, intellect and intuition, Fire and Water. The accomplishment of this union is the specific task set for the New Age. It is,
moreover, the fundamental purpose of earthly experience.
- The Creation — Genesis 1, Part I (PDF) »
- The Vibratory Power of Names; The Fires of Evil Destroy the Cities of the Plain (HTML) »
- The Creation — Genesis 1, Part II (PDF) »
- Isaac Blesses His Two Sons; Jacob's Expanding Vision (HTML) »
- The Creation —
Part 1 (PDF) »
- The Escape of the Righteous; The Offering of Isaac — The Great Renunciation (HTML) »
Sodom and Gomorrah, like ancient Lemuria, were destroyed by
fire. The cause was the same in both instances — a perversion of the
sacred fire force in the body of man. "Daemon est Deus inversus."
Sodom and Gomorrah are the two pillars in ruin, restored, they are
the Jachin and Boaz that stand at the entrance of Solomon's Temple,
the Shrine of Wisdom, which is man himself.
The initial letters "S" and "G" of the names of the two cities
point to the love principle which, because of its abysmal fall in the
wicked cities of the plain, caused their overthrow. Studying the
letters in their Hebrew significance we find that "S" or shin was one
of the master letters, the other two being "A" and "M." When the
dot was placed on the left hand prong of "S" the letter meant
sin. The same word in ancient times also meant Moon.
The letter "G" or gimel holds the mystery of the feminine principle. It pertains to generation. In Hebrew a symbol for the letter is a
hollow tube or canal. Such is the spinal cord. When the kundalini
power rises through the canal from base to summit, generation becomes regeneration and the human consciousness enters into awareness of the divine. The letter "G" also symbolizes the throat, wherein
an idea conceived takes form. It is outspoken; the word becomes
flesh.
- The Creation — Part 2 (PDF) »
- Jacob's Further Experiences Toward Seership (HTML) »
The following legend well describes man's struggle and conquest:
Before the birth of man, the Angels sang hymns of joy and
praise. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to
everlasting. " When Adam appeared they asked, "Is this the one for
whom we sang hymns?" God said, "No, for he will fall. " At Noah's
birth they repeated the question. "No, for he will plant the vine."
Abraham? "No, for his progeny will be Ishmael." Isaac? "No, for
he begat Esau, a displeasure unto God." Jacob? "Yes, for his name
shall be changed to Israel and his descendants shall be called the
'children of Israel', which interpreted means 'sanctified before
birth and remained holy'."
- The Creation —
Part 3 (PDF) »
- Jacob's Twelvefold Blessing and Its Cosmic Import; Jacob's Entrance into an Enlarged Life (HTML) »
- The Fall of Man (PDF) »
- The Flood — The Passing of the Fourth Root Race; The Continent of Atlantis; The Migration of Atlantean Pioneers; Astrological Cycles; The Preservation of Seed Patterns (HTML) »
- Nimrod — The Path of Pursuit (HTML) »
In Genesis we read that Nimrod "began to be a mighty one in the
earth ... a mighty hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was on the "path
of pursuit." He represents humanity in its quest for worldly possessions and power, temporarily subjugating its higher nature (Japheth)
and compelling it to serve personal ambition. The interests of self
were separated from the good of the whole, for the city (consciousness) which he built was walled in. Gradually he ruled the world. The
Iron Age had come. Possessions were the measure of power and
might was right.
The rebellion against the Lord's command here spoken of consists
in a separation in consciousness from the Will of God. There are
several aspects to this separation. The spirit's descent into matter
drew a veil over its universal consciousness and it became less sensitive to divine guidance. Its newly acquired powers of mind set themselves up in opposition to the inner promptings of the God within.
The desires of the lower nature were at war with those of the higher.
The Lucifer spirits aided and abetted the fiery desires in their rebellion against reasoned control by the mind and guidance by the inner
monitor. Man was launching out on a self-directed career, for better
or for worse.
Commenting on the exploit of the people of Nimrod, Jacob
Boehme, the German mystic, writes: "As is to be known by the
children of Nimrod at the Tower of Babel, when they had fallen
from obedience to God into their own individual reason, then they
had lost their guide and did confound reason so that they comprehended not truth any more. Their own reason, which was mixed of all colors, had to rule them."
- Experiences in Discipleship (HTML) »
Long training and severe discipline precede attainment. Dedication
to an ideal does not mean easy or immediate realization. It often
brings unexpected experiences, unsuspected problems, and seemingly
unwarranted delay. Life may become harder for a time, since there
remains so much in the nature of the aspirant that still hinders the
spiritual promotion desired and asked for. In response to his dedication, the Lord (Law) takes a new interest in him and assigns tasks
best suited to develop the necessary qualities. These tasks are according to his strength and need, not to suit his personal pleasure or
inclination. Their necessary and beneficent aspects may not be
apparent. It is then that the aspirant may exclaim, in the words of
August Strindberg, the Swedish dramatist, "I sought God and found
the devil," or ask, disappointedly, with Jacob, "Did not I serve with
thee for Rachel?"
Jacob did serve for Rachel, nor did he serve in vain. But before he
was qualified to receive her, another seven year cycle of preparation
was necessary, during which time he was given Leah, the representative of a lesser degree of inner light and spiritual attainment.
In the life of an aspirant, the birth of a son signifies the acquisition
of some specific attribute of spirit. In early stages this acquisition is
of a personal rather than a spiritual nature. This is indicated in the
life of Jacob by the fact that, while Leah (lower nature) was fruitful,
Rachel (higher nature) remained for a long time barren.
- The Garden of Eden and Life In The Etheric Regions (HTML) »
Biblical writers have located the Garden of Eden in various parts of
the Earth. But the Garden of Eden had no physical location; it was
situated in etheric realms. The river that watered this Garden was the
light that streamed from the World of Life Spirit, or Plane of Christ
Consciousness, and was reflected on the etheric plane. Its four branches
are the four differentiated streams into which etheric substance is
divided. The River Pison compasses the land of light, the land of gold
and the onyx stone. It symbolizes the highest or reflecting ether. The
River Gihon compasses the land of Ethiopia or darkness. It is the
lowest or chemical ether. Hiddekel, which flows east toward the light,
is the light ether. The Euphrates, largest and most important river of
Western Asia, typifies the life ether which, in humanity's present
stage of development, is the most important of the four ethers.
Astrologically, the four branches of the river in Eden represent the
four turning points of the year, namely, the Winter and Summer
Solstices, the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes.
Max Heindel, an Initiate of the Rosicrucian School, states that the
chemical ether vibrates to the seed atom of the dense body, located in
the heart; the life ether to the seed atom of the vital body in the solar
plexus. These two ethers maintain the life of the physical body. The
light ether vibrates to the seed atom of the desire body, located in the
central vortex of the liver, and also to the pituitary body in the
brain. Before man lost his spiritual vision and succumbed to the
lure of his lower nature, this ductless gland (pituitary) vibrated to the
seed atom of the desire body. The reflecting ether vibrates to the
seed atom of the mind, located near the frontal sinus, and to the
pineal gland which, like the pituitary body, is also located deep in
the head.
- The Spritual Allegory of Judah and Tamar; Dream Interpretations (HTML) »
The secrets of life belonging to the feminine principle are concealed
from the eyes of the profane and the uncomprehending. This is the
significance of the veiled Tamar. She is identical in meaning with the
veiled Isis, the feminine patron saint of Egypt. This points the occult
reason for the custom among oriental women of veiling their faces.
The practice originated as a token of reverence for that which is too
noble and holy to be exposed to the common gaze. That this custom
is now rapidly passing is indicative of a new era in which a spiritual
power, long hidden and submerged. is coming forth into manifestation. In the deeper significance of the term, the coming Aquarian
Age will see woman in a position of equality with man. Intuition, the
faculty of direct perception of truth, will become generally operative;
and love, in its highest aspect, a living, moving power in the heart of
mankind.
The concealed Eternal Feminine asks of the approaching neophyte,
as did Tamar of Judah: "What wilt thou give me, that thou mayst
come in unto me?" To this question Judah replied: "I will send thee
a kid from the flock." The kid (goat), symbol of Capricorn, refers to
the powers of the mind in process of spiritualization. Tamar then
asked of him if he would give her a pledge until such time as he
would send the kid. "And he said: What pledge shall I give thee? And
she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine
hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived
by him."
- Death of Joseph; Joseph and Zion Compared (HTML) »
Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years. Seventeen of
these years he lived in Canaan; for ten years he was a servant of
Potiphar; three years were spent in prison; for eighty years he ruled
all the lands of Egypt. The number one hundred and ten is the tenfold power of eleven, the master number of attainment. He arrived
at its high status after seventeen years of preparation, ten of service,
three of trial, and eighty years of fruitful work for humanity. World
service followed his years in prison, the time when, in terms of soul
experience, every external aid is withdrawn leaving only inner
resources of the spirit to be drawn upon. If these be uncovered and
developed, as they were in Joseph's case, new power is available
wherewith to minister to the needs of the world.
Joseph typifies the man in whom the higher Christed mind has
become operative under the guidance of the Sagittarian Hierarchy,
the Lords of Mind. He has entered into a superior condition and
assures his brethren that God will surely visit them and bring them
out of this land (material mindedness) into the land (Christed mind)
which He sware to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Joseph and Benjamin — Union with the Higher Self (HTML) »
- The Tree of Knowledge (HTML) »
- The First Three Creative Days (HTML) »
There is a closer correspondence between the biblical account of
creation and the teachings of academic science than is generally
recognized. A narrow theological interpretation on the one hand, and
a spiritually unillumined science on the other, are responsible for the
gulf that exists in the minds of many persons between the teachings
of the two. Fortunately, the misconceptions that have divided many
earnest students of the Bible from those of physical science are disappearing in the new light that is now falling in increased measure on
sacred and secular knowledge alike.
While it may seem too obvious for comment that the Creative
Days of the Genesis account are vast periods of time and not brief
hours of solar days, it is a fact that a literal interpretation at this
point has given rise to a popular misconception that has proved prejudicial to the truth as it is set forth in the Scriptures and as expounded by science. If the creative period translated as "day" had
been rendered instead by the word aeon as it is in the Greek version,
there never could have been the interminable disputations concerning
the question of time consumed for the creative stages recorded in
Genesis.
The work of the Seven Creative Days as outlined in Genesis
embraces the entire span of man's pilgrimage through time and
matter. It covers the journey from unconscious, undifferentiated
being to individualized, all-conscious at-one-ment with Universal
Spirit. It describes the descent of the spirit into matter and its resurrection therefrom. Of the Seven Days, three and one-half were consumed in the involutionary process during which the spirit took on
forms of increasing density, arriving at length at the nadir of materiality which was reached several mission years ago during the present
Earth Period. The remaining three and one-half days will be devoted
to the evolutionary process during which the spirit will gradually unfold its latent powers through meeting the resistance of form, and
progressively lay aside the vehicles acquired during involution until it
returns as pure, disembodied spirit to the bosom of the universal
Father. It then will have passed from impotence to omnipotence,
from nascence to omniscience.
- The Last Four Creative Days (HTML) »
Man's complex structure is the product of innumerable Intelligences working over vast stretches of time. The progression is orderly,
methodical and sequential; not haste, but perfection is the ultimate
objective. As science and religion draw closer together, both will
make the illuminating discovery that the work of the Seven Creative
Days, recorded with mathematical brevity in a few verses, was not a
week's activity of the Elohim in the remote past, but that it covers
processes which have carried the manifested universe steadily forward
through the ages-processes which will continue until the destined
perfection is attained. In lesser cycles of action, the successive steps
of the Seven Days are recapitulated in an endless series that reach
into the infinitely small spiral motions of our individual lives. "Ye
are heirs of God, and Joint-heirs with Christ;" and "it doth not yet
appear what we shall be," affirm two who possessed the ability to be
"caught up into the third Heaven," there to study cosmic pictures of
Creation.
- Symbolism of the Dove and the Raven (HTML) »
- Consciousness Closes on the Universal Light; Cain and Abel — Two Paths of Attainment (HTML) »
It was not in the divine plan that cruelty and ferocity should enter
into the nature of man or beast, or that they should prey on one
another. This state is of man's own doing, his own destructive
thoughts and actions extending to, and finding expression in, the
lower kingdom. Being closely associated with man, but of lesser
development, that kingdom is negative to his influence. It absorbs
and gives back to man whatever he releases into the atmosphere.
Since this includes so much that is cruel, greedy, grasping and sensuous, it is inevitable that there will be wild beasts and poisonous
plants, discord and strife throughout the whole of man's environment.
Exodus:
- Exodus (KJV) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Song of Moses at the Red Sea — Exodus 15 (PDF) »
- The Passover From Bondage to Freedom (HTML) »
Initiation is a difficult attainment. It must be earned. No one can
bestow it upon another, nor can money procure it. It is the result of
right living, of moral character, of helpful service. One's selfish,
animalistic nature must be sacrificed before his higher nature can
come to fruition. Moses, the Initiate, teaches this to his people as the
first essential to accomplishing the passover. ". . they shall take to
them every man a lamb," and kill it. "And they shall eat the flesh...
roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they
shall eat it." (Exodus 12:3,8) The neophyte on the Path well realizes
that the animal which must be slain, fired and devoured symbolizes
the bestial qualities in his own nature. The ceremony merely visualizes
an inner process.
The sacrifice required was not pleasing; the bread was not leavened
and the herbs bitter. One reason for prescribing unleavened bread is
that its atomic constituency is of a higher vibratory value than
leavened bread. Fermentation is caused by a foreign agency of a
decomposing nature.
- The First Commandment — Exodus 20:3 (PDF) »
- The Blood of the Lamb; The Guiding Principles of Fire and Water; The Deterrents of Doubt and Fear; Renunciation Precedes Attainment (HTML) »
- The Second Commandment — Exodus 20:4 (PDF) »
- The Ministry of The Lord's Annointed (HTML) »
- The Third Commandment — Exodus 20:7 (PDF) »
- Consciousness Re-Ascends the Heights (HTML) »
- The Fourth Commandment — Exodus 20:8-11 (PDF) »
- The Eighth Plague — The Plague of Locusts; The Ninth Plague — The Plague of Darkness; The Tenth Plague — Death of the Firstborn (HTML) »
- The Fifth Commandment — Exodus 20:12 (PDF) »
- The Sixth Commandment (PDF) »
- Commissioned to Deliver Israel; The Voice of the I AM; The Rod of Power (PDF) » (HTML) »
As man develops a higher spiritual consciousness he will use ever
greater care in speech not to predicate I AM with an untrue affirmation. A living realization of this single truth has brought modern religious denominations and movements into being that have been instrumental, not only in transforming the thinking of great numbers of
their followers, but in exercising a liberating influence on the consciousness of the race. Like all truths, it is susceptible of misinterpretation. By inversion it is the means whereby the powers of spirit are prostituted for personal advantage instead of liberating an Ego
from limitations of the personal that it may give selfless service in
furtherance of the Kingdom of Light. These "latter days" are not
without I AM manifestations on both higher and lower levels of
expression.
I AM is an affirmation of Being that all individualized Egos have
the privilege of making. But there is a Name, unpronounceable by
the masses, that penetrates yet more deeply into the heart of Reality,
and it may be intoned by an initiated few. This is true in all religions.
The Hindus, for instance, have their sacred AUM, the source of
golden Light. Herodotus, the Grecian historian, in an account of
Egyptian Initiations refers to representations made of Him "whose
name they refrain from mentioning." The Zohar states that devout
Jews never pronounce the name Yod-He-Vau-He — I AM THAT I
AM — but substitute ADNI; that is Adonai, meaning Lord.
The name Adonai is capable of twelve transpositions, all conveying the meaning to be. It is the only word that will bear so many
transpositions without its meaning being altered. They are called the
twelve banners of the mighty Name and are said to rule the twelve
signs of the Zodiac.
- The Seventh Commandment (PDF) »
- The Citadel of Mortal Mind Ten Times Besieged; The Plagues — Turning Water into Blood, etc. (HTML) »
- The Eighth Commandment — Exodus 20:15 (PDF) »
- Perverted Principles Bring Plagues (HTML) »
- The Holy of Holies; General Features Symbolically Considered (HTML) »
From the inner Court the path led into the innermost sanctuary,
the Holy of Holies, where stood the Ark of the Covenant. Only the
high priest (higher spirit self) was admitted into this sacred chamber
and he was not permitted to enter at any and all times. Only once a
year could he pass into its holy precincts and perform the ceremonies
prescribed by the Law. The Ego does not dwell perpetually in a pure
Spiritual State, it could not so realize its latent powers. Periodically
it comes forth, takes on forms and functions on more limited planes
of consciousness. It is through struggling with such limitations that
powers are developed and self-realization enhanced. The Holy of
Holies was representative of the state where the spirit dwells, unconditioned by matter, in the light of its own undimmed, divine nature.
In this chamber, therefore, there was no external light, none being
required by an illumined one who entered therein.
The Ark, symbol of the soul, was built of shittim (acacia) overlaid with gold. The lid was of solid gold and served as the mercy
seat. At the two ends of this seat stood two golden Cherubim, their
outstretched wings covering the precious casket. Within the Ark
were the two Tables of the Law, Aaron's rod that budded and the
Pot of Manna.
- The Ninth Commandment — Exodus 20:16 (PDF) »
- Consciousness Suffers A Recession — Israel Sets Up a Golden Calf (HTML) »
The Israelites became impatient over Moses' long absence. Turning to Aaron they said: "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of Egypt, we wot
not what has become of him." Aaron did as they desired. Calling
them to surrender their golden trinkets and adornments, he had them
melted and cast into the image of a calf. Before this god of a past
age he erected an altar, and with rejoicing proclaimed the morrow a
feast day. On that day the people arose early, offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings, and spent the hours in pleasurable indulgences
and gratification of physical appetites.
So long as the higher light (Moses) was present, the personality
recognized its authority and obeyed its commands. But it had not
been sufficiently trained in the new school of the spirit (dispensation
of Aries) to remain faithful to disciplines when that light faded
temporarily from view. So there was a recession of consciousness.
The old manner of thought and desire reasserted itself, and the
personality was back in its former setting, worshiping the golden
calf, (material possessions).
In early stages an aspirant on the path receives stimulus and encouragement from the example of those who have gone before in
attainment. Such external guidance must finally be removed. If the
student has relied unduly on his teacher, blindly adoring and following, rather than assiduously incorporating into his very life the precepts taught him and the ideals held before him, he is likely to falter
and fail when that external aid is withdrawn.
It was so with the Israelites. They had reached a point where, as
pioneers, it was necessary to again prove them. Moses withdrew for
a time. Soon the faith of the people faltered and they fell back into
ways that led away from the objective they originally set for themselves.
- The Tenth Commandment — Exodus 20:17 (PDF) »
- The Preparation and Testing of Moses; Moses' Unfoldment of Spiritual Powers; The Initiation by Water; The Revelation by Fire (HTML) »
Moses commenced his earthly life in an humble cottage situated
on the banks of the river Nile. Not far removed stood the Great
Pyramid of Gizeh, silently proclaiming to each succeeding age the
existence of a body of knowledge and of superhuman power that has
long since been lost to mankind in general. But its secrets have never
been lost to an initiated few — among whom were, for instance, the
Shepherd Kings. Nor were they to Moses, whose mission was to reinterpret these Mysteries in preparation for the Christian Dispensation to follow.
Moses remained with his parents during the years of his childhood,
receiving from his father, "a man of the house of Levi," and his
mother, "a daughter of the house of Levi," the saintly influences
they were able to bestow upon him. Then followed esoteric instruction imparted by his guardian Temple priestess, whose name was
Thermutis. Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, states that
the boy Moses was so beautiful passers-by in the streets would stop
to admire him and that laborers left their work in the fields to look
upon his magnetic presence whenever occasion offered.
- The First and Great Commandment (PDF) »
- Urim and Thummim; The Mitre; Consecration of Priests; The Chosen Builders (HTML) »
- The Second Commandment — 20:4 (PDF) »
- Egoic Union With the Shekinah Glory (HTML) »
God is both Law and Love. When He seems unloving it is because
of failure to perceive where the perfect law has been violated. No
action contrary to the universal Law of good can yield permanent
satisfaction and security. Were this possible, imperfect man would
everlastingly take refuge in conditions and circumstances less ideal
than those designed for him by an all-wise and all-loving Father.
Therefore, those who break the law will by no means be counted
guiltless. They must suffer the painful reactions, perhaps in successive
lives, until the better, wiser way, the way that accords with divine
law, has been learned. By reincarnation, each individual is in truth
the child Of his former self and father of the self he is yet to be.
Actions, good or bad, thus carry their reactions even to the third and
fourth generations.
During the time that Moses was on the Mount "he did neither eat bread, nor drink water." His activity was solely of a spiritual nature.
It had to do with factors pertaining to the inner life, apprehended
only ill the exalted consciousness attained by Initiation. According
to higher Teachings, the written laws were derived from the sacred
Ten Words spoken to Moses on the Mount, even as woman was
created from the body of man in the "mystery of the Garden."
Both are reflections of spiritual realities. Herein is to be found the
inner significance of the enigmatic statement that woman (redeemed
feminine principle) was the first to receive the Decalogue when given
on Mount Sinai.
- The Third Commandment — 20:7 (PDF) »
- The Breastplate of Judgment (HTML) »
Concerning this aspect of the Breastplate, Philo Judaeus, the
Jewish Hellenistic philosopher, makes the following observations:
Then the twelve stones in the breastplate, which are not like
one another in color and which are divided into four rows of three
stones in each, what else can they be emblems of except of the
circle of the zodiac? For that also is divided into four parts, each
consisting of three animals, by which divisions it makes up the
seasons of the year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, distinguishing the four changes, the two Solstices, and the two
Equinoxes, each of which has its limit of three signs of this zodiac,
by the revolutions of the Sun according to that unchangeable and
most lasting and really divine ratio which exists in numbers.
For all the changes of the year and the seasons are arranged by
well defined and stated and firm reason; though this seems a most
extraordinary and incredible thing, by their seasonal changes they
display their undeviating and everlasting permanence and durability.
And it is said with great correctness and exceeding beauty also,
that the twelve stones all differ in their colors, and that no one of
them resembles the other; for also in the zodiac each animal produces that color which is akin to and belongs to itself, both in the
air and in the earth, and in the water; and it produces it likewise in
all the affectations which move them, and in all kinds of animals
and of plants.
- The Fourth Commandment — 20:8-11 (PDF) »
- Two Tablets and Ten Commandments; The Zodiacal Signatures in the Ten Commandments (HTML) »
When the Ten Commandments are obeyed, not from outer compulsion or from fear of painful consequences, but because they are
recognized as the right and desirable way of life, then the tenfold
"shalt not" yields to the twofold "shalt." Ethics pass from negative
to positive. Lesser law is swallowed up in a greater. The veil of the
Moon that shielded the glory of the Sun is removed, and man begins
to live in the light "as He is in the light."
The significance of committing the Commandments on two tables
is the same as the placement of the two pillars of brass cast by Hiram
on the porch of Solomon's Temple. Through them a candidate for
Initiation passed bearing the mystic rose, emblematic of unfolded
spiritual powers. There columns were representative of masculine and
feminine principles which had to be brought into equilibrium before
higher degrees of illumination were attainable.
The same symbolism is retained to this day by the Masonic Order,
which places two pillars, the Jachin and Boaz of Solomon's porch,
before its temples. Through them pass modern seekers after more of
the divine light. The dual principles signified by these two pillars
have been, and are, variously represented in Mystery Schools of all
times and peoples.
The law was given to those who had come out of Egyptian bondage
(material mindedness) when the Lord (Law) revealed the laws by
which they could progress upward to the summit of light even as had
Moses, their Illumined Leader.
The Ten Commandments are more than moral precepts. They are
cosmic principles governing the evolution of the post-Atlantean, or Fifth Root
Race; and as applicable today an on the day they were enunciated.
More than this, in their esoteric significance they enfold the method
whereby one may pass from faith to first-hand knowledge. They are
keys to Initiation. From cover to cover the Bible deals with that one
subject as its dominant theme, its chief revelation.
- The Fifth Commandment — 20:12 (PDF) »
- Joshua Ascends The Twelve Steps of the Celestial Ladder (HTML) »
- The Sixth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill (PDF) »
- The Fusion of Polar Opposites; Worldly Powers At Enmity With Spiritual Powers (HTML) »
- The Seventh
Commandment (PDF) »
- The Shepherd Kings; Early Preparation for Christ's Coming; The Coming of a Deliverer — Moses' Birth and Infancy (HTML) »
- The Eighth Commandment (PDF) »
- The Sanctuary of the Divine Presence — The Tabernacle in the Wilderness; The Cross of Matter (HTML) »
God's existence and presence is independent of all form. But in
order to manifest Himself, even He requires a vehicle. Similarly, man
is a spirit; he is not a body. But for him to function on the physical
plane, a body is necessary.
In the macrocosm nature constitutes the body of God; in the
microcosm a physical body constitutes the vehicle in which the Ego
functions. The two are related; the lesser reflects the greater. Both
conform to patterns of divine symmetry in line, dimension, proportion and harmony in accordance with the basic structure of Eternal
Being.
During the forty days and the forty nights that Moses abode on
the mount of illumination he was able to look into the essential
nature of that fundamental structure. It might be stating the fact
more accurately to say that while Moses was in that exalted state of
consciousness, primary lines of force and the varying rates of energy
flowing through them made themselves known to him with such
distinctness that he was able to translate them in terms of directions,
numbers, relation and proportion. The sum total became specifications for building the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. For the Lord
who spoke to Moses was not an anthropomorphic being; it was the
Law impressing its foundational character on the sensitive spiritual
mirror of an advanced and understanding soul.
A study of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness is, therefore, an inquiry
into the structure of the cosmos, the anatomy of man, the operation
of stellar forces, the method of evolution and the way of Initiation.
It may be reasonably concluded that not even a forty-day period in
the Glory Light would be sufficient to reveal the significance of the
sanctuary where God dwells with man in all its mystical implications
and sublime inclusiveness.
- The Ninth Commandment (PDF) »
- Spiritual Mastery Over Elements of Obstruction — The Passage of the Red Sea; From Atlantis to the Fifth Epoch Earth; The Light That Shineth in Darkness; The Twofold Operation of Law — Spiritual and Material; A Song of the Soul in Triumph — Moses' Hymn of Thanksgiving (HTML) »
The story of Israel's passage through the Red Sea is, like that of
Noah and the Flood, a legendary account of the Atlantean pioneers
migrating eastward to Central Asia to escape the successive inundations which finally caused complete submergence of that continent.
The place where they first settled is now known as the Gobi Desert,
and mysteries there are belonging to this region which, when revealed
in days to come, will throw added light on the early beginnings of
the post-Atlantean or Fifth Root Race there cradled during its infancy.
The nucleus, or seed, for that great race was the Semites, the
Israelites of the Bible. Because of the very important position which
this gave them in the history of racial development, they were
especially guided and cared for by the Race Spirit and leaders like
Moses, who became instruments for carrying out the designs of the
archangelic overlord.
The Promised Land to which the Israelites journeyed was not
Palestine only. That land is the whole of the Fifth Epoch Earth — all the areas on
which human evolution is progressing during the post-Atlantean Epoch. It is
the realm of spirit into which Egos enter and function consciously
when true Initiation has been attained.
- The Tenth Commandment (PDF) »
- Israel Under the Tutelage of the Law — Race Ordinances; Race Spirit Guidance (HTML) »
- The Sixth Plague — The Plague of Boils; The Seventh Plague — The Plague of Hail (HTML) »
Leviticus:
- Leviticus (KJV) »
- Legislative Guidance to Spiritual Progress; The Law of Sacrifice; The Law of the Clean and the Unclean; The Sin Offering and the Trespass Offering; The Ritual of Atonement (HTML) »
The laws and regulations contained in Leviticus were adapted to
the peculiar requirements of a people who were being specially prepared for a great destiny. In their literal application they were suited
to the people to whom they were given and the times in which they
lived. In their aspects they are dated. localized and racially distinctive.
Since this is so, this ancient code of Moses is not and cannot be
regarded as a living book containing specific guidance for the world
today unless there be a spiritual perception of values that go beyond
the letter of the law. This perception has been lost by the rank and
file of Jews and Christians alike. Even when accepted as belonging to
an ever-living, inspired Book, Leviticus is treated primarily for what
it meant to bygone Israel and only secondarily for what it may mean
to man today.
Leviticus, like every other Book in the Bible, contains something
for the devout literalist, but it contains vastly more for the student
who has discovered the keys that unlock its mysteries. The day has
arrived for an awakening to other and deeper strata of truth. In
Leviticus, as throughout the whole of Sacred Scriptures, is outlined
the way of spiritual progress for the unawakened multitude and the
way of Initiation for the awakened few.
The Book of the Law deals primarily with the several laws of sacrifice, purification, atonement, holiness and compensation.
- The Four Sacred Seasons; The Law of Compensation (HTML) »
- The Blood — An Arcane Mystery (HTML) »
The deepest truths taught in the Mysteries relate to the blood, because the very "life of the flesh" is in it. As no two individuals are
alike, neither is the blood of any two persons identical. An individualized Ego makes its distinctive impression on its own constituent
elements. This difference is sufficiently pronounced in the blood of
man and animal to be easily recognized; so, too, is the difference
between the blood of man and anthropoid. Again, the blood of
major races differs clearly; and among people of the same race,
medical science classifies for practical purposes four types. Some
of these are sufficiently alike to make transfusions serve the end of
life, while the mingling of others causes distress and even death.
Looking to the causative, life side of this subject, an occult
investigator learns that racial blood type is conditioned by the influence of the Race Spirit. Since each race is guided by a different
Spirit, the blood through which each one works shows a corresponding difference.
- The Law of Holiness (HTML) »
Numbers:
- Numbers (KJV) »
- The Song of The Well; Song of The Fall of Heshbon; Conflict of the Old with the New — Balak and Balaam (HTML) »
- Bitter Waters Made Sweet; The Bread of Life; Moses Assumes a High Command; Initiation By Air (HTML) »
A child is not disowned for its weakness; an aspirant is not rejected
because of failures. So long as the child grows and the aspirant tries
there is help, protection and encouragement. It is when childhood is
past, when any attempt to follow the way has ceased, that the parent
or the teacher withdraws his authority and the Lord "strives" with
him no more.
In moments of soul ecstasy complete dedication to things of spirit
is easy. It is when the call comes to carry the light received on the
mountain peaks of illumination down into the wilderness of mortality
that the way becomes hard and human nature is prone to rebel.
Murmurings of the Israelites find an echo in every human heart until
the last shred of personality has been woven into the texture of
spiritual being.
One of the most subtle tests on the Path is the ability to stand
alone, unshaken in the midst of doubt, criticism and rebellion, as did
Moses when charged by his people with having mistakenly led them
into a state of misery worse than they had known before. Only a
strong, self-reliant soul can keep calm, self-possessed and helpful
under such circumstances; only one who has been long tried can face
opposition and yet retain implicit trust and confidence in the righteousness and ultimate success of his appointed mission. Moses,
having passed the test by Water, had so stilled his emotions that he
had attained inward poise and outward calm. Such self-mastery is the
mark of an Initiate.
- Pre-Initiatory Experiences at the Threshold (HTML) »
- The Holy Sect of the Nazarites; The Princely Oblation (HTML) »
There are but few references to the sect of the Nazarites in the
Bible. This is also true of the Essenes who belonged to a later date,
and to whom the Nazarites were related. This is because they were
both shrouded in mystery, their work being primarily of an esoteric
nature. Their activity was apart from the world, it was performed
quietly, with a single eye to holiness and selfless service. Work of
such a nature is always subject to persecution by the uncomprehending
world; hence, not only the wisdom but the need for carrying
it on in comparative secrecy. The contemptuous manner in which
Christ was asked if any thing good could come out of Nazareth
illustrates this general attitude of the majority toward a minority
with whom it differs.
The Nazarites were located on the banks of the Jordan. Josephus,
Pliny and Herodotus refer to their work. Joseph was called a Nazar,
as were Samson and Samuel. The Talmud alludes to them as a band
of wandering physicians and refers to all Christians as Nazari. Nazar
means to consecrate to God; also a diadem (halo).
The word Nazareth in Hebrew means a flower, usually translated
as the lily. Jesus of Nazareth was, therefore, Jesus the flower. When
so used the appellation contains a mystical reference to His spiritual
status among that band of holy men and women who lived in and
near the environs of Nazareth during the beginning of the Christian
regime.
- The Seven Days of Creation Numerologically Interpreted; The Numbering of the Tribes in the Wilderness of Sin — The Unregenerate — The Twelve Numbers Interpreted (HTML) »
The Book of Numbers deals principally with the Israelites' experiences during their wanderings through the wilderness of Sinai, and details many of the tests, temptations, and failures attending
their pilgrimage, together with a record of their final victorious
overcoming. These features of the Book are similar to those of the
Iliad and Odyssey, with which it is sometimes compared. That
comparison extends to their deep purpose, and the scope and influence they have exercised on the peoples to whom they were given.
The allegorical interpretation of Sacred Writings was universal in the
ancient world. As Hebrew mystics found in their Scriptures a divine
cipher, revealing yet concealing holy mysteries, so too did the Greeks
in theirs, and upon that secret Wisdom founded Schools of the
Mysteries. It was during the David-Solomon period of Hebrew history
that a group of writers living in or about Jerusalem began to collect
the ancient traditions of the Hebrews; and it was about the same
time that Homer assembled traditions of the Greek into epics known
as the Iliad and the Odyssey which, like the Hebrew Book of Numbers,
relate the fall of a besieged city and the extensive wanderings of a
migratory people. In both instances the evolutionary path of human
life is outlined.
- Relationship of the Master to His Disciple; The Sin Against the Holy Ghost; Songs of the Great Overcoming; The Song of The Valley (HTML) »
- The Numbering of the Tribes After the Plague — The Redeemed; Initiatory Work Upon the Threshold; Final Preparation and Accomplishment; The Ceremonial of the Mystic Death (HTML) »
The original Book of Jasher, to which Madame Blavatsky alludes,
was one of the most profoundly esoteric of early Hebrew manuscripts
in relation to the inner meanings of numbers. This work is no longer
available for esoteric investigation. The existing fragment bearing
that name is purported to be the work of an Initiate son of Caleb,
who bore the name of Jasher.
In this book Jasher states that in their journeyings each man
among the Israelites carried the coffin of his father; i.e., of his tribe.
Esoterically interpreted, this means that Initiation passed from father
to son and was concerned with the development of the
Earth-consciousness, including a knowledge of all past events pertaining to
the history of Earth and man. This type of Initiation, passed through
the tribe by family inheritance, was an expression of the activity of
cosmic memory. Thus the Initiate lived fully aware of the lives of his
forebears, merging himself into an age-old stream of ancestral
consciousness. In effect, he laid down his personal life and took upon
himself the life of the tribe.
Initiation, then as now, meant a voluntary laying down of the personal life-though in a slightly different sense than we understand
that sacrifice today. This sacrifice of the personality was symbolized
by death; and death is symbolized by a coffin. The coffin of the tribe
has reference to a certain initiatory word or power given under the
impulse of the twelve zodiacal Hierarchies, one for each tribe.
The "death number" of the sons of Jacob as given herewith are
taken from the Thorah.
- The Flag Processional (HTML) »
The Shekinah symbolizes the body of an Initiate, the glorified soul body that every aspirant on the Path is endeavoring to bring
to perfection.
Powers by which the new body is built come from all sides. On
the east are Judah (Leo), the power of love which must become
central to all of life's activities: Issachar (Taurus), symbolized by
a white bull with the Sun between its horns, indicating polarity, and
a blooming rose in the larynx, denoting power to speak the creative
word; and Zebulun (Pisces) represented by two fishes, symbol of
the mystic marriage.
To the south are Reuben, Simeon and Gad. Reuben (Aquarius)
pours the water of life from a golden urn into one of silver, expressing a poise no externalities can disturb; Simeon (Gemini) represents the forces of duality resolved into unity; and Gad (Aries)
is the "Star of Fortune" that points the way of attainment through
service, sacrifice and transmutation.
On the north are Dan, Asher and Naphtali. Dan (Scorpio) symbolizes the creative fires, the principal factor in the regenerative process;
Asher (Libra), according to Jacob's admonition, bears a light unto
Dan's darkness; Libra, the trial-gate of the ancients, betokens the
parting of the ways between flesh and the spirit, the right choice
leading to the birth of the Christ consciousness; Asher, meaning to
be happy, was an early name for the Moon and comes from a root
meaning the wandering one. Naphtali (Capricorn) is the power of
truth and wisdom attained only through controlling the inner fires.
A goat was an ancient symbol representing the hidden powers of
generation.
On the west are Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph (Sagittarius) is the
multiplier; he soars on the wings of aspiration; Benjamin (Cancer) is
the doorway to Initiation. Joseph, the Fire of Sagittarius, and
Benjamin, the Water of Cancer, must blend to provide powers for the
completion of the body of the Shekinah.
The Sun's path is from the east, the source of light, by the way of
the south, to the west. (There is reflected light only in the north.) So
is it, symbolically, with a spiritual traveler. Toward the west he meets
Virgo, the virgin of the skies, where she broods over the birth of the
Christ Child in man.
Deuteronomy:
- Deuteronomy (KJV) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Famous Songs of the Old Testament (PDF) »
- The Pilgrimage Toward Light (HTML) »
So long as an aspirant has unregenerated elements in his nature —
or, in the words of the above text, wanders in the wilderness by the
way of the Red Sea — he must encompass Mount Seir, the inheritance
of Esau, mortal man. When this is accomplished he is bidden to rise
up and go over the brook Zared, whose life-giving waters, as the
name signifies, give luxurious growth. This stage of advancement was
reached thirty and eight years after the Israelites left Kadesh-barnea.
It culminated in the powers of eleven (30+8=11). When the forces of
eleven lift a disciple to mastership, the "men of war" belonging to his
lower nature cease to do battle with his higher; they are "wasted out
from the host" that have long opposed the supremacy of the spiritual
authority. The Bible is always dealing with principles rather than
personalities. The latter enter only as representative types who serve
as convenient vehicles for conveying abstract truths in concrete
terms.
Those who dedicate their lives in service to humanity live impersonally; their ways are appointed, and the path they follow is
indicated by a Guiding Intelligence superior to human reason or
unillumined mortal mind. This aspect of a true neophyte's guidance
is exemplified in the Lord Jehovah's direction of His chosen people.
When they had consumed all the "men of war" among them, they
were instructed to go forth along a specified route. They were
directed to "pass over through Ai," the land of the Moabites, "nigh
over against the children of Ammon"; thence over the river Arnon
and into the land of King Sihon. (The Amorites represent propensities
for evil, and Sihon means a sweeping away.)
- Sundry Laws (HTML) »
There are numerous laws discussed in Deuteronomy and, though
the surface meaning is material, an esoteric meaning may be ascertained through meditation. According to the Chaldean tradition,
when the Lord created the universe He poured out His own blood
that it might have life. From this comes the Chaldean saying that "in
the clay of man is kneaded the blood of God." It is apparent to the
eye of meditation that if God's life (spirit) is everywhere present,
then every activity in the physical world, however insignificant, has its
spiritual meaning. Upon this immanence of God as the indwelling
principle of Nature the Chaldeans based their numerous methods of
divination. Modern esotericists are not interested in divination in the
form of fortunetelling, but are interested in learning to perceive
spiritual principles which underlie all the phenomena of the material
world. The sundry laws recorded for an ancient, primitive people
(esoterically considered) may, therefore, be a basis for esoteric meditation.
- Disfigurement Forbidden; The Law of Tithing; Release of Bond Servants; The Law of Giving (HTML) »
During an era of universal belief in slavery, Hebrew Scriptures forbade the perpetual enslavement of one Hebrew by another. This is
seen in the Deuteronomic Code. The master of a Hebrew slave is
bidden to free him after seven years of servitude; and not only to
free him, but to endow him with goods enough to keep him until
he has found his place in the world.
The candidate for Initiation is also freed from the forces of his
lower nature after seven years. Seven years is the period of studentship and probationership in most esoteric schools. During this time
the personality is purified and made amenable to spiritual influences,
so a certain freedom is now permissible. The law is within, and the
disciple may determine for himself what decrees he is to obey, what
decrees to disobey, and whether these decrees be exoterically or esoterically received.
Seven-year cycles continue through life, and the completion of
every such period means a new cycle of development. In the physical
this is seen in seven-year periods of growth, during which physical
powers mature, one after another. At the age of seven the vital body
is matured; at fourteen, the desire body; at twenty-one, the mind.
Then these primary periods are recapitulated until, at forty-nine, the
mind has attained a high degree of maturity and comes more fully
under the control of spirit. Under the law of mortality this age signals the beginning of decay; but under Higher Law it marks the
renewal of youth, the attainment of new powers and a nobler vision.
- The Translation of Moses — The Earth Initiation (HTML) »
Moses had taken the last and most difficult of the four great
Initiations, Initiation by Earth. This gives mastery over matter; it
reveals its hidden mysteries; it opens the way for sublimating the
physical into the spiritual. With it every physical atom is brought
under complete subjection to the mind and spirit of man. Moses
had attained to such powers, as may be understood from the simple
statement that "no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
His mortality had been literally swallowed up in immortality. This
glorious attainment is foreshadowed in the experience through which
he passed when communing with God on the mount, "face to face."
So highly charged with the forces of spirit was his very body that it
was necessary for him to veil his presence from people. His face
shone with transcendent glory; he was "in the light, even as He is in
the light."
What Moses demonstrated all the race will experience in ages yet
to come. The record of his life is available for the light it throws on
every man's path. What he did, all may do, but the day for its accomplishment may be near or far. To everyone is left this choice: to take
the slowly drifting road traveled by unawakened multitudes, or to
choose the shorter but steeper path of the awakened few, the Way of
Initiation.
The Pentateuch closes appropriately with an account of the
glorious translation of that inspired personage who brought the five
immortal Books into being. Those five Books are known inclusively
as the Thorah. They are described as being "full of holy fire," and
as having been "written with a black fire upon a white fire." They
remain as an illuminated text for the continued spiritual guidance of
all peoples of the post-Atlantean, Fifth Epoch, to which they were given. Humanity
as a whole has yet to learn the truths taught therein, and the goal
pointed out has yet to be reached.
- Consecration of Firstlings; Seasonal Feasts; Secular Laws and Ordinances; True Prophets; War Against Error (HTML) »
The candidate for Initiation is not above the law of the land which
is binding upon his less advanced brethren. In so far as he is active in
the outer world, he must order his life according to harmony and justice. That the two are inseparable is indicated by the exaltation of
Saturn, the planet of law and order, in Libra, the sign of judgment,
balance and harmony. And since the higher and the lower, the inner
and the outer, are related, the converse is also true. Just as the spiritual "prince" is not exempt from civil law, neither is the king on an
earthly throne free from spiritual law. Hence, Moses commanded
that when the king "sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom. . . .
he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is
before the priests, the Levites." A ruler who obeys these precepts is
more than a mere earthly king; he is a "priest-king" after the order of
Melchizedek.
- The Ennunciation of a Higher Code; The Center of Worship; Laws Concerning Flesh-Eating; False Prophets; Idolatry (HTML) »
The new body of laws which Moses delivered to his people as they
were about to enter and take possession of Canaan are but precepts
communicated by the higher self to its mental faculties for the
guidance of the personality as it is about to cross the stream of
elemental energies that divide the seen from the unseen, the material
from the spiritual, the temporal from the eternal, and enter into the
exalted state of consciousness known as Initiation. Spirit enjoins a
candidate to "lay up" these precepts in his heart and soul. Further,
in the words of Moses: "Bind them for a sign upon your hand, that
they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them
your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when
thou rises up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of
thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied,
and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware
unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon earth."
(Deuteronomy 11:18-21)
These words were uttered by one who had gone before and knew
the way. Moses had a conscious realization of the omnipresence of
Divinity, and lived in terms of it; he had ascended the mount and
know its glory. External manifestations of a life centered in divine
guidance are gentleness, sympathy, compassion, humility, simplicity,
tolerance and loving kindness. Such a one executes "the judgment of
the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food
and raiment." (Deuteronomy 10:18)
- Instructions for Finding the Path (HTML) »
The more active a neophyte becomes in well-doing, the greater will
become his scope for service. Again and again he will be urged, by
the indwelling spirit that presses its personality to renewed efforts
and fresh departures, to leave the mount upon which he has "dwelt
long enough." Go out "unto all the places nigh," counsels the inner
voice, "in the plains, in the hills by the sea side ... go in and possess
the land." In other words, take this possession of your whole self;
go forth with its powers; seize the opportunities that are at every
hand to help, to heal, to bless and to become a transforming factor
for good in whatsoever conditions or circumstances you find yourself. To him who gives, shall be given more, "a thousand times more."
- The Candidate at the Two Mounts (HTML) »
- Live the Life and Know the Doctrine (HTML) »
Moses required that the Hebrew Shema be bound "for a sign upon
thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes." This
is the origin of phylacteries once worn by pious Jews — not only as a
reminder of the One Lord, but as a protection from all evil, having
somewhat the character of talismans in the Chaldean fashion. It is
obvious that merely binding written words, however holy, upon the
hand and the forehead cannot in itself be anything more than a reminder; but the esoteric meaning is quite different. The "words" to
be "bound on the hand" and worn as "frontlets between the eyes"
have clear reference to the indwelling principle, the Godhead in man;
the one principle, by whose secret activity in the depth of the soul
spiritual vision is opened (the Word of God between the eyes), and
powers of healing and service are extended into higher dimensions
(the Word of God upon the hands). This corresponds to the roses or
lotuses which unfold at those points, blossoms of the spirit whose
roots are in the Eternal Unity.
The verses of the Shema were also to be written on the posts of
the houses and on the gates, so that in going out and coming in the
Israelites might be reminded of the omnipresent glory of their Lord.
Esoterically, we apply this commandment to the going out and coming in between the door posts of night and day by way of the "gate"
in the head, as we travel to and from our work as Invisible Helpers.
The Shema is then truly a talisman, a safeguard against evil; such
complete dedication to God as it commands leaves no slightest
crevice where evil may enter in, and the neophyte is, in very truth,
wearing the Shield of the Sun (Adonai) whose golden radiance
dissipates all darkness.
- The Beatitudes of the Old Testament; As Above, So Below (HTML) »
The Old Testament, as the vehicle of the Law, is a garment in
which this Jehovistic principle makes itself manifest among men.
"As above, so below" — a Temple teaching frequently referred to in
these pages — gives us the key to an intellectual comprehension of
universal principle; but we have indeed failed if we do not recognize
in principle the activity of life itself, and obey it because we love it
for its own ordered beauty, rather than for the sake of the blessings
by which it rewards its faithful servants. This is pre-eminently the
lesson learned by a candidate on the Mount of Blessings: as principle, the activity of IHVH is sure, and rewards are certain to attend
upon faithfulness to Him. Nevertheless, these rewards — whether
psychic or material powers, whether earthly or heavenly wisdom,
whether mortal or immortal joys — are not the strongest incentive
to his endeavors.
Having acquired this understanding, a candidate for Initiation has
attained to expanded vision whereby he experiences within himself
the reality of the Macrocosm. As a neophyte he knew that he lived
and moved and had his being within the spiritual Macrocosm; now he
experiences the Macrocosm as living and moving within himself.
- The Cosmic Blessings of Moses (HTML) »
Leviticus, the book of the first law, closes with a description of
conditions similar to those upon the Earth today, wherein the
spiritual and the material exist in striking contrast to one another.
Deuteronomy, the book of the second law, closes with a vision of the
New Earth and the New Race which will inhabit it, as foreshadowed
in the cosmic blessings of Moses.
The blessings Moses bestows upon the twelve tribes parallel in
many respects the blessings Jacob pronounced upon his sons. Both
are of cosmic import; both correlate to the twelve zodiacal Rays. Yet
there are important differences. In the four centuries that had
elapsed between the utterance of Jacob, as recorded in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, and that of Moses, as recorded in the
thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy, the race had made much progress. Consciousness had expanded, spiritual insight had deepened.
The blessings of Moses reveal more of the higher qualities in man and
his universe than do Jacob's. Jacob described the zodiacal influences
as they registered in the mass consciousness; Moses expressed rather
the reactions of the advanced few.
Jacob spoke from Egypt, the land of darkness; Moses from Mount
Nebo, the heights of wisdom. Both Jacob and Moses gave their
blessings just prior to their transition into the beyond, when their
spiritual insight was calm and clear, and when their realization of
Reality reached beyond ordinary boundaries of earthly awareness.
- Moses' Swan Song (HTML) »
As Moses' mission drew to a close his role of racial leadership was
conferred on Joshua who, as we saw in the work on Exodus, occupied
a place in the life of Moses comparable to that of John in the life of
Christ Jesus. He was the most intimate with his master in that he was
the most advanced of his disciples. The hour had come for giving him
the special instructions he was now duly qualified to receive. The
Lord (Law) was revealed to him, we read, in a pillar of cloud (Water
Initiation). He was not yet sufficiently advanced to receive a revelation by the pillar of fire (Fire Initiation) as had Moses, his teacher and his inspiration.
After Joshua's illumination he shared with Moses the ability to
hear the music of the spheres. It is said, therefore, that "Moses came
and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and
Hoshea the son of Nun." While Moses sang his song to all the people,
its deeper import was for the inner circle of his disciples, foremost of
whom was Hoshea. He is mentioned specifically. Hoshea is the spiritual name of Joshua. To the initiated that name reveals the status to
which he had attained, a status so exalted that he was able not only
to hear the song, but to sing it with Moses.
Singing the Song of Life is an achievement belonging especially to
the Water Initiation. Life is a unity, and its song is a universal song
whose keynote is struck in the heart. It is heard by means of a
spiritualized sense of hearing, which correlates to the mental qualities
of meekness and docility: "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."
It is to this keynote of universal life that a virgin spirit (man in his
true essence) vibrates; and in the processes of evolution this fundamental spiritual harmony gradually extends outward from the virgin
spirit into its vehicles which manifest in the phenomenal worlds. The
song of Moses is the outpouring of one in whom this process was
being completed.
- The Mystic Import of Deuteronomy; The Unveiling of the Higher Law (HTML) »
Deuteronomy is the Book of the Higher Law. Between law, as recorded in Exodus and Leviticus, and love, as made manifest in the
Gospels, stands Deuteronomy, linking the two. Looking to the past,
Israel is exhorted to remember the law that had been delivered for
their guidance and to "do it," that all might be well with them and
that they might increase mightily in accordance with the Lord's
promise-in a land that "floweth with milk and honey." Then,
looking into the future and seeing how law is but a schoolmaster in
preparing for a state wherein it will be swallowed up in the transcendent
code of love, the keynote of the coming dispensation is
sounded with Gospel clarity: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." To which is significantly added: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart."
Not until spiritual precepts given for man's guidance are carefully
nursed in his heart will they become sufficiently a part of his life to
serve spontaneously from within, thus transferring the direction of
his personality from external authority to the indwelling god. Only
then does compulsion yield to freedom. The former is the keynote
of the Old Dispensation; the latter, of the New. The first stage is
obedience to law through fear; the second is conformity through
choice. Knowledge and experience finally lead to a love of law, and
in that love is the law fulfilled. Deuteronomy may be said, therefore,
to shed light on the purpose of the Books which precede it and to
foreshadow a greater light to be revealed in the Books that succeed
it. It gives to the Mosaic Age a key wherewith the door to the
Christian Dispensation may be opened.
Joshua:
- Joshua (KJV) »
- Cities of Refuge (HTML) »
In accordance with instructions given to Moses at an earlier date,
six cities were appointed as places of refuge (Joshua 20:7,8). These
provided sanctuary for those who had slain a person "unawares and
unwittingly," and who were in danger of losing their life in consequence of the act.
These cities represent centers in the body of man, whirling vortices
of force which afford strength and wisdom to provide safety from
pursuing forces of destruction and death. They are quickened into
activity by the accumulated vibration of intense and selfless love cultivated over a period of time. These focal points of power include the
head center (Gad, Aries); the heart center (Judah, Leo); the illumined mind (Manasseh, Sagittarius); the spirit of equality and
brotherhood (Reuben, Aquarius), and that of the Christed consciousness (Naphtali, Capricorn). These centers are cities of refuge to which
modern aspirants may flee for sanctuary from the deadening weight
of unillumined mortality.
- The Tabernacle at Shiloh (HTML) »
- The Soul's Twelvefold Inheritance; Astrological Correlations (HTML) »
Man, being created in the image and likeness of God, was once
pure and innocent, a dweller in the light. This high estate he forfeited
by projecting self-will against the divine plan. He fell, but he fell only
to rise again. Joshua's life outlines for all mankind steps by which a
re-ascent may be made, as does that of one character after another
throughout the whole Bible. The supreme Way-Shower appears in the
cosmic character of Christ Jesus.
The closing Days of the life of Joshua were devoted to disposing
of the conquered lands of Canaan to the twelve tribes. The portion
allotted to each represents one of twelve soul faculties that has become active in the consciousness of a victorious candidate on the
path of light. The twelve cities given to the twelve tribes represent
gifts of spirit to its human personality. Gad's portion is reason;
Simeon's, the beginning of spiritual understanding; Reuben's, a new
birth; Manasseli's, eradication; Ephraim's, accesions of new truth;
Asher's, understanding; Dan's, judgment; Naphtali's overcoming;
Issachar's, wisdom; Judah's, love and praise; Benjamin's, the promise
in or through love; and the Levite's, at-one-ment.
- The Son of Initiate Wisdom Ascends — Recapitulatory Period; Joshua's Passing (HTML) »
Every event in the daily life of man is recorded in the subconscious mind, wherein it serves as the arbiter of his destiny when the
silver cord is loosed and his spirit is freed to return to its heavenly home.
For one so highly illumined as Joshua, this recapitulatory cycle
was more extended. It involved much more than that experienced by
an average individual. Joshua possessed ability to read both past and
future events in the Memory of Nature. At the time of his passing,
when the powers of his superconscious mind were especially active,
that ability was considerably enhanced. It was at this time of special
illumination that Joshua delivered his parting exhortation to the
people of Israel.
Canaan, now Israel/Palestine, is truly Earth's principal spiritual center.
Its being called the Holy Land is no misnomer. It is that in a peculiar
sense. The land was long in preparation for the purposes it was to
serve. The earliest post-Atlantean Mystery Schools were founded for the express purpose of training advanced souls to serve as messengers in
preparing man and the Earth for the coming of the Messiah. Joshua
was among the chief of these, as were Abraham, Jacob and Moses.
Israel formed the nucleus of the pioneering race, the twelve tribes
being representative of twelve attributes of character that come into
expression in a fully developed individual and race.
In his farewell address to Israel, Joshua reminds his people of the
repeated evidences they have had of divine guidance and protections.
He exhorts them, above all things, not to be mislead by neighboring
peoples into idol worship (the placing of the material before the
spiritual), but to remain true to the one God they have come to
know; in other words, not to permit worldly interests to supersede
spiritual. He furthermore warns them against making marriages with
the "remnant" of displaced nations in Canaan lest they thereby lose
their status as God's "peculiar people" and fail to fulfill the racial
purpose for which they had been prepared so carefully over so long
a period. It was important at that early stage of Fifth Epoch development
for the racial stock to be kept pure and intact; otherwise, qualities
implanted in them germinally, and awaiting unfoldment in the Fifth
Root Race of which they were the nucleus, would not come to
fruition. "Be ye therefore very courageous," urges Joshua, "to keep
and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye
turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left." Joshua
foresaw that great things were destined to spring from those whom
he addressed; that from them was to come the Initiate-poet David ,
the Seer-king Solomon; and Mary of Bethlehem, the perfect pattern
of motherhood for the New Age and the Initiate-mother of the
greatest of all messengers, the Christed Jesus.
- Polarity Established (HTML) »
- Joshua Ascends The Twelve Steps of the Celestial Ladder; Twelve Steps (HTML) »
Joshua was the son of Nun, a Hebrew name meaning fish. In the
sacred language of symbolism, the "son of Nun" is synonymous with
the son of Initiate-wisdom. The term is frequently so used in mystical
writings of widely divergent times and places. Tertullian, an early
Latin Church father, states, for instance, that Christ and His immediate
followers were fishes bred in the water and saved by the Great Fish.
This statement appears to be related to one in the Zohar, which declares of God that "He had His dwelling in the Great Sea, and was a
fish therein." The ancient Chinese taught that Fuh-he invented nets
with which to catch fish. The meaning is similar to that conveyed by
the Christ when bidding his "fishermen" (Disciples) to be "fishers
of men." Their task was to help make the way of the Piscean, or Fish,
Initiation known and open to all who chose to walk therein.
Judges:
- Judges (KJV) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Judges 11 (PDF) »
- The Mystic Manual Of The Life Beyond A Life; Beginnings of the Quest (HTML) »
- Famous Songs of the Old Testament — The Song of Deborah (PDF) »
- The Song of Deborah; The Preparedness Test in the Life of Gideon (HTML) »
In the days of the early Temple teachings, many of the Initiate
teachers were women in a line of tradition extending back to Heva, for
in the Clementine Homilies we read of Heva: "She, as a female ruling
the present world as her like, was entrusted to be the first prophetess,
announcing prophecy with all amongst those born of woman. But the
other (Adam), as the son of man, being a,male, prophesies better things
to the world to come as a male." This is in line with the occult teachings
that in ancient Lemuria it was the women, led by the Lucifer Angels,
who first sensed the material world and who therefore established the
first culture, the first civilization, on our planet, "as a female ruling the
present world."
In Atlantis, the male cult of the world to come, i.e., the spiritual
worlds, was established in Schools of Initiation designed to nourish and
protect the now atrophying faculties of clairvoyance.
After the nadir of materiality had been reached in Atlantis, the
ascent toward Spirit began; and now the male and female roles were
reversed: the female cults gravitated spiritward while the male cults
dominated material evolution. On the inner planes there was a parallel
of this development, for in early Atlantis, Lucifer ruled the outer objective world, while the Christ was visible only on the inner planes, to
the spiritual vision of the Initiates. But after the nadir of materiality was
reached and passed, Lucifer gradually retired to the interior consciousness
of the race, while the Christ descended to the exterior consciousness and
finally revealed Himself objectively to the world in Christ Jesus.
The traditions which have come down to us from the early Church
Fathers belong to the Atlantean Schools; hence the first prophetess is
rejected as such, for under Christ a new regime is inaugurated in which
it is the prophetess figured in Mary, who prophesies of the world to come,
and it is the prophet, figured in Jesus, who prophesies of the present
world, of which He is the destined ruler. His Name is above all Names,
and to Him every knee shall bow, for He is the King of the World, the
Heavenly Jerusalem of the next, or Sixth Epoch.
- Famous Songs of the Old Testament — Jotham's Parable (PDF) »
- The Twelve Solar Labors — Leo and Virgo (HTML) »
- The Parable of Jotham; The Story of Jephthah; Shibboleth — A Mystic Power Mantram (HTML) »
In Jotham's parable, the vine symbolizes aspiration or
idealism;
it is the vision without which nothing is accomplished and without which
the people must perish as Isaiah tells us. Those who put their dependence
in the bramble, or the life of the senses, are trusting only in a shadow
which must ever prove fleeting, transitory and painful. It is the fire of
the bramble which destroys the cedars of Lebanon, these precious
cedars of which Solomon's Temple must be built, eternal in the heavens.
When the spinal spirit fire is gradually lifted to the head by pure
and regenerate thoughts, words and deeds, it touches and sets into
vibration the pineal and pituitary glands, the spiritual organs in the
head. This fire then radiates through the entire body, and produces
that auric splendor which is usually pictured about the body of Saints
and Initiates. Such a one has become the living stone. This was the
development of Peter when he was designated by the Master as the
rock upon which the church is founded, a statement which applies not
merely to the apostolic succession as traced through the orthodox
church, but to every Initiate who comes into a knowledge of the Truth
of his own being. "Thou art the Christ" is spoken to every redeemed
and liberated human ego. Upon this rock the entire universe is built.
- The Sun-Hero in the Aquarian Age; The Columns of the Mystic Temple; The Great White Work (HTML) »
- The Twelve Solar Labors; Sagittarius through Pisces (HTML) »
The two columns in this Labor of Samson hold the mystic key to the
powers of Aquarius and the coming Aquarian Age. The keyword of
Aquarius is Equilibrium which means the "Analogy of Contraries," or to
express it simply, perfect equality. The masculine and feminine forces
must. be so balanced as to function efficiently — and therefore operate
rhythmically — on every plane of manifestation. The beautiful symbol of
Aquarius, an androgynous figure (half male and half female) pouring the
contents from a golden urn into a silver one without wasting a drop of the
precious essence, denotes the perfecting of this relationship.
With the realization of this New Age concept men will no longer
be subject to the present extreme reactions of plenty and poverty, health
and disease, hope and fear. The first evidence of this new equality is the
closer collaboration between man and woman in all fields of endeavor,
spiritual, educational, political and economic.
Within the individual the two great power centers, head and heart,
under this new impulse will co-ordinate their activities more perfectly.
As the age-old spectres of fear and want are dissipated, gradually a new
consciousness of well-being will pervade the entire bodily organism,
health will become the prevailing condition instead of disease as at the
present time.
- The Twelve Labors of Samson; The Twelve Solar Labors — Aries and Taurus (HTML) »
- The Twelve Solar Labors — Libra and Scorpio (HTML) »
From the days of earliest civilization, the serpent has typified both
spirit and matter, soul-life and sex. Unlike the scorpion, the serpent had
a spiritual meaning for the Illumined; it referred to the "Gnosis," or
Serpent Wisdom — which was understood and taught by the mystics of
the early Church. It is only during late centuries, as materialism has
dulled the inner sensibilities, that the spiritual significance of these
symbols has been virtually lost, with the result that literalism in Bible
interpretation has led to absurdities which have prejudiced its reading
and study by many earnest and sincere seekers for the true Light.
Ordinarily, no distinction is made between the Serpent of Wisdom
and the scorpion of death and darkness.
Lord Buddha, the Light of Asia, when depicted as the conqueror
of all desires, is seated upon a huge, coiled cobra. Of like meaning is
the uplifted serpent-rod of Moses, indicative of the new impulses of life
and power which the great Fifth Epoch Initiate had demonstrated by
self-mastery.
The Hindu Deity, Siva, both the giver and destroyer of life, is
adorned with a serpent crown and necklace, two symbols pointing to
the processes of transmutation in the throat and head centers, a development which occurs more particularly under the influence of Uranus
exalted in Scorpio.
In the Apostolic Zodiac, it is John, the best beloved of the supreme Master Christ Jesus and the one who partook most freely of the mystic
waters of eternal life, who exemplifies the heights which may be attained by the Scorpio nature when working under its eagle aspect. As
the eagle flies nearer the Sun than any other bird, so may the
Scorpio-illumined soul rise to the loftiest pinnacles of spiritual attainment, as did St. John.
- The Twelve Solar Labors — Gemini and Cancer (HTML) »
Ruth:
- Ruth (KJV) »
- The Book of Ruth — Consummation (HTML) »
"In Ruth we find a woman drawn in full length with the skill of
heaven and the feeling of love. Such a woman is the Mother of the World.
Evermore will the world need such a mother to nurse it in sickness and
comfort it in the darkness of sorrow."
The Book of Ruth closes with the chapter on the Mystic Marriage
toward which all neophytes aspire, in which the lower nature is lifted
up and united with the higher. There must always be ten Elders who
witness the contract. Ten is the number of man and woman working on
the plane of generation together and aspiring toward regeneration. This
is the symbolism of the Fellowcraft Degree of Masonry. Ten on the higher
or initiatory plane symbolizes the masculine and feminine principles in
spiritual union or equilibrium. This is the power by which Hiram, the
master, is raised to the third, or Mastership degree of the Blue Lodge.
Obed (worshipper), the son born to Boaz and Ruth, symbolizes that
high state of spiritual ecstasy termed by some occultists Adoration, the
most profound state of meditation wherein all sense of division is lost
and the consciousness becomes one with the Universal Whole — "The flight
of the known to the Unknown," as the Grecian philosophers phrased
this experience, or in the words of the Christ, "The Father and I are
One".
- The Book of Ruth — The Preparation and Development of The Conscious Invisible Helper; The Dedication (HTML) »
The Book of Ruth opens with an account of Naomi, who, after the
death of her husband and two sons is ready to return to her former home
in Bethlehem, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and
Ruth. Orpah falters upon the way and turns back at Naomi's urging, but
Ruth insists on going forward: "Intreat me not to leave thee nor to return
from following after thee." In these beautiful words she expresses the
complete dedication of her life to the things of the spirit. Her vow of
fidelity is the vow which must be made by every neophyte before he can
know the holy joys of the Invisible Helper: "Whither thou goest, I will
go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God: Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be
buried: The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part
thee and me."
- Inner Realm Activities; Method of Evolving Night-Consciousness; Illumination (HTML) »
1st Samuel:
- 1st Samuel (KJV) »
- David —
Revelations of Truth (PDF) »
- David and Goliath: The Dweller on the Threshold; David and Jonathan (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — I Samuel 15 (PDF) »
- The Initiate Hannah and The Infant Samuel (HTML) »
In the days of Eli, the priest, a wonderful child was brought to the
sanctuary of the Ark at Shiloh there to be reared in the quiet serenity of
the Temple which had succeeded the Tabernacle of the early days following the conquest. Here in the Temple on its hill in the district of
Ephraim surrounded by protecting hills on east, north and west, the
wonderful child was dedicated to the service of the Lord. This was
Samuel, whose coming heralded a new biblical age, the Age of the
Temple-Builders.
Born through an Immaculate Conception, his coming announced by
an Angel, his was truly a holy birth such as that of the Master Jesus,
and, like him, he was the harbinger of the spiritual Light which had
well-nigh ceased to burn within the holy of holies of man's heart. His
name, Samuel, means "voice of God," or "the inner voice."
The days preceding the coming of Samuel were a benighted time,
marked by the spiritual decadence described in the Book of Judges. The
spirit of religion appeared to have fled, while superstitions flourished. As
frequently occurs when the pioneering spirit gives way to the inertia
that prefers fixity to change, the people seemed to lose their fresh youthful ardor, as well as the luminous faith which had been their mainstay in
the desert. And now there was no Moses to lift them to the heights of
Pisgah, no Joshua to lead them to the fragrant heart of a mystic Jericho, no
stately Deborah to renew their faith beneath the tall palms of a sacred
Bethel.
- Famous Songs of the Old Testament — The Song of Hannah (PDF) »
- David and Abigail; David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan; The Seven-Year Reign in Hebron (HTML) »
Each one of the famous old songs of the Bible outlines a definite
work upon the path of attainment. The mystical power of the words of
this Book of Books is such that though the inner meaning of these songs
has long been forgotten, yet they are still studied and revered by scholars
and students who sense a meaning which eludes the grasp of reason.
Gradually, however, as we approach the New Age of scientific religion,
these hidden meanings are again being revealed, and we begin to understand and appreciate at their true value the real occult message and
purpose of this Great Book.
The Books of Samuel are considered by scholars to be among the
most difficult and complicated in the entire Bible. Origen tells us that
these two books in the original Hebrew canon were united and formed
only one book. Samuel was the third of the so-called "earlier prophets".
The same division also occurred in the Books of the Kings. Originally
the four books, First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings,
were called the first, second, third and fourth "Books of the Kingdom."
This refers not only to the origin of the monarchy as has long been
generally supposed, but also to the establishment of the way of Initiation
which was to be founded for the pioneers of the Fifth Root Race through
the House of David in the little town of Bethlehem. Every event in the
lives of David and Solomon bears an occult significance in relation to
this new way of Initiation (Mystic Christianity).
- The Song of Hannah; The Secret Doctrine of Israel (HTML) »
Hannah is one of the beautiful feminine characters of the Old Testament. The mother of Samuel, she has often been compared with Mary,
the spotless Virgin of the new Testament. Her son is a Song of Annunciation in which she proclaims the successful accomplishment of her
mission. To the esotericist, Annunciation is an Initiation marking a
definite degree of spiritual development. In Hannah's song we recognize
that she tacitly proclaims her ability to read certain records in God's
Book of Remembrance, by which the Initiate knows the facts of rebirth
and the cyclic action of the Law of Consequence, or Causation.
The birth of the child Samuel refers also to a new spiritual development taking place within Hannah herself. When presenting Samuel in
the Temple, Hannah made a promise, "As long as he liveth he shall be
lent to the Lord." This is the dedication of what the Christian knows as
the "Christ Child Within", for as the Crucified is found within oneself
at a certain stage of unfoldment, so, also, many years before, the Child
is born and dedicated to the Lord. In all true esoteric work no promise is
ever required to be made to another person. The dedication is always
within, and only to the Higher Self. With this in mind as we meditate
upon the inner meaning of Hannah's song we find it to be a chant of
thanksgiving, an ecstatic rhapsody on the wonders and beauty revealed
through the vistas of Truth at each forward step upon the path of Initiation.
- Jonathan, the White Knight; Saul's Supreme Trial and Downfall (HTML) »
This entire chapter of the Book of I Samuel is devoted to the story
of how Saul failed to overcome his lower desires (Philistines and Amalekites), and how the good priest Samuel, in contrast, succeeded in transmuting the evil that still remained within himself into the great power
of good with which he served humanity. Saul believed, as so many
people do at the present time, that God may be appeased for wrongdoing by mere formal worship instead of by living the spiritual life.
Samuel rebuked him for this, saying, "The Lord seeth not as man seeth,
for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh in
the heart" (wherein is located the seed atom which contains the complete life record).
Amalek means lust. The Amalekites whom Saul was commanded to
slay was the lust within himself, while the Kenites refer to those who
were descended from Cain. The life of Cain as given in Genesis is the
story of the gaining of wisdom through experience. It was through power
thus gained that Cain became the father of Enoch and built the city of
Enoch, city referring to a state of consciousness, and Enoch divine wisdom.
The Kenites therefore refer to the wisdom which Saul had gained
through past mistakes and sufferings, and which led him to separate
from the Amalekites, or his lower desires. Saul began the work of his
regeneration by smiting the Amalekites from Havilah unto Shur. Havilah
means the land of gold (Saul had begun to work upon his golden
wedding garment); Shur means a wall, a wall as an obstacle, and Egypt
means darkness or evil. So we see that! Saul was endeavoring to overcome the evil within himself.
But he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive. Here we find
the keynote of the entire chapter.
Up until the time of the reign of Saul all the leaders of the people
had had direct communication with Jehovah. Saul is the first involuntary
clairvoyant of whom mention is made in the Bible. We find him consulting the witch of Endor and receiving his instruction from Jehovah through
Samuel, the prophet. Saul really wanted to become an Initiate-teacher
like Samuel but he did not possess sufficient strength to do so. Therefore,
we find him through ceremonial and sacrifice destroying all external things
that were vile and unclean, but keeping Agag alive. It is then that Samuel
tells him that he had done evil in the sight of the Lord.
- The Dedication; Solomon's Dedicatory Prayer (HTML) »
- The People Demand a King; Saul: An Aspirant Who Proved Unworthy (HTML) »
One who makes progress upon the Path must always meet the tests
of disbelief and disrespect: "Can any good come out of Nazareth?" Saul
held his peace and bided his time when the children of Belial sneered
and upbraided him, thus evidencing the self-control of an advanced soul.
An attack upon the Israelites by the king of the Ammonites gave
Saul his opportunity. He gained a complete victory over the enemy before dawn and while they were still asleep. This symbolizes the neophyte's
victory over self which is ofttimes achieved during his night experiences
on the inner planes. Saul's victory over the Ammontes placed him beyond all
cavil at the head of the nation. (Those who guide inner plane
work see that the opportunity for outer world service is given to those
who thus demonstrate their fitness.) Disclaiming personal credit Saul
said: "It was not I that won the victory, but Jehovah" — words reminiscent
of the Master's, "Not I but the Father, He doeth the works," which sound
the keynote of true spiritual worth in every age.
Samuel now commanded Saul to await his coming on Gilgal that
they might there offer sacrifices to beseech Jehovah's aid. Already we
see signs that Saul was beginning to depend unduly upon his own individual power. This is the most subtle of all tests for spiritual leaders, since
it is so easy to forget that their power and influence exist only in proportion to their receptivity to the divine spiritual inflow and outflow.
In order to test Saul, Samuel delayed his coming beyond the appointed time. Everyone has need to learn to possess his soul in patience.
Saul, however, decided not to wait. Secure in his own strength, he would
conduct the sacrifices himself. His temptation was severe; his men were
deserting in large numbers; the longer he waited, the less, he thought,
was the chance of success. The most important as well as the most difficult lesson for the aspirant to learn is not to depend upon external things,
to become indifferent to outward circumstances and to place full and
complete dependence upon the spirit within.
- The Initiate Work of Samuel — Samuel's First Testing (HTML) »
Beth-car means "the house of the lamb" and represents the new body built through purity and transmutation. Samuel's annual circuit is reminiscent of the
annual cycle of the Sun as it progresses through the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, which biblically have their reflection in the twelve tribes over
which he judged. This is likewise the basis of the alchemical cycle, by
which the Great Work was accomplished in medieval Europe. The precious white stone described in verse twelve is that very Philosopher's
Stone of which so much is written and so little understood: "Then Samuel
took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen." Mizpeh, a watch
tower between man and God, stands for prayer without ceasing, and a
state of constant communication between man and the angelic Hierarchies. Shen means "renown," and Ebenezer "the help or power of the
Lord (cosmic Law)" One who avails himself of this aid has nought to
fear from the Philistines.
The cities taken by the Philistines were returned in every instance
to Israel from Ekron (rooting up, eradicating evil) unto Gath (strength,
power of spirit). Bethel, or "house", signifies the holy temple of the God
Within, and Gilgal (circle) has reference to the spiritual centers active
therein which are awakened through the powers of the illumined spirit.
Israel, the fruits of the higher life, must be judged by the work done in
Bethel, Mizpeh and Gilgal; Ramah, the high place, the home of the
Ram, is the holy of holies within; it is the Ark of the Covenant builded
within the body of the Initiate. This most holy place is always an altar
unto the Lord.
2nd Samuel:
- 2nd Samuel (KJV) »
- Famous Songs of the Old Testament (PDF) »
- David's Song of Deliverance (HTML) »
The early history of David begins with the slaying of the giant
Goliath, or the overcoming of the lower nature by the higher. His career
ends with the slaying Of the Philistine giants. "And there was yet a
great battle in Gath (strength, the strength of evil); there was a man of
great stature, that had on every hand six fingers and every foot six toes,
four and twenty in number, and he also was born to the giant! This giant
of Gath fell by the hand of David and by the hands of his servants.
This giant, as noted, typifies the Dweller on the Threshold. The
final act of the victorious neophyte is to transmute all the essence of the
evil of past lives, which is symbolized by this Dweller. With the additional power thus gained he now parts the veil before the Holy of
Holies and enters through Initiation truly into the kingdom of heaven,
as the Master outlined the way for Nicodemus. Such a one has indeed
become as a little child, verily born again into the consciousness of a
new life — the life that is eternal.
It is in this light that we interpret this Song of Deliverance of David, sung by an Initiate and written for those who may find and understand
its message.
David begins his song with the perfect trust and faith which always
must characterize the one who has found the glory of the new life, the
one who has lifted the veil and stands face to face with Reality. From
this high place he triumphantly sings, "The Lord is my rock, and my
fortress, and my deliverer . . . ; my high tower, and my refuge, my
saviour." He represents the true and complete dedication of the awakened
spirit to the deeper quests of the spirit.
In the ecstasy of his song David outlines some of the wonders of
his celestial visions and experiences on the inner planes. He even sings
of the discovery of the world.
"He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters."
He is here corroborating the experience of Moses, another high Initiate
of the post-Atlantean, Fifth Epoch Dispensation. Everyone who reaches this place of
attainment must also be drawn out from many waters.
- Famous Songs of the Old Testament — David's Song of Deliverance (PDF) »
- David's Covenant With His New Life; David and the Mystic Marriage Rite (HTML) »
The seventh chapter of II Samuel contains a description of David's
new covenant (new life) and his song of thanksgiving (the victorious
chant of the high Initiate): "Therefore Jehovah will subdue thine enemies
lower nature and build thee a house." Saul's house, symbolizing the
feminine or water principle, fell because Agag was left alive. David's
house, which symbolizes the blended principles, flourished in the glory
of Solomon and flowered in the greater glory of Jesus. Solomon's Temple
was an impressive symbol of this inner glory and hence its important
place in the symbolism of Masonry.
"I will establish thy son's kingdoms. He shall build me
a house, and
I will establish his throne forever." Solomon in building this house was
preparing the way for Jesus Christ whose throne is established "forever".
The theme of David's hymn of thanksgiving was drawn from the memory
of nature in which the "sweet singer of Israel" was able to read of these
great impending events. David's keynote is humility in contrast to Saul's
which was pride and egotism. After the illumination that came to him
when realizing these great truths, he sings, "Who am I, Oh Lord God,
and my house, that thou hast brought me thus far?" David's second
keynote is praise, "Oh Jehovah, there is none like Thee." The life closest
to God is one of praise; all truly devout aspirants are humbled rather
than elated through and by the attainment of spiritual things.
- The House of Cedar; The Holy Nathan, Solomon's Teacher; David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem (HTML) »
- The Story of Tamar; The Lament for Absalom (HTML) »
The divers colors of Tamar's garment represent the varicolored aura
of the developed soul. There is always the sound of sorrow and lamentation heard in the soul world when the spiritual beauty of the soul is
violated by the intrusion of material ambitions. It is a psychological law
that what we have injured we tend to hate, because the sight of the
injury is a reproach to the conscience; and when Amnon had violated
Tamar, he hated her, seeing in her the image of his own wrong.
In the spiritual life also we find a parallel condition: there is hidden
below the threshold of consciousness a secret dread of the unseen world,
because we know instinctively that something terrible resides there, and
we fear it as we fear death. The ego which has been prepared through
sorrow for illumination may, through sheer despair, find the courage to
face this psychic darkness; but the unprepared soul is overwhelmed, his
consciousness is invaded by fear, and this may become so intense as to
affect the health.
The cure lies in "slaying" the lower self; and therefore in the Bible
story Amnon is slain by the servants of Absalom. These servants are the
spiritual and psychic forces of the inner planes which the enlightened one
learns to command. They come from every rank of the divine celestial
Hierarchies, as well as from the ranks of the elemental entities whose
status is that of the beginners on the path of evolution, lower in development even than the very minerals which compose the material world about us.
Many neophytes fail in overcoming the menace of psychic fear by
not realizing that it is not they, personally, but their "servants" who must
carry out the death sentence on the lower nature. This is presented symbolically in the ceremony of the Footwashing in the life of Christ Jesus,
where the Supreme Master stoops to the lowliest service of his disciples,
and afterward Judas, self-convicted, destroys himself. Evil is always
self-destructive, and when the lower self looks into the mirror of the soul
it dies. But this result is attainable only by the aid of the celestial
servants" who constantly minister to the illumined ego.
From the standpoint of David as an individual, the story of Tamar
refers not to different personalities associated with him, but to the final
redemption of David himself. The same work is further expanded in the
legend of Absalom and David's sorrow for him.
"Only the Father in Heaven is perfect," declared the Christ; and
even those who have climbed far up the hills of attainment ofttimes
falter and stumble.
- David and The Temple Pattern; Jerusalem, City of Peace (HTML) »
Jerusalem was the center of the early Christian Mysteries for which
the work of David and the Temple of Solomon were a preparation.
Jerusalem will again be the center of the Christian Mysteries in preparation for the Second Coming.
This holy place was the Mecca of the Initiates of both Old and
New Testament times. It was the scene of activity for all of the biblical
prophets excepting Amos and Hosea. Within the environs of its high
inspiration most of the books of the Old Testament were conceived, if
not actually written.
It was the scene of a large part of the work of the Master and His immediate students or disciples, many of whom lived during their training
in communities located near places of particularly high vibration such
as the Mount of Olives, where David passed one of his tests of regeneration. This was the potently charged Earth area where the Death and
Resurrection occurred. Christ Jesus proved many times that He knew the
efficacy of the city's vibration relative to the spiritual development of His
followers. Thus in Luke 18, verse 31, we read, "Then he took unto him the
twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished."
St. Augustine, writing in the third century, says, "We ascend thy
ways that be in our hearts and sing a song of degrees; we glow inwardly
with thy fire, with thy good fire, as we go, because we go upwards to
the peace of Jerusalem."
1st Kings:
- 1st Kings (KJV) »
- Solomon —
Revelations of Truth (PDF) »
- Solomon Demonstrates His Great Wisdom; Solomon Builds The Temple — Hiram of Tyre (HTML) »
David could not build the Temple because he had not yet achieved
the supreme gift of wisdom which comes with the blending of the polar
opposites within. This attainment was won by Solomon, the highest
Initiate of his time, and he was, therefore, worthy to build the Temple.
The Temple has many and varied esoteric meanings, for Truth is
many-sided. It was built by three men: King Solomon of Jerusalem, King
Hiram of Tyre, and the architect Hiram Abiff, the widow's son. King
Hiram represents the intellectual principle, whereas Solomon represents
the wisdom of the heart, the devotional principle. Hiram, or Khurum, the
Masterbuilder, signifies "high", "white", 'lifted up". He has been described as "the possibility of the race made real". Architecturally, the
Temple shows marked similarity to the Egypto-Phoenician temples of
Melkarth, or Heracles (the Grecian Samson), representative of the Sun,
particularly at the Vernal Equinox. Indeed, we discover throughout that
the Temple of Solomon is in fact a likeness of the grand Temple of the
Universe, and we shall not be surprised to discover from historical studies
that mysterious rites similar to certain Egyptian rituals were celebrated
in subterranean chambers under the Temple itself. Nor will it seem
strange to us to know that "night watches" were observed there in connection with the stellar pageantry of the seasons.
- The Isis-Osiris Motif In Solomon's Temple — The Osiric Legend in Masonry; The Finished Temple; The Science of Numbers in Esoteric Architecture; The Winding Stair (HTML) »
- Elijah, The Hierophant; Elijah's Initiation on Mt. Horeb (HTML) »
There are three Old Testament characters who are said to have
cheated death by drinking of the waters of Eternal Life; these are Enoch,
Moses and Elijah. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the
Septuagint, the name Elijah is translated Elias, and it is in this form that
it is best known to Christian esotericism.
The Bible narrative relative to the kings of Israel is interrupted to
introduce the history of Elijah, whose epoch-making career coincides with
that of the evil Ahab (I Kings, 7th chapter).
Greater far, however, than the patriotic significance of Elijah's work
is the esoteric meaning of labor he performed for the world in this specific
incarnation. The division of the Kingdom is an outward expression of the
failure of the Mysteries, those Mysteries that were to bridge the centuries
between Solomon and the Christ. It was to restore this bridge that Elijah
came to Israel. It is said of him, therefore, that "he repaired the altar of
the Lord that was broken down."
Like Melchizedek, Elijah was a man of mystery. There is no mention
in the biblical text of his having home, friends or ancestry. He was
Uranian in the abruptness and secrecy of his movement from place to
place. Suddenly he appeared out of the unknown and as
suddenly returned into it. There is no dividing line
between his desert and his glory.
In the Bible he appears first upon a hilltop, hurling denunciations against
Ahab and his queen, Jezebel.
- Solomon Builds The Temple — Hiram of Tyre (HTML) »
Tried and purified and full of wisdom, the young King at once set
about building the new Temple to Jehovah, the archetypal pattern of
which he had received from his father David. This work David could
not do, because he was a man of war and Jehovah's Temple was a
Temple of the everlasting peace, that peace which was the name of
Jerusalem and the watchword of Israel. So far was this ideal of peace
to be carried that no iron was to be used in its representative structure
and so the "house when it was in building was built of stone made ready
before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer, nor
axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house." Peace reigned there, even
while it was building. The work went forward in silence.
Faced with this tremendous task, Solomon turned for assistance to
Israel's ancient and traditional friend, rich and cultured Tyre. There an
enlightened ruler, Hiram I, son of Abi-baal (970-936 B.C.), was engaged in enriching ancient Phoenician temples and building new ones
dedicated to Melkarth (whom the Greeks called Heracles) and Astarte.
We recall that there had once been a Temple to Astarte in Jerusalem
itself. Hiram founded the "Feast of the awakening of Heracles."
- Temple Decorations and Furniture — The Two Columns; Embellishments and Furniture; The Molten Sea; Astrological Symbolism (HTML) »
The two mighty columns that guard the entrance into every Temple
pertaining to the Mysteries, the Osiris and Isis of Egypt, the Jachin and
Boaz of Solomon's Sanctuary, are capable of many interpretations. Osiris
typifies the White Brotherhood which has through all ages endeavored to
lead man into the state and conditions which will establish the Golden
Age, a return of the Edenic state, upon the Earth. Typhon typifies the
Brotherhood of the Shadows, which through isolation, separation and
egoistic tendencies has produced the chaotic, confused, self-seeking humanity we know today. The Lost Word is Love, the soul attribute of
Isis and the only power which will lift her fallen column and emancipate
man from the shackles which bind him to Earth in its present material
state.
The Pyramid and Sphinx are immemorial witnesses to the same
lessons in soul wisdom that much later were given in the holy edifice
constructed for that purpose under the supervision of the wisest of all
kings.
Jacob Boehme, the illumined medieval seer, has said:
"He who dies
not before he dies, is the most unhappy of all mortals." And Christ Jesus,
the Master-Initiator, taught Nicodemus that he must be born again before entering the kingdom of heaven. In Isis, the feminine column, is
concealed the meanings of the first and the second deaths. When the
neophyte has died to the personal life through Initiation, he becomes "the
new born" upon whom the second, or natural death has no power.
- Dedication of the Temple; The Ark is Brought to the Temple (HTML) »
That the illumined ones are not free from temptation, and
that the
tests become subtler the higher one mounts the ladder of attainment, is
evidenced by the marriage of Solomon with Magsara, daughter of Pharaoh. As she came out of Egypt in a chariot of silver, drawn by horses bedecked with scarlet plumage, hosts of slaves followed her, bearing rare
perfumes and exotic flowers. When she came to Solomon, the heavenly
ring flashed and sparkled, and in the midst of its lights he read the words:
"Thou hast chosen wisdom."
Magsara, the daughter of Egypt, entered into Jerusalem by the Gate
of the Fountain, symbolizing the emotional life. The Queen of Sheba,
who represents a much higher attainment in the life of Solomon, enters
the City of Peace by way of a crystal lake.
Those who enter the city of the New Jerusalem are those who have
overcome the lower self and stand upon a sea of mingled fire and glass,
symbolizing the complete transmutation of the emotional life.
Through the wisdom gained in his own experience, King Solomon
teaches his disciples "He that controleth himself, is greater than he that
taketh a city."
- Laying the Corner Stone (HTML) »
When he had spoken, Solomon raised his right hand and with a gavel
of ebony having a handle of ivory, struck once on the great Corner Stone
that lay before him. The silence that fell upon the mountain was unbroken
by the sound of a breath-it was as deep and perfect as before the time
when life began in the new earth. Below on the slopes of the mountain, in
the valleys at its foot, in the great cities, everywhere, the same solemn
hush had fallen. But hark! What was that — and that — and that? The
rhythmic beat of wood upon stone, strong, steady and vigorous; now near,
now receding, and soon so far away as to mock the attention that would
have followed it unto the silence. Every Master in every Lodge within the
hearing of Solomon's blow had answered with a blow from the gavel he
held in his hand. Those who had not heard Solomon strike, but had heard
those blows answered to his, gave like answer in their turn, and so the
signal flew from hill to valley, from valley to hill again, on and on wherever
Lodges were, wherever God's free air vibrated, wherever Mason's hearts were
willing and Mason's arms were ready. The signal of Masonry's might commanding attention of the universe, had gone out to all the earth: On to the
east, to the south, to the west, and even to the way of the dark north. On
until they listened at the forges and furnaces of the clay-grounds. On until
the commanders of the newly arrived boats at Joppa heard. On and on — the
echo of that blow is sounding yet. That sacred sound will never fade and
never die.
- Solomon's Palace and Throne — Hiram's Cities; The Palace; The Throne; The Rod and the Bell (HTML) »
The Temple occupied seven years in building, the palace thirteen
years. The palace contained the glorious room of Solomon's judgment
Hall, made entirely of white stone, cedars of Lebanon, silver and gold.
This house was ornamented with precious stones and hewn stones, and
bore a marked similarity to the Egyptian initiatory Temple of the Double
Life. The judgment Hall is the hall of testing and illumination, symbolizing in man the heart wherein is hidden his own individual Book of
the Recording Angels, a book which is concealed from human knowledge
so long as the ego is centered primarily in the intellect, but which is
self-revealed when the ego learns to "think with the heart." It may then
take its place among the "redeemed." But if the ego refuses to accept the
responsibility involved in the awakening of the great love power in the
heart (visible to the clairvoyant vision as a glorious ruby), then he is
among the "damned," and falls behind in his evolution; for the path of
evolution is toward unity and not toward division, and unity is attained
only through the experience of spiritual love.
- Solomon's Dedicatory Prayer — "A New Testament Prayer Before the New Testament" (HTML) »
2nd Kings:
1st Chronicles:
- 1st Chronicles (KJV) »
- The Sons of Cain and the Sons of Seth (HTML) »
The esoteric doctrine of Israel — pre-eminently exemplified in the
Zohar, or Book of the Balance — is therefore concerned with healing the
disunity. In modern parlance this is called the Work of Initiation.
As the handbook of Initiation, the Bible portrays the struggle of
aspiring souls to achieve this balance, and by means thereof to attain
heaven and its glories.
The Book of Kings is the Book of occultism, emphasizing the way of
attainment through works. Chronicles is the Book of mysticism, stressing
the way of attainment by faith. Kings points to the followers of Jeroboam,
the line of Cain (Fire); Chronicles, to the followers of Rehoboam, the
line of Seth (Water). Jeroboam means struggle of people; Rehoboam,
increase of people. Jeroboam and Rehoboam were both sons of Solomon.
While they were brothers they were completely divided by differences
and antagonisms — a divergence indicative of the barriers separating
those who follow the path of knowledge from those who walk in the
way of faith.
The events described in both Books are largely parallel, yet they
create widely divergent reactions in the biblical characters involved,
for they depict in broad outline varying reactions to the experiences of
life on the part of the occultist, those on the head path, and the mystic,
those on the heart path.
Kings, a book of occultism, relates how the life span of Hezekiah was
lengthened; Chronicles makes no mention of this. Chronicles tells of the
repentence of the wicked Manasseh; Kings contains no reference to it.
Again, Kings gives an account of the conflict between Adonijah and
Solomon for the throne of David, a struggle omitted from Chronicles.
Nor does the latter record Solomon's fall into idolatry or the sin of David
and Bath-Sheba, both mentioned in Kings.
- The Pattern of The Temple; David's Swan Song (HTML) »
2nd Chronicles:
- 2nd Chronicles (KJV) »
- Solomon and The Temple Builders; Solomon's First Testing (HTML) »
In his fascinating book, Legends of King Solomon, St. John D. Seymour relates a story of the birth of Solomon which has all the marks of
a true spiritual vision: When the time of Solomon's birth drew near a
multitude of Angels flew with festal banners and planted them on the
right of David and on the left of the Queen until she had brought forth.
The holy child came into the world with an appearance of dazzling purity;
his countenance was suffused with light. The Angel Gabriel appeared
in the king's chamber and said to him, "O David, peace and happiness
be with thee because of this child by whom God hath comforted thee."
Immediately David hastened from his dwelling to join his wife, and as
he went he saw angelic banners flying and the Angels in ranks. They
said to him: "Since God created us we have come down from heaven
only at the birth of Abraham and of thy son Solomon." Then David fell
on his face and gave thanks to God for the favor he had shown him, and
he brought offerings. In the morning the whole world laughed for joy,
and the wild beasts drew near and did obeisance to David in honor of
the birth of his son, Solomon the Wise.
Legend further teaches that the Angels protected and guarded the
young child Solomon when evil forces sought to slay him, even as they
protected the Child Jesus. Again like Jesus (who according to esoteric
teaching was Solomon himself in a later reincarnation), the boy Solomon
increased in beauty of stature and wisdom, and at an early age was placed
by his father David in the care of wise men to be instructed in the interior Mysteries of the Law of Moses. One day, it is said, Solomon being
then thirteen years of age, the court was assembled in the great Hall
of Cedars when an Angel appeared and placed a golden leaf in David's
hands. This leaf bore certain mystic characters inscribed upon its
gleaming surface. David read it and said: "Whosoever answers these questions
will become king after me in Israel;" and thus speaking, he read, "What
is everything? What is nothing?" In the silence that followed the young
Solomon alone made reply, "The world is nothing and God is everything."
Again David read from the golden scroll, engraven with mystic, magic
letters, "What is of most account and what is of least?" And once more
in the silence which followed these questions it was the boy Solomon
alone who replied. "It is fear that is of least account, and it is peace that is of most."
- Solomon Builds The Temple — Hiram of Tyre (HTML) »
It is of interest to observe that the ritual cry
"Evolie!" (He-vau-be), used in all of the Grecian Mysteries, was also
employed in Egypt, Judea,
Phoenicia and Asia Minor, Phoenicia being located on the Syrian seaboard. The sacred word is obviously the equivalent of the three letters to
which Yod is prefixed to form the Tetragrammaton, "Yod-be-vau-he;" in
which the Yod is masculine and He-vau-he (Eve) is feminine.
"So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, according to his
desire." Cedar is feminine, fir, masculine, in esoteric symbology. A tree
always represents the aspiration of the spirit soaring heavenward.
"And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for
food for his household, and twenty measures of pure oil, thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year." Wheat, oil and corn all signify feminine
soul attributes and two or twenty is the first feminine number, one (Yod)
being masculine. When Solomon wrote to Hiram to procure the cedars
of Lebanon to build his wonderful Temple, Hiram replied: "But do thou
take care to procure us corn for this timber." In modern Masonry the
winding stairs lead to the chamber where corn, wine and oil are delivered
to the faithful for their work.
- Temple Decorations and Furniture — The Two Columns; Embellishments and Furniture; The Molten Sea; Astrological Symbolism (HTML) »
Masonry depicts the way of Light as outlined in the life of the
Master, Hiram Abiff, which includes death at the hands of three ruffians, and resurrection after the third day.
In each instance, both Masters assume the role of cosmic Way
Showers for the emulation of their followers. The disciple and candidate
in turn must assume the same role and pass through identical experiences
in order that he may change mortality for immortality, the terrestrial
for the celestial as the Church expresses it, or in Masonic language, "learn
to receive the wages of the Master and to travel in foreign countries."
In both instances the glory of the first death (by Initiation), over which
the second or natural death has no power, is the consummation to be
attained.
There is one important distinction in the two ceremonialisms. In
the Masonic allegory, the Master is discovered by three officiants, all
male. In the Church ceremonial the Master is discovered by three
officiants, but one is a woman.
In comparison with the initiatory formula of the life of
Christ Jesus,
the three murderers of Hiram Abiff correspond with Pilate, Caiphas and
Judas; his three wounds with the scourging, the blow on the ear, and
the crown of thorns. The twelve fellowcraft who are sent to search for
him correspond to the twelve disciples. The three masters who raise him
are Peter, John and Mary Magdalene. All true "operative" occult work
unites the forces of man and woman.
Ezra:
- Ezra (KJV) »
- Testings of the Way; The Rite of Renunciation (HTML) »
- The Calling of the Remnant; Ezra — The Scribe of God; The Rite of the Restoration (HTML) »
When the Proclamation of Cyrus (538 B.C.) set the Exiles free to
return to their native land, not all desired to do so; nor did that Remnant
called forth by the prophets return immediately or at one time. Three
large migrations took place during the Persian Period. In addition there
was a continuous stream of immigrants travelling in small groups or
singly, with much visiting to and fro between Jerusalem and Babylon by
those who were undecided as to which city they would chose for a permanent home. Consequently, a sizable Hebrew colony continued to
flourish in Babylon far into rabbinic times; for even after Constantine the
Great had closed those Palestinian Schools that created the Jerusalem
Talmud, the work continued in Babylon until the middle of the sixth
century A.D., when the Babylonian Talmud was brought to completion.
Thus, Babylon and the Field of Ardath remained active in Hebrew
thought for fully a thousand years, from the sixth century B.C. to the sixth
century A. D. — a millennium, or Day of the Lord.
The summons to return to Jerusalem was not a call easy to answer.
it meant putting duty before pleasure and responsibility before ease. It
was a call of self-renunciation. The material interests of the Exiles had
become rooted in Babylon, city of plenty. To leave meant giving up
things of this world, a sacrifice possible only to those who lived by the
light of spirit. It is not surprising that so few were willing to make the
sacrifice. They were the Remnant proclaimed by the prophets because
they emancipated themselves from all the worldly self holds dear and
took the long, hard march to the wastes of Judea.
- The Secret Doctrine of Israel (HTML) »
What was the esoteric wisdom which Ezra taught to "those who
could understand?" Its kernel, at least, has come down to us through
collections of medieval works by kabbalistic writers, both Jewish and
Christian, particularly through the Zohar. Although this book in its
present form dates from the thirteenth century A. D., it embodies true
esoteric traditions of the Restoration Period. The title Kabbalah means
a doctrine of revelation received orally, and it supplements the Scriptures
by presenting a philosophical basis for their Teachings. For example, the
Old Testament says very little about the immortality of the soul; material
life is stressed throughout, immortality and rebirth being taught only by
implication and allegory. In the Kabbalah, however, immortality of the
soul is axiomatic and the doctrine of rebirth is openly taught. It is
claimed that kabbalistic doctrine descended from Adam in an unbroken
succession via a line of prophets among whom are named Noah, Abraham,
Moses and finally Ezra, the last having received the Teachings in the
Field of Ardath at Babylon.
We now begin to comprehend the importance of the Field of Ardath.
It was here that the Scriptures were collected and written down by that
great scribe; it was here that the Christ Mystery was revealed to prophets
of the Exile. The teachings published are exoteric Scriptures: Books of
the Hexateuch and of such prophets as had delivered their message to
Israel before and during the Exile. The secret Teachings for the wise are
the secret doctrine of Israel, whose great Hierophant was Elijah or Elias,
Christ's forerunner. These secret tenets were preserved through the
Hellenistic Period by the Essenes.
Nehemiah:
- Nehemiah (KJV) »
- Ezra Expounds the Law; The Autumn Feast (HTML) »
The exoteric purpose of the autumnal feast was to give thanks unto
God for the fruit of the vine. There was dancing, music, feasting and
brilliant illumination of the entire city of Jerusalem. The Mishna states
that pious and distinguished men danced before the people with lighted
flambeaux in their hands. In a procession celebrants carried golden
pitchers filled with water from the mystic pool of Siloam. When they
reached the Water Gate, three long blasts were blown on a trumpet;
the priest then ascended the altar whereon were two silver basins, one
to the west for water and one to the east for wine. Every morning during
the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles, a priest drew three quarts of
water from the fountain of Siloh in a golden vessel. This water was
carried with joyous solemnity through the Water Gate to the Temple
and poured out to the southwest of the altar. Exotericists interpret this
to be a symbol of rain or an offering to a rain god; but esotericists know
it was a symbol of the Holy Ghost. We recognize in the Water Gate the
constellation Aquarius, whose celestial hieroglyph is a man pouring water
from an urn. Aquarius, like Capricorn, is ruled by the planet Saturn
(figuratively represented in the patriarch Abraham), to whom the Day
of Saturn (Saturday) was sacred. The Hebrews set this day aside as
their Sabbath, their "day of rest for the soul."
- Tests of Courage; Dedication of the Walls (HTML) »
- The Restoration of the Gates; Nehemiah's Opponents at Work (HTML) »
- The Gates and the Walls Rebuilt; Nehemiah Enters Jerusalem (HTML) »
Esther:
- Esther (KJV) »
- The Feast of Midsummer; The Resurrection Feast of the Springtide (HTML) »
- A Scroll of Inner Plane Activity — The Feast of the Star (HTML) »
- The Feast of Dedication; The Feast of Tabernacles (HTML) »
So long as we are satisfied to interpret the lovely story of Esther as
one dealing with race hatreds, mass murders and a wholesale wreaking
of vengeance, we lose entirely the high spiritual mystery around which
the Book revolves. The following lines taken from Irving's works on the
subject of biblical meanings will aid in its interpretation: "Every name
in the Psalms, whether of persons or of places, hath a mystical
meaning given to it in the Christian Scriptures. Jerusalem is not the
Jerusalem that was, nor is Babylon the Babylon that was, and even David
hath lost his personality in the everlasting David. Judah and Israel mean
not now the cast-away root, but the branch that hath been grafted in.
The Jews previously referred to do not mean only the Jewish race,
but those who have arrived at a higher phase of spiritual understanding,
those who are being made ready to enter the Temple Eternal there to
co-operate with the Brotherhood of Light. Hence they are the friends
of Esther and Mordecai and have incurred the enmity of Haman, the
evil one, or the powers of darkness. Therefore in biblical mysticism the
Jews are always the "chosen people" in contradistinction to the Gentiles,
or the unillumined.
- The Book of Esther — The Characters (HTML) »
Job:
- Job (KJV) »
- Job: A Mystery Drama (HTML) »
The Bible is primarily a Mystery book and only a knowledge of the
Mysteries will reveal its most profound meanings. As the Zohar expresses it:
"Is it conceivable that God had no holier matters to communicate
than theme common things about Esau and Hagar, Laban and Jacob,
Baslam's Ass, Balak's jealousy of Israel and Zimri's lewdness?
"Does a collection of such tales taken in the ordinary sense deserve
the name of Torah? And can it be said of such a revelation that it utters
pure truths? If that is all the Torah contains, we can produce in our
time a book as good, aye perhaps better.
"But no, the higher mystical sense of the Torah is its true sense."
The biblical narratives resemble a beautiful dress which enraptures
fools so that they do not look beneath it. This robe, however, covers a body, i.e., the precepts of the Law; and this again a soul, the higher soul.
Woe to the guilty, who assert that the Torah contains only simple stories
and therefore look only upon the dress.
"Blessed are the righteous who seek the real sense of the Law. The
jar is not the wine, so also stories do not make up the Torah."
(Excerpt from Pick's Cabala.)
The Book of Job is justly ranked with the world's eternal literature.
Lifting sphinx-like above and beyond the limitation of any one race,
nation or age, it repeats the eternal and continuous mandate of God:
"Let there be light."
- The Glories of Initiation Revealed (HTML) »
- The Prologue; The Seven Spirits Before the Throne (HTML) »
- Behemoth and Leviathan; The Completion of the Great Work (HTML) »
- The Archangels (HTML) »
In this celestial allegory we read a truth known to all esotericists:
that even the tempting Angels and the afflicting Angels are part of the
divine economy of the universe, and that their activities are subject to
cosmic Law. The Bible, as we have it today, speaks occasionally of the
angelic hosts and of the Archangels Gabriel, Michael and Raphael; but
there are nameless hosts of angelic spirits which, as a matter of historic
record, have been correlated by the ancient Chaldeans and Persians with
the various attributes of the Most High God and the signs of the Zodiac
as expressions of Him. Bel, it is known, is a form of the word Baal, meaning Lord, and referring to the Sun as a living Archangelic Spirit which
in turn represents a member of the supreme Trinity. The Chaldeans
attributed to Bel the Dragon of the Zodiac, which is the path of the Sun
and also of the planets. In Persia the Spirit of the Sun was Mithra, or
Mihr, as we learned in our study of the Book of Esther; and among the
Gnostics, the Christ also was identified with the Spirit of Light resident
in the Sun. Thus the Archangels referred to in the Bible are really the
Planetary Spirits-Gabriel, Lord of the Moon; Michael, "the Angel of the
Lord," the Lord of the Sun (among the Jews); and Raphael, the Lord
of Mercury.
- The Fruits of Initiation — Whence Cometh Wisdom?; The Fourth Friend (HTML) »
- The Four Great Tests; High and Low Saturnian Aspects and Their Influence Upon Man (HTML) »
- The Cycle of the Three Friends (HTML) »
The arguments of Eliphas (the physical senses) may be summed
up in the fact that his idea of the highest human blessedness is the
accumulation of earthly possessions and a long life in which to enjoy
them. He reiterates that material prosperity is the true mark of heavenly
approbation, and adversity an equal sign of God's disfavor.
Job is naturally not satisfied with this materialistic theory, in view
of his own unceasing efforts to live in a way pleasing to God; he strives
for a deeper and more intimate approach to Truth. He is no longer
satisfied with "things" of the outer world as such, but is eagerly seeking,
"like some bold watcher of the skies when a new planet swims into his
ken", for an explanation of the origin and purposes of sorrow; for his
own suffering has suddenly made him see and feel the sorrow of all the
world. He is tortured by the sense of estrangement which he feels as
between the human and the divine. Faust at this place upon the Path
cries out, "Two souls, alas, are housed within my breast," and Job
laments, "Therefore I will not refrain my mouth, I will speak in the
anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my sour."
(Job 7:11)
Psalms:
- Psalms (KJV) »
- The Harp of David (PDF) »
- The Song of the Threshold (HTML) »
The only purpose of working for greater spiritual light than is the
portion of most of mankind is that the recipient may serve his fellowmen
more efficiently. Many of the Psalms indicate this:
Psalm 20:
Now know I that Jehovah saveth his anointed;
He will answer him from his holy heaven
With the saving strength of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
But we will make mention of the name of Jehovah our God.
Psalm 31
O love Jehovah, all ye his saints;
Jehovah, preserveth the faithful,
And plentifully rewardeth him that dealeth proudly.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
All ye that hope in Jehovah.
Psalm 40
Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll of the book it is written of me;
I delight to do thy will, O my God,
Yea, thy law is within my heart.
And He hath put a new song in my mouth.
- A Plea for the Bible (PDF) »
- Psalms of Purification and Regeneration; Psalm of Transmutation; The Seven Penitential Psalms (HTML) »
The deepest esoteric instruction can never be given publicly, and
the Psalms therefore refer to the Mysteries only under a veil. But
whether or not the neophyte is intellectually aware of the meaning of
these holy songs, their vibration impinges upon the nerve centers of
the body, gradually raising their sensitiveness through the law of sympathetic vibration, until they are sensitized sufficiently to transmit the
delicate, but potent, sensations of the inner realms.
As a consequence of the increased sensitivity of the neophyte, he
becomes aware of the spiritual world and its inhabitants, and learns to
cooperate with the creative Hierarchies. He now knows what before
he had accepted on faith; and such faith as he possesses is rightly
designated a scientific faith, for it rests on reason, and has the support
of evidence. There can be no complete dedication to Spirit until at
least a degree of such first-hand knowledge has been achieved. Until
then, there is always a sense of hesitation, perhaps even reluctance, to
put behind the temptations of the world. But having once walked in
the Light where God is, the soul hesitates no more, but surrenders
gladly as something of no value the false gold of the mortal senses in
order to make room for the true gold of Spirit. It is then he chants
with the Psalmist (27th Psalm): "One thing will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in His Temple."
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Psalm 19 (PDF) »
- The Great Faith Psalms; The Flower of the Faith Psalms: The 91st Psalm; The Psalms of Humility (HTML) »
- How to Pray — Psalms 63 (PDF) »
- The Songs of Healing; Psalms of the Conscious Invisible Helper (HTML) »
It must be borne in mind that the rabbinical editors of late centuries
arbitrarily rewrote and cast out of the Scriptures much that was truly
occult, and which had come down directly from Moses and even from
the Patriarchs. This body of knowledge, rejected by the orthodox canon,
is not lost; some fragments of it are to be discovered among the apocryphal
and pseudo-epigraphical books, but in the Archetypal World all these books
remain shining in the Light of Wisdom and are destined to be
recovered by seers who make themselves worthy. On the physical side,
archeology has an even more important function to perform in the recovery of lost teachings than it has played in the past, important as that
has been.
"The Wisdom of the Egyptians" will one day be recovered and be
given an honored place, and so also will the Chaldean Mysteries, for
Hebrew prophets were high Initiates in the Chaldean and Egyptian
schools. In the Exilic Period, the wave of reform which swept over Persia
engulfed Palestine also, because the Hebrew leaders in Exile at Babylon
came under the Zoroastrian influence, and carried it back with them to
Palestine. There then transpired a conflict between old and new religious ideas; there was even an official change of language from Hebrew
to Aramaic. All of these vicissitudes may be traced in the Psalms, and
we know that they follow the changing course of a Mystery School, and
the work of Archangels and Angels with human beings.
There is also the fact to be considered that the modern version of
occult truths is not in exact identity with that of ancient Initiates,
because,
man's mental outlook has changed in the course of evolution; nevertheless,
in fundamentals the work is still the same, because the primordial Ideal,
or archetype, is eternal and immutable, and it is only the shadow cast
in the worlds of illusion which undergoes the process we call evolution.
- Divine Justice: The Law of Consequence (HTML) »
Regardless of all evidence to the contrary, evil does not, and never
has, triumphed over good. Good is an aspect of God, the Eternal, and
destroys evil as surely as light destroys darkness. There is no power in
darkness by which it can destroy the light. Darkness must be, and is, always vanquished by light, for it is not a thing in itself, but the mere absence of the positive power of light. It is only when we see life bounded by
one birth and one death that inequalities seem triumphant; but when
through Initiation we are able to trace the journey of the ego from incarnation to incarnation, then the just operation of the Law of Consequence becomes clear to us, and we know that the righteous is indeed
a Tree planted by the waters of Life, bringing forth fruit in its season.
The wicked also must reap as they sow, and "are like the chaff which
the wind driveth away." They "shall not stand in the judgment."
- Songs of Adoration; The 19th Psalm — The Astrological Psalm; The Hallelujah Chorus; The 23rd Psalm: The Crown of the Psalms; The Troubadour of God — Saint Francis of Assisi (HTML) »
- The Song of Solomon Correlated with Psalms; The 119th Psalm: The Supreme Outline of the Path (HTML) »
The Zohar is considered by many to be the culmination of Hebrew
esotericism. It was written by Moses de Leon who died (1305) just a
few years before Christian Rose Cross founded the Rosicrucian Mystery
School (1313). The authorship of the Zohar, which means "Shining", de
Leon attributes to his Master, Simon ben Yohai, whose very existence
is denied by historians, since the book purports to be a product of the
second century whereas its internal structure proves beyond doubt that
it belongs to the thirteenth. Esoterically we understand that the Master
to whom Moses de Leon refers was not in the flesh; and he may well
have been one of the early Masters who lived in the second century,
and who, after his death, continued his work in the Hebrew Mysteries.
There is no doubt that the essential elements of the book can be traced
to the early Gnostic centuries.
The Zohar is a commentary on the Pentateuch and contains fifty-two
divisions, covering the whole field of Hebrew esotericism as revealed by
the mystical interpretation of Scriptures, namely, the Mansions and Abodes
(Paradise and Hell), the Sephiroth or Creative Principles, the Faithful
Shepherd (Moses, Elijah and Simon in conversation), the Secret of
Secrets (transmutation), Cosmology and Demonology, and other matters
of profound esoteric interest. The Zohar pivots about the principle of
the Divine Balance or Equilibrium, which is the secret of all esoteric
revelation and creative activity, for it solves the problem of polarity.
It is the great source book of modern kabbalism.
The Zohar states that the universe was created by three forms of expression — numbers, letters and words. The Hebrew alphabet, like the
twelve signs of the Zodiac, represent certain definite spiritual powers
to be developed in the neophyte as he works toward, and eventually
becomes, the Initiate.
- Psalms of Healing (HTML) »
The Temple songs and chants were also means of healing, particularly the secretly intoned Tetragrammaton, whose vibrations were felt even though its sound was drowned in the thundering voices of the chorus.
Hymns of praise are used to rebuild the higher ethers into the body:
those cosmic rays, invisible to the ordinary eyes but visible and tangible
to the sensitized nerves of the Initiate, which carry the Christ Life from
interstellar space. The songs of praise lift the rate of vibration of the
body atoms which have been vibrating below the level of health and
thus destroy the disease. When the body rhythm harmonizes with the
keynote of the spirit sounding in the medulla oblongata the manifestation
of disease is impossible, because this point in the etheric body vibrates
in unison with the celestial patterns or archetype in the spiritual realms
where man is made in the image and likeness of God. The 91st Psalm is
good as a preparatory meditation for spiritual healing because it stimulates
faith. The 103rd Psalm is also helpful in that respect:
Bless Jehovah, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless his holy name,
Bless Jehovah, O my soul,
And forget not all his benefits;
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
Who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender
mercies;
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things,
So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle.
- The Background of The Psalms — Historic Background; Esoteric Background; The Masonic Lost Word and the Unpronounceable Name J.H.V.H. (HTML) »
Many volumes have been written and much time spent in discussing
the authorship of the Psalms. To the occultist, however, the important
fact under consideration is not who wrote them, but how best to utilize
them in daily living. David means "the well-beloved of the Lord."
Whether or not the Psalms were written by David, King of Israel, it is
clear that they were given under the inspiration of an Initiate, and such
are always well-beloved of the Lord (Law). They depict the way
of progress up to the point of conscious union with Deity, this highest
spiritual attainment being described in the 23rd Psalm. The Path ascending thereunto leads from the dedication of the life to Spirit, through
the many trials and temptations expressed in the laments, on to the
chants of the overcoming — all to be climaxed in this, the perfect song
of spiritual at-one-ment.
It is not long since most Christians accepted the entire book of
Psalms as being the work of David; yet this is by no means the oldest,
nor yet the original tradition. The Hebrews disclaimed the idea that
David was sole author of all the Psalms, attributing some to other Bible
characters such as Adam, Melchizedek, Moses and Abraham, besides
those whose names are mentioned in our existing text: Solomon, David,
Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph and the Sons of Korah. The 127th Psalm is
not accepted as the work of Solomon in the Hebrew tradition, nor is the
72nd. Esoterically such Psalms vibrate to the keynote of Solomon, that
is, they were written under the inspiration of his blessed power in the
inner worlds, and reflect his wisdom.
- Psalms And Proverbs; The Prophets (PDF) » (HTML) »
- The Songs of Initiation; The Psalm of the Mystic Marriage (PDF) » (HTML) »
The Mystic Marriage represents the culmination of the initiatory
process; it is not achieved except in Initiation, and constitutes part of the
initiatory process and ceremonies. This is the portion of the Christian
Gospels which has been lost, or destroyed by evil forces; for the early
Initiates understood that the work of the Christ culminated in His union
with Sophia, divine Wisdom. This union could take place only after the
Resurrection, for it is included in the work of the Ascension.
Prior to the Mystic Marriage we have the whole experience of the
life of Christ: the Birth under the Star through the Virgin Consciousness,
the Childhood, the Baptism, Temptation in the Wilderness, Way of the
Cross and the Crucifixion. It is in the Ascension that we experience the
Mystic Marriage.
The Birth under the Star is the Mystic Illumination, as in the lives
of such Saints as Francis of Assisi. The Church accepts stigmatization
as an end in itself, a favor conferred by God; but the esotericist knows
that stigmatization is only a beginning of the real esoteric work, for in
addition to the Stigmatic Star, we have the symbolism of the Rod that
blossoms, and the Resurrection and Ascension.
The Rod is the power of the spinal fire, and its rise is accompanied
by the blossoming of the Roses or Lotuses. Psalm 77 embodies the
rhythms which tend to accelerate the action of these Roses, or Centers
within the aura. As a result of such activity, we become the "Little Ones,"
namely, Initiates: "I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart, and my spirit made diligent search." It is
then alone that we have the twelvefold power which is celebrated in
Psalm 60:
God hath spoken in His holiness; I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and meet out the valley of Succoth,
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine,
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my sceptre (law giver).
- The Art of Prayer (HTML) »
In the 5th Psalm, which was chanted at the laying of the holy fires
at sunrise, David sings of full and entire dedication, for no half measures
are efficacious on the Path which leads to liberation. "In the abundance
of thy loving kindness will I come into thy house, in thy fear will I
worship toward thy holy Temple. Let all those that take refuge in thee
rejoice, for thou wilt bless the righteous, O Jehovah, thou wilt compass
him with favor as with a shield."
One of the important key instructions in the Psalms is given to
neophytes of every faith: "Commune with your own heart and learn to
be still." The Supreme Teacher but paraphrased these words when He
taught that "the Kingdom of heaven is within you."
The more spiritually advanced the disciple becomes, the fewer are
the petitions he makes to the Deity, but the more constant are the communions and the songs of praise within the heart. When the lamp of the
anointed flames within, there is born something of the true realization
of the mystery of existence. One thus illumined is conscious of the unity
of each with all, and the sacredness of life. He learns that God is in all,
and that God is all. He can no longer think of himself as debased or dejected, for he has glimpsed the grandeur of that immortal glory which
is within himself and within every other living being. He transcends all
earthly desires. Surrounded and enveloped by the ever-burning light
be proclaims, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
showeth his handiwork!"
It is in this ecstasy of the spirit of praise that more than half of these
exalted songs of the spirit are hymned, and by making them part of
himself the neophyte may experience the same ecstasy.
It is not possible to consider the Psalms exactly in the order in which
they occur in the King James text. We will take them in groups, according to their esoteric function, and as they illustrate various phases
of the initiatory work.
- The Harp of David (PDF) » (HTML) »
Rhythm has a special correlation with the breath, and all that the
breathing exercises of Oriental occultists seek to achieve can be achieved
through musical rhythms alone, especially when correlated with the
dance, for the dancing body is the very personification of rhythm, making
music visible and tangible in three dimensions. In the Desire World the
streams of rhythm are the basis of consciousness; they form patterns
which are visible in light and color, and are audible as sound. There are
twelve primary patterns, corresponding to the twelve signs of the Zodiac,
and one day we shall know that there are likewise twelve planets sounding twelve keynotes. Such are the rhythms we feel flowing through the
Psalms, which are truly hymns of Initiation, and which raise tremendously the body rhythms and accelerate consciousness, making possible
a contact with the interior worlds.
Proverbs:
- Proverbs (KJV) »
- The Occult Power of Proverbs (HTML) »
It is a fact little known, even among esoteric students, that in and
about the chamber in which their habitual meditation and prayer takes
place, an etheric structure is erected which corresponds to the student's
own state of development, according to the archetypal law referred to
previously which governs all manifest form. If he is an advanced or "old
soul", to use a technical term, his spiritual house will be a thing of true
and perfect beauty, as cleanly fashioned as a crystal or a frost flower
or a glowing jewel. Where evil exists these will have their pictured
correspondence in distorted lines, in misshapen features and in dungeons
of horror. St. Teresa of Avila in her meditations once discovered herself
momentarily shut in her own personal hell. It was a small cave in which
she could scarcely find lodging, and in which she was imprisoned, almost
suffocating. This she recognized as typifying the punishment her sins
deserved if a merciful God did not save her from it. On the spiritual
side, such was the structure of Solomon's Temple, prototype of the House
of the Holy Grail. Such is the meaning of every church, every edifice
of worship. In Catholic Churches the red lamp which burns before the
altar represents the etheric heart, and similarly in other ecclesiastic
edifices.
- The Candle of the Lord; The Teachings of Proverbs on Regeneration (HTML) »
There is also a psychological reason for the practice of silent periods.
Language is essentially the tool of the exteriorized intellect, which depends upon the uninspired logic of the mortal intelligence, Words and
numbers alike are the particular instruments of logic because they
liberate the intellect from dependence upon concrete imagery, and
permit it to rise into the activity of abstract reason where images are
eschewed. But in the initiatory development, the imagination must be
trained, for the imagination is the eyes of the spirit; and what the
reason knows by indirection the imagination sees directly in the Mind
of God.
The story is told of two wise men who met and compared their
respective knowledge. When they parted, the sage said, "All that he
sees, I know." And the seer said, "All that he knows, I see." In the highest
development, the ego must hold within his consciousness both powers,
that of divine knowing and of divine seeing. The knowing comes through
an ascent past logic, requiring the use of language to eliminate images;
but the seeing requires the vow of silence, according as circumstances
may reasonably allow, in which the suppression of the spoken word is
reflected inwardly in the complete mental silence in which the music
of the spheres is first heard and then seen in the divine geometry of
the Logos: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs
18:21).
- The Treatment of Animals — Humility (HTML) »
- Psalms And Proverbs — Psalms And Proverbs (HTML) »
- In the Beginning: Wisdom (HTML) »
"My delights were with the sons of men"; this was in the spiritual
Eden, before man's fall, when all men's ways were ordered in the light
of cosmic Wisdom. It is still the lot of the neophyte who, when he goes
out of the door of his "chamber" into the invisible worlds, seeks out the
Christ, and Wisdom: Blessed is he that heareth Wisdom, "watching daily
at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." But, "he that sinneth
against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death."
In the first chapter of John's Gospel the Wisdom Principle is saluted,
"In the beginning was the Word .... and without him was not anything
made that was made." Here the masculine tense is used, signifying the
Christ; but the Wisdom principle, though in Christianity called masculine in the Christ, is identical with the Sophia (Wisdom-feminine) of
the Old Testament. (Incidentally, the Christ equates with the Persian
Mithra, Archangel of the Sun, who by the Persians was venerated as a
Divine Hermaphrodite.)
Writes Max Heindel: "Try to imagine what it means in the first
chapter of Genesis and the first chapter of John when it is said that God
moved upon the waters; try to realize that we, who were then in God,
were also present there."
- Esoteric Brotherhood; The Song of the Philosopher's Stone (HTML) »
- The Law of Causation in Proverbs — Practical Considerations (HTML) »
So long as man inhabits a body of flesh and lives in a material world,
so long as he has not overcome this illusion of the senses through Illumination, he must take heed of the moral and practical laws which govern
the appearances among which he lives. The Book of Proverbs may well
be termed a study in contrasts of the real and the unreal, the eternal
and the evanescent. It is indeed a series of practical precepts given by
a Master in Israel with particular stress laid upon the most essential
virtues to be cultivated by the aspirant, and the evils to be avoided.
Many chapters, therefore, are contrast studies between the way of Spirit
and the way of flesh. As the path of Spirit is contrasted with the way of
the flesh, so also is the life of Reality contrasted with that of illusion; for
Reality and Spirit are synonymous, and so are illusion and sensuality.
As to the latter, "There is a way which seemeth right to a man; but the
ends thereof are the ways of death; and the end of that mirth is heaviness." (Proverbs 14:12,13)
Ecclesiastes:
- Ecclesiastes (KJV) »
- The Silver Cord; New Testament Parallels (HTML) »
The twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes plays an important part in a
certain esoteric ceremonial of the Masonic Lodge concerned with the
silver cord or "cable tow". Occultists give special information on this
"cable tow", but much remains to be discovered, for little is actually
known of its functions and attributes. The silver cord is a silvery,
ethereal cord which is visible to clairvoyant vision, connecting the subtler
vehicles with the physical; this cord is threefold: "the threefold cord is
not easily broken."
The three parts of the cord are composed of etheric substance, astral
matter and mental substance, respectively. The densest segment is the
etheric, and this etheric segment is composed of the most tenuous of
the four ethers, namely, the reflecting ether. The etheric segment is
rooted in the apex of the heart, whence, during intrauterine existence,
it grows toward the solar plexus; there it meets the second, or astral,
segment, which meantime has grown from its root in the great vortex
of the liver. This junction marks the quickening of the embryo. The
fuller growth of the segment of the cord extending between the solar
plexus and liver is a contributory cause of adolescence, this growth taking
place in the second septenary of the child's life (ages of seven to fourteen). The first segment of the cord, extending between the heart and
solar plexus, undergoes a fuller growth during the first septenary, and
has an important bearing on the mystery of child life. The third segment
of the cord is composed of mental stuff, and extends from the frontal
sinus to the liver, where it joins the second or astral segment rooted
there. This juncture marks the beginning of adult life, for it unites the
mind with the desire body, so that the intellect is able to govern the
desires henceforth. This is the end of adolescence. The third, or mental,
segment of the cord like the first two segments, undergoes a further
development in the seven years following the birth of the mind
concomitant with the maturation of the reflecting ether which ripens during
this fourth septenary period. Occultly, therefore, the age of
twenty-eight marks the true beginning of completely mature adulthood.
- Ecclesiastes — The Teacher and His Teaching (HTML) »
Master occultists are associated with the Mystery Schools which are
the supreme achievement of the scientific method of soul growth. They
appeal to the scientific temperament, and they take into consideration
the difference of race, climate and civilization which are so likely to
affect the development of the aspirant when he deliberately and of his
own free will aspires to Liberation. Love has no boundaries. But science
must recognize the laws which govern the mortal man, at least until the
mortal has been utterly supplanted by the immortal, as Light supplants
the darkness which seems to be but is in truth a mere negation of being.
Love preaches one doctrine only in every land and in every age. Science
changes from age to age, and must adapt itself to many varying conditions within the same age.
On the path of science, or knowledge, inevitably the time comes
when the mortal intellect has reached its uttermost bounds. It must be
laid off as a serpent sheds its skin, or as the phoenix is burnt on its nest
of frankincense and myrrh, to rise into a new consciousness; and so this
very path of knowledge by which man achieves God must itself some
day be left behind. "I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
concerning all things that are done under heaven". The Teacher does
not say above Heaven, but under Heaven, the meaning being the mortal
consciousness. "This sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to
be exercised therewith."
As the mystic comes to the place of the cross, the Hill of Death,
where he casts off the personal life for the impersonal, so the occultist
comes to his particular Hill of Death where knowledge no longer satisfies him: "I communed with mine own heart, saying Lo, I am come to
great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been
before me in Jerusalem: yes, my heart had great experience of wisdom
and knowledge". And what did he learn from all his wisdom and knowledge? He learned at last that "he that increaseth knowledge increaseth
sorrow". "Behold, all is vanity".
- Ecclesiastes and the Stars — Libra and Scorpio (HTML) »
Scorpio, like Virgo, is often identified with Wisdom; its wisdom,
however, is of a different sort than Virgo's, which is mental in nature,
correlating to Mercury, or Hermes. The Scorpio wisdom is the wisdom
of the serpent, and refers to the Mystery Schools in which the martial
discipline is applied to the mind and soul to produce certain foreknown
and definitely planned-for results. When the heart is thus applied to
wisdom (Ecclesiastes 8:16), and when spiritual consciousness and
extended vision are evolved through regeneration (which is the highest
aspect of Scorpio), the Invisible Helper is "born" who is able to labor
when out of the body in sleep in ways the worldly know not of. They
also develop unusual skills and genius in the pursuit of their work in
the world, thus making the wilderness blossom as the rose. The keynote
of this chapter is found in the words: "Where the word of a king is,
there is power. And who may say unto him, What doest thou?" (Ecclesiastes 8:4)
- Ecclesiastes and the Stars — Gemini and Cancer (HTML) »
Above our current cycle of the transitory is heard the voice of Spirit
urging the return to the eternal realms of Reality. Let peace and tranquility prevail when evil presents itself, knowing that when the time is
ripe, the evil will be eliminated: "for there is a time for every
work" — a lesson taught by the Supreme Master, Christ Jesus, in the parable of the
wheat and the tares which were allowed to grow together until the harvest.
Neglect of this consideration is one of the reasons that many neophytes fail to demonstrate the higher soul powers. They are not patient,
they will not wait for the harvest season, but recklessly gather, or try
to gather, the wheat before it is ripe and hence find themselves with an
armful of tares and unripe wheat — negative psychism and evil
karma — instead of the ripe wheat, or Initiation, which they desired. "The hour
knoweth no man," said the Christ; and Ecclesiastes voices a similar
warning: "No man can find out the work that God maketh from the
beginning to the end."
- Ecclesiastes and the Stars — Leo and Virgo (HTML) »
Like Aries, Leo signifies the creative Fire energy of God, but whereas
the Arian fire is focused through the brain in works of mental creation,
the Leo fire is focused in the heart. It manifests here as the creations
of love and the courage of love; for does not the word courage point
to the heart as its throne and source? "Love casteth out fear," and fearlessness is the fundamental requisite of Initiation.
The humanity of Earth has misused this great cosmic Fire force
and suffers in consequence the prevalence of sorrow, disease, poverty
and death, as shown in the following verses:
Ecclesiastes 6:1,2
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common
among men:
A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that
he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth
him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity,
and it is an evil disease.
- Ecclesiastes and the Stars — Sagittarius and Capricorn (HTML) »
When the Sun passes through the Mansion of Pisces, the orthodox
churches observe Lent. The time limits are not exact, but there is a
correspondence. In the early Church, when the Vernal Equinox fell
on the cusp of Aries, the correspondence was closer, the forty days of
Lent then falling almost wholly in Pisces, the sign whose symbol is two
fishes bound together. The Vernal Equinox is now in about nine degrees
of Pisces, and by the precession of the Equinoxes, each year it draws
closer to the Aquarian boundary line; and Lent is thus thrown farther
back among the constellations, being now more in Aquarius than in
Pisces as a rule. In pre-Christian times there was a fasting season corresponding to our Lent when the Sun passed through the constellation
Pisces and entered Aries, as shown in the Book of Daniel. When Christ
came into the world, the Vernal Equinox — which is the point on the
celestial equator where the Sun crosses northward in the spring — was
in about seven degrees of Aries, already close to the Piscean cusp. Since
then the Vernal Equinox has preceded through the constellation Pisces
until it now stands at about nine degrees of that constellation, and each
year approaches closer to the cusp of the constellation of Aquarius.
Thus in the Aquarian Age (during which the Vernal Equinox is in
Aquarius), Lent will fall largely in the period during which the Sun
transits Pisces for much of the Age, but Easter Sunday itself will fall
in Pisces rather than in Aries as it has done during the greater part of
the current Piscean Age. The astronomical rule for determining Easter
is that Easter shall be the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after
the Vernal Equinox.
- Ecclesiastes and the Stars — Aries and Taurus (HTML) »
When the books of the Old Testament were written, astrology was
universally studied and practiced in the schools which then existed; it
was taught as a sacred science and a phase of religion. The wise men
of the Temples knew it as the mother science of occultism and as one
of the keys to Initiation, and this it still is today. One of the most important exercises for occult Illumination is to "follow the Sun" in its
annual circuit of the twelve signs of the Zodiac and realizing oneself
as the Divine Attribute which each represents and which the Sun vivifies. Thus when the Sun transits the sign Aries, the aspirant identifies
himself with the Divine Attribute of Creative Energy: "I ant that." And
so with the other "mansions" of the Sun, which is the Christ Star of our
solar system. In the ancient Mysteries, the Initiate was always identified
with the "god", or as we would say, the Archangel of the Mystery. Thus
in Egypt the Initiate identified himself with Osiris, or with Isis; in Syria
and Palestine, with Adonis or Ishtar; in Greece, with Dionysus or Semele,
or with Orpheus or Euridice, with Eros or Psyche; and in Christian times,
the Initiate becomes "the Anointed," the Christed One. In Ecclesiastes
the student can follow the Christ Star through the signs of the Zodiac,
learning their mystical meanings, and identifying himself with them
as Christ did, for as the Egyptian aspirants sang, "Thy Attributes are my
attributes!" This is the greatest of all spiritual and metaphysical Mysteries.
- Bible Menu »
Song of Solomon:
- Song of Solomon (KJV) »
- The Song of Solomon (HTML) »
In the long processes of evolutionary development each ego is
born alternately in a masculine or feminine body so that the two poles
of Spirit, which were divided in the separation of Adam and Eve, may
again become equally active and potent in the egoic consciousness.
The masculine pole of Spirit manifests as Will and the feminine as
Imagination. In accordance with the predominance of one or the other
is the physical body male or female. The purpose of incarnating alternately as man and woman is to teach the spirit to express increasingly the
attributes of both poles simultaneously. The symbol of the New Aquarian
Age is, therefore, that of the androgynous figure, which heralds the day
when the spiritual androgyne will be the race type. This is already objectively demonstrated in part in the increasing freedom of women, their
adoption of masculine attire and habits, and a similar trend on the part
of men in the direction of the feminine privileges. Thus the biune
spiritual power is being gradually but surely developed in the mass
consciousness through impacts of experience, for life itself is always
the supreme teacher.
The "old soul," one who has known many earth experiences in
human incarnations, if using a masculine garment will at the same time
exhibit marked feminine characteristics such as gentleness, compassion,
sympathy, tenderness and a deeper appreciation of the beautiful which
flowers variously in the arts.
The "old soul" in feminine incarnation has evolved many masculine
characteristics, such as fearlessness, spiritual courage, a dauntless self-reliance and the attainment represented by St. Paul when he declared:
"None of these things (of the outer world) move me."
This blending of the two poles of Spirit constitutes the Mystic Marriage with which St. John opens his Gospel and its music accompanies
every verse of Solomon's beautiful marriage Song. Veiled for those who
are not yet ready for the Quest under the likeness of a vividly beautiful
human love song, the Song of Solomon is to the illumined a revelation
from the very Holy of Holies, wherein he stands face to face with the
Light Eternal, now no longer seen "as through a glass, darkly," but with
transcendent clearness.
- "My beloved is mine and I am His." (HTML) »
Isaiah:
Jeremiah:
- Jeremiah (KJV) »
- The Prophet of Tears (HTML) »
- The Alchemical Message of Jeremiah (HTML) »
Astrologically, Jeremiah signifies the Autumn Equinox, the Gate of
Libra, sign of the Scales. This is the point where judgment is meted out
and choice must be made between the opposing forces of good and evil.
His theme is that of strange, cold waters and of the darkness that comes
from the north. These figures of speech are representative of the "fan"
of the earth from the warmth and light of summer into the darkness and
cold of winter. Jeremiah reiterates, "The summer is past."
Jeremiah 4:6
Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring
evil from the north, and a great destruction.
Each year the earth reenacts the great cosmic drama of this "fall,"
when nature is wrapped in winter darkness — as is man's soul when he
chooses the way of flesh instead of the way of spirit. Such seasonal
changes will continue until man chooses the path of soul redemption
and changes his mode of living. Then will he find the new City of Zion.
But until he has effected an alchemical blending of the four primary
forces within himself there can be no reconciliation of the elements. "As
above, so below;" also, as below so above! The macrocosm and the
microcosm are one.
- The Law of Causation and Jeremiah (HTML) »
When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem the second time he left
only waste and desolation. All important buildings, including the Temple,
were destroyed. The huge towers and colossal walls which had resisted
five centuries of attack were leveled to the ground. Seventy of the leading
citizens were executed while the remainder were herded into chains for
being sent to Babylon. The poor, the old, the lame, the halt and the
blind were left in Jerusalem. Jeremiah was allowed to choose whether
he would go or remain. Always having chosen the most difficult path,
he cast his lot with the sufferers left amid the ruins. He had predicted
Babylon's victory over Egypt but the people refused to heed his warning
And gave their allegiance to Egypt. When they sought refuge with the
Pharaoh, Jeremiah went with them. At no time did he lose his vision
of the Messiah's coming to establish the Kingdom of Righteousness.
Temporal cities might fall but the celestial city would endure: "In those
days and at that time will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up
unto David . . . In those days . . . shall Jerusalem dwell in safety"
(Jeremiah 33:15, 16). "They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces
thitherward, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." (Jeremiah 50:5)
Lamentations:
- Lamentations (KJV) »
- The Lamentations of Jeremiah (HTML) »
The Nazarites, an esoteric group, were still in possession of inner
teachings concerning things of the spirit. They outlined two paths of
development, namely, the mystical and the occult. The way of the
mystic is the path of faith; it finds expression in teachings of the Church.
Those who follow this line of development build a soul body purer than
snow and whiter than milk. The way of the occultist is the path of
knowledge and good works. Its followers demand an answer to all
matters in doubt and require that the intellect be satisfied before the
heart may speak. Such wear a garment of the soul more "rudy in body
than rubies."
The latter remains the ideal of esoteric Brotherhoods which guide the
evolution of earth, but few there be in the world today who possess any
knowledge of spiritual mysteries. Few there are even among the
so-called
religious leaders who understand the nature of the soul body and the
method of its development, or who make any effort to teach their followers
anything about the subject. And yet, throughout the Bible, the supreme
Textbook for the Western World, teachings pertaining to the soul are
plainly delineated, and Scripture makes clear what a lack of such knowledge means to the human race.
Ezekiel:
- Ezekial (KJV) »
- The Prophet of Ecstatic Vision; Ezekiel's Vision of the Four Recording Angels (HTML) »
From earliest times Chaldean astrology enumerates twelve signs of
the Zodiac. But in Greece Libra was long associated with Virgo — on the
one hand and Scorpio on the other, being designated as the Scales of the
Virgin or the Claws of the Scorpion. Gradually, however, the essential
individuality of the sign won recognition, although it is still true that an
ego under Libra possesses an impulse drawing him toward both the
cool sweetness of Virgo and the glowing intensity of Scorpio. Only when
the Scales cease to swing in the human soul, only when perfect
equilibrium has been attained, can true concord between these three signs
be established.
From Virgo and Libra come the white and red of celestial alchemists:
white for the purity of the Virgin; ruby-red, color of the divine Rose
Garden, for the purified love of Libra. The Hierarchy correlated with
Virgo is that of the Lords of Wisdom; with Libra, that of the Lords
of Individuality; with Scorpio, that of the Lords of Form.
At the dawn of the Earth Period the Hierarchy of Scorpio was given
charge over evolving form; from it came all the factors essential to
physical evolution.
The Lords of Mind are correlated with the constellation of Sagittarius.
They confine their activities to the human life wave only. From their
own auras they emanated the germ of mind so all-important to human
evolution. Theirs is the Path to the Gods.
Archangels belong to Capricorn. They work with the desire nature
of men and animals. They oversee the activities of animal Group Spirits
and of human tribes and races.
Angels make up the Hierarchy of Aquarius. They work with the
etheric or vital sheaths of plants, animals and humans. They are the
agencies of birth in kingdoms that perpetuate their kind.
The twelfth Hierarchy is Pisces, a collective Entity of our own life
wave. As Virgin Spirits we are the Hierarchy of Pisces, and it is our task
to blend the Four Divine Elements into a superhuman or celestial Man.
To summarize: Five Hierarchies work with the spiritual impulses
focused through the eternal cosmic Patterns of the World of God. Seven
Hierarchies assist in the time-space evolution of the four life streams now
progressing through earth-plane experiences: the mineral, vegetable,
animal and human kingdoms. The four fundamentals of God's Power
manifest equally through the celestial Hierarchies grouped into four
Triplicities as follows:
| Fire: |
Air: |
Water: |
Earth: |
| Aries |
Gemini |
Cancer |
Taurus |
| Leo |
Libra |
Scorpio |
Virgo |
| Sagittarius |
Aquarius |
Pisces |
Capricorn |
- Admonition to those in Captivity (HTML) »
All that is created by the Ancient of Ancients can live only by a
male and a female, states the Zohar. This first Adam included within
himself the wisdom and beauty of Sephira, the first woman, for that
Adam was androgynous.
The "Fall" is described by Ezekiel in terms of several ancient nations,
whose doom he predicts: Tyre, Assyria, Jerusalem, Israel and others. All
of these nations are type-figures used to symbolize inner truths.
Ezekiel 31:16, 17
I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him
down to hell with them that descended into the pit: And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drinks water, shall be
comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
They also went down into hell with him, unto them that be slain
with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his
shadow in the midst of the heathen.
The reference is to the axial change of the earth which occurred
with the descent of the Luciferian fire spirits from heaven and affected
our entire planetary system, giving to earth a coat of dust and to men
garments of skin.
- The Vision of the Restoration of Israel; The Vision of the Perfected Temple; Vision of the Holy City — Culmination of the New Race; The Captivity Ends; The Field of Ardath (HTML) »
The present development of mind and heart are fittingly described
by Rabindranath Tagore, one of the greatest of modern poets: "The
heart is a river, the head is but a bridge. The river moves endlessly to the
sea of God. My bridge only spans it at a certain point."
Judah is the heart (Leo); Joseph, the mind (Sagittarius). The
blending of these two powers in man is related to the "breathing of the
four winds." The two segments together form the single pillar in the
Temple of God, "and they shall go no more out;" that is, the Adept is
freed from the wheel of birth and death, being no longer under the compulsion of karma. He may continue to serve humanity in a physical body
or he may confine his activities entirely to higher realms, as the Disciples
of Christ Jesus have done. In the New Testament Peter, James and
John are termed "pillars." This is the origin of the expression "pillars of
the Church."
Esoterically, the Restoration of Israel symbolizes the redemption of
the whole human race from materiality. The valley of dry bones is material
consciousness. Restoration to spiritual life is possible only through the
work of the Holy Ghost (Wisdom or Truth) within man. Similarly, the
union of Judah and Joseph in the New Kingdom refers to spiritual development as a result of this work. The dry bones first put on flesh and
resemble living men, but they are not truly living until they receive the
Breath of Life from God.
- The Vision of the Book; The Vision on the Plain; The Vision of Jerusalem (HTML) »
Inner-plane knowledge is very differently received than is knowledge
in this world. When an embodied teacher speaks, his words are heard
objectively by vibrations in the air entering at the hearer's ear. But in
inner-plane Schools where Teachers speak through living, creative imagination, their words spring up alive in the mind and the soul of a disciple
and become part of the latter's very being.
Hence, the prophet "eats the roll." It is assimilated into his
soul-consciousness just as bread is transmuted by physiological alchemy into
the actual substance of one's body. "And it was in my mouth as honey
for sweetness." The pictures described by the prophet are examples of
the picture-consciousness that humanity will possess in the next great
evolutionary Period, the angelic and Initiate speech with its living pictures and images and their soul-essence or wisdom. Such images are mentioned many places in the Bible.
Spiritual bread is not given to a prophet merely to appease his own
soul-hunger. He must share it with his people. Therefore, after his
enlightenment Ezekiel is commissioned to become a Teacher. No ecstasy
on earth is comparable to that accompanying the reception and dissemination of illuminating spiritual truths. John's experiences described in
Revelation are like those of Ezekiel's ecstatic glory. The latter depicts the
exalted preparation for Christ's coming while St. John's vision pertains
to His Second Coming.
In order to do the work required of a spiritual Teacher the Will
principle — having its focus in the frontal sinus — must be brought to a
very high stage of development. Ezekiel is told: "Behold, I have made
thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their
foreheads. As an adamant, harder than flint, have I made thy forehead:
fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a
rebellious house." (Ezekiel 3:8,9)
Daniel:
- Daniel (KJV) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Daniel 12 (PDF) »
- The Second Vision: The Ancient of Days; The Third Vision: The Son of Man (HTML) »
- Initiations — The Trial of the Lion's Den (HTML) »
- The Fourth Vision: The Handwriting on the Wall (HTML) »
Babylon was one of the most beautiful cities the world has ever
seen. Its magnificence was unrivaled at the time and has never since
been surpassed. Archeologists have discovered the ruins of a mighty
Temple, the entrance of which was composed of stately columns while
surrounding it were twenty-seven spacious chambers. It is thought that
one of these great halls was used by Belshazzar for his memorable feast.
The splendor of this banquet, with its throngs of guests, its flowers, the
flowing of heavily perfumed wines and the wild abandonment of
merry-making, has long been a favorite theme for artists and poets. It was while
this luxurious orgy was at its height that the mysterious hand appeared
upon the wall and wrote in a mystic script: "MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
UPHARSIN" — "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting ... Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
- The Sixth Vision: The Archangel Gabriel; The Seventh Vision: The Time of the End (HTML) »
- The Second Vision: The Son of God (HTML) »
- The First Vision: The Image (HTML) »
- The Fifth Vision: The Vision of Weeks (HTML) »
- The Fourth Vision: The Ram and the Goat (HTML) »
When reading in the Memory of Nature records of the past and
archetypes of the future evolution of continents, nations and races, an
Initiate also investigates the causes underlying the evolution and their
method of unfoldment. He sees the terrific battle constantly being waged
between the forces of good and the powers of evil; he sees, too, the
ultimate victory of good. These opposing forces are represented by the
ram and the goat.
Matthew describes the same finale: "When the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon
the throne of his glory: And he shall set the sheep on the right hand,
but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on the right
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:31,33,34)
- The Initiate Visions of Daniel — First Vision: The Four Beasts (HTML) »
After an Initiate has successfully passed the Dweller on the Threshold
and, purity having been found in him, has gained control of that phantom,
he is conducted by a spiritual Teacher to the Hall of Initiation. The
various Schools or Temples of Initiation are not spatial in any sense. It
may be said of them, as of the Castle of the Grail, that they are in no
particular place but can be discovered and reached in all places. There
are certain areas upon the earth's surface which correspond to great
magnetic vortices that penetrate to earth's very core, and in these districts are usually located the Mystery Schools. Jerusalem is such an area,
so the Chaldean-Persian Mysteries were destined to be transplanted
westward into that new land. Second Ezra took the Persian Initiations.
On the outer plane and with the help of various prophets of the Restoration, he established the visible Temple of Zion. Daniel, an illumined
Initiate of both Chaldea and Persia, accompanied this activity on inner
planes and helped to establish the invisible Temple there.
- Daniel in Babylon; Initiation by Fire (HTML) »
- The Visions of the King (HTML) »
The temptation to use institutions devoted to spiritual ideals for
purposes of political intrigue and for the satisfaction of personal ambition
is one that every aspirant must face sooner or later. The commercialization of religious institutions or their prostitution by politicians has been,
and still may be, the bane of Christendom. Even modern occult schools
are not immune to this crystallizing and destructive influence, as is revealed in the struggle for authority and wealth going on in many of them.
The appearance of a true spiritual Teacher is not welcomed by psychic
careerists, so Daniel was unwelcome to the false seers of Nebuchadnezzar's court. Throughout the Book of Daniel we will see how his
defeated rivals, most of whom were failures on the Path of Initiation,
continue to harass him and repeatedly endeavor to undermine his
prestige. They even succeed for a time.
The Bible narrative clearly points out that Daniel surpassed the
Chaldean diviners in their own wisdom, achieving honor through merit.
His loyalty to the king is shown throughout, whereas history points the
finger of suspicion at Babylonian priests in connection with treachery
that enabled Cyrus to conquer the city by night. In Daniel's words to
the king, esotericists see the integrity of a supremely gifted minister of
the State. He may be better understood if compared with the more
recent Nostradamus, a Roman Catholic of Jewish descent who is celebrated as the greatest prophet of Christian Europe and whose prophetic
verses stand as a genuine apocalyptic work. Daniel may also be compared with those medieval Jewish kabbalists who, through their studies,
became convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the promised
Messiah and therefore confessed Christianity. So often was this the case
that the Jewish Orthodox Church finally eschewed the kabbalah as a
pernicious influence. As a result it remained almost wholly in Gentile
hands until recent years.
- The Third Vision: The Tree (HTML) »
Hosea:
- Hosea (KJV) »
- The Prophet of Love and Mercy (HTML) »
The horse (as the centaur it is the symbol of Sagittarius) represents
the lower nature and also a new cycle — hence, the winged horse Pegasus
of Grecian mythology. Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, who was lost
in bondage for so long, was at length found in a position of glory and
high honor as the Pharaoh-appointed ruler of Egypt, land of darkness
(materiality). This aptly exemplifies the different steps in the redemptive
processes of the mind. It is therefore most fitting that astrologers have
assigned Sagittarius to Joseph. Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim,
portray perfectly the two aspects of mind, the masculine and feminine,
the higher and lower, the abstract and concrete, the spiritual and material. It is the lifting or spiritualizing of the lower or feminine aspect
of mind—referred to so often in the song of Hosea as Ephraim — that constitutes the great work before the post-Atlantean, or Fifth Root Race people in the world today.
Joel:
- Joel (KJV) »
- The Prophet of the Locust Plague (HTML) »
Metaphysicians frequently comment upon the correspondences existing between biblical plagues and evil forces in human nature. On the
physical plane these correspondences may seem to an unillumined person
mere figures of speech, allegories without any foundation in fact. Yet
there are some individuals who have developed the faculty for seeing
thought-forms created by man's evil emotions and imaginings, and for
tracing them in their gradual condensation through the ethers until they
appear upon the physical plane as plagues of various kinds. Microscopic entities, scientifically designated as microbes, are both visible
and tangible to interior vision. Not infrequently persons having very
slight development of their etheric senses see the astral larvae which
swarm in the lower regions of the desire world.
It is no coincidence, therefore, that plagues accompany wars and
mass injustices of every sort. Each type of evil produces a specific plague-form; the most frequent and general is, of course, the ordinary cold
germ which is an expression of fear or hate. Whether of the body, mind,
or soul, courage is its best antidote.
Thought-forms generated by malicious gossip are wasp-like, while
well meant but thoughtless gossip appears in the desire world as swarms
of gnats and mosquito-like insects. These creatures have also been
described as tiny grotesque and misshapen bird-forms, consisting of
nothing more than a tuft of feathers and a sharp bill that attacks the aura
of a victim. Swedenborg's statement that locusts signify the sensual in
man is borne out by the vision of many a Seer. Locusts of inner planes
do not always have the same form as those of the outer, but there is a
definite similarity in type. The locusts so graphically described by Joel
correlate with the fire force in man: with its misuse and the consequences thereof.
Amos:
- Amos (KJV) »
- Books Of The Prophets — From the Kingdom's Division to the Fall of Sumaria; Prophet of Social Righteousness (HTML) »
Obadiah:
Jonah:
- Jonah (KJV) »
- A Study in Values — Jonah and Peter (PDF) »
- Jonah's Initiation: The Mystic Three Days; The Vision of Unity (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Jonah 1 (PDF) »
- Prophet of the Piscean Initiation; The Test of Selflessness (HTML) »
Occultly considered, the story of Jonah and the whale is an allegory
of the process of Initiation as known to us in our present Piscean or
Christian Dispensation, the Age of the Fish. It was this knowledge which
caused early Christians to inscribe the symbol of two fishes in so many
places upon the walls of the catacombs in Rome. Many of those who
inscribed this sign upon the walls had passed through an experience
similar to that of Jonah — Trial by Water, one of the most difficult for a
neophyte to come through in safety because it means unloosing thu
anarchistic forces of the subconscious in which primitive impulses are
confined. By his own will a neophyte opens the doors of the great Deep.
He must be prepared for the up-rushing powers of subconscious evil
formerly held in confinement by the beneficent protection of his
Guardian Angel, who now withdraws his hand.
A Guardian Angel, personification of the Race Spirit, stands in the
relationship of a parent to individual egos comprising the race. So long
as one is content to be led in childlike obedience by this racial Oversoul,
there is no conflict between his conscious and subconscious. When,
however, he takes his evolution into his own hands, as is done in Initiation,
he severs the bond ("cable tow") between himself and the Race Spirit.
The Angel then relinquishes its guardianship over the gates of the individual's "hell," leaving, it free to rise into the full light of consciousness.
Not infrequently a neophyte is unable to cope with these blind forces of
his own subconscious and he becomes mentally or morally unbalanced or
the victim, of serious social maladjustment. Schools of Initiation were
instituted that neophytes might have help when they stand most in need
of it, and in such wise as not to hinder their development into completely
self-reliant individuals. Blessed are those who have learned the lesson
of selflessness before that need arrives, for Love casteth out fear and
enables a candidate to overcome through transmutation those dark
powers dwelling under the Threshold.
Micah:
Nahum:
Habakkuk:
- Habakkuk (KJV) »
- The Prophet of Freedom; Obadiah — The Servant of God; The Prophets of the Exile — Beginning of the Captivity (HTML) »
An experience similar to the prophet's comes to every aspirant when
he first glimpses something of the purpose and plan of life, and is conscious of the great verities and the unity underlying creation. His faith
is not yet equal to his vision, consequently he has many "dark nights of
the soul" so familiar to the mystic. There comes a torturing realization
of how far man has departed from spiritual realities, and in anguish of
soul he cries out, "Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine
Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast Established them for correction.
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest
thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous
than he." (Habakkuk 1:12-13)
The aspirant Who is faithful will be guided, as was Habakkuk, to
the Gates of Light where his questions will be answered and his mission
of righting evil will be made plain: "And the Lord answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it
shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely
come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright
in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:2-4)
Every disciple comes to accept the fact that it is only through the
action of the twin Laws of Rebirth and Causation, the basis of all
evolutionary progress, that the inequalities and injustices of life can be
satisfactorily adjusted. Only in the action of these Laws is God found
to be both the Lord of Love and the Lord of justice.
Zephaniah:
- Zephaniah (KJV) »
- The Prophet of New Beginnings; Nahum — The Dramatic Prophet (HTML) »
Esoterically considered, this prophecy relates to the law underlying
all national causation. As a man must reap what he has sown, so, too,
must a nation — a bitter lesson now being brought home to mankind. The
same law applies to both. The word Huzzab means decreed, ordained.
Any nation or people which loses the sense of social justice and equality,
and places ease and pleasure above duty and responsibility, will inevitably
suffer downfall. The just Law of Causation has brought about the rise
and fall of civilizations. On inner planes certain Masters await for the
rise of a nation that will demonstrate righteous living, that will lift the
standard of righteousness above the demands of self-interest and spiritual
values above materiality. Such a nation must replace temporal things
with things eternal, and exalt as the chief aim and purpose of life, the
quest for Truth. Only a civilization fulfilling these requirements can
endure. In anticipation of its coming, Nahum sings: "Behold upon the
mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feast, perform thy vows: for the wicked
shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cast off." (Nahum 1:15).
Haggai:
- Haggai (KJV) »
- Build Ye the Temple — Completion of the Second Temple; Ezra's Second Visit to Jerusalem (HTML) »
Zechariah:
- Zechariah (KJV) »
- Zechariah, Prophet of the Apocalypse; The Initiate Visions of Zechariah — The First Vision: The Angelic Horsemen; The Second Vision: The Four Horns and the Four Builders (HTML) »
- The Third Vision: The Temptation of Joshua; The Fourth Vision: Zerubbabel and His Initiation (HTML) »
All great Initiates body forth the development that spiritual evolution
will eventually accomplish in the race as a whole. They are the first fruits
of the evolutionary tree, so we therefore call them prototypes. For this
reason the Book of Zechariah, although concerned primarily with
Zechariah's own Illumination and with the Initiation of Zerubbabel, is
also descriptive of the earth and mankind in the future Capricornian Age.
Man will then be Christed, or anointed with the Christ powers. The
masses will experience the birth of the Christ Within while pioneers,
under Cancer, will receive higher Initiations and thus be able to follow
the Christ into His own home world, the high heaven of Life Spirit, or
Universal Christ Consciousness.
In the work of Initiation going forward in spiritual Temples on the
inner planes there is a definite correspondence with outer movements of
the universe. Thus, the first seven of the nine Lesser Mysteries correlate
with the seven days of the week; the eighth correlates with the Solstices
and the ninth with the Equinoxes. The first Great Initiation confers
Adeptship and relates to penetration into the innermost secrets of the
earth. Yet all this is but a prelude to the Great Work. Adeptship having
been attained in the first Great Initiation, three more Great Initiations
follow wherein an Adept comes to know the All Highest, not by reflections in Nature but face to face. Finally he enters the White Light of
the Supreme and "goes no more out" into embodiment, having become
one with his Source.
- The Seventh Vision: The Stag; The Eighth Vision: The Four Chariots (PDF) » (HTML) »
By right use of his dual powers man may become a god. By their
misuse, their betrayal, he becomes, in the words of Emerson, "a god in
ruins," the two columns supporting his spiritual world being broken.
Israel is feminine; Judah, masculine — as shown in the biblical
"daughter of Israel" and "Lion of Judah." True affection and equality
between man and woman have not existed on the earth plane since early
Atlantean times. The New Age demands equilibrium; hence, a new place
for woman. Boaz, the column of Beauty, must be lifted up. When this
has been accomplished, the column of Bands (Unity, the binding together in brotherhood) will also be set upright. These two columns will
be the pillars of a new civilization that will flourish in righteousness and
beauty throughout the earth. Man and woman will walk hand in hand
politically, economically, spiritually. They will be blessed and sustained
by the loving protection of a masculine-feminine Father-Mother-God.
Such will be the humanity and the civilization to which the Christ will
return. In preparation for this Event Zechariah the Seer commands that
the thirty pieces of silver be cast to the potter in the house of the Lord
(Law).
- The Ninth Vision: The Holy City (HTML) »
- The Fifth Vision: The Two Olive Trees and the Golden Candlestick; The Sixth Vision: The Women in the Ephah (HTML) »
From an historical viewpoint, the two olive trees "that stand by the Lord" refer to Joshua and Zerubbabel. But there is also an initiatory interpretation pertaining to the alchemy of the two nervous systems, which
play such an important part in human regeneration. The sympathetic
nervous system is the stronghold of the vital body, or life forces, the
desire body having seized control of the cerebro-spinal system. As the
contibl of the nerves of both the cerebro-spinal and the sympathetic
nervous systems, the powers of which are greatly augmented. The
neophyte then becomes aware of ethereal, but mighty, forces pouring
purification process goes forward the universal Life Spirit attains to
through Nature in great tides. Being aware of them, he is able to use them
advantageously in creating a more perfect world and in achieving
Illumination for himself. The cerebro-spinal system is predominately the
channel for the masculine (positive) forces of creation on the material
plane; the sympathetic is predominantly the channel for the feminine
(negative) forces. When a harmonious balance is attained between them,
neither one nor the other being dominant, Love and Reason function
together as a unit. This balance is described in the words of Zechariah:
"These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole
earth."
Malachi:
The Kabbalah:
- Letters, Numbers, Ciphers and Codes — Basic Principles (HTML) »
- The Kabbalah: Religion for the Astronomer (HTML) »
The Kabbalah, difficult and abstruse as
its teachings seem at
first to be, is readily understood against an astronomical
background. The Babylonians spoke of a Tree of the Cosmos, in
which the birds — planets and spirits-flew from branch to branch.
Far back into Sumero-Akkadian times the basis of an
astronomical religion, a religion of astronomers, was laid. The
Annunaki, spirits of heaven, were not merely demons and
elemental spirits but whole hierarchies of angels. The Egyptians
spoke of the Tree of the Gods in their Visible Forms and an
Ennead, or Nine Great Gods. In Babylonia the Tree was an
ancient cedar or cypress or palm tree; in Egypt it was a
sycamore, palm or acacia. Other nations named other trees
according to size, vigor and healing properties. The silver fir is
one of the most sacred. And so in the Kabbalah there is the
great Cosmic Tree called the Tree of Life, as being the selfsame
Tree which grew and still grows in Paradise.
- The Seven Holy Names of God and the Tetragrammaton (HTML) »
- The Letters of Flame (HTML) »
- The Hebrew Alphabet: A Series of Cosmic Glyphs — The First Septenary: Aleph Through Zain (HTML) »
The path downward into materiality is called Involution. The
Will principle initiates this involutionary trend and, again, when
the nadir of involution has been reached, it is the Will principle
that declares, "Now I will arise and return to my Father's
house." The Will which cooperates passively with the celestial
Hierarchies, obeying and carrying out their behests, is the
negative pole of the Will principle, and this is all that is active in
Involution. When Evolution begins, however, it is the positive
aspect of the Will principle that is awake and active, as the
Virgin-Spirit-as-Ego takes charge of its own cosmic career,
working its way up out of materiality to join the Hierarchies of
celestial Beings, a Son of God among the other Sons of God.
- The Hebrew Alphabet: The Second Septenary: Cheth through Nun (HTML) »
- The Hebrew Alphabet: The Third Septenary: Samekh through Schin (HTML) »
- The Hebrew Alphabet: The Twenty-Second Letter: Tav or Tau (HTML) »
Apocryphal Masonic legends ascribe the Books of Tau and
the symbolic T to Methusael, the descendant of Cain, as we
learned in our study of the letter Teth, which is also T in sound;
and we reviewed the story of Hiram Abiff, the Master Architect
of Solomon's Temple, who plunged through the raging molten
sea to the center of the earth where he met his ancestor
Tubal-Cain and received from him a disk and a hammer, with
which he returned to the surface of the earth and completed his
masterpiece. Afterward he was attacked by three ruffians, but
succeeded in throwing into a well the golden plate upon which
was inscribed the Master's Word, which was thus lost.
Rosicrucian legends state that Hiram Abiff was reborn as
Lazarus, taking the name of John in Initiation, and becoming
the author of the Fourth Gospel. Only in John's Gospel do we
have the story of the raising of Lazarus, and only there does
Mary Magdalen receive the supreme honor of being first to see
the Risen Christ.
- Parable of the Letters (HTML) »
All ancient mystic teachers used the symbolism of the mirror
to explain or elucidate the mysteries of the created universe in
relation to its archetype in the heaven worlds. And so it is that
we find the letter-angels appearing before the Divine Face as in a
mirror which is yet empty of images, with Tau, the last letter
advancing first, "The first shall be last, and the last first."
Historically we note that Hebrew is written from right to
left, hence the letter-angels who appear before God in reverse
order, from T to A, suggest an opposite arrangement, such as we
find in the Greek alphabet, which uses the same letters but
writes them from left to right, which is the case in English also.
We are reminded of Lucian's satire on the trial of the letters in
the court of the vowels, quoted in another place, which was
evidently inspired by just such mystical playing with letters as
we find in this parable.
- A Comparative Study of the Bible and the Tarot — Tarot Origins (HTML) »
- The Tarot: The First Septenary of Arcana (HTML) »
- The Tarot: The Second Septenary of Arcana (HTML) »
- The Tarot: The Third Septenary of Arcana (HTML) »
- The Tarot: The Twenty-Second Arcanum: The Fool (HTML) »
As stated at the outset of our exploration of the Tarot
mysteries, the Tarot, like the Bible and other Wisdom Books,
outlines in symbol the steps and stages of the Path of Initiation
or Illumination, forewarning of trials and temptations,
foreshowing triumphs and delights. They represent for the
modern neophyte an ideographic approach to the inner worlds,
and their ideograms reach back into nameless epochs of past
evolution, back to the dawn of human consciousness when the
germ of mind was given to primitive man by cosmic
Hierophants. The first Temples of Initiation were built for man
when he became a "thinking animal," and there were as many
of these Temples built, in various parts of the world, as there
were kinds of people who needed them. Yet the basic Teaching
was always and everywhere the same, though adapted to varying
conditions in human life-both external and internal — to the
outward conditions of space and time, to the inward conditions
of heredity and the spirit's urge toward perfection.
- Sayings of Christ Correlated with the Tarot (HTML) »
- Outline of the Path as Symbolized in the Hebrew Letters of the 119th Psalm and the Tarot — Songs of Initiation and Their Alphabetical Keys (HTML) »
- The Arcana and Hebrew Letters of the 119th Psalm: The First Septenary, Aleph-Zain (HTML) »
Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the
number 1; it is representative of the secret God-power
manifesting in man, and correlates with the first Tarot card of
the Major Arcana. This card shows the Master or Magus, the
Wise One, who is described in the early chapters of Genesis as
man made in the image and likeness of God — the supreme ideal
toward which all the spiritual philosophers of the world have
ever aspired.
We have stated previously that the Path of Initiation is
divided into three parts, the parts denoting the three classes of
disciples — first, the Neophytes; second, the Disciples; third, those
who have been found worthy to part the veil and enter the Holy
of Holies, the Initiates. In many schools the threefold divisions
are named Studentship, Probationship and Discipleship;
Initiation being the full flowering of the third degree.
- The Arcana and Hebrew Letters of the 119th Psalm: The Second Septenary, Cheth – Nun (HTML) »
The Eighth Tarot card, called Justice, shows a female figure
seated on a throne. Three steps lead up to the throne. They
typify the three worlds in which man's evolution currently
proceeds. Her Law governs all life in the three worlds, both
during physical incarnation and after death, between
incarnations. Upon her head she wears an iron crown. Her eyes
are bandaged, showing that Divine Law is impartial and
impersonal. In one hand she holds an uplifted sword, the
weapon of retribution, in the other the balance or scales, by
which justice is meted out with accuracy. This Tarot signifies
the Twin Laws of Rebirth and Causation.
It is only in the understanding of the Twin Laws that a
reasonable answer is found to all the inequalities and apparent
injustices which we see about us; the good things of life heaped
upon one who has seemingly done nothing to deserve them,
while another who to all appearances is noble and deserving of
the best spends an entire life time in a fruitless quest for the
good things of life which seem always to elude him. But as St.
Paul says, "We see in part, we know in part-but when that
which is perfect is come (meaning a full understanding truth),
then that which is in part shall be done away. For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then, face to face."
- The Arcana and Hebrew Letters of the 119th Psalm: The Third Septenary, Samekh-Schin (HTML) »
Comparatively few persons even in this modem day
understand the tremendous power of thought and the need that
it be used constructively. The Bible says, "As a man thinketh in
his heart, so is he." And so he will certainly become. It is
possible to think one's self into health and prosperity. Young
children should be taught these things and be led into habits of
constructive mental image-making.
The occult scientist knows that the physical body, seen by
physical vision, is not the only "body" which the ego possesses.
He has finer vehicles — etheric, astral, mental and spiritual — which
can only be studied by means of higher or extended vision. He
understands that this earth planet also has similar envelopes, or
shields, in addition to the physical sphere upon which humanity
lives. It is in the mental envelope or body of the planet that we
plant our thought seed. If planted by a strong will and powerful,
vivid imagination, these seeds grow and influence not only those
who have planted them but others who are thinking on the same
subjects. Thus we may note the great blessings wrought through
the lives of such souls as St. Francis of Assisi, whose thought
seems to have inspired and influenced all generations since his
time. A modern example is Mahatma Gandhi. An opposite
picture is shown by dictators and war lords. Any individual who
dreams of world domination can be powerfully influenced by
the seed-thoughts planted in the mental realm by such
characters.
- The Arcana and Hebrew Letters of the 119th Psalm: The Twenty-Second Letter, Tau (HTML) »
In Christian esotericism the Path of Initiation is called the
Way of the Cross. It has a meaning which is close to that of
Lamed, the Hanged Man, yet there are differences. Lamed hangs
head downward. Tau is the elevated cross upon which the Just
Man is raised aloft. "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto
me.
The Hanged Man of Lamed is also the symbol of the holy
martyr, personified in the New Testament record in St. Peter,
who was crucified head downward at his own request. There is
an ancient teaching that God will accept the martyrdom of
certain holy ones in order that a remnant may escape the
retribution demanded by cosmic law. Moses was not willing that
even one of his Israelites should be blotted from the book of
life and offered himself to die in their place, even though he
knew that they had been disobedient and faithless. This is the
doctrine of the Faithful Shepherd, most beautifully fulfilled in
the Birth, Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord Christ Jesus.
Whether in the fashion of Lamed with head downward, the
martyr with calm visage whose blood drops like gold upon the
earth, or the fashion of the cross elevated on Golgotha where
the Son of God is raised against the sky for all men to behold,
the Crucifixion represents the ultimate and complete
self-conquest — not defeat, but victory!
- The Number One (HTML) »
- The Number Two (HTML) »
- The Number Three (HTML) »
The equilateral triangle is a symbol of perfection, for it
contains the father and mother principles, or the 1 and the 2 in
harmonious proportion. The true and eternal purpose of
evolution is to perfect this equilibrium or polarity in man. The
supreme object of nature, therefore, is the proper blending of
the qualities of 1 and 2 to the end that it may produce as a
result the Christed individual. In Masonic ceremonialism this fact
is represented by the Sun, Moon and Mercury, or the Master of
the Lodge. Note, also, that the Masonic Wisdom has placed the
letter G in the center of the equilateral triangle. In some
symbologies the Hebrew letter Yod, the tenth letter of the
alphabet, is used instead of the letter G. In each instance, the
letter is representative of the innate creative power through
which all things are produced upon all planes of manifestation.
- The Number Four (HTML) »
- The Number Five (HTML) »
The life and works of the apostle Paul are indicative of the
powers of 5. Says Paul: "It doth not yet appear what we shall
be." These words are particularly applicable to 5, the true
symbol of which is the Pentagram, the five pointed star. Five
has been called the dual number because it represents the two
natures, the higher and the lower, which contend for supremacy
in the life of man. The victory of the higher or spiritual nature
over the lower is beautifully illustrated in the life of Paul, the
change resulting in the adoption of another name, Saul, which
became Paul, the former name representing in his case the lower
man. In his awakened spiritual state he could no longer endure
the vibratory impacts of the name Saul. The letter 'P' or 'Phe' in
Hebrew, is symbolical of light, and is represented pictorially by
a star.
In the struggle between the two conflicting natures, the
person coming under 5 must contend with a nervous, restless
energy. His environment undergoes constant change. Life being
his supreme teacher, he is brought into touch with many places,
personalities, and problems, each and all of which yield their
quota of experience and supply an abundance of material out of
which to extract the qualities that make for wisdom, character,
and the growth of the soul.
- The Number Six (HTML) »
No teacher has ever taught more beautifully or more
decisively of the numbers in relation to human life than did the
Master Himself. The Parable of the Laborers; Matthew, twentieth
chapter, is recommended to the student for careful meditation.
In this parable the Master deals with the spiritual operation of
the numbers 3, 6, 9, and 11 in their relation to human life, the
primary urge of each being a return to unity, an atonement with
the divine. The "wages" for which the laborers worked were 1.
Three is the first perfect number and has to do with the
upliftment of spirit, soul, and body. Six signifies beauty and
harmony established through the magnetic law of
equilibrium. This is represented in the Kaballah as Tipherath, the light which
shineth no longer in the darkness. It is the light which comes
with the attainment realized during the "mystic span of 33
years" previously mentioned. Nine trebles the forces of 3; under
that triune power the three principles of man comprising the
body, the soul, and the spirit, are united into a single
functioning unit. Each of these three principles is triune in its
nature. The threefold body (physical, etheric, and astral) is
joined to the three-aspected spirit (created in the likeness of the
triune God), and these united trinities bring into being the soul,
the essence of experience garnered by the spirit when incarnate
in form and this soul is also of a threefold power corresponding
with the two trinities of body and spirit from the coupled
activities of which it comes into being. Ultimately the 3 plus 3
powers of body and soul will be absorbed by the threefold spirit
which will then possess the powers of 3 plus 3 plus 3 or 9. In
these facts we have the reason for considering 9 the number
both of humanity and of Initiation.
- The Number Seven (HTML) »
- The Number Eight (HTML) »
Eight is the highest feminine number of the entire series. It
is the number of the feminine in exaltation, referred to
sometimes by esoteric numerologists as the number of the
Double Feminine. In keeping with this signification it is the
symbol of awakened and developed soul faculties of the highest
type. An 8 is one in whom the still small voice ever speaks
clearly. It is the number of intuition par excellence.
The Book of Exodus is keyed to 8. The paramount message
of this Book is found in the words: "I was never disobedient to
the heavenly vision." These words are descriptive of 8. Those
who come under the rulership of this number rise easily above
the material and claim their own amidst the things of the
spiritual. Eight is the number of the resurrection into a higher
consciousness and a new manner of living. It is the power of the
divinity within which leads man, as represented by the children
of Israel, out of Egypt, the symbolical land of materiality ruled
over by Pharaoh, the power of this world, and into a land
wherein they no longer function under bestial bondage but
under the laws of God. The highway of spirit is definitely
pointed out in this illuminating record of a God-guided people.
It outlines the steps on the path of soul attainment. It offers
truly an exodus from the old, the finite, and the personal, into
the Promised Land of the New Age, wherein freedom, equality,
soul comradeship and cosmic knowing, all of which are
key-words of 8, will be generally realized.
- The Number Nine (HTML) »
Nine has special significance for humanity since it is the
number principally governing its evolution. Around the power of
9 the cyclic progress of man revolves. That 9 is the number of
the evolution of present humanity is borne out by two numbers
in the Book of Revelation, a book which indeed reveals
mysteries. These two numbers are 666 and 144,000. Both
reduce to 9. The former is the number of the Beast, the
unregenerate nature of man that wars against his higher nature,
the mortality that must put on immortality. The latter number,
144,000, is the number of the redeemed. They comprise all who
bear the mark of God upon their foreheads and chant hosannas
in their joy of having found the peace that resides at the heart
of their divine Selfhood.
Since all humanity experiences the downward draw of the
lower nature and the upward pull of the higher self, it is clear
that 666, the Beast, and 144,000, the Regenerated, apply not to
a single dragon nor to a specific group of individuals but that
they are numerical symbols for powers operating in all
humanity, and that both numbers reducing to 9 point to it as
the major vibratory power governing human evolution. It makes
it clear that this number relates both to the mortal and the
immortal, the terrestrial and the celestial aspects of man.
- The Number Ten (HTML) »
- The Number Eleven (HTML) »
In the mystic series of initiatory signposts, the Hebrew
alphabet, the eleventh of its 22 letters if Kaph, which is
represented by a maiden closing the mouth of a Lion.
Astrologically interpreted, the maiden is Virgo, the Lion, Leo.
(The 5th and 6th signs equals 11). Spiritually, Virgo correlates
to the feminine principle; Leo the masculine. On the physical
plane the masculine dominates the feminine but in the
alchemical processes of regeneration, the feminine overcomes
this disability. The feminine pole of the spirit is then brought
into perfect balance with the masculine. In terms of masonic
symbolism, the fallen column of the two which stand at the
entrance to the Temple is restored to its upright position.
Equilibrium, the soul name for 11, is accomplished.
- The Numbers Twelve and Thirteen (HTML) »
- Healing and Disease in the Light of Rebirth and the Stars (HTML) »
Permanent healing necessitates a removal of conditions
that cause disease. Those conditions go beyond the physical, usually originating anterior to the present earth life.
They have to do with the mental and emotional life of
man; they are the result of some kind of disobedience,
willful or ignorant, of cosmic law. This truth was made
plain by Christ Jesus when He asked His disciples: "For
whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to
say, Arise, and walk?"
Disease is rooted in sin, and sin is deviation from the
perfect law. It is not, therefore, an arbitrary punishment
meted out to disobedient man by an offended Deity, but
the inevitable result of violations against Nature's true and
wholesome ways. Being out of harmony with the laws of
life, disease appears and serves as a warning to the offender that the restoration of health necessitates conformity to the divine order. In his way it becomes man's
enlightener, painful only because he will not, for the most
part, learn except through first-hand, sorrowful experiences. When he comes to recognize these truths and makes the necessary corrections and readjustments by
which the causes of sickness are removed, the ill effects
disappear and permanent healing becomes an established
condition.
- The Archetype or The Heavenly Pattern of The Human Body (HTML) »
- The Immaculate Conception (HTML) »
Cosmically, the archetypal forces are the life essence
poured out by that Great Being known as the Holy Ghost,
Jehovah. The Angels are His messengers in this work.
Western Wisdom teaches us that Jehovah's "world" is
this same Third Heaven or "Chaos," from which all Creation came forth when spirit moved upon its "waters;" for these are the "waters" in which Life germinates, as
Idea. They are the home world of human Spirits or Egos;
but only the most advanced Egos remain there any length
of time before descending to rebirth. For the great majority, this Heaven is virtually non-existent.
When an Ego begins its descent for rebirth, its first
task is building the archetype in the Second Heaven, by
means of the two archetypal forces. If the Ego has wasted
its life substance in "riotous living" in previous incarnations, it must necessarily fashion the heavenly pattern for a new body from a minimum of creative force-substance
(the two terms are almost interchangeable in spiritual
realms), and this will be reflected in a physical vehicle of
impaired vitality. Thus, the Spirit learns through painful
limitations the error of its previous indiscretions. This
limitation lasts until the Ego has, by living in harmony
with cosmic Law, again attracted a sufficiency of creative
life essence to strengthen the lines of force that are rayed
through the archetypal pattern, and so determine its
strength and beauty.
The sin against the Holy Ghost is unforgivable in that
it must be expiated through suffering until a sufficient
supply of divine life essence has been accumulated to compensate for what was lost through wrongdoing. It is the greatest of all sins in that it is a desecration of the pure
Christ force within man, the force which unites him with
the spiritual universe, and without which all creation
would be resolved once more into "Chaos and old night."
- Prenatal Adventures of the Human Spirit (HTML) »
When the Ego has fully assimilated the experiences
of its last Earth incarnation, it has reached the highest of
the three heavens in which human consciousness is active
at this time. The Third Heaven is a world of pure spirit,
and the Ego which has risen out of the worlds of form
exists there in human spirit only, for the "seeds" or
"germinal ideas" are there only in latency. It is there that
the Four Celestial Guardians who have charge of the
cosmic records, Taurus-Scorpio and Leo-Aquarius, accord
the Earth-directed Ego permission to view the spiritual
outline of the life to come and the principal events thereof
by which it may work out another part of its destiny and
liquidate karmic debts accumulated during previous Earth
sojourns.
Note that what the Ego sees at this time is only the
outline of the coming incarnation; it must by its own
initiative supply all details. This panoramic preview of
the approaching earth life, with the decisions the Ego
forms concerning it, makes an indelible impression upon
the consciousness which can never be quite forgotten and
accounts for the, vague and haunting familiarity which
ofttimes accompanies many of our high moments and vivid
experiences in life. Sensitives, even those not able to
see, often feel that they have lived through certain
incidents, somewhere, sometime.
- Physiological Processes Spiritually Interpreted (HTML) »
- Ye Are the Temple of the Living God (HTML) »
The human body and the way of its regeneration is
the theme of every book in both the Old and New Testaments. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness, the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel, the Holy City of Ezekiel, and of
the Seer of Patmos, each has its parallel in the human
organism. Christ Jesus Himself said, "Destroy this temple
and in three days I will raise it up again," and the Disciples knew that He was referring to the body-temple.
The plan, structure, measurements and materials of
the Tabernacle, which is the prototype for both the City
and Temple of Jerusalem, all have significance in relation
to the body and inner nature of man. So, too, do the objects contained within it. The Ark typifies the divine Spirit that dwells within the temple; the golden pot of
Manna (the purified heart), with its white wafers made
of honey, symbolizes the sacred life force in man which,
when conserved and transmuted, elevates him to the status
of the superman. Aaron's Rod that budded represents the
life force lifted up through the spinal cord to the head
and the unfolding therein of spiritual centers of perception. The Tables of the Law symbolize the positive and negative forces centered in the seed atom of the
bodies of man. The Seven-branched Candlestick represents the seven
principles in man which relate him to The seven planes of
Being. The twelve loaves of Shrewbread have reference to
the bread of life produced under the action of the twelve
zodiacal signs, each of which governs that part of the body
of man corresponding to their activity in the Solar Man.
They also represent, anatomically, the twelve cranial nerves
through the sensitization of which man awakens to the
great work of Transmutation. The Altar of Burnt Offering
symbolizes the sacrifice of fleshly desires; the Laver of
Consecration, the processes of purification which result
in the spiritualization of the mind and its consequent union
with Spirit.
Paul declared, "Ye are the temple of the living God,"
and it is the dictum of Paracelsus that "there is only one
anatomy worth studying and this is the kind in which
occult science can assist."
- The Two Nervous Systems and Their Relationship to Spiritual Development (HTML) »
In the ancient Mysteries the Initiate was taught how
to lull the voluntary nervous system to sleep and then to
dip down into the sympathetic where he would see, as in
a state of luminosity, the silent workings of mighty cosmic
laws. This was right and proper in most ancient times, before the mind was sufficiently awakened to make the positive development possible; but by the thousandth year
before Christ, in the middle of the Arian Age, this method
was already becoming outmoded, and the work of the
Christ set it aside altogether. The rending of the initiatory
veil of the temple signified that the deep Mysteries of the
cosmos were to be viewed in a new way, the Christ Way,
by means of the positively developed spiritualized mind.
The sympathetic system is the vantage ground of the
so-called subconscious mind. A is subconscious because its
functioning is controlled by cosmic intelligences of which
the human being is today seldom aware. The time will come
when all of the work done now by cosmic agencies will
be done by the individual himself, in full waking consciousness. No one today, except the high Adepts, can see and control every vital function of his body, the beating of
the heart, the digestion and assimilation of food, the conversion of food to energy and its use in the muscles, etc. This belongs to the future, but is foreshown in the
laboratory when the chemist analyzes the elements that go to
make up food and the physiologist analyzes the processes
by which the body lives. Some day all such knowledge will
be part of the human being's equipment from the moment
of birth, and then there will be no more subconscious
operating through the sympathetic system.
- The Etheric Body and Its Role in the Sensitization of the Composite Man (HTML) »
The etheric body (or etheric double as it is also called)
properly belongs to the physical realms — for, although
not ordinarily visible to physical sight, it is composed of
attenuated physical substance. It belongs in fact to the
twilight realm of matter where subtle and hitherto little
known forces operate just beyond the range of visibility.
Into this twilight realm material science is each year
penetrating a little farther. Many and wonderful are the
inventions which even now result from a knowledge of its
forces; for here science is endeavoring to control the
mystery of the atom. And here, in a way not yet understood, interior mental forces become externalized into what we recognize as ail exterior physical world.
The term "ether" used to describe this borderland of
matter is by no means clearly defined, either by occult or
by physical scientists. However, occultists have seen the
etheric forces by means of their extended vision, and have
described them in terms of their own coining. Scientists,
on the other hand, have discovered the laws governing
phenomena of certain lower ethers and many valuable inventions have resulted. So we know the ethers by their
products. New Age science is destined to meet with traditional occult science in this area, with benefit to both.
- The Blood — An Arcane Mystery (HTML) »
- The Role of the Ductless Glands in Spiritual Attainment (HTML) »
- The Desire Body (HTML) »
Ethers at the threshold of the ordinarily perceived Physical World are simply a rarefied condition of
matter, but slight physical development is required for
their investigation. In fact, thousands of people who have
given no special thought to either psychic or spiritual development have seen, and are continually seeing, one or
more of them without knowing there is anything unusual
about the experience. As the Aquarian Age draws near
the number of persons sensitive to the finer ethers will
increase year by year. Even now there are cases on record
among pioneering scientists where etheric vision is momentarily opened in the course of particular investigations.
The etheric region may be designated as the atomic
and sub-atomic areas of the material world. Invisible to
human senses as now developed, ether is none the less a
substance belonging to the Physical World, though raised
to a higher vibratory octave than physical matter. This
being so, it is gradually yielding up to material scientists
many mysteries that for centuries have been known only
to occultists.
It is quite otherwise with the Desire or Astral World.
Unlike the region of the ethers, the realm of the Desire
World is another plane of being. It is not just a finer
gradation of matter. Actually, it is non-material; it is
astral. While it flows in and through the Physical World,
interpenetrating the chemical and etheric regions of the
physical and constantly influencing all activities within
this sphere, it is of a different nature and subject to laws
other than those operating in either the Physical World or
the higher worlds of mind and spirit.
- Mind, Soul, and Spirit (HTML) »
- New Birth Through Regeneration (HTML) »
Since the founding of initiatory
Schools in ancient
Lemuria after the link of mind was bestowed upon the
pioneers of the human race. (the masses did not receive the
mental link until the Atlantean Epoch), there have been
two great classes or divisions in the Schools, corresponding,
after a fashion, let us say, to preparatory school and college; or to college and post-graduate degrees.
What we call these Schools matters little; but following the Greek custom, esotericists generally designate the
lower school the Lesser Mysteries and the higher, the
Greater Mysteries. There are nine Degrees or grades in
the Lesser Mysteries, called Initiations — or, if the metaphysical terms are preferred, expansions of
consciousness — and four in the Greater Mysteries. There are seven schools
which teach or confer the nine Lesser Mysteries, and five
which teach or confer the four Greater Mysteries. These
schools are not physical but etheric structures such as the
New Jerusalem. described by St. John; and they are not
to be confused with mere secret societies. Truly, they all
have an outlet on the material plane; if they had not, they
would not reach our material-minded humanity and so
would have no pupils to instruct in their Mysteries! These
Mystery Schools, with their exoteric representatives, change
from age to age in order to meet the requirements of the
people among whom their work is to be done.
- The Book of Formation (Sepher Yetzirah)
(PDF #1) »
(PDF #2) »
(PDF #3) »
(PDF #4) »
(The Cube of Space diagram) »
Miscellaneous — Old Testament:
- Our Bible’s Heritage (PDF) »
- Initiation In Ancient Chaldea — The Gilgamesh Epic (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Meat (PDF) »
- Messianic Expectations; Astrological Keys (HTML) »
Palestine was a center of great unrest during the Roman rule.
Since there were very few who had sufficient courage to defy
openly the strong autocratic power of Rome, spies lurked everywhere. Teachers and leaders were compelled to instruct by
means of parables and in cipher. Everywhere Messianic expectations were high. A new leader was eagerly awaited. The people anticipated a re-embodiment of one of the prophets such as Moses, David, Elijah or some other teacher of high spiritual
attainment. Crowds gathered about every impostor who declared himself to possess any unusual power.
The end of an age is always one of difficulty and trial. The
religion of the closing age had reached its final state of crystallization. The spirit was lost; the form had become supreme.
The new phase of spiritual light was but dimly perceived and
its few adherents became the object of bitter persecutions. The
masses of people, feeling the inadequacy of the old, and yet
not ready to accept the new, were in a state of chaotic unrest
that expressed itself in excesses of desire and emotion. Such
were the conditions before the coming of the Supreme Teacher
and the incoming of the Piscean Dispensation, the cycle astrologically symbolized by two fishes. It was under the approaching Piscean influence, the sign of this age, that the early Christians suffered martyrdom as a result of their efforts to give to
the world the truth of the new religion. The Piscean Age began
about 498 A.D., marked by the decline of the Roman Empire
in the West.
A similar chaos and confusion exists in the world today as
the end of the Piscean Age approaches. Multitudes again eagerly await the coming of a new World Teacher who shall appear
as a veritable Son of Man bearing the glad tidings of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. Every teacher and
every school that points the way to the birth of the Christ within
man is a pioneer of that New Age and is a herald of the new,
World Teacher who is soon to come. The Piscean Dispensation
is to be succeeded by the Aquarian Age, in which the vision of
the prophets is to be realized. The Son of Man (the symbol
of Aquarius) is to rise with healing in His wings.
- The Prohibition Question (PDF) »
- The Egyptian Bible: The Book Of The Dead; Egypt: the Land of Gemini; Hermes Trismegistus (HTML) »
The great teacher, Thoth-Hermes, is the Elder Brother from Mercury who established and guided the initiatory Schools of Egypt. There
is a legend to the effect that Hermes Trismegistus came to Egypt from
Chaldfa; this is a reference to the fact that the Chaldean and Egyptian
civilizations were of the same cultural stream — the culture of the second
Fifth Epoch Race, as that of the Indian was of the first.
The collection of texts called by Egyptologists The Book of the
Dead is actually part of the Mercurian Wisdom of Toth-Hermes originally contained in the world-famous Books of Thoth. These consisted of
forty-two rolls, some of which were carried in processions in ritual order.
One such procession has been described about as follows: First came a
singer holding two rolls, one of which contained hymns; the other, the
rules for the conduct of the monarch. After this came the horoscopist with
with four books on astrology: one book on the fixed stars, one on solar
and lunar eclipses, two on the rising of the Sun and Moon. Next came
the bearer of ten books containing rules relating to Gods and religion:
the laws of sacrifice, hymns, processions, holy days and similar matters.
Last of all came the Prophet bearing ten sacredotal books dealing with
sacredotal laws, the Gods, and rules for the priesthood. Of these Books
of Thoth, thirty-six related to philosophy; six treated of medicine, anatomy
and the cure of diseases. The Egyptians also possessed books on history.
They had the deepest reverence for learning of all sorts, secular as well
as religious, as demonstrated by the marvelous University Temple at
Heliopolis from which trained Sages went forth to the entire ancient
world.
- Mythology and the Bible (PDF) »
- The Indian Bible: The Vedas; From Atlantis to Fifth Epoch Earth (HTML) »
India is the home of what is, perhaps, the oldest continuously surviving post-Atlantean civilization on this planet. Though her peoples are varied
and her interests diversified, India possesses a single great religious
tradition — more ancient than the pyramids of Egypt or than Sumeria — which once bound all together in a unity of mind and spirit. This tradition came with the Chosen People of Atlantis, yet it contains something which the Atlantean mind never could have understood. It reaches heights of clear thinking which could not have been encompassed by the mother race and which have never been surpassed by any other. For
all this, it is not a tradition of cold intellectualism, for it recognizes that
Reason and Love are one. As every Mystic knows that Truth resides
with God, so every Sage realizes that Love resides with Him. In Him
is fulfillment of all that the soul seeks: wise counsel for a loving heart,
gentleness and sweetness for a cold intellect. This the Indian peoples
understand and cherish as their ancient heritage.
After the Chosen People had been molded into the new Fifth Epoch Race,
semi-divine leaders were appointed by the great archangelic Race Spirits
to lead carefully selected groups to new homes. These were not selected
at random. The leaders saw with clear vision all the lands on earth,
together with an outline of their destinies. The land to which the Old
post-Atlanteans went, present-day India, was particularly adapted to their needs,
as was the spiritual instruction received from their leaders. In time the
teachings crystallized into a textbook, their Book of Books, or Bible.
(The word Bible means The Book.)
- Mythology and the Bible (PDF) »
- The Coming of the Messenger (HTML) »
- Mythology and the Bible (continued) (PDF) »
- The Chaldean Bible: The Cuneiform Tablets — The Cities and Their Gods (HTML) »
As Abraham represents the perfect type-pattern for the Fifth Root Race pioneer,
so Nimrod is the type-pattern of evil forces which brought destruction to
Atlantis. These dark powers also enveloped and destroyed the early cities
of Fifth Root Race peoples. The Bible states that the beginning of his
kingdom was "Babel, and Erech, and Akkad, and Calneh, in the Land of
Shinar." Kish, the father of Nimrod, says George Smith, the noted
Assyriologist, is Cusiarcus, the Akkadian deity of sunset and night.
Some Christian writers, such as Eusebius, identify Nimrod with Evechous,
the first King of Babylon after the Flood. Josephus writes of him that
he was an enemy of God, a prime mover in building the Tower of Babel,
and that he reigned in Babylon during the Dispersion.
From the occult viewpoint, this can refer only to the dispersion after
the final catastrophe of Atlantis. Atlantis went down in four major disasters; the last
one, described to Plato by Egyptian priests, was not so many thousand
years ago when the Island of Poseidon sank. At that time the celestial
Hierarchies which direct and guide evolution divided the dispersed
people into nations, placed them under various race spirits, and sent them
forth into new lands that each might develop its own distinctive culture.
Then it was that the Akkadians invaded Sumer and the ancient speech of
Sumeria became mixed with the Semitic speech of the invaders — for the
Flood that overwhelmed Atlantis also overwhelmed the Sumerian civilization.
- Mythology and the Bible — The Story of Orion (PDF) »
- Songs of The Old Testament; Music Is Magic — The Occult Power of Music (HTML) »
- The Bible and Mythology — The Legend of Phaethon and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac (PDF) »
- Zoroaster, The Teacher of Persia; Holy Birth and Preparation; Later Life and Teachings (HTML) »
The Avesta, or Law of Revelation, is the Scripture given to mankind
by Zoroaster (Zoroaster is the popular Greek form of the name which is
also spelled Zarathustra and Zardasht). Living as he did in the sixth
century B. C., he was part of that great wave of spiritual light which
swept around the globe, bringing Buddha to India, Lao-Tsu and Confucius to China, Pythagoras to Greece, Ezekiel to the Hebrews. It was
a period which saw several great Bibles appear for the first time, among
them the Hebrew Old Testament. Three of the most advanced Zoroastrian
priests, still known as Magi in the ancient manner, followed the Star
which guided them to the world's most sacred shrine in the little town
of Bethlehem.
There now remains in Persia only a few small and scattered groups
of Zoroastrians, the sacred fire shrines having been closed, one after
another, as Islam won the allegiance of the people. This can be considered
as naught but the action of the Law of Cause and Effect — for when Mani,
the great Christed Messenger, came to the Zoroastrian priesthood preaching Christ as foretold by Zoroaster, they crucified him. They thus
attracted to themselves the same fate which overtook the Hebrew priesthood less than three centuries earlier. They, like the Judean priests,
rejected the Christ, and about three centuries later Mohammed, as agent
of the Lords of Destiny, meted out to them their karmic harvest. Only
a few remained faithful. Some of these, driven from their own land,
found a congenial home in India and established what continues to be the
only influential Zoroastrian (Parsi) community in the world today. This
community lies adjacent to the city of Bombay.
- Bible Course in Questions and Answers — Lessons 1 and 2 (PDF) »
- The Labors of Mithra; The Seven Degrees of the Mithraic Initiation; The Virgin Goddess of the Mysteries (HTML) »
When the human race had to be created, its guardianship was delegated to the Sun God, Mithra. Ahriman, the Spirit of Darkness, tried to
desolate the land by droughts but Mithra foiled his efforts through producing living water from a great rock. Again, Ahriman brought upon
man a universal deluge which depopulated the earth as seas and rivers
overflowed their banks and no land could be seen. One man alone,
secretly instructed by the Gods, constructed a boat in which he, together
with his family and cattle, was preserved. A third time did Ahriman
ravage the earth, this time by fire. A great conflagration consumed both
men and beasts. But once more, through the intercession of Mithra, a
remnant was saved and the human race immediately multiplied, thriving
in peace and plenty. So was accomplished the terrestrial mission of Mithra.
In such wise Persian myths repeat the story known of old in Chaldea
and Egypt, in China and India, the story of the destruction of ancient
Lemuria and Atlantis and the continuous work for man's salvation performed by the Cosmic Christ through successive messengers whose mission it was to further the Christ Impulse throughout the earth. It was
this great archangelic Being from the Sun who assumed guardianship of
ancient humanity in the hoary beginnings of evolution, when the earth
was still part of the solar nebula. All races and people retain some hint
of this story in their spiritual histories, for the Lord Christ belongs to
the entire earth and to the whole solar system. This is the keynote of
the Mysteries.
- Bible Course in Questions and Answers — Lessons 3 and 4 (PDF) »
- Further Meditation on Initiation by Fire; The Feast of Pentecost — Initiation by Air (HTML) »
Moses was the pioneer leader of the currrent Fifth Epoch. His mission was to
guide the Israelites from the mists of Atlantis into the clear sunlit air of
post-Atlantean Earth. The pillars of cloud and of fire are magnificent symbols of this
great transition. The "pillar of cloud" represents the Water Initiation
being left behind, while the "pillar of fire" represents the spiritual attainment toward which man was travelling. Hence, the two pillars signify
a bridge between the Water and Fire Initiations. Transition from the
Water Initiation was the main spiritual work of Atlantis. Initiation by
Fire is the most prominent work of the present post-Atlantean Age. This is most
interestingly described in the Apocryphal Book of II Esdras:
II Esdras 7:6-9
There is also another thing; A city is builded, and set upon a broad
field, and is full of all good things:
The entrance thereof is narrow, and is set in a dangerous place to
fall, like as if there were a fire on the right hand, and on the left deep water:
And only one path between them both, even between the fire and the
water, so small that there could but one man go there at once.
If this city now were given unto a man for an inheritance, if he
never shall pass the danger set before it, how shall he receive his
inheritance.
II Esdras 14:38-40
And the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying, Esdras, open thy
mouth, and drink that I give thee to drink.
Then opened I my mouth, and, behold, he reached me a full cup,
which was full as it were with water, but the colour of it was like fire.
And I took it, and drank: and when I had drunk it, my heart uttered
understanding, and wisdom grew in my breast, for my spirit
strengthened my memory.
- Bible Course in Questions and Answers — Lesson 4 (continued) (PDF) »
- Preparatory Work for Initiation by Fire (HTML) »
Alcohol is a false spirit because it is the product of fermentation and
decay, the exact antithesis of the true spirit of life seen as a sparkling
elixir flowing through the auric envelopes of this globe. This elixir is
imbibed by all illumined candidates, for there is an intimate connection
between it and the "blood" of the Christ by which men are saved.
The sparkling magnetic tides and currents in earth's auric envelope
act and react with similar tides in the Sun. This it is that is cerebrated
at the four Holy Festivals of the year, the Equinoxes and Solstices, and
special luminescent phenomena are then observable in the ethers. As
etheric senses are neither "spiritual" nor "psychic" but only an extension
of the physical senses, there are thousands of people in the world today
who are beginning to see and feel these magnetic currents which, to
otheric vision, are as beautiful as the aurora borealis and the aurora
australis and are actually similar in nature.
Thus, alcohol is no elixir; on the contrary, it is a most potent tool of
the lowest "Black" Grail orders. Workers of black magic know full well
that so long as men can be kept under its mesmeric spell they will be
blind to spiritual realities and be willing dupes. Could individuals only
know these occult truths, could they realize the subtle danger threatening
the progress of the race, they would be on the alert to counteract and
control the deadly menace of alcoholism.
Few people realize the price to be paid in. future ages and incarnations for the present desecration of their bodies. Indeed, the terrible effects of alcohol can be fully realized only in the light of rebirth and
the working of the Law of Consequence (karma), which reveals that
the archetype or pattern for each successive earth life is the natural
outgrowth of preceding lives. This archetype, built in the Second
Heaven, receives from the reincarnating ego the vibratory powers of ils
last body. If these powers have been seriously affected by liquor or
wrong living, the new archetype will show corresponding weaknesses.
In future lives many shall stand at the door and knock, calling in vain
for the Light so ardently desired. They shall receive no answer because
their nerves have been rendered insensible to higher vibrations by the
demoralizing effects of alcohol.
- Bible Course in Questions and Answers — Lesson 4 (continued) (PDF) »
- Pythagoras, Master Initiate — The Mystery School at Krotona (HTML) »
- Origin of the Scriptures (PDF) »
- Confucius; Holy Birth (HTML) »
Confucius' teachings have continued to serve his people. The five
Constant Ideas are the pillars of conduct; Jen, humaneness; Yi, righteousness; Li, propriety; Chi, wisdom; and Jun, trustworthiness. These cardinal virtues became an integral part of Chinese life just as the Ten Commandments have of Western life.
In the year 1 A. D. Confucius was canonized as "Duke Ni, the
All-Complete and Illustrious." In the years 492 and 609 A. D. similar
canonizations were conferred upon him; and in 657 he was canonized
for the fourth time as "The most Complete and Holy, K'ung, the Foremost
Master."
So completely is the consciousness of his people attuned to his
message that it is said if one wishes to understand the Chinese he must
familiarize himself with the teachings of Confucius.
Despite materialistic encroachments, this great Sage will live in
the heart and soul of China until the time is ripe for the Christ influence
to envelope the land. When that time arrives there will be no greater
rejoicing than in the heart of the wise Teacher, for he dedicated himself
from first to last to the Great Preparation.
- The Solar Myth — Part I (PDF) »
- The Akkadians; Babylon the Mighty; The Babylonian Genesis — The Tablets of Creation (HTML) »
Occult science makes mention of two races which developed in Atlantis after the departure of the Original Semites. The Original Semites
were the Fifth Atlantean sub-race; the Akkadians were the sixth. In view
of recent archeological discoveries it may be clearer to amend the traditional nomenclature and say that the Akkadians of Atlantis were the
Original Akkadians. They in their turn migrated to the new lands of
post-Atlantean Earth where they underwent further racial development in the interim
between the first and the fourth catastrophies, which finally laid the
island continent on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. During this interim
the earth globe was continually shaken by earthquakes. New lands arose
in the light of post-Atlantean Earth, among which were the Persian Gulf Delta areas
that were to become the home of the Sumerians; and where, under their
antediluvian kings, a great civilization was to appear.
The third Flood occurred sometime during the period when the Sun
was passing through the constellation Cancer. This is the flood referred
to in Chaldean legend and history as overwhelming Sumeria. Sometime
after this flood the Delta was invaded by two Semitic peoples who,
according to Wooley, came from Asia Minor by way of the Tigris valley
and from Northern Syria by way of the Euphrates. These were the
historical Akkadians whose first strongholds were in the northern parts
of the valley, whence they proceeded to conquer the southern portions.
By the time history dawns these three elements were already amalgamated into one race, a state referred to in Genesis as the time when the
sons of God married the daughters of men. The Sumerian elements,
however, remained dominant.
- The Solar Myth — Conclusion (PDF) »
- The Fallen Gods of Greece (HTML) »
Prometheus the Titan, creator of humankind on the form side of
Nature, is Lucifer in Hebrew legend. Vulcan, like Prometheus, is another
fallen God of Fire, and in his fall he portrays another facet of the brilliant
and gem-like Lucifer. He was a blacksmith, a metal worker, a builder.
His hand fashioned the Palace of Apollo "beyond the sunrise" and all
the shining dwellings of the Gods and Goddesses. In their totality these
dwellings are the visible universe. When Vulcan was cast out of heaven
he was a whole day in falling:
From morn to noon he fell,
From noon to dewey eve,
A summer's day, and with the setting sun
Dropped from the zenith like a falling star,
On Lemnos, the Aegean isle.
The fallen Vulcan is Hiram Abiff of Masonic legend, he who built
Solomon's Temple (the solar system). In humanity he is Cain, who
made two blades of grass to grow in place of one. He is Tubal-Cain, for
he is the prototype of craftsmen. He is the Fire burning in the forge of
Nature, which is visible to the "new vision." He is called the least beautiful of all the Gods. One account states that he was ejected from
heaven because he was deformed; another, that he became deformed in
consequence of his fall. Medieval Christian artists vied with one another
in depicting the hideousness of Satan (Vulcan).
- The Tabernacle in the Wilderness — Part I (PDF) »
- Initiation in India (HTML) »
- The Tabernacle in the Wilderness — Part II (PDF) »
- The Puranas: "Ancient Tales" — The Ramayana and Mahabharata; The Ramayana; The Mahabharata; The Bhagavad-Gita; The Upanishads; The Kaliyuga (HTML) »
- The Tabernacle in the Wilderness — Conclusion (PDF) »
- Prelude to the Gospels — Alexander and the Dispersion; The Essenes (HTML) »
During this time there appeared on the banks of the Jordan,
that mystic Brotherhood known as the Essenes, a small sect,
numbering about four or five thousand. It existed in the days
of the Jonathan Maccabees, and constituted one of the three
dominant Jewish sects, the other two being the Pharisees and
the Sadducees. Philo, the Hellenistic philosopher born
in Alexandria 20 B.C. and who lived until 60 A.D., was an Essenian.
Members of the Essene Order did not lay up treasures of
silver or gold, but provided themselves only with the necessities
of life. They regarded contentment of mind as the greatest of
riches. They made no instruments of war and repudiated every
inducement to covetousness. There were no slaves, but all were
free, equal, and served each other. They were instructed in
piety, holiness, righteousness, and economy; guided by a three-fold rule — love of God, love of mankind, and love of virtue.
Their love of God was manifested beautifully in their constant
and unalterable holiness of life. Their love of virtue showed
itself in their indifference to money, fame, and pleasure; also
in their life of chastity, simplicity, and modesty. Their love of
man was exemplified in benevolence, equality, reverence, and
care of the aged. There was neither abject poverty nor great
wealth among them. They despised riches and held all things
in common. Strangers were always welcomed as brothers, without
money and without price. All living things were to them
a part of God's life and therefore sacred.
It was their highest ideal to become fit temples for the Holy
Ghost (I Cor. 6:19), to perform miraculous cures, and to become worthy forerunners of the Messiah. They were taught
humility and purity as the chief virtues and they lived in retirement from the world.
They regarded the body as the soul's prison house, and
sought trials and difficulties, rejoicingly for they had learned
that "wisdom is crystallized pain." They gloried in martyrdom,
preaching and singing to God even in their sufferings. They not
only forgave their enemies but sought to benefit them, and
blessed even the criminals despite their destruction of life and
property. Their food consisted chiefly of bread, water, wild
roots, and fruit. They neither ate meat nor wore woolens. The
habitual garment was the flowing white robe of linen
such as was worn by the Master when He came to John for baptism.
- Miscellaneous Interpretations — Part V (PDF) »
- The Temple — House of Life Eternal; The Gods of Egypt (HTML) »
Nowhere is the Egyptian character more clearly portrayed than in
its Temples. The tombs and monuments of Egypt have suggested to
some that the ancient Egyptians were overwhelmingly concerned with
problems of survival after death, and therefore morbid and dark of mood.
On the contrary, writes Arthur Weigall in "The Story of the Pharaohs,"
a monastic or the anchorite sort of life was scorned by Egyptians. Their
religious teachings before the Ptolemaic era do not suggest that mortification of the flesh was a possible means of purifying the spirit. An appeal
to the senses and to the emotions, however, was considered as a legitimate
method of reaching the soul. He asserts that the Egyptians were delighted by ceremonial grandeur: "Their huge temples, painted as they
were with the most brilliant colors, formed the setting of processions and
ceremonies in which music, rhythmic motion, and colour were brought
to a point of excellence. In honor of some of the gods dances were
conducted; while celebrations such as the fantastic Feast of Lamps were
held on the anniversaries of religious events." In these magnificent ceremonials no place existed for anything but joy and gaiety, nor could the
people have displayed any other temperament.
Nothing indeed was spared in making earthly Temples a reflection of
paradise above earth. Temples were majestic, serene, radiant with life
and color. Their walls were decorated with gold, silver, electrum and
brilliant gems; the adytum was hung with curtains of gold tissue. All
this co-ordinated with the course of nature rather than being set apart
from it, and spoke to the Egyptian of the Eternal One in whom there is
no death, but life only. Everything gave evidence of an eternity of beauty
which might be enjoyed, here and hereafter, by all who lived the good life.
- Babylon and the New Jerusalem (PDF) »
- The Chinese Bible: Tao Teh King; China — Heir of Golden Atlantis; The Invisible Government; Lao-Tzu (HTML) »
After the Chosen People of Atlantis had been segregated from the
masses on that island continent doomed to destruction, two more races
were developed, the posterity of which was to find safety and to continue
its evolution in the post-Atlantean Earth, the post-Flood period that is our present evolutionary Epoch. These races were the Akkadians and the Mongolians.
The Akkadians are known to history as one of three peoples whose blood
intermingled to produce the Chaldean race. It was from Ur of Chaldea
that Abraham and his clansmen migrated to Canaan and there founded
the Hebrew nation.
The Chosen People of esoteric teaching, the Original Semites who
were fifth of the seven Atlantean sub-races, were led from the doomed
continent in a succession of great migrations. The biblical story of Noah's
ark relates only to the last of these. A remnant of the Akkadians and Mongolians also escaped.
The Original Semites were an entirely new departure in racial evolution. It was from this fifth sub-race and not, as one might suppose,
from the seventh or last, that the post-Atlantean, the Fifth Root Race, was
developed.
- Evolution As Shown in the Bible — Part I (PDF) »
- Initiation in Ancient Egypt (HTML) »
Initiation may be described as a death-process, for in it the candidate undergoes experiences that parallel those of a departed spirit, with
the exception that the silver cord, which links the spirit to the physical
body, is not broken as it is in death. Before the coming of the Christ
Initiation was restricted to priestly and royal houses which, by generations of selective breeding, had produced bodies with requisite qualities
for safety while undergoing this very dangerous Rite. The spirit might
leave its earthly house and be unable to return to it, the result being
death. Or, if the trials to which it was subjected in the lower regions of
the Soul World were too severe for it, the spirit might rush back to its body
with a force born of terror and dangerous to the heart. The aftermath of
this might be invalidism from rupturing the etheric sheath of the brain
and nerves, thus leading to nervous and mental disabilities, or death.
The danger was very great, so the secrecy with which the priesthood surrounded these matters was not wholly for the purpose of a selfish
monopoly of knowledge. Originally, it was done in the interest of the
people themselves, to protect them.
- Evolition As Shown in the Bible — Part II (PDF) »
- The Mysteries of Greece; Orphic Mysteries (HTML) »
- Spiritual Growth (PDF) »
- The Lord Gautama Buddha; The Holy Birth; The Temptation (HTML) »
- Origin of the Scriptures (PDF) »
- Eleusinian Mysteries (HTML) »
In his "Morals and Dogma," the great classic of Masonry, Albert Pike,
High Priest of the Craft, ascribes to Cicero the appraisal that the establishment of the Eleusinian Mysteries was the greatest of all benefits
conferred by Athens upon the commonwealths: "their effect having been
to civilize men, soften their savage and ferocious manners, and teach
them the true principles of morals, which initiate man into the only kind
of life worthy of him." The Masonic writer goes on to say that in the
passage wherein Cicero apostrophizes Ceres and Proserpine he declares
that mankind owes these Goddesses the first elements of moral life, as
well as the first means for sustaining physical life; also, their knowledge
and laws, the regulation of morals, and those examples of civilization
which have improved the manners of both men and cities.
The Initiate in the Mysteries of Orpheus, after he was purified, was
considered as released from the empire of evil and transferred to a
condition of life which gave him the happiest hopes. He was made to
say "I have emerged from evil and have attained good." Those initiated
in the Mysteries of Eleusis believed that the Sun blazed with a pure
splendor for them alone. As we see in the case of Pericles, they flattered
themselves that Ceres (Demeter) and Persephone inspired them, giving
them wisdom and counsel. (Greek Persephone; Roman Proserpine.)
The Eleusinian Mysteries were concerned primarily with the problem
of the soul's survival after death and conditions prevailing in the soul
world. Their teachings were conveyed to Initiates in the form of
dramatic spectacles wherein an Initiate was both spectator and participant. The Lesser Mysteries dealt with the story of Demeter and
Persephone; the Greater Mysteries with Dionysus and his resurrection
from the dead. Greeks themselves believed the Eleusinian Mysteries had
been founded by Egyptians in prehistoric ages, and they identified
Demeter (the World Mother) with Isis of Egypt. Similarly, the Mysteries
of Samothrace and the Cabiri of Thebes were associated with the cult
of the God Ptah of Memphis in Egypt.
- The Solar Myth (PDF) »
- The Gods of India; The Holy Birth; Indra (HTML) »
According to prophecy, Vishnu's tenth incarnation will be as the
emancipator of the race, One who will bring destruction upon the wicked
and, like Horus of Egypt, establish a Golden Age of righteousness that
shall Endure. It is said he will come as the son of an ancient Brahman
of Shamballa and, at a propitious time, will be seen in the sky surrounded
by a great light and seated upon a white horse, with his sword uplifted;
also, that his coming will be with the suddenness and brilliance of a
comet. In this Avatar we behold the Indian version of the Messiah.
The story of the incarnation of Vishnu is not to be dismissed as
old-wives' tales or primitive legends. Vishnu is another name for the cosmic
Christ Principle whose visible symbol is the Sun; Vishnu's incarnations
reveal how this Principle has aided, and continues to aid, the life evolving
on our planet. The narrative unfolds a history of evolution from the first
forms (the fish) evolved in the depths of the primordial ocean through
this half-animal-half-man link between animal and human kingdoms;
next the "little man" or man at his most primitive stage, yet definitely
human; then an ever-ascending progression until Divine Man is born.
But the end is not yet. The path leads still higher, to the appearance of
God-Man and the establishment of the new heaven and the new earth.
- The Tabernacle in the Wilderness — Part 1 (PDF) »
- Zend Avesta, The Persian Bible; Mani — The Close of an Age; Mithra, The Christ of Persia — Initiation in Persia (HTML) »
- Tabernacle in the Wilderness — Part 2 (PDF) »
- The Columns Jachin and Boaz; The Alchemists; Woman and Freemasonry (HTML) »
- Tabernacle in the
Wilderness — Part 3 (PDF) »
- The Corner Stone; The Temple Site (HTML) »
The Corner Stone which was laid in that impressive ceremony is
described as a double cube, with every side inscribed except the base
on which it stood. It is said that the first face of the cube was inscribed
by Noah with an instrument of porphyry when the Ark was building,
the second by Abraham with the horn of the ram which was substituted
for his son on Mt. Moriah, the third by Moses with a porphyry tool, the
fourth by Joshua and the fifth by Hiram Abiff before it was deposited
in its final bed at the northeast angle of the Temple.
Enoch had placed this Mystical Stone in the ninth stratum of his
subterranean vault, where it was discovered by Noah and used by him
as an anchor to fix the Ark on Mt. Ararat. It was the altar on which
Abraham made ready to offer up his son. It was Jacob's pillar the night
he laid his head upon it and in his sleep beheld the angels ascending and
descending between Heaven and Earth. Jacob bequeathed the Stone to
Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph commanded that it be placed over his grave.
Moses took it with him at the time of the great deliverance, and it was
upon this stone he stood when the Red Sea was divided and when the
Amalekites were defeated. Again, he knelt upon it when he received
the Tables of the Law on Sinai. Moses gave it into the care of Joshua,
who built his altar upon it at Mt. Ebal. It was later deposited in the
Temple of Shiloh until the erection of the Temple on Zion when Solomon
commanded its use as the chief cornerstone. Here it remained undisturbed by either Zerubbabel or Herod, as it was destined to defeat the
insane attempt of Julian to rebuild the Temple — a destiny which it accomplished by destroying the workmen through the agency of fire. (In
Europe, it reappears once more as the Philosopher's Stone of medieval
alchemists.)
- The Immaculate Conception of Mary — The Annunciation to Joachim and Hanna; The Nativity of the Blessed Mary; The Dedication of Mary to the Temple (HTML) »
- The Baptism — Bringing to Sight; Calling of the Disciples; Sermon on the Eightfold Path (HTML) »
- The Grecian Bible — Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (HTML) »
- The Medes And The Persians — Christ of the Ages (HTML) »
That stellar Bible, the Zodiac, reveals the Mystery of Salvation as
it was known to the Magi and as it is still known to esotericism of our
own time because of a phenomenon called by astronomers "the precession
of the Equinoxes; the point at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator
each spring in its passage from south to north appears to move backward
through the constellations of the Zodiac at the rate of one degree in
seventy-two years, or through one sign of the Zodiac in about 2,160 years.
During this zodiacal age of 2,160 years, world Teachers appear at intervals of approximately five hundred years. The thousand-year point is
more important, however, since it marks the apex or middle point of an
age, its culmination. The terminal quarter of the age is usually a time
of cultural decay, while the stirrings of a new beginning are visible
simultaneously. Thus, during the last five hundred years of the Arian Age
the Christ came to release a fresh impulse into the life of humanity that
would prepare it for a new culture, since the Persian, Greek, Roman and
Celtic civilizations were falling into decay.
There are twelve constellations of the Zodiac, so the Sun's precession through the twelve requires approximately 25,000 years. This is
called a Great Sidereal Year. Only once in 25,000 years does the first
degree of the first sign of Aries coincide with the Vernal crossing. This
last occurred about 500 A.D. when the Vernal Equinox preceded from
the first degree of the constellation Aries into the last degree of the
constellation Pisces.
Matthew:
- Matthew (KJV) »
- Discipleship —
The Fellowship Degree — Part 2 (PDF) »
- The Sign of the Prophet Jonas (PDF) »
- The Multitudes Healed (PDF) »
- Parable of the Houses (PDF) »
- Flight Into Egypt (PDF) »
- Stilling the Tempest (PDF) »
- Healing of the Withered Hand (PDF) »
- The Lord’s Prayer (PDF) »
- The Healing of the Withered Hand; Healing the Centurion's Servant; Healing of the Infirm Woman; The Woman Who Touched Him; Raising the Daughter of Jairus (HTML) »
In the life cycle of the individual, the symbolic age of twelve
is the crucial point for the child. It is then that the youth's
desire nature begins to awaken, and the proclivities of past lives
begin to manifest themselves. In an instance such as this of
Jairus' daughter, an "old soul," one who has known many lives
of experience in the earth school, this age marks a definite
development of the spiritual nature. Instead of the awakening
of the physical desires, there is a definite quickening of the
accumulated soul powers of the past. Such a one has worked
definitely and consciously with the processes of transmutation
for many past lives. This was the case with the child Samuel
when he began to prophesy, and the Master Jesus who was also
twelve years old when He taught the elders in the Temple.
Inspirational experiences are fairly common even among ordinary adolescents, and psychologists have observed that if an
individual does not undergo a religious conversion during this
period of life it is likely he will never have such an experience.
It is significant to observe that in all three of the synoptic
Gospels, the raising of Jairus' Daughter is preceded by the
exorcism of evil spirits.
In the experiences of the Initiate himself the expulsion of
devils has reference to passing the Dweller on the Threshold,
which is an entity formed of the essence of all evil and negative
deeds of past lives, and which the newly initiated must face,
conquer and dissolve (partially at least) by transmutation before
he can pass into "realms of light" to be hailed as a "new born."
- The Ten Most Important Steps in the Life of Christ Jesus (PDF) »
- The Tares Among the Wheat (PDF) »
- The Mystery of Golgotha (PDF) »
- The Visit of the Magi (PDF) »
- Demoniac Possession (PDF) »
- Jesus' Answer to the Pharisees (PDF) »
- The Unpardonable Sin (PDF) »
- Obstacles Along The Way Of Attainment; Parable of the Young Ruler; Parable of the Prodigal Son; Parable of the Lost Sheep; The Teaching of Regeneration (HTML) »
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Temptation (PDF) »
- The New Relationships (PDF) »
- How To Pray (PDF) »
- Parable of the Sower (PDF) »
- The Coming of John the Baptist (PDF) »
- Instruction and Sending Forth of the Twelve (PDF) »
- The Sign of the Prophet Jonas (PDF) »
- The Temptation; Temptation of the Body, Mind, and Soul (HTML) »
For the esoteric Christian the devil has two meanings, an
inner and an outer. From the external standpoint, the devil is
Lucifer who, because of ambition, fell, and was exiled, together
with other fallen angels, upon the planet Mars. The devil
within man is his lower nature so long as this is influenced and
controlled by the Luciferian vibrations. For this reason the
plan of salvation as taught by the Church is designed to overcome and gain control of the desire body, for only in this way
can the power of the devil be overcome. The Church works
primarily with the desire body of man; esoteric Christianity
focuses its effects on the vital body. Through the great orderly
plan of evolution, which is God's handwriting upon the wall
of time, the majority of people are brought into contact with
the teachings of the Church before they come into occult work,
which always presupposes that the desire body has been purified
to a certain degree before definite training and specific development of the vital body is attempted.
- The Gifts of the Magi, the Three Wise Men (PDF) »
- The Parable of the Sower (PDF) »
- The Beatitudes (PDF) »
- The Glory of the Resurrection (PDF) »
- The Light of the World (PDF) »
- Instruction and Sending Forth the Twelve (PDF) »
- Unclean Spirits (PDF) »
- The Rite of the Immaculate Conception; The Rite of the Nativity (HTML) »
Jesus is more than an inspiring example: He is of all men
the Supreme Way-Shower. Being a member of our own humanity, he reveals the possibilities of human attainment. That which
He did, all may accomplish. Had Jesus belonged to another
order of beings, He would not be the example for our emulation
that He now is. He would then be looked upon rather as an
abstract ideal portraying a perfection possible to us only when
reaching some superhuman development. But it is everyone's
destiny, while yet in the human stage of development, to attain
even as Jesus attained, and it becomes the work of New Age
Bible Interpretation to clarify and enforce this truth so that
all may come into a closer and more intimate relationship with
the high Initiates, Jesus, Mary and Joseph than has been possible
hitherto, and by such association grow day by day increasingly
into their likeness. A new awakening to these truths and their
practice in daily living is a necessary preparation for entry into
the Era now dawning, when definite steps will be taken to establish suitable conditions for the future return of the high archangelic Spirit, the Christ.
Every event in the life of the Christed Jesus finds its parallel
in the life of one who aspires to the attainments of such Initiates
as were Jesus, Mary and Joseph. So also in every
pre-Christian
religion or initiatory School without exception, the path of
attainment is foreshown in the lives of its great teachers as clearly as it is shown to the Christian in the life of Christ Jesus. They
include an immaculate conception, performance of miracles, a
crucifixion and a resurrection. This must of necessity be so since
the path of Initiation is similar for all. Hence every teacher is represented as experiencing these soul steps in his career.
There is one exception: the legend of the Star is connected only
with the birth of Jesus. This mysterious Star was the Archangel
Christ hovering above and blessing the birth of Jesus and imbuing his holy body with His own celestial powers so that it
might become a fit vehicle for His later use during the three-year Ministry.
- The Baptism (PDF) »
- The Mysteries of the Kingdom (PDF) »
- The Taking of Oaths (PDF) »
- Parable of the Tares (PDF) »
- Jesus Casts Out Demons; Stilling the Tempest (PDF) »
- The Kingdom of Heaven (PDF) »
- The Mysteries of the Kingdom (PDF) »
- Hidden Years in Nazareth (HTML) »
Great souls, in being prepared for a world mission, need peace
and quiet to bring their spiritual powers into full fruition. Jesus'
home in Nazareth provided such an environment. The white
houses of the village were scattered among orchards of figs,
olives, and pomegranates. Myriads of white doves circled about
constantly and from the heights above one could see the soft
shimmer of the Sea of Galilee. Knowing the companionship
of pure, chaste, Initiate parents, and under the constant guidance and instruction of bands of Angels, the boy Jesus was ideally circumstanced to fit himself for becoming a suitable instrument for the Christ to whom he was later to surrender His body.
In this holy home in Nazareth, which was like a Temple of
Peace, the early education of Jesus progressed. At the age of
six He was sent to the day school in the auditorium of the town's
synagogue. (This was necessary, in order that His body would
not become too highly sensitized.) He studied the chief textbook of the Jews, the Old Testament, together with the rabbi's
comments thereon. In addition to the Aramaic, the common form of Hebrew, He learned classic Hebrew and Greek.
He procured important ancient manuscripts which He studied
with deep spiritual insight, His vast fund of knowledge being a constant source of wonder to His teachers.
- The Temptation (PDF) »
- The Tares Among the Wheat (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of Christ (PDF) »
- Jonah and the Whale (PDF) »
- The Law of Riches; The Test of the True Teacher (PDF) »
- Christ Jesus Predicts Judgment (PDF) »
- The Tares Among the Wheat (PDF) »
- The Beatitudes; The Beatitudes And Their Planetary Correlations (HTML) »
- The Last Supper and Footwashing (PDF) »
- Parable of the Mustard Seed (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings (PDF) »
- Parable of the Marriage Feast (PDF) »
- Do Not Your Alms Before Men (PDF) »
- Christ Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath (PDF) »
- Parable of the Leaven (PDF) »
- The Sermon On The Mount — The Initiatory Key (HTML) »
There is a planetary entity which is built by the thoughts and
deeds of humanity. As man finds the path of redemption through
chastity, the body of earth is correspondingly purified and refined. The earth's ultimate destiny is to become a ball of light
floating in a sea of golden ether. The "redemption" of the
earth, its future status, position and function, constitutes part
of the work belonging to the exalted ninth degree of the Lesser
Mysteries. This degree is celebrated on Midwinter and Midsummer, nights; in fact, it is not possible to observe the celebration at any other time. The solstices mark the time when the
earth's vibration is highest and when the cosmic rays of the
Christ life are either entering or being withdrawn from
it — the
former occurring at the Winter Solstice and the latter at the Summer Solstice.
Christ, the Grand Hierophant of these Mysteries, after having
called the Twelve, gave His Mysteries on Midsummer Day as
the foundation work of the New Age religion, the fragments of
which were gathered together in the Sermon on the Mount.
The Great Work was permeated with the spirit of love, unity
and harmony which emanates from the home world of the
Christ. Consequently, to such as have not touched the Christ
world of unified consciousness the Sermon on the Mount seems
illogical, sentimental and impractical. But to such as have contacted the Christ realm it strikes the very keynote of the true
Christian dispensation.
- Gethsemane (PDF) »
- Parable of the Leaven (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings (PDF) »
- The Two Ways (PDF) »
- The Law of Riches (PDF) »
- Healing of the Withered Hand (PDF) »
- Parable of the Drag-net (PDF) »
- Symbols Of Discipleship; Parable of the Talents and the Pounds; Parable of the Sower (HTML) »
The Parable of the Laborers and the Hours is one most
profound and far-reaching in its application to human life upon the physical plane.
The great, eternal and immutable Cosmic Law which governs
the universe is centered in the Spirit of Oneness. Every human
being is a child of God (All-Good) which means that all are
inherently divine and consequently each has a right to an equal
share in the inheritance of the Father's kingdom. The Law
operates impartially. An equal share awaits each ego, it is his
for the claiming and the taking. Many there are, however, who
do not realize this truth and so do not receive the full share of
their divine inheritance. "Many bear the burden of the day
and the scorching heat," they live, that is, in accordance with
the laws of materiality, as yet unawakened to the Law of Spirit by which "all that the Father hath is mine."
The vineyard is the earth plane. The laborers are our evolving humanity and the householder is God or Cosmic Law. Oft-times in the working of this great Law one who is first in the eyes of men is last in the sight of God.
Those who are unaware of the impartial measures of Divine
Law are the complainers against the householders (the Law in
operation). Theirs is the eye that is evil (limited) so that they
do not recognize that "I am good." They do not see that when
man prepares himself to receive only the highest manifestations
of Divine Law, he will know and demonstrate only All-Good.
The limitations of disease, poverty, and even death, will be dissolved amid the mists of the evanescent and the unreal. Man
will come to inhabit a new world in which Equality, Fellowship,
Love and Life shall reign supreme and for all time.
- The Immaculate Conception (PDF) »
- Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings — Matthew 6 (PDF) »
- Jesus Walks On the Water (PDF) »
- The Law of Riches (PDF) »
- The Unpardonable Sin (PDF) »
- The Five Thousand Fed (PDF) »
- John the Forerunner (HTML) »
- Take Thy Cross (PDF) »
- Parable of the Drag-net (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings — Rebirth and Causation (PDF) »
- The Key to the Kingdom (PDF) »
- "Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God" (PDF) »
- The Sign of the Prophet Jonas (PDF) »
- "Judge Not — " (PDF) »
- The Deaf and Dumb Demoniac; The Demoniac of Gerasa; Their Name is Legion; The Healing of the Demoniac at the Foot of Mount Hermon; The Man Healed of Palsy (HTML) »
Throughout the pages of the Bible the teaching is explicit that
sin or wrongdoing is the direct causation of disease. According
to Leviticus leprosy was the result of slander. Miriam was once
stricken with leprosy following words of evil spoken against
Moses during the years in the wilderness.
Among the early Christians it was believed that "Diseases
come from seven sins: for slander, shedding blood, false oaths,
unchastity, arrogance, robbery and envy." Christ Jesus emphasized the same truth often in His talks with the Twelve, as
in the question He put to them after He had healed the paralytic
by saying: "Have courage, my son, your sins have been forgiven.
Arise, take up your bed and go to your home." He asked: "Is it
easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say arise and walk?"
Permanent healing comes only at the end of a cycle of causation of which the illness is the concluding portion. Christ Jesus
could easily, by His own cosmic powers, have instantaneously
healed anyone of any disease whatsoever. However, if the
sufferer had not learned the soul lesson involved, his infirmity
would sooner or later have reappeared. it is only when the seed
atom in the heart, which bears a record of the misdirected efforts(sin), has been cleansed by repentance, reform, and restitution that the Christ will say, "Arise, you are free."
the Master can command, "Arise and walk," but only man
himself can make it possible for Him to declare, "Thy sins are forgiven thee."
Paralysis, as all spiritual healers know, is the result of some form of fear. A deep and profound fear centered in the
conscious mind, perhaps for many lives, impedes and slows down the life functions, until ultimately the physical body becomes inert and unresponsive to the communications of the Ego: it has become paralyzed.
- The Conflict Within (PDF) »
- The Five Thousand Fed (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — The Rite of Transfiguration (PDF) »
- The Baptism (PDF) »
- Healing the Leper (PDF) »
- Unclean Spirits (PDF) »
- The New Relationships (PDF) »
- The Healing of Peter's Wife's Mother; Healing the Syrophoenician's Daughter; The Man Healed of Dropsy (HTML) »
- The Beam in Thine Eye (PDF) »
- The Five Thousand Fed (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Testing of Peter (continued) (PDF) »
- The Temptation (PDF) »
- Jesus Casts Out Demons (PDF) »
- The Mysteries of the Kingdom (PDF) »
- How to Pray (PDF) »
- Parables Of Initiation; Parable of the Great Feast; Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son; (HTML) »
- "What Reward Have Ye?" (PDF) »
- Walking on the Water (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Mystic Sunrise Rite (PDF) »
- Gethsemane (PDF) »
- The Palsied Man Healed (PDF) »
- The Tares Among the Wheat (PDF) »
- The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (PDF) »
- The Shepherd Initiates; The Rite of the Dedication — The Journey of the Three Wise Men; The Sacrament of Purification (HTML) »
- Rebirth (PDF) »
- Christ Jesus Rebukes the Pharisees (PDF) »
- Jonah and the Whale (PDF) »
- "They Presented Unto Him Gifts" (PDF) »
- The Syrophenician Woman's Daughter Healed (PDF) »
- The Journey Into Israel (PDF) »
- Profession Without Faith (PDF) »
- Parable of the Leaven (PDF) »
- The First and Great Commandment (PDF) »
Mark:
- Mark (KJV) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Mark 4 (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings — The Calling of the Twelve (continued) (PDF) »
- The Four Thousand Fed (PDF) »
- The Healing of the Withered Hand; Healing the Centurion's Servant; Healing of the Infirm Woman; The Woman Who Touched Him; Raising the Daughter of Jairus (HTML) »
The story of the Centurion is recorded by both Matthew and
Luke. This man, vested in military authority under the Roman
government, had yet learned in his worldly contacts to practice
the two principles which the Master enjoined upon all His disciples, namely, humility or self-effacement and active faith;
truly an unusual achievement. Thus he was already qualified
to become a follower of the Way, and to be made immediately
the recipient of the Master's interest and benefits. "I have not
found so great a faith, no, not in Israel," were the Master's words
descriptive of the Centurion. The Centurion's bond slave, who
was dear to him, was ill, and he had sent friends to ask the aid
of the Great Healer, a request which was instantly granted.
When the messengers returned home, they found the bond slave
whole.
A supremely dedicated life centered in humility and service
for others is the working formula for successful discipleship, and
will always be productive of results, as exemplified in the response of the Master to the Centurion's request.
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Baptism (PDF) »
- The Resurrection (PDF) »
- Preparatory Years and Beginning of the Ministry of Jesus — The Eighteen Years Between The Teaching In The Temple And The Baptism; The Rite of the Baptism (HTML) »
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — Gethsemane, and Betrayals (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings — Miracle of Loaves and Fishes (continued) (PDF) »
- The Stigmata (PDF) »
- The Leper Cleansed; The Ten Lepers; The Capernaum Demoniac (HTML) »
- The Transfiguration (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Rite of the Triumphal Entry (PDF) »
- Love Thy Neighbor
as Thyself (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings — The Calling of the Twelve (HTML) »
Before every important step that He took, the Christ went
for a time into the silence of the desert. He knew that His work
was to be accomplished within the short space of three years.
He therefore chose the twelve most advanced of His followers
to carry on the work of disseminating the new religion when He
had gone. Immediately after choosing the Twelve, He delivered
the Sermon on the Mount, His most sublime public utterance.
After conflict, trial, and temptation such as no other has ever
known before or since, He returned from the wilderness to share
with men the divine realization which was His. The physical
body of Jesus was as a tool in His hand. Every feeling and
emotion was subservient to His dual powers of spiritualized will
and dynamic love. He returned to the world to bring to it the
new message of redemptive Christianity. Through perfect self-control and an absolute dominion over Himself, Jesus the Christ
performed works the world calls miracles. The fundamental
tenet of His teaching is contained in His words, "The kingdom
of God is within you." When we discover this kingdom within
ourselves, we shall find it also in others, and in all things about
us. The Path of seeking must be the way of love.
- The Stigmata (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Sublime Rite of the Eucharist (continued) (PDF) »
- The Deaf and Dumb Man Healed (HTML) »
After the prolonged exercise of His powers, the glorious Christ
Spirit would depart for a season of solitude in an Essenian
retreat, in order that His mighty vibrations should not completely shatter the human body of Jesus which He had assumed at
the time of the Baptism and used throughout His ministry on
earth. During these retreats from the public ministry, He withdrew from the mortal body, leaving it in the care of the Essenes,
who worked upon it in His absence. This was a specialized
work the Essenes were able to do because of their own high
spiritual powers which they radiated from themselves. Advanced
souls invariably work by projecting their vibrational powers.
Thus also did Christ cast out the evil spirits with a word, and
healed all that were sick and whose karma entitled them to
healing, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah,
the prophet, saying, "Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases." (Matthew 8:16)
Paracelsus, admonishes us to remember that the subject of
disease and healing can be understood only when considered in
the light of karmic law, and this affects not only the physical
body, but also the several interpenetrating invisible vehicles of
man. "There is a twofold power active in man," he says, "a
visible and an invisible. The visible body has its natural forces
and the invisible body has its natural forces — and the remedy of
all disease and injury that may affect the visible form are contained in the invisible body, because the latter is the seat of
power that infuses life into the former and without which the former would have no life."
- The Resurrection (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Testing of Peter (continued) (PDF) »
- The Healing Miracles of the Christ; The Blind Man of Bethsaida; Bartimaeus — The Blind Man of Jericho; Two Blind Men Healed; The Blind Man by the Pool of Siloam (HTML) »
The purpose of Christ's coming was to teach man how to save
himself through regeneration, and this He taught by example
as well as by precept, for not otherwise could it be successfully
taught. By awakening the Christ within himself, man lifts himself above and beyond all personal limitations into a consciousness of peace, harmony and plenty. He then realizes a new life where there is "no more sorrow, no more tears, no more death,
for the former things have passed away."
The Supreme healer was also the
Master Occultist. His healing ministry held a twofold
purpose — to heal the sick and to
impart lessons of profound metaphysical import to His disciples
at the same time. Every biblical healing contains a key to
spiritual Illumination or Initiation.
If we study carefully the various methods and words which
the Christ employed in His healing works, we shall discover that
all of the most important phases of occult law were brought into
operation. He was concerned not alone with the imperfections
of the outer physical instrument but took into account also the
invisible bodies, wherein lies the origin of all disease as well as
the beginning of the healing process.
Illness of any kind is nature's endeavor to focus attention on
a weak link in the chain of perfect becoming and being. If we
learn the lesson aright, permanent cure is the inevitable result.
Illness should never leave us where it found us. This truth is
emphasized throughout the ministry of Christ Jesus. Those
who refused to heed it went away unhealed "because of
their unbelief." In the light of this understanding, remember there
is no such thing as incurable disease.
- "With Authority Commandeth He" (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Rite of Crucifixion (continued) (PDF) »
- Symbols Of Discipleship; Parable of the Talents and the Pounds; Parable of the Sower (HTML) »
- Future Development (PDF) »
- The Mystic Interval (PDF) »
- The Deaf and Dumb Demoniac; The Demoniac of Gerasa; Their Name is Legion; The Healing of the Demoniac at the Foot of Mount Hermon; The Man Healed of Palsy (HTML) »
- The Ascension (PDF) »
-
Healing Miracles of the Christ — Raising the Daughter of Jairus (PDF) »
- Parable of the Mustard Seed (PDF) »
Luke:
- Luke (KJV) »
- Miscellaneous Interpretations — Part 4 (PDF) »
- "Sin No More" (PDF) »
- "Good Tidings of Great Joy" (PDF) »
- The Healing of the Withered Hand; Healing the Centurion's Servant; Healing of the Infirm Woman; The Woman Who Touched Him; Raising the Daughter of Jairus (HTML) »
- Miscellaneous Interpretations — Part 5 (PDF) »
- Revealing the Hidden Mysteries (PDF) »
- The Crucifixion (PDF) »
- The Visitation (HTML) »
Another feminine Initiate of the Essenian Order who had also
advanced far upon the path of soul attainment was Elisabeth,
wife of the high priest Zacharias and a cousin to the blessed
Virgin. Both Zacharias and Elisabeth, like Joseph and Mary,
were Essenes, and received an angelic annunciation and were
the agents of an immaculate conception and holy birth through
which that ego described by the Master as the "greatest born
of woman" returned to earth, in the person of John the Baptist.
Both Mary and Elisabeth knew their sons before their incarnation, while as yet they were among the Angels of heaven,
and it was the soul-call of these two great Masters which
awakened the latent spiritual powers of the women destined to
be their mothers in the flesh. Elisabeth's visit with Mary, the
memorable weeks which they spent together companioned by
Angels in the solemn sanctity of the hill country, was a high
adventure of spirit which is emblazoned upon the cosmic records
for the emulation of all prospective mothers for all time.
If the Gospel of Luke is read carefully it will be observed that
the ego who was to bear the name of John the Baptist was at
this time already working with his mother Elisabeth in the
preparation of his physical vehicle, and that he, as a spirit recognized the coming of Mary and greeted her with joy.
To such exalted beings there are no barriers between the
inner and outer planes, nor between life and so-called death.
They function always in the sublime state of conscious and continuous being and becoming.
- Esoteric Bible Studies — St. Luke 19 (PDF) »
- The Gospels — The Visitation (PDF) »
- The Ascension (PDF) »
- Spiritual Meditation for Cancer; The Path of Holiness Through Cancer; The Biblical Parable for Cancer (HTML) »
- The Parable of the Great Supper (PDF) »
- The Gospels — The Visitation (continued) (PDF) »
- The Prodigal Son (PDF) »
- The Leper Cleansed; The Ten Lepers; The Capernaum Demoniac (HTML) »
- The Parable of the Talents (PDF) »
- The Man Healed of Dropsy (PDF) »
- Mary's Initiatory Preparation for the Annunciation; The Rite of the Annunciation (HTML) »
- The Holy Birth (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of the Christ — The Healing of the Withered Hand (PDF) »
- The Presentation; The Flight into Egypt (HTML) »
Matthew gives the Gospel of the Path as this is outlined immediately after the Birth. Luke represents a higher phase of
attainment. Consequently Luke makes no mention of the flight
into Egypt, which represents the call of the sense life. There
is a period of probation and testing for each degree of Initiateship, as well as for the neophyte. Such a period is represented
by the flight into Egypt. This thralldom of the sense life has
been overcome in the higher degrees, therefore the Gospel of
Luke passes from the Temple Rites directly to the teaching in
the Temple.
Egypt was three hundred miles away, and the journey a long
and arduous one. But all along the route lived groups of the
Essenes who knew the work destined for the Holy Child, and
consequently He and His parents were assisted on their journey
by many friends. They were also constantly companioned and
protected by angelic hosts.
According to mystic legends, the Holy Family passed most of
the time in Matariah, a town near Cairo, almost in the shadow
of the Sphinx and the Pyramids. These legends also state that
when the Family entered Egypt, all temple idols fell from their
shrines — a veiled allusion to the eventual precedence of the
religion brought to the world by Christ Jesus.
Upon one of the nights of the arduous journey across the
desert a band of robbers gave shelter to the Holy Family. The
water in which Mary had washed the clothing of the infant
Jesus she poured upon the leprous son of one of the robbers and
he became as white as snow. Thirty-three years later this same
son said to his Lord as they hung together upon Calvary: "Remember me in Paradise," and once again the Master and the holy Mary blessed his soul as long ago they had healed his body.
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Boyhood of Jesus (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of the Christ — Healing the Centurion's Servant (PDF) »
- The Promise In Israel — The Books of Kings and Chronicles — The Focus of Light; The Promise To The Hebrews (HTML) »
At the present stage of human evolution it is impossible to state that
one race, one class, or one sex, is a generation of Seth or Cain. Whether a
person is one or the other depends upon the state of his consciousness,
and the conflict between the two is a soul-conflict which must be settled
individually. It is usually agreed, however, that in modern society the
Masonic Fraternity represents a final fragments of the ancient Wisdom of
Cain, while the Roman Catholic Church stands pre-eminent as representing the Faith of Seth. In the time of Christ, Philo Judeus designated
Gentiles generally, and the Greeks in particular, as Sons of Cain; the
Jews, as Sons of Seth. Among Jews, the Essenes claimed to be the inheritors of Seth, and to this day the Master Jesus is called The Flower of
the Sons of Seth. To Seth belongs the doctrine of self-sacrifice through
love, as exemplified in the death and resurrection of Savior-Gods.
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Triumphal Entry (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of Christ — Healing of the Infirm Woman (PDF) »
- Symbols Of Discipleship; Parable of the Talents and the Pounds; Parable of the Sower (HTML) »
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Last Supper (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of Christ — The Raising of the Widow's Son of Nain (PDF) »
- The Boy Jesus Teaching in the Temple (PDF) » (HTML) »
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Crucifixion (PDF) »
- Christian Initiatory Teachings — Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes (PDF) »
- The Deaf and Dumb Demoniac; The Demoniac of Gerasa; Their Name is Legion; The Healing of the Demoniac at the Foot of Mount Hermon; The Man Healed of Palsy (HTML) »
Immediately after the glory of the Rite of Transfiguration
(which was witnessed only by the most advanced of the Disciples,
Peter, James and John) occurred the most difficult of all the
healings of obsession, and one which the Disciples themselves
were unable to achieve.
Although the Disciples had already exorcised many evil spirits
successfully, they found themselves powerless before this one.
"Ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to
destroy him." Here is the mystic key. This boy had in former
lives been a follower of the Mysteries, working in the Temples
with both the elements of fire and water. He had doubtless
misused his powers and turned to black magic, hence in this life,
"from a child," he had been under the control of powerful evil
forces emanating from the center of the Black Brotherhoods.
For this reason the Disciples, despite their high attainment, could
not loosen this hold. Only a Master superior to the black arts
could accomplish it.
"Why could we not cast him out?" the Disciples asked Him
when they were come. "This kind can come forth by nothing
but by prayer and fasting." In other words, it is only by the
most complete life dedication through purity that the tenacious
grip of the black magician can be broken.
This case has generally been taken to be one of epilepsy. It is
significant in this instance to note that Aretacus in his treatise
on chronic diseases states that epilepsy is considered a disgraceful
disease, for it is thought to be inflicted upon persons who have
sinned against the moon. Galen in his book, "Critical Days,"
asserts that the moon governs the period of epileptic seizures.
("Miracles and the New Psychology," Micklen)
- The Crucifixion (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — Attainment through Regeneration (PDF) »
- Parables Of Initiation; Parable of the Great Feast; Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son (HTML) »
The Parable of the Ten Virgins was one of the teachings of
Passion Week, the period when the most profound instructions
were given to the inner circle of the Disciples. The virgins are
awaiting the Bridegroom, who has been delayed, but when he
comes, unexpectedly, at midnight — that most mystical hour of
the soul's night! — five of them have no oil for their lamps.
"And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out."
The Virgins represent those who have found the path of
discipleship and are ready for the deeper work that leads to
liberation from the physical body, with freedom to function
in the radiant golden wedding garment of the soul. Five is the
number of the physical senses. Five are the nails which hold
the foolish Virgins to the cross of matter, and these same five
nails, when "pulled," bring the resurrection of a new life to those
who are wise. The truly wise one eventually becomes a "five
pointed star." "I am the Light of the world," proclaims the
Supreme Master of the new Christian Mysteries. Some of the
miracle or mystery plays of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were based upon this Parable.
- The Ascension (PDF) »
- The Mystic Interval — The Risen Christ (continued) (PDF) »
- The Shepherd Initiates; The Rite of the Dedication — The Journey of the Three Wise Men; The Sacrament of Purification (HTML) »
The three Wise Men represent the complete dedication of
spirit (gold), soul (myrrh), and body (frankincense). After
the Christ has been born within, the next step in the process of
unfoldment must always be this dedication to the Master and
His work, if the new-born Christ within is to grow to the full
stature of manhood. The spirit is symbolized by gold, which
possesses the highest vibratory power of all the metals; the body
is represented by frankincense, which, being a vapor, is a fitting
symbol of the spirit's most impermanent vehicle. The soul body
is symbolized by myrrh, a plant grown in Arabia, rare and difficult to procure. It is extremely bitter to the taste but possesses
an unusual and beautiful fragrance. It symbolizes the soul-extract or essence of experience which the spirit garners in the
body and which constitutes the whole purpose of life on the
physical plane. It is in fact a synonym for the path of discipleship. The soul body of a saint emits a fragrance, a fact which
has been the basis of many lovely legends in the Church.
- The Annunciation (PDF) »
- "The Kingdom of God" (PDF) »
- The Mystic Interval — The Risen Christ (continued) (PDF) »
John:
- John (KJV) »
- The Triumphal Entry (PDF) »
- The Three Degrees of
Discipleship (PDF) »
- The Risen Christ (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of Christ — The Nobleman's Son (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — The Mystic Marriage in Cana (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — The Testing of the Three Parisees (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Initiation of Lazarus (continued) (PDF) »
- Suggestions for Meditations on the Gospel According to John (PDF) »
- The Christ Principle (PDF) »
- The Historical Christ; The Nativity; The Presentation in the Temple; The Flight Into Egypt; The Boy Jesus in the Temple; The Baptism (HTML) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — St. John 21 (PDF) »
- "Peace Be Unto You" (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of Christ — The Resurrection of Lazarus (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — The Initiation of Nicodemus (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — Inner Realm Teaching (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Resurrection (PDF) »
- Suggestions for Meditations on the Gospel According to John, Part 2 (PDF) »
- The Sacraments (PDF) »
- David and The Temple Pattern — The Shepherd King (HTML) »
In the New Testament we read how when John the Baptist first
saw Jesus he did not recognize him as the Christ; for John himself confessed: "And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water,
the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending,
and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" (John
1:33-34).
If, therefore, even so advanced a prophet as John the Baptist could
not discern by physical sight alone that Jesus was the Messiah, how much
less are we able to judge the quality of a soul from its exterior vestments?
It was by spiritual revelation that John knew Jesus as the Christ, and
it was by spiritual revelation that Samuel knew David as the
Shepherd-King.
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Resurrection and the Ascension (PDF) »
- Christ-Directed Service (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — The Rite of the Anointing (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — Preparatory Work for Initiation (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — Inner Realm Teaching (continued) (PDF) »
- The Mystic Interval (PDF) »
- The Trinity (PDF) »
- The Nobleman's Son; The Resurrection of Lazarus; The Raising of the Widow's Son of Nain (HTML) »
Lazarus was the most spiritually advanced of all the disciples
who were under the tutelage of Christ Jesus. (The others did not reach this attainment until the Day of Pentecost.)
Exoteric religionists are puzzled to account for Christ's delay
of two days before going to the aid of Lazarus. The esotericist
knows that Christ was aware that only the body of Lazarus was
in the tomb, whereas his spirit was on the inner planes receiving
the initiatory work that gives entrance into the deeper Christian
Mysteries. The Master Jesus was initiated into these Mysteries
in the Rite of the Baptism, and Lazarus, the next in spiritual
attainment, at the time of his supposed death.
Christ Jesus described this Initiation in the words, "This
sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God." In other
phraseology, Lazarus now becomes a more perfect channel for
receiving and disseminating the glories of God upon the earth.
Mary and Martha, the two sisters of Lazarus, were among the
highest in development of the women disciples of Christ. They
were thus able to take part in the initiatory or Resurrection
Rite of their brother, as did the father and mother of Jairus'
Daughter. Mary symbolizes the mystic path, or the faith of the
heart; Martha, the occult path, or the reasoning of the mind.
The union of heart (love) and head (understanding) produce
Wisdom, the true essence of the soul. Lazarus represents this
twofold blending, which lifts the neophyte to a state of consciousness far transcending that possessed by ordinary humanity.
- "Judge Righteous Judgment" (PDF) »
- "The Word Was Made Flesh" (PDF) »
- The Supper at Bethany (PDF) »
- The Christ Principle (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — A Song of Planetary Rhythm (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — Initiatory Instruction to the Woman of Samaria (PDF) »
- Crowning Works of the Ministry — The Initiate Prayer of the Illumined (PDF) »
- The Mystic Interval — Initiatory Work of Peter and John (continued) (PDF) »
- Symbols (PDF) »
Acts:
Romans:
1st Corinthians:
2nd Corinthians:
Galatians:
Ephesians:
Philippians:
Colossians:
1st Thessalonians:
2nd Thessalonians:
1st Timothy:
2nd Timothy:
Titus:
Philemon:
Hebrews:
James:
1st Peter:
2nd Peter:
1st John:
2nd John:
3rd John:
Jude:
- Jude (KJV) »
- The Fallen Angels (PDF) »
- Enoch — His Elevation and Vision of The Coming Christ (HTML) »
The canonical Scriptures contain but scant information about
Enoch. In a few brief passages we learn that he was of the line of
Cain, the son of Jared, and the father of Methuselah. His name signifies one. who is disciplined and dedicated, and his translation to
heaven without passing through the gates of death indicates that he
had attained consciousness of immortality while still functioning in
an earthly body. "By faith," writes Paul, "Enoch was translated,"
and "before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased
God." In the words of the Genesis account, "Enoch walked with
God; and he was not, for God took him."
When Enoch had lived "sixty and five years he begat Methuselah,
the wise;" and thereafter, it is stated, "Enoch walked with God."
The age of Enoch at this time is significant since it holds the numerological key to his attainment. Sixty-five contains the powers of the
master number eleven. The Masons hold this to be the most important
of all numbers because, according to their teachings, anyone possessing two units (11) within, may come into possession of all things. It
means the attainment of equilibrium between the two poles of
spirit, after which wisdom is begotten and a union with the divine
self realized. Such an one becomes, like Enoch, a seer and a prophet
announcing the coming of the Cosmic Christ to the world, and the
birth of His consciousness in individuals.
-
The Epistles of the Disciples — Epistle of Jude (PDF) »
Revelation:
Miscellaneous — New Testament:
- Babylon and the New Jerusalem (PDF) »
- Birth and Early Life of Jesus (PDF) »
- Background and Youth of Saul of Tarsus (PDF) »
- The Planetary Christ; The Baptism; Golgotha (HTML) »
- Ritual, Repetition and the Soul Body (PDF) »
- Mary's Initiatory Preparation for the Annunciation (PDF) »
- Saul and the Church at Antioch (PDF) »
- Messianic Expectations; Astrological Keys (HTML) »
- The Calling of the Twelve (PDF) »
- The Gospels — Part IV (PDF) »
- Peter's Wife's Mother and Others Healed (PDF) »
- Arian and post-Atlantean (HTML) »
To quite some extent Hebrew angelology was derived from the
theosophy of Persia and Chaldea; from thence also came the final form of
their Christology — which was cosmic or universal in scope, not merely
racial or national. The Jews were assigned a leading role in the work of
preparing for the Messianic Descent; but this leadership was to be
spiritual, not military. When nationalism triumphed it led to the rejection of the Messiah — not, however, before Gentile nations had recognized
Him as their own Savior, prophesied in the Mysteries. It was due to the
spread of Chaldean stellar theosophy into the Roman Empire that the
whole ancient world knew the end of the Age was at hand and that a
Savior would appear. Virgil, writing in 40 B.C., proclaimed: "Now comes
the final age of the Cumean Chant; the great succession of epochs is
born anew. Now the Virgin returns, the reign of Saturn returns; now a
new race descends from heaven on high.... thine own Apollo is king."
As in the Grecian Mysteries, the life of the archangelic Christ presents a pattern after which men may mold their lives and thus achieve
wisdom and immortality, each in his turn becoming a Christos, a
Dionysus, a Son of God. The pattern was written in the stars at the
beginning of time. In the glorious constellations of the heavens the divine
story may be traced, from the Savior's birth to His Ascension. If these
be the Christ's, they are ours also. By imitating Him, by walking in His
Way, the supreme goal of human evolution is achieved in the manifestation of the Christos (divinity) within each man. All religions, creeds
and spiritual teachings find their apotheosis in Him. The wise of all
races and all ages have understood this, and have endeavored to prepare
for His coming.
- The Calling of the Twelve (PDF) »
- The Rite of the Annunciation (continued) (PDF) »
- Spiritual Growth (PDF) »
- Masonic Origins; Esoteric Masonic Origins (HTML) »
- Thinking and Speaking
as Taught in the Bible (PDF) »
- The Visitation (PDF) »
- Origin of the Scriptures (PDF) »
- The Comacines (HTML) »
The medieval cathedrals were built as replicas of the early Temples
of Initiation. The Archbishop of Milan in 1332 invited only "those who
understood the work" to present "models" for the cathedral, which was
later constructed as virtually a reproduction of an inner-plane Mystery
Temple, the inspiration of its rare and almost tenuous and fragile beauty
remaining today as potent and striking as when it was first completed.
This majestic spectacle is truly a "sermon in stone," the full meaning of
which eludes the understanding of the wisest modern who lacks the
esoteric key.
By all canons of esoteric architecture a house dedicated to spiritual
living should be cruciform. Christ upon the cross is the cosmic emblem
of the spirit crucified in matter. All sanctuaries hold as their supreme ideal
the liberation of the spirit, consciously, from this cross of matter; hence
the glorious symbolism which marked the path of these master workmen
during the medieval age of Cathedral building.
The Christ legend, which symbolizes the Path of Initiation, was
emblazoned by stone cutters, glass weavers and the painter's brush. These
were divinely inspired workmen belonging to the mystic Masonic crafts.
Fired by their reverence and devotion, they made stone and wood, marble
and glass, into living memorials, beautiful beyond all words to describe
— the great Gothic Epic which marks the path of medieval Christianity
through France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy and England.
The Gothic cathedral voices its ideal in vertical lines that seem to
lift toward heaven in audible prayer beseeching fulfillment. As Longfellow expresses it: "Great towers yearning up toward God."
In the Gothic architecture of France's cathedrals, differentiation between the masculine and feminine is particularly noticeable. In Notre
Dame the south tower is noted for its grace and delicacy of outline, the
north for its strength and firmness.
- The Mystery of the Summer Solstice (PDF) »
- Healing Miracles of Christ — The Deaf and Dumb Man Healed (continued) (PDF) »
- Revealing the
Hidden Mysteries (PDF) »
- The Mystical Christ (HTML) »
The Christ Mystery is fourfold. First, there is the Christ in the
Sun who has been the Lord and Director of all great world
religions. Second, there is the Christ who incarnated on earth at
the time of Jesus' Baptism and who, on the momentous day of His
sacrifice on Golgotha, became its indwelling Planetary Spirit.
Third, there is the Christ to be born in man himself. Then there is
the historical Christ. It was to this fourfold Christ Mystery that
Paul referred when he said, "Behold, I show you a mystery."
This fourfold Mystery is under the guidance of the Holy
Trinity. The Christ in the Sun is under the supervision of the Lord
God. The Christ that took embodiment at the Baptism is under the
direction of the Son, the Cosmic Christ. The Christ to be born in
man is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has
always been the great mystery of the Trinity. Humanity in the
coming New Age will understand increasingly something of the
scope of its nature and work.
The next important step in human evolution is the birth of
Christ in man. The travail attendant upon the birth is causing much
of the current inharmony, unrest and turmoil. No man can be a
pioneer of the new race until the Christ has been born within
himself. The call set forth by the Holy Spirit to all who are ready
and willing to listen is for complete dedication in the service of the
Lord Christ. It is the mission of the Holy Spirit relative to the
Christian of the new race which led the Lord to declare, "If I go
not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you . . . and he will shew you things to
come."
- The Sign of the
Master (PDF) »
- The Parable of Christ's Ministry (PDF) »
- Jesus and Christ Jesus (PDF) »
- Spiritual Meditation for Gemini; The Path of Holiness Through Gemini; Biblical Parable for Gemini (HTML) »
- The Sign of the
Master (PDF) »
- Parables of the Pearl of Great Price and of the Hidden Treasure (PDF) »
- The Mystery of
Golgotha (PDF) »
- Abraham And Moses Contact The Coming One (HTML) »
Every disciple being prepared for service in the Christ Dispensation meets upon the Path, in some form or other, the
paramount test — such as Abraham's being called upon to sacrifice
his beloved son Isaac. At this point the disciple must be able to say
with the Christ: "Not my will, but thine, be done." It was the
Comforter, the Lord Christ Himself, who attended upon Abraham
during this supreme trial, a fact recorded by both Origen and
Cyprian, a contemporary of Origen. The sacrifice was not really
required of Abraham, but only his willingness to renounce all for
his Lord. This is beautifully demonstrated in the biblical sequel
telling how a ram was substituted for Isaac, the ram being a
symbol of the coming Arian Dispensation when the Lord Christ
would descend and, in human embodiment, make the supreme
sacrifice. In this test Abraham had proved his worthiness, and also
his ability to study profound truths directly from the Akashic
Records.
- Discipleship — The Fellowship Degree — Part 1 (PDF) »
- The Calling of the Twelve (PDF) »
- The Star of Bethlehem (PDF) »
- Further Elucidation of The Mystery of the Christos — Christ In The Old Testament — Testimony Of The Early Church Fathers (HTML) »
The early Fathers, some of whom received their teaching
direct from the original Twelve, avowed the necessity for this
resplendent Sun Being taking upon Himself human guise in order
that man might make direct contact with Him. Referring to the Sun
Spirit, Irenaeus, a celebrated Father of the Greek Church of the
second century, says that "he might have come to us in his own
incorruptible glory, but we could not have home the greatness of
his glory." Also Origen, another Greek Father (185-253 A.D.),
wrote: "Who (the Word) being in the beginning with God, became
flesh that he might be comprehended by those who were not able
to look at him, in that he was the Word, and was with God and
was God. " And Origen adds further: "Coming down once to that
which was not able to look at the dazzling brightness of his
divinity, he became in manner flesh."
To again quote Lactantius: "Scriptures teach that the Son of
God is the Word or Reason of God," and adds as substantiation:
"If anyone wonders that God should be begotten of God by
putting forth of the voice and breath, he will cease to wonder if he
knows the sacred sayings of the prophets.
- Our Bible’s Heritage (PDF) »
- Judas Iscariot Replaced by Matthias (PDF) »
- The Sacrament of
Baptism (PDF) »
- The Promise In Greece; The Greeks And Their Gods (HTML) »
It may be claimed that the history of civilization is always the history
of the God Hermes or, to put it astrologically, the history of the planet
Mercury's influence in human affairs. The original Semites were chosen
as the Seed of the Fifth Root Race, in which reason was to be developed
and brought to its first flowering. This exalted achievement came to
ancient Greece. Consequently, Hermes finally stood as the Supreme
Heirophant of their Mysteries in the figure of Hermes Trismegistus, the
Thrice Great-beloved of Egypt also but more ancient than
Egypt, for he was Heirophant of the Mercurial Mysteries of Atlantis.
The majority of famous Greeks were Initiates in the Mysteries. The
fundamentals of their works were acquired by first-hand investigation
of Akashic Records. Ceremonials and processionals, esoteric dramas and
disciplines, were all part of their Atlantean heritage;
hence the occultist's
assurance that the Hermes Cult was the most ancient of all cults and that
it was indigenous to the Greek mind. Other elements of remote Atlantean
origin arrived in Greece through other channels, mostly through Egypt,
Crete and Phoenicia, though Persia and India contributed their share.
- The Vicarious Atonement (PDF) »
- Qualities and Attributes of the Twelve Disciples (PDF) »
- The Sacrament of
Marriage (PDF) »
- Daniel and the Initiation by Fire — The Greek Period in Palestine (HTML) »
- The Seven Jewels and
the Seven Stages of Initiation (PDF) »
- The Sermon on the Mount (PDF) »
- The Immaculate
Conception (PDF) »
- Seven Keys To The Christ Mystery — The Immaculate Conception; The Holy Birth; The Baptism; The Transfiguration; Gethsemane; The Crucifixion; The Resurrection (HTML) »
The Immaculate Conception is the Holy Rite whereby the fire
that burns in man's personality is transmuted into the light of pure
spirit. In the process of transmutation the red fire of Mars, the
desire force generated by the Lucifers, is displaced by the golden
Sun force, the pure love-power of the Christ. This will be the
paramount transformation to take place in the whole race during
the coming age.
Late in human evolution certain centers were developed in the
currents of man's desire body. These centers are largely latent in
the majority of people, for they can be awakened only through
spiritual development. As yet they have come into their full splendor only in those who have received the higher Degrees of Initiation. However, these centers, all twelve of them, are latent in the
body of every individual. When awakened and functioning, they
become twelve glorious lights.
The centers are variously located in the physical vehicle. Two
are in the feet; two at the. knees; one at the base of the spine; one
each in the solar plexus, the heart and the throat; two in the
cranium. In oriental Mystery Schools these centers are referred to
as "lotus blossoms"; by mystic Christians they are described as
"the roses that bloom upon the cross of the body." They do not
come into their full luminosity until after the first of the Greater or
Christ Initiations has been reached. Centers below the diaphragm
are not fully awakened until a disciple passes all four of these
Christ Initiations; therefore humankind is not very familiar with
their functioning or the processes involved in their activation. All
centers located above the diaphragm are awakened during the
course of the nine Lesser Initiations, so more is known about the
means and manner of their functioning. There are other centers to
be activated through further spiritual unfoldment, but the ones
treated here are the most important at man's present stage of
evolution.
- Bible Mysteries — Their Literal and Spiritual Interpretation (PDF) »
- Conscious Invisible Helpership (PDF) »
- Miscellaneous
Interpretations — The Forgiveness of Sins (PDF) »
- Isis — the Madonna of Egypt; The Occult Science Of The Egyptians (HTML) »
The purpose of Initiation is to "take heaven by storm," as it were;
to come quickly into a realization of the continuity of life and of its
ultimate goal.
As pertaining to the continuity of life, the Book of the Dead was of
importance to everyone; therefore, it was the custom to place a copy in
the coffin of the deceased at the time of burial. As pertaining to Initiation,
however, it was the constant and daily companion of every neophyte, and
was more appropriately called The Book of the Coming Forth by Day.
Either in the natural course of transition by, death or through the
experience of Initiation, the spirit must pass through the dark netherlands of disembodied souls, variously described as Purgatory by Christians, Hades by Greeks, Land of Amenti by Egyptians. This strange
land was characterized by immense fire pits and waterfalls and was
inhabited by monsters of terrifying aspect. Only the pure in heart, those
who had been just and righteous on earth, were able to pass through
the perils unscathed.
- Easter and the Bible (PDF) »
- Esoteric Bible Studies — Meat (PDF) »
- The Rite of Transfiguration (continued) (PDF) »
- Miscellaneous
Interpretations — Confession and Absolution (PDF) »
- Further Meditation on Initiation by Fire; The Feast of Pentecost — Initiation by Air (HTML) »
- The Prohibition Question (PDF) »
- The Rite of Transfiguration (continued) — The Keynote of the New Christian Dispensation (PDF) »
- Miscellaneous
Interpretations — The Christian Feasts (PDF) »
- Preparatory Work for Initiation by Fire (HTML) »
There is no more interesting phase of occult study than that of food
and its relation to esoteric unfoldment. The Book of Daniel — which,
as we have seen, is the biblical story concerning control of the
Fire-forces
and complete subjugation and transmutation of the desire nature — demonstrates the fact that the Work of Fire cannot be accomplished so long
as one's body is nourished on such impure food as alcohol and flesh.
Esotericists well know that food and drink are vitally important factors
in spiritual evolution, but only in recent years has the science of nutrition
come into its own more generally.
In Genesis, in each epoch a new food has been provided to meet man's evolutionary requirements. The gift of wine is described in the story of Noah
and Moses, but each gives his own version of its use. Occultists declare
that the "spirit of fermentation" and meat-eating were introduced to
further the material advancement of Fifth Root Race man, so we find the
Bible describing Nimrod as a mighty hunter while Leviticus defines the
clean and unclean meats. As this aim has been largely achieved, pioneers
of the race — those preparing for Initiation — are required to "sacrifice"
the use of both. No one who indulges in any false stimulus can ever
fully know his true self, the I Am.
As man became more material-minded his diet consisted largely of meats; then his wine-drinking increased because stimulants were necessary to overcome the deadening effects of flesh foods. The claim (which
may be true) that there are no vegetarian drunkards would thus be
accounted for, since the high rhythm of a vegetarian's body does away
with the need for false stimulation.
It is of special interest to note that two of the predominating factors
engendering fear in the human heart were the use of flesh and alcohol.
By their use man lost his spiritual sight. They lowered the vibrations
of etheric centers which interpenetrate his physical body, centers through
which only was he able to contact spiritual worlds. His etheric centers
thus clogged, man could no longer see the glorious Beings who were his
teachers and friends. He could no longer see his loved ones after they
passed into higher realms at death, so death gradually became a terror
to him and life beyond the grave a fearful secret which he could not
resolve.
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — Early Minstry, Calling of the Twelve, and Sermon on the Mount (PDF) »
- The Rite of Cleansing the Temple (PDF) »
- Masonry and Esoteric Christianity — The Temples; Crusading Masonry (HTML) »
Masonry was founded on the secret teachings of Moses, Solomon and
Zerubbabel. Down through the ages this work has never been allowed to
perish. However low it flickered, the light has never been wholly extinguished, and always with the incoming of cycles propitious to its reawakening, an inspired messenger has appeared to trim the wick and
replenish the sacred oil. Not only was this true in ancient Israel; it is also
true in the Christian era. It was true in the time of Constantine the
Great, the first Christian Emperor, and has continued to be true down
to our own time as best exemplified in the inspired work of Albert Pike.
This knowledge, and the power it confers, should be in the possession
of every Thirty-Second Degree Mason, and will be, when the Lodge
turns once more from mere Speculative Masonry to genuine Operative
Masonry, making itself worthy to receive wages from a true Master. Then,
and then only, will the sublime purpose of Masonry, as dreamed of by
Albert Pike and other great Mystic Masons, be accomplished, and
Masonry and Religion united become the two handmaids of a Christed
people.
In the dawning Age of Air, Jerusalem will again become the site of
a new Temple. The inspired biblical seers, Ezekiel and John, have described this glory Temple of the future: true, their description is the
Pattern in the Sky, but it will one day cast its lovely luminous shadow
upon the Earth, and all men shall behold it and love it. Then once again
the Treasures will be discovered under the Holy of Holies, and Mystic
Masons from the four corners of the Earth will follow the Light even to
its abiding place in the heart of the East.
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Transfigutation, and Later Works (PDF) »
- Legends That Usher in the New Dispensation (PDF) »
- The Parables Of Christ's Ministry; Parables of the Old and the New; Preparation For Discipleship (HTML) »
The Parable of the Mustard Seed teaches us once more that
we are all Christs-in-the-making, and that each one of us must,
in a small way, make our lives a replica of the life of the Christ.
The mind is the path; therefore the beginning of the resurrection
within our own lives must be accomplished by establishing
within ourselves a new mind through the creative power of
thought. The Master knew this truth and gave it to His Disciples
and to the multitudes gathered around Him. He likened the
attainment of the kingdom (within) to the planting of a seed
in the ground. As the seed lies embedded in darkness, hidden
away from the light for a time, apparently inert and lifeless,
so it is with the aspirant when he begins to live the spiritual life.
For a time it may seem that he is making no progress. He is
beset with trials and temptations and enveloped in darkness, and
knows not how it is possible for the seed of the Spirit to spring up.
Jacob Boehme describes this place on the Path so aptly that
it finds an echo in the heart of everyone who has passed this way.
He says: "It is not so easy a matter to become a child of God
as men imagine ... To turn the mind and destroy self there is
a strong and continued requisite, and such a stout and steady
purpose that if the body and soul should part asunder by it,
yet the will would persevere constantly and not enter again into
the self. A man must wrestle until the dark center that is shut up
close breaks open, and the spark lying therein kindles, and from
thence immediately the noble lily branch spouteth — as from the
divine grain of mustard seed, as Christ saith. A man must pray
earnestly, with great humility, and for a while become a fool
in his own reason and see himself void of understanding therein
until Christ be formed in this new earth incarnation."
- Studies in the Life of Christ Jesus — The Trials (PDF) »
- The Initiation of Lazarus (PDF) »
- The Life and Mysteries of the Blessed Virgin — The Coming Age of Mary; The Eternal Feminine (HTML) »
For two thousand years the battle between darkness and light,
between Christ and Antichrist, has raged in the world, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy. Now at last the forces of light are
in the ascendant, and the secret powers of creation are emerging
from their hiding places under the guiding hand of a New
Science for the New Age. "My peace I give unto you," the
Christ said to His disciples; and it was through that peace that
they came to know the Comforter who taught them "all things."
That holy peace was for the advanced few, and it has remained
the secret of the few in the centuries of sorrow which
have elapsed since the Christ ascended; but once world peace
is attained, mankind will experience the descent of the Comforter
anew in a universal Pentecost. Increasing numbers of
men and women will submit themselves to the self-discipline
necessary for the reception of the Comforter, and will proclaim
Her advent. We say "Her" advent advisedly, for the New Age
Comforter will be recognized primarily as the feminine aspect
of God, the Divine Feminine, predestined to play so outstanding
a role in the coming Age of Aquaria. The Divine Feminine
cannot manifest in a world at war, in a world of hatred and
bloodshed. Her Glory knows no shadow, Her Presence is alien
to bitterness, Her Voice speaks in the quiet places of the heart.
The Spirit of Prophecy, the angelic Daughter of the Voice, is
Her representative, and as such was She known to the prophets.
A world at peace will be prepared for Her Presence, and She
will reveal Herself in Her highest human representative, the
glorious Mary of Nazareth, mother of Jesus the
Christ-bearer,
who will proclaim Her in the Schools of Initiation. Consequently
the coming Era will know a closeness and intimacy of
communion with this blessed being approximating that of the
early Christian centuries. Mary's abiding interest in humanity
is demonstrated in more than one hundred apparitions since her
last incarnation, nine of these having occurred during the last century.
Mary made possible the first coming of our blessed Lord,
Christ Jesus. It will be through her intervention again that all
mankind shall be made ready for His second coming.
- Mythology and the Bible (PDF) »
- The Rite of the Triumphal Entry (continued) (PDF) »
- The Betrothal and Marriage of Mary and Joseph (HTML) »
The Essenes were divided into two groups, the Householders
and the Temple Initiates. The Householders married and set
up homes in the villages and cities in the usual way of life where
they made practical demonstration of the holy Temple teaching
of the Immaculate Conception, preparing themselves through
strict spiritual discipline for the sanctity of parenthood, with the
object of attracting advanced egos from the heaven world who
should further the work of the Order and of humanity generally.
The more esoteric group comprised the Initiates who had
taken the vow of perpetual virginity and held themselves unspotted of the world, living, usually, in isolated monastic communities where they could devote the whole life to the things of Spirit. Some of these, however, might also be found in the towns and cities when a special work was to be done, and some
lived in the Temple precincts in Jerusalem itself and performed
duties necessary to the Temple worship according to the demands of custom and tradition.
These Initiate brethren were taught the Mysteries of the
Fire-Mist in the human body — its nature, its origin and the
way of its ascent to the head, there to be used in various kinds
of mental-spiritual creative activity and to stimulate the functions of the pineal and pituitary glands whose awakening makes
man more than man. The presence of these two spiritual organs
in the head was known to ancient Initiates as references to them
are still to be found in the writings of the Church Father Hippolytus, who, not being himself a believer in the Mysteries, was
always attempting to discredit them. He nevertheless has done
the service of preserving an ancient description of the organs in
the head which, as he states, were likened to organs of generation, the head itself being likened to a marriage chamber. There
in the brain the Serpent Fire has its true home, but descends
by way of the medulla oblongata through the spine to the lower
organs of physical generation. Modern anatomists know that
the pituitary body in particular has an intimate connection with
the sex function, and occult anatomists know that it has an
equally intimate connection with regeneration and the fruition
of spiritual powers.
Mary and Joseph belonged to the highest initiatory Order,
hence the greater was their sacrifice in going out into the world
to become affiliated with the lesser Degree of the Householders.
- Mythology and the Bible — Ariadne and Theseus (PDF) »
- First Three Days of the Passiontide — The Sublime Rite of the Eucharist (PDF) »
- The Perfect Instruction; The Foundation Stone (HTML) »
- Interpretation of Ancient Myths In the Light of the Bible — Orpheus and Eurydice (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Sublime Rite of the Eucharist (continued) (PDF) »
- The Knights Templar (HTML) »
The Order of the Temple, through its enormous wealth and sumptuous living, gradually but inevitably lost the former reverence given to
it both by Church and laity, and became instead the object of envy
and hatred. There were leaders both in the Church and upon thrones who
looked with greedy and avaricious eyes upon the Templar's vast holdings,
and schemed to bring about its downfall. After trials that were a travesty
of justice, and tortures cruel and diabolical (for this was the real beginning of the Inquisition), this high Order was demolished, its immense
wealth confiscated, and its brave leader, Jacques de Molay, together with
many of his loyal followers, burned at the stake in the month of March, 1312. The lives of many thousands of the Templar Knights were concurrently, sacrificed in the atrocities of the dungeon, the rack and the sword. Thus ends one of the darkest of civilization's many shadowed pages.
The charge brought against the Templars was that they were heretics
against the Christian faith. Here again was evidenced the age-long conflict
between orthodox (the outer) and esotericism (the inner). There is
no doubt that in its beginnings the Templar Order was founded upon the
secret Rites of the Ancient Wisdom and hereby have a common origin
with Masonry. Their most important meetings were held at midnight and
at sunrise. These observances were also a part of Essenian communities
still resident in Palestine in that day.
- Thinking and Speaking As Taught in the Bible (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Rite of the Footwashing (PDF) »
- Redemption of the Lucifers (HTML) »
The period of the World War also marked an epoch-making stage
in the evolution of the Lucifer spirits. The disintegrating effect of
their influence on humanity then reached its maximum. Both the
Lucifers and mankind are becoming more amenable to purification
by the white light of the Christ. There is a repentance, and a salvation
for the Lucifers as there is for man. Both are in bondage and both are
being assisted toward liberation by the life-giving power of the Christ.
The Lucifers have commenced to retrace their steps; they are moving toward the heaven they lost. Not all. It is with them even as it is
with humanity. Some have awakened, repented and enlisted under
the banner of the Lord Christ, serving with Him in the redemption of
the whole.
The radiance and soul beauty of the Lucifers who have accepted
Christ as their leader is of unutterable glory. Their red-gold aura,
which sets them apart from the Angels whose radiation is white-gold,
will be subjected to a cleansing from fiery desires by an infusion of
the sublimating power of the Christ. Their transmuted force will then
form the Ruby, a gem of no less brilliance than the diamond. The
true light of the spirit will be reflected as brightly from one as from
the other.
Redeemed Lucifers become co-workers with the Christ in emancipating both their brothers and mankind from the results of the Fall.
Reformed Lucifers are exerting a powerful influence for good upon
their unregenerate brothers and the human race they once led astray.
Having no physical bodies to modify the intensity of their desire
nature, they are capable of exercising a much greater influence over
this aspect of man's expression, whether it be for good or ill, than is
man himself. They can act upon man directly, swiftly and effectively.
- The Bible and Mythology — The Legend of Phaethon and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Testing of Peter (PDF) »
- Prelude to the Gospels; Alexander and the Dispersion; The Essenes (HTML) »
Members of the Essene Order did not lay up treasures of
silver or gold, but provided themselves only with the necessities
of life. They regarded contentment of mind as the greatest of
riches. They made no instruments of war and repudiated every
inducement to covetousness. There were no slaves, but all were
free, equal, and served each other. They were instructed in
piety, holiness, righteousness, and economy; guided by a three-fold rule — love of God, love of mankind, and love of virtue.
Their love of God was manifested beautifully in their constant
and unalterable holiness of life. Their love of virtue showed
itself in their indifference to money, fame, and pleasure; also
in their life of chastity, simplicity, and modesty. Their love of
man was exemplified in benevolence, equality, reverence, and
care of the aged. There was neither abject poverty nor great
wealth among them. They despised riches and held all things
in common. Strangers were always welcomed as brothers, without
money and without price. All living things were to them
a part of God's life and therefore sacred.
It was their highest ideal to become fit temples for the Holy
Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19), to perform miraculous cures, and to become worthy forerunners of the Messiah. They were taught
humility and purity as the chief virtues and they lived in retirement from the world.
- The Bible and Mythology — Ceres — The Madonna of the Greeks (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Testing of Peter (continued) (PDF) »
- Number Values Cosmically Interpreted (HTML) »
Pythagoras spoke truly when he said, "All the world is made by number." Number is the basis of all formation, the root of all
creative manifestation. The numerals from 1 to 10 comprise the
sound and power hieroglyphs of every world origin or genesis. The
similarity in formation of these glyphs as used by all the people
of Earth proves a universal understanding of their occult meaning
and purpose.
The spiritual tendency of numbers is to raise all that comes under their influence above mundane limitations. This being true, a study of their inner significance is not confining or limiting, but revealing and expansive. But there is an essential difference between numbers
and figures. By numbers is meant the force or power emanations
that operate on the highest spiritual planes. Figures are but concrete
hieroglyphics of these spiritual powers — shadow-forms cast by the
all-permeating Principle upon the objective consciousness of men.
The Ten Principles (numbers), therefore, upon which the universe is founded are expressions of powerful cosmic forces; they
are intermediaries between the unmanifest and the manifest creation;
they are pure ideas, emanations from Divine Mind. These ten
emanations are symbolized in the kabbalistic Tree of Life — one of
the most profound and far-reaching of all ancient glyphs — with its
ten Sephiroth or glittering centers of light. These centers correspond
to the ten Elohim, and each one is a different vibratory rhythm.
Every name, being sound, is also vibration, and expresses the power
of one of the Sephiroth which are expressions of the "Word." Upon
this truth is based the philosophy of numbers. "Number veileth the
power of the Elohim," early sages declared.
- Bible Course in Questions and Answers — Lesson 1 (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — Gethsemane (PDF) »
- The Mysteries of Mary and Joseph — The Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys; Through the Year with Mary; The Twelve Feasts; Mary and Christ (HTML) »
- Bible Course in Questions and Answers — Lesson 3 (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Trials (PDF) »
- Academic Science Corroborates Revealed Religion (HTML) »
- The Bible in the Light of the Rosicrucian Teachings (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Trials (continued) (PDF) »
- Translation of the Blessed Virgin; The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (HTML) »
According to the esoteric traditions, Mary's spiritual authority
was accepted without question throughout the community of
Christians. She was attended at all times by a group of her
women disciples, among whom were: a daughter of that Nicodemus who came to Jesus "by night," Neshi, the daughter of
Gamaliel who was the teacher of Paul, and Taleitha, who belonged to the family of Nero; and many others, the early legends say, whose names have not been written down.
These faithful women always accompanied Mary, saying,
"We will not separate from thee, O Mary, blessed Mother,
except through death."
"Mary was accounted by them as a glorious woman," we
read, because they saw the signs and wonders which she
wrought before them by day and by night." The first of her
miracles which they observed was the fragrance like that of the
sweetest perfume that emanated from her soul body and literally filled the house wherein she was, like waves of the sea. Then
there were the miracles of healing. The sick and diseased came
to her to be blessed and were cured of their sicknesses, and they
marvelled when seeing "the great glory resting upon her."
One day when Mary was praying, as was her custom, beside
the holy tomb on Golgotha, the heavens opened and the Angel
Gabriel appeared unto her and said: "Thou art to go forth
soon from this fleeting world into the life which is forever."
- The Bible in the Light of the Rosicrucian Teachings (continued) (PDF) »
- The Trials (continued) (PDF) »
- Birth and Early Life of the Master Jesus — The Gospel Record (HTML) »
Papias, a disciple of Polycarp, who was one of the most
advanced of the pupils of John, states that Matthew wrote his
first Gospel in Hebrew, and that everyone translated it as he
was able. This was during the time that Peter and Paul were
preaching in Rome; also founding a church there. Jerome says
that this first Gospel was preserved in the library of
the church in Caesarea. Different versions of the manuscript were made
and passed from church to church.
The Syrian and Arabic copies of this Gospel of Matthew
read: "Here ends the copy of the Gospel of Matthew, which
he wrote in the land of Palestine, by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, in the Hebrew language, eight years after the ascension
of Jesus the Messiah into heaven, and in the first year of the
Roman Emperor, Claudius Caesar.
Jerome and Origen called this The Gospel to the Hebrews
because it was written in the Hebrew language. It was referred
to by early writers as The Gospel of the Twelve. Justyn Martyr,
in A.D. 133, mentions this book as The Recollections of the
Apostles and affirms that it contains much information not included in the present Gospels.
The fragments of the original Gospels owe their preservation
to the earliest Christian communities, founded, in some instances, by various of the Twelve Disciples themselves, or their
immediate disciples. The first instruction was by word of
mouth, but in course of time the account of the words and deeds
of Christ Jesus were written down, often in the form of Epistles,
which passed from one church to the other. Among these
accounts was the "Memorabilia" to which Justyn Martyr refers.
- Biblical Proof od Rebirth (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Trials (continued) (PDF) »
- Spiritual Meditation for Leo; The Path of Holiness Through Leo; Biblical Parable for Leo (HTML) »
Initiation as it existed before the coming of Christ was a very
different process from what it is today. Ancient Initiation was
termed the Path of Illuminated Mysteries, and it consisted of a
magnificent ceremonial depicting important events in the life of
great world teachers, from birth to their resurrection. With Christ's
coming Initiation underwent a marked change, and is now termed
the Path of the Solar Mysteries. Christian Initiation still depicts
important events in the life of the Lord-birth, baptism, transfiguration, resurrection and ascension. Now these must become
workable, vital experiences within the consciousness and the body
of a disciple. Thus we see how much more difficult is Initiation
under Christ than was pre-Christian Initiation. Therefore St. Paul,
one of the leading exponents of the Christian Mysteries, gave what
amounts to a mantram to his disciples — one applicable to those of
modern times — when he said, "The Christ be formed in you." All
of the various schools of metaphysics, New Thought, Christian
Science, and so forth, which teach the manifestation of the Christ
within are preparatory steps leading toward the supreme attainment
of man's life: Initiation into the Mysteries brought to earth by the
Christ.
- The Origin of the Scriptures (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Burial Rite (PDF) »
- Spiritual Meditation for Virgo — The Path of Holiness Through Virgo; Biblical Parable for Virgo (HTML) »
There were ten virgins who carried their lamps as they went
forth to meet the bridegroom; but when he tarried, they fell asleep.
Then, at the hour of midnight, came the cry, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh." The virgins awakened and five of the ten discovered there was no oil in their lamps, so they sought to borrow some from their sisters. But the wise virgins said, "Not so; lest
there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that
sell, and buy for yourselves." While the foolish virgins went to
purchase oil the bridegroom came, and the five wise virgins "went
in with him into the marriage; and the door was shut." When the
foolish virgins came and asked for admittance, the bridegroom
replied, "Verily I say unto you, I know you not."
The foolish virgins are those who squander their sacred life
force (oil) in worldly and sensual pleasures, and so have no light
within themselves to greet the Bridegroom when He comes; in
other words, they have not made themselves worthy of the Christ
life within.
- The Solar Myth (Conclusion) (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Rite of the Crucifixion (PDF) »
- The Immaculate Conception of Mary — The Annunciation to Joachim and Hanna; The Nativity of the Blessed Mary; The Dedication of Mary to the Temple (HTML) »
- Miscellaneous Interpretations — Part I (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Mystery of the Cross (PDF) »
- The Mystery of the Immaculate Conception; Mary's Initiation at the Foot of the Cross (HTML) »
Early man was androgynous. Humanity became uni-sexed
as the creative force was divided, half of it henceforth being
used to build and feed the brain and the other half for the
generation of new race bodies. During the earliest periods of
human evolution, the sympathetic nervous system — the particular avenue for the forces of the cosmic Feminine — was dominant,
but as the ego descended further and further into materiality
the feminine powers resident in the sympathetic nervous system
became largely dormant. After that, the ego worked for the
most part through the cerebro-spinal nervous system, which is
the cornerstone of modem Initiation. However, this unequal
condition cannot go on forever, and so the symbol of the New
Age is that of the androgynous figure of Aquarius, symbolizing
the bipolarity of a new Christed humanity, when the forces of
the sympathetic nervous system (the feminine column of the
body temple) is re-awakened and revitalized through pure
living. This involves the formation of a second spinal cord
through the activities of the forces generated in the blending
of the solar and lunar seeds, and when this is completed a bridge
of light will connect the masculine and feminine columns at the
base of the spine. Then generation will have become regeneration.
- Miscellaneous Interpretations (Continued) — Part II (PDF) »
- Culmination of the Ministry — The Empty Tomb (PDF) »
- Esoteric Architecture — Basic Principles (HTML) »
Christian architecture may be said to date from the issuance of
Constantine's edict establishing Christianity as the official state religion
of the Empire. Immediately the formerly secret religious rites were performed publicly, the sign of the cross came into view everywhere, and
there was a demand for skilled artisans and craftsmen to build the
churches and religious retreats which sprang up all over Europe.
As the building of churches increased, the skilled workmen formed
themselves into "building guilds," and journeyed from place to place
wherever their expert services were required. Since most of the buildings
they erected were of stone, the workmen were known as bands of
travelling masons, and to the select circles was added the word free, this being
an adaptation of an ancient Egyptian word Phree, meaning Light. Later
the term Freemason was adopted indiscriminately, but its real significance
is "holy men with whom God is first."
That these builders were not looked upon as ordinary workmen is
shown from the fact that they were exempted from taxes and such other
obligations as were imposed upon the peoples of that time. They in turn
regarded their labors as a sacred task by which they were instrumental
in advancing the kingdom and glory of God.
Most of the medieval cathedrals of Europe were fashioned under
such conditions and still retain much of the aura of soul exaltation with
which they were, impregnated during their construction.
A structure so built, and dedicated to the service of man and the
glory of God, possesses from the start an aura of holiness that ordinarily
requires many years to develop. This auric emanation permeates the
building and projects far beyond it in a larger and more beautiful superstructure of light. Immediately upon entering such a building one becomes
conscious of "something different" which pervades the atmosphere, and
many instantaneous healings have been known to occur within such walls.
- Miscellaneous Interpretations (Continued) — Part III (PDF) »
- The Heart of the Twelve Commandments (PDF) »
- The Lucifer Spirits (HTML) »
The desire currents of the planet Mars, home of the exiled Lucifers,
intermingle with like-natured currents of the Earth planes in a way
unique to these two planetary bodies. Because of this interpenetration
of desire auras, Luciferian influences, operating through this medium,
enter into the atmosphere of the Earth and act upon the life of our
planet, particularly its emotional expression.
It is to be remembered that, though fallen, the Lucifers are angels.
Those who have eyes to see declare that they have the radiant beauty
ascribed to Gods. They move in a vibrant scintillating light that
sparkles with electric energy. The attitude of these fiery Beings is
daring and challenging and their keynote is mental and emotional
intensity and extreme activity. By these means their consciousness
is quickened and their progress is furthered.
Therefore they foster every thing that generates conditions favorable to these expressions. They inspire those who come under their
influence with an indescribable longing to be free from every kind of
limitation and bondage, to plumb unknown depths and to explore
strange, boundless and undiscovered heights. The life they radiate is
alluring, and with unbelievable subtlety they transmit their spirit of
abandon to all whom they contact. The result is that those affected
experience a restlessness that often leads to unreasoned recklessness.
Fiery fearless natures naturally incline toward the Lucifers, and if
this contact be close and continuous, the impulse to do and dare becomes so intense it is irresistible. It may lead to a willingness to
sacrifice everything, even life itself, in the pursuit of something beyond definition or understanding.
It is not the intent of the Lucifer Spirits to inflame the thoughts
and passions of man to his destruction. They merely desire to create
more advantageous conditions for the expression of their own highly
geared activity. Where there is wisdom and strength to direct the
intense Luciferian energies to constructive ends, they make for keener
response, quickened creativeness, and an augmented awareness.
Were man able to direct such intensified force to constructive
uses, the Lucifers would be beneficent light-bringers only. But because
of man's failure to do this, Luciferian, influence caused his Fall and
is still predominantly evil in its effects upon him. Spiritual scientists,
knowing these facts, do not make man's weakness an excuse for
maligning a class of spirits who, while below the Angels, are yet far in
advance of humanity. They are children of a loving Father no less
than wayward humanity, and the Christ is giving His life for the
redemption of both.
In the modern world the Lucifer influence manifests strongly as a
spirit of rebellion and independence. It tends to override moral
restraint. It stirs up quarrels and wars. It gravitates to experiences
that give thrills and excitement. The speed mania is one of its manifestations. In the arts it stimulates the spirit of freedom, even to the
point of abandon, as in free verse, jazz and modernistic art.
After man had been exiled to the plane of materiality, Angels and
Archangels, working under the direction of the Christ, began to flood
the Earth with spiritual forces designed to counteract the limiting
influences under which he had fallen. Had the Lucifers remained
with the Angels this work would have been somewhat obstructed.
But as it was, and still is, the Lucifers could influence man chiefly by
instigating him to hasty and disruptive action, thereby creating a veil
that would prevent him from receiving unimpeded the inflow of beneficent forces from higher levels.
The psychic atmosphere of the Earth is heavily charged with
negative and destructive thoughts generated by humanity during ages
past. Collectively, these form what may be best described as an
elemental entity. Through this entity the Lucifers operate in inciting
humanity to heated controversies and impassioned conflicts. An
important part of man's work, and also of the higher Beings assisting
him, is to dissipate this entity by generating forces of a positive
character. Every thought sent out into the atmosphere that carries
qualities of peace, harmony and good will aid in the performance of
this task. Before such massed constructive thought negative entitites
retreat; they dissolve as a mist before the light of the Sun.
In the light of this knowledge man may the more wisely direct his
own course. Knowledge is power. Knowing the nature of the predominant forces continually playing in and upon him, he can consciously and purposefully utilize them to his advantage. The Luciferian forces are subject to his control and may be transmuted into
powers that will add to his spiritual light. His ability to do this
comes largely from the assistance rendered by the Christ and His
accompanying Hosts. By attuning himself with Christ's redemptive
power man becomes master of himself. Then can the Lord God say
that man is not only potentially, but actually, as "one of us."
There is an aspect in which the red, martial Mars and the fiery
hosts of Lucifer form the Dweller on the Threshold of Earth. The
influence they exert upon man's lower desire nature must be overcome and transmuted before the Earth and its humanity can pass on
to spiritual freedom. To assist man in the accomplishment of this
task is one mission of the Christ. The Archangels have already effected
this transmutation and are, therefore, qualified to lead the way for
beings who have not so attained.
As previously stated, the chief of the Archangels is the Christ. He
is the Redeemer of Mars no less than of Earth. His mission extends to
the whole of the solar system which, being a unit, suffered in its
entirety as a result of the Fall of man.
It was because the Archangels had completely mastered the
problem of polarity that the chief one amongst them, the Christ, was
qualified to assume the role of Redeemer for the fallen members of
both the angelic and the human kingdoms. To no one of lesser estate
would the stupendous task have been possible. In the light of these
facts we can re-read John's words with renewed reverence as he informs us that "God...gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should have everlasting life." He came as the way,
the truth and the life, revealing to man the means and the method by
which he could save himself.
- Miscellaneous Interpretations (Continued) — Part IV (PDF) »
- Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself (PDF) »
- The Christ In His Several Aspects —
Cosmic — Planetary — Historical — Mystical — The Cosmic Christ; Earth's Indwelling Spirit (HTML) »
- Miscellaneous Interpretations (Conclusion) — Part V (PDF) »
- Evolution As
Shown in the Bible — The Creation of Form (PDF) »
- The Lamentations of Horus Over The Destruction of Atlantis (HTML) »
When Initiate-Teachers of Atlantis foresaw the inevitable doom of
their island continent, they separated from the masses those whose will
retained a hold on human integrity and in whom the germ of reason,
recently acquired by the Atlantean race, had not been prostituted to the
service of evil. Those "chosen" people, the seed of Fifth Epoch races, were
under the tutelage of certain leaders who had come hither from the planet
Mercury; both they and their Mercurian leaders were led and instructed
by the great Archangel Michael, who had charge of the Herculean evolutionary task of creating a new race upon earth.
All initiatory work since Atlantis has proceeded under the guidance
and with the aid of these Mercurians. In Kabbalistic literature they are
grouped in general with Angels although, according to initiatory tradition, they are little more advanced than ourselves in the school of evolution. They may, without error, be described as a superior humanity. These
Elder Brothers from Mercury have charge of all initiatory work in the
nine Lesser Mysteries, leading to the Liberator, the Christ. They work
with individuals, not with the masses. As epochs succeed one another,
humanity will become more and more responsive to its helpers until the
two groups will easily commune.
- Babylon and the New Jerusalem (PDF) »
- Evolution As
Shown in the Bible — The Role of the Christian Religion in the Development of Man (PDF) »
- The Blessed Mary and the Mystery of the Holy Ghost; Astrological Aspects (HTML) »
- The Gospels — Birth and Early Life of Jesus (PDF) »
- Overcoming the World (PDF) »
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