Chapter 8

THE HIDDEN WISDOM REVEALED 137

Science and mysticism the same at root; Christian mysticism versus scientific postulates; the interior meaning in fairy stories; personalities and principles in mystic revelation; the esoteric meaning in Mythology; are there gods and mortals? the ark in religious symbology; its interior meaning; what were the "tablets of stone?" the reality of the "cherubim" and the "seraphim;" the inner meaning of the symbolical "ark of the Covenant;" is spiritual love devoid of sex?; what is the symbolical "flaming sword?"; why the Jews claimed to be God's "chosen people;" what makes for "immortal godhood?"; the symbolism of the "life-token" stories; the symbolism of the sleeping princess; a theory that solves all the problems of life; the symbolical rites and ceremonies of secret orders; the secrets of the Ancient Alchemists; the Rosicrucians; the Free Masons; the Hermetics; their initiation rites and ceremonies explained; what is meant by the "Holy of Holies?" by the "secret chamber;" and the degree of "mastership;" the sexual significance of the symbolism of the "templars;" the red rose on the cross; the star and the crescent; what is the inner meaning of "the radiant center;" why the Catholic Church opposed the order of Free-masons; did the Alchemists discover the secret of metallic transmutation? what is meant by "the philosopher's stone;" why it was of such a rare purity; why the early Church opposed all reference to sex; the distinction between "discovering" and "finding;" their spiritual meaning; what was the stone that was raised at Babylon: was it a phallic symbol? why the average "Knight Templar" fails to attain the powers and privileges of esoteric Free-masonry; what is the "gate of life?" the Arcana of the Hermetics and its sexual significance; the symbolism of the double-headed eagle; why the eagle was an ancient religious symbol; the antithesis of "the eagle and the dove" explained; the "lamb and the goat" symbolism; the God-ideas of the Ancients and their effects on modern life; why "riding the goat" is the usual initiatory rite and ceremony in secret orders; some secret plates of Hermetic orders explained; what is the "magic solvent" of the alchemists? the relation of Christian symbolism to the Alchemical secrets; the inner meaning of "the sun and the moon" in ancient literature; transmutation: exterior or interior? what constitutes "the abiding glory."