Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries
Chapter 14
REVELATION.
All the religions known to us are the custodians of Sacred Books, and appeal to these books for the settlement of disputed questions. They always contain the teachings given by the founder of the religion, or by later teachers regarded as possessing super-human knowledge. Even when a religion gives birth to many discordant sects, each sect will cling to the Sacred Canon, and will put upon its word the interpretation which best fits in with its own peculiar doctrines. However widely may be separated in belief the extreme Roman Catholic and the extreme Protestant, they both appeal to the same _Bible_. However far apart may be the philosophic Vedantin and the most illiterate Vallabhacharya, they both regard the same _Vedas_ as supreme. However bitterly opposed to each other may be the Shias and the Sunnis, they both regard as sacred the same _Kuran_. Controversies and quarrels may arise as to the meaning of texts, but the Book itself, in every case, is looked on with the utmost reverence. And rightly so; for all such books contain fragments of The Revelation, selected by One of the great Ones who hold it in trust; such a fragment is embodied in what down here we call a Revelation, or a Scripture, and some part of the world rejoices in it as in a treasure of vast value. The fragment is chosen according to the needs of the time, the capacity of the people to whom it is given, the type of the race whom it is intended to instruct. It is generally given in a peculiar form, in which the outer history, or story, or song, or psalm, or prophecy, appears to the superficial or ignorant reader to be the whole book; but in these deeper meanings lie concealed, sometimes in numbers, sometimes in words constructed on a hidden plan--a cypher, in fact--sometimes in symbols, recognisable by the instructed, sometimes in allegories written as histories, and in many other ways. These Books, indeed, have something of a sacramental character about them, an outer form and an inner life, an outer symbol and an inner truth. Those only can explain the hidden meaning who have been trained by those instructed in it; hence the dictum of S. Peter that "no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation."[350] The elaborate explanations of texts of the Bible, with which the volumes of patristic literature abound, seem fanciful and overstrained to the prosaic modern mind. The play upon numbers, upon letters, the apparently fantastic interpretations of paragraphs that, on the face of them, are ordinary historical statements of a simple character, exasperate the modern reader, who demands to have his facts presented clearly and coherently, and above all, requires what he feels to be solid ground under his feet. He declines absolutely to follow the light-footed mystic over what seem to him to be quaking morasses, in a wild chase after dancing will-o'-the-wisps, which appear and disappear with bewildering and irrational caprice. Yet the men who wrote these exasperating treatises were men of brilliant intellect and calm judgment, the master-builders of the Church. And to those who read them aright they are still full of hints and suggestions, and indicate many an obscure pathway that leads to the goal of knowledge, and that might otherwise be missed.
We have already seen that Origen, one of the sanest of men, and versed in occult knowledge, teaches that the Scriptures are three-fold, consisting of Body, Soul, and Spirit.[351] He says that the Body of the Scriptures is made up of the outer words of the histories and the stories, and he does not hesitate to say that these are not literally true, but are only stories for the instruction of the ignorant. He even goes so far as to remark that statements are made in those stories that are obviously untrue, in order that the glaring contradictions that lie on the surface may stir people up to inquire as to the real meaning of these impossible relations. He says that so long as men are ignorant, the Body is enough for them; it conveys teaching, it gives instruction, and they do not see the self-contradictions and impossibilities involved in the literal statements, and therefore are not disturbed by them. As the mind grows, as the intellect develops, these contradictions and impossibilities strike the attention, and bewilder the student; then he is stirred up to seek for a deeper meaning, and he begins to find the Soul of the Scriptures. That Soul is the reward of the intelligent seeker, and he escapes from the bonds of the letter that killeth.[352] The Spirit of the Scriptures may only be seen by the spiritually enlightened man; only those in whom the Spirit is evolved can understand the spiritual meaning: "the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God ... which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."[353]
The reason for this method of Revelation is not far to seek; it is the only way in which one teaching can be made available for minds at different stages of evolution, and thus train not only those to whom it is immediately given, but also those who, later in time, shall have progressed beyond those to whom the Revelation was first made. Man is progressive; the outer meaning given long ago to unevolved men must needs be very limited, and unless something deeper and fuller than this outer meaning were hidden within it, the value of the Scripture would perish when a few millennia had passed away. Whereas by this method of successive meanings it is given a perennial value, and evolved men may find in it hidden treasures, until the day when, possessing the whole, they no longer need the part.
The world-Bibles, then, are fragments--fragments of Revelation, and therefore are rightly described as Revelation.
The next deeper sense of the word describes the mass of teaching held by the great Brotherhood of spiritual Teachers in trust for men; this teaching is embodied in books, written in symbols, and in these is contained an account of kosmic laws, of the principles on which the kosmos is founded, of the methods by which it is evolved, of all the beings that compose it, of its past, its present, its future; this is The Revelation. This is the priceless treasure which the Guardians of humanity hold in charge, and from which they select, from time to time, fragments to form the Bibles of the world.
Thirdly, the Revelation, highest, fullest, best, is the Self-unveiling of Deity in the kosmos, the revealing of attribute after attribute, power after power, beauty after beauty, in all the various forms which in their totality compose the universe. He shows His splendour in the sun, His infinity in the star-flecked fields of space, His strength in mountains, His purity in snow-clad peaks and translucent air, His energy in rolling ocean-billows, His beauty in tumbling mountain-torrent, in smooth, clear lake, in cool, deep forest and in sunlit plain, His fearlessness in the hero, His patience in the saint, His tenderness in mother-love, His protecting care in father and in king, His wisdom in the philosopher, His knowledge in the scientist, His healing power in the physician, His justice in the judge, His wealth in the merchant, His teaching power in the priest, His industry in the artisan. He whispers to us in the breeze, He smiles on us in the sunshine, He chides us in disease, He stimulates us, now by success and now by failure. Everywhere and in everything He gives us glimpses of Himself to lure us on to love Him, and He hides Himself that we may learn to stand alone. To know Him everywhere is the true Wisdom; to love Him everywhere is the true Desire; to serve Him everywhere is the true Action. This Self-revealing of God is the highest Revelation; all others are subsidiary and partial.
The inspired man is the man to whom some of this Revelation has come by the direct action of the universal Spirit on the separated Spirit that is His offspring, who has felt the illuminating influence of Spirit on Spirit. No man knows the truth so that he can never lose it, no man knows the truth so that he can never doubt it, until the Revelation has come to him as though he stood alone on earth, until the Divine without has spoken to the Divine within, in the temple of the human heart, and the man thus knows by himself and not by another.
In a lesser degree a man is inspired when one greater than he stimulates within him powers which as yet are normally inactive, or even takes possession of him, temporarily using his body as a vehicle. Such an illuminated man, at the time of his inspiration, can speak that which is beyond his knowledge, and utter truths till then unguessed. Truths are sometimes thus poured out through a human channel for the helping of the world, and some One greater than the speaker sends down his life into the human vehicle, and they rush forth from human lips; then a great teacher speaks yet more greatly than he knows, the Angel of the Lord having touched his lips with fire.[354] Such are the Prophets of the race, who at some periods have spoken with overwhelming conviction, with clear insight, with complete understanding of the spiritual needs of man. Then the words live with a life immortal, and the speaker is truly a messenger from God. The man who has thus known can never again quite lose the memory of the knowledge, and he carries within his heart a certainty which can never quite disappear. The light may vanish and the darkness come down upon him; the gleam from heaven may fade and clouds may surround him; threat, question, challenge, may assail him; but within his heart there nestles the Secret of Peace--he knows, or knows that he has known.
That remembrance of true inspiration, that reality of the hidden life, has been put into beautiful and true words by Frederick Myers, in his well-known poem, _S. Paul_. The apostle is speaking of his own experience, and is trying to give articulate expression to that which he remembers; he is figured as unable to thoroughly reproduce his knowledge, although he knows and his certainty does not waver:
So, even I, athirst for His inspiring, I, who have talked with Him, forget again; Yes, many days with sobs and with desiring, Offer to God a patience and a pain.
Then through the mid complaint of my confession, Then through the pang and passion of my prayer, Leaps with a start the shock of His possession, Thrills me and touches, and the Lord is there.
Lo, if some pen should write upon your rafter Mene and Mene in the folds of flame, Think ye could any memories thereafter Wholly retrace the couplet as it came?
Lo, if some strange intelligible thunder Sang to the earth the secret of a star, Scarce should ye catch, for terror and for wonder, Shreds of the story that was pealed so far!
Scarcely I catch the words of His revealing, Hardly I hear Him, dimly understand. Only the power that is within me pealing Lives on my lips, and beckons to my hand.
Whoso hath felt the Spirit of the Highest Cannot confound, nor doubt Him, nor deny; Yea, with one voice, O world, though thou deniest, Stand thou on that side, for on this am I.
Rather the world shall doubt when her retrieving Pours in the rain and rushes from the sod; Rather than he in whom the great conceiving Stirs in his soul to quicken into God.
Nay, though thou then shouldst strike him from his glory, Blind and tormented, maddened and alone, E'en on the cross would he maintain his story, Yes, and in Hell would whisper, "I have known."
Those who have in any sense realised that God is around them, in them, and in everything, will be able to understand how a place or an object may become "sacred" by a slight objectivisation of this perennial universal Presence, so that those become able to sense Him who do not normally feel His omnipresence. This is generally effected by some highly advanced man, in whom the inner Divinity is largely unfolded, and whose subtle bodies are therefore responsive to the subtler vibrations of consciousness. Through such a man, or by such a man, spiritual energies may be poured forth, and these will unite themselves with his pure vital magnetism. He can then pour them forth on any object, and its ether and bodies of subtler matter will become attuned to his vibrations, as before explained, and further, the Divinity within it can more easily manifest. Such an object becomes "magnetised," and, if this be strongly done, the object will itself become a magnetic centre, capable in turn of magnetising those who approach it. Thus a body electrified by an electric machine will affect other bodies near which it may be placed.
An object thus rendered "sacred" is a very useful adjunct to prayer and meditation. The subtle bodies of the worshipper are attuned to its high vibrations, and he finds himself quieted, soothed, pacified, without effort on his own part. He is thrown into a condition in which prayer and meditation are easy and fruitful instead of difficult and barren, and an irksome exercise becomes insensibly delightful. If the object be a representation of some sacred Person--a Crucifix, a Madonna and Child, an Angel, a Saint--there is a yet further gain. The Being represented, if his magnetism has been thrown into the image by the appropriate Word and Sign of Power, can re-inforce that magnetism with a very slight expenditure of spiritual energy, and may thus influence the devotee, or even show himself through the image, when otherwise he would not have done so. For in the spiritual world economy of forces is observed, and a small amount of energy will be expended where a larger would be withheld.
An application of these same occult laws may be made to explain the use of all consecrated objects--relics, amulets, &c. They are all magnetised objects, more or less powerful, or useless, according to the knowledge, purity, and spirituality of the person who magnetises them.
Places may similarly be made sacred, by the living in them of saints, whose pure magnetism, radiating from them, attunes the whole atmosphere to peace-giving vibrations. Sometimes holy men, or Beings from the higher worlds, will directly magnetise a certain place, as in the case mentioned in the Fourth Gospel, where an Angel came at a certain season and touched the water, giving it healing qualities.[355] In such places even careless worldly men will sometimes feel the blessed influence, and will be temporarily softened and inclined toward higher things. The divine Life in each man is ever trying to subdue the form, and mould it into an expression of itself; and it is easy to see how that Life will be aided by the form being thrown into vibrations sympathetic with those of a more highly evolved Being, its own efforts being reinforced by a stronger power. The outer recognition of this effect is a sense of quiet, calm, and peace; the mind loses its restlessness, the heart its anxiety. Any one who observes himself will find that some places are more conducive to calm, to meditation, to religious thought, to worship, than others. In a room, a building, where there has been a great deal of worldly thought, of frivolous conversation, of mere rush of ordinary worldly life, it is far harder to quiet the mind and to concentrate the thought, than in a place where religious thought has been carried on year after year, century after century; there the mind becomes calm and tranquillised insensibly, and that which would have demanded serious effort in the first place is done without effort in the second.
This is the rationale of places of pilgrimage, of temporary retreats into seclusion; the man turns inward to seek the God within him, and is aided by the atmosphere created by thousands of others, who before him have sought the same in the same place. For in such a place there is not only the magnetisation produced by a single saint, or by the visit of some great Being of the invisible world; each person, who visits the spot with a heart full of reverence and devotion, and is attuned to its vibrations, reinforces those vibrations with his own life, and leaves the spot better than it was when he came to it. Magnetic energy slowly disperses, and a sacred object or place becomes gradually demagnetised if put aside or deserted. It becomes more magnetised as it is used or frequented. But the presence of the ignorant scoffer injures such objects and places, by setting up antagonistic vibrations which weaken those already existing there. As a wave of sound may be met by another which extinguishes it, and the result is silence, so do the vibrations of the scoffing thought weaken or extinguish the vibrations of the reverent and loving one. The effect produced will, of course, vary with the relative strengths of the vibrations, but the mischievous one cannot be without result, for the laws of vibration are the same in the higher worlds as in the physical, and thought vibrations are the expression of real energies.
The reason and the effect of the consecration of churches, chapels, cemeteries, will now be apparent. The act of consecration is not the mere public setting aside of a place for a particular purpose; it is the magnetisation of the place for the benefit of all those who frequent it. For the visible and the invisible worlds are inter-related, interwoven, each with each, and those can best serve the visible by whom the energies of the invisible can be wielded.
AFTERWORD.
We have reached the end of a small book on a great subject, and have only lifted a corner of the Veil that hides the Virgin of Eternal Truth from the careless eyes of men. The hem of her garment only has been seen, heavy with gold, richly dight with pearls. Yet even this, as it waves slowly, breathes out celestial fragrances--the sandal and rose-attar of fairer worlds than ours. What should be the unimaginable glory, if the Veil were lifted, and we saw the splendour of the Face of the divine Mother, and in Her arms the Child who is the very Truth? Before that Child the Seraphim ever veil their faces; who then of mortal birth may look on Him and live?
Yet since in man abides His very Self, who shall forbid him to pass within the Veil, and to see with "open face the glory of the Lord"? From the Cave to highest Heaven; such was the pathway of the Word made Flesh, and known as the Way of the Cross. Those who share the manhood share also the Divinity, and may tread where He has trodden. "What Thou art, That am I."
PEACE TO ALL BEINGS.
INDEX. PAGE
_Acts of the Apostles_ referred to; 281
A Kempis, Thomas; 115
Afterword; 376
Allegory; 66
Allegories, Old Testament; 121
All-wide Consciousness; 281 _et seq._
Ammonius Saccas; 28
Animal Symbols of Zodiac; 165
Anselm and Redemption; 195
Answers to Prayer; 277 " Subjective Prayer; 290
Apollonius of Tyana; 31
Apostolic Fathers; 70
Appearances of Divine Beings; 93
Aquinas, Thomas; 112
_Arians of the Fourth Century_, quoted; 103
Aristotle, Effect on Mediaeval Christianity; 112
Ascension, The; 231, 250 " and Solar Myth; 231 " of the Christ; 249
_Asiatic Researches_, quoted; 258
Aspects of the ONE; 262
Athanasius, Story of; 353
Athanasian Creed, quoted; 263, 367
Atlantis, Continent of; 18
At-one-ment; 209
Atonement as one of Lesser Mysteries; 200 " Early Church on the; 195 " Calvinistic View of; 197 " Edwards on the; 197 " Flavel on the; 196 " Luther's Views on the; 196 " Dr. McLeod Campbell on the; 199 " F. D. Maurice on the; 199 " Vicarious and Substitutionary; 196
Atonement--Views of Dwight, Jeune, Jenkyn, Liddon, Owen, Stroud, and Thomson; 198 " Truth underlying the Doctrine of; 199 " Pamphlet on, quoted; 198 " _Nineteenth Century_ quoted on; 205
Augoeides; 27
Barnabas; 71
Baptism, A Mantram in; 350 " A Minor Form of; 349 " Belief in Death-bed; 352 " Infant; 353 " In the Early Church; 352 " In Other Religions; 348 " of Initiate; 53 " of Holy Ghost and Fire; 188 " of Jesus; 133 " of the Christ; 186 " Tertullian on; 349
Beatific Vision, The; 95, 295
Bernard of Clairvaux; 112
Bel-fires; 164
_Bhagavad Gita_ referred to; 50, 202, 270, 306, 318
Bible Account of Creation; 179
Birth, Second; 247
Blavatsky, H. P., referred to; 127
Blood of Christ symbolised in Eucharist; 359
Boehme, Jacob; 115
Body, Causal; 239, 247 " Desire, Changes in; 244 " Meaning of a; 234 " Mental; 236 " " Building of; 245 " Natural or Physical; 236 " Natural, of St. Paul; 237 " of Bliss; 240 " of Desire; 236 " Physical, Changes in; 243 " Resurrection; 240
Body, Spiritual; 239
_Book of Job_, quoted; 268, 332 " _of the Dead_, referred to; 339 " _of Wisdom_, quoted; 266
Bread, General Symbol in Sacraments; 358
_Brihadaranyakopanishat_, quoted; 50, 202
Brotherhood of Great Teachers; 9
Bruno, Giordano, referred to; 5, 113, 115, 225, 322
Buddha, Birth Story of; 164
Buddhist Trinity; 258
Calvinistic Doctrine; 197
Cardinal Nicolas of Cusa; 115
Cathari, The, referred to; 113
Cave of Initiation; 186
Celsus--Controversy with Origen; 88
_Chhandogyopanishat_, quoted; 253
Chrestos and Christos; 174
Christ as Hierophant of Mysteries; 231 " Baptism of; 186 " Crucifixion of; 183 " Disciples of; 223 " in the Spiritual Body; 137 " Life of the; 217 " of the Mysteries; 191 " The; 132, 134 " the Crucified; 182 " the Historical; 120, 140 " the Kosmic; 179 " the Mystic; 170 " the Mythic; 145 " Sufferings of the; 223
_Christian Creed_, referred to; 180, 181 " quoted; 206, 207, 229
Christian Disciples--their work; 223
_Christian Records_, quoted; 348
Christian Symbols, &c., not unique; 148
Christianity has the Gnosis; 36
Christmas Day; 159, 161
Christmas Festival, rightly regarded; 164
_Clarke's Ante-Nicene_ Library, quoted; viii., 21, 58, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80 _et seq._, 87, 88, 90 _et seq._, 103, 150, 151, 266
Classes of Prayers; 283
Clement of Alexandria, quoted; viii., 20 " " referred to; 73 " " on the Gnosis; 83, 84 " " on Scripture Allegories; 83 " " on Symbols; 80 " " and Catechetical School; 73 " " a Pupil of Pantaenus; 73
_Colossians, Epistle to_, referred to; 58, 65, 81, 177
Comparative Mythologists; 7 " " Theory of; 8 " Religionists; 7, 8 " Mythology; 147
Consecrated Objects; 382
Consecration of Churches, Cemeteries, &c.; 385
Constant, Alphonse Louis; 118
Conversion, Phenomenon of; 313 _et seq._
_Corinthians, Epistles to_, quoted; ix., x., 6, 32, 55, 64, 67, 124, 175, 177, 232, 239, 240, 241, 251, 253, 270, 356, 373
Creed, taught after Baptism in Early Church; 352
_Cruden's Concordance_, quoted; 33
_Cur Deus Homo_ of Anselm; 195
Dangers to Christianity; 125
Dark Powers in Nature; 186, 187
Dean Milman, quoted; 255 _et seq._
Death of Solar Heroes; 166
_De Principiis_ of Origen; 101, 102
_Deuteronomy_, quoted; 96, 253
_Diegesis_ of R. Taylor, quoted; 350
_Die Deutsche Theologie_; 114
Dionysius the Areopagite; 110
Disappearance of the Mysteries; 184
Disciples, The; 136 " Work of the; 223 " Writings of the; 140
Divine Beings, Appearance in Mysteries; 93
"Divine Grace," What it is; 224 " Ideation; 359 " Illumination; 377 " Incarnations; 273, 274
Duality of Manifested Existence; 235 " of Second Person of Trinity; 265
Easter Festival; 159
Eckhart, Teachings of; 113
Edwards on the Atonement; 197
Egypt and the Mysteries; 131
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, referred to; 22, 23, 117 " " quoted; 110 _et seq._
_Ephesians, Epistle to_, quoted; 57, 65, 67, 366
_Epistle of James_, quoted; 276 " _of Peter_, quoted; 64, 121, 194, 354, 371
Esoteric Christianity, Popular Denial of; 2 " Teaching in Early Church; 2
Essentials of Religion; 4
Eucharist, Bread and Wine of; 357 " Change of Substance in; 361 " connected with Law of Sacrifice; 357 " Meaning and Use of; 357 " Sacrifice of; 355 " Unworthy Participants in; 362
_Exodus, Book of_, quoted; 91
Exstasy; 295
Faith Needed for Forgiveness; 312
Fathers, The Christian, on Scriptures; 371
Festivals; 147
Fish Symbol in Religions; 166
Flavel on Atonement; 196
Fludd, Robert; 116
Forgiveness of Sins; 301 " in Lesser Mysteries; 323 " in most Religions; 303 " ultimately refers to _Post-Mortem_ Penalties; 307
Fourth Manifestation Feminine; 261 " Person; 263
Free-thinking in Christianity; 123
_Friends of God in the Oberland_; 114
Friends, Society of; 117
Future of Christianity; 41
_Galatians, Epistle to_, quoted; 64, 65, 66, 124
_Genesis_, quoted; 18, 180, 268, 269, 271, 279, 358
Germain, Comte de S.; 117
Gestures in Sacraments; 338
Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of R. Empire_, quoted; 162
Giles, Rev. Dr., quoted; 347
Gnosis, The; viii., 9, 108 " " in Christianity; 36
Gnostic, The, of S. Clement; 84 _et seq._
_Gnostics and their Remains_, quoted; 162
Gods in the Mysteries; 25
Grades of Hierarchies; 331
Grand Lodge of Central Asia; 31
Greek Cross, The; 267
Guyon, Mme. de; 116
Haug, Dr., _Essay on Parsis_, cited; 202
_Hebrews, Epistle to_, quoted; 53, 67, 81, 91, 175, 176, 205, 216, 222, 223, 247, 270, 274, 280
Hebrew Trinity; 254
Hell-fire Dogma, The; 48
_Heroic Enthusiasts, The_, quoted; 323
Hidden God, The; 207 " Meanings in Jewish and Christian Scriptures; 100 " Side of Christianity; 36 " Teaching in all Religions; 20
Hierarchies of Divine Beings; 331 " of Superhuman Beings; 23
Hindu, Trinity, The; 257
History _versus_ Myth; 153
Holy Spirit as Creator; 269
Holy Water; 343, 349, 351
Human Evolution repeats Kosmic Process; 271
Huxley, T. H., quoted; 282
Hyde, Dr., quoted; 347
_Hymn to Demeter_; 22
Iamblichus, _On the Mysteries_, quoted; 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 296 _et seq._
Iamblichus, _Life of Pythagoras_, referred to; 28
Ignatius; 71
Incarnation of Logos; 179
Initiation and Rebirth; 51, 53 " Cave of; 186 " Ceremonies of; 247 _et seq._ " Conditions of; 173 " Mount of; 91
Inspiration, True; 378
Intelligences in Invisible Worlds; 279
Inviolability of Law; 305
Invisible Helpers; 280
Invisible Worlds interpenetrate the Visible; 279
Irenaeus, _Against Heresies_, referred to; 105
_Isaiah_, quoted; 210, 295, 366, 377
Isomeric Compounds; 361
_Jeremiah, Book of_, quoted; 262, 357
Jesus at Mount Serbal; 130 " Baptism of; 133 " Date and Place of Birth; 130 " His Work in Christendom; 143 " in Egypt; 130 " Inner Instructions of; 137 " Master of the West; 147 " Sacrifice of; 133 " the Divine Teacher; 183 " the Healer and Teacher; 127 " training in Essene Community; 130 " the Master; 142
_Judges, Book of_, quoted; 97
Juliana Mother; 117
Justin Martyr; 148 " " quoted; 149 _et seq._
_Kabbala_, Five Books of, referred to; 34
Karma; 288, 309
_Kathopanishat_, quoted; 32, 33, 49
_Key to Theosophy_, quoted; 294
Kingdom of Heaven--real meaning; 52
_Kings, Book of_, quoted; 33, 354
Kosmic Christ, The; 179 " Process of becoming; 268 " Sacrifice; 183
Lang, Andrew, referred to; 11, 12
Language of Symbols; 153
Latin Cross, Origin of; 206 " Use of, in Roman Church; 337
Law of Sacrifice; 201 " " in Hinduism; 202 " " in Nature of Logos; 204 " " in Zoroastrianism; 202 " " or Manifestation; 203
Law, William; 117
Left-hand Path; 17
Lent; 167
Levi Eliphas; 118
_Leviticus_, quoted; 358
_Light on the Path_, quoted; 220
"Little Child"; 65
Logos, Birth of the; 205 " and Sacrifice; 204 " Life of, in every form; 208 " Meaning of the Term; 172 " of Plato; 182 " Perpetual Sacrifice of; 209
Loss of Mystic Teaching in Christianity; 37
_Luke, Gospel of_, quoted; 45, 48, 175, 176, 264, 289, 302, 312
Luther on the Atonement; 196
Madonnas; 160
Magnetic Cures, Secret of; 342 " Change in Sacramental Substance; 342 " Energies in Ether; 341
Magnetisation of Substances; 341
_Making_ of _Religion_, The, referred to; 11
Man as Microcosm; 271 " and Woman Complementary; 365 " develops Second Aspect; 272
Man's Manifold Nature; 234
_Mandakopanishat_, quoted; 202
"Mantras"; 335 " essential in Sacraments; 338 " in rite of Baptism; 350 " in Sanskrit; 336 " spoilt by translation; 337
_Mark, Gospel of_, quoted; vii., 45, 47
Martin, St.; 117
Marriage, Deeper meaning of; 365 " in Lesser Mysteries; 368 " Mystery of; 366 " Sacrament of; 364 " type of union between God and Man; 366
Mary, the World Mother; 206
Master, Jesus, the; 142
_Matthew, Gospel of_, quoted; vii., 45, 46, 49, 52, 53, 54, 92, 134, 176, 177, 186, 210, 216, 240, 271, 274, 281, 306, 319
Maurice, cited; 254
Mead, G. R. S., quoted; 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 114
Mediator, Nature of; 274
Meditation--What it is; 293 " Growth by; 299
Men at different levels; 3
Miguel de Molinos; 116
Ministry of Angels, The; 287, 289
Miracles; 145
Mithras, Birth of; 161
Modern Spirit antagonistic to Prayer; 276
More, Henry; 116
Mother Juliana of Norwich; 117
Mount Serbal; 130
Mount of Initiation; 91, 188
Mueller, George, Case of; 284 _et seq._
Music in Worship; 335, 337
Myers (F.), St. Paul; 378
Mystery Gods; 25 " of Christ; 57
Mysteries, Christian, Symbolism of; 247
Mysteries and Yoga; 31 " Christ as Hierophant of; 231 " Disappearance of the; 184 " Eliphas Levi on the; 118 " established by Christ; 142 " Greater, The; ix., 1, 22, 27, 63 " in the Gospels; 45 " in Egypt; 131 " in relation to Myth; 157 " Lesser; ix., 1, 22 " " and Prayer; 280 " " as to Bodies; 237 " " Teaching of; 251 " Names in Christianity; 47 " of Bacchus; 21, 27 " of Chaldaea, Egypt, Eleusis, Mithras, Orpheus, Samothrace, Scythia; 21 " of God; 57 " of Jesus; 1, 42, 94 " of the Early Church; 69 _et seq_. " of Magic, quoted; 157 " praised by Learned Greeks; 21 " Pseudo, and Sun-God Story; 167 " source of Mystic Learning; 108 " The; 171, 178 " taught, _Post-mortem_ Existence; 21 " The True; 179 " The Christ of the; 184 " Theory of the; 22 " withdrawn; 108
Mystic Christ, The; 170 " " Twofold; 178 " Vesture, The; 138
Mythic Christ, The; 145
Myth, Meaning of; 152, 153 " Solar; 156
Mythology Comparative; 147
Natural and Spiritual Bodies; 232 " Body--of St. Paul; 237
Natural Body, The; 235 _et seq._
Need for Graded Religion; 14
Neoplatonists; 29, 112
Newman, Cardinal, quoted; 103 _et seq._ " Recognises a Secret Tradition; 104
New Testament Proofs of Esotericism; 42 _et seq._
Nicene Creed; 181
Nicolas of Basel; 114
Noachian Deluge; 19
_Nous Demiurgos_ of Plato; 255
_Numbers, Book of_, quoted; 270
Object of all Religions; 3
Occult Experts; 127 " Knowledge, Danger of; 16 " Records; 18 " " and the Gospels; 129 " side of Nature; 279 " use of Sounds; 334
Old Testament Allegories; 121
One Existence, The; 253
One, The, Three aspects of; 262 " " Manifest; 261
Origen _Against Celsus_; 88 _et seq._ " " "; 95 " on the Need of Wisdom; 99 " " Mysteries; 89 " " Scriptures; 372 " " Tower of Babel; 97 " referred to; 44 " Shining Light of Learning; 87
_Orpheus_, Mead's, quoted; 28, 29, 30, 114
Owen on Atonement; 197
Pantaenus; 73, 74
Paracelsus; 115
Paradise; 242
Path of Discipleship; 174
_Philippians, Epistle to_, quoted; 62
Physical Ailments final expression of Karma; 310
Physical Body, Changes in; 243 " Material in Sacraments; 340
Pilgrimages, Rationale of; 382
_Pistis Sophia_, quoted; 46, 138, 139, 302 _et seq._, 319 _et seq._, 340 " " referred to; 137
Plato's Cave; 153
Plato initiated in Egypt; 21
Platonists of Cambridge; 116
Plotinus, Dying Words of; 31 " referred to; 23 " Mead's, quoted; 31
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna; 70
Popular Christianity, Mistake of; vii. " Denial of Esoteric Christianity; 1
Porphyry, quoted; 27, 54
Prayer; 276 " Answers to; 277 " as Will; 285 " Class B--general principle; 292 " Failure of; 287 " for Spiritual Enlightenment; 291 " for the Student of Lesser Mysteries; 296 " Highest form of; 293 " Puzzling Facts as to; 277
Prayers classified; 278
Probationary Path, The; 247
"Proclaim upon the houses"--Mystical meaning; 79
Proclus, Teaching of; 26, 29, 51
Psalms, quoted; 5, 299
Pseudo-Mysteries and Sun-God Drama; 167
Pupils of the Apostles; 70
Purgatory; 242
Purification; 244
Pythagoras, referred to; 28 " in India; 31
Pythagorean School, Discipline of; 29, 30
Qualifications of Disciple; 175
Quietists, The; 116
Regions of the Invisible Worlds; 239
Re-incarnation; 239
Religion, Need for graded; 14
_Religion of Ancient Persians_, quoted; 347
Religions, Common origin of; 7 " Custodians of Sacred Books; 369 " Essentials of; 4 " fitted for Stages of Growth; 13 " Object of all; 3 " Source of all; 7
Religious Founders; 10 " Scriptures; 10 " Teachers; 9
Resurrection and Solar Myth; 231, 250 " Body; 240 " of the Christ; 249 " of the Dead; 62 " The--Part of Lesser Mysteries; 231
Revelation; 369 " Fragments of in Sacred Books; 370 " in Cypher; 370 " of Deity in Kosmos; 375
_Revelations, Book of_, quoted; 50, 63, 66, 249, 263, 292, 322, 331
Revolt against Dogma; 38
Roman Empire dying; 107
_Romans, Epistle to_, quoted; 82, 363
Rosenkreutz Christian; 117
Ruling Angel of Jews; 96, 98
Ruysbroeck; 115
Sacrament, a kind of crucible; 326 " a Pictorial Allegory; 325 " Change in substance at; 343 " link between Visible and Invisible; 326, 327 " of Baptism; 347 " of Eucharist; 347 " of Marriage; 347, 364 " of Penance; 340
Sacraments; 324 " Angels connected with; 343 " defined in Church Catechism; 329
Sacraments, Gestures used in; 338 " in all Religions; 324 " Lost at Reformation; 327 " Mantrams in; 338 " of Christian Church; 327 " Peculiar Characteristics; 324 " Seven, of Christianity; 327, 346 " Signs, Seals, or Sigils in; 339 " "Substance" and "Accidents" of; 361 " Twofold Nature of; 324 _et seq._ " Two, In Protestant Communities; 328, 346
Sacred Places and Objects; 380
Sacred Quaternery, The; 261
Sacrifice as Joy; 210 _et seq._ " Law of; 201 " " Four Stages in; 212 " Lessons in; 212 _et seq._ " of Jesus; 133
Saint Bonaventura; 112 " Elizabeth; 113 " Francois de Sales; 116 " John of the Cross; 116 " _John's Gospel_, quoted; x., 46, 52, 53, 54, 56, 103, 132, 133, 134, 137, 177, 180, 216, 240, 246, 250, 262, 270, 273, 292, 382 " Paul, quoted; 55 _et seq._, 124, 184 " Paul an Initiate; 61 " " and Mysteries; 57 " " and Timothy; 59, 69 " " on Allegory; 66 " Peter, quoted; 194 " Teresa; 116 " Timothy, referred to; 59
_Samuel, Book of_, quoted; 33
Savage Deities; 11
Savages as Descendants of Civilisation; 12
Saviour, The True; 219 _et seq._
Sayings of Jesus; 53, 54, 301
Scientific Analysis of Vehicles; 237
Search for God, The; 5
Secret Teachings of Jesus; 90 " Tradition recognised by Newman; 104
Second Birth; 185, 247
_Sepher Yetzirah_, quoted; 34
_Sharpe's Egyptian Mythology_, quoted; 259
_Shvetashvataropanishat_, quoted; 32
"Sign of Power"; 339
Society of Friends; 117
Solar Gods; 160 " Myth, Root of; 178
Sopater, quoted; 21
Sophia--The Wisdom; 138
Soul--Dual; 233
Sound and Form in the Invisible Worlds; 333
Sound, Occult use of; 334
Source of Religions; 7
Spirit and Matter; 367
Spirit threefold; 233 " manifested as triple Self; 330
Spiritual Body, Divisions of; 240 _et seq._
"Star of Initiation"; 186
"Strait Gate" term of Initiation; 49, 50, 174, 177
_Stromata_ or Miscellanies of S. Clement, quoted; 58, 74 _et seq._, 78, 83, 84, 85, 87
Sufferings of the Christ; 223
Superintending Spirits; 98
Sun God Legend; 158 " " Symbol of Logos; 171 " Heroes; 165 " Myths, recurring; 169 " of Righteousness; 249 " Symbol of the Logos; 154 " Symbols; 155
Survival of Christianity?; 40
Symbol of Jesus; 165 " of Trinity; 267
Symbols--animal, in Zodiac; 165 " Language of; 153
Symbols of Logoi; 266 _et seq._
Tatian and Theodotus, referred to; 73
Tauler, John; 114
Taylor, Robert, quoted; 350
Teachings common to all Religions; 146 " in the hands of Spiritual Brotherhood; 374
Tertullian on Baptism; 151
The Christ; 132, 134
The Hidden Side of Religions; 1 " of Christianity; 36
The Disciples; 136
The "Simple Gospel"; 39
The title of Lord; 96
The Testimony of the Scriptures; 36
The Tower of Babel; 97
The Thyrsus; 75
The True Exstasis; 108
The Trinity; 253 " among the Hebrews; 254 " Hindu; 257 " in Buddhism; 258 " in Chaldaea; 259 " in China; 259 " in Extinct Religions; 258 " in Egypt; 259 " in Man; 177, 233 " in Manifestation; 254 " in Zoroastrianism; 257
The Word of Wisdom, of Knowledge; 102
Theological Hell; 308
_Theosophical Review_, quoted; 228
_Thessalonians, Epistle to_, quoted; 233
Three Worlds, The; 241
_Timothy, Epistle to_, quoted; 59, 60, 61, 65, 134, 227
Tradition of _Post-mortem_ Teaching of Jesus; 46
Transubstantiation--Truth Underlying; 360
Triangle as a Symbol of Trinity; 267
Trinity, A Second; 263 " of Spirit; 233
Trinity in Christian agrees with other Faiths; 260
Triple Aspect of Matter; 264
Triplicity in Nature; 261
True Theosophy defined; x.
Two Schools of Christian Interpretation; 122
Two-fold Division of Man Insufficient; 232
Vaivasvata Manu; 19
Valentinus; 137
Vaughan, Thomas; 116
Vehicles of Consciousness, Need for Different; 238
Vibrations; 334
Vibratory Effects of Mass; 338
Virgin Matter; 264 " " and Third Person of Trinity; 265 " " and Second " " ; 265 " Mother; 264
Virgin's Womb, Meaning of; 180
Virgo, Zodiacal Sign of; 158, 160
Virtues in the Mysteries; 27
_Voice of the Silence_, quoted; 249
_Voice Figures_--Mrs. Watts Hughes, referred to; 333
Williamson's _Great Law_, quoted; 161, 163 _et seq._, 166, 167, 203, 255, 259, 348, 358.
Will as Prayer; 285
Words of Power; 335
Work of the Holy Spirit; 179, 268 " Second Person; 179, 269 " First Person; 270
Working of Logos in Matter; 182
Workers in Kosmos; 283 " the Invisible Worlds; 152, 280
World Bibles, fragments of Revelation; 374
World Soul, The; 23
World Symbols; 266
Writings of the Disciples; 140
_Zechariah_, quoted; 268
Zodiac, The; 160
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] S. Mark xvi. 15.
[2] S. Matt vii. 6.
[3] Clarke's Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Vol. IV. Clement of Alexandria. _Stromata_, bk. I., ch. xii.
[4] I. Cor. iii. 16.
[5] _Ibid._, ii. 14, 16.
[6] S. John, i. 9.
[7] Psalms, xlii. 1.
[8] 1 Cor. xv. 28.
[9] Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. XII. Clement of Alexandria. _Stromata_, bk. V., ch. xi.
[10] See Article on "Mysteries," _Encyc. Britannica_ ninth edition.
[11] Psellus, quoted in _Iamblichus on the Mysteries_. T. Taylor, p. 343, note on p. 23, second edition.
[12] _Iamblichus_, as _ante_, p. 301.
[13] _Ibid._, p. 72.
[14] The article on "Mysticism" in the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ has the following on the teaching of Plotinus (204-206 A.D.): "The One [the Supreme God spoken of above] is exalted above the _nous_ and the 'ideas'; it transcends existence altogether and is not cognisable by reason. Remaining itself in repose, it rays out, as it were, from its own fulness, an image of itself, which is called _nous_, and which constitutes the system of ideas of the intelligible world. The soul is in turn the image or product of the _nous_, and the soul by its motion begets corporeal matter. The soul thus faces two ways--towards the _nous_, from which it springs, and towards the material life, which is its own product. Ethical endeavour consists in the repudiation of the sensible; material existence is itself estrangement from God.... To reach the ultimate goal, thought itself must be left behind; for thought is a form of motion, and the desire of the soul is for the motionless rest which belongs to the One. The union with transcendent deity is not so much knowledge or vision as ecstasy, coalescence, _contact_." Neo-Platonism is thus "first of all a system of complete rationalism; it is assumed, in other words, that reason is capable of mapping out the whole system of things. But, inasmuch as a God is affirmed beyond reason, the mysticism becomes in a sense the necessary complement of the would-be all-embracing rationalism. The system culminates in a mystical act."
[15] _Iamblichus_, as _ante_, p. 73.
[16] _Ibid_, pp. 55, 56.
[17] _Ibid_, pp. 118, 119.
[18] _Ibid_, p. 118, 119.
[19] _Ibid_, pp. 95, 100.
[20] _Ibid_, p. 101.
[21] _Ibid_, p. 330.
[22] G. R. S. Mead. _Plotinus_, p. 42.
[23] _Iamblichus_, p. 364, note on p. 134.
[24] G. R. S. Mead. _Orpheus_, pp. 285, 286.
[25] _Iamblichus_, p. 364, note on p. 134.
[26] _Iamblichus_, p. 285, _et seq._
[27] G. R. S. Mead. _Orpheus_, p. 59.
[28] _Ibid_, p. 30.
[29] _Ibid_, pp. 263, 271.
[30] G. R. S. Mead. _Plotinus_, p. 20.
[31] _Shvetashvataropanishat_, vi., 22.
[32] _Kathopanishat_, iii., 14.
[33] I. Cor. xiii. 1.
[34] _Kathopanishat_, vi. 17.
[35] _Mundakopanishat_, II., ii. 9.
[36] _Ibid_., III., i. 3.
[37] I Sam. xix. 20.
[38] II. Kings ii. 2, 5.
[39] Under "School."
[40] Dr. Wynn Westcott. _Sepher Yetzirah_, p. 9.
[41] S. Mark iv. 10, 11, 33, 34. See also S. Matt. xiii. 11, 34, 36, and S. Luke viii. 10.
[42] S. John xvi. 12.
[43] Acts i. 3.
[44] _Loc. cit._ Trans. by G. R. S. Mead. I. i. 1.
[45] S. Matt. vii. 6.
[46] As to the Greek woman: "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs."--S. Mark vii. 27.
[47] S. Luke xiii. 23, 24.
[48] S. Matt. vii. 13, 14.
[49] _Kathopanishat_ II. iv. 10, 11.
[50] _Brihadaranyakopanishat_. IV. iv. 7.
[51] Rev. vii. 9.
[52] _Bahgavad Gita_, vii. 3.
[53] _Ante_, p. 26.
[54] It must be remembered that the Jews believed that all imperfect souls returned to live again on earth.
[55] S. Matt. xix. 16-26.
[56] S. John xvii. 3.
[57] Heb. ix. 23.
[58] S. John. iii. 3, 5.
[59] S. Matt. iii. 11.
[60] _Ibid._ xviii. 3.
[61] S. John iii. 10.
[62] S. Matt. v. 48.
[63] _Ante_, p.24
[64] Note how this chimes in with the promise of Jesus in S. John xvi. 12-14: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.... He will show you things to come.... He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you."
[65] Another technical name in the Mysteries.
[66] Eph. iii. 3, 4, 9.
[67] Col i. 23, 25-28. But S. Clement, in his _Stromata_, translates "every man," as "the whole man." See Bk. V., ch. x.
[68] Col. iv. 3.
[69] Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. XII. Clement of Alexandria. _Stromata_, bk. V. ch. x. Some additional sayings of the Apostles will be found in the quotations from Clement, showing what meaning they bore in the minds of those who succeeded the apostles, and were living in the same atmosphere of thought.
[70] I. Tim. iii. 9, 16.
[71] I. Tim. i. 18.
[72] _Ibid._, iv. 14.
[73] _Ibid._, vi. 13.
[74] _Ibid._, 20.
[75] II. Tim. i. 13, 14.
[76] _Ibid._, ii. 2.
[77] Phil. iii. 8, 10-12, 14, 15.
[78] Rev. i. 18. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen."
[79] II. Cor. v. 16.
[80] Gal. iii. 27.
[81] Gal. iv. 19.
[82] I. Cor. iv. 15.
[83] I. S. Pet. iii. 4.
[84] Eph. iv. 13.
[85] Col. i. 24.
[86] II. Cor. iv. 10.
[87] Gal. ii. 20.
[88] II. Tim. iv. 6, 8.
[89] Rev. iii. 12.
[90] Gal. iv. 22-31.
[91] I Cor. x. 1-4.
[92] Eph. v. 23-32.
[93] Vol. I. _The Martyrdom of Ignatius_, ch. iii. The translations used are those of Clarke's Ante-Nicene Library, a most useful compendium of Christian antiquity. The number of the volume which stands first in the references is the number of the volume in that Series.
[94] _Ibid. The Epistle of Polycarp_, ch. xii.
[95] _Ibid. The Epistle of Barnabas_, ch. i.
[96] _Ibid._ ch. x.
[97] _Ibid. The Martyrdom of Ignatius,_ ch. i.
[98] _Ibid. Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians_, ch. iii.
[99] _Ibid._ ch. xii.
[100] _Ibid. to the Trallians_, ch. v.
[101] _Ibid. to the Philadelphians_, ch. ix.
[102] Vol. IV. Clement of Alexandria _Stromata_, bk. I. ch. i.
[103] Vol. IV. _Stromata_, bk. I. ch. xxviii.
[104] It appears that even in those days there were some who objected to any truth being taught secretly!
[105] _Ibid._ bk. I, ch. i.
[106] _Ibid._ bk. V., ch. iv.
[107] _Ibid._ ch. v.-viii.
[108] _Ibid._ ch. ix.
[109] _Ibid._ bk. V., ch. x.
[110] Loc. Cit. xv. 29.
[111] _Ibid._ xvi. 25, 26; the version quoted differs in words, but not in meaning, from the English Authorised Version.
[112] _Stromata_, bk. V., ch. x.
[113] _Ibid._ bk. VI., ch. vii.
[114] _Ibid._ bk. VII., ch. xiv.
[115] _Ibid._ bk. VI., ch. xv.
[116] _Ibid._ bk. VI. x.
[117] _Ibid._ bk. VI. vii.
[118] _Ibid._ bk. I. ch. vi.
[119] _Ibid._ ch. ix.
[120] _Ibid._ bk. VI. ch. x.
[121] _Ibid._ bk. I. ch. xiii.
[122] Vol XII. _Stromata_, bk. V. ch. iv.
[123] _Ibid._ bk. VI. ch. xv.
[124] Book I. of _Against Celsus_ is found in Vol. X. of the Ante-Nicene Library. The remaining books are in Vol. XXIII.
[125] Vol. X. _Origen against Celsus_, bk. I. ch. vii.
[126] _Ibid._
[127] Ex. xxv. 40, xxvi. 30, and compare with Heb. viii. 5, and ix. 25.
[128] _Origen against Celsus_, bk. IV. ch. xvi.
[129] _Ibid._ bk. III. ch. lix.
[130] _Ibid._ ch. lxi.
[131] _Ibid._ ch. lxii.
[132] _Ibid._, ch. lx.
[133] Vol. XXIII. _Origen against Celsus_, bk. V. ch. xxv.
[134] _Ibid._ ch. xxviii.
[135] _Ibid._ ch. xxix.
[136] _Ibid._ ch. xx xi.
[137] _Ibid._ ch. xxxii.
[138] _Ibid._ ch. xlv.
[139] _Ibid._ ch. xlvi.
[140] _Ibid._ chs. xlvii.-liv.
[141] _Ibid._ ch. lxxiv.
[142] _Ibid._ bk. IV., ch. xxxix.
[143] Vol. X. _Origen against Celsus_, bk. I., ch. xvii, and others.
[144] _Ibid._ ch. xlii.
[145] Vol. X. _De Principiis_, Preface, p. 8.
[146] _Ibid._ ch. i.
[147] S. John xiv. 18-20.
[148] _Loc. cit._ ch. i. sec. III. p. 55.
[149] _Ibid._ ch. I. Sec. III. pp. 55, 56.
[150] _Ibid._ pp. 54, 55.
[151] "Seems to have been" is a somewhat weak expression, after what is said by Clement and Origen, of which some specimens are given in the text.
[152] _Ibid._, p. 62.
[153] Article on "Mysticism."--_Encyc. Britan._
[154] Article "Mysticism." _Encyclopaedia Britannica._
[155] _Orpheus_, pp. 53, 54.
[156] Obligation must be here acknowledged to the Article "Mysticism," in the _Encyc. Brit._, though that publication is by no means responsible for the opinions expressed.
[157] _The Mysteries of Magic._ Trans. by A. E. Waite, pp. 58 and 60.
[158] II. S. Peter i. 5.
[159] Gal. iv. 19.
[160] II. Cor. v. 16.
[161] S. John i. 14.
[162] S. John i. 32.
[163] S. Matt. iii. 17.
[164] _Ibid._ iv. 17.
[165] I. Tim. iii. 16.
[166] S. John x. 34-36.
[167] S. John xiv. 18, 19.
[168] Valentinus. Trans. by G. R. S. Mead. _Pistis Sophia_, bk. i., I.
[169] _Ante_, p. 72.
[170] _Ibid._ 60.
[171] _Ibid._ bk. ii., 218.
[172] _Ibid._ 230.
[173] _Ibid._ 357.
[174] _Ibid._ 377.
[175] Vol. II. Justin Martyr. _First Apology_, ch. liv., lxii., and lxvi.
[176] Vol. II. Justin Martyr. _Second Apology_, ch. xiii.
[177] Vol. VII. Tertullian, _On Baptism_, ch. v.
[178] The student might read Plato's account of the "Cave" and its inhabitants, remembering that Plato was an Initiate. _Republic_, Bk. vii.
[179] Eliphas Levi _The Mysteries of Magic_, p. 48.
[180] Bonwick. _Egyptian Belief_, p. 157. Quoted in Williamson's _Great Law_, p. 26.
[181] The festival "Natalis Solis Invicti," the birthday of the Invincible Sun.
[182] Williamson. _The Great Law_, pp. 40-42. Those who wish to study this matter as one of Comparative Religion cannot do better than read _The Great Law_, whose author is a profoundly religious man and a Christian.
[183] _Ibid._ pp. 36, 37.
[184] _The Great Law_, p. 116.
[185] _Ibid._ p. 58.
[186] _Ibid._ p. 56.
[187] _Ibid._ pp. 120-123.
[188] See on this the opening of the Johannine Gospel, i. 1-5. The name Logos, ascribed to the manifested God, shaping matter--"all things were made by Him"--is Platonic, and is hence directly derived from the Mysteries; ages before Plato, Vak, Voice, derived from the same source, was used among Hindus.
[189] See _Ante_, pp. 124.
[190] See _Ante_, pp. 93-94.
[191] See _Ante_, p. 85.
[192] II. Cor. iv. 18.
[193] II. Cor. v. 7.
[194] Heb. v. 14.
[195] S. Luke xv. 16.
[196] _Ibid._ xiv. 26.
[197] S. Matt. v. 28.
[198] Heb. xi. 27.
[199] S. Matt v. 45.
[200] S. Luke ix. 49, 50.
[201] S. Matt xvii. 20.
[202] II. Cor. vi. 8-10.
[203] Col. iii. 1.
[204] S. Matt. v. 8, and S. John xvii. 21.
[205] Gen. i. 2.
[206] S. John i. 3.
[207] _The Christian Creed_, p. 29. This is a most valuable and fascinating little book, on the mystical meaning of the creeds.
[208] _Ibid._ p. 42.
[209] A name of the Holy Ghost.
[210] _Ibid._ p. 43.
[211] _Ante_, p. 124.
[212] S. Matt. xviii. 3.
[213] 2 S. Peter iii. 15, 16.
[214] A. Besant. _Essay on the Atonement._
[215] _Ibid._
[216] _Brihadaranyakopanishat_, I. i. 1.
[217] _Bhagavad Gita_, iii. 10.
[218] _Brihadaranyakopanishat_, I. ii. 7.
[219] _Mundakopanishat_, II. ii. 10.
[220] Haug. _Essays on the Parsis_, pp. 12-14.
[221] Rev. xiii. 8.
[222] W. Williamson. _The Great Law_, p. 406.
[223] A. Besant. _Nineteenth Century_, June, 1895, "The Atonement."
[224] Heb. i. 5.
[225] _Ibid._, 2.
[226] C.W. Leadbeater. _The Christian Creed_, pp. 54-56.
[227] _Ibid._ pp. 56, 57.
[228] S. Matt. xxv. 21, 23, 31-45.
[229] Is. liii. 11.
[230] S. Matt. xvi. 25.
[231] S. John xii. 25.
[232] Heb. vii. 16.
[233] _Light on the Path_, ch. 8.
[234] Heb. vii. 25.
[235] Heb. v. 8, 9.
[236] I Tim. iii. 16.
[237] Annie Besant. _Theosophical Review_, Dec., 1898, pp. 344, 345.
[238] C. W. Leadbeater. _The Christian Creed_, pp. 61, 62.
[239] I Cor. xv. 44.
[240] I Thess. v. 23.
[241] See Chapter IX., "The Trinity."
[242] See _Ante_, pp. 84, 99, 100.
[243] 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4.
[244] S. Matt. v. 48.
[245] S. John xvii. 22, 23.
[246] 2 Cor. v. 1.
[247] 1 Cor. xv. 28.
[248] This mistranslation was a very natural one, as the translation was made in the seventeenth century, and all idea of the pre-existence of the soul and of its evolution had long faded out of Christendom, save in the teachings of a few sects regarded as heretical and persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church.
[249] S. John iii. 13.
[250] Heb. v. 9.
[251] Rev. i. 18.
[252] H. P. Blavatsky. _The Voice of the Silence_, p. 90, 5th Edition.
[253] S. John. xvii. 5.
[254] 1 Cor. xv. 20.
[255] _Chhandogyopanishat_, VI. ii., 1.
[256] Deut. vi. 4.
[257] 1 Cor. viii. 6.
[258] An error: En, or Ain, Soph is not one of the Trinity, but the One Existence, manifested in the Three; nor is Kadmon, or Adam Kadmon, one Sephira, but their totality.
[259] Quoted in Williamson's _The Great Law_, pp. 201, 202.
[260] H. H. Milman. _The History of Christianity_, 1867, pp. 70-72.
[261] _Asiatic Researches_, i. 285.
[262] S. Sharpe. _Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christology_, p. 14.
[263] See Williamson's _The Great Law_, p. 196.
[264] _Loc. Cit._, pp. 208, 209.
[265] S. John i. 3.
[266] Jer. li. 15.
[267] See _Ante_, pp. 179-180.
[268] Athanasian Creed.
[269] Rev. iv. 8.
[270] S. Luke. i. 38.
[271] _Ibid_, 35.
[272] Book of Wisdom, viii. 1.
[273] Vol. IV. Ante-Nicene Library. S. Clement of Alexandria. _Stromata_, bk. V., ch. ii.
[274] See _Ante_, p. 262.
[275] See _Ante_, p. 207.
[276] Gen. i. 1.
[277] Job xxxviii. 4; Zech. xii. 1; &c.
[278] Gen. i. 2.
[279] Gen. i. 2.
[280] See _Ante_, p. 262.
[281] See _Ante_, p. 262.
[282] S. John i. 3.
[283] _Bhagavad Gita_ ix. 4.
[284] 1 Cor. xv. 27, 28.
[285] S. John xiv. 6. See also the further meaning of this text on p. 272.
[286] Heb. xii. 9.
[287] Numb. xvi. 22.
[288] Gen. i. 26.
[289] S. Matt. v. 48.
[290] S. John xvii. 5.
[291] S. John v. 26.
[292] S. Matt. i. 22.
[293] Heb. ii. 18.
[294] Much of this chapter has already appeared in an earlier work by the author, entitled, _Some Problems of Life_.
[295] S. James i. 17.
[296] Gen. xxviii. 12, 13.
[297] See Chapter xii.
[298] Heb. i. 14.
[299] S. Matt. x. 29.
[300] Acts xvii. 28.
[301] T. H. Huxley. _Essays on some Controverted Questions_, p. 36.
[302] S. Luke xxii. 41, 43.
[303] S. John i. 11.
[304] Rev. iii. 20.
[305] H. P. Blavatsky. _Key to Theosophy_, p. 10.
[306] Is. xxxiii. 17.
[307] _On the Mysteries_, sec. v. ch. 26.
[308] Ps. xl. 7, 8, Prayer Book version.
[309] S. Luke, v. 18-26.
[310] _Ibid._ vii. 47.
[311] G. R. S. Mead, translated. _Loc. cit._, bk. ii., chapters 260, 261.
[312] _Ibid._ chapters 299, 300.
[313] S. Matt. xii. 36.
[314] _Ibid._ ix. 2.
[315] _Loc. cit._ iii. 9.
[316] _Ibid._ vi. 43.
[317] _Ibid._ ix. 30.
[318] See _ante_, Chap. VIII.
[319] This is the cause of the sweetness and patience often noticed in the sick who are of very pure nature. They have learned the lesson of suffering, and they do not make fresh evil karma by impatience under the result of past bad karma, then exhausting itself.
[320] S. Luke, vii. 48, 50.
[321] _Loc. cit._, ix. 31.
[322] S. Matt. vii. 1.
[323] _Loc. cit._, bk. ii. ch. 305.
[324] Rev. iii. 20.
[325] G. Bruno, trans. by L. Williams. _The Heroic Enthusiasts_, vol. i., p. 133.
[326] _Ibid._, vol. ii., pp. 27, 28.
[327] _Ibid._, pp. 102, 103.
[328] Rev. iv. 5.
[329] The phrase "force and matter" is used as it is so well-known in science. But force is one of the properties of matter, the one mentioned as Motion. See _Ante_, p. 264.
[330] Job xxxviii. 7.
[331] See on forms created by musical notes any scientific book on Sound, and also Mrs. Watts-Hughes' illustrated book on _Voice Figures_.
[332] See _ante_, p. 138 and p. 302.
[333] In the Sacrament of Penance the ashes are now usually omitted, except on special occasions, but none the less they form part of the rite.
[334] See _ante_ p. 329.
[335] _Christian Records_, p. 129.
[336] _The Great Law_, pp. 161-166.
[337] See _ante_, p. 151.
[338] _Diegesis_, p. 219.
[339] 1 Pet. iii. 4.
[340] 2 Kings vi. 17.
[341] 1 Cor. x. 16.
[342] Jer. xliv.
[343] Gen. xiv. 18, 19.
[344] _The Great Law_, pp. 177-181, 185.
[345] Lev. xvii. 11.
[346] Rom. xii. 1.
[347] Isaiah liv. 5; lxii. 5.
[348] Eph. v. 23-32.
[349] Athanasian Creed.
[350] 2 Pet. i. 20.
[351] 1 See _ante_, p. 102.
[352] 2 Cor. iii. 6.
[353] 1 Cor. ii. 11, 13.
[354] Is. vi. 6, 7.
[355] S. John v. 4.
* * * * *
WILLIAM BYLES & SONS, PRINTERS, BRADFORD.