Lucifer/Vol5/Text
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Electronic journal edition: substantial titled works with printed author credits and dictionary entries are linked to separate pages; unsigned texts, reviews without a reviewer’s signature, brief notes, aphorisms and extracts are reproduced here in journal order. Replies by H. P. Blavatsky included in BCW remain linked to their collected texts. Texts have been transcribed from the original journal scans. Where available, links for H. P. Blavatsky lead to the texts prepared by B. de Zirkoff in her Collected Writings (BCW). Original journal footnotes are retained.
No. 25 – September 1889
Our Three Objects
"An Over-shot Mark"
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Why Bud(d)hism?
Because it does not try to define the indefinable.
Because it does not make itself ridiculous by projecting its own image and calling this the Creator.
Because it does not deny the brotherhood of man by making a distinction between rich and poor, high and low, strong and weak, learned and unlearned.
Because it does not lower woman by teaching her submission to man and his motherless, wifeless deity.
Because it does not propagate itself by cheat, torture, sword and fire.
Because it does not insult the mind by demanding its submission to “god-made” dogmas.
Because it does not incite to tyranny, greed and sensuality, by the promise of power, riches and glory.
Because it does not paralyze the mind by picturing before it an endless hell.
Because it does not brutalize the mind by holding forth an endless, corporeal heaven founded on an endless, corporeal hell.
Because it does not deny justice to any living creature by slaying it.
Because it does not insult the human soul by placing mediators and priests between it and the divine Spirit.
Because it does not take away Reason by the prescription of stupefactive drugs and intoxicating liquors for sacred purposes.
Because it does not affront Reason by teaching that the mystery of life can be solved by one incarnation.
Because it does not abet corporealisms by denying the involutions and evolutions of the Soul and its final absorption in the divine Spirit.
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"Light through the Crannies"
“While the child was yet alive I fasted and wept, for I said: ‘Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live?’”
In another planet of which earth-folks can see nothing even at night-time except by means of strong telescopic lenses, a species of creature much resembling man makes his dwelling-place, and to him other attributes of body are given than man possesses. He can live under water and mount into air without artificial appliances, therefore his environment is wider and less circumscribed. His face more resembles a hawk’s in shape than yours, and his skin is finer and whiter by several degrees. Yet he has many things in common with you – speech, the power of walking, wrestling, running, and lying asleep.
And as one of these creatures, not unworthy the name of man, was walking through the spacious precincts of his highly cultivated domain, he chanced upon a certain weed which was unknown to him in name and shape; therefore he called his servants, saying:
“Know ye the habits of this plant which hath bewildered me? for the flowers of our planet always turn their heads towards the East; but this hath its stamen set due West. Yea, and of so strange a shape and colour is it that I know not by what name to classify it.” And the servants kneeled and peered into the flower with wonder in their eyes, for never so strange a phenomenon of Nature had appeared to them. And one said: “Perchance, my Lord, it is a plant which groweth in darkness beneath the river, for then it would most likely turn its head Westward, because the Eastern Sun could not be observed from the deep bed thereof.”
And another said: “Perchance it is a plant which groweth in some other world which holdeth westward – for none of like dimensions have I seen since I was born.”
Then said the Master to him who had first spoken: “He who seeks shall find. Go thou beneath the rivers and bring me from their beds specimens of what flowers are blossoming there” – and likewise to the other servant said he, “Go thou to the planet which lieth westward and ask their wise men for account of all the plants which bloom at this season.”
Therefore the servants left their lord, and went faithfully upon their errands. And he sat down beneath the shadow of the flower which caused him such concern.
And as he sat pondering, he became aware that One stood by him who was not of like proportions as himself, but nobler and of finer building.
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Then said he: “Behold my lord is welcome – wherefore cometh he to hold converse with his servant?”
And the Spirit answered: “A messenger of thine crossed my path as I came hither, else had he been spared the journey westward; but as thy word to him admitted not of his return I even let him take his way unchecked.
“The plant at which thou wonderest is no rare exotic, but a fair specimen of those which at this planet’s launching into space was ancestor of all the present vegetation thou beholdest.”
Then said the man: “Thou speakest marvels, for not in any flower can I perceive the faintest resemblance to this curious plant.”
And the Spirit answered: “Have not thy plants roots, then?”
And the man said: “Yea, long delving roots dividing into many queer-shaped suckers, and spreading like the points of several arrows in all directions whithersoever they will.”
Then said the Spirit: “Thou shalt see this also hath the queer-shaped suckers,” and with these words he wrenched the plant out of the soil.
Then said the man: “Thou hast done evilly by me, for behold, the plant shall wither now that thou has wrenched it from its nourishment. Yea, and the blossoms that were so gracious to look at already begin to droop upon their stems. It grieveth me to see how wantonly thine hand has slain it.”
Then the Spirit answered, not heeding his reproof, “Of what colours are the flowers of your land?”
And he answered: “Crimson, golden and azure.”
Then said the Spirit as he plucked a blossom, “Behold!” – and therewith he passed his hand over its petals and they were azure – and he said, “What seest thou now?”
And the man answered, “The brightest, most celestial blue that ever flower possessed. Behold, this plant is rarer than I thought. Thou hast done ill to pluck it by the roots.”
Then said the Spirit, as he passed his hand from left to right over it: “How seest thou now?”
And the man answered: “Even the purest golden yellow – like the sunset clouds dying in glory. Verily it irks me sorely that thou hast slain the life thereof.”
Then said the Spirit, as he passed his hand from right to left over it: “What seest thou now?”
And he said: “The richest, purest crimson – like the blood that floweth in the veins of an infant. But I give thee no thanks for all thou hast shown me – for if thou hadst not come hither, then had my flower been preserved to me – whereas now – Thou hast revealed its beauties only to rob me of them.”
Then the Spirit answered: “Of what shapes are the flowers of your land? For though thy nature is too miserly to pay for truth when it 15shall cost thee loss of material value, yet is my heart turned straight towards thee because thou art ignorant.”
And the man answered: “Thou tradest on mine ignorance and makest believe it is for love of me. Yet that I may get somewhat for my flower seeing that thou hast slain it, I’ll take it out in knowledge, so please thee. The blossoms of our land are star-shaped, cup-shaped and pitcher-shaped and three-corner shaped. There may be others, but I know them not.”
Then said the Spirit, pulling apart the petals of the flower: “Here is thy star – seven-pointed like the brilliant disc of Mercury; and here is thy cup – like the flagon of Jupiter; and here the pitcher, which lieth like a mask over the ball of Saturn; and here the triangle, through which Uranus sends his ten-yoked oxen with their plough. Art thou satisfied that this is the progenitor of all thy flowers?”
And the man answered: “Yea. Yet because thou hast killed my plant for my better instruction, am I more sore at heart than if thou hadst left it still living beside me, ignorant of its secret excellence.”
Then said the Spirit: “Yet behold, I have more to teach thee. Of what perfume are the flowers of thy land?”
And he answered: “There are many essences of so subtle distinction that I cannot name them, yet so far as may be I will try and make myself understood. There is a pernicious smell which makes him sick who comes within its effluence. There is another which makes one faint, for its odour is poisonous; and there is one which makes people sad, and another exhilarates. All these I know rather by their effect than by their names.”
Said the Spirit, as he held the flower towards the man: “What is this?”
And he answered: “The sickness hath seized on me. Would’st thou slay me also as well as the flower? Behold thou art evilly inclined towards me.”
And the Spirit removed the flower one hand’s breadth from him, and asked: “How dost thou now?”
And he cried: “Faint – faint as the dying petals of the flower thou hast slain.”
Then the Spirit removed the flower one other hand’s breadth from him and said: “What now?”
And he answered: “My heart is like to break within me for sorrow that I knew not the virtues which were hidden in this plant, then had I kept thy hand from slaying it – now, there is no hope. My treasure is lost.”
Then said the Spirit, holding it yet another hand’s breadth farther from him: “How art thou now?”
And he answered: “Is there therefore no hope because the leaves hang flaccid, peradventure if my lord place the plant again in earth, it shall derive nourishment and its healthy ducts be opened once more to receive heaven-sent moisture. Behold, my heart rejoiceth exceedingly, 16that so great wisdom has made itself perceived by my dull brain through thy excellent teaching. Therefore, I pray thee, Let thy breath renew the vigour of my flower – then will I bless thee for thy treble grace; first, for condescending to appear before me, who am so small and of such mean account, and second, for the wisdom thou hast brought to me, and third, that thou hast given back to me a thrice blessed life in this, by which thou hast instructed me.
And the Spirit answered: “Thy prayer is granted,” and breathing on the plant he thrust its flaccid roots once more in earth, and behold – it held its blossoms westward, with a fairer show of vitality than before.
Therefore was the man glad, and asked the Spirit, that he would bestow a parting blessing on him.
And the Spirit said, “What wilt thou?”
And he answered, “Further knowledge, for it hath come to me to see that thy words and acting are but the outer vision of an inner glory.”
Then said the Spirit, “The flower is a symbol of thy lives. Its root, thy body, with its underground delvings of intelligence, searching for nourishment, and each succeeding state growing up as from the root, come up stem, leaf and bud. At last the flower or soul spreadeth its petals of three attributes, and four distinctive shapes or conditions which are subject to the influences contained within, mingling with those outside, and thereby producing two good and two evil systems or circles of evolution, one removed from the other but a little space, and these are typical of the astral planes and the planes of Higher Vitality in which Spirits exist.”
And as he said these words, the light gathered on his face and shaded his limbs so that the man was dazzled by the swift motion caused in the air, and closed his eyes. And when he opened them again, he was alone. And the plant turned its petals westward and seemed not aught the worse for its uplifting.
Presently the messengers returned, each with four flowers. One pitcher-shaped, one star-shaped, one triangular and one cup-shaped; but none of these resembled that which their master had found in his garden. Therefore were they sorrowful, that their labour brought no profit unto him they desired to serve.
Then, said he, “Verily ye have done well, for hereby see I that wisdom hath filled the empty coffer of my mind. Behold a new thing hath happened to us, for the Gods talk soul to soul with men, and I wil'[2] even teach you that which hath been known unto me.
Therefore he set down his conversation with the Spirit in words such as all might understand.
Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues
Traces of India in Ancient Egypt
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A Mysterious Adventure in the Himalayas
Although after what had taken place, had I been differently situated, I should certainly have postponed the projected expedition in order to institute a thorough investigation of the mysterious occurrence which had so aroused my curiosity, still, under the actual circumstances, my great desire to push on now that the goal was almost within my grasp, and the uncertainty of a continuation of the phenomenal weather we were enjoying, decided me not to delay starting at the hour agreed upon.
My time was actively employed during the next day in making the necessary preparations for our start; still my mind kept continually reverting to the strange adventure of the preceding night, and the more I dwelt upon it the more inexplicable did it appear.
There was not shadow of a doubt in my own mind but that the body was lifeless, and although my examination of it had of necessity not been thorough, yet the sunken abdomen, and the apparently pulseless heart, were indications amply sufficient to confirm me in this opinion. Taking, moreover, the surroundings into consideration, death must inevitably have resulted from exposure and starvation.
Several times during the day I spoke to Rimaye about it, and asked for particulars as to what had occurred during my absence. He seemed, however, not to understand my meaning in the least, but muttering compassionately something about fever and the sun, endeavoured to dissuade me from starting for a day or two, saying he would go out alone and complete the preliminary observations of the route we had determined to essay.
Notwithstanding his suggestions and the earnest appeals of my native servant, I insisted that we should be under way an hour after the moon had risen.
Accordingly, at about 11 p.m., we made our start, informing my servant, under whose charge everything was left, that our absence would probably not exceed twenty-four hours, but that possibly we might be detained the following night on the mountain. Wishing to reduce our impedimenta to the smallest amount compatible with safety, in order to be the least possibly embarrassed during the hard work we had before us, we made no preparations for a night out, and merely carried food and drink in addition to the ropes, ice-axes, and aneroid barometer which I had had carefully re-adjusted in Calcutta.
The bright moonlight made it nearly as clear as day, and we found no difficulty in advancing rapidly over the comparatively open ground which sloped up to the ridge of broken crags from which we had made 30our observations. To reach the huge glacier we had noticed at our feet from that lofty perch, we were obliged to cross the ridge at its lowest depression, and then descend some twelve or fifteen hundred feet of loose débris and moderately steep dry grass slopes. We accomplished it as easily and rapidly as we had often done the somewhat similar walk from the Riffel Hotel to the Gorner Glacier, and it was still some hours before sunrise when we finally stood on the glacier itself.
Before us stretched the broad ice stream, gently flowing at first, then rising in a series of frozen cataracts and tumbling ice-falls, broken here and there by tremendous black precipices of living rock, until in the distance, far, far above our heads, the final ice-covered cone of the mighty giant curved grandly and glistened in the silver sky.
The huge crevasses were so well defined and clearly visible that Rimaye deemed the use of the rope unnecessary until we had reached the precipitous walls of the first ice-fall. Here we were roped together, allowing sixty feet between us, and began slowly and carefully to ascend the frowning blocks and pinnacles of greenish ice. Even at this early hour ominous cracks and occasional crashes resounded on all sides, giving warning of the death and destruction that would ensue when the warm sun should have melted away the ice supports and caused the huge pyramids to lose their equilibrium. After a couple of hours of this anxious work we held a short consultation and determined to take to the rocks on the left of the ice-fall, which, although exceedingly steep, would present fewer dangers than the region where we were at present climbing. As my hands and feet touched the clean, cold rocks, my strong passion for a steep scramble got the better of me, and looking down at the dizzy depths below, I fairly screamed with joy. Even Rimaye departed from his usual reserve, and rent the dreary solitude with shout after shout, which were echoed back by cliffs which had probably never heard a human voice before.
The eastern sky was glowing with the flush of dawn as we neared the summit of the rocks and made for a ledge of snow-covered glacier separating us from another and higher shoulder of the mountain.
We stood upon the edge of a ridge running down to the glacier far, far below, and as the glorious sun shot up three-fourths of the horizon were visible to us. Mount Everest, the King of Mountains, raising his pure snow-cone nearly thirty thousand feet above the sea, towered in unequalled grandeur to our right, while peak after peak and range upon range of snow and ice, nameless and unknown, stretched on all sides as far as the eye could reach. Of human life no trace was visible; no gleaming church spire, or yellow corn patch in the deep green valleys; no cuttings in the forest which clothed the foot-hills. On all sides Nature, and Nature alone. Our elevation, as registered by my aneroid barometer, read at a fraction under twenty-two thousand feet. The summit of Mont Blanc, that Swiss giant, would have lain seven thousand feet below us!
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Neither Rimaye nor I felt seriously inconvenienced by the rarefied atmosphere, although we both noticed a shortness of breath when under exertion. But I anticipated that during the seven thousand and odd feet which remained for us to ascend, our distress would increase in a ratio altogether disproportioned to that we had experienced in climbing to our present altitude.
After breakfast and a short rest we again started forth. The precipice we now began to scale was about the steepest, and the rocks composing it the most difficult I have ever attempted. Anyone who has been on the west face of the Dent Blanche when covered with black ice, will have an idea of our position. Still we laboured bravely on, alternating in leading, and stopping frequently to rest and refresh ourselves. For over six hours we toiled, and crept cautiously along the ledges over hanging the appalling precipices. Only one of us moved at a time, the other meanwhile bracing himself by clinging to the slight inequalities of the rocky face until his companion had secured a foothold. It was slow and anxious work, but we were advancing nevertheless. The distress on making any exertion had certainly increased very perceptibly, but when in repose neither of us had any particular difficulty in filling our lungs, although my barometer indicated twenty-four thousand and three feet the last time I consulted it.
It was while thus creeping steadily upwards (Rimaye leading at the time) that I suddenly heard a sharp crack above us, and glancing up beheld a goodish-sized piece of rock, detached no doubt by the melting of the ice, crashing towards us.
“Lie flat, Rimaye; for God’s sake lie flat,” I screamed. A rather superfluous admonition, as we were both fairly “spread-eagled” on the rocks.
Hearing my voice, but not having seen his danger, Rimaye turned carefully in his foot-holes, and looked enquiringly down at me. At that moment the rock struck him, and the shock loosening his grip, tumbled him over in such a manner that the whole of his weight fell directly upon me.
In a twinkling I felt myself jerked from my foothold and bounding downwards. A couple of bumps, a thud, a rush and swirl in my ears; and I knew no more.
There was a dull, dazed feeling in my head when I opened my eyes; blood trickled from my face and hands. When after a little I raised myself to a sitting posture, I found my left arm hung limply at my side and that I was powerless to move it. Close beside me lay the torn and lifeless body of Rimaye, to which I was still attached by the rope.
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How long I had lain unconscious I can never tell, for my watch was broken in the fall. On examination I found we had fallen on a little ledge of soft snow, but the thick mist which surrounded me prevented any guess as to what the height of our fall had been. Above and below the narrow shelf on which I lay were sheer precipices, their gloomy cliffs gradually fading till lost in the driving mist, and it needed but a glance to convince me that escape, even were I not alone and hampered with a broken arm, was impossible.
Both my own knapsack and that of my poor companion had become unfastened in the fall, and had either remained caught in the rocks above or had bounded to the depths below. A miserable death by starvation stared me in the face, even could I survive the exposure of that fearful height, and as I realised this fact and glanced at the pallid, blood-stained face of my dead friend, I envied him the merciful blow which must have ended his life almost without suffering, if I could judge from my own sensations during that period of our fall while I remained conscious.
In the overwhelming anguish of despair, I bowed my head upon my knees and sobbed aloud.
The sense of my utter loneliness was so absolutely crushing that it seemed to deaden my faculties; I was incapable of analysing my thoughts, but the one intense longing for the companionship of a human being overpowered all else.
I had been in this position some time when, impelled by the force of this longing, I turned my head towards the body of poor Rimaye. Kneeling over it I beheld the form of an old man.
Yes; surely there was no mistaking that noble face, which had remained deeply engraven on my memory, and of which even an instant since I had been confusedly thinking. It was the same I had seen two days ago lying lifeless on the hill-side!
The owner of it raised it slowly till his glance met mine. Oh! the glory of those eyes – the unutterable kindness, sad withal! They held me enthralled.
“Your friend is dead,” he said gently, speaking in Bengali. “His neck is broken, and both legs. It was a terrible fall.”
I was too astounded to find a word in reply, and could merely gaze at him in blank astonishment.
At last the words half-formed themselves upon my lips, and I muttered hoarsely:
“How came you here?”
“By the concentration of will-power,” he answered, smiling kindly. “You thought to perform an act of charity lately when you found what you supposed to be my dead body, and wished to preserve it from the desecrating clutches of the beasts and birds. My knowledge warned me that you were now in great danger, and I have come to help you.”
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“Then you are . . . . !”
“What the world calls a Yogi,” he interrupted. “My soul was only absent from the body you would have buried: when I returned to it and found your companion guarding it, I was forced to have recourse to magnetic influence, as you would call it, in order to be relieved of his presence. Accordingly by the concentration of a certain will-fluid upon his mind, I caused all memory of what had occurred, from the time of his leaving the mountain till he again met you, to be completely obliterated.
“It seems a supernatural feat to you,” he continued, after a pause, during which I gazed in speechless amazement, “yet the latent psychic forces exist in your being as well as in mine, only the material existence you have led, and the lack of esoteric knowledge, have caused them to remain undeveloped. But come, you are hurt, and it is dangerous for you to remain here.”
While speaking he had torn a strip from his white raiment and had fashioned a sling for my broken arm.
“How can I go?” I exclaimed impatiently, for I felt I was holding converse with a figment of my fevered brain.
“That power of which I spoke must come to our aid,” he gently replied.
So saying he again rivetted his wonderful eyes upon me, and I felt a soothing, dreamy sensation gradually creeping over me. I tried to speak but could only smile, and half form sentences in my over-mastered brain. Then . . . .!
When I again opened my eyes I found myself lying at the road side near the bamboo suspension bridge over the Rungeet river. Above me, in the scudding mist, gleamed the bungalows and green lawns of Darjeeling.
My servant was deftly re-arranging the sling of white linen about my arm.
He assisted me to rise and enter the litter that some coolies were bearing.
As I did so something fell from my pocket; he stooped and gave it to me. It was the palm-leaf fragment of Sanskrit that I had picked up beside the Mahatma’s lifeless body.
The Talking Image of Urur
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Visions in the Crystal
A beautiful woman lies dreamily gazing from out an open window. The moonbeams pour through and envelop her in a luminous sulphur flood. Beautiful she is, with that indescribable grace that eclipses beauty, that is inseparable from high breeding and courage. She is the spirit of love, which hides itself deep down in her fathomless eyes, sea-grey, opaline, mystic, like the shimmering moonstones that encircle her ebon hair. Her delicate features are set and still, like a chiselled cameo, or a Greek head on an ancient coin.
A robe of pale grey velvet imprisons her, held tight by an ancient silver girdle. Like a weird grey mist she lies, the wraith of some stately Egyptian, sphinx-like and mystic. Below, calm as death, stretches the ocean, the moon’s reflection, like a silvern serpent, spanning the horizon to the white shore. Faintly green shine the stars, through the languid veil of night. Now and again comes floating a strange and eerie note of music, wild and weird as a sea-bird’s cry. The world lies hushed like a dreamy lotus-flower, sleepy with the intoxication of its own perfume. As the woman looks, a dusky hand is laid on the casement, and clasping hers, a gorgeously-dressed Eastern draws himself into the room.
His dark face is of superb beauty, his flashing eyes kindle like live coals, and pierce the semi-gloom. Jewels glitter and flash on his scarlet dress, in his hands he holds the keys which unlock the world’s pleasures. His step is subtle and soft as a panther. Around his head hovers an aura of blood-red hue. . . He is “Illusion” “Maya,” the genius of spiritual death, subtle, seductive, enthralling, the embodiment of the descent from the region of spirit to that of matter. Suddenly the heavy silken draperies part, and a girl enters of magnificent physique, with a halo of red gold hair about her earnest, spiritual face. She wears no ornament of any kind, for hers is the radiance of the heavens. Her name is “Truth,” and truth is for spirit only.
The flowing transparencies of her draperies disclose the symmetry of the perfect form beneath.
With slow and stately tread she advances to the woman in grey. She throws her strong young arms about her, and the golden aura from her auburn hair blends with the faint grey haze encircling the other. The earnest, fervent gaze, from her blue eyes, pierces deep down into the soul of “Love” and awakens there a tremulous echo which thrills her very being, like a living crystal flame. The clasp of her encircling arms 42kindles a fierce magnetic strength, and the slender form of “Love” trembles and sways under the electricity of her powerful magnetism. The silver thread of pure intuition seems magnetically attached to intellect, in the power of true religion, for “there is no religion higher than truth.”
The three confront each other, the silence of a sleeping world is without. The heavy Eastern perfumes clog the air within by their overpowering seductiveness. The room is Oriental in its brilliant magnificence, and appears to partake of all worlds. The simple elegancies of Persia blend with the quainter characteristics of Japan. Kaga jars and great creamy Satsuma bowls, gorgeous Eastern plaques, ornaments of gold and silver, and the rude potteries of Burmah, Giant gourds and the coarse ceramics of the savage, the heavy carvings of the Eastern deities, and the barbarisms of the South Seas. Exquisite bronzes, and the enamels of Cloisonné, tables lacquered and inlaid, brasses, and billowy silken divans, all the rich luxuriance of the Orient, blended in a varied maze of dazzling colour.
The Eastern advances into the middle of the room, and raises a rod carved with the three serpents or tempters, who seduce the inward reality to abandon itself to outward appearances, and accept the symbols for the verity. With this he draws the eternal circle, whereon gleam the seven sacred planets.
Suddenly a blind slave, “Sin,” the servant of “Illusion,” enters, naked, save for a cloth of gold about his loins, unutterable misery stamped upon the darkness of his visage. With a low obeisance, he offers round a dish of gold, whereon lie three “hubble-bubbles,” filled with many grains of haschisch.
They each choose one. The girl crosses the room and lies down on a low divan. The woman in grey sinks amongst the pillows of a tawny couch. The Eastern goes round and lights the pipe of each, with the glittering magnetism streaming from his slender, supple fingers. They smoke in silence – the Karma of each sweet life. For a moment the girl sleeps peacefully, whilst “Love” lies with eyes half-closed, in semi half-restless consciousness. For a moment the Eastern stands gazing down upon “Truth,” then mutters, “She is safe,” and bends down with his arms about the lissom form of the woman in grey. She is but half asleep, but she turns and rests her head upon his breast. And he sees it is the flower of fearless innocence that has blossomed in her beautiful breast, and looking into her eyes, he sees a lily reflected in their opal depths. Fortified by the crystal purity of “Truth,” she knows not, fears not, evil, and in anger he throws a bean into the world circle, and, behold! a lamb and a dove appear. And the dove of spiritual intelligence flutters to the shoulder of “Love,” where he finds a peaceful 43abiding place. And the lamb lays its head upon the breast of “Truth,” having no will of his own, but doing the will of the Father. “Love” looks up into the gleaming orbs of “Illusion,” and asks, “Show me thy treasures, I long to taste of them.” Then vision after vision of exceeding beauty pass before her eyes.
“A paradise of vaulted bowers |
Thickets of flowering trees, and verdant glades. Sparkling streams, vineyards, and rosy bowers. Luxuriant halls, draped in Grecian stuffs, and the shimmer of jewels, silver and gold. And through the halls come singing houris, lovely as those in Mahommed’s paradise, seductive, and intoxicating as the sparkling wine in the jewelled goblets. Pleasure and joy breathing from out the soft-stringed lutes and silver-chorded harps. The melodious song of birds, the murmur of living streams.
But “Love” turns away her head, and murmurs “I thirst, give me to drink but the crystal purity of water.” And “Illusion” is angered again, and casts yet more grains into the pipe, and a tornado crashes through the temple halls and the voices of singing die away in a long wail of anguish. And clouds of yellow dust arise and the storm breaks and bends the marble pillars like reeds, and great rocks slide roaring and hissing down into the valley. Beautiful pitiless eyes looking out of amber clouds, and the blood-red sun sinks behind the arid desert, where lie the bald bleared skulls of former worlds rotting in the scorching glare. The sands drift over the marble temples, where the “Logos” is hidden and obliterated, but not for ever, and a whirlwind of glittering minerals and ores fall around into the moaning sea, and the divine spark flickers and then goes out. Then the woman crouches low, her hands like pink-lined shells, crossed upon her breast, she bends her slender neck before the fury of the storm. And she says, “It will surely pass and Love can endure,” her eyes wandering with unutterable trust and tenderness to where lies “Truth.” But she sleeps on, having passed long since the World’s allurements. But as “Love” is steadfast and can endure, and does not stretch forth her hands to grasp “Illusion,” the Eastern rises and worships her as he would the genius of Wisdom, power, and truth, the Spirit of God. He fastens a necklace of gems about her slender throat, with stones of various colours, wherein mingle the topaz and the sky-coloured sapphire, and disappears before the coming dawn. And the glittering Planets upon the World Circle begin to fade out and leave only Wisdom, Sanctity and Love, which is the sphere of Mind wherein Mercury (Intelligence) and Venus (Love), are united. For God is Love, and Love conquers the World. . . .
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A mother knelt by the bed, on which lay her dying boy. Her face buried in the covering, showed nothing but the crown of the golden head. Now and again her shoulders shook with the anguish of her sobs. All that constituted her earthly happiness lay there, momently growing more stiff and stark; soon to be an empty shell, an illusion, a mask. Around the child hovered a grey, shroud-like ether, a faint blue shadow floated above the head, growing each moment more perfect in shape with each faint, dying sigh. From out the ethereal haze appeared a bright and beautiful face, smooth and fair, like a pictured angel, and as the last gasping sigh echoed through the room, the shadowy astral form was perfected and fluttered softly up into the land of shadows, amid the myriad presences that hovered through the room. In the corners, amongst the carven oak, crouched shapely shadows, a grey obscurity veiling the painted ceiling. The last fires of evening threw gorgeous prisms from the stained windows, where the stately cardinal stood with the uplifted finger of Rome. The cherub faces filling in the corners smiled mournfully, and encircled with an aura of gold the dying head. The castle was wrapped in a solemn hush save when the impatient gusts swirled round the gables, or the hollow voices of the spirits of unrest called plaintively – some singing, some sighing.
The draught filtered through the old oak carvings, mournfully swayed the faded purple velvet of the state bed, whereon in tarnished gold the quarterings were emblazoned.
Outside, the setting sun had slashed the horizon with streaks of blood, and luminous sulphur. Slowly, before the woman’s eyes, arose the visions of the past – the vague and lofty aspirations of the soul – the fervid fever of unanswered prayer, the icy chill of her marriage vows, that seemed to peal and vibrate through the oaken roof of the old church at home. The living death of the succeeding years, until this one great star arose from out the dead hearth of her life, shone for a while, and then set for ever. Faces, long dead and forgotten, arose once more in stately resurrection, and smiled or frowned down upon her. Every milestone of the past seemed to have the years written in fire. Before her stretched veiled futurity, pointing out the blood-red plans of life. Hark! Listen! Gently from out the gloom steal solemn strains of music, as with a grand, tumultuous swell peals forth the organ from the chapel, in a solemn mass for the dead. The woman raised her set, white face and listened. The room was now in darkness, save where a wan moon lit up a smirking court dame, or a mailed warrior, and drew gleams from the silken hangings upon the walls. But as she gazed a luminous haze seemed to envelope all in a mystic radiance, and she beheld before her a 45thousand aerial phantoms, marching in stately tread. The solemn cadence reverberated through the gloom, and the shadowy host moved in perfect accord with the theme. Slowly the solemn chords crashed out and branched into plaintive wailings, and the multitudinous shadowy forms danced eerily in their black, funereal garb. A wild burst of sounding grief floated through the room, dying off in an eerie, sobbing sigh.
Whilst the woman listened to the grandeur of the crashing chords wrung from the organ, she saw her boy hovering above her, only more glorified, more spiritual, more perfect, than she had ever known him. The body lay on the bed, but the spirit stood before her. And her eyes were opened and she beheld that he smiled with ineffable sweetness. And she asked herself as she gazed in rapture, “Can this be purgatory? this wondrous astral world wherein my son now rests?” His soul purified from all its astral dross stood glorified, in glittering, snowy light surrounded by the crystal purity of the spirits that enshrine the innocent as with a halo. Around, and yet apart, hovered shades of every form and kind, some more material, some more ethereal. Empty formless shells of those departed into “Devachan.” Restless shadows and electric vapours, all blended in one ever-changing, restless, multicoloured maze. Now they shaped themselves, and again dissolved into ether. For a second a shadowy face appeared, but ere the eye could mark, had vanished. Blood-curdling, horrible, thrilling faces gazing down with intensest craving for earthly re-incarnation. Mournful visages with a horrible fascination, dark with unsatisfied longing, alive in all but the body, generating new “Karma,” and panting for the earth life. Streaming on rushed the “elementals” from all worlds, some gross, some spiritual, some radiant, some seraphic, spirits old in this earth life, ready for the future changes, visions of surpassing beauty, God-like, lovely. Children who have known no evil ready for the earth once more. The unspiritual sage with brow knit down, dull, weary, dead to life and hope and joy. Fiends of hideous visage, thrusting themselves from out blood-red vapourous fire-mists, the thoughtless maiden, the careless youth, the ascetic monk, the saintly nun, types of every form and kind, heavenly, grotesque, hellish, satanic. Tongues of ruby fire, and silvern electric flashes. Infant-angel faces, fiends with lovely forms, saintly visages with devil’s bodies, writhing in ghastly confusion in the Astral light. And a great fear of the unknown rushed over the woman, as the deep loneliness of earth encompassed her around, and with a low wail of great agony, she stretched forth her arms crying: “Oh blessed Mary! Mother of Christ! I ask thee give me back my child.” But a triumphant paean of aerial voices, floating along the life-wave, drowned her cry. With a smile her angel boy faded into the silver clouds, and as the woman sank down into unconsciousness, a vision of the future now become impossible passed before her.
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A small oak wainscotted apartment lit by fluttering candles; a weird, cold dawn, struggling in through the chinks of the shutters. By the table two forms sit playing, gambling. The one her dead child, grown to man’s estate, flushed, haggard of face, and reckless. The other a woman she does not know, with a hectic spot on either cheek and a hard glitter in her eyes. The play goes on, the woman is gaining, her gaze is concentrated upon the cards. She stakes for the last time, and wins. The man rises roughly and dashes the cards upon the table, making the glasses rattle and dance. The woman rises too, with a low laugh of triumph on her beautiful mouth. He sends a warning look as she comes to his side. She looks into his eyes, with a cruel gleam in hers, and in an instant his hand is on her throat. He forces her down, down, whilst around him wildly dance in mad career the demons of crime and lust. Her face grows dark, and ever darker, as his clutch grows ever tight and closer, for a devil is at his elbow. A wild gurgle, a long, low, stifled shriek. The cry awakes the fainting mother, cold and lifeless. The chill day is at hand, and the dawn maidens usher in the light, making pale the candles which are burning at the feet and head of the dead.
Fraternitas
Countess Wachtmeister, Dr. Pioda, Prof. Thurman, and Dr. Hartmann, have a work in hand which promises well. They are organising a company, with a capital of 50,000 francs in 500 francs shares, to build and maintain a Theosophical House of Retreat, upon a hill overlooking Locarno, in Switzerland, whither students of Theosophy and Occultism may betake themselves to pursue their work, far from all distractions. The shares are to bear no interest, any profits to be used in offering hospitality, gratuitous or on lowered terms, to earnest but impecunious Theosophists. Dr. Pioda has given the land on which the house is to be built, and a beginning will be made as soon as the funds have been subscribed. A fifth of the capital is to be kept in hand for preliminary expenses, and as soon as the house is built and furnished, a shareholders’ meeting will be called to receive the report of the interim committee. At this meeting the proposed rules of the Society, to be called “Fraternitas,” will be submitted to the shareholders, decisions being taken by vote. Each share carries a vote, and absent shareholders may delegate their powers to any of the shareholders present at the meeting, but no one shareholder must hold more than a fifth of the voting power of the meeting. The share list will close on December 31, 1889, and as soon as a sufficient number of signatures have been received, the secretary will send out the first call. Communications should be addressed to the Hon.-Sec., Dr. (jur.) A. Pioda, F. T. S., Locarno, Switzerland.
We wish the scheme all success, if it can be carried out in the spirit of the Prospectus.
47
Why I Became a Theosophist
At the conclusion of Mrs. Besant’s lecture on the above subject reported in our August number, the following debate took place. – [Ed.]
The Chairman having invited questions or speeches which he said must be in opposition and very brief
A gentleman asked why Mrs. Besant as a Theosophist, in spite of the enormous mass of evidence from men like Crookes and others, denied the possibility of the existence of disembodied spirits. On more than one occasion he had seen and been touched by a person he knew to be dead, and there could be no question of imposture at all. Then as to reincarnation, what was the use of it if they did not remember their previous experiences?
Mrs. Besant: The first question is why I do not believe the evidences of what is generally called spiritualism. My reason is, that in my opinion investigation has completely broken down the theory of it being a disembodied spirit of the dead who was attending the séances. I have done a good deal in that way by personal investigation. I have been to a few séances, I made a number of experiments, and in a few cases I got a great many results. I did not find, putting the whole of them together, that they led in the direction of the presence of disembodied souls. Sometimes the things said were absolutely untrue, sometimes the statements when verified did not work out. Sometimes they did. I came to the conclusion, after patient investigation, that the phenomena fell rather under the head of magnetism and thought transference, with probably the working of some forces outside, which I did not understand, but which I was not going to call disembodied spirits of the dead until I had definite proof. The Theosophists explain those occurrences not as being cases of disembodied spirits of the dead, but as being very often projections of some person who has mediumistic capacities. They put the view that it is not likely that spirits shall be at the mercy of everyone who wants to call them back to earth, so that they should be continually in trouble from the interruptions. To the other question asked I say: if you believe it is so, it will clearly be of this use, you would be extremely careful what you do now. Remember you would have to reap your harvest in the future, just as in many cases you do now, although you don’t remember the whole of your past; and there is still brain record enough of the forgotten experience to guide you in your present actions. So, the Theosophist would say, you store up those experiences, and although you may have forgotten the exact circumséances, as you have forgotten so many facts, still there is the result of the experience which remains for your guidance; and so it is when the sleep of death takes the place of the sleep of night.
Another gentleman wished to ask whether the lecturer believed that every human being had a distinct separate individualised soul or spirit, or as she said in her lecture, a disembodied soul: and whether those disembodied souls when they went from the body joined all together, or were they kept separate as in some Safe Deposit Company (Laughter).
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Mrs. Besant: I am asked whether I believe that a disembodied soul is kept separate or goes into a mass after death. I thought I said very carefully I don’t believe in a disembodied soul; but if the gentleman means do I believe that the individuality persists and is separated from other individualities, yes I do, because otherwise it is not individuality. The word implies separation.
The same gentleman asked what Mrs. Besant called that existence separated from all others when the body was buried and there was still persistence of individuality.
Mrs. Besant: I do not know that I can give it any other name except existence. It is a life under different conditions.
Another enquirer asked whether Theosophy was a system suited and adapted to the needs and requirements of the human race, such as could be attained to and comprehended by the majority of a people; or was it not one which had been developed among mystics with more time on their hands than they knew what to do with, but where the conditions of the country were such as to develop the latent cunning, as well as the mysticism, which was in every one.
Mrs. Besant: Put shortly, what the gentleman asks is whether Theosophy is a system which can be grasped by the majority of people; whether it has not been developed in the East where people have more time on their hands than they have here, and where (I think, if I caught him rightly) there is more cunning. It is a system that in its broad outlines can be grasped by the majority In its more subtle philosophy it will always remain in the hands of the minority. That is the same with every philosophy and every scheme of religion. You may take out certain rules of conduct, but the speculative part which needs careful mental training must of course remain in the hand of those sufficiently educated to follow it. So that I should say it is available for the mass of people in its broad outline, but a large part of the philosophy would not be understood by them.
Another gentleman wished to know where the Ego was between the periods of reincarnation.
Mrs. Besant: In a condition to which the nearest physical analogy would be that of sleep, the sleep with dreams.
Mr. King in a long speech declared himself by profession an Atheist and one who had had a large amount of experience in mesmeric phenomena. As a scientific student he could only accept that of which he had proof, and what proof had Mrs. Besant given of the existence of an Ego? Because some hysterical women or men happened to see something which did not exist, which was explained in Huxley’s Elementary Physiology, was that a proof that there was such a thing as an Ego which was only another word for soul? He honoured Mrs. Besant because she had done for Freethought what no other woman had done; but being pledged to Freethought himself he was bound to take up the cause of Freethought and Mrs. Besant must go. It would have been better far if the details of the Theosophical Society had been put before them. Where did the Egos come from? maybe some good woman and some good man joined and afterwards a little human being came into the world and it might be that the spirit of the late Charles Peace had gone into it. Was not such a theory very remarkable, not to say ridiculous. What had Mrs. Besant given them? Beautiful words, poetry in prose, but no shadow of truth.
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Mrs. Besant: The last speaker said he never found among mesmeric experiments anything done which the human being in his normal state could not do. I can only put against his want of knowledge the enormous number of recorded and verified cases, which I certainly did not think it worth while to load my lecture with because they are familiar to everyone who has made a study of the subject at all. But if he has been the least successful, he must at least have found some phenomena very different from those of normal organisms. I have seen a person mesmerised having pins run into various parts of the body and remaining completely unconscious all the time. I don’t fancy anybody in the normal condition would remain quiet while that operation was being performed (Laughter). But the gentleman says what proof is there of the existence of the Ego? I gave last week a very large number of cases in which explanation was lacking unless this Ego was supplied; when, in experimenting, you find that you can explain effect after effect by cause after cause, when you find that one effect remains always unexplained and one cause which does not seem to work out, when you have repeated that experiment over and over again, changing every condition except the one, then by the rules of logic you relate that one as cause to the effect. Practically that is the line of argument along which I went; I gave the effects last week for which no cause was apparent amongst the ordinary causes. I supplied this week the lacking cause, and showed that was at least a defensible hypothesis in face of the difficulties which were suggested. Then the gentleman showed he did not quite appreciate the whole argument, by referring to the well-known cases of illusion which are given in Huxley’s Elementary Physiology. Those were cases of illusion of the eye, or of the ear, of which you may get dozens of cases with very slight bodily disorder. It is disorder of the senses, of the organ, seeing things where nothing existed. That throws no light on the phenomena I was putting to you. I dealt specially and carefully with psychical phenomena, not with physical ones. He answers me: the physical ones are to be found in a certain book and explained, therefore I am to accept an absent explanation of the psychical phenomena. Then I am told the gentleman does not appreciate the difference between a reincarnating Ego and the transmigration of souls. The rough difference is this, although I thought it was pretty well known. In the transmigration of souls the soul is supposed to pass from human beings to animals; with the reincarnating Ego it is taken along a long chain of evolution in which the individual passes from stage to stage. It is taught that having once attained the human he cannot pass backwards out of it, but only onwards and upwards as we find evolution working around us on every side. Then the gentleman complained that I had not given enough details. I told you what I was specially concerned with, and that was about Theosophy rather than the Society into which, as I think you know, any one may pass without becoming a Theosophist at all. I grant I have not given a very large number of details; as it was, I went considerably over my time. One has to take a subject as best one can, and one can only regret if the audience wishes one had gone on a different line. I am told that into a child born now might pass the soul of the late Charles Peace. No Theosophist would say so. An assertion of that sort shows quite naturally that the gentleman is not acquainted with what Theosophists teach on the subject. They always teach there is normally an immense period of time intervening between these different 50earth lives, so that no such possibility would arise. Even supposing it might, I do not know that it would have been any more ludicrous or terrible than the effect of the physical inheritance from a murderer or thief, which foredooms a child to a life of shame, as we see every day amongst us in our present civilization (Cheers). Then I am told that the musical genius can write music without a knowledge of harmony. That does not tell me what the musical genius is. We can all use a word, but what we want in science is the explanation of the word. I know genius can do it, and I want to know how it is done; and my special reason for pressing that point was that knowledge of that kind means a certain education from the normal point of view, that is that the brain has received certain impressions and that those impressions come out in the actions of the individual. In this case there can have been no opportunity for the impressions at all, and the whole picture which was drawn about the generation of hydrogen does not help us in the least. I want to know what genius is and how it comes to pass that the child’s brain has knowledge which it does not acquire during the present existence. I want to know how it is possible it can have that, inasmuch as ideas cannot be transmitted by the ordinary physical parentage; you can only transmit brain formation by physical parentage, and that does not give knowledge of laws of harmony.
The Chairman announced that an Ex-Indian judge had sent up his card to say he wished to speak, and as we were on an Eastern subject he, the Chairman, thought the audience might perhaps like to hear him. (Hear, hear.)
The Ex-Judge said he came from India where the subject of Theosophy had been well discussed, perhaps more so than it had been in this country. He had not the slightest intention of taking part in the discussion at that meeting, but when Mrs. Besant mentioned at the conclusion of her lecture that the whole subject of Theosophy would be thoroughly understood but by a minority, then it appeared to him pertinent to know what the component personages of that minority who undertook to teach them the subject were. In India Madame Blavatsky was supposed to be the high priestess of Theosophy, and through her Mr. Sinnett and Colonel Olcott became leading lights. If Madame Blavatsky was to be one of this minority, it behoved him, as an Indian, to put before the audience a few facts in connection with that lady. When Madame Blavatsky was in the height of her power certain accusations were brought against her by a person intimately associated with her in all the conjuring tricks to which Mrs. Besant had alluded, a lady named Madame Coulomb, an intimate friend of Madame Blavatsky. She was approached by a body of Christian missionaries in India, who knew Madame Coulomb was in possession of certain information regarding Madame Blavatsky which would go to her discredit. They succeeded in their object and Madame Coulomb not only made statements but produced documents and swore they were written by Madame Blavatsky. What did those letters contain? They went to show that there were pre-arrangements between Madame Blavatsky and Madame Coulomb by which certain phenomena which were intended to be brought about at some future time were beforehand arranged. A body of psychical investigators sent over a gentleman to investigate the question, and he decided that certain manipulations had been indulged in by which these phenomena were brought about. Madame Blavatsky was accused in mystic periodicals times without number and was also given an opportunity 51to prosecute Madame Coulomb for these letters. (A Voice, “That is a gross mis-statement.”) The charges were serious. Madame Blavatsky had the opportunity to prosecute, but did not avail herself of it, and it was thought necessary that an independent body should sift the whole matter. An English gentleman belonging to the judicial service of Madras was appointed to examine the letters, and make his own report to the spiritualist body who had selected him. The sum and substance of his views was that Madame Blavatsky was guilty, so to say, of tricks. The question they had to put to themselves was if this great knowledge which Theosophy professed to disclose was confined in the first instance to a minority of which Madame Blavatsky was one, and to his own knowledge Madame Blavatsky had imparted her knowledge to Mr. Sinnett and others; if all this knowledge had permeated through Madame Blavatsky, against whom such scandalous charges were levelled in India and which she was called upon to meet and disprove in her own way, what did Madame Blavatsky do? She simply left the country “For the benefit of her health.” He denounced this conduct as disloyalty to the truth which she professed to follow. He admired Mrs. Besant for her following of the truth through evil and good report; but he only mentioned her as so contrary to Madame Blavatsky. If it was true then that Madame Blavatsky’s doctrines were tinctured by conjuring could they expect any intelligent being to follow her as long as that grave charge was impending against her. He thought not. The evidence against her was sufficient to go before a grand Jury, and certainly much stronger than the evidence was in the case of Mrs. Maybrick. In conclusion he said, “If you skulk from investigation of this sort you surely bring discredit upon the doctrines which you teach.”
Mrs. Besant: There is a well known rule of law: “No case; abuse the plaintiff’s attorney.” The gentleman appears to have entirely followed that rule of law. I shall be compelled of course to follow him, although permit me to say at the outset that were all the lies told about Madame Blavatsky as true as they are false, Theosophy would remain. I do not say she would not be discredited, but Theosophy does not rest alone on her, great and noble as her life has been. It would be a terrible shock to many of us who know her, and who knew these charges, and know them as well as the speaker. But I may give you now the other side. Madame Blavatsky is a Russian lady born of wealthy parents of high rank. She left Russia – having a strong desire to investigate the line of thought I have put to you to-day – giving up all the advantages she might have had, throwing aside all the ordinary enjoyments of life for the great desire to find out truth. Permit me to say to the gentleman who admires me so very much that he ought to extend some of this admiration to this lady who gave up far more than I did (Cheers and slight interruption from the ex-judge). I listened in silence, absolute silence, to words spoken against a woman who is very dear to me, and I will ask the gentleman to listen to me in the same silence. Madame Blavatsky found the truth she sought, and she began to teach it, as honest people do when they believe they have found the truth. Amongst others who came to her near the close of her stay, there were two people, M. and Madame Coulomb. They were destitute and they were starving. She took them in, fed them and sheltered them, placed them in a position of half housekeeper, half friend, in her house. She kept them there for a considerable time. After 52a while she was called away from India to Europe. She left the keys of her room with these people. They apparently thought they had got all out of her they could, and some mis-behaviour of theirs had already made their tenure of office doubtful. Christian missionaries approached them and offered them money if they would fabricate charges which would discredit Madame Blavatsky in the eyes of the world. Naturally they hated her, for she worked against the missionaries in India, and they were maddened with the success she had had. What Christian missionaries can do in the way of scoundrelly conduct, bribing servants, &c., you, who have some knowledge about similar people here can imagine. The Coulombs earned their money.[3] I do not mind giving the details which the speaker did not appear to like to give. They made up a story about a shrine in the house which had a false back to it. They made up stories about men who went about with bladders on their heads and pretended to be the masters. Rather curious that about the walking bladders, but such stories are told when missionaries’ money is wanted. The Psychical Research Society was interested in these phenomena, but it was not that body which examined; it was one young man, Mr. Hodgson, a smart young man but young. He went out and investigated these stories, and he found what he was sent to find. I have read his report very carefully, all of it, and weighed it. I found evidence that the back of this cupboard which was supposed to have been there was evidently newly made, and the doors in it moved with such difficulty that it took a man’s strength to move them although they were all supposed to be sliding backwards and forwards repeatedly. I found the whole story rests on the unsupported evidence of these two people, purchased by Christian missionaries in order to discredit a Theological antagonist. But then we have got the Indian judge, who gives it as his opinion that the letters were authentic.
The Ex-Judge: I simply said they were alleged to be hers.
Mrs. Besant: Then I can hardly see what is his reason for bringing forward evidence into which he has not searched. I understand exposing a fraud, but you ought to examine, and you ought not, where you know a woman is unpopular, to take third-rate evidence about letters, give it forth as if it was true, and then come forward and say “I did not say it.” What were those letters? Letters that bore forgery on their very face. Letters that no woman of ordinary intelligence could possibly have written to a person in Madame Coulomb’s position. Letters that would show Madame Blavatsky to be a fool. The very man who brought the charges against her, says she is the very greatest impostor history has ever known, a woman of marvellous skill. Such a woman does not write perfectly silly letters and send those letters through the post, knowing, that, as she was suspected of being a Russian agent, they might be opened and published to the world. There are some things rather too silly. Then we are asked why didn’t she prosecute. It might have been at least fair if this gentleman had told you that it is one of the rules of Theosophy, that you must not use your power merely to defend yourself. (Laughter.) Permit me to say there is nothing laughable in that. You may not have the courage to do it, you 53may not have the heroism, but there is nothing greater than those who can stand attack and remain silent under it. (Loud applause.) She believes it to be right and she was bound to follow it, whether it injured her or brought her good. Not only so; but had I been beside her, I should have advised her to treat it with silent contempt, as I have done in similar cases over and over again. The gentleman has been good enough to say he has heard nothing against me. Well, he could not have been much amongst Christian Evidence people (laughter) or amongst the friends of the Christian missionaries who slandered Madame Blavatsky. I have heard much worse things said about me. I have been accused of the vilest life a woman can lead. Have I prosecuted? No. A strong woman and a good woman knows that her life is enough to live down slander. (Loud applause.) Madame Blavatsky would no more prosecute this woman than I would prosecute Tarry or Goodship. There is one other piece of evidence the last speaker did not bring forward, and that was the evidence of the experts about the resemblance of the writing of Madame Blavatsky to that of some of the masters. When the letters were first submitted, they said there was no likeness, and it was only a long time afterwards they said the writings were in the same hand.
Friends, I am almost ashamed to have to deal with a question like this in a debate on a lecture in which I dealt not with personalities, but with a theory of the universe, which, right or wrong, is worthy of consideration; but I could not hear a friend slandered without showing how base the slanders were, and I tell you I read that account very carefully, all that had been said, and gave it the best thought I could, and the day after I read it I went and joined the Theosophical Society. (Cheers.) I wanted to know the worst that had been said against Madame Blavatsky, I wanted to read the strongest attack. You may judge how strong I felt it to be when I joined the Society the day after I read it, and the result of that attack has been on many minds the same. The Society has grown stronger since it was published. From all parts of the world people have shown the Christian missionary people what they thought of it. I say to you, from personal experience, of all the persons I have met I know no life more laborious, more earnest, more self-sacrificing and more devoted than the life of Madame Blavatsky. This gentleman says, why did she leave India? I answer because she was dying. I have seen her, and she is still now weak and feeble, and will be all her life. She has ruined her health in the work she has done. It is a poor cause which cannot enter into argument except by attacking an individual, and there is not much likelihood of finding truth if the few people in the search for it merely take third-hand evidence, and then, before a great audience like this, throw mud broadcast in the hope that some of it may stick.
[The audience, by their applause, seemed to endorse this defence, and then the meeting dispersed].
A proof is better than an argument.
The truth floats on the surface of lies.
He who does not recognise bread and salt is worse than a dog.
The Astral Plague and Looking-Glass
Notice
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The Conversion of Mr. Charles Powell
(of America) to Buddhism
On Monday last our esteemed brother Mr. Charles F. Powell arrived by the s. s. Himalaya (from Madras) and on Wednesday evening, after taking pansil from the High Priest Sumangala, he delivered his first address at the Theosophical Hall, Colombo, before a crowded audience. On the platform were the High Priest and the Priests Subhuti and Heyyantuduwe, and there were also many Priests among the audience. The proceedings opened with pansil, after which the High Priest said: –
“One of the attributes of our Lord is described in the title purusa-dhamma – the Subduer of men; and many instances of His displaying the power here referred to will readily occur to the memory. On several different occasions He is recorded to have converted many learned Brahmans who had before held various wrong opinions; and this power of conversion was not confined to Him alone, but is inherent in His Dharma, and has often manifested itself throughout the ages. For example, as you no doubt remember, the great Brahman pandit Chandrabhârati, who came to Ceylon four hundred years ago, was converted by the Chief Priest Rahula, and surely it is the very same inherent power that causes the remarkable conversions of our own day. Within the last few years many able Europeans and Americans have embraced our holy religion; the names of Colonel Olcott, Madame Blavatsky, Mr. Lane-Fox, Dr. F. Hartmann, and Mr. C. W. Leadbeater will readily occur to you. And now this evening we have the pleasure of welcoming an important addition to this band in the person of Mr. Charles F. Powell of America. Much fuss is made in certain quarters about the perversion of a few ignorant coolies to Christianity, but it is surely worthy of notice that while all the so-called “converts” of the Christians are of the lowest and most ignorant class, those gentlemen who give up Christianity for Buddhism are invariably men of culture, education, and ability. The adhesion of one such man is of more importance to the future of Buddhism than would be the defection of a thousand of the other class. I call on you all to welcome Mr. Powell, and to assist him in his work for Buddhism.”
Mr. Powell then rose and said:
“It has been suggested to me that it would be appropriate for me on this occasion to explain the motives which led me to do what I have just done – to make a public profession of the Buddhist religion. Thirty years ago, when I was a little boy, I one day picked up a book in my father’s library. In this book I found a picture of a figure sitting cross-legged on what I could see was intended for a flower; and the wonderful expression of peace and love
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in the face of that figure made such an impression on my mind that I used to retire to an unoccupied room in the house and seat myself in the same position as the figure and try to compose my features as much as possible into the same expression which it wore. When I asked whose picture it was I was told that it was that of one of the heathen gods, and it was some years before I even knew the name of the great Master whose image attracted me so strongly. Being naturally of a religious turn of mind, and being also intended by my father for the clerical profession, I was early grounded carefully in the tenets of the Church of England, but the absolute contradictions and glaring absurdities of the orthodox Christian belief soon forced themselves upon my notice. The idea of any kind of deity or law-giver who could be appealed to or placated, or was in any way a changeable being, very early appeared to me as the height of absurdity. I felt that the law that ruled the universe must be an absolute and inexorable law; I knew that if I did wrong, it was I who did it, not some one else, and that therefore I only was responsible: and I felt that a just law must recognize that fact. I very soon discovered that if I controlled my thoughts, the result showed itself in my words and actions, and so far I was already in agreement with the principles of Buddhism. But what I could not discover for myself was the reason for the difference of position among men – why one was rich and another poor – one so happy and another so miserable. If this were done at the caprice of a personal god, then certainly he was a very unjust one, and no god for me. Agnosticism, which is something of a fad now, was no refuge for me; indeed, it seems to me only the refuge of a coward. I remained for years in that unsettled state until – I was going to say ‘by chance,’ but I do not think that anything happens by chance – a copy of The Light of Asia fell into my hands. I wish I could make you understand what a revelation that was to me. Really it was then – immediately upon reading that book – that I took refuge in the Law, though I did so publicly only to-night. The two glorious truths of Karma and Re-incarnation cleared away every doubt from my mind, and showed me what life really was. As soon as my own mind was fully made up on these subjects I took every opportunity of communicating my ideas to others, and I may say that I left behind me in America a group of practical Buddhists who are probably at least equal to any you can show in Ceylon. Two days ago, directly after my arrival, I heard it said that Professor Monier Williams had written a book against Buddhism, and that it would have to be answered, or a bad impression would be produced upon the minds of the people here. Now I want to say at once, and to say it very plainly, that in my opinion the man who allows any attack to affect his faith in the smallest degree – when that faith has once been firmly based on reason – does not deserve to be a Buddhist. Such a man is dropping from the plane of pure truth to the level of our poor unfortunate brothers the Christians, who require endless apologies to bolster up an already dead faith. I hope you will remember that and I hope also that as you go away you will remember who and what you are, so that we may make Ceylon a centre from which the Light of Asia may radiate over East and West. The West is ready to receive it, and that revival of Buddhism is approaching; it lies in your power to say whether you of Ceylon will be ready to lead the way when the day comes.”
Mr. C. W. Leadbeater then spoke a few words showing that Mr. Powell’s 67arrival was as it were a first fruits of the work of the Theosophical Society, an earnest of the future that awaits us, and asking all true Buddhists to receive Mr. Powell as a Brother and help him in his work for the religion.
The High Priest, in closing the meeting, said that the fact that more successful work had not been done for Buddhism in Ceylon was mainly due to the unhappy divisions which prevailed among us: he hoped that the work of the European and American Buddhists among us would tend to do away with these differences, and so to promote the honour and glory of our noble religion.
Colonel Olcott's Recent Visit to Ceylon
Extracts from the Buddhist, of the 13th Pura Nikini 2433 (August 9, 1889), Colombo, Ceylon.
We subjoin the names of the new Branches of the Theosophical Society founded by our President during his last visit to the Island: –
Maha Mahindra Theosophical Society, Anuradhapura, established 20th June, 1889. – President Relapanawa Ratemahatmaya; Vice-President, D. Godage Muhandiram; Secretary, A. Uluwita; Treasurer, D. H. de Silva, Deputy Fiscal.
Ubaya Lokartha Sadhaka Theosophical Society, Matale, established 25th July, 1889. – President, L. Corneille Wijayasinha; Vice-President, H. Siman Appu; Secretary, W. Stephen Silva; Treasurer, G. H. de Alwis.
Ánanda Theosophical Society, Máwanella, established 25th June, 1889. – President, Wattegama Disamahatmaya; Vice-President, Walgama Gansabha President; Secretary, L. B. Kobbekaduwa Ratemahatmaya; Treasurer, Dáswatte Koralé Mahatmaya; Assistant Secretary, Attanagoda Koralé Mahatmaya.
Maliyadeva Theosophical Society, Kurunégala, established 26th June, 1889. – President, C. J. G. Hulugalle Ratemahatmaya; Vice-President, G. W. Dodanwela Ratemahatmaya; Secretary, U. Daniel; Treasurer, G. W. A. Bakmiwewa.
Sáriputra Theosophical Society, Kataluwa, established 4th July, 1889. – President, Don Abran de Silva; Vice-President, K. R. A. Dharmapala; Secretary, P. E. Wickramasinha; Treasurer, D. J. Abhayagunawardana.
From the Buddhist of the 6th Pura Nikini 2433 (2nd August, 1889).
The formation of these five new Branches and the conversion of our Brother Mr. C. Powell to Buddhism do not look as if the number of those “willing to sign themselves F. T. S. (nor of Protestants willing to embrace Buddhism) might be almost counted on the fingers of one hand” according to the latest fib of the Methodists about the T. S. It looks rather as if, indeed, “a new religion (was) wanted.” It is under the above startling title that we read a paragraph in the New York Herald telling us that –
“The Rev. R. Heber Newton, rector of All Souls’ protestant episcopal church, New York, started people thinking by his sermon delivered on Sunday last, in which he laid down the dictum that the need of the present age is a new religion. His bold and uncompromising way of handling so ticklish a subject, and the earnest manner in which he avowed his belief that Christianity in its present form does not satisfy the spiritual aspirations of modern progressive humanity, have caused a sensation in the religious world, and there are those that believe that the fearless independent clergyman has got himself into hot water with his ecclesiastical superiors by his utterances on that occasion. The future will show
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whether there is any basis for such a belief; but, meanwhile, the sermon just preached by the pastoral head of the fashionable All Souls’ congregation is affording plenty of food for thought and comment among those that have followed the course of Mr. Newton during the last few years.”
We do not believe that the Rev. Mr. Heber Newton could find a “religion” or we rather say “religious philosophy” that would answer more to the needs of mankind than – Theosophy.
Om, so be it. Meanwhile, we have in the Theosophist for September: –
[The following letter has been forwarded to the Theosophist for publication. It is the reply of the Sriman Swamy, the Secretary of “The Cow Memorial Fund” (a movement for the protection of cattle and the improvement of agriculture that promises to become national), to the enquiries of a friend of Damodar, who had heard that the Swamy had lately visited Tibet, and was anxious to know whether he had heard or seen anything of our absent brother. Since then I have had two conversations with the Swamy, in the course of which he corroborated what he had said in his letter, and left on my mind the impression of being an able and sincere man, imbued with patriotic sentiments, and perfectly loyal to the Empress and her Government; anxious only that the true state of affairs should be understood, and perfectly willing to trust to the justice and generosity of the English people to nstitute remedies for the evils that he believes to exist.
(Acting Editor of the Theosophist.)
To . . . . . . .
Dear Sir and Brother,
In reply to your enquiries I may say that I certify on my word as a Sanyassi that I have twice visited Tibet since the year 1879; that I have personally become acquainted with several Mahatmas, among whom were the two known to the outside world as Mahatma “M” and Mahatma “K. H.”; that I spent some time in their company; that they told me that they and other Mahatmas were interested in the work of the Theosophical Society; that Mahatma “M” told me he had been the (occult) guardian of Madame Blavatsky from her infancy.
And I further certify that in March 1887 I saw Mr. Damodar K. Mavalankar at L’hassa, in a convalescent state. He told me, in the presence of Mahatma “K. H.” that he had been at the point of death in the previous year.
Hon. Sec. Cow Memorial Fund of Allahabad.
Arrival of Col. Olcott
Pursuant to his agreement last year with the British Section, the President of the Theosophical Society has returned to London from India to undertake a lecturing tour, of which the programme is now being arranged. Local Societies and groups in Great Britain who may desire his services, should at once apply to the Hon. Secretary, British Section of the Theosophical Society, 7, Duke Street, Adelphi, London, as Colonel Olcott will be returning to Madras probably in December. Our President is looking very well indeed after his epoch-making and arduous tour in Japan. – [Ed.]
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Salutation to India
Bharatavarsha, Holy Mother, object of our prayers, our aspirations, and our efforts, Hail!
Once more in joy my feet press thy sacred soil, and thy spirit passes again into my heart. Once more the veil lifts, and I see thee recovering thy life and receiving the homage, withheld so long, of thy sons; thy sons, who had been beguiled by strange syrens, – thy blinded sons, who had forgotten their ancestors and their duty to Thee.
Thy divine voice called me from across the oceans; I came: but alas! to find the fire on thy altar covered with ashes, the ancient faiths contemned, the courage of thy children gone, and mistrust and dissension keeping them apart from each other.
By the blessing of the Rishis and Mahatmas, who gave to us willing ones the power to persuade and arouse, we have broken the spell of selfish indifference, touched with the flame of truth the torpid hearts, and made the divided kinsmen know, trust, and love each other.
We have begun to purge thy desecrated shrines, to revive thine archaic religions, to vindicate thine ancient philosophies, to draw into the golden net of universal tolerance the long antagonistic peoples of the Orient. Though professing different creeds, they are beginning to discover that all are derived from the common source of eternal truth that sprang from thy nourishing bosom. Old hatreds are fading away, the darkness passes, the day is breaking once more.
Strengthen me, O Mother, to perform my task! Give me the courage to suffer all, to endure neglect and treachery, to forgive ingratitude and disloyalty, and to persist until Thou can’st spare me. And then take my ashes and hide them in thy bosom, or scatter them with the sacred dust of those generations of noble ones who made thy wisdom a beacon of hope to mankind, thy name the most precious heritage of the ages.
Cradle land of sages, heroes, arts and creeds, Hail!
And you, colleagues, co-workers, trusted allies, companions in labour, brothers, Hail! Returning from a far country to which duty called me, I greet you in love. Namastæ. Om tatsat.
Adyar, 17th July, 1889.
"Going To and Fro in the Earth"
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“The Light of Egypt”, or, “The Science of the Soul and the Stars”
A BOOK with the above title has been recently published in America. The work is issued somewhat anonymously, though all who are familiar with the ear-marks and methods of would-be leaders in occultism, those who for a consideration are ready to instruct the ignorant, gull the gullible, and “impart occult power” to Knaves, will find little difficulty in locating the source or sources of this book. The prospectus of the book was itself something remarkable. The author, an “Adept” had been dragged from his seclusion much against his will, and by the dire necessities of the times been compelled to reveal the great secrets of which he is the special custodian. This “Adept” claims to belong to that select few “who possess the spiritual right to say ‘I know.’” This claim so modestly uged at the outset is of great significance and immense value. In the first place, it sounds well, and overawes the “neophyte” in the land of Egypt; prevents ignorant contradiction and impertinent questions. In the second place, it tides over a weak argument, helps out the juggling sequence of facts, and finally shifts the burden of proof to the shoulders of the neophyte who is ashamed of his ignorance in the presence of an “Adept.” When the book was printed this prospectus became the preface, and at the putative author’s special request the title of “Adept” was changed to “Initiate,” the inference being that while an adept is an initiate, the initiate is not necessarily an adept. The author need not have been so modest, as every intelligent reader would in time have saved him such a humiliating confession, even though his basis of dogma, “I know” remained as it does unchanged.
After alternately cuffing and cuddling the “snow-white locks of old Hindustan,” the author goes straight for his mark, viz. “Buddhistic Theosophy (esoteric so-called).” “In India,” he says, “probably more than in any other country, are the latent forces and mysteries of nature the subject of thought and study.” Then fearing that he has admitted too much, he adds, “But alas! it is not a progressive study.” This note of warning is both timely and judicious, as it prevents the neophyte from giving too much credit to the benighted members of the “effete” civilizations of the East. It had been long ago “revealed” to this “initiate” that “long ages ago the Orient had lost the use of the true spiritual compass of the soul as well as the real secrets of its own theosophy.”[5] It is 78quite evident that this “Initiate” has found the “true spiritual compass of the soul,” and that this “compass of the soul” had at last become “an instrument of torture to the flesh” of our adept initiate, or initiate adept, howsoever he spells his secret title.
“External circumstances having compelled” the diffusion of this Light of Egypt, for the special purpose of overthrowing the “subtle, delusive dogmas of Karma and Reincarnation,” and more especially to destroy “Buddhistic Theosophy esoteric so-called,” we are grateful to our “initiate” for leaving us in no doubt as to the circumstances of his inspiration, or the goal of his ambition. If it be the Karma of Buddhistic Theosophy to die the death in this battle of the windmills, our knight-errant initiate has given fair warning, like the noble knight in days of old.
The reader who expects to find in the Light of Egypt either proof or argument against the “subtle delusive dogmas of Karma and reincarnation” is, however, doomed to disappointment, and has only himself to blame for having carelessly read and inadequately considered the “Preface.” He has forgotten that our “initiate” “possesses the spiritual right to say, I know,” and that either proof or argument are henceforth superfluous. Of course our author (?) who mounts his Rosinante to overthrow “subtle and delusive dogmas,” “possessing the spiritual right to say, I know” reserves to himself the sole and exclusive right to dogmatize. One is reminded of the “Adepts” of the H. B. of L. of sainted memory, and innumerable aliases, marks of “Master-Initiates.” The aforesaid adepts have been dead three days and the flesh already leaves the bone, but now the grip of an Initiate will raise them. Reincarnation; impossible! For shame on you, “Buddhistic Theosophists, esoteric so-called!”
As one approaches, with shaded eyes and bated breath, the central orb of this Light of Egypt, he comes upon familiar ground. The light is seen in patches, and if one can summon enough courage to look around him in the presence of an initiate he will find these patches of light to be made up of excerpts from theosophical writers, and even suspiciously tinctured with “Buddhistic Theosophy, esoteric so-called.” Those unfamiliar with Esoteric Buddhism, and Trithemius may have heard of a less ancient “adept in astrology,’’ at once known and concealed under the very poetic and star-lit cognomen of “R. A. Stella.” The Light of Egypt is not a solitary “twinkler,” nor yet a vulgar “double-star.” It is not even an unresolved nebula; it is a whole constellation, though it has yet been celebrated only in the esoteric zodiac. The vulgar scientific telescope, sometimes designated by the knowing ones, who are neither adepts nor initiates, as the Light of Truth, may one day be pointed at this star initiate that illumines Egypt, and the star mists may disappear. Whether each particular star will then bear a different name, or one star be able to carry a half-score of names, the Astronomer Royal of those days may have to consult certain records at L––, not Luxor, to determine.[6]
The opinions of this initiate on the “dogmas” of Karma and re-incarnation are not worth reciting, since he says he knows, claims to destroy these dangerous doctrines, and then, with certain qualifications, endorses and accepts them. His thesis thus fails, in spite of his avowed animus, and he has neither the ability to discover, nor the ingenuity to invent, a new “dogma.” If the book contained 79only a re-hash of the Hermetic cosmogony, the theology of Pymander, and the astrology of Trithemius, every student of occultism, and especially every theosophist, could well afford to turn his back on it. What the author demolishes is insignificant; some things that he introduces are pestilent. Evidently drawing his inspiration from “The Mysteries of Eulis,” and profoundly ignorant of the commonest laws of physiology, he deals with “The Mysteries of Sex” in a separate chapter. A single quotation will show how this “initiate” à la P. B. Randolph, comprehends the “Mystery of Sex.” “The Buddhistical conception of man and woman rounding out until sex becomes obliterated, is probably the most transcendental delusion that ever originated within the Oriental brain – therefore we will take no further notice of such mystical folly.” Having thus disposed of this “transcendental delusion,” our initiate declares that “To obey the laws of nature is the only safe and sure road to the spiritual evolution of the senses of the soul, and one of these laws is the rightful union of the sexes.” Even so preached and practised the “initiate,” P. B. Randolph. Like the works of Randolph, the “Light of Egypt” contains some fine passages, but even these contain nothing new, nothing unfamiliar to students of “Isis Unveiled,” “Ghost Land,” “Pymander,” and the old astrologists. To palm off the work upon the ignorant and credulous, therefore, as the special revelation of an adept or “initiate,” is a delusion and a snare, which would at once disappear were we to name its real author or authors, for the text plainly shows patch-work, not only as to matter, but manner. Had the “Light of Egypt” been modestly and honestly put forth without vicious animus or specious pretence, it might rank with several compilations we could name, and the author under an honest name might have deserved consideration, even in the face of his errors and false teachings. But in its present form, and with its avowed animus, it is a failure. Its plagiarisms are old, and its novelties worthless where they cease to be pernicious.
U. S. A.
’Twixt Heaven and Earth
The hold that has been taken by occult phenomena on the public mind, is, perhaps, shewn by nothing more plainly than by the way in which they dominate the fiction of the day. Novel after novel contains some curious event, explicable only by occult science, and the old-fashioned ghost at Christmas has retired in favour of astral bodies all the year round. “Twixt Heaven and Earth” is a tale which turns on hypnotic phenomena of a now well-known type. The villain is an unprepossessing young man, of jealous, malignant character, who, unfortunately for his neighbours, finds himself possessed of hypnotic powers. These he uses for his own purposes, finally robbing a man who had been his host of a valuable Indian magic stone, and then throwing the blame on a woman, against whom he brings as witness her lover whom he has hypnotised. The heroine of the story, the aforesaid falsely accused young woman, is a Theosophist, and we must quarrel with the author for the curious doctrines put into her mouth. When she tells her pupil about man’s fall and “God in His anger” taking certain action, we feel that we are not in a Theosophical atmosphere. One blunder ought to be corrected if the book reaches a second edition: the son of a second marriage cannot be the elder brother of the son of a first.
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The Atonement of Christ
Symbols are not to be judged in themselves, but in the effect or in the impression they make on those who believe in them. A symbol is necessarily something different from the reality it represents, otherwise it would not be a symbol but the reality itself; and, if it is to represent reality, there must be some analogy with it. Now, where can you find that analogy? In the object? No; because it is indifferent. Then in the subject, or in the heart of the believers.
But is the Atonement of Christ a symbol or a superstitious fancy without raison d’être? Well: I think that generally, when we are before an object of faith, we may assume that it is a symbol, and then analyse it to see what is the reality it contains. We may find nothing at all. That depends either on the folly of that particular belief or on our incapacity to find out the hidden thing. So we must be very prudent, that is, sceptical in the scientific sense, before rejecting wholly any belief whatever. The same caution must be applied to the details of what we already recognize as a symbol; because it is true that it often happens that a symbol is such on the whole, but the details are a superfluity in respect to reality. At the utmost, they are a logical complement of the symbol in itself. On the other hand, it happens sometimes that even those details have an importance of which a student of symbology must take account in his interpretations.
Moreover, beliefs important for the large place they occupy in religions, for the stress which is put on them and for their diffusion through time and space, may safely be considered as symbols of important realities. The slightest practice in symbology will prove the truth of my assertion. Then, too, I must subjoin that it is quite anti-scientific not to give due value to the consensus of the majority, on the ground that such consensus has sometimes proved erroneous, as, for instance, in the case of the Ptolemaic system. First, because even the most unrefined man has this in common with the most subtile scientist – mind and its functions; and old humanity may be excused for the Ptolemaic error, as the deceiving appearance was and is so constant, seeming to be reality itself. Second, they have also another thing in common – they live in the same inclosure, they see the same show, they weave on the same loom – reality. And do not accuse me of accumulating illustrations, if I say that the products of both these men, apparently so far from each other, appear very much like two clay figures made the one by an accomplished artist, the other by a little member of the Kindergarten. The one figure is, perhaps, a little four-footed monster meant to be a horse, while the other is a cleverly-sketched reproduction of the same noble animal. What a difference between the two works, and yet what intimate resemblance. Mark that both had a horse for their model, and both thought of making a horse. The Kindergarten’s product has not the shape of a ball or of a stick, though the legs might look like sticks; and if it does not convey the idea of a horse proper, it conveys pretty well that of a generic quadruped. I mean that the difference is not in the model nor in the intention; and that the re81production may be primitive or refined, but not essentially different from each other. Symbol and scientific explanation stand related, as do the rude attempt to reach the shape of a horse and the work of the artist. And again, symbol is the unrefined man’s view of reality; scientific explanation that of the refined one. Both agree, however, in having at least the same object before them.
So, through symbology, we may understand how, even in very old and barbaric notions, there may be a soul of reality. We learn, also, how to deal with the consensus of majorities, which must by all means be considered as an index of some reality, if we do not choose to accept the Erasmian hypothesis that insanity is the characteristic of humanity.
Finally, it must be observed that the value of the consensus of a whole race, or of a single nation, or of a large group of men, is not destroyed by the fact that all the rest of humanity think differently; for men may look at different aspects of reality which are not necessarily contradictory. Buddhism and Christianity, for instance, are in several most important respects alike. This may be explained by the probable fact that the latter proceeds from the former; but I am sure that Christianity has not taken into account many valuable aspects of reality which Buddhism has noted and vice versâ. However, the consensus is a more or less reliable index in proportion to its bulk; and a wide-spread consensus should cause us to seek for some important fact which has arrested the attention of so many minds.
Now who can deny that the consensus about the Christian doctrine of the Atonement belongs to that class? Then, if it is not a reality (and it is not), it must, at last be a symbol. At a superficial glance, it may be called a false, an absurd, an immoral, or cruel doctrine; but I venture to say that it is not so, if we look at it from an earnest, impartial standpoint. There is even much beauty, pathos and grandeur about it. Yet that is not my point, as it is evident that if we are to consider it as a symbol, the absurdity, &c., &c., of the symbol itself does not affect the question; and we must turn all our attention to the impression that symbol makes on the faithful Christian, for whom it is something all-important.
Therefore suppose a state of moral anxiety and dissatisfaction, which, in my opinion, is at the basis of every new moral life, as intellectual discontent is the inevitable starting-point of a renewal in intellectual life. That state may become a morbid state and last all through the life, especially in a person whose conscience is sufficiently awake, but who is not helped by scientific thought; and, what is worse, such a half-developed soul, through persisting in that state, becomes ever more incapable of being useful to itself and to others. “He weeps over his past, while the moments are flying by on which depends the future of individual and the race.” But let the day come when the helpless soul acquires the surety that “Christ died for us,” and an internal transformation will take place; he will feel and say with that great Christian Paul: “forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal . . .”; he will, in fact, take hold of that most precious requirement for virtue and virtuous action – moral serenity. “He learns experience from the past, he does no more weep over it,” just like the wise man in Mrs. Annie Besant’s beautiful article, “Karma and Social Improvement,” (Lucifer, August 15, 1889).
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You may object that this moral serenity is the fruit of illusion. It does not matter. I repeat, once more, that we must look at results. And the results in this case, though not perfect, depending as they do on imperfect knowledge, are pretty well the same as those drawn from more exact notions, that of Karma for instance, as Mrs. A. Besant explains it.
But what good can be derived from an illusory belief? That question may be replied to with another. Are sincere Christians, viz.: believers in the Atonement of Christ, so utterly useless in society? I think the contrary; all impartial people will think the contrary.
Yes, it is indeed a boon for society that peoples who have no scientific notions about a moral life, should have a chance to be virtuous even through an illusion. If it were not for the persuasive power of the gentle Buddha of Nazareth, they would, undoubtedly, be so much the worse. For babies milk or – inanition.
With the moral serenity which flows from the special belief in the Atonement, there is also a deep feeling of gratitude, viz, love for love. And, as the object of their love is really great and holy, and has really loved and benefited humanity (though in another sense than that implied in the doctrine), who does not see that we have another factor of morality? Are we not delivered from evil by love? Is not love the living and life-giving soul of good works? And are we not indebted to all the great benefactors of humanity, to Jesus as to Gautama, if through their example, through the love and admiration they so much deserve from us, we succeed in being good for something?
So let the pious Christian repeat to himself, “Christ died for us”; let him add, “a man is justified by faith (love) apart from the works of the law; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” If sincere, he is not so far from the “Kingdom of God” as we might imagine at a first glance; on the contrary, he is very near to Theosophy and to “Whatsoever things are of good report.”
Perugia (Italy).
The Theosophist's Right to His God
No. 26 – October 1889
Philosophers and Philosophicules
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“Fraternitas.”
Dr. Pioda, F. T. S. of Locarno, Switzerland, the Secretary of the Society “Fraternitas” has asked us to mention that the shareholders will not be confined only to members of the Theosophical Society but that all in sympathy with the scheme are invited to join and subscribe.
The House is beautifully situated, with a fine view of the Lago Maggiore, and the valleys and mountains of Tessin; it will contain a valuable library; and will be open to shareholders the whole year; they having the right, in recognition of their share in the movement, to stay at the Retreat for as long as and whenever they choose. Their health and tastes will be studied in every possible way, vegetarian or mixed diets being given as required, and at the lowest possible terms.
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I will not yield! although no aid be nigh, |
| Ernest Hawthorn, F.T.S. 12th August, 1889. |
Hypnotism
A Key to Life in Death
The Women of Ceylon
106
Was there ever a past – is the present a present of dreams? |
| Frank H. Norton. |
The Case for Metempsychosis
115
All things must fade, all things must die, |
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The memories that haunt the brain |
| Josiah R. Mallett. |
Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues
Memory in the Dying
130
Psychic Fire
The mind is a laboratory which, receiving ideas, proceeds to manipulate them according to the dictates of its own Will. In doing so it develops subtle essences of power which give a delicacy of perception to itself almost impossible to communicate to others by the method of writing. As we may not hope to fix in words these ethereal radiances, we will confine ourselves to a concise and simple statement of the reasons which have led us to certain fundamental conclusions concerning the nature of earthly fire and the unseen universe.
What is the scientific definition of an atom?
It is matter subdivided to its ultimate limits.
Therefore it has no dimensions, because, if it had, it could be still further subdivided.
It is, therefore, a point.
Therefore, matter is made up of points having no dimensions. But matter is inseparable from motion, and motion is ever obedient to law.
What is true of matter is true of points, and therefore points are inseparable from motion. This gives us the following definition of an atom of matter. It is a point of energy, without dimensions, active in obedience to law. But since its activity is undimensional, it and the law which it exhibits are the same thing. Therefore an atom of matter is both the manifestation of a law and the law itself in action.
Each elementary atom differs in its innate activity. Therefore each represents a different law.
Atoms being pure energy the first result of multiplication is to increase, not the number of points, but the activity of the law which that point is and represents.
Atoms combining are in reality laws of motion combining to form centres of activity as molecules. A molecule has a resultant action as a unit of energy. This obeys a law. This law is the synthesis of laws composing it. It represents a resultant of forces. If this is a simple vibratory power it will have no direction, and the molecule as a unit represents a balance of power. Thus an atom becomes polarised energy as a molecule.
But polarisation is a development of equal and opposing forces.
Therefore the molecule is a unit of latent power compounded of minor units and representing the form of action of a law which hides in itself the potencies and forms of minor laws. From this we find that an atom is active energy. A molecule is latent energy active as a compound 131whole. The addition of atoms increases the vitality of the point. The addition of molecules increases the tension of pure energy.
Both additions are required to produce visible and tangible substance.
We define substance as pure energy existing in a state of enormous tension. We say that the amount and tension of the energy thus visible represent the form of a definite law, and that the quality of this tension is due to its being made up of minor laws whose intensified activity is for the time being paralysed by the action of the containing law.
A body is therefore simply compounded of law, and the forms of motion which as minor laws the containing law confines in place.
Therefore material bodies are only composed of that which to us is immaterial, namely, the unsubstantial activity of law.
So that from the above statement we must admit the unreality of all that seems so solid and so sure. Yet we cannot forget that the feeling of power which massiveness gives us, and the feeling of life which the tempestuous ocean tosses abroad from wave to wave, are far more real than the substantial guise in which they masquerade. For tension is the word which best describes life in its material form, it being the result of an ethereal Power raised to an intense activity and then condensed by the opposition of equalising laws into a visible mass, as polarised points one on the other, forming up equitable strength. Forms are the silent witnesses of laws whose real life is constant vibration. These, as electric currents of vitality in potential, make a magnet of every planetary body, and are due to the churning of the astral wave by the revolving spheres. The ethereal cause of formal life becomes substantial. We may partially illustrate this by referring to the effects of Sound. A single note strikes the attentive mind as a perception intangible and unseen. We hear but do not feel it. Add note to note and we have a volume of sound; and its effects are not only heard but felt. We can conceive of volume being condensed into visible shape. This is the third act of the drama of evolution which begins by showing us an unsubstantial ideal and ends by presenting us with solid, substantial facts.
Thus we have a general conception of an atom. It is as unsubstantial as the Will of Man, which it in some sort resembles. It gathers volume like the Will, when the latter, concentrated by a powerful mesmeriser, grows the power to touch and seize the human body, stiffens its muscles and binds it as with iron bands. But in Nature, psychic Force attains a third condition, for the energy which we throw out from our mind over other things and which is to a certain extent purely ethereal, concentrates itself, when acting under the guidance of ruling powers of macrocosmic Law, into visible matter. In this state it is the product of volume by itself, and bursts into the plane of physical perception like a flower, the crown and glory of the subjective cause which 132is its law as an active entity living within the precincts of the unseen universe.
Every object which we see and touch is pure Energy caught up and woven together into solidity by different Laws. Yet these are themselves the objects which they have made; for they and their activity are two and yet in the ultimate are only one. Complex forms are many minor laws stricken into shape by higher and more comprehensive ones; while simple elements consist of single laws. All is Power held in bondage by the meaning of a law, and, should these bonds be loosened by mechanical means, a sudden rush of vitality must ensue, as the liberated energy returns to its unconfined activity on the astral plane. This mighty burst of pent-up Tension shows itself as Fire. All that exists, whether as the entombing rock which holds with an iron grip the all-pervading essences of Fire, or in its antithesis the human form loosening around it, as a shroud, a living flame of many colours, we see one element at work, one earthly power, one substance which in its visible completeness we call Fire and in its invisible activity is Psychic Force. Both of these, the one as generator, the other as guardian of Shape and Size we hold to be united in a Law of which indeed they are but two different aspects.
The character of fire being the same no matter what produces it, we say that Energy is similar in kind but variable in quantity in each individual law. So that it has one common origin and burns with the strength of countless potentials of vitality which previously existed as substantial particles. All around us seems naturally cool and solid, yet we stand surrounded by the devouring element ready to burst into flame and rush back into the unseen world, we cannot touch; a thing which does not throb with the congested agony of its fiery breath.
Life is said to belong only to organic matter, yet both it and organic matter may be resolved back into a fiery state; both therefore possess vitality. For Fire is but the visible manifestation of Psychic Force and Psychic Force is Law in action, which is Life. The difference which lies between them is that the first is a body of many laws synthesised by others, and forming in this way centres of force productive of free energy in the form of an ultimate synthetic law. Inorganic matter is the presentation of formal life in single laws, unconnected by comprehensive and therefore superior ones; here vitality is latent because all the strength of the law is required to keep the form upon the physical plane, leaving none available for other purposes. Thus one strain of vitality runs through all things; and man, believing in the finality of appearances, wanders blindly amongst the shadows, cast by another world, which appeal to him as tangible realities. Yet they are the actions of the invisible rulers of the Astral Plane, and though not all that they seem to be as, such are very real. For, while we on Earth first think 133and then act, there the two are One, and Thought is its action and registers itself as matter, or our physical Universe.
Nature then is Psychic Force polarised and equilibrated as substance. Therefore Fire is psychic activity visible to us in this, its only earthly reality, as the flash of light or unit of heat which manifests the change from the objective and material to the subjective and ethereal state. This is pure mental power in transition from the passive presentation of itself on the physical plane back to its previous condition of formative life. If we are correct in our interpretation of the inner nature of fire, we can well understand the sanctity in which it was held by the Rosicrucians. The Magi, worshipping the sacred flame, held it to be typical of the Creative mind and doubtless the mystery which they attached to Fire partook of all the meaning we attach to psychic force. The active Cause of All, it becomes a flash of real life, darting back into the inner realms of Space and carrying with it the Soul or synthetic law of the thing it was when existing as a material body. Life, chained to earth, bursts into fire and obtains its freedom, passing away into the subjective world. Thus we see a profound philosophy lying in the conception of Purification by Fire. Here the body, erstwhile the tabernacle of the Soul, is bathed in Psychic Force. Hence the raison d’être of the funeral pyre where the empty shell is impregnated with the purest essences of Life, which, with tongues of living fire, flash into the paralysed vitality of the fleshly atoms, setting them free and passing with them into the unseen world. Being thus changed into active vitality or free laws, they cease at once to be attracted to the scene of their forced labours, and throw off allegiance to the Desires and Passions with which the Will of the inhabiting Ego associated them.
The modern crematorium has quite a different origin. Sanitation has forced on our notice the necessity of destroying by fire our dead. Yet, though we care not to inquire what reason there was for the profound veneration in which this form of disposing of the body was held in bygone ages, yet the superficial cause which has resulted in our reverting to the practices of our Aryan forefathers in this respect, does not in any way affect the sublime results which they knew were obtained by such a deed; and a corresponding purification of the psychic atmosphere of our world will not be one of the least advantages which must follow from the adoption of cremation.
If heat demonstrates the presence of psychic force, then it becomes evident that every thought promulgated through the brain must be accompanied by the evolution of an equivalent amount, this being due to the destruction of atoms and their release from confining laws through the disturbance of their balanced state, and their consequent activity as free mental energy. The passage of a thought is visibly typified by the flash of matter into flame and thence into the unseen world.' Thought is the atom acting freely as its equivalent energy and is, in its act of 134freedom from its atomic shape, present to the mind as an intelligible idea. It then passes naturally away into an oblivion which is only real to this world. Thus the brain matter is thought itself in potential. But, while here we are in seeming harmony with the modern materialist, we differ from him in that the act of thinking is not originated in the brain. It is an entirely objective process and depends on yet higher planes and subtler causes than those we have attempted to describe. Science, which occupies itself only with externals, discovered the relation between heat and thought, but, because of its limitation to the study of the phenomenal world, it failed to grasp the objective nature of this coincidence and make it subjective. We hold that man’s thoughts are the meanings of Fire, and that he is able to appreciate in his mind each potential which, as an atom, existed on the physical world; but that he does not cognise it in its concentrated or physical form because this is not purely psychic but only a state of becoming. Thought as fire is only energy. The laws which are the life and soul of this energy only become individually active when fire has ceased to Be on this plane; has in fact become extinguished into its subjective state. The heat which is developed by the evolution of a thought affects the senses as an involution of simple energy, and hence belongs partially to this world and in part to the other, so that the senses which are entirely objective are too coarse to perceive it. We have, instead of a perception, a conception due to involution, which is nevertheless sensitive as a mathematical quantity of force to evolution through sense perceptions. Thus we may define a conception as the understanding by the mind of the inner meaning of the law whose activity is perceived in the physical world as fire, and whose immobility under the influence of other laws produces the formal Universe. A Thought is the effect produced on the mind by the energy of that heat which accompanies the activity of the brain; and is in fact an atom or atoms disintegrating as single thoughts, more or less powerful according to the number of points in liberation. Molecules co-ordinated present us with trains of ideas.
The Talking Image of Urur
An Open Letter
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Lucifer Fund
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Subscriptions to be sent to the Honorary Treasurer, the Countess C. Wachtmeister, 17, Lansdowne Road, Holland Park.
Notice
On Tuesday, November 5th 1889, a lecture will be delivered at The Westminster Town Hall by Colonel Olcott, President of the Theosophical Society, on The Law of Life or Karma and Re-incarnation.
The chair will be taken at 8 p. m. precisely. Doors open at 7. 30. Reserved seats 2/6; Unreserved 1/.
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The Theosophical Society
I. The desire to amend certain portions of the Rules of the Theosophical Society, adopted in the Convention which met at Adyar in December, 1888, having been notified to me officially by the representatives of three Sections, I hereby, and in accordance with Paragraph 11 of Section E, summon a Special Session of the General Council to meet at Adyar on the 27th of May, 1890, at noon, to consider and vote upon such amendments as may be offered.
II. The Councils of organized Sections shall select one or more Delegates or Proxies to represent them in the Special Session aforesaid.
III. For this reason and because of my necessary absence in Europe upon official business, the Convention will not meet this year as usual. But permission is hereby given to the President’s Commissioners to invite all Fellows and Officers of the Society to meet socially at the Headquarters on the 27th of December, for mutual conference, and to listen to lectures upon theosophical topics, if, upon inquiry, they find that such a social gathering would be desired by a reasonable number of Fellows and Branches.
Sections and Branches will be expected to make the usual Annual returns not later than December 1st, so that they may be included in the President’s Annual Address and Report.
IV. The Councils of Sections and Fellows generally are earnestly requested to draw up and notify to the President at Adyar, not later than the 1st of February, whatever changes they recommend to be be made in the latest revised code of Rules, so that he may intimate the same to all other Sections in ample time for them to instruct their representatives in the Special Session herein provided for.
V. The British Section having misapprehended the intended effect of the new Rules upon the autonomous powers conceded to it in the Constitution granted by me in the month of November last, I hereby declare that the said Section is authorized, pending the final decision of the General Council in the Special Session above summoned, to collect the moneys and apply the other provisions of its Constitution as adopted and by me officially ratified.
VI. Should it hereafter appear that another date than the one I have designated would be more convenient for the Indian and Ceylon Sections, the President’s Commissioners are hereby instructed to announce the change in the Theosophist and specially notify the General Secretaries of Sections at least three months in advance.
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VII. The President’s Commissioners will furnish copies of the present Order to all whom it may officially concern. Copies have already been sent to the General Secretaries of the British and American Sections.
President, Theosophical Society.
London, 27th September, 1889.
Theosophical Activities
The announcement of a lecture on “the Theosophical Society and its Work,” to be given in South Place Institute by Colonel Olcott, the President of the Society, drew together an audience of all sorts and conditions of men, that filled in every corner the building whose walls once rang with the eloquence of W. J. Fox. There were to be seen well-known men and women from the scientific and social circles of England, mingling with the dark-skinned children of India and of Japan. Keen-eyed thinker jostled against dreamy-eyed enthusiast, poet rubbed shoulders with doctor, and women were as eager and earnest as men. Annie Besant took the chair, and mindful of a chairman's proper place, briefly introduced the lecturer, standing but for a minute or two between lecturer and expectant audience. Colonel Olcott was warmly greeted, and was listened to with close attention as he sketched the origin and history of the Society, told of its steady growth, expounded its objects, and pointed to the work it had done and the work it had yet to do. A hail of questions followed the address, some apposite, some very much the reverse. A good deal of amusement was caused by an answer from some one in the audience, when a ponderous gentleman in the gallery demanded how Colonel Olcott managed to secure a hearing from Brahmins and Buddhists, when he, the speaker, had spent twenty years in acquiring the knowledge of an Eastern tongue. “Brains” was the answer that rang out like a pistol-shot, to the delight of the audience and the disconcerting of the querist, ere yet the Colonel was on his feet to reply.
Press notices of the Lecture have been myriad in number, and have been sent in to headquarters from every part of the kingdom. As a “send off” for Colonel Olcott’s lecturing tour, we could not have had a more satisfactory meeting, and the interest aroused promises well for the progress of Theosophy in England.
The reports in the London papers were on the whole fair, though shewing signs of the bewilderment of the reporters who, instead of a fire, a strike, or a sermon, found themselves plunged into an Oriental jungle. One paper only, the St. James' Gazette, shewed that ungenial type of weakness which, unable to be smart without being ill-natured, makes up in bitterness what it lacks in brilliancy.
On Sunday September 29th, at 8 p.m., Col. Olcott delivered a lecture on Theosophy at the Hatcham Liberal Club, New Cross. Although we are undoubtedly to be congratulated on the result, yet the circumstance which led to the President’s appearance on the above platform is to be sincerely regretted. Herbert Burrows 148F. T. S., a name deservedly held in affectionate respect by the workers of the East End, was to have been the speaker, but, utterly broken down by a dangerous attack of nervous prostration owing to his unflagging and unselfish exertions during the late strikes, had not the strength to fill the post.
That there is a growing interest in Theosophy among the workers is evidenced by the fact that this was, according to the Secretary, the largest and most interested audience of the season; in fact, the hall, holding some four or five hundred people, was crowded to its utmost limit, listeners standing at the bottom six deep. During the address, which lasted about an hour, the lecturer was listened to with marked attention; at first in silence but, as the audience became more familiar with the subject, strong expressions of approbation followed many of the points, ending in hearty applause as the President resumed his seat. As is usual in such clubs and societies, questions and a debate followed. Some fifteen people rose in turn and either asked for information or objected to the statements of the lecturer, finding especial difficulty in the acceptance of a possibility of psychic phenomena or in the probability of re-incarnation as a scientific tenet of philosophy. In this severe trial the lecturer was more successful even than in his address, and invariably gained the applause of the audience, who, first of all sympathising with the questions and objections and thinking them unanswerable, were astonished, apparently not without pleasure, to hear these seemingly insuperable difficulties so readily surmounted.
Two speeches were then made in opposition; one a very clever and witty reasoning by a materialist who, making his own assumptions with regard to reincarnation and the human Ego, entangled himself in most amusing and paradoxical knots, fondly imagining that he was convicting Theosophy of like absurdities, and so won the good humour of the audience to his side. It was, however, short-lived; for the lecturer, after pointing out the falsity of his assumptions, at once won the smiles back by slyly hinting that if the objector continued to use his brains as vigorously as he had done that evening, he would undoubtedly be a Socrates in his next birth.
The second speaker prophesied for modern scientific and materialistic methods the power of accounting for all phenomena, and contended that Eastern science and thought were not supported by the adhesion of any scientist of repute, instancing Professor Crookes whom he admitted to be the foremost of chemists. The answer was short and trenchant. Whatever the possibilities of science may be, it does not explain mental phenomena and therefore a prophecy does not aid our investigations: Professor Crookes is a member of the T. S.
At the end of the meeting a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and the audience dispersed apparently well pleased with the evening’s debate.
Colonel Olcott's Lecturing Tour
At the Abernorlais Hall, Merthyr, on Wednesday the 2nd Oct., Col. Olcott delivered a lecture on the question “What is Theosophy?” The Colonel commenced his address by marking the growth that had attended the Theo149sophical movement during the past 10 years, showing that, without any other means of organized propagandism than the press, the Doctrines of Theosophy had commended themselves to thousands, and the Society had thus grown. Theosophy sought to establish a common ground for Science and Theology. It, therefore, sought to place Religion on its proper basis by bringing it into relationship with exact science. This was the conclusion to which eventually the churches must be forced by necessity.
The Colonel then proceeded to enunciate the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation, describing the former as the law of Ethical Causation and showing the necessity for the latter. He pointed out that orthodox Religion in the West asserted a belief in the Divine Justice, but as it did not teach the existence of the soul prior to incarnation, nor the fact that this life is not the first of its kind, it failed to give any consistent reason for the inequalities of human existence to-day.
The septenary constitution of man’s being and the cyclic law of evolution were then explained, the lecturer showing that the existence of other degrees of matter than those known to science and the possibility of other centres of Consciousness than those of the physical body, was a theory which, while it did not clash with the scientific speculations of to-day, afforded a secure basis for the construction of a Religious belief.
In conclusion the lecturer remarked that Theosophy did not intend to offer itself as one more sect to the many which now existed, but it aimed at uniting all in a spirit of religious tolerance and Human Brotherhood.
The lecture was well attended and listened to with interest throughout. A reverend gentleman of the Unitarian Church moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer for his interesting and instructive address, and the Colonel was heartily applauded.
Colonel Olcott delivered a lecture at the Assembly Rooms, Tenby, on October 3rd. The subject of the address was “Theosophy – the Wisdom-Religion.” The lecture was commenced by a definition of the term “Theosophy,” and it was said to be equivalent, or nearly so, to the Guptavidya of the East. A study of Aryan literature, during the past 50 years particularly, had shown that there was no school of thought in the present day which had not its parallel and equivalent in the ancient teachings of the East.
Just as we regard the West as the chief school of physics, so we regard the Orient as holding the most reliable views upon metaphysics, and this because it has been chiefly studied there, and thus its teachers are specialists in this direction.
The Colonel then went on to speak of Practical Altruism, which constitutes the primary object of the Theosophical Society, and which, he said, does not admit of the distinctions which circumscribe all existing sectarianism. In reading the report of the address delivered at the Church Congress by the Primate of All England, he had noticed the preponderance of Church politics and the conspicuous absence of any reference to Jesus or his altruistic teachings. If religion had no surer basis than that which rested on political bias, then it was a question only of time as to its power in the world. Amongst all those 150who were supposed to be following the teachings of Jesus, how many would have passed into the room to-night if He had been the doorkeeper and had admitted only those who lived as He had directed, the lecturer would not undertake to say. Out in the East a man’s security of salvation depended on the class of men with whom he eats. Here in the West it seemed to be a matter of whether he paid his tithes or not. Such was the degraded condition of sectarian and political religion. Humanity however had a common origin, it had a common destiny, and under the necessity of a common nature it should have a common cause. This was the belief and aim of Theosophy, this was its whole platform, and therefore he could see no reason why all who had the interests of the human soul at heart, should not join in the movement which had been thus begun.
After the lecture some questions were asked by the audience and satisfactorily answered by the Lecturer. The meeting was exceptionally large for the season and district, the Hall being filled. A vote of thanks was proposed and heartily responded to.
A drawing-room meeting of some of the members and friends in Tenby was held at the Hon. Mrs. Malcolm’s house on the following afternoon, when many questions in relation to the Society and its teachings were discussed.
On Saturday October 5th, Colonel Olcott arrived in Liverpool where he remains till the 13th, lecturing several times, both in public and private, during his stay there. His principal public lecture has been fixed for the 10th, and on the 9th he is to address a semi-public meeting of the Liverpool Lodge and their friends.
On Saturday October 12th, the Colonel leaves for Dublin where he delivers a public lecture on Monday evening, the 14th. On Tuesday 15th, he lectures at Limerick, on Thursday, 17th, at Belfast, and on Saturday, 19th, a second time in Dublin.
After that date his movements are at present not yet finally settled, excepting that he will lecture in the Masonic Hall Birmingham on Tuesday evening October 29th, with Annie Besant in the chair.
His next lecture in London will be on Tuesday evening November 5th in the Town Hall Westminster.
Among the forces that are working for Theosophy is that of the so-called Hypnotism – Mesmerism under a new name. “Mesmerism,” “Animal Magnetism,” “Odic Force,” and many other names, have been given to the form of influence which has now been introduced into good society and recognised by science under the name of Hypnotism. After the contempt poured on Mesmerism, it would have been too humiliating to admit that it was a real force deserving careful study; so, to preserve the more than papal infallibility of the medical faculty, it was necessary to find a new name for the old thing, and present it under an alias which should not shock delicate susceptibilities. Two societies are in process of formation in London, for the study of Hypnotism, and it is already being used, apart from these societies, for moral reform. The Daily News has devoted two columns of large type to “Cure by Suggestion,” and – after remarking that the “mystery of hypnotism” has been “an avowed factor” in Mrs. Annie Besant’s “singular conversion” to the “Theosophy of Madame 151Blavatsky” – it proceeds to recount the successes of the Rev. Arthur Tooth – whilom of Hatcham fame – at Woodside, Croydon, in the “mental treatment” of dipsomaniacs and others. Mr. Tooth, throwing a dipsomaniac into the hypnotic trance, tells him that whisky is a violent poison to him, that if he smells it he will feel nausea, and he will be ill if he takes it. In one case a gentleman of forty-three years of age, who was a wreck from the excessive use of stimulants, was under Mr. Tooth’s care for four months. He left off the use of alcohol, lived chiefly on a milk diet, “underwent a medical examination and was pronounced to be cured,” and has made a fresh start in life. Facts of this sort force indifferent people to believe that “there is something in Hypnotism”; we warn them that if they start with Hypnotism they will find themselves landed, sooner or later, in Theosophy. For the human mind will not rest content in the contemplation of a collection of unrelated facts. Inevitably it will seek for an explanation, it will begin to theorise; and theorising in the psychical realm will draw it nearer and nearer to the Masters in Psychology, the Adepts of the Wisdom of the Orient.
"Going To and Fro in the Earth"
What shall we do for our Fellow-Men
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To All who take a Practical Interest in Theosophy
In the June number of this magazine I published an appeal for help and co-operation in the important work of influencing the press of this country in the subject of Theosophy.
My efforts in obtaining the interest of editors of newspapers and other journals have met with much greater success than I could have anticipated, proving beyond doubt that Theosophy is now attracting general attention, and that the influence of the press can be utilized to a very great extent in popularizing the subject.
This simply means that thousands who might not otherwise hear of it will have their minds directed to Theosophy, and Theosophists well know that the little grain of seed, planted in the right soil, soon takes root, and may become a mighty tree.
The number of workers who are now helping me in this special way, are quite inadequate to deal with the ever-increasing amount of work, and I greatly need the co-operation of all who are practically interested in spreading the knowledge of Theosophy, if only to the small extent indicated in my last appeal (vide June number). I have received very few replies to that appeal, perhaps because it has not reached the right persons, perhaps because Theosophists have not realized the importance of doing what they can, however little that may be, or the fact that however small may be the help they can give individually, collectively their help is of the greatest importance and value.
Trusting that those who are willing to devote a little spare time to the work will communicate with me, and that others will respond by co-operating in one or other of the ways indicated in my last appeal,
I remain
Yours fraternally
36 Bryanston St. Hyde Park W.
We are asked to publish the following letter, addressed to the editor of the Lotus.
À la page 707 du dernier No. du Lotus, je lis les lignes suivantes à propos de Mme. Blavatsky: –
“Elle avait pris soin elle-même, lors d’une visite que nous lui fîmes, Amaravella et moi, à Ostende, en Novembre 1886, d’entretenir ce sentiment en nous, refutant avec une habileté merveilleuse, que nous prenions alors pour de la sincérité, toutes les attaques portées contre elle. . . . Nous avons reconnu petit à petit notre erreur. . . .”
Je demande à protester contre cette invasion de ma personnalité. Une fois déjà je me suis trouvé impliqué dans une affaire dont je ne voulais pas me mêler extérieurement, lorsque tu publias in extenso une lettre que tu m’avais demandé “pour lire à quelques amis en séance privée.” Je n’ai pas protesté alors, car je
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venais d’apprendre à mes dépens le prix du silence. C’est par le silence encore en cessant d’écrire dans le Lotus, que j’ai protesté contre les attaques de personnalités qu’il contient depuis quelques mois. Et si je viens de t’envoyer un article pour le dernier numéro, c’était que jugeant la leçon suffisante, je tenais à montrer que je n’ai aucune rancune personnelle contre qui que ce soit encore moins contre un vieil ami. Je suis fâché que tu aies cru devoir interpréter soit mon silence, soit la rupture de ce silence, d’une façon qui m’oblige à protester publiquement.
Mes opinions au sujet de notre “mère spirituelle” sont diamétralement opposées aux tiennes. J’ai vécu avec elle assez longtemps et assez intimement pour savoir à quoi m’en tenir. Telles qu’elles, je garde mes appréciations, d’abord par ce qu’en occultisme on apprend à refuser de juger ses frères ou de se laisser juger soi-même d’après les mesures du monde où l’on “cancane,” et ensuite pour ne pas embarasser de nouveaux problèmes les lecteurs du Lotus, que doivent déconcerter déjà pas mal les courbes d’esprit de cette revue, plus compliquées encore que celles de “la monade humaine rentrant dans l’unité.”
Enfin, esperons qu’une dernière courbe nous ramènera tous au même centre, car, comme tu dis, nous sommes tous jeunes, et nous n’avons pas dit notre dernier mot.
25 Septembre, 1889.
Incarnation of the Devachanic Entity
Esoteric Science teaches that after death the three lowest principles in man get dispersed on earth, while the four higher are projected into Kama-loka, which is a sort of purgatory. Here the fourth and the lower half of the fifth expend their force, after which the upper half of the fifth (the higher Personality) assimilates itself with the sixth. Thus the two-and-a-half highest principles pass into Devachan, the Heaven of Esoteric Religions. Life in Devachan is more or less of the nature of a happy dream, extending over a period which, to us, appears enormous. This ethereal existence of subjective activity takes up from one to two thousand years, by which time the face of the earth has undergone numerous changes. When the Devachanic dream is at last over, the Entity is unconsciously borne along the current of its Karmic impulse, and is said to incarnate in a human body. The body with which it is allied is exactly suitable to the nature of its past Karma.
This doctrine, so logical, reasonable, and just, needs some additional explanation.
A vegetable seed is cast into the ground, it sprouts up and becomes a tree. The animal, as the human protoplasmic speck grows in the womb and in course of time is born after its kind as an animal, or human young one.
The acts of a self-conscious being alone produce Karma. In plants and animals the highest principles are rudimentary, and there being no previous Karma for these, we inquire what it is that causes the various transformations in plants and animals at each succeeding birth.
The materialist places the vegetable and the animal seed on the same level as the human seed, and argues that just as the latent force or forces in the first two 168develop them to the plant and animal respectively, so does the human seed grow into a man without any external addition. Esoteric science, however, explains that a Devachanic entity must join a human seed before the latter can become a man. It is, therefore, very important to know at what time the Devachanic entity joins the human fœtus, and could any birth take place without a Devachanic entity being allied to it.
And now comes a question which has a very wide significance. The number of human monads in any given manvantar, although appearing to be unlimited, is, in reality, limited. Vast numbers of Devachanic entities are always awaiting to incarnate, and want suitable human embryos to ally themselves with. These embryos could only be supplied by human beings, under certain conditions.
Now it is a fact that in all ages there have been a few men and women who have resolutely, and from pure motives or from motives of necessity (as in the case of those who have not sufficient means to support their offspring) refrained from entering into those conditions which supply the human embryo. It is very reasonable to suppose that there must be many Devachanic entities which would find very fitting habitations in the embryos were they generated by several men and women who now deliberately lead a single life, and do not help in the work of procreation.
Do not such men retard the progress of the Devachanic entities?
One of the three cardinal rules for the practice of the Initiate is to avoid sexual relationship. We know very well that a very, very small and infinitesimal portion could alone try to become true Initiates. Yet, in the aspiration after higher life, several men, though comparatively infinitesimal in number, would prefer to lead a single life from choice. Do they not, as shown above, violate a natural law in throwing back Devachanic entities whom they would have supplied with human bodies.
Humanity could only progress through a series of rebirths. Rebirths mean incarnations in human bodies from time to time, and these bodies must be procreated, otherwise there could be no rebirths.
Are those men, therefore, who deliberately abstain from the work of procreation wanting in any duty to humanity? Do they not, in ever so small a degree retard the progress of humanity?
It may be that while on the one hand such persons may retard progress to some extent, they may further progress in other respects, and it is as well to understand thoroughly the merits and demerits involved in the abstention practised in this particular.
N. D. K.
The editor's reply to the above will appear next month.
Theosophical (?) Dogmatism and Intolerance
169
"Later-Day Tracts"
Have you seen the little brochures of the Religious Tract Society? They are called Later-day Tracts. They profess to illustrate the absence of system in every system of belief. Yes, these gentlemen professors, who execute the contract, are very clever. They do most ingeniously make manifest that nothing is good – except Christianity. Well, Christianity is good too. Not the Christianity of the professors, but that of the “lowly Jesus.” But I have a few words to say about these Later-day Tracts.
They are very dangerous to Theosophy. They are drawing a knife round the tree which it is the second object of our Society to cultivate – the study of the literature of the Orient. That beautiful tree has enchanted us. Its sweet perfume has overpowered us. But why does this magnificent tree find the soil of the Occident so sterile? why does it not command millions of votaries? You will not believe my reply, but it is on account of the Later-day Tracts of the Religious Tract Society.
Ah, when one sees a herd of cattle rushing forward with their heavy thundering tramp, one concludes that nothing can stop them except a deep chasm in their path. But even the good gods cannot provide an earthquake at short notice for stopping these ungainly, stupid animals; and so even the gods themselves lose the battle when they stand up against dulness. Youthful deities of surpassing beauty are hurled down and trampled beneath their destructive hoofs.
170
How then can you expect to stand up against the tremendous onslaught made by the professors in these Later-day Tracts? There is but one method of combating their unspeakable stupidity. Do you not know that there is a desire in man’s nature for that which is pleasing – that it is natural and necessary for a man to turn to the pleasant and to flee from the dull? Conceive, then, the fatal effect of these tracts upon study of the literature of the Orient. “If,” say these British people, after reading one of their tracts, – “if Oriental Scripture is such ponderous stuff as this, so uninteresting, so unmeaning, we will have none of it.” And so they shun our world-embracing thought, our profound philosophy.
I have said there is but one way of combating the evil. It is this. In every locality where the Theosophical Society has a branch, let the secretary invite the people in the district (especially the nearest “professors”) to write short essays (such as the Later-day Tracts) on some dogma or detail of the popular belief. The beauty of the vicarious Sacrifice, the success of the Missionary System, or any other item which, in the writer’s opinion, calls for special remark.
By this means the Secretary will procure from outside an abundance of more silly, pompous, and illucid contributions than he could possibly manufacture inside the walls of the Theosophical Society during a life-time. Thereupon he will immediately establish a Religious Tract Society (or, if he does not like euphuism, an “Other Religions Damnation Society”), and, having printed the silliest and dullest of these essays (an Eclectic committee to be judges), he will send them forth to bring desolation upon the gentle, create disgust amongst the æsthetic, and flatter the spirit of cant and ribaldry amongst the ignorant. For this is what the brochures of the Religious Tract Society are doing for Oriental Scripture.
The effect of these measures in the British Isles, where orthodox Christianity has yet, from custom, so firm a grasp, will of course, be slow. But in India, China, Japan, and such countries to which – since here our excellent professors are somewhat scarce – we might export a few tons of “Damnation” tracts the effects of which would indeed be startling.
Personally I deplore it. I deplore the fact that the good gods have no weapon with which to overcome stupidity. Yet I rejoice that it is given to mortal man through his imperfect nature to fight stupidity with like stupidity. And in order to secure an unlimited supply I would recommend our Theosophists to have recourse to the above-mentioned subterfuge, in order to attain popularity.
Dieppe, Sept., 1889.
Every tree has its shadow, and every cry has its laugh.
A thousand sorrows do not pay a debt.
First tie your horse fast to a post, and then put your trust in God.
A sweet tongue draws the snake from the earth.
Stretch your legs according to the length of your quilt.
171
Posthumous Humanity
After a general consideration of the work itself, Dr. Hubbe Schleiden proceeds to speak as follows:
“Of this, for our movement epoch-making book, an English translation by Henry S. Olcott is now before us. This gentleman, the present President of the Theosophical Society, has had opportunities of making many and various observations and experiments in the field of supersensuous phenomena, such as have fallen to the lot of no other European. In his present translation of d’Assier, he corrects and completes the author by means of notes with an able and masterly hand, and while the impression of the original is in no way confused or weakened by these additions, they yet considerably add to the value of the work.
“Moreover, this English edition offers a further advantage to those investigators on the field of the psychical and magical, who have a horizon somewhat wider than that of their own race. President Olcott, namely, has utilised the organisation of his Society, which possesses 179 branches and 35,000 members scattered all over India, to ascertain by means of circular letters, what knowledge and views on these subjects prevail in the various parts of India. His circulars contained 16 questions upon the ideas held as to the states or abodes of beings not belonging to our earth-life, upon the views held as to the nature of these (different) beings, their relation to living men, as to any possible intercourse with them, further as to the opinions current as to ghostly occurrences, as to any knowledge of telepathic appearances or of verified predictions received from the dead, as to the practice of enchantment and magic, as to mental healing and voluntary projection of the double. – The answers to these questions, received from the most various parts of India, will be found arranged and collected under each separate question; and this appendix to the book affords valuable scientific material.
“D’Assier’s work, more especially in this translation, is precisely adapted for those beginners in occult investigations who are still influenced by materialism. It is written with logical clearness and calm, one might say with coolness, and gives no openings for attack. It goes no further than a man altogether unprepared could well be induced to follow; but nevertheless it goes altogether in the right direction.”
172
Irish Industries
Here is an author who writes from the heart. A son of Erin, every page of whose book glows with love of country and kinsman. The work is a survey of the past condition and present state of the agriculture, manufactures, industries, natural resources, fluctuations of population, and possibilities of poor Ireland. The author’s statistics evince the most patient labour and conscientious exactitude on his part, while his hints of the ways and means to elevate the condition and improve the prospects of the nation are practical and judicious. Dr. Daly’s book supplies a literary want and will long be ranked as a necessary and trustworthy work of reference in the library of a British statesman.
“Sea Signs, Notes to Nature and Miscellaneous Poems”
A volume of verse, mostly short pieces, nicely printed on thick paper with ample margins, and bound with neat simplicity. So much for the exterior of a volume of which the contents are somewhat unequal in merit. Several of the pieces have real swing and go in them, and would make admirable songs if set to music by a sympathetic composer.
Mr. Mallett has a happy knack of rhythm and neat expression, but none of the pieces in the present volume afford sufficient scope to enable one to judge of his real power. Among the best is a short poem, “The Castaway,” written specially for recitation, showing decided dramatic faculty. Two others, entitled respectively “We are merely in the Dawn” and “I promised,” strike a bold note of hope in the future of Humanity and in the possibilities of development yet latent in his nature.
Seek not to walk by borrowed light, |
| Alice Carey. |
No. 27 – November 1889
The Tidal Wave
178
Notice to Those Interested in the “Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge”
The discussions on the first volume of the Secret Doctrine which have been reported by a stenographer were of so difficult a nature that much of the substance, as it stands, is entirely useless. The revision and rewording of these reports, which had to be undertaken by one of the busiest of the 17 Lansdowne Road household, is progressing; but it has to be again revised and prepared for press, and this no one can do but H. P. B.; owing, however, to her multifarious duties the work can progress but slowly. It is to be hoped that the anxiety of our friends will be relieved by the above explanation.
Sec., “Blavatsky Lodge.”
179
Our Heroes
If the age has its great crimininals it has also its martyrs, saints, and heroes, those differentiations of the diviner man from the revolting average of animalism.
The world has scarcely ceased weeping over the heroic self-sacrifice of Father Damien, when it reads the tale of another martyr of Altruism. Says the Washington correspondent of a New York paper:
“The Department of State has received from the Legation at Peking, China, under date of July 3, an account of the death and extraordinary life work of the Rev. J. Crossett, an independent American missionary in China. He died on the steamer El Dorado en route from Shanghai to Tientsin on June 21 last. He leaves a widow living at Schuylersville, N. Y. In speaking of Mr. Crossett, Minister Denby couples his name with that of Father Damien, the French missionary who died on the island of Molokai, and says: “‘Mr. Crossett’s life was devoted to the poorest classes of Chinese. He had charge of a winter refuge for the poor at Peking during several winters. He would go out on the streets the coldest nights and pick up destitute beggars and convey them to the refuge, where he provided them with food. He also buried them at his own expense. He visited all the prisons, and often procured the privilege of removing the sick to his refuge. The officials had implicit confidence in him, and allowed him to visit at pleasure all the prisons and charitable institutions. He was known to the Chinese as the “Christian Buddha.” He was attached to no organization of men. He was a missionary pure and simple, devoted rather to charity than proselytism. He literally took Christ as his exemplar. He travelled all over China and the east. He took no care for his expenses. Food and lodging were voluntarily furnished him. Innkeepers would take no pay from him, and private persons were glad to entertain him. It must be said that his wants were few. He wore the Chinese dress, had no regular meals, drank only water, and lived on fruit, with a little rice or millet. He aimed at translating his ideal, Christ, into reality. He wore long auburn hair, parted in the middle, so as to resemble the pictures of Christ. Charitable people furnished him money for his refuge, and he never seemed to want for funds. He slept on a board or on the floor. Even in his last hours, being a deck passenger on the El Dorado, he refused to be transferred to the cabin, but the kindly captain, some hours before he died, removed him to a berth, where he died, still speaking of going to heaven, and entreating the bystanders to love the Lord.
“‘This man taught the pure love of God and goodness. He completely sacrificed himself for the good of the poorest of the poor. He acted out his principles to the letter. He was as poor and lived as plainly as the poorest of his patients. On charitable subjects he wrote well. The ideal to him was practical. Let this American, then, be enshrined, along with the devoted Frenchman, in the annals of men who loved their fellow men.’”
Memory
186
A Very Wonderful Flower
“A French paper, Les Mondes, gives a fascinating account of a newly-discovered flower, of which rumours have from time to time reached the ears of floriculturists. It is called the snow flower, and is said to have been discovered by Count Anthoskoff in the most northern portion of Siberia, where the ground is continually covered with frost. This wonderful object shoots forth from the frozen soil only on the first day of each succeeding year. It shines for but a single day, and then resolves to its original elements. The leaves are three in number, and each about three inches in diameter. They are developed only on that side of the stem toward the north, and each seems covered with microscopic crystals of snow. The flower, when it opens, is star-shaped, its petals of the same length as the leaves, and about half-an-inch in width. On the third day the extremities of the anthers, which are five in number, show minute glistening specks like diamonds, about the size of a pin’s head, which are the seeds of this wonderful flower. Anthoskoff collected some of these seeds and carried them with him to St. Petersburg. They were placed in a pot of snow, where they remained for some time. On the 1st of the following January the miraculous snow flower burst through its icy covering, and displayed its beauties to the wondering Russian Royalty.”
It is interesting to note that one of these wonderful snow flowers is mentioned in the Voice of the Silence, p. 39. The passage runs as follows: –
“Arhans are born at midnight hour, together with the sacred plant of nine and seven stalks, the holy flower that opes and blooms in darkness, out of the pure dew and on the frozen bed of snow-capped heights, heights that are trodden by no sinful foot.”
Tradition adds that the flower blooms fully only when an Arhan is born.
The Old House in the Canongate
194
Oh, my beloved, and am I thrust aside? |
| Evelyn Pyne. |
Russian Popular Tracts
198
Lucifer Fund
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. v. H. | 5 | 0 | 0 | Mrs. Marshall | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Miss Edith Bowring | 2 | 0 | 0 | John J. Houston | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| A. E. | 1 | 1 | 0 | G. L. Simpson | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Three Friends of Lucifer | 5 | 0 | 0 | W. L. L. | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Edge | 0 | 5 | 0 | L. S. de Jastrzebsky | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| E. M. | 1 | 0 | 0 | L. S. | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| A Friend | 1 | 0 | 0 | X. | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Lord Pollington | 1 | 1 | 0 | Colonel Cleather | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| J. H. L. | 2 | 0 | 0 | F.T.S. | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nil Desperandum | 5 | 0 | 0 | T. Williams | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Tattersall | 2 | 0 | 0 | E. H. T. | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Euphrates | 5 | 0 | 0 | One who is not an F.T.S. | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| F. Montolin | 2 | 0 | 0 | Aleph | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| George | 1 | 0 | 0 | Francis Ware | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| W. G. W. | 0 | 5 | 0 | G. and B. Falkenstein | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| W. F. B. | 1 | 1 | 0 | Mrs. M. Seymour Newton | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| An F.T.S. | 0 | 5 | 0 | Messrs. Higgins and Musaeus | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry T. Edge | 0 | 10 | 0 | Mr. Baldwin | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Queen of Sheba | 5 | 0 | 0 | Mrs. Corey | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Mrs. C. M. Johnston | 0 | 10 | 0 | Mrs. Reeves | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Anonymous | 6 | 0 | 0 | W. H. Numsen | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Miss Kate Mills | 1 | 0 | 0 | Elliot Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| An F.T.S. | 5 | 0 | 0 | Dr. M. G. Gahan | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| R. M. | 0 | 5 | 0 | Mrs. I. G. Candler | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| M. | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 89 | 15 | 0 | |||||
| Previously acknowledged | 18 | 8 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 108 | 3 | 6 | ||||
The Case for Metempsychosis
210
My Fate
I was lying upon the beach, near the edge of the sea. It was a wonderful afternoon. Indeed, there was something inexpressibly strange about it. Although it was the last day of August, the weather was such as befitted a day in early June.
It had been remarkably fine for more than a week, after a lengthened spell of most unseasonable, tempestuous weather. Therefore, this sudden calmness, under which the world appeared to sleep, was all the more extraordinary. The prevailing heat and stillness of the previous week seemed to be concentrated in that breathless day. Not a wave of wind had broken the death-like slumber of the earth, from the waking of the dawn till the night again drew round its curtain over the world and all its teeming life. Nature indeed, appeared to hold her breath, as in a trance.
Not a sound fell on the ear, save those at the hand of busy men and then their echoes seemed to dwell mysteriously upon the spell-bound air.
Not a cloud was to be discerned. Not one had expanded its snowy wreath upon the heavens, from the evaporation of the morning’s mist, until the shroud of darkness had again crept over the earth that seemed to fade and mingle with the ebony of space.
From the rising of the sun above the eastern sea, until its setting below the western hills, its course had been marked by a ceaseless glare. It appeared as though the world, by some fell fate, were doomed to bear the overpowering blaze for ever.
And yet the sky was one deep blue. It was a strange, un-English tint. I never saw it so pronounced before, and never since. I had read of the depth of the Italian sky, and had doubted its intensity. When I had witnessed it, at length, and had been convinced, I never believed that I should see its fascinating beauty approached in my native country.
But now I was dumbfounded. No sky of Italy was lovelier than that into which I gazed, upon that memorable autumn afternoon. I looked above me to the Heavens, in speechless awe and wonder. Its azure brilliancy was phenomenal.
As I had roamed through the gorgeous open country, and had walked along the shady, winding lanes, towards the sea-beach, I had noticed that the trees were so perfectly still that they might have been petrified at the power of some magical spell. Not a tremor of a bough could be 211discerned; not a rustle of a leaf was heard. Even the birds were tuneless, and had sought their nests, as though from a sense of approaching disaster.
With a book before me, I had meditatively wandered to the glistening beach. I had descended from the overhanging heights of the mighty cliffs that reared their heads sheer hundred feet into the sky. I had stood for awhile entranced, as I turned from the pages I was reading, and gazed upon the sea beneath, and across the yawning ocean, spreading on either hand to a vast horizon.
Its deep, blue waters were silent; level as a sheet of glass. Not even a ripple drifted here and there upon the ocean’s face. Its dazzling mirror was unruffled.
Not the lightest breath of wind fanned my cheeks as I stood there hundreds of feet in the upper air. The flag suspended from the flagstaff on the topmost cliff hung absolutely motionless.
I looked around me across the death-still ocean.
Just the faintest veil of mist floated upon the farthest distance of the sea. Two ships were lying off the bay. They were as motionless as rocks. Every sail dropped uselessly from yard or spar, or clung against the masts as though they had been nailed there. Not another sign of life was to be seen upon the slumbering waters. Those vessels seemed to be enchanted, as though some awful ban had been pronounced against them and their crews.
I turned to my book again, at length, and descended to the beach Around me lay huge boulders, fallen from the lofty bluffs that seemed to overshadow me. The weeds that dangled from the rocks in dark and tangled tresses were parched and looked like dead. The world seemed scorching up beneath the sun’s remorseless rays. Little pools of water filled the numerous holes – that appeared to have been bored into the rocks by human hands – where many a tiny fish disported till the rising tide should free them from their close captivity.
I walked to the sea’s bright edge, and watched the tide as it slowly sank along the shore. Not even a ripple sighed upon the shimmering strand. Truly the sea was all but dead.
I gazed again upon those distant ships. They had not moved. They lay like logs upon the offing, where the sun’s fierce shafts shot down as flames of fire.
I was alone. Not a soul was to be seen. Not even a seagull kept me company.
Throwing my book upon the shingle, I lay between two rocks, and read. My soul was filled with a strange, unutterable feeling. I was soothed by the silence of the world. The peacefulness of nature had always worked a mystic influence upon me. Under the gentle awakening of the day, when the sun peeped through the fading dawn, or beneath the shadowy sleep of night, the earth’s repose had ever filled 212me with a strange emotion. My spirit, as it seemed, would fly from me, and soar above the clouds to spheres beyond. I seemed to free myself from the fetters of my fleshly frame, to find a peace which the noisy world of men denied me. That essence of good which hangs, as it were, upon the universe, pervading it, came strongly to my yearning bosom, bidding it nobly live and hope; and in the air a whisper seemed to answer all the strivings of my restless soul, which here could find no satisfaction. I felt in touch with God; as though I grasped Immensity·[11] Eternity!
That inward calm swelled doubly strong within me on that afternoon. There was something so unusual in the scene. Besides, it was a curious story I was reading; and it brought to my bosom, with tenfold force the aspirations that gave my life an object; that afforded the only desire to live, in fact.
Mine had already been a strange, eventful history, although I had not long entered into manhood.
My spirit had fought a dreadful battle against misfortune and shattered hopes, and against the perverseness of my nature. Adversity however, had refined my soul, although my troubles often seemed to quench all hope, and destroy all chance of victory. Frequently had I stood upon despair’s steep brink, peering with bloodshot eyes into the yawning precipice of Death, and what might lie beyond its pierceless gloom. But I had gained fresh strength at last, by faith and hope; and turning away from the fatal edge, had walked into the world again to face its possibilities. And I was at peace save for one thing; that I was lonely in the world, and found no heart to throb with mine, that beat with boundless love.
I had striven desperately with myself. My inmost life had been a ceaseless warfare. Often had I fallen from my good resolves, to look back upon my erring path with sadness, and feel the sting of a reproachful conscience. But grimly girding up my will, feeling fresh courage at every battle won, and convinced that a better part, an essence of the God-like, dwelt in the heart of every man, however base, I wrestled with my lower nature, until I held my spirit in control.
As to reasoning, my speculations on the mysteries of Creation had undergone extraordinary changes, downward and onward. I had always cultivated the habit of thinking. I had always been of an enquiring and imaginative disposition. In my sorrows and reverses, I had passed through the silent, pathless deserts of materialism. But there my thirsty soul was famishing. I found no peace, I heard no answer to my cry. I was lost in the region where all is shadow and despair.
Emerging from the world of doubt and darkness, I had entered at last into the bright and wondrous spheres of mysticism.
There I was comforted. There I assuaged my burning thirst. I saw God in every work of nature; filling the universe, filling my yearning 213soul, and driving its evil passions out. Everything that I looked upon or touched was a miracle to me; and God was in the whole!
Immediately my life had another purpose. I had but existed previously. I now felt that there could be no satisfaction, neither was there any nobleness, in merely living. I beheld Eternity behind me, and before me, and that I floated on its trackless sea. I at once perceived the importance of my life, to my Creator, my fellow creatures, and myself; and knew that I must spend it well. I was convinced that truth was only learnt by thought; that victory was only won by labour; that Heaven was only gained by love. Forthwith, the gloomy aspect of the world dispersed, and in my eyes lay as an eternal sunlight. The problem of existence – if not completely solved, was at least sufficiently clear to me to lead me on towards my goal unflinchingly, sustained by joy, in fervent hope. Something within told me that existence was not valueless. That was enough; it was everything to me.
But I had not altogether found consolation. One thing I wanted to complete my life, and that was a day-star upon this earth, to guide me onward, up to Heaven.
I felt a void within my heart, that only some one’s love could fill. I had looked in countless faces as I trod the world; and one or two I thought could have soothed my pain. But they had passed me in the hurrying stream of life, and drifted from me as I walked, only to live again in the silent moments of remembrance.
I keenly felt my loneliness. My sympathies seemed wasted in my very love. My energies seemed worthless in my very strength. My life appeared to be a selfish one; and melancholy often haunted me; I felt I could be twice the man, did but a ministering angel cross my path, to fan my bosom’s slumbering fires to flame, to rouse my noblest parts to action. I yearned for one in whom I could seek solace in my cares; one for whom my life could live; whose life would live for me!
Should I always fight on in this desertedness, I often asked myself? Would the years of my bravest manhood pass away unsatisfied? Would the silent grave close over me, with what I deemed my noblest aim unrealised? The thought was hard to bear, and made me downcast as I searched my heart.
Am I not telling the pain in many a human breast?
And yet I felt that some day she would come, and free me from my thrall; that it would be my fate at last. And in my frequent reveries, I pictured her within my mind; until at length I seemed to live upon my fancies, as though she actually existed, and I communed with her.
She would be beautiful and gentle when I saw her in the flesh, I said. My life would be transformed from the moment that I gazed into her thoughtful eyes.
214
Such became my constant dream, at length; and so distinct was my imagination, that I had painted a picture of her lovely face!
I treasured it, and lived for it; because I knew that some day we should meet.
Beneath the picture I had written just these words – My Fate – and left a space to fill in with her name.
Strange fancy! But it soothed my secret sorrow. My thoughts were far away from such a day-dream now, however. I was deeply buried in the story I was reading. My soul was engrossed in the mysteries of science and philosophy.
The tide had fallen and was rising again. But I had read on through the hours, heedless both of sea and land. Those vessels were still becalmed, and were slowly fading in the haze that crept upon the stagnant sea. The sun had set behind the giant cliffs, that now seemed mightier in their silent shadows as the deepening twilight fell upon the scene. The faintest blush of red was lingering in the heavens, above the cliff’s high, rugged edge, showing where the wondrous orb had sunk in all its crimson glory. The evening mist was already stealing over the mainland, heralding the approach of night.
But I was oblivious to the world. I was living in worlds unknown but in imagination, as I read through page and page of the absorbing volume. I had come to the final chapter of the story. I had reached the last page. I had arrived at the concluding passage of the work. It was this –
“In fact, the secrets of Creation, within the Universe, the world, ourselves, are quite beyond the human understanding. The further we explore into the land of shadows, the more bewildering becomes the way. The more we learn, the more we are confounded by our ignorance. The more we think, the more we are distracted by conflicting theories. The higher we soar above the earth, the greater is our sense of littleness. The more of God we drink into our souls, the deeper is our humbleness. Existence is a paradox. As we examine it, so are we baffled. Nothing is impossible in Creation. Nature’s handiworks are miracles to us. The more we investigate them, the more we wonder. All is a riddle, inexplicable. We feel that God is in us. We can only live in the hope of some day peering through the gloom that we call Death, and viewing the vast unknown beyond. We must live nobly, lifted up by Faith. Reason teaches us that. And Faith can only come through Love!”
I closed the book and raised my eyes involuntarily. I shrank back with a sudden start. There, before me – between me and the fading blush that still was lingering in the sky, and seemed to fold her in a halo – stood the loveliest creature I had ever gazed upon!
Her eyes met mine. And as they did, I felt my fate had come at last! I trembled. Had I gazed upon an apparition? My heart beat wildly, for I recognised her face!
215
Was it a dream; had I fallen asleep over my book? No. That which stood before me motionless and silent – was herself!
An indefinable emotion filled my bosom. My blood coursed hotly through my veins. What was it that possessed me?
I could not shake the fascination off! I knew the face! And as I looked upon it, every passion in me seemed at warfare. An unquenchable longing, adoration, love had seized me!
How had she come there, without my hearing footsteps on the shingle? Was it a spirit that had visited me? And for her to stand before me at the moment when I closed the book. Had I been so absorbed that I was dead to every sound? What, too, had prompted her to stray to the lonely shore as such a time?
It was she! The same fair hair, falling in golden streams upon her shoulders; the same blue, pensive eyes; the same sweet mouth, as I had painted in my fancies! She was not alone. She held a little child by the hand. What brought her here, to burst upon my vision as a dream? I only knew that my fate had come. I spoke to her at last. She answered me, but timidly.
My heart went out to hers as I listened to her voice!
She knew not what had brought her, with her little sister, to the beach, she told me. She had seen me reading on the shore, and wondered why I was alone. She had just got up to where I lay, and would have passed me, when I closed my book and met her gaze. As hers met mine, she felt mysteriously influenced.
We spoke for awhile, and then we wandered home, beneath the quickly deepening night. Was I still living in a dream? I seemed entranced!
As I bade good-bye to her, and held her hand, I knew that I had met my fate!
I often saw her. I was miserable without her. I felt a new life thrilling through me when I stood before her.
She was the loveliest and gentlest of creatures. She was my day-star, my ideal. And as my love increased for her, I knew that I had won her own.
I looked at the picture on the wall. It was her face. I had imagined the reality! I did not tell her of my secret; I did not show her the outcome of my curious fancy. I would conceal it till I could write her name upon it. No, she should fill it in herself.
Months flew by; sweet months of dreams, and every day my passion had grown deeper. I often stood before the picture on the wall. I had lived for it before. I was living for its likeness now!
My fate had come. At last I clasped her to my bosom as my bride!
She was an angel surely. I was living a new life. My only earthly longing was fulfilled. My sympathies were responded to. My aspirations 216were encouraged. I found the sweetest solace in my cares. I had the dearest partner to my joys.
I was twice the man I had been, and suddenly I had accomplished one of my life’s chief objects. It brought me fame and fortune; and I thought and spoke of her with tenfold pride, because I knew that she aroused me to the deed.
Our lives were linked together; our hearts were one. She told me that I won her heart when first she saw me on the beach. She knew not how or why, but something seemed to prompt her to the shore that evening. Surely we were destined for each other!
Truly had I read that “The secrets in the universe, the world, ourselves, are quite beyond the human understanding!”
One day I took a picture from a box where I had hidden it.
“Whose face is that?” I asked.
She started back. “Who painted it?” she said.
“I did – before I ever saw you! Have I not drawn it faithfully?”
She bowed her head, and then she looked into my face.
“It is the picture of my dreams,” I said. “You haunted me for many a day, before I found my rest in that. I lived for it, and worshipped it; for I knew that we should meet some day. See what I wrote beneath it; and are you not my fate? Look, too, at the space I left for your pretty signature – write it in now while I stand beside and watch you.”
“Not yet,” she said – “in twelve months’ time. See if the picture is like me then; see if you love me then as now.”
I kissed her and I let her have her whim. SEPARATOR
In twelve months’ time I was a ruined man. Ruined, not in riches, but in peace of mind. My day-star was fading. She was desperately ill. I had been frantic in my grief and fears. I had hovered by her bedside night and day. I could not leave her, for her life was mine. I wrung my hands in agony.
Would she be taken from me, and I be left alone again? I groaned to Heaven in my anguish!
It was an autumn afternoon, and beautifully calm; just such a day as when we met upon that beach within the dusk. The birds were hushed: the trees were still; the world was scarcely breathing in the sun’s warm glow.
She lay by the open window that looked down upon the glittering shore, and across the ocean, now so still. She took my hand in hers. My heart was breaking with its woe – “Am I like the picture now?” she whispered.
She was more beautiful than ever. Something unearthly glistened in her lustrous eyes.
“And do you love me as you did?” she asked.
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I clasped her hands and wildly wept. I could not speak. My heart was breaking. “Fetch me the picture – I will write my name upon it now,” she said.
I brought it and placed it on the bed before her. It was the very image of herself.
The pen was in her hand. She gazed into my eyes – it was a loving, lingering gaze, and an angel’s smile lit up her heavenly features.
Her fingers rested on the picture. Suddenly a sigh fell on my ears; and softly falling back upon her pillow – she was dead!
I was alone in all the world again. I shrieked in my despair, and fell upon her face, insensible! My heart was broken!
She was too beautiful, too gentle for this earth. She belonged to heaven, from whence she must have come to me.
Twelve months had passed to the very day!
The picture was unsigned!
When I recovered from my fever, they gently led me to her grave Above her name two words were carved – My Fate.
I am an old man now, and only wait to meet her. As I had lived for her in life, I live for her in memory still. No other heart has filled the void she left when she was torn from me. It could not.
I often wander by the sea, upon that lonely shore. And when the evening falls upon the silent scene, I fancy that I see her stand before me, just as I saw her when I closed the book.
Sometimes I feel that she is hovering near me; whispering comfort, whispering hope. I may be dreaming; but it seems so true. I often look upon the picture on the wall. Its pensive eyes seem gazing into mine, and seem to say –
Live on in hope, in patience wait |
Was she an angel sent from Heaven to guide me there? I know not, but I feel that I shall know some day.
I have no further care of life. I only await the summons that shall beckon me away – to meet her!
Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues
Sportiana
Genius
233
Folded wings, fair eyes downcast, |
| Evelyn Pyne. |
234
Psychic Fire
We have arrived at a general notion of the possible conditions under which a point of energy develops into a material atom; and we have been able to trace from these arguments the relation existing between psychic force, matter and fire. In fact we have found mentality and matter to be one and the same. This relation in which the things of the physical world stand to the universal mind explains why a capacity for being intelligible belongs to natural objects which we know nevertheless to be devoid of intelligence.
Now let us endeavour to conceive some of the general conditions which belong to this inner world.
The two fundamental factors with which we have to deal are Space and Time. These are the foundations of the physical and astral planes and, by alternately passing them through the metaphysical sieve and arranging the results according to scientific methods, we shall arrive at a reasonable assurance of the practical existence and a knowledge of the intimate character of these two planes.
Both are infinite, yet, on our plane of life, we live in a universe of infinite space measured by finite[12] units of Time, or, to speak more clearly, differentiated by motion. Our universe may therefore be called that of Infinite Space which necessitates another universe of Infinite Time, since both infinities exist while one only is maifest or visible on the physical plane. Space and Time are interchangeable values and as such they have a common underlying unity. Because they are different though equivalent and because one manifests the other, we have a gradation of values, stretching between infinite Space, as eternal rest and infinite Time as absolute motion, in which Space predominates for one half of this line of[13] change; while Time or motion predominates along the other. This is more clearly explained if we illustrate our meaning by a vibration which is, in itself, energy or the underlying manifesting power of the unknowable One.
It manifests simultaneously Space as amplitude, and Time as rate of vibration; or two aspects of a universal life by a single effort.
Infinite amplitude represents infinite Space; and here motion is Zero. As we recede from this grand negation we find positive life as motion manifesting the existence of Space. In fact we descend along a line of varying relations represented by successive vibrations where the rate of motion increases as the amplitude of living diminishes, starting from the first absolute negation of rest until we reach a certain position equidistant from the two extremes where these two characteristics of differentiating 235energy are equal and opposite, namely the energy of motion equal to the space moved through or amplitude of vibration. Up to this point amplitude is the manifester of its motion, which is, in fact, through an appreciable portion of space.
After this point this order of things is reversed; motion is the manifesting power and its amplitude is[14] its unit measure of Space.
Thus we have a plane of physical life where Space, by its forms, shows the vitality that has produced it. While we have another plane where the opposite takes place and Time is measured by units of Space. Space characterises the physical plane. Time is the characteristic of the astral plane. Localisation takes place when life manifests on the former whereas there can be no localisation of life on the latter but only individualisation.
Therefore the first is objective and Time is Past, Present and Future engendering the Law of Karma. The second is subjective and ever present, which we may say, en passant, denotes a state of existence and not a locality. And yet we shall show that the subjective plane is localised through the co-relation of forms of the material universe; for, as we have said, both planes are equal and opposite and differentiation in Space is the copy of that in Time; for the subjective plane of motion being the plane of Life, is consequently the creative power of the objective universe.
We will now enter our two planes of being and examine their finite peculiarities. This we will do by studying the action of a vibration. The astral plane is one of free motion. It is here that finite laws live with a vitality whose form is the idea of the law. For each law is a definite quantity of motion, and, being a psychic force, its activity carries with it a meaning. It is also a vibration of energy, whose activity as a definite quantity of Time, represents individual power; while its amplitude holds the meaning of this power, which, as a finite idea, must be a something which is substantial.
But what is this substance of which thoughts are made. We can only describe it metaphysically, but this description of the intangeable and imperceptible carries with it far-reaching consequences to the visible universe; for it shows the reality of negative power and its presence as an underlying foundation for the two planes. Reasoning along other lines we come upon it as Ethereal Pressure; but to proceed with our present argument, take a given quantity of energy representing the activity of a given law; and we find it to consist of two factors: the force of its energy as a rate of vibration which displays the power of the law, and the limit which confines this display as amplitude of vibration. The metaphysical relation between a limit and its manifestation gives us the definition of astral substance. It is therefore imperceivable to us as beings who perceive through the power of physical senses, but conceivable even while we are yet living with a physical consciousness.
236
This limiting power must be a something which is equal and opposite to that which it limits; therefore the one being active, the other must be passive. Passive power is negative activity; and the only way this can exist on the positive plane is as a manifested negation, which we define as: the limit which separates and distinguishes that particular activity from every other. Thus we have a negative and therefore hidden power representing the amplitude of vibration on the astral plane, and manifesting as the defining power of the law or as its form, meaning or idea. Thus it is the ethereal substance of this plane in its relation to its power of manifestation as the unit measure of this quantity of force.
Each unit is the peculiar property of the law it measures, because it is the limit of the law’s form. Therefore each subjective law is a personal astral form of ever present vitality. Now let us take one of these, and we will suppose its energy of vibration is 12 units relatively to the infinite energy of which it is a part. This bears a definite meaning as form or amplitude of vibration which, as its unit measure, is 1. In other words the ratio of activity to its unit measure is 12: 1, where 1 is the negative power which receives the reflected meaning of the 12 units. The two together form a unit of psychic force or astral substance.
Any other law will always be, in like manner, a ratio of a definite amount of energy to 1 or its particular meaning.
Now the form of the law is the reflected energy of that law in the ethereal substance. This reflection is the result of subjective motion; and therefore is objective. In this way an objective universe comes into being pari passu with a subjective one. On the subjective plane, we have this as an invisible amplitude which is, as it were, drawn out of the heart of its activity and visibly projected into space. As a result the objective vibration must equal in its dimensions the subjective one; and therefore we have the following action. Our vibration on the astral plane is 12 units of energy to a unit amplitude. This latter, projected into space, is stretched by 12 successive pulsations of energy from the other plane, becoming thus 12 units of space, equivalent to 12 units of time. So that its physical form is a replica in Space, as amplitude of vibration, of its astral shape existing in the unseen world as an entity of living energy or vibratory motion.
By this process we see the psychic meaning of a law condensing its energy as a unit physical form which we call the involution of psychic force.
The physical counterpart of the astral body is inverted because it is negative Space instead of positive Time, whilst both are equal to one another. Therefore, since these are the characteristics of the phenomena of physical reflection, we say that the act of projection and involution is an act of reflection. The pulsation of Life, which pierces into our universe and, reflecting its ideality, spreads out into Space, is an involution of a definite amount of psychic force which, in this way, becomes the 237ethereal world stuff of our universe. We call it substance, to distinguish it from matter, which is volume with an added density.
As a result of what has been previously said, we have before us two equal and opposite manifestations of life, with a line of gradation connecting them, which is in its centre, neutral. This is the definition of a magnet, and we say that the unseen universe of life is the positive pole of a magnet, whose negative pole is the visible universe; while the neutral line between them is one of equal balance, and the negation of all existence, and thus separates for ever the two planes or poles from one another. Now, if we apply this reasoning to the units of the two planes, we shall find that a physical atom is the negative pole of a psycho-material magnet, in which the positive pole is its astral form. The negative pole is, moreover, a substantial volume of energy, or a condensation of a certain given number of pulsations of positive vitality. Thus, any activity manifested on this plane must be due to the liberation of one or more of these unit values or pulsations from their confining limits as positive energy. The atom of each different element represents a different law, and therefore is measured by different units or astral forms. This peculiarity is the cause of those differences in the exhibition of polar effects, which we find to exist between the atoms of different elements. Polarity is the orderly devolution of compressed psychic energy, and is invisible to us as ideal substance; the sudden release of large quantities of this ideal substance, by what might be termed mechanical means, appears as earthly fire or the flash of free energy, as it darts back into subjective realms. In this way, the negative pole or mundane form becomes positively alive. A change in the condition of even one material atom affects the balance of two infinite Universes. The objective world bears a different ratio to the subjective world by the infinitesimal amount of atomic energy released in obedience to the influence of some outside cause. This change of relation is reflected from the astral plane as inverted power into the physical plane. Thus a positive disturbance on this plane produces a corresponding disturbance in the subjective life of the astral form, and this, reflected into the material shape, becomes a negative power equal and opposite to the polarity displayed. Thus the psycho-material magnet develops two active currents in its negative pole or material form, which causes this latter to manifest with two equal and opposite forces. Thus we see that the positive life of our plane is due to a positive polar force which is an expansive power, while negative energy is a psychic force which is due to the action of a hidden energy making itself felt as the architect of formal life. As a force it is the opposite of expansion, and therefore is a contracting one.
Thus we say that the limits of our world are set by an unseen power, and by this we mean that the re-action of psychic force from the Universal Mind impedes and directs the rush of earthly fire, while at the same 238time the actual vitality which results in evolution of forms, is an earth-born fire, for it is energy set free on this plane and not in the unseen world.
We may now picture to ourselves a radiant world.of Life, casting its shadow into space, which straightway bursts into a lurid glare from the glowing vitality of countless tiny magnets quivering with their compressed activity.
These are the substantial forms evolved by the involution of life on the physical plane. On the astral plane these are co-ordinated as trains of ideas, on the physical plane they become co-relations of force when active, and of things when passive. The sum of these co-relations represents the idea of the material universe, and is the relation born by Space to Time. The activity which manifests the connected meaning of the laws on the psychic plane while remaining distinct, thoughts having each one its place in the complete idea becomes, on our plane, manifest as co-relation of forces whose inter-action realises the co-ordination of the thoughts explaining the grand idea which underlies the construction of our Universe. The fiery poles of each fire magnet turn round one another, like repelling and unlike attracting, binding each other together by the head and tail like masses of coiling serpents, until the great idea has become dense with the accumulation of all its meanings. Then matter is formed and atoms have become dense by superposition and the exercise of their polarity. The ratio of poles gives molecules, which thus become compound forces. For if several unit laws of similar power have reached the density proper to the material plane, then there will be a fresh element introduced amongst the material atoms in the shape of ratios of masses of power or atomic weight.
Obituary Notice
With deep regret we announce the departure from this life, on the 16th October, of our esteemed erudite Colleague and Brother, M. le Docteur Renaud Thurman, F.T.S., after a brief but painful illness. His remains were cremated at Zurich, on the 22nd October. Professor Thurman was a man of exceptional ability, and had for several years been a French Fellow of our Society.
The Talking Image of Urur
248
“Traces of India in Ancient Egypt.”
P. 24, l. 40, for Aringiri read Sringiri.
P. 26, l. 3, for Ammonu read Ammoun.
P. 26, l. 24, for Moti-shastras read Jyoti-shastras.
Theosophical Activities
249
Colonel Olcott’s Lectures
The President’s British tour continues to be crowned with success as regards the primary object in view, the ever multiplying press notices showing that the agitation of the public mind upon theosophical subjects is spreading throughout the whole Kingdom. Religious as well as secular papers are giving space to the discussion, a lively debate upon it is going on in the sober National Review, and it was even made the subject of a sermon in the ancient St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, Queen Victoria Street.
Since last month’s report in Lucifer Col. Olcott has delivered the following public addresses: – Liverpool, October 9th and 10th; Dublin, October 14th (the Hall crowded to the doors and more than one hundred turned away for 250want of standing room); Limerick, October 15th; Belfast, October 17th; Dublin, October 19th and 21st; Birmingham, October 29th; London, November 1st; Leek (Staffordshire), November 4th; London (Westminster Town Hall), November 5th. Besides these he has held conversational meetings at private houses, submitted to a dozen “interviews” by press reporters, and at Dublin held a discussion at the Contemporary Club, upon Theosophy, with a number of the most learned and brilliant men of the Irish capital.
He has now fixed the date of his sailing from Marseilles for Colombo as December 29th, will stop over one steamer in Colombo to settle our Ceylon affairs and then proceed on to Madras by the ss. “Tibre.” His health is now excellent.
Official Notice
251
New West Indian Secretary
On the third of October 1889, by resolution of the Executive Committee of the American T. S., Mr. E. D. Even was appointed assistant General Secretary for the British West Indies. His address is Tobago, B. W. I. There are several students and inquirers in the West Indies, and it is hoped that before long new Branches will be formed there.
"Going To and Fro in the Earth"
254
My Experiences in Occultism and Occult Development
I have written the following because I thought it might be interesting to Theosophists, if I detailed some of my Occult experiences. As I am not a member of the Theosophical Society, these experiences may afford proof from an outside standpoint of many of the Theosophic Doctrines. I have been an investigator for 16 years. I became convinced of the existence of Unseen Intelligences by investigations in my own house, alone, and in the light. I soon found, however, that the ordinary explanations and theories of Spiritualists did not explain the whole phenomena. I was therefore, gradually drawn to Theosophy; so much so, that I cannot but feel that the Agencies of the Adepts are not confined in their manifestations to the Theosophical Society,[15] but that some of the many ramifications of their influence extend to isolated individuals, and by multiplex methods and through various channels, they are drawing many of us within the common centre of their influence. I experienced the terrible trials known as the struggle with the Dweller on the Threshold. Deceptions from the Intelligences on the astral plane, mental conflicts, intense depression and other sorrows of too private a nature to detail here. I was delivered from this, by coming into communion with my Higher Self. And, as I believe, a ray of Influence from the Adepts, piercing through the higher portion of my being, influenced me continuously. I was by this Influence told to cease all direct communion with departed Spirits. I could never since then commune with them except in an indirect manner, through this Intelligence as it were. I think this seems to agree with the Theosophic teaching as to Devachan. Under the teaching of this Influence, 255I developed – 1st, Clairvoyance, or rather the power of seeing symbolical phantasms; 2nd, a semi-trance condition, in which I received communications in poetry and music, quite above the calibre of my own mind, and I was guided in the affairs of life in the following manner. The spiritual stream of inspiration flowing through me, from being at first a mixture with my own thoughts, I found gradually to evolve certain Occult teachings, which seem much in accordance with Theosophic works, especially the Secret Doctrine. In my published works and in MSS. I have written years ago, I find hints as to Re-incarnation, the gradual descent of Spirit into matter, the interaction of the Spiritual and material planes, the existence of agencies above and below the human, the spiritual evolution of man, etc. Another method of my instruction was, if I earnestly desired a thing, if possible I was allowed to take my own course, being guarded, as I have found out afterwards, in a mysterious manner against all real harm; but I was let to go through the experience. Then often of my own accord I would turn from a repetition of the act. This seems much in accordance with the Adepts’ teaching. Our passions must be burnt out.[16] The experience must be gained,[17] and the Soul must rise superior to them, by acquiring a love for higher things. No use the exoteric methods of ascetics to outwardly keep from the act and yet desire the same inwardly. This only leads to making desire more intense. We must learn what is true and what false, and then the desire will be quenched and the Soul will mount a step higher.
This was my teaching. I have often gone through strange experiences and mental struggles and have been advised to make use of certain formulas to prevent the evil resulting from them. Then when I had conquered, it would be said: It is enough, this is required no more, or something to that effect, and it would seem as if a conquest was achieved, another page of life turned down, and soon a new set of sensations and a fresh series of trials would commence. Often between these it would be written, Now rest, and a period of rest would be given in which some time of enjoyment would be passed.
I also developed a kind of clair-audience cr hearing of internal voices. These often advise and warn, and I find they are invariably true and that it is unwise to disregard them, as no doubt they proceed through higher stratas of my being from Occult Agencies. These voices often advise certain signs to be used accompanied by a sort of prayer, a form of words invoking the Divine Intelligence of Love, the All-good Power. I have found after performing these magical acts, most extraordinary changes in people, and most unexpected help coming and events occuring which were quite unforeseen, shewing that Occultism has most mysterious and far-reaching powers. Here comes in another teaching agreeing with Theosophy. I have been told that such Magic must only be exercised when the Soul is wishing for nothing but the Will of the All-good Intelligence to be done[18] and for no selfish passion or greed, not even to save oneself from pain or sorrow.
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Another power I have developed is, by using certain invocations. I call the Spirits of the Living, and then see a simulacrum of them and hear them speak.[19] This, however, may only be risked for unselfish purposes. It is part of a very mysterious phenomenon which I find difficult to explain. Often a great depression comes over me, and I see certain phantasms and go through curious actions and struggles with them. This I find reproduced more or less accurately afterwards in real life. And as I have acted in the first drama, so do I succeed or fail in the after event. It seems as if the events in this life are but shadows thrown down from unseen realities, and that the dramas of life are acted behind the scenes. In many of my greatest difficulties the sorrow and the terror of them have been felt and conquered spiritually long before the real events came to pass, and when I had no idea such events would occur; and when they come to pass, the sting is taken out of them, they having been conquered previously on the spiritual plane. Mrs. Sedgwick in the S. P. R. Report tries to explain premonitions by the telepathic theory. Science cannot yet grasp the truth of prophecy: to do this would be to surrender to Occultism. But if there is one thing I am absolutely certain of, it is the power of the spiritual part of us aided by unseen agencies – to prophesy, to foresee, warn and even avert dangers long before they appear even on the horizon of real life.
If our scientists could get away from the more frivolous phenomena of the seance-room and realize the stupendous powers of occult Intelligences and of the human soul, they would be able better to understand Occultism. This, however, can only be done by personal experiment. The real convincing evidences proving the spiritual side of nature are those which it is often impossible to detail to another. They must be sought for and found by each individual soul. And they are certain to be obtained by every true and patient seeker.
I will conclude this brief account of my Occult experiences by relating one or two mysterious phenomena which have happened to me since I have been connected with the Theosophical Society. On the morning before making the acquaintance of Mr. Sinnett, I clairvoyantly saw an Indian stand by my bedside. This Indian was short, with long, straggling, dark hair which partly hid his face. I have seen him since several times, when I have been ill, making passes over me, and on each occasion I have suddenly got well; though when these attacks come upon me, as a rule, I cannot get up the whole day, but lie perfectly prostrate. I also see occasionally another Indian, a tall man, rather stout, dressed in white with a white turban. When I see him, a few hours afterwards I receive a letter from one of the leaders of the T. S. On one occasion I was in the street when I saw him by my side; on a second, he crossed the room as I was talking to a pupil, but on both occasions, about an hour afterwards, I received a letter from Mr. Sinnett, one of which letters informed me that I was made an honorary Associate of the “London Lodge” T. S. [20]
A few weeks ago, while staying in Kent, I clairvoyantly saw Madame Blavatsky at a table writing (she was then in Jersey) and shortly afterwards received a 257letter from her. I mention these apparently trivial phenomena, as I think they show that the Influence inspiring me is in union with and drawing me to those who guide the Theosophic Movement.
I will now proceed to give a few hints as to Occult development. He who would enter the Occult Path must first realize that there is a good and loving Intelligence pervading Nature. [21] He must refuse to worship all images of this Power, which do not come up to his highest ideals. The cruel Jehovah, the warlike Allah, the lascivious Jove, must give place to the purer Supreme Being of the Voysey school. This, in its turn, must also go, for it will soon become apparent to the enlightened soul that no king or photograph of man, even of his highest ideal, no resemblance of human government, no monarchical ruler or sovereign can be placed over the Universe. We must seek in and not above Nature for God. We must own that the drop cannot comprehend the ocean or the finite mind the infinite Whole. We must acknowledge the Divine, Loving, All-good Essence in Nature and in ourselves and strive to unite ourselves with It. To sink the selfish personal idea, the individual wants and desires in the Divine Whole. Our lives must act out the precept, Thy will be done.[22] We must not acquire wealth but to this end. No human love must stand in the way.
This is the first step. We are then united with the Divine Intelligence and the whole force of the Divine is at our back. This is not so hard as it appears. It seems hard because the mind will fall back on the old false ideas of God, the cruel, ascetic, capricious power. But once realise that all true pleasure, all love, all beauty is God and part of God, and by uniting with the Divine we have all that is worth having.
All we renounce is the delusive semblance of these things in the world, in which is no real satisfaction, nothing but Maya or delusion. Having made this first step, we see all things with different eyes. We realize the truth of Karma. We love all and hate none. We cease to feel bitterly and cry for revenge on our worst foes. We know that the inmost of every soul is a Divine Ego. We see the whole arcana of Nature are but the methods of educating and perfecting the Individual Egos. We see the upward march of Spirit through all the forms of nature to man. This gives us a new view of the animal creation. No longer the old idea prevails that they are created for us, for our food and use. We see that they are the embryos of ourselves, hothouse beds for the nurture of Spirit, and we must remember that all cruelty re-acts on lourselves[23]. We now come to the lower forms of humanity, our savages, our criminals. No longer the moral shudder, no longer the hands lifted up in holy horror. Let us take some examples. Take a murderer. What is the popular view? A holy horror, a thirst for vengeance, a feeling of the utter impossibility of being like such a man. But the Occultist recognises the law of Karma working in accord with heredity, with astrological influences at birth, with educational surroundings etc.; he knows also the power of Black Magic.
He knows that the self-righteous in their churches, in their homes, by their vicious beliefs, their hard cruel ways, by these and by their prayers to a ferocious deity, invoke too often such evil Elemental forces, which go forth, like the fabled 258devil, seeking whom they may devour, and finding victims in these poor, helpless persons, destitute of Will, and thus the criminal, the murderer, is manufactured. This being so, are we to rush forth and howl for vengeance? Let us be thankful that Karma has not made us so, that sufficient good influence surrounds us to ward off these Elemental forces so that they pass us by. But let us not gloat over these things, or we may get into the current and some such influence take hold of us, self-righteous as we are.
We must put aside all vengeance, all hatred; and all we are entitled to do, is to confine such poor imbeciles that they do no more mischief, and also by our White Magic of love and kindness seek to exorcise the elemental demons who control them. Tne common idea is that avenging punishments deter from crime. But this is so only in appearance. The only way to lessen crime is to quench the evil at its source by the magic of divine love. Beware of avenging crime by crime. The death penalty only increases the evil, and lets loose a demon to do more mischief. Having made these steps forward on the Path, we look with different eyes upon all humanity. Let us now turn to the so-called good and respectable.
When we see the dull round of their lives, without a thought beyond the present hours, merely satisfying animal wants, getting money, and obeying without question the religions and laws of the time, we feel that such have not as yet wakened their Soul-powers. They slumber still; many a life must be passed by such people in which the battle between the material and the spiritual must be fought out before they can advance far upon the Path.
There is a great fallacy in the words Good and Evil which even some Theosophists have not yet found out. We all of us are apt to measure people by the world’s standard, even though we profess Occult Philosophy. Thus to us a person is good who has tamed his nature down to be a slave to the customs of the time, who never questions a tyrannical government, who acts up to his religion without reasoning or thinking about it, who conforms to the marriage laws and social fashions. Such a man is good. To break though any of these customs is evil. But this is a fallacy. It cannot be good to obey that which is founded on wrong and error. The only good is to act up to our highest ideas. These, whatever the world may say, will lead us astray. Then astray we must go. It was of Shelley, that someone said, Would that he could think for himself; when his mother replied, Would to God he would think like other people. It is this conformity to custom that the world calls good, its reverse evil; but the Occultist looks beneath the surface of things. He pities but does not feel hatred towards the criminal, only towards his crime. He sees good in all. He does not turn away from those whom the world scorns. He knows that they are fighting out the bitter conflict of Life. Neither does he worship the self-righteous and the so-called good, for he sees in them too often merely Souls in a state of somnolence. Better to fall through having a loving and sensitive nature than to avoid temptation through hardness of heart and callousness of mind. For such, though praised by the world, must go through many incarnations before their hard natures are broken up and the Divine Ego shines through.
The present civilization is a vast delusion, and the seeds of its dissolution are already sown. The only way to save the world from the horrors attending the 259collapse of this civilization, is by bringing to bear upon mankind fresh influences from the Unseen side of Nature. We must bring the knowledge of Occultism to the world. We must endeavour to draw sympathetic minds from all parts to enter the Occult Path. If a sufficient number can be thus gained, they will yet save and remould Society, and form a foundation for a more Spiritual Race in the Future. Great are the duties devolving upon us, brother Occultists; may we perform them honestly and shew ourselves to be fit receptables for the Higher Inspirations. And may the Great Masters of Occultism bless us with renewed strength and Spiritual Powers in the strife which we must wage with the delusions and falsities of the world.
The Text Book of Astrology
The Sons of Urania will be rejoiced to know that the above work is now completed by the publication of the second volume. The author is so well known as a writer upon Astrology, that it is impossible to question the authority with which he pleads the cause of Urania, and anything like a fair estimate of the study and labour necessary for the production of such a work as the “Text Book,” is equally impossible. The book is practically the result of thirty years modern experience and study; it appears to embody everything that is known at present upon this most interesting subject of Astrology, and it is not too much to say that Mr. Pearce’s work is as claimed “indispensable alike to the mythologist, the antiquarian, the orientalist, and the student of occult science.”
An Introduction to Theosophy
This is a pamphlet written in the spirit of perfect conviction and sincerity. The author summarizes with considerable skill the leading points in the Esoteric Philosophy for the benefit of outside enquirers into the history and objects of the T. S. As the system has brought rest and joy to his own mind, he benevolently wishes to help others to share the feeling with him. Pity that all our colleagues would not do likewise. Mr. Elliot’s literary project it thus defined by himself: –
“Writing as a Fellow of the Theosophical Society, I desire to show that its endeavour is to substitute conciliation for strife, to bring ease to the weary, and save rich men from the devastation which is the sure end of wealth without wisdom. That its first step is towards bringing together rich and poor, so that they may by the light of their reason and teachings come to understand that the interests of each man are best served by a consolidated attempt of the units to build up
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the destiny of the race on the strong natural foundation of mutual help, on which alone any attempt whatever can achieve real progress.”
He candidly warns all to keep out of the Society if they have the notion that by entering it they would be put in the way to acquire phenomenal forces or witness exhibitions of magic by others. And plainly says: –
“I warn aspirants who aim high that the path they seek to walk in is very narrow, and full of obstacles, which they will have to overcome, at first at any rate, alone, and by the utmost degree of self-control of which they are capable.”
Can it be Love?
Captain Serjeant’s monograph might be styled a gospel of Altruism; the aim in view being to enforce the maxim that the Personal Self is inseparable from the Universal Being, and hence, that man should live, think and strive in unison with all mankind. The absolute and essential fraternity of all sentient beings is urged as the divine law of life. The teaching is conveyed in a dialogue between the Higher Self and the Lower Self. The teacher is figured under the guise of an Unknown, who suddenly appears in the Author’s room as he muses by his fireside, answers his unspoken thoughts, dictates the contents of this Work, and as suddenly vanishes. The matter was published as a Serial, in a certain London weekly journal, and – as the Author explains – “the interest caused by its appearance, has amply warranted its republication in a volume form.”
Baleni
In this charming little volume of Italian poetry, Dr. Pioda has framed some of the deeper truths of Theosophy in the musical language of Italy. In a capital preface, he gives a general sketch of those echoes from an archaic past, which are found in the Secret Doctrine, and which he afterwards softens in the rythmical changes of Italian verse. Space, Life and Love are the titles of three poems, in which he brings the reader to a knowledge of some of the aspects which the Infinite one presents to us in the great drama of illusion it unfolds. Dr. Pioda, in his preface, tells us that he has chosen poetry as the expression of his thoughts, because by this means he is able to catch the music as well as the meaning of some of those songs of life, which lie around in the ethereal Space, and may thus, the more deeply, move the inner being of his reader. Man leaves behind him his works, but after death, his Ego, like a full-stringed harp, resounds with the agitation of ethereal waves, which have preserved the notes struck on life’s material key-board, and forms with them the melody of his earthly career. Thus, if this idea, which seems to underlie the meaning of Dr. Pioda’s words, be true, poets may catch and intone these psychic harmonies for the benefit of living men. The book is well printed, and all those who prefer the flowery paths of truth in its poetic garb to the sterner and more rugged words of prose, should read these poems.
No. 28 – December 1889
The Fall of Ideals
Theosophical Views on the Preceding
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Lucifer Fund
| From the Aryan T. S. of New York. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. J. H. Salisbury | 20 | 0 | 0 | H. S. M. | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. F. L. Mathey, Jr. | 20 | 0 | 0 | T. B. | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. John Smith | 10 | 0 | 0 | O. | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. A. Fullerton | 5 | 2 | 0 | Jerome A. Anderson, m.d. | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mr. A. H. Spencer | 5 | 0 | 0 | A Few Kind Friends | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. A. P. Cumming | 2 | 6 | 3 | Nirvana Branch | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Mr. James H. Connelly | 1 | 0 | 0 | Mrs. Grace Stuart Brocklesby | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. J. C. Ver Planck | 1 | 0 | 0 | Miss Annie Laws | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A Lady | 1 | 0 | 0 | T. Weir Anderson | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mrs. Eliza Quimby | 1 | 0 | 0 | Fred Dick | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mrs. Millie B. Rowe | 1 | 0 | 0 | H. Schoonmaker | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| E. D. Hammond | 0 | 8 | 0 | The Widow | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Miss Esther Phillips | 0 | 8 | 0 | W. M. | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| F. J. G. | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| G. Hijo | 2 | 0 | 0 | Miss Lizzie A. Russell | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Col. H. N. Hooper | 1 | 0 | 0 | Incognito | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| – | 20 | 0 | 0 | Trying to become a Theosophist | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Hosea | 5 | 0 | 0 | F. F. L. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| G. E. W. (Chicago) | 4 | 5 | 0 | Mrs. A. M. Wyman | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Lady Caithness | 4 | 0 | 0 | T. P. M’Carty | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| Ariel | 3 | 0 | 0 | M. W. | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| M. J. G. | 3 | 0 | 0 | L. J. Olson | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| A Despised Theosophist | 2 | 0 | 0 | James G. Baldwin | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| S. E. G., F. T. S. | 0 | 10 | 0 | W. L. Ducey | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Frank Bauer | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| J. B. | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| £ | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 138 | 13 | 10 | |
| Previously acknowledged | 108 | 3 | 6 |
| Total | 246 | 17 | 4 |
Memory
The Old House in the Canongate
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The Alchemists
It is doubtful if any school of philosophers have been maligned and misunderstood as have been the Alchemists. They are commonly referred to as either frauds or victims of fraud, who wrote unintelligible treatises upon “a pretended science by which gold and silver were to be made by the transmutation of the baser metals into these substances, the agent of the transmutation being called the Philosopher’s Stone.” Modern dictionaries define Alchemy as “An ancient science which aimed to transmute metals into gold, to find the panacea, universal remedy, universal solvent, etc.” In 1852 Dr. Charles Mackay published a History of the Alchemists. He has given what purports to be sketches of some Forty Searchers for the Philosopher’s Stone, and he represents them as a parcel of fools and imposters, with no other object in their studies and labours than the transmutation of base metals into gold, or the discovery of an agent for lengthening life.
It seems never to have occurred to these modern critics that the works of the genuine Alchemists are essentially religious: that under the veil of symbolism, man was the subject of, and his improvement or perfection the object of their Art. In that night of the Middle Ages the priesthood had armed itself with civil power. None but the servants of the Church were permitted to express an opinion upon the great questions of God, nature and man. The penalty of free speech upon matters that concerned the future welfare of man was the auto da fé of the Inquisition. It is for this reason that the treatises of the Alchemists upon man, his “second birth,” and the powers of nature, were written in a cypher which was a meaningless jargon to the uninitiated. The salvation of man and his transformation from a state of ignorance to a state of wisdom was usually symbolized under the figure of the transmutation of metals, though scarcely two writers adopted the same mode of expression. As one says:
“Although the wise men have varied their names and perplexed their sayings, yet they would always have us think but of one only thing, one disposition, one way. The wise men know this one thing; and that it is one they have often proved.”
And again:
“Those who know the mercury and sulphur of the philosophers, know that they are made of pure gold and the finest luna and argent vive, which are daily seen, and looked upon, from which our argent vive is elicited. . . .”
“Minerals made of living mercury and living sulphur are to be chosen; work with them sweetly, not with haste and precipitancy.”
This might read in ordinary English: Men having a living or sound soul and body are to be chosen; work with them sweetly, not with haste and precipitancy (if you wish to accomplish that transformation which is treated of 289in “The Voice of the Silence,” and “Light on the Path”; or, in the Bible, spoken of as the re-birth).
Sometimes the real meaning of the author is but thinly veiled. Heriot de Borderie has written of
“an isle, |
In an old work entitled “The Open Way to the Shut Palace of the King,” the author in one place exclaims:
“My heart murmureth things unheard of. . . . Would to God that every ingenious man in the whole earth understood this science. . . . Then would virtue, naked as it is, be held in great honour, merely for its own amiable nature.” . . . “Our Gold is not to be bought for money, though you should offer a crown or a kingdom for it: for it is the gift of God.”
These esoteric writings through which they taught, saved their own heads, yet plunged thousands into vain and useless efforts to find their 290supposed agent for transmuting baser metals into gold; but as one of them asks: “Who is to blame, the Art, or those who seek it upon false principles?” The genuine Alchemists speak of these blind searchers for a universal solvent, which, if they found it, no vessel could contain, as having the “Gold fever:” they looked upon them as “sick men.”
It is quite true that those who wasted their lives in the laboratory among retorts and chemicals in the vain effort to discover the Philosopher’s Stone were the fathers of modern chemistry; though it is also evident that some of the genuine Alchemists were among the most learned men of the day, in the fields of chemistry and medicine.
“The Salt of Nature Regenerated,” is an English translation of an Alchemical work written in Arabic. The author talks about the central salt, the firmament, the astrum, the spiritual water, the watery spirit, the water of life, etc., but in one place speaks quite plainly:
“He that hath the knowledge of the Microcosm, can not be long ignorant of the knowledge of the Macrocosm. This is that which the Egyptian industrious searchers of Nature so often said, and loudly proclaimed . . . . that everyone should know himself. This speech their dull disciples took in a moral sense, and in ignorance affixed it to their Temples. But I admonish thee, whosoever thou art, that desirest to dive into the inmost parts of Nature, if that which thou seek thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. If thou knowest not the excellency of thine own house, why dost thou seek and search after the excellency of other things? The universal Orb of the world contains not so great mysteries and excellencies as a little Man, formed by God in his own Image. And he who desires the primacy amongst the students of Nature, will nowhere find a greater or better field of study than Himself. Therefore will I here follow the example of the Egyptians, and from my whole heart, and certain true experience proved by me, speak to my neighbour in the words of the Egyptians, and with a loud voice do proclaim: O man, know thyself; in thee is hid the treasure of treasures.”
In a most excellent little work on Alchemy and Alchemists, anonymously published by a gentleman in St. Louis, and now out of print, and of which this paper is really a review, there is cited a chapter from “Secrets Revealed,” by Eyrenaeus. It treats of “the Regimen of Sol.” I quote it, with the explanatory remarks of the author of Alchemy, as a good specimen of the extent to which some of the Alchemists carried their symbolical mode of writing:
“Now thou art drawing near to the close of thy work, and hast almost made an end of this business, all appears now like unto pure gold, and the Virgin’s Milk, with which thou imbibest this matter is very citrine. (I. Cor. iii. 2. The conscience is very sound and healthy.)
“Now to God, the giver of all good, you must render immortal thanks, who hath brought this work on so far, and beg earnestly of him, that
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thy counsel mayest hereafter be so governed, that thou mayest not endeavour to hasten thy work, so as to lose all, now it is so near to perfection; consider that thou hast waited now about seven months (the time is indefinite) and it would be a mad thing to annihilate all in one hour; therefore be thou wary; yea, so much the more by how much thou art nearer to perfection.
“But if thou do proceed warily in this Regimen, thou shalt meet with these notable things (experiences, symbolized, of an entrance into the higher Light or Life): first, thou shalt observe a certain citrine sweat to stand upon thy Body; and after that citrine vapour, then shall thy Body below be tinctured of a violet colour, with an obscure purple intermixed. (When these works were written, physicians were in the habit of judging of the condition of their patients by the appearance of a certain water, a citrine colour indicating a healthy condition. . . . here intended to signify the moral condition of the matter of the Stone: . . . violet is the symbol of Love, and purple of Immortality [28] . . . which are beginning to dawn upon the man in this stage of work: . . . but to proceed.) After fourteen or fifteen days’ expectation in this Regimen of Sol, thou shalt see the greatest part of thy matter humid (submissively yielding, . . . not by any force of will, but by a much more irresistible constraint, acting yet sweetly and not violently), and although it be very ponderous (self-willed), yet it will ascend in the Belly of the Wind. (‘But when they arise or ascend,’ says Artephius, referring to the Soul and Body of the one man, ‘they are born or brought forth in the Air or Spirit, and in the same they are changed, and made Life with Life, so that they can never be separated, but are as water mixed with water. And therefore it is wisely said, that the Stone is born of the Spirit, because it is altogether spiritual.’[29] But to return to Eyrenaeus.)
“At length, about the twenty-sixth day of this Regimen, it will begin to dry; and then it will liquify and recongeal, and will grow liquid again a hundred times a day, (fluctuate between hopes and fears, assurances and doubts; . . . some of the writers say that, in this stage of the work, the matter will put on all the colours in the world, &c.), until at the last it will begin to turn into grains; and sometimes it will seem as if it were all discontinuous in grain, and then it will grow into one mass again: and thus it will put on innumerable forms in one day; and this will continue for the space of about two weeks.”
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“At the last, by the will of God, a Light shall be sent upon thy matter, which thou canst not imagine.[30]
“Then expect a sudden end, which within three days thou shalt see; for thy matter shall convert itself into grains, as fine as the atoms of Sol and the colour will be the highest Red imaginable, which for its transcendent redness will show Blackish,[31] . . . like unto the purest blood when it is congealed.”
“But thou must not believe that any such thing can be an exact parallel of our Elixir, for it is a MARVELLOUS CREATURE, not having its compare in the whole universe, nor anything exactly like it.”
(Descriptions similar to this may be found in all of the writings of the Alchemists in best repute among themselves. The author of the above wrote a Commentary upon Sir Geo. Ripley’s Compound of Alchemy, expressly, as he tells us, that the reader might have the testimony of two combined. In this Commentary may be found the following passages):
“In the beginning, therefore, of our Work, through the co-operation of heat (nature), both internal and external, and the moisture of the Matter concurring, our Body gives a Blackness like unto pitch, which for the most part happens at forty, or at the most fifty days.”
“This colour discovers plainly that the two natures are united. (By these two natures, the reader surely understands by this time, are meant what are called by innumerable names, Sol and Luna, gold and silver, Heaven and Earth, Phœbus and Daphne, superior and inferior, Soul and Body, &c., &c.) And if they are united, they will certainly operate one upon the other, and alter and change each other from thing to thing, and from state to state, until all come to one Nature and Substance Regenerate, which is a new Heavenly Body.
“But before there can be this renovation, the Old Man must necessarily be destroyed (Eph, iv. 22-24, and Col. iii. 9, 10), that is, thy first Body must rot and be corrupted, and lose its form, that it may have it repaid with a new form, which is a thousand times more noble. So then our work is not a forced nor an apparent, but a natural and radical operation, in which our Natures are altered perfectly, in so much that the one and the other, having fully lost what they were before, yet without change of kind (without an absolute change of substance) they become a third thing, homogeneal to both the former.
“Thus, they who sow in tears shall reap in joy; and he who goeth forth mourning, and carrying precious seed, shall return with an abundance of increase, with their hands filled with sheaves, and their mouths
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with the praises of the Lord.[32] Thus the chosen or redeemed of the Lord shall return with songs, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and sighing and sorrows shall fly away.
“Remember, then, this alchemic maxim, namely, that a sad cloudy morning begins a fair and a cheerful noontide; for our work is properly to be compared to a day, in which the morning is dark and cloudy, so that the sun (the Truth) appears not. After that, the sky is overclouded, and the air cold with northerly winds, and much rain falls, which endured for its season; but after that the sun breaks out, and shines more and more, till all becomes dry; and then at noonday not a cloud appears, but all is clear from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Here the author introduces cautions against haste and over-anxiety, advising patience, and proceeds:
“Then shalt thou have leisure to contemplate these wonders of the Most High, and if they do not ravish and astonish them in beholding them, it is because God hath not intended this science for thee in Mercy, but in judgment . . . . . Remember, then, when thou shalt see the renewing of these Natures, that with humble heart and bended knees thou praise and extol and magnify that gracious God (your own higher Self), who hath been nigh unto thee, and heard thee, and directed thine operations, and enlightened thy judgment; for certainly flesh and blood never taught thee this, but it was the free gift of that God who giveth to whom he pleaseth. (Jno. iii. 8.) This is the highest perfection to which any sublunary Body can be brought, by which we know God in One, for God is Perfection: – to which, whenever any creature arrives in its kind (according to its nature), it rejoiceth in Unity, in which there is no division nor alterity, but peace and rest without contention . . . . .
“This is the last and noblest conjunction, in which all the mysteries of this microcosm have their consummation. This is by the wise called their Tetraktive conjunction, wherein the Quadrangle is reduced to a Circle,[33] in which there is neither beginning nor end. He that hath arrived here, may sit down at banquet with the Sun and Moon. This is the so highly commended Stone of the wise, which is without all fear of corruption . . . . .
“And this work is done without any laying on of hands, and very quickly, when the matters are prepared and made fit for it. This work is therefore called a Divine Work.”
In the Commentary upon the Fifth Gate of Ripley, the author, taking up the work in its more advanced state, says:
“Thy Earth (meaning Thyself, addressing the Seeker), then being renewed, behold how it is decked with an admirable green colour which
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is then named the Philosopher’s Vineyard. This greenness (the indication of Spring), after the perfect whiteness, is to thee a token that thy matter (thyself again) hath re-attained, through the will and power of the Almighty, a new Vegetative Life: observe then how this Philosophical Vine (thyself still) doth seem to flower, and to bring forth green clusters;[34] know then that thou art now preparing for a rich vintage. (Col. i. 10.)
“Thy Stone (thyself) hath already passed through many hazards, and yet the danger[35] is not quite over, although it be not great; for thy former experience may now guide thee, if rash joy do not make thee mad.
Consider now that thou art in process to a new work; and though in perfect whiteness thy Stone was incombustible, yet in continuing it on the fire (of human passions) without moving, it is now become tender again: therefore, though it be not in so great a danger of Fire now as heretofore, yet immoderacy may and will certainly spoil all, and undo thy hopes; govern (thyself, understood) with prudence, therefore, while these colours shall come and go, and be not either over-hasty, nor despondent, but wait the end with patience.
“For in a short time thou shalt find that this green will be overcome with azure;[36] and that, by the pale wan colour, which will at length come to a Citrine; which Citrine shall endure for the space of forty-six days.[37]
“Then shall the Heavenly Fire descend, and illuminate the Earth (thyself) with inconceivable glory; the Crown of thy Labours shall be brought unto thee, when our Sol shall sit in the South, shining with redness incomparable.[38]
“This is our true Light, our Earth glorified (or body translated into Spirit): rejoice now, for our King (the inner man) hath passed from death to Life,[39] and possesseth the keys of both death and hell,[40] and over him nothing now hath power. (Rev. i. 18.)
“As then it is with those who are redeemed, their Old Man (the
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physical man of flesh) is crucified, wherein is sorrow, anguish, grief, heartbreaking, and many tears; after which the New Man (the true inner Man or the Ego) is restored, wherein is joy, shouting, clapping of hands, singing, and the like; for the ransomed of the Lord shall return with songs, and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: even so it is after a sort (the author means, precisely after this sort) in our operations; for first of all our Old Body dieth and rots, and is, as it were, corrupted, engendering most venomous exhalations, which is, as it were, the Purgatory of this Old Body, in which its corruption is overcome by a long and gentle decoction. And when it is once purged, and made clean and pure, then are the elements joined,[41] and made one perfect, indissoluble Unity; so that from henceforth there is nothing but concord and amity to be found in all our habitations.
“This is a noble step, from Hell to Heaven: from the bottom of the grave to the top of Power and Glory; from obscurity in Blackness, to resplendent whiteness;[42] from the height of Venenosity, to the height of Medicien. O Nature! how dost thou alter things into things, casting down the higher and mighty, and again exalting them from lowliness and humility! O Death! how art thou vanquished when thy prisoners are taken from thee, and carried to a state and place of immortality! This is the Lord’s (our Higher Self’s) doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” (Ps. cxviii. 23.)
The author then proceeds to illustrate the necessity of alternate action upon natural Bodies, before they can be prepared for a change of nature: they must be exposed to “heat” and “cold,” must be “dried’ and “watered” (prospered and saddened),[43] in order to be made pliable and yielding, &c., &c., all of which must be done with one Fire, which he immediately calls the “Spirit proper to it,”[44] and then tells us that the wise men have called it their Venus, or Goddess of Love and says: –
“Proceed, therefore, not as a fool, but as a wise man; make the water of thy Compound (thine own spirit) to arise and circulate, so long and often that the Soul, that is to say, the most subtle virtue of the Body, arise with it, circulating with the Spirit in manner of a Fiery Form, by which both the Spirit and the Body are enforced to change their colour and complexion: for it is this Soul of the dissolved Bodies, which is the subject of wonders; it is the life, and therefore quickens the dead; it is
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the Vegetative Soul, and therefore it makes the dead and sealed Bodies, which in their own nature are barren, to fructify and bring forth. . . .
“Make sure of thy true Matter, which is no small thing to know, and though we have named it, yet we have done it so cunningly, that, if thou wilt be heedless, thou mayest sooner stumble at our books than at anything thou did’st ever read in thy life. Meddle with nothing out of kind (out of species or nature) whether Salts (generally called corrosives) or Sulphur, or whatever is of like imposition; and whatever is alien from the perfect metals (foreign to our nature) is reprobate in our mastery. Be not deceived either with receipts or Discourse, for we verily do not intend to deceive thee; but if you will be deceived, be deceived.”
These writers have a favourite way of saying that recipes are deceits, and yet their books are filled with them; but their recipes deceive no one who proceeds so far in the knowledge of their Art as to understand that it is not a work of the hands, but one of thought and meditation, with which the life must be kept in unison; for it is the destruction of the whole work not to have the thought and deed keep company, insuring in the end a perfect union of the intellect and will; for Sol and Luna must be indissolubly joined, and when this is done by nature, no Art can separate them.”
The author of Alchemy gives the following list as comprising the best among the numerous works of the Alchemists. There were many pretenders and false prophets, and it is not an easy matter for one unfamiliar with their strange symbology to distinguish at sight the writings of the true Alchemists from the false. A gullable public looking for some secret by which they could secure an advantage over their neighbours, were evidently as easily duped in those days as in the present.
“The books being sifted,” says the author we have quoted, “a few only are retained – such as Hermetical Triumph; Artephius (in Salmon’s Clavis Alchymiae); Espagnet’s Arcanum; The Open Entrance to the Shut Palace of the King; Ripley’s Compound of Alchemy, but more especially Ripley Revived, by Cosmopolita; The Marrow of Alchemy; Zoroaster’s Cave; Aurifontina (a small volume containing fourteen treatises, including the excellent letter of Bernard Trevisan to Thomas of Bononia); Sandivogius; Pernety’s, or Gaston le Doux’s Dictionary, both valuable; Basil Valentine; Isaac Hollandus; and some other works, not forgetting those of Hermes, whose Smaragdine Table is said to contain the whole Art, though comprised in a page or two; (see note, p. 297) . . . . the books being sifted, we say, the student, after passing through various transitions of confidence and doubt, prizing the books highly and verging upon a contempt for them, may finally be content to use them as means only; and, having his attention directed to one only thing, may at last strike the key note which reduces to harmony all discords; and then (some of the writers say) he may burn his library; for the Truth is prior to the books expressing it, and remains unaffected
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by all the perversities of man in the treatment of it. The Art cannot be false, however men err about it; so these writers say; and when discovered, it is found to be true in all countries, under all governments, and in view of all religions.”
The student of Theosophy will find an interesting study in the comparison of the teachings of the Alchemists with the ethics of Theososophical Occultism. It is strange but true, that the essence of true Wisdom-Religion was taught in Europe in the darkest days of its known history to those who would listen. It well illustrates the oft-repeated fact that for those who will hear, the voice of the Masters is always in the world.
Following is a copy of the Hermetic Creed, well known to Occultists. It is also called the Smaragdine (or Emerald) Table. The translation here given is taken from Salmon's Clavis Alchymiae, published in 1692.
1. This is true and far distant from a lie; whatsoever is below is like that which is above; and that which is above is like that which is below. By this are acquired and perfected the miracles of One Thing.
2. Also, as all things were made from One, by the help of One, so all things are made from One Thing by conjunction.
3. The Father thereof is the Sun, and the Mother thereof is the Moon; the Wind carries it in its Belly, and the Nurse thereof is the Earth.
4. This is the Mother or Fountain of all perfection; and its power is perfect and entire, if it be changed into Earth.
5. Separate the Earth from the Fire, and the subtile and thin from the gross and thick; but prudently, with long sufference (patience), gentleness, aud with wisdom and judgment.
6. It ascends from the Earth up to Heaven, and descends again from the Heaven to the Earth, and receives the powers and efficacy of the Superiors and Inferiors.
7. In this Work, you acquire to yourself the wealth and glory of the whole World: drive therefore from you all cloudiness, or obscurity, and darkness, and blindness.
8. For the Work increasing and going on in strength, adds strength to strength, forestalling and over-topping all other fortitudes and powers, and is able to subjugate and conquer all things, whether they be thin and subtile, or thick and solid bodies.
9. In this manner was the World made, and hence are the wonderful conjunctions or joinings together of the matter and parts thereof, and the marvellous effects, when in this way it is done, by which these wonders are effected.
10. And for this cause I am called Hermes Trismegistus; for that I have the knowledge or understanding of the philosophy of the Three Principles of the Universe.
My Doctrine, or Discourse, which I have delivered concerning the Solar Work is complete and perfect.
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"Light through the Crannies"
I have been sent forth to seek for thee, O little one. It was told me thou shouldst perish if I sought thee not. But I find thee swathed in the luxurious purple of kings and covered with the ermine of the nations, and thy head is nestled upon snowy feathers where the rose of the cheek showeth rosier by contrast. Is it thus Christ shall be born?
And she who spake was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, but she dwelt alone in a city of mist where none might enter who had not been purged from the grossness of the body.
And the babe whom she sought lay in a marble hollow shaped like a manger, but formed in the most exquisite fashion of carving to represent both the wheat-sheaf of Ceres with its heavily-laden ears, and the Chalice of Bacchus, and underneath were the sculptured forms of four gods of the Body, while upon the outer circle were golden shields blazoned with the twelve labours of Hercules and the Loves of Venus.
And the hollow which was manger-like in shape was lined with the softest down taken from the breasts of a certain breed of sacred swans at the time of nesting, for these fed upon the fish of the holy water and had become an institution of the Temple long ages past, as was recorded in the Holy Script, but the down had been stored away in the perfume of spices and incense that it might be preserved against the time it was wanted for this particular purpose.
But this breed of swans has lessened age by age as the prophecy said they should do, so that from uncountable numbers there remained only two and at the plucking time these also died, so that those wise ones who kept the ancient scripts knew that the time was at hand when the Christ should be born. So they set about making this cradle manger for him of marble, gold, precious stones and its wealth of Syrian silks, that the babe who was called by the name of the Sun-God should lie therein and be worshipped by all the people. She who came from the land of the mist, was fair to see and her feet were swift.
And she stood gazing at the rosy babe in his dead splendour, till her heart was moved with compassion for him. And she said:
“Surely a living heart and a living love were worth a thousand times as much as all these offerings of the dead, and the unjustly plucked feathers which have been withheld from the nest of the young cygnets, who being thus denuded of their warmth, have gradually diminished in number, and become extinct as a species, leaving the holy water tenantless. Although the marble basin hath been cut into quaint devices by the skill of man’s hand, yet because this also hath been wrought merely for the daily wage that man’s body might flourish, it is profitless, therefore are the lines of thy graven forms full of corruption, and thy fair living flesh, O babe, will become pregnant with these before the eyes of thy discernment are opened. These offerings of Ceres are not the living germs but the dead pictures thereof, and the wine of Bacchus, that which mocketh the Gods with such a draught of hallucination that they are maddened thereby. Who am I, that the task of nourishing thee should be given unto me? And yet methinks to spare thee so much discomfort and loss as my dainty robes and furbished bed are like to cause thee, I am well content to bear the penalty, for 299my beauty is beyond the beauty of earth, and love groweth within me as I gaze thereupon.”
And as she spake, the little one opened his eyes, and looking up, shuddered as though an evil shadow had fallen over him; and she seeing his aversion to these gauds and cold splendours which were heaped around and upon him, leaned forward so that his eyes should meet hers; and immediately he stretched out his arms with a glad cry of welcome, and cast from him his coverlet of purple in the effort to uprise and embrace her. And she being overjoyed at the babe’s recognition of the love in her, unwound the bandages and swathes which had been put upon him and began to fold them neatly and lay them daintily each on the other. For she said, “In ignorance have these people done this, not knowing of what Nature the child should be, but they will be better pleased if the care of ages be reverently put aside, rather than rudely crumpled and trodden under foot. Truly in ignorance wrought they, not knowing. Yet because they laboured with zeal and had an honest purpose of help in them, their offerings shall not be despised. Thy body hath lain therein and made the place of their worship – Holy.”
And when she had put from Him all the many embroidered vestments and golden symbols as things no longer needed, she took the child in her arms and folded him against her bosom nearest her heart, that He might take warmth from the warmth of her own life, and He looked unto her with the joy of freedom and the tenderness of her own love reflected seven times back at her.
And she said: “Having nothing, thou possessest all treasure; but having much earth treasure, thou wast poor in the eyes of those who know the nature of love.”
And they who came to worship at the shrine of the sleeping babe, came with music and incense and all the glory of the pomp of pride, and all the beauty of changeful dyes.
And when the woman heard the sound of the music and knew that the hour of worship was come, she took the coverlet of purple from its place and lay it over the draperies she had folded in the manner of a pall, and arose with the child in her bosom, travelling swiftly towards the land of mist.
And the crowd came hither, and music rang to the vaulted roof of the temple, and all things therein were bathed in the luxurious light and splendour of the scene.
Then He who stood nearer the manger-cradle, lifted up the purple with a gesture of adoration. And behold – in the place of the child, lay one who looked at him out of mocking eyes and he had a face such as demons wear. Moreover, his body had consumed the whiteness of the down, and the garments which the babe had worn were spotted living crimson, which burned with increase and was disease.
And immediately the priest lifted the purple, he who had lain concealed beneath it, uprose and spread his wings and laughed until the temple shook from base to roof, and the light of the glorified Altar became red as blood; the fragrant incense also turned into clouds of noxious fumes, and all men’s faces gathered blackness as though the day of the wrath of the Lord had come.
And when the people saw what had happened, they made as though they would escape out of the Temple, but the laughter of the demon followed them, 300and all things fell into dust before this terrible sound. So that, behold, the morning sun looked not any more on the fair presentment of Power but upon a blackened heap of cinders scattered over a large space of earth, in which was contained all that was left of the vestments of long gathered centuries and the bones of men.
But she who dwelt in the land of the mist kept the living babe and none knew of her, for her land was lonely.
And He grew with her love rapidly until the voice of his speech made itself heard in her heart.
Then said He, “There is a cry of woe in the land of Darkness. Behold it is time one went unto them to teach them the way of the path of Light.”
And she said: “Am not I Thine and Thou mine. Surely whatsoever is in me I render freely unto Thee as though it were Thine own will and Thine own strength. Shall we go unto the people who love phantoms, but hate Truth?”
And He answered: “It is so urged upon me that we seek again the place of the Temple where at first I lay, and under the dome of which the offerings of zeal were gathered.”
So she took him in her arms, and they went forth together.
And when they had come into the place of the Temple where he was born, there remained no mark of its mighty walls and carven pillars, only the ground was blackened with the memory of the past.
And the scattered remnants of burned-out glory lay crisp in ashes under the woman’s feet.
And she said: “Surely destruction hath come speedily. Methought that the days of doom to others halted, because our love was so pleasant, and our land so blessed.”
And He answered: “Behold the pattern of the True Temple is Here. Thou shalt build it. And I will tell thee what thou shalt do, but first scoop out with thine hands a hollow for me in the cinders wherein I may lie, while thou buildest around me such a home as I love.”
And she put him from her and hollowed in the ashes of the charred wood which had once been oaken rafters of the Temple, a place fitted for the size of His body, and she spread her outer garment over it and laid Him carefully therein, mutely caressing his limbs and murmuring over Him words of love.
And He said: “Gather out from the left side of me such pieces of cinder as have got in them traces of their early nature remaining, and lay these together upon the left side in a heap.”
So she gathered as he dictated and at eventide the heap was larger than she supposed possible.
And when night was come she lay down beside the hollow, and took His hand in hers, and slept the sleep of the righteous, and saw a vision.
And behold. This was not a Temple like the Temple builded with hands that she had been working upon, but an eternal monument, a living essential Truth. And the strewn ashes were the lives of saints purified by the zeal that had given so much for a mistaken cause, for the creeds had to die that the men might live.
And she saw all those who had suffered aught for the name of Truth, from every nation under Heaven, bursting out of their sepulchre of darkness and 301becoming vital in the glory of the Child. And the hollow which she had made with her own hands was formed of lives more holy than all the rest, and behold a much fairer couch than the swan’s-down-lined-manger, carven of cold marble and decked with jewels. And one stood by her in her vision and said:
“How great a work is thine, O woman, of the land of the mist. Dost thou not question with thyself who thou art? and for what virtue in thee thou wast chosen to take upon thee so heavy a labour as this?”
And she answered: “So that the child fare well, I care not about my labour, neither do I seek any reward. Let the glory be His. I am content to remain in the land of the mist.”
And he said: “Hast thou seen the Sun at his uprising dimmed with light vapour? What thinkest thou will become of this when the meridian of his height is reached?”
And she said: “The Sun drinketh it into his beams, by reason of warmth it is lost.”
Then answered he: “Can there be any loss in that which out-giveth and intaketh Life for ever?”
And she said: “I know not. Let me look upon the face of the Child again. The glory of the Saints around Him has hidden Him from my Sight.”
And immediately there was a loud cry of adoration – and she was before a great disc of light – and the face of the Child looked out from it, and He said unto her: “Behold thy labour and rejoice, for there is no more Death.”
And His features were changed, His voice also had become powerful with the power of His Holy Ones. And he said again: “What wilt thou I give unto Thee?” Then stood she before Him sorrowfully and answered: “Let it be enough I have so long laboured in ignorance that my soul is weary. Let it be given unto me, that the people live and I go into the land of mist, my own land, and there live forgotten until my earthly days are done. All my joy was in Thee. They who are nearer unto Thee in glory – to them commit I my charge over Thee.” And he said: “Shall any part those whom God hath joined?”
She answered: “I know not – I am weary.” And the sorrow that smote into her heart like a sharp shaft of steel awoke her, and behold the hollow of ashes. The place of desolation and the remembrance of the past was with her – but the babe was not there.
Then went she a day’s journey seeking Him, and at night-fall came unto a Forest, where even night was made trebly dark by interlacing branches and the air was poisonous because the trees were fed from fetid waters.
But this she knew not.
And stood communing with herself saying: “Shall I go further or perish here? It is as well that I die in one place as in another. Life is burdensome unto me.”
And behold He who had lain in the hollow stood near her and said:
“Thou art reserved for the fuller life, for if thou touchest the trees they shall become vital with thy vitality and the old order of poison fumes shall be done away.” Then said she: “Art Thou always with me that thus – when I am in the deep of despair – Thou answerest me?”
And he said: “Thou hast carried me on thy bosom heretofore – now thou shalt bear me with thee in thy Soul – and we shall never part, for thou shalt be unto me another Self, no less dear because thou art yet left unto thy time of limitations – demand and supply from the law of the natural body.”
And these words of the Child and the vision of Him comforted her, so that she went forth amongst the people – carrying with her the presence of the Holy One – who waiteth the hour of revelation by the faith of His People.
November 19th, 1889.
The Vivisectors
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Rest
A solitary cottage stood on the edge of a bleak moorland. The sun sank behind the low horizon, and left marshy pools glowing like living opals. A stream of homeward flying rooks made a streak of indigo across the topaz sky where gauzy wind-riven clouds floated westward. The sacred hush of eventide brooded under the calm wings of night.
Out on the waste wandered the Angel of “Sleep,” and the Angel of “Death” with arms fraternally entwined, and whilst the brotherly genii embraced each other, night stole down with velvet footfall, and the green stars peered forth. Then the Angel of Sleep shook from out his hands the invisible grains of slumber, and bade the night wind waft them o’er the World. And soon the child in its cradle, the tired mother, the aged man, and the pain-ladened woman were at peace. The curfew tolled out from the distant hamlet and then was still. Inside the cottage a rushlight burned faintly, indicating the poverty of the room, and illumining the death-like features of the boy who lay on the bed. By his side, worn out, sat the father, his horny hand clasped in that of his child. And the two brother Angels advanced, hand in hand, and peered in at the window, and the Angel of Sleep said: “Behold how gracious a thing it is, that we can visit this humble dwelling and scatter grains of slumber around, and send oblivion to the weary watcher. I am beloved and courted by all. How merciful is our vocation.”
And silently he entered the room.
He kissed the eyelids of the weary watcher, and as he did so some grains fell from out the wreath of scarlet poppies that lay, like drops of blood, upon his brow. But the Angel of Death sat without, his pallid face shrouded in the sable of his wings. And he spake to the Angel of Sleep, “Of a truth thou art happy and beloved. The welcome guest of all, whereas I am shunned, the door is barred as against a secret foe, and I am counted the enemy of the World.” But the Angel of Sleep wiped away the immortal tears from the dark and mournful eyes of his brother Death. “Are we not children born of the one Father,” said he. “And do not the good call thee friend, and the lonely, the homeless, the weary laden, bless thy hallowed name when they wake in Paradise.”
And the Angel of Death unfurled his sable wings and took heart. And as Lucifer the light-bringer paled in the violet Heavens he silently entered the dwelling. With his golden scythe he cut the silver cord of life, and gathered the child to his faithful bosom.
"Wherein is Love, Therein is God"
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But half-thought thoughts, but half-wrought deeds, |
| Evelyn Pyne. |
Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues
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Christmas Peace
Mme. Blavatsky asks me to try to write a short article for the Christmas number of “Lucifer.” “Something pretty for Christmas,” she said. I do not know whether I am capable of producing anything worthy of this description; but I will do the best I can.
And surely if it is to be in harmony with the Spirit of the Season, it must be a word of peace and not of controversy. An old prophet declared “Woe” to such as say “Peace, peace, where there is no peace,” but is it not almost more woeful to say “War, war,” where there is no war? Religious controversialists have ever been in greater danger of erring on this side than on the former, not discerning what manner of spirit they professed to be of.
If a man will look earnestly into himself, he will see that his real danger is to cry “Peace” for himself, and “War” for others. It was entirely against this spirit that the Prophet’s “woe” was directed. It is recorded, I believe, of Father Benson, of Cowley, that, travelling in a railway carriage once, a Salvation Army captain entered into conversation with him regarding the state of his soul. “Have you found peace, brother?” said the Salvationist. Whereon Mr. Benson laconically replied. “No! War!” The strong and fiery controversialist, who threatens and denounces, is not he looking for peace where he should look for war, for war where he should look for peace. He is in himself, as he thinks, at peace. His whole effort is not to set himself right, to judge, to weigh, to criticise himself but to set others right and criticise them: he has believed; he is saved. Alas, he sees not the self-righteous pride, the ignorance of his own ignorance, the too easy satisfaction with his own very poor standard of attainment of the practical virtues such as self-sacrifice and humility. He sees himself only as he believes himself to be. But of those who do not agree with him in all he sees, or thinks he sees, their wilful obstinacy; their perverse shutting of their eyes to the truth. It is not to be denied that he is strangely devoted in a mistaken way. He will labour with these erring ones, as he thinks them; he will argue with them, pray for them: but – if they do not submit he will then treat them as unworthy of any consideration; will assume all means which may bring them into disrepute as lawful to him, and think that in so doing he is doing service to the Prince of Peace!
Thank God we are many of us growing wiser now. We are beginning to understand that the conflict we are called to is a conflict not with the sins of others but with our own. A wise man once said to me: “I know more evil about myself than about anyone else,” and it is true:
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for the evil we mark in ourselves is surely there, whereas the evil we think we see in others may not be there at all; and even if it were, until we are quite sure that we are quite perfect it is no part of ours to be angry with others.
It is impossible to discover by anything that a man can say to us, whether he is on the true side or not. Neither are isolated deeds a true criterion. The only sure test is one that only God can use. It is to know the whole trend and spirit of the man’s life. You may see his sins, and not see the frightful source of temptation before which he has fallen; or the agonies of self humiliation and repentance with which he himself regards his fall. Not to know some of his acts, but to know all his acts, this alone is sufficient; and you cannot know all fully without knowing the opposing force he has had to resist, and the estimate he himself forms of his act when it is done.
But indeed our own Christian Scriptures cut the ground entirely away from under the feet of the man who sets himself up to judge and condemn his fellows. “Judge not that ye be not judged.” “Judge yourselves,” for the same reason “that ye be not judged of the Lord.” “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth.” Fine words, these last: and all the finer when we remember that they are the words of one who said of himself, “After the way that men call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers.”
But it will be replied: “Perhaps it may be true that Christians ought to emphasise less rather than more the differences of view that exist among themselves, but it is quite another thing when you come to consider other religions. How can a Christian ever be at peace with a Mohammedan, a Brahman, or a Buddhist? Do not our Scriptures themselves denounce false religions and say “their Gods are Devils?”
To this I answer: No religion is ever called false on account of its name merely. Every tree must be judged by its fruit. The false religions denounced by the prophets were very different things from the great book-religions of the East. They were generally Phallic: their worship consisted in the sanctifying of lust, and the practice of every abomination. Now, although it is true that the fruit alone is the true test, yet it must ever be borne in mind that “fruit” does not mean unripe fruit; or fruit spoilt by the presence of some hidden worm, which affects the one particular apple alone, and for which the parent tree is in no sense responsible. What Christian, for instance, would like to offer his whole public and private life to most searching examination as an exemplification of What Christianity is? So in judging of all religions we must remember this. We cannot, from the condition of the case, fully and accurately estimate the exact value of the fruit borne by the wide-reaching trees of these great religions; what we ought to endeavour to estimate is the sort of fruit that these systems themselves declare they are aimed at producing. There are a hundred points on which we should 327go wrong if we begin definitively setting side by side the acts and spirit (as far as we can know it) of those who belong to some other religion and those of our own. First of all we shall probably begin by assuming our own spirit to be perfect because it professes to be Christian, and conversely the others to be imperfect because they are not Christian. But, in truth, our own spirit is very far below true Christ-likeness. Our social system is heathen to the core. I say it in all serious earnestness. Our charity is a cold dead lay figure, tricked out to seem to represent the warm living truth. While Christ denounced competition and bade us not be careful about the things of the bodily life, we entirely reverse his teaching. Well, if the like allowances must be made for the professed disciples of other masters (and we surely shall not submit to the humiliation of confessing that these other masters are more faithfully obeyed than ours is), then it may surely quite possibly be that, unprogressive and childish as much that we hear of them may be, this is rather, as with us, to be credited to the feebleness of the professors than to the falseness of the truth taught by that master.
Of course I am not going to say that I personally think any teacher a better revealer of truth than Christ, because I do not. But I do say that the best way to prove this truth is not to get angry with those who think otherwise. Far better, far stronger, would be our case if we would seek to support it by that demonstration which can never fail to hit its mark and convince, even the demonstration of the power of our Master to raise and ennoble and sanctify the lives of those who call him Lord. Sympathy, love, self-sacrifice, truth, manifested in all departments of life; at home and abroad; when it makes for our present interest and when it does not: in Church and in the market; to friend and to stranger, and even to foe – this is the most powerful argument, and when this spirit is enshrined in the hearts of all Christians, and shines out in their daily acts and their whole national spirit and policy, that will be the finest missionary effort ever made. No need to shout and clamour and argue. No soul of man at all raised above savagery, be he black, or yellow, or white, but will at once feel and respond to this best experiment. When Christians are Christ-like, the world will believe in Christ.
Meanwhile, for my part, I will have war in myself against my own limitations and shortcomings, but peace with all mankind who are earnestly following out the highest that they know. War I must declare against those misguided brothers who are themselves warring against, or rather plundering, their poor brethren, utterly unable to help themselves. War is legitimate, and in God’s name let us declare it, against self-worship wherever it is found. That is the one idolatry never to be tolerated; but I have nothing but peace and God speed to say to those who worship any idea that points them away from themselves to the universal truths of righteousness and love.
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Far down in the Land of Wonders old |
| Reavel Savage, L.L.B., F.T.S. |
The veil of the darkness swung coldly |
| Mary Frances Wight, F.T.S. London, December 5th, 1889. |
The Talking Image of Urur
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A Socialist Song.
Have we not watched, and waited? . . Have we not |
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Than that old life we loathed – wherein no part |
| Evelyn Pyne. |
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Theosophical Activities
The number of press notices and multiplicity of letters from correspondents to editors, provoked by Colonel Olcott’s lectures upon “Theosophy,” “Karma,” “Reincarnation” and “Man’s Psychical Powers,” show very clearly that the tour is producing all the anticipated effect. We are quite warranted in expecting that the present agitation, all opposition notwithstanding, will have permanently beneficial results for our cause. As the Eastern doctrine of Karma is more closely studied by the educated classes, its philosophical reasonableness is being seen. At the close of his lectures, but more largely in the frequent conversaziones and private lectures he has given, Col. Olcott is cross-questioned upon the various bearings of the doctrine and his answers have not as yet been successfully rebutted. The past month has been a busy one for him. On November 8th he lectured privately at the house of Mr. Stapley, F.T.S.; every Thursday evening he attended the meeting of the Elavatsky Lodge T.S.; the 23rd he lectured at Steinway Hall on “The Psychical Powers in Man”; the 30th gave a private lecture in Edinburgh, and on the 3rd December presided at a reception given to Herr Carl Hansen, the Danish hypnotist. These, with constant paying and receiving of visits, correspondence and literary work, filled up his time. His further engagements are a lecture on Dec. 7th before the Bedford Park Club, several private ones in London, a public lecture at Bradford (Yorkshire), on “Japan,” another on Theosophy the next day, one in Newcastle on the 17th, and a meeting of the British Section on the 18th. Beyond this he is not likely to take provincial engagements, as he sails from Marseilles for Colombo on the 29th, and is compelled to look after his health, the disease which attacked him in Japan having again broken out. Col. Olcott has made a host of friends in Great Britain, who would gladly persuade him to stop here altogether if it were possible to wean his affections away from India; which it is not. Our best wishes will accompany him on his return voyage.
The East Anglian Daily Times plays a melancholy dirge on the organ of public sentiment; thus: –
“The Theosophic Propagandists are scoring so many successes that the Fathers at the Brompton Oratory will soon have to look to their laurels. Madame Blavatsky, as all the world knows, persuaded (?!) Mrs. Besant within the pale, and now it is announced that Colonel Olcott has converted an Anglican clergyman, who will henceforth act as his private secretary. The name of the reverend convert is not given.”
During the last few weeks Annie Besant has been addressing crowded audiences on Theosophy, and has roused much interest in the subject in the minds of the 342more thoughtful and intelligent. On October 27th, she spoke at Rochdale, and the lecture was followed by some slight opposition from the Spiritualists present. On November 10th she addressed an exceptionally thoughtful audience at Nottingham, Professor Symes taking the chair. Here there was no opposition, but a very large number of questions were put and fully answered. On the 17th, Milton Hall, Kentish Town, was crammed, to listen to the answer to the question, “What is Theosophy?” and here again the inquires bore eloquent testimony to the interest felt in the subject. On the 24th, at the Hall of Science, Old Street, a lecture on “Salvation by Christ or by Man?” gave the lecturer an opportunity of contrasting the ethical value of the doctrine that “character moulds destiny,” with the easy vicarious atonement of ecclesiastical Christianity. The month’s lecturing closed with an explanation of Theosophy to an audience that packed every foot of space in the marquee of the St. Pancras Reform Club, the most concentrated attention following each link of the argument presented.
Theosophical Society, American Section
[Our American branches have evidently no idea of going into “obscuration,” as may be seen by the following précis from the Report of the ad interim Convention held at San Francisco. Such signs of activity are distinctly encouraging and mark a growing power of initiative in the Society which should speedily bring about great results.]
The Convention assembled at the hall, 106 McAllister Street, San Francisco, Cal., October 12th and 13th, 1889. Dr. W. W. Gamble, President of the Bandhu Lodge, of Santa Cruz, was elected and took the chair. Allen Griffiths was nominated and elected Secretary.
The Chairman stated the objects of the Convention as follows: For mutual advancement; for the election of a Delegate to represent the Pacific Coast Branches at the next Annual Convention of April, 1890; for adoption of certain resolutions.
It was unanimously decided to hold the following sessions: –
Sunday, October 13, 10 a.m. Transaction of business. Consideration of methods for Theosophic work. Reading of Contributed papers.
2 p.m. That the Convention, by invitation, attend the regular open meeting of the Golden Gate Lodge.
7.30. p.m. An open session at which short speeches and papers bearing upon the three objects of the Society be in order.
Miss M. A. Walsh read a paper contributed by Mrs. M. H. Bowman of the Bandhu Branch, entitled, “Try to Lift a Little of the Karma of the World,” which aroused deep feeling and called out considerable discussion.
Communications were read from Los Angeles and Satwa Branches of Los Angeles, and St. Loma and Gautama Branches of San Diego, expressing cordial sympathy in the objects of the Convention, and heartily wishing that harmony should prevail, and that much good would result from its deliberations.
Under the head of unfinished business, the subject of “Theosophic Work” was taken up. Miss M. A. Walsh spoke as follows upon the subject: –
“The great purpose of Theosophic work is not so much to obtain members for a Branch, or to convert people to any special system, as it is to scatter seeds of truth, which, taking root, will cause people to become better Christians of any and every denomination. To dispel the darkness of ignorance, to show the universality of law, and man’s relation to the Cosmos, is the work of all those who have learned the first lessons of the Wisdom Religion – and this great purpose can be carried
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out in numberless ways, some of them apparently very round about, yet all tending to the goal. For example, a large field of indirect work presents tself in the many clubs and societies established in our cities and towns for mental culture. Our great poets are all seers of the occult; literature is a flowery by-path leading one unconsciously into theosoph c fields; philosophy, especially German philosophy, leads directly to the fundamental truths; while science takes one to the very threshold. A theosophic student endowed with tact can, f a member of any such society, do a great work in directing thought in the right direction. People who would not listen to anything under the name of Theosophy have by these indirect means become enthusiastic accepters of the fundamental principles of the Wisdom Religion – and have learned to make these principles a factor of their lives.
“Theosophy teaches wisdom, and wisdom is the knowledge how to produce the best results with the least expenditure of force, not only on the spiritual but also on the material planes; hence earnest Theosophists are needed in all reforms. To apply wise methods to practical ends, and thus to help lift the heavy Karma of the world, is a duty of every one whose eyes have been opened to the light.
“Another practical work is to establish centres of force. Scattered brands may be of little moment but let them be brought together, and behold the atmosphere is aglow with light and heat. The Theosophic movement is yet in its infancy; the workers are few, means are inadequate; many branches are doing to the utmost of their ability; to do more seems impossible; yet it is well to have an ideal, something to work towards, and would it not be well to think of our young people? What shall we theosophists do for the coming generation?”
Resolutions were then passed of adherence and devotion to the objects of the Society and of loyalty and allegiance to its founders; of recognition and appreciation of the General Secretary of the American Section and of all others who are devoting their lives and energies to the welfare and elevation of humanity; of assisting in every way in extending the influence of Theosophy, and increasing its usefulness by spreading abroad its literature and teachings. It was further: –
Resolved: “That we will correct mis-presentations of Theosophic truths; defend against unjust attacks its leaders and teachers; and endeavour to realise in our own lives, the truths which we advocate.
Resolved: “That we realise Theosophy as world-wide in its application, and universal in its power to reach and elevate all conditions of mankind; that no method is too insignificant, nor any plan too impracticable, to be utilised if humanity may be thereby elevated and made to realise a higher conception of its destiny.
Resolved: “That we realise the present as a cyclic period of great spiritual potentiality, and urge upon all Theosophists the importance of increased effort during its continuance.
Resolved: “That we recognise that mesmeric, and all other phases of occult phenomena, are dangerous if not understood, or when used for selfish purposes, as they are valuable if beneficially employed by the wise.”
Dr. Jerome A. Anderson was then elected as Delegate to represent the Pacific Coast Branches at the next annual Convention of the American Section. It was decided that the next ad interim Convention should be held at Santa Cruz.
We are sorry that lack of space compels us to put off the reprinting of the papers read before the Convention, or at least portions of them, to the January number, when we hope to have the pleasure of introducing them to our readers. Their titles are as follows: – Try to Lift a Little of the Heavy Karma of the World; A Few Suggestions Regarding the Higher Life; The First Object of the Theosophical Society – Universal Brotherhood; Aryan Literature; The Third Object of the Theosophical Society; Reasons for a Theosophical Revival.
Theosophy in Spain
Theosophical literature has already been introduced into Portugal by the work of our learned brother the Marquis de Figanière, entitled, “Under, In and Above the World,” which was published at Oporto in the early part of the year, and is, according to our reviewer in the May number, “one of the most scientific manuals of scientific literature that has yet appeared”; we have now the pleasure of announcing that Theosophy has made its public appearance in Spain by the publication at Madrid of a pamphlet entitled, “Que es la Theosophia?”
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by two energetic members of the Society. Translations of Isis Unveiled, Esoteric Buddhism, Light on the Path, The Buddhist Catechism and The Key to Theosophy, are already completed and will appear as the demand for theosophical literature increases. All honour, we say, to the brave pioneers of Theosophy in Spain!
Theosophy in Italy
Theosophy has also broken new soil in Italy, at Milan, and the Buddhist Catechism has been translated into Italian. Major Tarsillo Barberis recently gave a public lecture upon Buddha and his doctrine to a large and highly appreciative audience, taking his facts, as he informs us, from the Catechism. Our Milan sympathizers are greatly disappointed that Colonel Olcott is not able to pay them a visit before returning to India.
Theosophy in Sweden
The latest advices inform us that the Stockholm Branch numbers already about seventy members, and that our literature is on sale throughout the kingdom, and also in Denmark.
Theosophy in Holland
The Post Nubila Lux Branch, at the Hague, suffered a great loss by the death of Capt. Adalberth de Bourbon, the President, and ceased from their former activity; we are, therefore, glad to hear that a new nucleus is forming which promises to be more active and useful than even the old Branch
At a meeting of the San Francisco “Freethought Society,” Dr. Jerome A. Anderson, F.T.S., is reported to have spoken on the following subjects. We quote from “Freethought.”
This was the second lecture on “Matter and Spirit,” Dr. Jerome A. Anderson being the speaker and representing the Theosophical side of the question. Dr. Anderson laid down the proposition that matter and spirit are coeternal and self-existing, matter being something in motion, and spirit a power that controlled such motion. Scientists called the controlling power force, but unless they were ready to admit that force to be intelligent the speaker could not agree with them. He also rejected the popular scientific theories regarding the process by which worlds are thrown off from a central sun, averring that science failed to explain how the central sun first came into position. Theosophy taught, on the other hand, that there was no original central sun, but a “laya” centre produced by intelligent will – a point where there was no gravitation, and hence one toward which all the nebulous mass would necessarily gravitate, gravitation being only the expression of the cosmic will acting upon matter. Primary motion must also, the speaker held, be a direct expression of an intelligent force. Madame Blavatsky two years ago declared that gravitation was not universal in its action, and Professor Holden of the Lick observatory had lately confirmed her statement. Everything, Dr. Anderson held, was created to express an intelligent will – flowers to express beauty, mountains and forests to express grandeur, and so on. The doctor explained in a very interesting way his conception of the difference between the human soul and that of an animal. As to eternal life, Theosophy did not promise it to man, as such. The spiritual monad in man was given individual persistence only during one manvantara, or cycle of material existence.[45]
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This meeting was pronounced, by all who were fortunate enough to be present, one of the best yet held. Dr. Anderson is a man whose abilities command respect whatever may be thought of his opinions. His achievements as a microscopist and his published works on physiological subjects place him among the eminent medical men of the country. Touching the unsolved conundrums of life he is an ingenious if not accurate guesser.
This is precisely the difference between the learned men of Science who are true Theosophists, and those scientific men who being materialists – are not. Dr. J. A. Anderson is, in the opinion of his critics, at any rate an “ingenious, if not an accurate guesser,” while most of the materialists are disingenious, and therefore have to be inaccurate to save their theories. And even when they happen to be exact this is only so in the deceptive light of maya and so long as one evanescent hypothesis is not yet dethroned and replaced by another, on its way to the same destiny of oblivion.
Prehistoric Man on the American Continent – is the latest find of Science. The horizon is clearing for the Secret-Doctrine in the new as in the old world. While in the latter Mr. Grant Allen is confessing to a fully formed Miocene Man, American anthropologists confess to relics of men under twelve feet of pre-glacial gravel. We are told that:
In a railway cutting near Trenton, New Jersey, there have been found the earliest traces of man on the American Continent. They were buried under twelve feet of pre-glacial gravel. When they were disclosed, the objects were left undisturbed, until telegrams brought to the spot several anthropologists of authority, who declared the articles to be palæoliths of argillite, and characteristic of the earliest human efforts to form sharp edges in stone. The discovery followed a prediction by Dr. C. C. Abbott, whose views have hitherto been disputed both in Europe and America. After photographs had been taken, the specimens were removed to the Peabody Museum.
The particle “pre” in the word “pre-glacial” makes the term very elastic, as this allows “Esoteric Buddhism” to carry man far back before the Eocene into the Permian period of the carboniferous age, as much as it permits orthodox Geology to place him on the soil of pre-glacial gravel. But how about these at least approximate, dates of the beginning and the end of the so-called glacial period. Have Geologists finally agreed?
The following has been sent to us from America for insertion by our brother, Prof. Anthony Higgins.
“To all to whom it may concern: The only actual Theosophical Society in Washington and the District of Columbia, is ‘The Theosophical Society and Universal Brotherhood,’ incorporated by the Blavatsky Branch of the Society, according to act of congress, July 8, 1889. Any other Society in Washington that appropriates our name, ‘The Theosophical Society,’ does so without legal warrant or right. To any Society thus using our name and title, and falsely professing to be the only genuine ‘Theosophical Society,’ I give notice to cease using our name – ‘The Theosophical Society.’ I make this notification by the legal authority vested in the incorporated privileges and rights of our Society, particulars of which may be found deposited with the recorder of deeds of the District of Columbia, U.S.A.
“President of the Blavatsky Branch of the Theosophical Society and Universal Brotherhood, of Washington, D.C.,
“November 21, 1889.”
A New Theosophical Effort
The energetic General Secretary of the American section has inaugurated a new departure in the establishment of a Theosophical Press.
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The practical and co-operative spirit of the Prospectus will be seen by the following quotations: –
“Any member, club of members, or Branch paying $10 shall be entitled to have printing done for twelve months at the actual trade cost, that is to say, the cost of paper, ink, composition, and press work, and in addition the cost of mailing the matter when finished.
“In this way Branches can have papers printed, Branch stationery made up or tracts reprinted for distribution. The suggestion is offered that each Branch for a small outlay can thus keep its own printed transactions.”
This is decidedly a step in the right direction, and deserves the cordial support of all Theosophists. When will our English Theosophists do the same?
"Going To and Fro in the Earth"
In the journal of that name of November 23 we read the following: –
People who are fond of imagining for themselves great futures should read Mme. Blavatsky's work “The Secret Doctrine.” Those of them with brains enough to follow it through will stagger somewhat at the immensity of progress there depicted for them. We are taken through cycle after cycle, round after round, and shown the new faculties and magnified old ones that will evolve in us, and the ranges of cosmic laws whose comprehension will demand their use. We are regarded each as issuing from the ultimate fountain of divinity as spiritual embryos, and in the course of ages as returning to conscious rest therein as transcendently perfect Gods. And for Gods no less than for men, the ultimate law is everlasting evolution. This should satisfy ordinary ambition.
Theosophists do not seem to regard with much hope any political nostrum for bettering the condition of our lower classes. Every man's surroundings and physique are the natural outcome of his own tendencies, development and effort (or want of effort) in his own last lifetime; all efforts made now similarly affecting the next. Therefore their message is – do your duty fully in your present condition, since it is your own creation, and your self-appointed place in nature. This done, learn to evolve by care for the interest of others. The atmosphere will thus brighten, new faculties and modes of consciousness begin to evolve, and the Gods once more walk among and teach men. Their creed is certainly worth attention.
It is the fashion to refer to Theosophy as a new fad, a new creed, and so on. But it seems to be really none of these. The name was assumed by a mystic sect who, two or three centuries after Christ, followed the teachings of Ammonius Saccas. This man taught, as do the Theosophists, that under all religions and creeds is the same basis of truth under various aspects and variously corrupted. The truth is the deliverance of men’s deepest consciousness, but is nevertheless inaudible till the howlings of the lower nature for undue satisfaction of its desires are subdued and disregarded. So alike speak the ancient and the modern Theosophists, and their other resemblances are not less striking.
In the September number of Lucifer, the organ of the English Theosophists, is an exultant article pointing out that there are now in India no less than 144 branches of the Theosophical Society, comprising many thousand “Fellows. It is in reply to a statement of the Methodist Times, that the number of persons willing to own to their fellowship might be counted on the fingers of one hand. Since new branches in that country are frequently started, it would seem that Theosophy offers to the Buddhist a diet that agrees with him. Theosophists, in fact, claim that all real religions and philosophies consist of Theosophy in different suit of clothes, diaphanous or opaque, well- or ill-fitting,
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and one of the professed objects of their Society is the making of such rents in these as to enable them to see truth naked. Like the Buddhists they mostly hold strongly to the idea of the thread of individuality in each man reincarnating in a succession of personalities, in each of which it acquires more essentially unforgotten knowledge.
Yes; Branches in India are many, and Members, many. Verily “Many are the called;” but how many chosen?
Under this charitable Christian title, we find a “Village Missionary” ventilating his theological cobwebs in The Ceylon Friend, the organ of the Methodists, in that island. The Buddhist of Colombo makes copious extracts from it; and we can do no better than let our contemporary speak. It begins by quoting the precious bit of Wesleyan information that –
“ . . . . Every one of the demons has as real an existence as that of any member of his own family. He will tell you of terrible noises that he has heard produced by no human voice or act of any kind, of terrible calamities which can be ascribed to no other agency, of epidemics of cholera and small-pox which he never thinks of tracing to the execrable sanitation of the village, of how great stones have been thrown on houses and men out of ‘the invisible.’”
Belief in demons may be regarded as a superstition in a Buddhist, but it is an article of faith for every Christian, on the authority of St. Paul and the Churches. In this case, however, our brother, the editor of the Buddhist, disposes of the “Village Missionary” in one mouthful. He says:
The pharisaical scribbler of this article is evidently ignorant of the commonest phenomena of spiritualism. Although his life may have been spent here, books and papers are cheap; if his reading had been such as should be pursued by every teacher and instructor of others, he would know that what is so distressing to him is now an acknowledged scientific fact, and that the laws governing these manifestations are now considered proper and legitimate objects of study. Has he ever read the life of Wesley, the founder of his own sect? If not, let him do so, and he will learn that just such mysterious noises and occurrences were known to that gentleman. Perhaps, however, in this particular case they were angels and not “Sinhalese demons.”
If the “Village Missionary” wrote from any but a narrow and strictly partisan standpoint, he would admit that the Christian system has its angels and archangels, its cherubim and seraphim, its thrones, principalities and powers – that these are legion. He would also know, although we could hardly expect him to admit it, that of these some were originally the very demons he so deprecate. It is fitting, moreover, that those who have elevated an unnatural, fire-snorting, revengeful devil into a God, should take a train of demons along with him to form a hierarchy of angels. It is a mere change of names. Is not the Christian devil – created by this demon-god for the sole purpose of tempting man to disobey him and be thereby damned eternally – constantly employed in this delectable business; or are the “Village Missionary” and his brothers preaching lies?
Now that several Europeans and Americans of culture, far better educated and able than is the “Village Missionary,” have become Buddhists by conviction, and have the columns of the Buddhist at their disposal, we fear hard times are in store for the traditional enemy of the mild Hindu and philosophical Buddhist. Dr. E. J. Eitel, Ph. Doc., Tübingen, is quoted from his recent work on Buddhism:
“Another spark of divine light which the Buddhists possessed is discernible in their recognizing and constantly teaching the most intimate connection between the visible and invisible worlds. They knew that things seen are not the only realities. They looked upon the planets as inhabited by multitudes, all eagerly listening to Buddha’s preaching. They peopled the air with spirits, the firmament with legions of human beings, superior to ourselves in purity and happiness, but constantly communicating with us pigmies. They saw heaven open to each aspiring soul and mansions visible and invisible prepared for those of a pure and tranquil heart. They understood that an immense crowd of spectators is watching us unseen with intense interest, a crowd of devils grinning with delight at the progress of evil, and hosts of angelic beings rejoicing over the spread of truth on earth.”
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The only thing to which we take exception in the above extract is the Christian phraseology; we repudiate that and refuse to have it saddled upon Buddhism. We do not believe in souls and heavens and the other materialistic paraphernalia of the Christian system, as it is taught and accepted by them. The attention of the “Village Missionary” is called most earnestly to the fact that this Christian writer, who fears Buddhism, although much in it extorts his unwilling admiration, calls this belief “another spark of divine truth;” which is most certainly an admission that that noble and glorious philosophy has other sparks of the same nature. Let these gentlemen fight it out between them
Yes, the Buddhist knows that evil influences are constantly around him, trying to tempt to evil, and when possible to harm him through purely malicious motives. He does not worship them in the Christian sense of that word; with the system he pursues to placate them we can have no sympathy, nor indeed has any educated Buddhist. We know that the best shield, the strongest talisman, is to follow faithfully the precepts of our Blessed Lord, and then these influences will be powerless for harm.
Our “Village Missionary” tells us that the only way to expel this terrible system is to bestow on all a Christian education. In all humility and earnestness we suggest, that a nation that has murdered thousands of inoffensive people to force them to take a hated drug which was dragging its victims down to ruin – a nation that encourages drunkenness in order to increase its revenues – is not fit to be entrusted with the education of any youth – not even its own. If this is the result of Christian education in a Christian country by a Christian Government then by all means give us Heathenism and Demonism!
The same journal inserts a letter from our Brother, Mr. Powell, the American gentleman appointed pro tem. by the President to supervise the Ceylon Section of the Theosophical Society. We insert its last paragraph, showing that in despair, the meek, God-fearing and Christ-following Methodists have resorted to the cane as the best means to convert the “heathen Buddhist.”
A letter from Trincomalee informs me that the missionary in charge of the Wesleyan school at the place has been caning Hindu boys for refusing to learn the Christian Catechism. Most of the parents of pupils attending this school have taken their children away. Quite right, let all do so at once, so that this school shall lose its grant. I here beg of the Tamil community to express their disapprobation of this brutal act by laying the matter before the Director of Public Instruction and by helping their brothers in Trincomalee to get a good teacher and establish a school of their own. To the Trincomalee people I would say let each one give a handful of rice daily for this cause and they will succeed in having a school of their own. To the Buddhists of that place I say, help our brothers to withstand the common enemy.
But there is an abasement of Ideal far more pitiful than that caused by the cane or the animalism of the dissolute. It is that springing from ignorant and prosy emotionalism. We see it in past epochs, we see it now.
The vulgar boasting of the “Village Missionary” and the paradoxical fanfaronade of Salvation Army devotional methods, attended though they be with sincere zeal, are surpassed by the extravagancies of the American Faithists and “Fire-Brand” workers of the Free Methodist Church. The Fire-Brand, whose copies are constantly inflicted upon us, is the organ, apparently, of a handful – an army perchance, for all I know – of “Faith-workers” so called. Curiously enough the editor of the said organ declares that he is “publishing this paper for the Lord;” that it has no fixed price as “God will provide means to place it . . . in the hands of all whom He is desirous to have it;” and that finally, the editor “shall seek divine guidance in its distribution.” But it is not for printing materials and printers’ devils’ alone that the “Faith-workers” seem to depend 349upon God, but also for their daily food. What more repulsive degradation could there be of the ideal of the Divine Essence than the following acknowledgments which we copy from the last issue of the “Fire-Brand” column headed “Life of Trust . . The Master provides all that we need.”
Fri. Sept. 27. – Our confidence and love increases day by day. “Thanks be to God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ.”
Two quarts of nice rich milk, a cup of meat fryings and twenty-five cents are supplies from Father to-day.
Sat. Sept. 28. – A dear young sister in the Lord brought in two under garments for the band workers, ready made; also, gave fifty cents to one of them. A pail each of grapes and sweet potatoes, and a good big chicken were also brought in by different members of the King's family. Bless His name!
A nice lot of tracts was given us to-day for distribution, also, a half bushel of tomatoes and a sack each of sage and popcorn. Bless the Lord!
Wed. Oct. 2. – This has been a day of real rejoicing in our soul. A gallon of vinegar, pint of milk, apples, potatoes, cabbage, sweet potatoes, squash and a pail of sweet corn dried, were all provisions sent from Father to-day. Praise God! Glory be to God.
A basket of potatoes and twenty-five cents, were acceptable gifts to-day.
Tue. Oct. 8. – We are waiting on God, and seeking only His will in all we do. Satan is on our track as never before, but we have the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Praise the Lord! We have put on the whole armor of God, and with the shield of “faith,” we are able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Hallelujah! One dollar was handed us to-day at a much-needed time, and we could not but recognize Father's hand, also a quart of rich milk and a large squash, were acceptable gifts from our loving Father.
“Going To and Fro in the Earth” (conclusion)
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The Astral Light
Is the title of a very interesting and carefully expressed book written under the nom de plume of Nizida, a name well-known in the columns of Light.
The subject is replete with and full of some of the deepest mysteries of Nature and for every one who has any sort of touch with this unseen part of the universe that envelopes this physical plane of consciousness, is a never-ending source of study and inquiry. It is of course regarded very differently by mystic students according to the school to which they may individually or collectively belong. Many spiritualists are apt to conceive that once en rapport with this vast sphere of nature they are face to face with ultimate Truth, while on the other hand Eastern Occultism, as taught through Theosophical publications, regard the astral plane as more illusory if possible than the ordinary plane of physical consciousness or that which is objective to the five senses of normal humanity, and consider it as still more dangerous and contaminating in its subtle and deleterious influences. The clever writer however steers her way with great tact between these widely divergent schools of thought, and although she is obviously a follower of the more philosophical Eastern teachers, she manages to let this become clear to the reader without offending any one’s religion or beliefs. Nevertheless the title is rather misleading, as the book deals with a much wider range of thought than that embraced by the astral light alone. Indeed it touches upon, and with great insight, almost all the topics dealt with in recent writings of the new theosophical exposition and draws freely in addition from such well-known authors of occult lore as Eliphas Lévi, Paracelsus, the late Lord Lytton, and others. There is consequently in this unpretentious volume a great deal of suggestive and useful information placed before the public in a comparatively simple and yet condensed form and it deserves to have a cordial welcome and wide circulation. Perhaps in view of encouraging this end it will be better to give the readers of Lucifer one or two extracts drawn from the pages of the book under notice, rather than to go into any elaborate review of the work as a whole.
Speaking of the astral light the author says:
“The thought substance of the universe i.e. the astral light,[47] which obeys all wills, man must absolutely mould to his desires – for he is not otherwise constituted. It is the unfolding aura the infilling life of his being and becomes transformed in self-emanation; as his breath may become poisoned, or healthy, according to his corporeal condition. Ignorant and vicious he moulds it to his destruction enlightened and spiritually perfect, he clothes himself with it as with the garment of a god, and sways it in the beneficence of perfect love and wisdom.”
Again:
“It is because of the widespread poisoning of the astral light, by the almost universal perversion of the human wills, that disease,
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deformity, insanity, fanaticisms, or false enthusiasms which propel to destruction, mental stagnation and apathy, every human ugliness, every taint and poison spot destructive to life and happiness, reign in the world. The earth is invested with death-dealing powers; and rolls wrapt in a dense malarial aura, in which float the germs of disease which fasten even upon the vegetable kingdom in the shape of rot, blight, insects, or worms. The man-poisoned elemental or nature-spirit forces culminate in objective forms of ugliness and disorder, and form the causal world, wheresoever conditions invite or compel the manifestation.”
Again elsewhere the author says:
“To possess a true conception of that inner ambient and penetrative atmosphere called the astral light, is an indispensable requisite in the study of spiritual or occult science. Without a knowledge of this wonderful agent of all life, material as well as physical, the student will find himself at sea without chart or compass when he endeavours to deal with spiritual facts. He will find also that to rightly conceive of the functions performed by this mysterious element in the life of man, in the life of every creature or object in the universe, in the very processes of thought and in the creation of this world will throw a light upon his mind, explaining many problems, and effecting a complete revolution in his ideas concerning the world and everything that exists.”
These quotations will suffice to show the reader that the author has a conscious and comprehensive grasp of its subtleties. Many others might be given, taken almost at random through the book, but in this short and necessarily inexhaustive notice the extracts have been intentionally limited to those dealing more especially with the title of this interesting and instructive book.
The Spirit of the Matterhorn
A noble little book, and one of great interest, is the small volume of Lord Queensberry before us; yet strange and at times provoking. We read on in the full conviction that the writer is filled with the spirit of true Theosophy and Altruism, that he too has sensed the Great Harmony of things, and that the strife of man is but for his Eternal Progress, to be the more quickly attained, once that he has realized his stern responsibility, both to himself and to the rest. Carried away with this great thought-wave, we are on the point of giving all our praise, when suddenly a phrase occurs which breaks the current and brings us back to the duty of criticism. There is one proposition of the writer with which we are compelled to dissent, viz., that “the Soul is simply the resultant or the effect of the body.” As this statement, however, frequently occurs in passages of what we may call, without cant, the highest inspiration, it is just possible that the author intends to convey some fuller idea by so crude a statement. Moreover, this view is strongly supported by another apparent disagreement with the philosophy in which the Theosophical Society takes so great an interest. Although the distinction between the personality and the individuality has forced itself upon our author as an absolute necessity, he, nevertheless, expresses the idea in words which, to a student of Theosophy, are at first sight somewhat confusing. At the end of the preface we read: –
“With the selfish longing after an individual and personal hereafter, removed, as go it must in time, when man comes to his senses, and which removal seems a blessing to those who have
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accustomed themselves to look it in the face, what a terrible thing would be this clinging to one's personal individuality all through eternity! With the departure of this baneful delusion will come the only hope and consolation, the hopes we bear respecting our posterity, in whom it is quite possible and I think probable, the life in us shall be revived again and again, until the final state is attained of the perfect mind in the perfect body. Out of our errors and consequent miseries shall those our children – perhaps ourselves repeated – reap the fruits of our experiences, how much more so from the good to which even we may attain?”
But if we read for personal individuality, personality, for life, individuality, we have the identical idea, which the greatest philosophy of the East teaches.
Therefore it is that we are almost persuaded that the sentence we have objected to may bear some other interpretation.
The innate ideas of the writer, which are almost identical with those of our philosophy, are tinged in some places with Spencerian thought, and the spirit of divine progress and attainment is now and again shackled with the too material terms of the great Western thinker.
An additional proof that the flame of the spirit of the real truthseeker burns brightly in the soul of the intuitive author, is to be found in the dedication: –
“This Poem is respectfully inscribed to those Peers who, at the election (1880), in Holyrood Palace, of the Scottish Representative Peers, deprived me of my seat in the House of Lords. Their rejection was founded on the avowed and acknowledged ground, that I had previously expressed opinions in antagonism to the Christian religion; that I had, as was then asserted, publicly denied the existence of God, and that, as Lord Lothian expressed it, I held as a negation all that my brother Peers regarded as most sacred.”
In conclusion, we cordially recommend this poem to our readers, for not only is the theme a lofty one and replete with ideas of noble sublimity, but the expression and form of them is beautiful and harmonious. The following short selections will give our readers an idea of the thought and style of the author.
“For naught which death destroys in Nature’s scheme |
“Then time may come when earth must pass away, |
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Merged in the ocean of the mighty all. |
“Yet shall a brighter, happier faith arise |
The writer of these fine poems is evidently a woman of fine intellectual culture, honest heart, and broad human sympathies. A tone of worthy aspiration to know and live the truth runs throughout the volume. She is one to be trusted in friendship, we should say. Among her collection is the following poetical paraphrase of the touching story of Kosigotama, the young mother who brings her dead babe to the Buddha, imploring him to show her how it may be awakened from the terrible sleep into which it has fallen. The whole story is given in Professor Rhys Davids’ well-known little work on Buddhism: –
To Gautama, holiest prophet, a mother, |
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Then the prophet made answer: “Thy prayer shall be granted |
In the homes where she passed, there was laughter that lightly |
And the maiden made answer: “A grave, flower-circled, |
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“Whence none has been taken. All men have in sorrow |
We have received from the Path Office, New York, the foresheets of letter A of “A Working Glossary for the use of students of Theosophical Literature”; it promises well and will undoubtedly be a useful and handy little volume to put on theosophical bookshelves.
The Third Eye
Since my communication on this subject in the June number of Lucifer (iv. p. 341), evidence has accumulated in favour of the information given in the Secret Doctrine, vol. 2. page 289.
Professor Prestwich in his “Geology” page 140, gives evidence in favour of the existence of a number of fossil forms, in which the third eye was developed. They had broad frog-like heads, long salamander-like bodies, and were covered with sculptured scales. Others are lizard-like amphibians, while some are snake-like in form. Some of this group show labyrinthine structure in their teeth, others are devoid of it. They were mostly creatures of small size.
Further evidence is given in the work of Dr. Anton Fritsch, “Fauna der gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Perm-formation, Bohmens,” 4to, Prague, 1874, &c. This work gives in detail the osteology of the smaller congeners of Labyrinthodon and its allies. In this he describes Melanerpeton, Ophiderpeton, Microbrachis, Dendrerpeton, Chelydosaurus, Limnerpeton, Melosaurus, Osteophis, Hylopterion, Urocordylus, Keraterpeton. The type of these is Branchiosaurus salamandroides, which is illustrated in fig. 68 of Prestwich’s work.
All these forms are from the Kupfer Schiefer, at the base of the Zechstein.
We have thus evidence that the statement of H. P. B. made in the Secret Doctrine, vol. ii., p. 299, was not merely as I said, “probable,” but is borne out by the careful researches of modern Geology and Palæontology. The only blank in my chain of scientific argument is now complete.
There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and I shall not take it again[51] by analysing Dr. Foy’s recent communication to the “Medical Press and Circular,” in which he has absolutely confused the parietal foramen with the middle fontanelle!
Yours truly
C. Carter Blake, F.T.S.
(Late Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy and Zoology, Westminster Hospital.)
No. 29 – January 1890
1890! On the New Year's Morrow
Names and Things
The Old House in the Canongate
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I feel a strife within my heart, |
I feel a strife within my heart, |
| Josiah Mallett, F.T.S. |
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Awakening
“My surroundings and the teachings in which I have been brought up have seemed to me hitherto the only world there is; and now I feel that there are other worlds quite distinct from what has been mine, and I feel awed, and almost as if I had been rudely shaken out of a dream.”
This extract (from a letter) typifies a common experience, an experience, indeed, which falls to the lot of everyone who lives; and that not once or twice only, but again and again. The “Happy Valley” of childhood seems to us the universe, and we are struck breathless when we discover that there is an indefinitely vast world beyond the encircling hills. But even then we have no adequate idea how vast is that world; and as the horizon widens and yet widens, time after time, often enough we feel indeed as if we had been “rudely shaken out of a dream.” And it was such a pleasant dream! We had made ourselves so comfortable, we felt so much at home, reconciled gradually to the larger world, and fondly supposing we had attained finality at last; when suddenly, lo – ! – . After a series of these awakenings, if one has risen to each occasion as it came and trained oneself in courage and wisdom, they lose to a very great extent their discomforting aspect, and are taken calmly and manfully. But let not those who have thus “reached a purer air” be unmindful of their own early sorrows, and impatient of the reluctance and hesitation and timorousness with which others who have not yet been through like year-long discipline shrink from the awakening. Very tender and gentle, should they be with all such, knowing that the pain is keen, and often prolonged.
For the pain is keen. The desire for peace and quiet is one of the strongest passions of humanity; and it is with a heavy heart the mandate “Arise! this is not your rest!” is heard. It is hard to lay aside our opinions, our ideas, our ways of looking at things. Custom and habit have made them so familiar and natural, that it seems like parting with a portion of the very self to part with them. Nor is this all, by any means, in the great majority of cases. For in the Inner Life men seldom move forward by families or in groups. The call is individual, unheard save by the fated one, and too often disbelieved in and denied by others. And bitter indeed is it when it begins to dawn on us that on matters of transcendent import we are no longer able to think with our friends – ah me! perhaps not with our nearest and dearest. A Hand beckons us which they cannot see. What is a new earth (and perhaps a new heaven) to us is empty space to them. We try to explain – it is impossible; they cannot understand us. Alone – happy indeed if not saddened by reproaches and fettered by well-meant hindrances – we have to endure the shock of the awakening.
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And this bitter experience is one which may recur more than once, and which loses none of its bitterness because it is a familiar pain. Although we awaken each one for himself, yet as a rule we presently gather with others who have passed through the like palingenesia, and in their society we find compensation for the communion we have lost. But it well may happen that a further awakening comes to one of the group which is not shared in by the others; and too often, forgetful of the treatment under which they themselves once groaned, those others mete out even the like to their comrade, who has to pass for a second time through the ordeal of fire. Indeed, such second sorrow is often fiercer than the first. For the heart had clung in the sacred fellowship of suffering to those who had traversed its own thorny path; and sharp indeed is the pain of having to leave even those chosen friends Besides this, their opposition is often stronger than that first encountered. For they say, weary of wandering, “Surely we have come far enough! Surely you may be content to stay where we are satisfied to rest! Are you so much wiser then than we? Have you not had proof that we dare to leave all for the Truth? And if we, thus daring and doing, consider that we have reached the goal, beyond which is only the boundless waste, who are you to dream that there lie still fairer lands beyond, which our eyes, keen and trained as they are, cannot see?” Yet the beckoning Hand will not forbear, and they who have crossed an Atlantic to find an America, are driven to cross the continent in turn to find a Pacific. Let no man envy the forlorn hope, the enfants perdus of Humanity! It is a lot to be accepted bravely and with solemn gladness if it so befall; it is not a lot to be lightly sought.
“The forlorn hope” – in its dangers, as well as its sorrows. For those who thus undertake unusual exertion of brain and soul are subject – as is obvious and well-known – to the inexorable Law of Reaction. The vitality that would have sufficed for many days in the quiet valley is exhausted in a few hours of struggling to scale the peak. And then, when the dark hour comes, when one is weary of thinking, weary of feeling, weary of effort – oh! the temptation to cease, to go back! What has been left seems peaceful, beautiful, sufficient as it never seemed before; what has been sought seems unattractive, cold mysterious, forbidding; the glory of the “Alpine bloom” faded, and only the bare nakedness of rock and earth left. There is only one thing to be done then: – to dumbly hold on, to wait till overborne nature has recovered from the strain. Woe to those who yield and go back! Either they have to traverse the self-same ground, inch by inch, over again, shame-weakened and more prone to fall back than ever; or they drag out the rest of their existence in a sphere whose imperfection they perceive without having nerve to leave it, victims of a hungry unrest, tormented by dreams they cannot banish and will not fulfil.
This danger, it has been said, is obvious and well-known. There is a 376yet greater one, far more subtle and seldom recognised, which we would do well to analyse and understand.
The essential unity of man is a fact never to be lost sight of for a moment. Emphatically, man is One. What are called thought, feeling, emotion, memory, and else, are only different facets of the one gem, called by different names for convenience sake. When a powerful impulse comes to a man, the wave of vitality sweeps through his being, quickening into activity latent potentialities of good – but also of evil.
What a moribund school of theology would call the “backsliding” of “converts” is a psychic fact capable of a rigidly scientific explanation. In the soil of the heart, saturated with an intenser warmth than hitherto known, unsuspected weeds as well as unsuspected flowers germinate. Evil tendencies whose very existence was undreamed of, or which were cut down and supposed to have been killed years ago, manifest terrible life. Seeking to evoke a saint, one is horror-struck at the apparition of a fiend. It is a stern experience; and befalling one who is unprepared for it, most dangerous. But a wise student of himself will be prepared for it, and on his guard against his unknown Lower Self, when he seeks to develop his unknown Higher Self. Never is the aspirant in such danger of falling as the moment after he has successfully resisted temptation. And this, from the laws of his being.
And when will the long-drawn series end? when will the last awakening come, the Ultimate Reality be seen and gained? I know not. Only, for most of us, it will not be for ages yet. Meanwhile?
“And does the road lead up hill all the way? |
Yes, it must be even so. Only by travail-pangs and birth-throes can the Ego be born again, time after time into higher and yet higher life. Say not the prospect is an unhappy one. Remember, “There is in man a Higher than Love of Happiness: he can do without Happiness, and instead thereof find Blessedness.”
The way is rough, though habit will render it ever easier. Still, it is rough. And it is long. And oftentimes it is lonely.
But – sic itur ad astra.
“There was a morning when I longed for fame, |
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Psychic Fire
In our last article we held that every atom of matter in the visible universe is a psycho-material magnet, and we endeavoured to give some of the reasons which led us to this conclusion. Man’s shell, or material body, is a congeries of atoms. It must be therefore a complex psycho-material magnet. Let us look at the two planes, the astral and the physical, microcosmically. To do this we must enter the domain of metaphysics, which may be defined as the study of the effects produced at the positive pole of the human magnet, and the realm of physics which reveals to us the action of the negative pole or material form. By connecting the results obtained from these two different inquiries we shall render the former science practical, and the latter theoretical in its exhibition of facts, giving a comprehensive view of the general idea which underlies the facts and theories of life. Philosophy is generally considered as distinct from Science, while religion and the study of the mind have been developing hitherto along separate lines. Science, denying to both these latter a real and positive value, runs between them casting lurid lights first on one side, then on the other, which confuse the even sequence of events and blind us to their common relationship. In truth, Religion may be called the science of the Spiritual Soul, metaphysics that of the human soul, and physics the science of the animal soul. These studies are so closely related that to seek to explain one except by the aid of the other two must lead to only partial and one-sided results.
The Spiritual Soul becomes the observer when the science of human and animal life is considered. Uniting itself with the higher faculties of the Ego, and in this manner individualising its own Infinity, the Spiritual Soul of man becomes for the other two (the human and animal souls) simply an outside power which, as consciousness, pervades their activities, and connects them into personal and individual shapes. The Ego or human Soul, saturated with divine consciousness, consciousness (divine simply because infinite) is capable of receiving and localising, through its contact with the material world, every possible ideal impression.
Our religious tenets should consist in generalities into which all finite ideas may be received and co-related amongst themselves, thus partaking of the character of Infinity which rightly belongs to the truly Spiritual. No difficulties would then arise between the agreement of the three great studies which a human life develops.
The Spiritual Ego of the visible universe is the Infinite and Negative One, which receives into its passionless depths the reflections cast from the many coloured fires of life. These fiery shadows are the finite units, which, blended together, form up a mass of power which thrills through 378the universe and fills with the glare of positive forms the tranquil majesty of Perfect Light.
So it is with that Ego of man whose function it is to generalise. It resembles the Spiritual Soul of the World in its colourless consciousness, into which are reflected his growing perceptions, flashing and sparkling with the many coloured thoughts which fly from the brain in an ever-deepening aura. These collectively represent a definite quantity of energy, a given point of force, which quivers at first with the gentle heat of low potential but, gradually warming with a stronger current as the man develops, it burns with a central fire which leaps into flame and casts a changeful and uncertain shadow into a conscious universe, revealing a comparison between its own finality and circumscribing Infinity. Thus does the earthly man light with his sense perceptions a torch which shows him the infinite oneness of all things: and seeing, he becomes aware of an overshadowing might, a Spiritual power which gathers round him, growing in substance with the light he sheds, and which it reflects with a clearer and surer radiance, until at last the strength of the flame is lost in the heat of its reflection. Thus, first the flame, then flame and shadow where the shadow seems the flame, the flame the shadow, and then the greater light slowly absorbing all.
Thus the Ego advances out of the Infinite Consciousness, and warms into a spiritual and psychic life. The colours of the rays which flash from the material man mirror themselves within the limpid depths of infinite consciousness, and form a personality; then, as this latter assumes a definite form, localised by its roots plunged in the Universe of Space, it becomes a unit reflection from the Absolute and thus summarised as a definite amount of living energy it forms a direct ratio with Infinity and awakens to a consciousness of spiritual unity in which it loses its characteristic personalities. If these latter are looked at as being a bundle of finite ideas, they become a number of minor laws resumed in a major law, and representing the substance and shape of the astral body. This comprehensive law, astral form, or personal Ego, forms a definite ratio with the Infinite, and thus acquires an overshadowing spirituality, and a direct infusion of divine power. Infusion takes place because each component idea of the bundle may set up its own ratio with the overshadowing one which results in the astral form becoming alive with Spiritual affinities. These are the connecting links which bind the different ideas to one another. On the psychic plane this bond shows us the ratios of ideas amongst themselves; these appear as shadows in the purer light of the Spiritual ratios; and resumed in one, we have the Personal Ego darkening the light of Infinite perfection. By this action a definite quantity of Spiritual rays is separated out from the rest becoming the Spiritual affinities resulting from psychic development, and forming a human soul, warmed by the double reflection from the Astral and Spiritual planes.
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This human Soul, or individuality, changes with the personality, forming fresh ratios with earth and heaven. Being a flame, its light deepens or weakens in the mental atmosphere in which it lives, and casts a more or less defined shadow above. With the awakening of Spirit come other powers; but since we treat only of the lower planes we will not attempt to enquire into these deeper mysteries. Let it suffice that the Spirit in man is to his psychic power as the attentive observer to the actors observed.
In what we have just written we have attempted to explain our position with regard to the astral and physical planes in these articles in order that it may clearly be understood that these two planes and their progeny are looked upon as being outside and apart from an Ego who observes and feels the action of these psychic currents; but we do not profess to have attempted to give more than an outline painting, a picture localising in a half-indefinite way the lower planes of life with reference to the higher. We may now return to the physical plane and resume the development of psycho-material forces. Our Universe is the home of fire which, as living substance, volume without density, manifests the depths of Space. This world-stuff consists, as we have said, of countless fiery magnets, which, under the influence of collective and universal laws, collect into vast fiery masses; these eventually condense, under the influence of the Universal Mind, into matter forming up, around the unseen universe of thought, a physical brain. Thus the visible Universe is the brain of the mental universe or subjective world of law; and, as the one is the negative pole, equal and opposite to the other, every subjective activity at the positive pole is reproduced on earth with the release of fire and the apparent life of solid things.
Man, like the world he lives on, is a psycho-material magnet. He possesses a brain or negative pole; a mind or positive pole.
But he is a more complex material form than the earth; for his negative pole has developed into a complex material magnet, alive with self-induced currents of electricity which have produced in their turn re-actions on the psychic and spiritual plane, resulting in extra cosmic (that is to say purely human) materialisations. Thus the Ego, the I am I, is the consciousness of a psycho-material magnet whose magnetism is due to the activity of psychic force. The Ego, as Consciousness, reflects these two poles as two different qualities of perception.
The psychic pole is conscious meaning; the material pole is conscious feeling; and the reaction on the negative pole or material form of these two constitutes the earthly life of man. The re-agent is positive, psychic force and negative, psychic fire. Now we all know how to think in a greater or lesser degree. The quality of these thoughts, the keenness of conscious mentality, the repetition of thoughts, and the force with which they are vitalised, are factors which the Ego has freedom to use as he pleases. For him Feeling and Meaning are the two activities which lie 380in the neg. − and posit. + poles of his psycho-material magnet If Feeling predominates then the physical world reigns over the psychic world, and the vitality which the Ego disposes of is earthly and personal. Let us examine the effect produced when a bodily feeling sets into activity the currents of our psycho-material human magnet. The negative pole acts as incitor to the subjective plane, and the psychic fire, thus roused, intensifies the magnetism of the whole magnet. This results in animal heat. For the negative pole is increased by a reflex pulsation from the mental world, and we know that increased energy manifests on the physical plane as heat. This increase of vitality is the negative current; and is equal and opposite to the positive current which, in the astral plane, has no distinct localisation except that which it obtains as a reflected value from the physical world. Therefore the effect of feeling when acting subjectively is to develop heat. The disturbance of the bodily balance is felt by the brain, which must be looked on as being twofold. First, as sensitive matter it is a conductor. Secondly, as psychic condensation it is that which it conducts. It is the main conductor of the material part of the psycho-material magnet and therefore the primary current in this magnet where there are such countless secondary and induced ones. To Kabbalists, who remember that the brain (?) is the seat of Neschamah this will be suggestive. As the primary current it induces secondary ones, known as the complex organisms of the body. The brain acts as a register and notes the disturbance of power as a definite change of atomic force affecting the balance of the body or − pole with its mentality or + pole.
This force is expansive in its initial stage, as sudden release of energy and increased vigour are apparent; fire or heat is developed, which is the measure of its activity. In its second stage, or that of passing from negative to the positive plane, its initial vigour is lost in its expansion and coolness follows. This indicates the arrival of the impulse at the astral pole; and the instant reflection thence, due to the necessity of readjusting the balance, is accompanied by the activity of law on the psychic plane which eventuates in increased energy or heat on the physical plane at the exact point whence it started.
So that we have two kinds of heat developed by the action of one feeling. (1.) Nascent heat or positive electricity, visible in the instant of time in which it is capable of manifesting on this plane as a flash of light, or by heat. (2.) The reflex energy or animal heat which is negative electricity. The first, beginning in matter, bursts into the meaning of a law. The second carries this meaning back to the physical plane where it condenses, and the two currents together give us animal magnetism.
Animal magnetism is therefore the action of the astral plane upon the physical plane, where this is primarily excited from the latter.
It is also the method by which the physical Universe builds itself up and evolutes under the ægis of laws roused to material interaction. And 381here the parallelism existing between man and the world he inhabits becomes again apparent. The world as a whole is the brain of its psychic power. As a whole it is a main conductor or a primary current at rest.
The animal world, distinguished by the possession in each unit development of a cerebral centre, resembles in this the macrocosm. Both are active with animal magnetism and both may re-act on one another through this electrical power as distinct and mutually modifying entities. Feeling, the incitor of animal magnetism, as negative power, is the direct reflection of the Infinite. It is that universal quality out of which the five senses have been separated. It is the consciousness of the Ego reflected through five different universes; for each sense is of infinite perception, or perhaps we should say that the objective field for perception within the range of each of the five senses is infinite. Feeling is that quality by which motion becomes objective; it is the amplitude of vibration, the wing of life which flashes the form of power into objective being. It is in fact the root of motion in the universe of Time, which pierces the unseen world into the visible and becomes incrusted in space as the objective and material plane. In other words it is the foundation of form and is, in itself, on the upper plane the limit which gives meaning to the law. It is therefore the negative power par excellence, the absolute one, receiving into its own tranquil immensity the reflection of finite actions and thereby becoming manifest by contrast. It is more than this, for, as the meaning of the law, it is the colour which distinguishes the lights of life vibrating as different laws. Thus we see that when Feeling dominates the astral plane, we have the personality, the vivid hues of life, flashing with renewed vigour under the influence of the increased energy which the disturbance it has effected on that plane rains down on this one. In other words this means that animal magnetism, such as we have described it, is the builder and invigorator of man’s personality. For it is a compound of feeling and vitality. As the first it represents the world stuff, its atomic development into bodily form and molecular action. As the second it represents the laws of these which, with their vitality constantly irritated into activity by material, chemical and physical action, give conscious life to the body. The net result being that the body, a complex unit of feelings, corresponds to a complex unit of laws, or a mind, which as long as animal magnetism, in obedience to the conditions of man’s earthly life, continues to act, will be kept in a constant state of activity. Hence nervous energy breeds mental vitality. Confusion or inharmonious interaction amongst material particles will confuse the mind which will reflect back on to the fevered part increased fever accentuating the evil.
Thus we conclude that every bodily emotion or feeling affects the mind of man and increases the power of the physical plane over the psychic.
Some Thoughts About Fairies
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The Forth Bridge
The present year, now rapidly drawing to a close, will be memorable among the years of the nineteenth century as having seen the practical completion of the greatest work of constructive engineering which the history of the world has witnessed. We allude, of course, to that mighty structure – a characteristic product of modern daring, knowledge, and practical engineering skill – the Forth Bridge. Perhaps no structure which engineers have yet attempted marks so definitely the enormous extension of human power and control over nature, while at the same time contrasting so forcibly the advance in liberty and humanity with the comparative disregard for human life and limb which was formerly so common among civilised races where constructive works were concerned. . . . . .
“This bridge is a grand example of the extension of man’s feeble power by invention and thought.
“Mr. Baker and Sir John Fowler, the distinguished engineers to whom the inception and perfect design of the structure are due, have very modestly disclaimed originality of principle, and have informed us repeatedly, in speeches and lectures, that the cantilever principle is many hundreds of years old, and was adopted at least 230 years ago in a wooden bridge of 112 feet span, in a country so remote as Thibet. The Chinese, also, who seem to have anticipated all inventions, if historians are to be credited, are said to have used the principle.” . . . . . .
The writer of this article, which we copy from the “Practical Engineer” (of December 27, 1889), adds, that “they” (The Thibetans and Chinese bridges), “are no doubt, just as Newcomen’s crude contrivances were steam-engines,” . . . they are “the development of the beautiful modern engine from the crude machine of Newcomen,” and he speaks quite disrespectfully and flippantly of the Egyptian pyramids. Well, if we watch, we may yet read some day of the building of an artificial man hatched from an ostrich egg, with the boastful remark, that this “beautiful human engine, the production of modern Science, is the splendid development from the crude machine of nature – called man.”
Was Cagliostro a "Charlatan"?
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Matter
Although the principal quarrel of Occultism at present is with Materialism, it is necessary in order to avoid injustice to the latter, to define at the outset how far the two opposing views agree, before discussing their fundamental differences. For there is a transcendental form of the latter, apart from the grosser kind, with which Occult Philosophy has much in common. If we take, for instance, the Atomic system founded by Democritus, we find mystic elements in it, such as his views on the constitution of the gods, souls, etc., very far removed from Materialism in its coarsest modern form. The system of this philosopher, who, by the way, is said to have been inspired with a desire for knowledge by certain Magi left by Xerxes at Abdera his birthplace, was taken not many years ago as a text for an eloquent and learned address by Professor Tyndall at Belfast, who however discarded, for some mysterious reason, the spiritual portion of the teachings of his guide. The minds of modern eminent scientists nearly always exhibit this downward bent, due doubtless to the character of the age.
The materialist conceptions of the Universe against which Occultists will always fight, are those which glorify Matter with its inseparable characteristic Motion, making of Life and Consciousness at the same time merely a process of these. Mr. S. Laing says in his work, “Modern Science and Modern Thought,” the Universe is composed of Matter, Energy and Ether. If such is the case, an Occultist naturally inquires, if the latter is Matter or not. If it is Matter, why state it separately? This admission would moreover prove that the Occult conceptions of Matter are correct, as we shall presently see. If on the other hand Ether is not Matter, then its admitted existence renders the purely materialist position untenable. For this hypothesis assumes the Universe to be composed of Matter and Energy plus something, thus opening the door to endless possibilities under the head of Existence. The Atomic Theory supposes everything to be composed of Atoms, less than 1/6,000,000 of a line in diameter; but questions then arise respecting the divisibility or otherwise of these Atoms. That prince of Materialists, Büchner, sees clearly the danger of admitting the infinite divisibility of atoms, when he says, “to accept infinite divisibility is absurd, and amounts to doubting the very existence of Matter.” Certainly there can be no such thing as Matter, using the term in a gross sense, if its infinite divisibility is admitted. If on the other hand, atoms are said to be indivisible, and consequently inelastic, why are all bodies able to contract and expand? From this difficulty Materialists cannot escape. They must either 397accept the Occult conceptions of Matter or sacrifice all reason, logic and facts. Professor Fiske in his work, “Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy,” a system founded on that of Mr. Herbert Spencer, developes a destructive criticism of the Atomic Theory, showing the existence of atoms of which all bodies are composed to be inconceivable for cogent reasons. Professor Tyndall in his Belfast address to the British Association resolved his scientific conceptions of Matter into States of consciousness. If, said he, you say, “I see you,” you experience a sensation of the optic nerve; if you say, “I touch you,” you have an agitation of the sense of touch. In fact the totality of our sensuous perceptions makes up the Consciousness of this plane. As Dr. Hartmann observes, “the term consciousness signifies realization of existence relative to certain things,”[52] and in order to bring this about, there must be an establishment of harmonic relations between objects. The five senses of Man constitute so many channels for the conduct of such relations. In the case of the sense of sight, those differences in the vibrations of the Ether, which we call colours, furnish the sole means for distinguishing forms on the physical plane. The optic nerve is incapable of registering impressions from vibrations more rapid than those from the Violet end of the solar spectrum, or slower than those from the Red on the opposite side. In like manner the nerves of the ear receive the sevenfold sound waves, being unable to perceive those above or below a certain number of vibrations per unit of time. Inasmuch as the remaining senses of smell, taste and touch are subject to the same laws as the other two, we see within what narrow limits the purely physical consciousness of Man is confined.
We have just now seen that the hypothesis of the infinite divisibility of Matter destroys the theories of gross Materialism. Speaking on this subject and referring to the profound speculations of Leibnitz, the “Secret Doctrine” says:
“It became evident that external or material things presented the property of extension to our senses only, not to our thinking faculties. The mathematician, in order to calculate geometrical figures, had been obliged to divide them into an infinite number of infinitely small parts, and the physicist saw no limit to the divisibility of matter into atoms. The bulk through which external things seemed to fill space was a property which they acquired only through the coarseness of our senses. The atoms lost their extension, and they retained only their property of resistance; they were the centres of force.”
We shall presently be able to see how this idea gives the key to a reasonable and satisfactory explanation of some of the most perplexing and consequently most doubted Occult phenomena.
If the conceptions of Matter now developed appear, to readers practically acquainted with experimental Chemistry, to clash with facts, there will be no difficulty in showing this to be quite an error. For the clever 398propounder of the Atomic Theory, Dalton, went outside the requirements of practical Chemistry in his zeal on behalf of his hypothesis. He theoretically carried the laws governing combining proportions of weighable quantities into the realm of unweighable quantities, or Ultimate Atoms. But as the celebrated French chemist, Dumas, logically showed, a chemical atom might be capable of separation by mechanical force, and then, ceasing to be a chemical atom, might split up into an indefinite number of physical atoms. Taking this view it is obvious that chemical atoms need in no way be confounded with ultimate atoms, which brings the matter back to the position and dilemma for Materialists before indicated.
Every Occultist is acquainted with the statement of his philosophy that matter exists in several states beyond the gaseous; let us now see therefore what support orthodox Science gives to it. We noted that the existence of Ether was admitted by Mr. Laing, and saw the possibilities thus opened up to the acceptance of Occult views eventually, and it will perhaps be well to deal with this subject first. Modern Science was compelled to assume the existence of some medium filling all interstellar space, in order to account for the action of heavenly bodies, planets and suns on each other. For it is obviously inconceivable that any force or energy could act through a perfect vacuum.
How, in such case, could light pass from sun to planet, or the force of Polarity (generally misnamed Gravity) act at all? Thus Newton says, in his third letter to Bentley,
“It is inconceivable that inanimate brute matter should, without the mediation of something else which is not material, operate on and affect other matter without mutual contact, as it must do if gravitation, in the sense of Epicurus, be essential and inherent in it, and this is one reason why I desired you would not ascribe innate gravity to me. That gravity should be innate, inherent and essential to matter, so that one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum without the mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to the other, is to me so great an absurdity, that I believe no man who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking, can ever fall into it. Gravity must be caused by an agent acting constantly according to certain laws; but whether this agent be material or immaterial, I have left to the consideration of my readers.”
We see, therefore, that Science has been driven by grim necessity to admit the presence of something in the Universe of which it is positively unable to affirm, that it is material or immaterial. If it is material, then as it is known to offer no resistance to the movements of celestial bodies, such, for instance, as the Earth in its passage round the Sun; it is matter in a state essentially distinct from the ordinary solid, liquid and gaseous conditions, and consequently governed by laws peculiar to itself. This is the contention of Occultism as all Occultists know. If, however, Science says 399that the Ether is immaterial, we leave it to kindly explain how it can be at the same time both something and nothing.
Moreover, we may inquire now, we are dealing with this subject, whether Ether is atomic or non-atomic. If Science declares it atomic, then the insuperable old vacuum difficulty appears again in some form. For it is just as great an absurdity to suppose Force or Energy transmit over the innumerable but infinitesimal gaps which would exist supposing the Ether to be atomic, between the planets and the Sun, as over a number of miles of vacancy. The principle is precisely the same in each case, as anyone can see who thinks. On the other hand great modern scientific authorities will not believe Ether to be non-atomic or continuous, on account of sundry mechanical and mathematical difficulties that stand in the way, respecting its motion, &c. Thus are we driven to conclude that Science admits the existence of something in the Universe, of the nature of which it knows nothing. Occultists will add that it never will, unless it accepts the profound philosophical truths put forth on this subject by the “Wise Men of the East.”
It is not necessary to search very far in the astronomical field, to discover more proofs of the present existence of matter in a mysterious condition, we mean of course mysterious to the ken of ordinary physical science. We refer to cometary matter. A quotation from the “Masters” will be now useful.
“Let the modern chemist be asked to tell one whether this matter is in any way connected with, or akin to, that of any of the gases he is acquainted with; or again, to any of the solid elements of his chemistry. The probable answer received will be very little calculated to solve the world’s perplexity, since, all hypotheses to the contrary notwithstanding, cometary matter does not appear to possess even the common law of adhesion or of chemical affinity. The reason for it is very simple. And the truth ought long ago to have dawned upon the experimentalists, since our little world (though so repeatedly visited by the hairy and bearded travellers, enveloped in the evanescent veil of their tails, and otherwise brought in contact with that matter) has neither been smothered by an addition of nitrogen gas, nor deluged by an excess of hydrogen, nor yet perceptibly affected by a surplus of oxygen. The essence of cometary matter must be – and the ‘Adepts’ say is – totally different from any of the chemical or physical characteristics with which the greatest chemists and physicists of the earth are familiar – all recent hypotheses notwithstanding. It is to be feared that before the real nature of the elder progeny of Mulaprakriti is detected, Mr. Crookes will have to discover matter of the fifth or extra radiant state;” et seq.[53]
It does not require a profound acquaintance with Science, to see the truth of these remarks. For instance the comet of 1811 had a tail 120,000,000 miles in length, which it threw out against the force of so-called gravity, in the face of the Sun.
400
We may now bring forward another question of similar import. It is a great puzzle to scientific men how the Sun’s heat is maintained, considering the problem from the point of view, of what is known of matter in a state of combustion on this plane. For supposing the Sun to be simply a mass of burning matter (using the term in an ordinary sense) it should have cooled down long ago. Nor does Mr. Herbert Spencer’s theory founded on the Nebular Hypothesis, remove the difficulty. He supposes that the crash of the planets, as they fall against the Sun, generates sufficient heat to restore the entire solar system to a nebulous condition, thus starting it afresh each time for a new cycle. As he is obliged to admit, however, that the positive loss of heat in space necessitates a smaller system reformed each time, the day of total collapse is only postponed, not abolished. A few years ago an eminent scientist, Dr. William Siemens, advanced a theory respecting the fuel of the sun, which made it keep up its heat, by burning and reburning the same material. Of course his idea was sharply criticised, but what struck him as peculiar, was, that the chemists raised objections to the mathematical factors involved, whilst the mathematicians complained of the chemical portion. This confusion of authorities said a great deal for the soundness of his hypothesis, and we may here note its nearness to the Occult view of this subject. The Adepts
“deny most emphatically (a) that the sun is in combustion, in any ordinary sense of the word; or (b) that he is incandescent, or even burning, though he is glowing; or (c) that his luminosity has already begun to weaken and his power of combustion may be exhausted within a given and conceivable time; or even (d) that his chemical and physical constitution contains any of the elements of terrestrial chemistry in any of the states that either chemist or physicist is acquainted with.” [54]
It may be here observed that Occultists do not care what conclusion Modern Science comes to ultimately respecting the nature of Light, whether that it is wave motion of the Ether, or a substance in itself. The occult views of matter in its various states remains unaffected in either case.
The way is now cleared for the purely Occult conceptions of matter to be viewed. We have noted that Modern Science can offer no positive resistance to them; that on the contrary it is involved in serious difficulties itself, in the shape of contradictory and varying theories, from which it will not escape without the help of Occultism. Let us see then where the latter leads, and note the connection and bearing of its ideas, upon the possibility of the performance of certain Occult phenomena, the occurrence of which has been stoutly denied by Materialists, chiefly owing to their erroneous conceptions of Matter and Force. The Occult view of matter has been stated, viz. Matter probed to its depths resolves itself into simple mathematical points without extension, having only 401the property of resistance. The Secret Doctrine says:
“Every elemental atom in search of which more than one Chemist has followed the path indicated by the Alchemists, is, in their (the Occultists,) firm belief (when not knowledge) a Soul; not necessarily a disembodied soul, but a jiva, as the Hindoos call it, a centre of Potential Vitality, with latent intelligence in it, and, in the case of compound Souls – an intelligent Active Existence, from the highest to the lowest order, a form composed of more or less differentiations.”[55]
“Matter or Substance is septenary within our World, as it is so beyond it. Moreover, each of its states or principles is graduated into seven degrees of density.[56]
“An ‘Adept,’ then, knowing well the laws governing these innumerable centres of force, which we call Matter, produces harmony or discord among them by his manipulation, thus accomplishing the disintegration and reintegration of objects, feats impossible to ordinary persons by reason of their ignorance of these occult laws.
With regard to the phenomenon of making objects disappear suddenly from view, referred to in the works of Paracelsus (readers of Zanoni will remember an incident of this kind in that clever novel), it can be produced by interfering with the connection between the observer and object, which causes consciousness of it. This becomes understandable when we remember the limits of colours, consequently of forms, by which human sight is bounded. With regard to all kinds of Occult phenomena, including those of clairvoyance, hypnotism, thought-transference, etc., unless Modern Science changes its notions of the nature of Matter and Force, it will continue hopelessly bewildered by such incidents (which seem to become more numerous as the end of this small cycle approaches) and will be unable to afford a rational explanation of them. It is now as the Secret Doctrine says, honeycombed with working hypotheses, some of them by no means far removed from Occult doctrines. Can we hope, therefore, that it will soon take the necessary steps towards reform? Time alone will show.
“And can I see this light? It may be so; |
402
Her False Right Hand
Gwendolin Hardcastle and Brian Enderby had only met each other six months before, and now it was the eve of their wedding day! Despite the disparity in their ages (he being forty, and she twenty-two) they had mutually fallen in love at first sight, at a soirée given in honour of the celebrated African explorer Brian Enderby, the man who had penetrated the densest and most malarious jungles of that deadly central plain, had climbed Kilimanjaro, and faced death in almost every form the enemy is capable of assuming. As he stood in animated discussion amid a group of leading scientists, his eyes had fallen on a girl clad in shadowy green, as she entered the room, and struck by her beauty and charm he had broken off to ask who she was, and to beg an introduction, and as she looked up with glad interest on hearing his name, their eyes met in a long look, and from the look sprang love! The two were soon deep in one of those intimate desultory talks which mark epochs in our knowledge of kindred spirits, for we cannot measure love or friendship by days and years; if life lasted so long it would be possible to live centuries with many people, excellent people, people we respect and admire, and yet never reveal to them even the merest passing glimpse of our true selves, and then one day we clasp hands with some stranger and lo! the closely barred doors spring open at a word, and we find ourselves leading the new comer through the secret garden of our heart into the very innermost sanctuary of our soul!
Thus had it been with Brian and Gwendolin, and now on the night before their wedding, a merry party had assembled in the Hardcastles’ drawing-room; Gwendolin sat a little apart from the others, waiting for Brian; she was a tall pale girl with great masses of red gold hair, and a strange luminous whiteness of complexion, as of alabaster behind which a silver lamp was burning; she wore a half-loose dress of her favourite pale green, that subtle green which Rossetti, and Rossetti alone, could set against deep blue, and from the apparent discord evolve a visible music; and as she sat against a heavy blue plush curtain with reddish pink anemones laid in her hair and on her bosom, in the pose of the small head so heavily laden with its glorious hair, in the large blue-green eyes looking straight before her, in that unseeing fashion which yet sees so much and so far, and the long slender hands, on one of which like a tangible spark of fire, gleamed the great ruby of her engagement ring, she recalled in an almost startling manner that marvellous picture in which the Master has expressed the mystery and passion of the 403unfathomable sea, whose human symbolism with its unutterable yearning and terrible cruelty attracted him so powerfully.
Suddenly her cousin Percy Dare, a young man with curly brown hair and a boyish expression, looked up and said, “Oh, Gwen, do come and let Davenant read your hand.”
For of course there was a palmist present; what drawing-room is without them now-a-days? Gwendolin hesitated, “I think I would rather not,” she said.
“Oh, you must, you must,” clamorously insisted the other young people, so she rose rather reluctantly, and gave her right hand to Davenant, a pale young man with long sandy hair and dreamy light prominent eyes; he studied it attentively, evidently quite forgetting the owner in his scrutiny of its lines.
“Ah,” he said in a low tone at last, “the rarest and most beautiful of all hands, the true psychic hand: genius, idealisation, poetry; head and heart lines equal and harmonious, success leading up to a happy marriage; life-line . . . Ah! what is this? Life line broken . . . surely not . . . yes it is . . . life line broken immediately after happy marriage, that means . . . death . . . yes death . . . but wait . . .” Gwendolin shivered and drew her hand hastily away, while a scared silence fell over the laughing group; the palmist looked up, in his dreamy way, “the other hand,” he murmured, “let me look at the other hand,” but Percy interfered.
“What nonsense, Davenant!” he said, “of course nobody really believes in it, but we won’t hear any more to-night; come, let us have some music,” and he tried to break through the hush which had fallen over the party, and to disperse the shade in his cousin’s face by sitting down to the piano and dashing into a gay valse. At this moment a tall dark man entered the room, and Gwendolin, a lovely flush on her pale face, went to meet him; after the usual greetings, he whispered:
“Come out on to the terrace, I have something to show you,” and the two passed through the long window and found themselves in a wonderful moonlight land: they went down a flight of steps leading into a trellised walk, over which roses, red, yellow and white, clustered, and as the night-wind gently stirred their delicate blossoms the luminous air grew full of delicious fragrance: Gwendolin gathered a crimson bud and fastened it into Brian’s coat; he turned, his dark eyes shining, and taking her into his arms, passionately kissed the golden head against his breast.
“My rose of life!” he whispered; “my queen! are you quite sure you love me, quite sure you can give me a wife’s trust and loyalty?”
“Quite sure,” she answered softly, her face still hidden; “I think it is almost more than love I feel for you Brian . . . . it is worship . . . . life without you now would be . . . . ah dearest, I dare not think what it would be . . . . without you I should feel buried alive, knowing that the 404sunrise was shining above my grave, down on the daisies and grass, whose roots grew out of my heart, and held my lips silent with their cold fingers. . . . Brian, do you not feel that I love you – love you – love you?”
“Yes, my own!” he exclaimed straining her to him yet more closely; “Look, I have brought you a wedding gift,” and he drew a necklet of pearls from his pocket.
“Oh! how lovely, how perfect!” cried the girl, who had all a woman’s love of dainty gifts, despite her sibylline appearance, and she touched the strings and chains of small pearls held together by large oval stones which shimmered in her hands like tangible moonbeams, and looked long at the clasp which was wrought into a semblance of two closely-joined hands. “Like ours will be to-morrow,” he whispered, fastening the glimmering pearls and kissing the lovely warm white throat as he did so. And as they wandered on, talking of their future life together, the palmist’s prediction was forgotten, nor was there a shadow in their hearts or on their faces when, on the following day after the ceremony, Brian Enderby and his wife drove away amid the usual tearful congratulations and shower of old shoes. They had arranged to spend their honeymoon in Cornwall and their first resting place was a quiet little village forty miles from any railway: it was perched on the edge of a high cliff looking across the wild western sea, and was approached on the land-side through great stretches of drifted sand, amid whose blown and billowy hillocks a strange old carven stone cross raised its weatherbeaten head, and pointed (according to the legends) towards a church which once, centuries ago, had been buried with its priest and people in one of the sudden violent storms which in winter sweep across that perilous coast. In this quiet spot the happy days sped on very quickly for Brian and Gwendolin: each morning bringing, with the glory of its sunrise, a new sense of love and trust; each evening, with the tender radiance of its moonlight, a tranquil feeling of peace and rest, as tho’ after long battling in the open sea they had reached at last a safe and quiet haven
One day Ben, their landlady’s son, came in great excitement to tell them the church of St. Piran, which had been buried for eight hundred years, had suddenly appeared again, a high wind during the night having drifted the sand in an opposite direction. Brian, who was writing a book in his leisure moments on “The truth contained in ancient legends,” at once started off to see and sketch the old church, leaving Gwendolin to write some letters. “Good-bye, my darling,” he said, kissing her; “I shall be back to dinner, and for a stroll in the moonlight afterwards.” She smilingly watched him go, and after finishing her letters went out to post them; after which, feeling very lonely, she walked back to the edge of the cliff, and seeing the bright sunshine gleaming on the blue water and making fantastic patches of light and shade as it crept in and out of the 405wonderful natural arches into which the rocks had been fashioned by the waves, she could not resist going down to the shore. There was a steep but perfectly safe path from where she stood, but as she went down she met Ben. “Take care, lady,” he said, “the tide’s coming in, and there’s no way of getting up the rocks between here and Scragg’s Ladder.” Now Scragg’s Ladder was, as Gwendolin knew, an almost impossible climb. She answered smiling, “Thank you, Ben, I shall not go far,” and went on, thinking of Brian, and their great happiness, and wondering what he was doing at that particular moment; then a little poem came into her head, and she sat down on a smooth bit of rock, and taking an old letter from her pocket began to write it down; it took her some time, because it was so difficult to disentangle her thoughts from the whirling wings and shrill cries of the sea-gulls and other birds, who, resenting the presence of a stranger and being on that desolate coast as tame as London sparrows, came crowding round her, now flying in graceful but perplexing circles overhead, now walking, or rather huddling, along the sands, in their ungainly fashion, just as clumsy words describe the winged thoughts imprisoned in our souls, thought Gwendolin. Gradually, however, as she sat there, the sound of the incoming tide, the cries of the birds, and the distant moan of a rising wind, wove themselves into a tangled dream, and the girl, her golden head resting against a tall rock, fell fast asleep, the strange birds creeping nearer and nearer as if seeking to guard her against the swiftly advancing waters. . . . . . . Even in her sleep however, their moaning cries filled her with a sense of uneasiness, for she dreamed that the palmist was holding her hand and his touch felt like sharp ice. . . . “the psychic hand, yes, but the life line is broken. . . . broken. . . . broken. . . . it means. . . . death. . . . death. . . . death . . .” and with these words ringing in her ears she awoke.
For a few moments she could not remember where she was, for the whole atmosphere was ringing and swaying round her with shrill cries which seemed the echoes of her dream, “broken . . . broken . . . broken: it means death . . . death . . . death . . .” then with a sudden thrill of deadly fear she recognised her position. While she had been asleep the weather had changed, a sharp shrieking wind had driven the cowering clouds up before it until the sun was hidden, and a thin grey misty rain had begun to fall in that hopeless apathetic fashion it does sometimes in the summer, all the glorious colouring of rock and water had faded to one leaden pallor, but worse than this, the tide was coming in faster and faster, and as Gwen looked along the shore she could see nothing but seething water covering the path by which she had come, dashing thro’ the arches and flinging itself against them as tho’ striving to drag them down into the chaos of broken rocks at their feet. She started up and looked wildly round for Scragg’s Ladder, which she knew was her only chance of life. Clinging as best she could to the sharp rocks she scrambled on, and after five minutes of breathless climbing paused to 406look for the next practicable step, and saw the waves beating over her late resting-place, and wriggling up swiftly after her, with their cruel curly white heads almost touching her dress. She struggled on again, only keeping just in front of them for some minutes longer, when she again stopped, utterly worn out, her hands torn and bleeding, her hair, which the wind had loosened, wet with the rain, scourging her face and neck like sharp cords. In front of her, a few feet higher up, she knew there was safety, as she saw by the look of the rocks the sea-line was nearly reached; but between her and it there was a short stretch of sharp broken rocks, with spaces between them, over which she must leap. With a great effort she sprang forward, safely reached the last ridge, but here unluckily her foot slipped on an unsteady piece of rock, which fell forward, imprisoning her ancle, and when struggling up, for she had fallen on her back, she strove to extricate her foot, she found she could not move it an inch, and all her frantic efforts only succeeded in fixing the sharp edges of the rocks more firmly into her bruised and bleeding foot. With a little weary cry poor Gwen at last sank back again; she could hear the measured swish of the waves as they came nearer and nearer, and it added to the horror of her position that she could not see them or judge how long it would be before they swept over her face, so that with every rhythmic plash she suffered the agony of feeling the salt water blinding her straining eyes and suffocating her: the gulls and kittiwakes who had followed her wild scramble whirled above her in dizzy circles or swooped down close enough to peer into her agonised face, mingling their wailing cries with the moaning of the wind, until the poor girl, overcome by the horror of such a death, fell into a deep swoon with one last cry, “Oh Brian, my love, come to me, help me!” as the first wave reached her pale lips and broke over her shuddering body. . . . . .
Brian had been longer than he expected sketching the old church, and absorbed in his work had not noticed how the afternoon was changing; suddenly, however, finding a spot of rain blurring his picture, he sprang up hastily, gathered his things together and made the best of his way home. When he arrived at the little inn where they were staying he rushed upstairs, saying “Have I been very long, Gwen, my darling?” but no answer came, the room was empty. “Where is my wife?” he asked the landlady; she had gone out early in the afternoon, he was told, Ben had met her on her way to the shore, and they had supposed she had met her husband as she did not return. . . . “Good God!” he exclaimed, “on the shore, and the tide is in!” Here Ben appeared and said the tide was in two hours ago, and he thought had now gone out again far enough for them to search for the lady; so the miserable husband followed the gruff but kindly fisherman, and now wading, now leaping from rock to rock, they made their way as far as Scragg’s Ladder. A pale moon had risen and lighted up the fantastic crags and blown pools of grey water on the shore, while far above their heads, nearly at the top of the ladder 407itself, the men’s attention was drawn to the strange movements of hundreds of gulls, which, wailing and shrieking, were circling round and round one particular spot on the cliff. Brian gazed intently for a moment, and his practised eye, accustomed to note the slightest sign of life by the movements of birds or animals in the African swamps, caught a glimmer of hope as he sprang up the broken path in front of Ben now, saying, “Look there, it is she, thank God!” The fisherman followed him with nimble feet, tho’ the path in that uncertain light was almost invisible, and after a breathless climb they reached the unconscious girl; there she lay, looking like white marble in the pale moonlight, her golden hair wet with spray spread out on the rock as it had been left by that last terrible wave, and the restless grey wings circling round her continually, with strange shrill cries. Brian fell on his knees and tried to lift her, but the agony of the strain on her wounded foot called her back to life, and she opened her eyes with a little shuddering cry, “My foot!” Then, seeing her husband’s white agonised face bending above her, she tried to smile, but fainted again. The two men, after great efforts, succeeded in moving the rock, and carrying Gwen to the little inn: “If the water had been two inches higher – !” said Ben; he did not finish his sentence, nor was it necessary: Brian knew only too well the meaning of that “if.”
The village doctor, after examining his patient, pronounced Gwen’s foot to be severely sprained, and the shock to her system so severe that her beautiful hair must be at once cut off as he feared brain fever, but he hoped with perfect rest and quiet that in a month she would be able to go home: he was much surprised to hear the girl say in a weak little voice:
“Then my life-line could not have been really broken after all, could it, Brian?”
“No, my darling!” her husband answered with a half sob, as he fell on his knees and covered her hand with kisses. Then, turning to the astonished doctor, who evidently thought she was wandering, he told him of the scene with the palmist the night before their wedding: his shrewd grey eyes bore a somewhat mocking, yet very kindly, expression as he answered, gently taking his patient’s left hand, and feeling her pulse: “Ah! I’m a bit of a palmist myself, and I know you can never judge from seeing only one hand. . . . I see in this one,” gently tapping it, “the line of life is quite unbroken, and runs on to the age of eighty at the very least; so think no more about your false right hand, Mrs. Enderby!”
Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues
412
Ecclesiastical Christianity
“He hath a devil;” “a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber;” “a friend of publicans and sinners;” “a Sabbath-breaker;” “mad;” “blasphemous;” “perverting the nation;” “that deceiver;” “a malefactor.” –
“A thaumaturgist;” a “crucified sophist;” a “criminal.”
“This babbler;” “a setter forth of strange gods;” “a defiler of holy places;” “unfit to live;” a “pestilent fellow;” “mad.”
“Followers of a mischievous superstition;” “abjects and vile publicans;” “impious impostors;” “despicable fanatics;” “illiterate clowns;” “fools;” “deceivers;” “wizards and sorcerers;” “atheists;” “detestable criminals;” etc.
“Vile heretics;” “fools;” “immoral persons;” “atheists;” “sorcerers;” “leaguers with the devil;” “magicians;” “conjurers;” “Antichrists;” “false prophets;” “liars;” “diabolical innovators;” “fanatics;” “seducers from the faith;” etc.
“Fools;” “deluded idiots;” “victims of. hallucination;” “mad persons;” “blasphemers;” “dreamers;” “sorcerers;” “impostors;” “vulgar cheats;” “tricksters;” “hypocrites;” “convicts;” etc
The subject-matter of the following pages has long been buried in a small volume, which, owing to unexpected circumstances, may be said never to have seen the light of day. Dealing, as it does, with the undeniable history of churches which have been, and still are, regarded as well-nigh infallible by their followers, it seems serviceable to the cause of truth and reform that it should be rescued from oblivion, and, in a slightly revised form, reprinted. The logic of facts is severe, and it is to the facts of a long series of centuries that we look for confirmation of the statement, so often made in these latter days, that the church needs the broad light of spiritual truth, before it can be other than a blind guide to the people at large, sunk as they are in material cares and pleasures. Fear must be replaced by intelligence; ignorant platitudes and misapprehension of Scripture, by knowledge of spiritual laws; vicarious salvation by individual responsibility; useless ecclesiastical domination by liberty of thought. If the church – and in that word may be included all Western sects – fails to recognise her opportunity, she is doomed.
It is designed to show by an appeal to unquestionable historical facts in this brief outline of the past, that the spirit which animated Jesus of Nazareth in his short life-work has rested on the heroic martyrs for progress and reform of all ages, and that the system of ecclesiasticism, and the union of Church and 413State, so far from representing the sublime and eternal principles he taught, have outraged them by superstitions and cruelties which have been a curse to mankind; which formed a hell in the past, which have degraded religion in every nation in Europe, and which still survive in diminished forms, and exercise a deadly influence on the spiritual development of man, at the present hour.
When Stephen yielded up his last breath on a charge of blasphemy, uttering the divine prayer of Jesus that they who murdered him might be forgiven; when the faithful followers of Christ perished, some at Rome, some at Alexandria, some at Jerusalem; when the early Christian martyrs stood in the arena at Rome and faced tortures and death in their most terrible forms for the sake of the truth which their souls had recognised, because by a heaven-decreed law no truth can ever be born in vain – Christianity was a free religion. The little band of men called Christians who were torn by wild beasts, burnt in public gardens, tortured with all the ingenuity that human fiends could devise by command of emperors who were ruling a kingdom in the last stage of its decay – and who were many of them as infamous in life as they were perverted in intellect and moral sense – were men who possessed free minds. If they shared the Calvary of Christ they also shared the spirit which impelled the beautiful and fearless utterances by the shores of Galilee, on the brow of Olivet, and within the very precincts of the doomed Jerusalem, utterances which were spoken outside the synagogue and the temple, above and beyond the authority of the priests, and which appealed to the reason and the conscience of the human throngs who heard them. Such a religion as this could indeed brave death. Such a religion as this, which had not only taught truth, but “brought immortality to light,” might well have inspired its martyrs, and one would have said it ought to have rung around the wide world. But it was otherwise ordained. The Prophet of Nazareth told his disciples that “his kingdom was not of this world,” and the religion he taught was one which appealed to the most divine instincts in the soul of man; it was to be woven into no creeds; to be used as no instrument of priestly dominion; to be a weapon of no State; to be the possession of no particular class of persons. It was a great spiritual power, and it was born into the world when it needed it, to be henceforth kept alive through the heroic struggles and sufferings of men who, step by step, pressed forward in the path which had been pointed out by an unerring hand, till the hour should come when its light, the light of all true religions, should dominate the world in a liberty of the spirit which should be for ever above both church and creed.
Nearly two thousand years ago, Christ entered the sphere of human life on a divine mission, which was twofold: some of the truths he taught had been uttered before, but he placed them before men in a burning light and lived them out; the greatest truth of all, the immortality of man, had been variously recognised by other races and by other teachers; Christ demonstrated it, so far as it can be suggested or demonstrated by the manifestations of a body capable of existing on more than one plane of being. His life, including his power over matter, his spiritual insight, and his victory over death, was lived in strict accordance with laws which operated from his birth, and to which in the course of human progress, the race of man, as foretold by John, his “beloved disciple,” will eventually be subject. It was a great prophecy. The life and works of Christ were no more a violation of natural law than the life of civilised man is 414a violation of the law which once forbade any form of existence higher than that of the saurian. In the latter case the spiritual is developing, subject to planetary conditions: in the former it was developed, and overcame them.
But, living so far before the era of the coming spiritual race, he was indeed a “strong son of God.” He died to demonstrate immortal truth; he spake the words of wisdom without the knowledge and practice of which such a victory is impossible. His spirit was in harmony with the Father, and he attained to that high plane which lived in purity of thought as well as deed. A “greater than Solomon” indeed stood at last within the walls of Jerusalem; a mighty work was indeed accomplished there.
Nothing could be more opposed than the work of Moses and that of Christ, and it was easy to see that the followers of the one could never accept the other. The one was a lawgiver, regulating real and fancied morality by minute external details, and severe and often barbarous punishments; the other furnished a motive-power of action in pure, spiritual life, teaching that wrong-doing brought its own punishment, virtue its own reward: the one was an instrument of the Hebrew Jehovah; the other the messenger of a God of love: the one offered “sacrifices for sins,” with the blood of animals; the other “did the Father’s will,” and for a godlike truth sacrificed himself: the one was silent about a future life; the other realised it as a fact: the one belonged largely to his age and to the earth; the other to all time and to the world of spirit: the one gave death-sentences and died; the other spoke of a life that was eternal, and triumphed at last over all that makes it possible that man should die. The religion of Christ was and is a religion of virtue, self-sacrifice, charity, liberty, and love; of outspoken denunciation of all wrongs, no matter in what interests committed; of perfect trust and freedom; of uncompromising attachment to human good; of embodied perfection. It is a religion of life. This is the gospel of immortality against which were an angel to preach, he would indeed, be accursed.
Let us contrast it with the religion of priests.
More than a century and a half had elapsed after the events of this grand and beautiful life, before the idea was fully entertained that the various gospels and the writings of the apostles were of “divine authority,” in the sense now popularly understood. The evidence that such was the case is now too well known and too complete to be met with denial. The gospels and the epistles comprised many more books than are admitted in the canon of Scripture, which includes at the present time more than one epistle, the authenticity of which is known to be doubtful; and the so-called “scriptural authority” of a later period simply rested on the speedily-acknowledged best written testimony of those most closely related to Christ, or who had laboured most zealously in behalf of the work he had accomplished. The very differences among the apostles (Acts xv. 39; Gal. ii. 11) show that the little gatherings called churches at Corinth, Galatia, or Philippi, had no conception of a series of infallible dogmas. Their very errors (I. Cor. vi. 6, 7, 8; xi. 21) prove their human imperfections. A book, a man, a church, that could not err, was an idea alien to the spirit of the time, which was struggling to follow, on firm and broad principles, though at a great distance, in the footsteps of the Master. There is no question that Paul kept Christianity alive, but in his letters it exhibits certain marked differences 415from the Christianity of Christ. He rose to it in his realisation of the proofs and teachings given of the true nature of man, in his undaunted courage in declaring him to be the long-foretold messenger who was to appear among the Jews, which set Jerusalem “in an uproar,” and for which he was made a “spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men;” in his fearless and uncompromising determination to keep the new light free from all connection with the old, useless rites of Judaism believed to have been God-ordained; in his truly inspired chapter on immortality: he fell below it in his silence with regard to slavery, which was one of the most demoralising of the Roman institutions, in his apparently Jewish ideas of a propitiatory sacrifice to God rather than a divine sacrifice for man, and in his incidentally expressed views on the nature of womanhood. But he never dreamed of worship, or of standing in the place of God, and his very arguments are often lengthy appeals to the minds of others, which soared far beyond the deep-rooted prejudices of his age.
Had these facts been openly acknowledged, and had the founders of the so-called Christian Church of a later date taught the main principles of the new religion in freedom, and in the faith which could recognize that they required no human laws to uphold them, the terrible history of bigotry and suffering which has been the consequence of this first error would never remain to rise up in judgment against her now. From the time that a final and authoritative canon of the New Testament was established, with a view to place the truths which had been given through some great and good human souls in a position which God alone can ever occupy, ecclesiastical power arose. Moreover, the desire to illustrate the gospels by the Pentateuch, to connect the new truth with the old forms, with the legends of an irrevocable fall of man and the idea of an atonement, completely overshadowed the whole spirit of the mission of the Master, and to a large extent, the heroic preaching of Paul. Immortality and the pathway to it were almost forgotten; death and submission to literal authority, scriptural and hierarchical, were everywhere dwelt upon. Moses, the “types,” and the priesthood, eclipsed the light of the new message, and Genesis was ransacked by the Fathers to furnish reasons for, and illustrations of, the life and teachings they failed to understand. Tertullian defended the Christian faith; in a brief period Augustine dominated it. It has furnished a remarkable answer to the so-called philosophical statement that man is the author of his own religion. In one sense alone is this true, but that is in his very failure to appreciate the highest truths manifested to him until he is mentally and morally on a plane to grasp them. Does the North American Indian accept the civilisation of Boston or New York, or the savage of Australia the new life of its colonial cities? Christianity was unquestionably received, but it was popularised only by expanding on man’s level, and not Christ’s. On this plane, Judaism in another form was preserved, something in common was found even in Paganism, and opposition in Rome, the great centre of early Christian activity was rapidly broken down. But, in reality, it had only assumed another form. The spiritual religion of the great Teacher was obscured by the most wearisome disputes among the bishops of the early church on points of doctrine, and out of these disputes arose pious frauds,[58] pious errors, 416and finally the pious use of physical force. Council after council was held to prove or disprove by the vote of an intriguing majority the “consubstantiality of the Son with the Father,” and controversy after controversy took place between Arians and Athanasians, each decision as a rule being reversed by the following one, till at last, in the year 325, at the Council of Nice, and in 381, at the Council of Constantinople, the doctrine of a “Trinity” of three persons finally triumphed, and Mary, of the Gospel records, became “the Mother of God.” The original Nicene Creed anathematised all who dared to differ from it, and Constantine decreed that whoever refrained from destroying the works of Arius should be put to death. In the fifth century it had become a dogma to dispute which was to imperil the soul.
The influence of Platonism, the encouragement and the territory bestowed by the worldly-minded Constantine, and the decision of the Nicæan Council, all aided powerfully to pave the way for the establishment of a system which rapidly culminated in the papal power of Rome. To quote to any extent from the leading Fathers, and to show the materialism which had already converted religion into mere theology, would only weary the reader. It need only be stated that the saints, as they were designated, Augustine and Fulgentius, both declared that no one could be saved outside the “Church,” and that all Jews, heretics, and schismatics would depart into eternal fire; and so far did error develope mental slavery, that until the ninth century not a person existed who disputed the “eternal damnation” of infants dying unbaptised. Disputes about transubstantiation, the incarnation, the sacraments, predestination, election, original sin, the state of “the dead,” and the “atonement,” well nigh blotted out the mission of love lived out in Palestine but a brief period before, and educated the minds of men for the follies and the crimes which were destined to rise to their height in the Middle Ages.
The union of Church and State soon produced a system which taught religion at the point of the sword. The quarrels of the bishops about “apostolic succession,” the polemical wranglings, and mutual excommunications of those who had the presumption to style themselves “God’s elect;” the fierce and often bloody contests which arose on the occasion of a vacant see; the rising worship – nothing less – of the “Virgin Mary;” the increasing wealth of the church, and at last the complete repression of science and philosophy owing to the influence of the Fathers, all united to create that ecclesiastical authority which can only exist side by side with ignorance and error. It bore the inevitable fruits. At the instance of the clergy, the Italian wars were undertaken under Justinian, through which millions of lives were sacrificed, and a brief period later beheld the fruitless crusades, which lasted for centuries, and during which some millions of human lives were again wasted to rescue the tomb of Jesus from Mahomedan dominion. When Jerusalem was finally taken by Godfrey de Bouillon, all, without distinction of age or sex, were put to the sword, and the licentiousness and cruelty which accompanied the “holy wars” which were successively urged on European princes by the popes, had already linked the name of Christianity to deeds of barbarism and blood. The establishment of papal infallibility, the love of theological dogmas of no value to either reason or religion, the veneration of relics – thigh-bones and thumbs – inevitably amounting with the ignorant masses to actual worship, even where 417there were several of the same kind; the adoration of saints and the early martyrs, the phenomena of pilgrimages, penances, indulgences and their sale, spangled dolls, rosaries, genuflexions, absolutions, Latin services, perpetual miracles and shrine-wonders similar to the pagan marvels, increased the rising tide of superstition. Philosophy yielded to useless metaphysical subtleties, and science gave place to legends of the saints.
The progress of the monastic movement is known to every reader of history. In the first instance it was doubtless prompted by a spirit of reaction against the profligacy of the age, and a desire to escape persecution, but it rapidly degenerated into a system which was not only an undisciplined rebellion against the divine laws of God written in nature, but which itself became a fertile source of misery and widespread immorality. In the fourth century thousands of hermits and monks began to overspread Egypt, Palestine, and Italy, some of whom can be compared to no class of men so completely as certain of the Hindoo fakirs. They fled to the desert, abandoned every tie of affection and kindred, and dwelt alone in caves and solitary places. Their lives consisted of a series of penances; washing was discountenanced, and, half-starved and covered with filth and vermin, these would-be saints in their “zeal for the church” would speedily have dragged back human progress to the state it must have exhibited in the age of the original cave-men, had not other influences intervened to favour the more gregarious forms of devotional life established in the monasteries. The monastic life of which this was the commencement speedily developed itself all over Europe.
A philosophical view of these facts will doubtless recognise that the ascetic principle has manifested itself among the most varied races of men, and that the Essene, the Brahmin, and the Cynic, alike illustrate the tendency, and even its utility; but the point which claims our attention is its enormous and, at last, disastrous influence over those who professed more than they had the knowledge to accomplish, and who claimed to be followers of a Master who spent his life among the people, and whose whole method of teaching was opposed to mere selfish seclusion. The devotion of many of the earlier anchorites and monks is unquestioned, but, like all piety which refuses to recognise reason, it became, and very rapidly, a stronghold of both superstition and vice. A Columba was the exception; a fanatic and ignorant mendicant, or a dissolute friar, the rule.
For some five hundred years during the Dark Ages, the clergy reigned supreme, and owing to the ignorance and credulity which everywhere existed, what was called “heresy,” the result of the love of inquiry and the free use of reason, could hardly be said to exist. The priests were the guardians of the scanty knowledge of the age, and learning possessed by laymen was considered dangerous. The papacy had by this time become firmly established: the popes were styled “vicars of Christ;” papal supremacy and infallibility were undisputed, and from the sixth to the tenth centuries there were only some three or four men in all Europe who dared to think for themselves. What the lives of those were who occupied the papal chair from the eighth to the eleventh centuries is too well known to need comment. It suffices to say that they were uniformly immoral, and at times infamous. From the eighth to the twelfth centuries ecclesiastical immorality likewise reached its height in the monasteries, and the increasing wealth and power of the clergy made them a most formidable enemy 418to human progress. Thousands of women became dissolute owing to the forced celibacy of the clergy; in England, the monastic lands amounted to half the kingdom, and in other countries the proportion was even larger. The church now possessed the temporal power to enforce “conversion,” and this the popes relentlessly did all in their power to accomplish. Excommunications and anathemas struck terror into the hearts of kings, and held whole countries in subjection; emperors held the stirrups of the pope, it was considered an honour to kiss his feet, and the Holy See, under Innocent III., became a kingdom, which attempted to rule the entire continent. In the year 992 hardly anyone in Rome knew the first elements of learning; in Spain, in the time of Charlemagne, not one priest in a thousand could write a common letter, and in England not one understood the prayers he repeated, or could translate Latin into his mother tongue. The Latin which was at one time familiar to all, was in the eleventh and twelfth centuries hardly understood. Laymen had been taught to look upon the Scriptures, which no one understood, in the place of Deity; they were now considered too holy even to be read. The zeal which could incite men to slay their fellow-creatures for the sake of the possession of a spot of earth far too sacred to be associated with strife and bloodshed, was exchanged for the zeal which impelled their descendants to torture and murder all who ventured to dispute the dogmas of the church. How far removed already from the heroic spirit of those early Christian martyrs who suffered under the Roman persecutions of the first centuries, was the Latin Church, will now be seen. That church itself took the place of the pagan power, and the martyrs for truth and liberty, their real successors, were those who perished, no longer at the bidding of a Roman emperor, but, at her unhallowed hands. The spirit of St. Augustine and the Levitical law of the Hebrew nation, with its examples of barbarous severity, seemed everywhere to triumph.
Curious, Isn’t It?
“C. L.” asks in The Morning Post: –
“Sir, – Can any of the meteorologists give an explanation of the extraordinary readings of the temperature between December 3, when Bodö, on the Arctic Circle, was 20 deg. warmer than Oxford, and to-day (18th), when Nairn is reported 17 deg. warmer than Nice?”
[No “meteorologist” will, but Occultists may, and their answer is – change of cycles, and the end of a very important one Study Occultism. – Ed.]
The Talking Image of Urur
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Great Thoughts
A weekly journal of wide scope and high aims, covering all fields of interest to persons in all classes in life. The articles are extremely well chosen.
The Christmas number contains some excellent illustrations, portraits and gleanings of “great thoughts” from poet, scientist, religionist and historian.
But, while dealing with all subjects, it never descends to the commonplace or sensational, and its tone is of the purest culture and morals. We wish it all the success it deserves.
The Vegetarian
This penny Weekly is by no means devoted solely to the disseminating of dietetic ideas, but is a paper that all thinkers will enjoy reading, as a mention of many of its contributors will show. Among them are Miss Ellice Hopkins, for whose “White Cross” work all mothers feel grateful; A. F. Hills, T. R. Allinson, the gifted and lamented Dr. Anna Kingsford and her friend and colleague, Edward Maitland.
The philanthropic tone and effort of the paper deserve the kind wishes and attention of all who, like ourselves, work for the betterment of the great orphan – Humanity.
Of course there is the usual letter from the young enthusiast who yearns to flog his hobby to death, and is fain of “ignoring animal products altogether.” And so our vegetarian Don Quixote proceeds to run a tilt even against milk. Ere long we shall expect to see the “advanced” vegetarian isolating the babe from its mother’s breast in order to raise a real “pucca” herbivorous vegetarian 426purist. We fear, however, that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men of this “ultramontane” school of vegetarianism will fail to place their objections on a basis of fact, for the alchemy of nature teaches that milk is far less an animal product than cereals and vegetables raised from manure.
Logic Taught by Love
There are some interesting chapters in this small volume, especially when the author touches on Education and the theories of Gratry on Logic, and Boole on the laws of thought. As for the rest, take some logic and mathematics and a small quantity of metaphysics, mix them with strange misconceptions of two or three of the great world religions, go out of your way to glorify the Jewish nation, and you will have Logic Taught by Love. We are asked to believe that:
“Far back in the ages a tribe was differentiated, to be to the other races of the earth what the Unseen Logos is to Humanity as a whole . . . The Race of Israël is the hereditary priesthood of that Unity whose action is Pulsation.”
Now listen to the marriage hymn of science and religion:
“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Logos, the Hidden Wisdom, the Principle of Rhythmic Pulsation . . . .”
Do not smile, gentle reader, for the writer who speaks of a “Seer of Messianic Singular Solution,” and dubs Jesus the “High Priest of Pulsation,” knows all about you, that is, if you are interested in Theosophy, and will probably call you worse names than these. You will be pleased to hear that:
“occasionally an impulse of atavism seizes on a whole mass of people, too many to be locked up or ignored. Such a mass, ignorant of ancestral history, and therefore not knowing to what their own sensations point, start some weird fantastic movement, related to some portion of ancestral history . . . . The great Revolution in France, Mormonism in America, Maurice-ism and Hinton-ism here, ‘Salvation,’ Table-turning, Homoeopathy, and Esoteric Buddhism – each was produced by some stratum of the ancestral past forcing itself into the consciousness of an irreverent and forgetful posterity.”
Well, well! We have heard that the deceitful waves of Maya have the power of reflection. We would, therefore, respectfully advise the “Pulsationists” to study reverently what the hoary Wisdom of the East teaches about the “Great Breath” and to disentangle the following skein of ancestral history which they have been good enough to vouchsafe us. We find under the heading of Trinity Myths, explained presumably by the Logic Taught by Love system, the following strange table of correspondences:
| Brahma | Vishnu | Siva |
| Elohim | God of Israel (perhaps also Jehovah) | Adonai |
| God the Father | [God the Son] | Holy Spirit. |
The middle correspondence of the third ternary is not given, but cannot escape being supplied. Rule for the above: Take any three gods from any three systems, shuffle and arrange them in three rows.
A Chaplet of Amaranth
In the Chaplet of Amaranth we have a neatly bound and printed little booklet of the aphoristic class. The sentences on Scripture, the Futility of Creeds and Hell 427are generally commendable and in harmony with the spirit of the times which puts even Calvinism with its triple brass of bigotry on the rack and forces it to change the time-honoured “damnation clauses” of its creed.
The anonymous author tells us the great and quite novel truths that: “Scripture is but a record of divine things, by fallible man,” and that: “Nowhere do the writers of the Gospels declare they are writing by inspiration.” “Heaven and hell are of man’s own choosing and own making . . . . (they) are not everlasting fixed places of bliss or torment but spiritual states of being.” Good. But why “spiritual”?
The rest of the “Chaplet” is mostly remarkable for a confusing and variable use of the term “God” which is most distressing to the philosophic reader. Take as an example the proposition, “God is magnified in his children, first on earth and afterwards in heaven.” Now although science, philosophy and religion would emphatically reject such a statement, let us for argument’s sake accept it as a premise which is true for the writer: and in the same way also accept that. “The earth and all that dwell therein are but shadows of God’s mercy.” Therefore God is magnified in the shadows of his mercy. Any attempt to follow out all the ramifications of this hazy conclusion would take us straight to shadowland to sport with Maya’s brood of evanescent shades.
Then again we are told an excellent truth that, “man must save himself,” but are immediately tied in a mental knot by reading that “all men are judged by one standard, but God’s mercy shall not be the same for all.” After this little libel on God, quid plura dicamus? We fail to find the x in the equations of the author, and are not very hopeful of their solution in this manvantara. But perhaps the fact that: “Spirits can help a man on earth toward heaven, and in heaven toward God” may have something to do with it.
On the whole the attempt to bind the leaves of Judaism and blossoms of Christianity with the buds of Intuition has, it is true, produced a Chaplet, but not of Amaranth which fadeth not
Lucifer Fund
| From America. | £ | s. | d. | From Europe. | £ | s. | d. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. E. A. Neresheimer (Aryan T. S.) | 40 | 0 | 0 | N. H. | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| K. E. J. | 10 | 5 | 4 | No. 142 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| E. A. | 5 | 0 | 0 | M. José Xifré | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| M. C. | 5 | 0 | 0 | “Dewdrop” | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Victor Nelson | 4 | 6 | 0 | “Hel” | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Paul Webersinn | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Honble. Mrs. Malcolm | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dr. J. Docking | 1 | 0 | 0 |  |
1 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. A. J. Patterson, M.D. | 1 | 0 | 0 | Miss Conran | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dr. & Mrs. Phelon | 1 | 0 | 0 | E. C. H. C. | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. George H. Baldwin | 1 | 0 | 0 | S. H. Old | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Miss Florence Seymour | 1 | 7 | 0 | John Morgan, Jun. | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Mr. Davilt D. Chidester | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Mrs. – (a Friend) | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Miss Maude Fortescue | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Miss F. E. Burr | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| £ | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | 3 | 5 | |
| Previously acknowledged | 246 | 17 | 4 |
| Total | 373 | 0 | 9 |
Karma in the Animal Kingdom
432
British Section Council Meeting
The Council of the British Section met at 17, Lansdowne Road, on Wednesday, Dec 18th, Colonel Olcott, the President of the Theosophical Society, in the Chair. Delegates represented the “Blavatsky,” “Cambridge,” “Liverpool,” “Edinburgh,” and “Dublin” Lodges. H. P. Blavatsky sat beside the President 433the two Founders united once more in body as always in spirit. The consideration of the Propositions to be submitted to the Annual Convention at Adyar, in May, 1890, was relegated to a sub-committee, who are to bring up a report to the adjourned meeting of the Council, early in the New Year. The Council elected Colonel Olcott as its delegate at the Annual Convention. The amended rules of the British Section were then brought up and considered, and various amendments were made; it was decided that the meetings of the Council should be in April and October, the annual election of officers to take place in October; the financial year will end on September 30th, so that the annual balance-sheet may be circulated among the Lodges, in time for the delegates to receive instructions thereon prior to the Annual meeting at the end of October. The amended rules being passed, the Council proceeded to the consideration of the reports from the Lodges. The “Blavatsky Lodge” reported that it held a meeting for discussion every Thursday evening, and had specially studied during the year: the Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan, as given in Vol. I. of the “Secret Doctrine”; and the esoteric meaning of the Gospels. The number of members and associates had grown rapidly during the year. The “Liverpool Lodge” reported that it met for discussion, the reading of papers, etc., on the third Saturday in every month, and had special meetings as required. Members were carrying on active work in the press, and many enquires about Theosophy had been received. The “Dublin Lodge” stated that it held weekly meetings, alternate meetings being open to the public, while the others were reserved for members only: Colonel Olcott’s visit had drawn much attention to the work of the Society. The “Edinburgh Lodge” reported that, owing to the death of its President and other local causes, it had done but little work in the past, but was now becoming very active and hoped shortly to become one of the strongest lodges in the United Kingdom. The “Cambridge Lodge” explained that it had many practical difficulties to face, from its members leaving – having finished their University course – just when they were becoming most useful, but on the other hand it sent out into the world missionaries of Theosophy. The reports were adopted.
The officers were then elected: General Secretary, W. R. Old; Treasurer, F. L. Gardner; Auditors, W. Kingsland and H. Burrows. The Council presented a memorial to Col. Olcott, pointing out that the distance of the British Section from Head-quarters gave rise to many Executive difficulties, and asking him to vest his presidential authority, so far as the Section was concerned, in H. P. Blavatsky, appointing a Council to assist her with advice. The President promised to do so, before leaving England. The business of the Council concluded with a resolution expressing the thanks of the Section to the Colonel for the work he had done in England, and adding fraternal greetings to the Indian brethren. The Council adjourned.
Rules of the British Section of the Theosophical Society
1. The British Section of the Theosophical Society shall consist of all Fellows of the Theosophical Society resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
434
2. For all purposes of organization, the Section shall consist of all Lodges (or Branches) of the Theosophical Society within the above limits, provided that the said Lodges shall be duly chartered by the Theosophical Society or by such other authority as shall be deputed for that purpose.
3. The government of the Section shall be vested in a Council, which Council is an integral portion of the General Council of the Theosophical Society, and shall consist of the following: the Presidents of Branches, ex officio; one delegate from each Branch for every 25 members; the General Secretary, and the Treasurer.
4. The General Secretary, the Treasurer, and two Auditors, shall be elected at the annual meeting of the Council in October of each year.
5. During his tenure of office, the General Secretary shall be responsible for the carrying on of the routine business of the Section, and for the due execution of all instructions conveyed to him by the Council.
6. The General Secretary shall further keep a register of all the members of the Section, and it shall be the duty of Secretaries of Lodges to furnish him from time to time with the names and addresses of members of their Lodges. This register shall be open to the inspection of Presidents of Lodges, and members of the Section, at the discretion of the Secretary.
7. No person shall be considered a member of the Section whose name is not on the list of the General Secretary.
8. The financial year of the Section shall end on September 30 and an Annual Balance Sheet shall be prepared by the Treasurer, and forwarded by the Secretary to each Lodge at least 21 days before the October meeting of the Council.
9. The Council of the Section shall meet in London during the months of March and October, and at such other times as may be considered expedient. Notice of such meetings, together with notices of resolutions to be moved, or business transacted, shall be forwarded to every Lodge at least 21 days before the date fixed for such meeting. Special meetings shall be summoned by the General Secretary, at the request of the representatives of any two Branches, in which case notice shall be given to all Branches, as above.
10. At meetings of the Council, the members present shall elect their Chairman for the meeting; during such election the General Secretary shall take the chair pro tem.: the quorum of the Council shall consist of one representative from each of three Lodges.
11. Each member of the Council has one vote on any question about which a division is made. Proxies, general or special, shall be allowed. In case of a tie, the motion shall stand adjourned to the next meeting.
12. The Council of the Section shall have power to issue charters to Lodges and diplomas to members. It shall further have power to suspend charters or diplomas, pending an appeal to the President-Founder or his appointed Representative in the United Kingdom.
13. Each Lodge shall determine for itself the qualifications of its members or Associates; but no member of the Section shall have power to vote, or be eligible to office in more than one Lodge.
14. All difficulties or questions arising within Lodges or between unattached members of the Section, may be referred at the desire of either party to the decision of the Council of the Section, and final appeal shall be to the President-Founder, or his appointed Representative in the United Kingdom.
15. The Section shall have its Head-quarters in London, where a room or rooms shall be provided and furnished as a reading-room for the use of members of the Section. A library of works on Theosophy and Occultism shall be formed for their use; and the expenses shall be defrayed out of the funds of the Section.
16. The expenses of the Section shall be defrayed by an annual subscription 435from each member thereof. In the case of members belonging to a Lodge, the Secretary of that Lodge shall be responsible to the Council for the collection of their subscriptions.
17. The annual subscription of each member of the Section shall not be less than 5s. per annum, but members residing within 20 miles of London shall pay an additional subscription of 5s.; this being subject to the decision of the Council in special cases.
18. The contributions of the Section to the Head-quarters of the Society, or for other purposes outside the particular work of the Section, shall be subject to the action of the Council from time to time.
19. Alterations of these Rules may be made, by the Council, subject to the provisions as regards notice, as above specified.
W. R. Old.
Gen. Sec. British Section Theosophical Society.
Official Order
At the request of the British Section, Col. Olcott, before leaving for India, drew up and signed the following document:
London, 25 December, 1889.
In compliance with the unanimous request of the Council of the British Section, and to obviate the inconvenience and delay of reference to Head-quarters of current local questions requiring my official adjudication: I hereby appoint H. P. Blavatsky as Chairman, and Annie Besant, William Kingsland, and Herbert Burrows as Members, of an appellate Board to be known as “The President’s Commissioners” for Great Britain and Ireland; and furthermore: –
I hereby delegate to the aforesaid Commissioners for the United Kingdom the appellate jurisdiction and executive powers conferred upon me under the Constitution and Rules of the Society; and declare them to be my personal representatives and official proxies for the territory named, until the present order be superseded.
Provided, however, that all executive orders and decisions, made on my behalf by the said Commissioners, shall be unanimously agreed to and signed by the four Commissioners above designated.
Attest: W. R. Old,
General Sec. British Section, T. S.
"Blavatsky Lodge"
At the “Blavatsky Lodge” meeting of December 19th, the President of the Lodge, W. Kingsland, in the chair, a resolution of sympathy with, and thanks to Colonel Olcott for his work in England was unanimously passed. Annie Besant was called on to move the resolution, and to bid the Colonel farewell in the name of the Lodge; she alluded to the work done by the Colonel in the various parts of England, Wales, and Ireland that he had visited, and the loving memory and respect in which his name would be kept by all English Theosophists. She asked Colonel Olcott to carry back with him to India a message of brotherly affection to the Indian Theosophists, and to tell them that their English brethren looked to them to keep the flame of Theosophy burning in that country which must ever be the Holy Land to every true 436Theosophist. Herbert Burrows seconded the resolution in a few brief sentences, expressing the affectionate regard in which Colonel Olcott was held among all who knew him. Colonel Olcott, in reply, thanking the Lodge for the kindly feeling expressed towards him, said that he always tried to do his duty, and, whether in England or in India, his life would be devoted to the cause of Theosophy. He expressed the pleasure it had given him to be once more with H. P. B., his dear colleague and teacher, in the body, as always in heart and spirit, feeling as he did that, when they were separated, each was less than half what they were together.
As the meeting broke up, the members clustered affectionately round their President, shaking hands and wishing him well.
At a business meeting of the “Blavatsky Lodge” held at 17 Lansdowne Road, Holland Park W., on January 2nd, 1890, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year. President, Annie Besant; Vice-President, W. R. Old; Hon. Secretary, F. L. Gardner; Hon. Treasurer, Countess Wachtmeister. The following revised Rules were also adopted.
Rules of the "Blavatsky Lodge" of the T.S.
1. The Lodge shall be called the “Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society.”
2. The Lodge shall be constituted in accordance with the Rules of the British Section of the Theosophical Society.
3. The object of the Lodge shall be to train its members in Theosophical knowledge by study and discussion, and to serve as an active centre for Theosophical work.
4. The Council of the Lodge shall consist of the Officers, viz. a President, Vice-President, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer, and of three other members to be chosen by the Lodge; three of whom shall form a quorum.
5. Officers and members of the Council shall be elected annually at a meeting of members at the end of September: at which meeting the Lodge shall also elect its representatives on the Council of the British Section for the ensuing year. Vacancies occurring in the Council during the year shall be filled up by the election of the Lodge.
6. The Lodge shall consist of members and associates.
7. The right to attend and vote at all meetings of the Lodge shall be confined to members only.
8. Members and associates shall have the privilege of introducing visitors at three of the ordinary meetings; but if after the third visit such visitor does not become an associate or member, he can no longer be admitted.
9. Any visitor interested in Theosophy, but not yet prepared to take up full membership, may become an associate of the Lodge for three months. At the expiration of this period, he must either become a member or cease to attend the Lodge meetings and resign his associateship.
10. Applications for membership and for associateship shall be made in writing to the Hon. Secretary, who shall place the names of applicants on the notice board of the Lodge fourteen days before the date of election. Any objections to such election shall be sent in writing to the Hon. Secretary seven days before the date of election, and the Council shall take such action as is necessary.
11. There shall be no subscription to the Lodge, save that which is required from each member as a member of the British Section. The Lodge expenses shall be defrayed by voluntary contributions from its members and associates.
12. The Lodge shall meet regularly once a week at such time and place as may be 437appointed by the Council, and these meetings shall be open to members, associates and visitors.
13. The Council may appoint other meetings to which members only shall be admitted.
14. Alterations and additions in these Rules may be made by the Lodge.
H. P. Blavatsky, ere Colonel Olcott left England, handed to him the following paper:
Colonel Henry S. Olcott and the Esoteric Section
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American Section
The American Section of the T.S. held a Convention of the Pacific Coast Branches in October last, and we have received the printed report of the proceedings. The spirit animating the delegates seems to have been that of the purest Theosophy, the principle of Universal Brotherhood underlying the speeches and directing the methods proposed. Thus, Mrs. M. H. Bowman, of the Bandhu Branch, read a paper entitled, “Try to lift a little of the Karma of the World.” In this paper Mrs. Bowman, speaking of progress, says both truly and eloquently: –
“All about us are those, flesh of our flesh and soul of our soul, who sit clothed in darkness by that inexorable Karma, which we perhaps have but now outgrown; those who still wear the soiled garment, tabooed by social laws, made more desperate by that ostracism; those who tell us the story of the strong temptation, and the weak nature, of injustice against which there was no defence; of the endless procession of misfortunes, and no help, no refuge. Is it not such as these whose eyes have lost the power to weep? such as these who ‘wash the feet of the soul in the blood of the heart’? Is it over such as these we shall set ourselves as judges, and say, ‘It is Karma, and therefore justice’? Or rather shall we, remembering only that our brother suffers, try to lift a little of this dreary burden?”
Rightly did Mrs. Bowman conclude: –
“If we could thus make our Theosophical ideal of ‘Brotherhood’ an ever-present living factor in our lives, there would be small need to ask how best to show forth the truth to the world.”
Miss L. A. Off read a paper entitled, “A Few Suggestions Regarding the Higher Life”; to overcome separateness, to subdue the senses, to root out lust, 438avarice and unchastity, to practise the ten transcendental virtues, these are the roads to the Higher Life. Miss Off winds up her brief paper by saying:
“No fixed standard or vow can affect the interior choice and destiny of the soul; no monastery creates a saint, but a true saint radiates peace and love in whatever circle he may move. What loftier mission can be filled by the true Theosophist than to do away with the modifications of being, to transcend the ‘five places of passion,’ and thus reveal the tranquil, changeless essence of pure spirit.”
These papers were followed by three on the three objects of the T.S., written respectively by Allen Griffiths, Miss Marie A. Walsh and Mrs. Sarah A. Harris. Dr. Griffiths, calling on all to work, rightly says: –
“Universal Brotherhood does not, nor could not in simple justice, adopt any particular method or procedure, or line of operation, as its universality includes all ways, all things, and all men, for it recognizes that underlying all is that saving element of truth which both causes all to be, and gives, impulse to growth and progress. So it does not specialize, nor show partiality, but boldly says to all, ‘Here is an unlimited field of possibility, enter it and take possession of that portion to which your ability and capacity entitle you by virtue of your own motive and power to serve your fellows.’ If a certain order of minds clearly perceive one phase of Universal truth, and have ability and inclination to pursue it upon special and particular lines, within the circle of Universal Brotherhood, every opportunity exists for the following of that inclination and the exercising of that ability. The world is large, and numberless avenues are always open, so that no one need feel circumscribed, nor restricted, nor handicapped, in the pursuance of his chosen and particular scheme, whose object is the welfare of all men.”
Miss Walsh brings out strikingly in two passages the moral superiority of the Indian teachings over the Semitic, and of the manners of the people over those of the western world: –
“The hero finds himself in heaven. He asks for his loved ones. They are in hell. ‘Then let me go to them, I, at least, can help them suffer.’ And he turns his back upon the joys of heaven to seek his loved ones! What a scathing rebuke to that virtue which contemplates serenely the torments of the lost! Fortunately, for our sympathy, the hero is but tested, and on the brink of the inferno he finds his loved ones and – heaven.” “The literature of India, especially the drama, shows the people to have been simple in their habits, spiritual in their tendencies, and most gentle in their manners. While the civilized (?) Romans clapped their jewelled hands at the death of the gladiator, and shouted applause when youths and maidens were torn to pieces by wild beasts, the Hindoos shrank from the very suggestion of physical pain upon the stage; and their plays were entirely free from cruelty or grossness.”
Mrs. Harris dealt very ably with the third object. She began by pointing to the unity underlying multiformity.
“In dealing with nature’s forces we may, from a theosophical point of view, see them as a differentiation of the primal force spirit, and the matter through which spirit manifests, as the crystallization into objective form of primal substance – man, as to his physical body and the force which works through him, being a part of the manifested universe, while in his psychical powers and spiritual nature he is called to that which is interior to this material plane, each power of body or mind being differentiations of the Universal; for as there is in reality but one force spirit, so there is but one sense feeling, of which the five so-called senses are the out-speaking. In reality, there are no external senses. When the one unit of consciousness speaks through the eye of animal and man, it becomes sight; through the ear, it becomes hearing, thus functioning the various organs of the body and relating them through the consciousness to the external world.”
She then spoke of the force of thought, and its effects, and the influence of man’s thought on lower planes of being, winding up with the lines:
“Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are |
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Dr. T. Docking gave the last paper, set to the keynote “Be all things to all men,” and going, we think, somewhat too far in the effacement of distinctively Theosophical doctrines in the effort to avoid giving offence.
One piece of advice, given by Dr. Docking, we recommend to Theosophists in England as well as to those in America.
“As a further suggestion for increasing the efficiency of the work of all branches of the Theosophical Society, wherever established, or about to be established, we would urge upon all members of the various lodges the great desirability, we may add necessity, of members cultivating the society of each other, meeting together as often as practicable at each other's houses, where no lodge-room is permanently available. At such meetings the central aim should be to discover how nearly these good people can come together in thought and feeling, and what particular spheres of usefulness they may individually occupy best. It is of little advantage for people to join societies and acknowledge their adhesion to a great bond of union, if they do not embrace and seek to create opportunities and occasions for mutual converse and help. The work of many a society languishes because of the members not acting in accordance with a due recognition of the tie of brotherhood, while much inspiration is lost by two or three fluent speakers or able writers being looked to at all times, under all circumstances, to furnish food for the mental digestion of all the rest; timidity and bashfulness should have no place among brothers and sisters; fear of criticism or of being misunderstood should never seal the lips of anyone who feels he has aught to say for the edification of the assemblage; to underrate our powers, or mask our gifts, to fight off ins irations and disown ability, is not humility but puerile masquerading as its opposite virtue.”
Members of the “Blavatsky Lodge,” please note!
The following paragraph from the Washington Post reaches us:
A public meeting was held last night by the “Blavatsky Branch of the Theosophical Society” at 923 F Street North-West. The audience was large. B. Keightley, of England, private secretary to Madame Blavatsky, spoke on the Socialistic phase of Theosophy, and Miss Musaeus read a paper in defence of Madame Blavatsky.
Theosophical Libraries
A free Theosophical library is being formed at Merthyr Tydfil, great interest being shewn there in Theosophy by the mining population, among whom – as everyone who has lectured to them knows – are found men of strong intelligence. Mr. Thomas, 18 Park Place, Merthyr Tydfil, will gladly receive and acknowledge any gifts of Theosophical books for this purpose. A great wish has been expressed to read Lucifer, and we hope that some well-to-do Theosophist will pay a year’s subscription, for a copy to be sent each month to the new library.
Through the kindness of some members of the T. S. three more Theosophical lending libraries have been formed, at Edinburgh, Newcastle-on-Tyne and Penrith.
A similar effort is shortly to be made in Whitechapel, and it would be well if, in each town, a group of Theosophists would take up this work, and open a free library and reading-room for the benefit of poorer enquirers. No missionary work is more permanently useful than this spreading of our literature.
Those who are able to assist in this good work should confer with Countess C. W –, 7, Duke Street, Adelphi, London, W. C. She has already sent the first instalment of books to the above-named libraries.
All books for Theosophical Lending Libraries can be purchased at 7, Duke Street, at 25 per cent. discount off the published price. Subscriptions to Lucifer for the above-named Libraries would be thankfully received.
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Theosophy in India
The Indian Mirror – known to all who take an interest in the movement now going on in Hindustan, for its patient and steadfast work for the redemption of that great land from ignorance and oppression – has a leading article on the Theosophical Society which will be read with pleasure by all Theosophists, and to which we gladly give publicity in this organ of the Theosophical Society. The Indian Mirror does no more than justice to the Society, and probably nothing less than the passionate belief of its Founders could have awakened India from a sleep which was fast passing into lethargy. Those who have read Colonel Olcott’s lectures, given in the great cities of Hindustan, will readily understand how his burning words on Aryavarta lit a corresponding flame in Indian breasts. The Indian Mirror of Nov. 22nd says:
“The Theosophical Society has done more for India than some people are aware of. Though constantly en evidence before the public, Theosophy and the Theosophical Society are still abstractions to many men even in India. We, however, who have watched the Theosophical movement from its initiation at New York, the transference of its activity to these shores ten years ago, and the unexampled success of its ideas ever since throughout the country, must acknowledge that if the affairs of India now command universal attention in both hemispheres, the Theosophical Society ought to have every credit for it. When the founders of the Society landed at Bombay in 1879, they did not find even half a dozen Indians ready to receive their ideas of an Universal Brotherhood, and not even the idea of an Indian Brotherhood. Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, who had come to India, as they said, to learn and acquire the wisdom of the East at the feet of Indian sages, found that the sages were at a discount in the country of their birth and work, that the educated Indians knew them not, and that those whose pride it should have been to worship Sankaracharya and Buddha Gautama, worshipped Huxley and Herbert Spencer instead. In fact, the Light of Asia had been completely quenched, so far as India at least was concerned. With an enthusiasm, however, which only a conviction of the sacredness and potentiality of their mission alone could generate, the founders of the Theosophical Society went to work, and proceeded to create order out of chaos, and light out of darkness. And they were mightily misunderstood. The people held aloof from them. Europeans jeered at them. The Government followed their movements with suspicion and distrust. But it was shortly acknowledged that the Russian lady and American gentleman were terribly in earnest. They had not the slightest intention of retiring from the field. They made many and large sacrifices. They literally slaved at their work. Colonel Olcott spoke frequently before the public, and Madame Blavatsky toiled eighteen hours at a stretch at her desk in order to find the wherewithal to feed her beloved Society. What charlatan ever did honest work or endured a tithe of the privations, which Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott went heroically through in order to force the claims of the Theosophical Society on the public? Theosophical ideas at length began to spread. Ceylon was taken by storm, and the Christian Missionaries, who had long held sway in the island, retired in favour of yellow-robed priests of Buddha, and the five sacred precepts were heard once more loud in each Dagobah’s rounded pile. In
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India the Theosophical Society began gradually to increase in numbers, and to grow in influence. Its leading ideas were found to be practicable. Its claims on behalf of Eastern philosophy and science and literature were recognised in quarters where they used to be before laughed out as absurd and preposterous. The educated community in India, the thinking portion of it at all events, turned to examine the lore left to them by their ancestors. And soon a community of spiritual thought and purpose began to spread through the land. The Hindu, the Moslem, the Jain, the Parsi, commenced an union of intellectual brotherhood, and as they fraternised more and more, they wondered why they had held aloof, each from the other, so long, and how they should have neglected to claim their common legacy. Soon every large town had its branch of the Theosophical Society. The annual conventions at the head-quarters of the Society, the precursors and models of the National Congress, brought hundreds of the representatives of the most different and distant communities together, and they became periodical jubilees of the revived affection among the hitherto divided members of the great Indian family.
“To become good Theosophists was to become good citizens. The Theosophists were not only to be brothers among themselves, but also brothers to all men with whom the world brought them in contact. Theosophists in India, therefore, began to look about them to see if they could not ameliorate the lot of their fellows. They realized that life was real and earnest, and accordingly they worked with a weal for their fellow-Indians, and the common cause of their country. Whatever may be our own personal impressions, we will not in this place claim the triumph of the National Congress as the triumph of the Theosophical Society. It is far too wide a demand to be conceded without demur. But this much we will undertake to say that the Theosophical Society brought the people of India together, proved their inheritance, and made them deservedly proud of this beloved Bharat Khund. Another claim which we may with confidence urge on behalf of the Theosophical Society, is the recruiting of influential foreigners in the cause of India. The first important convert to Theosophical ideas from among Englishmen was, strangely enough, the then Editor of the Pioneer, Mr. A. P. Sinnett. And Mr. Sinnett brought Mr. Hume, our dear, old long-tried friend. At one time, Mr. Hume was idolised by Theosophists, as he is now being idolised by the country at large. Was it not a great and marvellous fact that this Englishman, affluent, eminent in service, and proud of the race from whom he sprang, should meekly bow his head before the holy Indian cause, and adopt India as his home for which he was prepared to make any and every sacrifice? This marvel, then, is the work of the Theosophical Society. And we further claim that it has fully accomplished its mission in India. Its work now lies in other fields. The Light of Asia is slowly reaching the West. Europe and America look upon the phenomenon with bewildered wonderment, but they still look on. In England Theosophical ideas are compelling public attention, and the discourses of Colonel Olcott are being heard with intelligent respect. Theosophy has a great future before it in England. It has already put forth a wonderful phenomenon in London. It has converted Annie Besant, the famous hard-headed materialist and agnostic, into an expectant enquirer of Theosophical truths. The influence of Mrs. Besant in England is widespread and far-reaching. She has for years been the fellow-worker in the
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English people’s cause of Mr. Charles Bradlaugh. And behold another marvel still, these so-called atheists, once the horror of mankind all over the world, compel to-day the world’s attention, and the world is in a manner at their feet. And these two great souls are leagued to-day to work for the amelioration of pantheistic Hindus and Parsis and Buddhists and theistic Mahomedans. Who could have dreamt of these wonders a few years ago? And yet, as we write, we feel that we have not yet exhausted the marvels. More wonderful events have still to follow. Happy those who have seen, and who will see, with fear and yet with hope!”
Dublin Lodge
The Dublin Theosophists, acting in their capacity of members of the Vegetarian Society, gave a very bright Christmas Eve to some hundreds of poor little Dublin children. The Lodge collected £20 in money, 500lbs. of cake, and 2,000 apples and oranges, as well as toys and sweets innumerable for its little guests. The Irish Times says:
“Some hundreds were present of different ages and of different degrees of poverty, and the proceedings were of a very jolly character. Tea was first served, and when that was discussed, a little concert, more or less of an impromptu kind, with conjuring and ventriloquial exhibitions, was given by some of the members of the society. Needless to say the little ones were highly delighted and mystified with this, to them, very novel performance, and they gave noisy expression to the pleasure which the merry-making afforded them. After this there was a big attraction, and one appealing more to the younger portion of the little guests – namely, the distribution of toys from a Christmas tree which occupied the central position on the platform. It would be difficult to describe the eager excitement with which this portion of the programme was watched, as one by one the children went up to receive their gifts in the shape of dolls, monkeys, rattles, and everything that a well-regulated Christmas tree should contain. But this was not all, for as the children passed out of the hall they were loaded with apples, oranges, and barmbracks, which were there in profusion for distribution. Indeed it was no easy matter for some of the younger children, even with their pinafores and cloaks, to carry away the load of presents and good things which were given them, The children behaved themselves extremely well, waited patiently for their turn, and appeared all quite satisfied with the shares allotted to them.
“The arrangements, which were carried out by Miss G. Johnston, Mr. F. Allen, and other members of the society, assisted by a number of ladies, were admirable. This is quite a novel feature in Christmas charities, and the society is deserving of every praise for having inaugurated it.”
About 100lbs. of cake and a barrel of fruit remained over, after all the hungry little mouths were satisfied, and these were carted off to the Catholic Boys’ Home as a gift. £15 remained in the hands of the members, and are to be used for a treat in the summer.
It is sad to know that if our Irish comrades had acted nominally as Theosophists, the children would have been forbidden by the priests to enjoy this harmless fête. Roman Catholicism, now as ever, is bitter against all who will not submit to its sway, and would rather darken the already sad lives of the children than allow them to be brightened by heretics.
"Going To and Fro in the Earth"
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In Lucifer’s wanderings up and down, he came across the following article from the Boston (U.S.A.) Courier of July 18, 1886, and brought it on for publication in our pages, as an interesting testimony of the view taken at the time of the S. P. R. clumsy attempt to stab Mme. Blavatsky. Theosophists are, of course, fully aware of the contempt with which the proud and exclusive Hindus regarded the blundering efforts of a self-confident young European to investigate and measure their most sacredly treasured beliefs; but in view of the attempted revival of his discredited report – so unwisely adopted by the S. P. R. – the following will be read with interest: –
“The London Society of Psychical Research has perhaps fulfilled the hopes of none of its friends in its discoveries, its investigations and its manifestoes, but it has made no more egregious blunder than its report on Theosophy. We have no especial desire to enter into a defence of esoteric Buddhism, since in the first place it is abundantly able to stand upon its own merits, and in any case the sort of attacks which are made are so generally unintelligent and so prejudiced as to merit no attention whatever, while, it may be added, it is not our plan to become its champion, most of the so-called expositions are but more or less pitiful displays of the ignorance, or the flippancy, or the malice of the writers, and as such may be left to work the confusion of their authors.
“The report of the Psychical Society, as coming authoritatively from a body including many men of wide reputation, is likely to receive more attention and be accredited with more weight than really belongs to it. It has already been shown in a pamphlet published by Mr. Sinnett, upon how flimsy a foundation the evidence of the report rested, and it is of interest in this connection to read the following protest which has been sent from Negapatam, signed by nearly seventy people of standing, not one of whom is in any way connected with the Theosophical Society:
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“‘We, the undersigned, are much surprised to read the report of the “Society for Psychical Research on Theosophy.” The existence of the Mahatmas or Sadhus was not invented by Madame Blavatsky or any other individual. Our forefathers who had lived and gone long before the birth of Madame Blavatsky and the Coulombs had full belief in the existence of the Mahatmas and their psychical powers, and even had personal interviews with them. There are persons in India, even at the present day, who have no connection with the Theosophical Society, and yet have interviews with such superior Beings. There are many reasons to prove these well-established facts, but we have no time and it would be useless to go into details. Let Mr. Hodgson and the Committee, if they are in earnest, make deep researches into the matter and find that their conclusions were not only hasty but also entirely unfounded. The report of Mr. Hodgson, and the conclusion of the Committee thereon, cannot at all affect in the least our belief in the existence of the Mahatmas, but will only betray their grossest ignorance of the Occult history of the Hindus.’
“The truth is that Mr. Hodgson, sent out by the London society to India, to investigate Madame Blavatsky, was so entirely unfitted for the work confided to him that he fell a victim to errors the most egregious. He set down to the credit of Madame Blavatsky’s inventive powers theories and statements which may be found even in plenty of English works upon Indian religions, published in London a century or more ago; and the society can hardly be willing to attribute to Madame a term of life so extended as to suppose her to have instigated the writing of books so old. The report proved by far too much, and is on the face of it absurd. The question, of course is not here upon the reality of the Sadhus, but of the origin of the belief in them; and nothing is easier than to prove that this faith has been prevalent in India from time immemorial.
“Of course, as far as the truth or absurdity of Theosophy goes, what Madame Blavatsky or any one else may or may not be is not of the slightest importance. An ethical system stands or falls by its own merit, judged by the facts of human life and what man has been able to discover of the universe. There has never been a religion or a philosophy that has not numbered among its professed upholders, and usually among the most prominent of them, men of worthless character, who made it merely a means to their own base ends. If Theosophy falls to the ground it will not be because Madame Blavatsky or another is proved to be worthless and designing; and equally, if it stands, it will not be because the character of these or any other of its adherents is placed above suspicion and reproach.”
Errata in Psychic Fire, November Number
Page 234. – A universe of infinite space measured by finite units of time. (18th line from top.) For one half of this line of change. (27th line from top.)
Page 235. – Motion is the manifesting power and its amplitude is its unit measure of space. (6th line from top.)
No. 30 – February 1890
The Last Song of the Swan
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(Vide Jo Boemus Aubanus de moribus gentium – Baleares) l. 3, c. 26.
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| C. E. B. |
Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues
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Christianizing the “Heathen Chinee”
“Lieutenant Wood of the United States Navy, says: ‘It is not extravagant to say that the work of the missionaries in China and Corea has been absolutely without any result, except to hold them up to the ridicule of the natives. It has before been stated, and I concur in the belief, that there is not a Chinese convert to Christianity of sound mind to-day within the entire extent of China.’ And this after all the vast sums of money expended, and large number of brave lives sacrificed to ‘carry the gospel to the heathen.’ It seems that the bible has never been translated into the pure Chinese of Confucius, but into a sort of lingo that bears about the same relation to Chinese that pigeon English does to pure English. Our missionaries to China are looked upon with pitying contempt by the better classes of Chinese, and by the common people with contempt without the element of pity – about the same as the people of this country (America) regard the Salvation Army, only considerably more so. It is no light task to convince an intelligent Chinaman that the Christian’s bible is any improvement on the moral teachings of Confucius.”
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A Sakia
Some years ago business took me to Central America, and in the course of my wanderings there I had occasion to go to Cape Gracias, a small native settlement at the mouth of the Segovia River; the population of the village was about three or four hundred, of a mixed race of Indian and Negro blood, the latter predominating; many superstitions and customs of the African tribes existed amongst these people. Their principal occupation is fishing; this, and the cultivation of a few scanty patches of Indian corn and beans, being their means of subsistence.
No vessels now visit this place, excepting, perhaps, a small coasting craft occasionally. There was once a fine harbour, and the place was the headquarters of the buccaneers in these seas two centuries ago, but the harbour is now filled up with sand, and there is no trade.
Two Europeans lived here, from whom I received much information and many favours. As I was likely to be detained here some weeks I soon began to find time hang heavy on my hands, and mosquitoes and sand-flies made life so lively that even a cowboy would have failed to express his feeling in appropriate terms. Under these circumstances I was delighted when Mr. A. proposed that I should accompany him on an expedition up the River. He was about to pay a visit to a tribe with whom he had done a little trade, living in a range of mountains on the northern coast, known as the Congrehoy Mountains, which, although they are are not more than 60 or 70 miles in length, rise to an elevation of 10,000 feet. Mr. A. had never been amongst these people, and had only on two occasions seen any of them, when they had come down the Segovia in canoes and had bought some goods from him. They had nvited him to pay them a visit, giving him some directions as to how to find them, and upon the strength of this we started.
We had one canoe, or pit-pan as the natives call it, manned by six stout fellows, and with a small supply of necessaries we started from Cape Gracias at daylight. The men handled their paddles well, but the current of the river was strong, and our progress slow. About 10 a.m. we landed and had breakfast; the heat from this time till 4 or 5 p.m. is oppressive, the sun being then too high to throw any shade on the river.
We enjoyed a hearty meal of stewed iguano – for which one is likely to have a better appetite if the animal is not seen before being cooked – and at about 4 p.m. we resumed our places in the canoe, and pushed on up the river; not stopping again except for half-an-hour’s rest till 10 p.m. We then camped for the night, setting a watch and keeping a large fire burning as a protection against the jaguars, of which there are 461plenty in these forests. The banks of the river here began to be precipitous, the country being well wooded, with patches of savannah covered with long grass and bushes at intervals. The following day we continued our journey in the same order as before, but shortly after starting in the afternoon we were obliged to land and tow the canoe up a rapid, at a point where the river rushes through a vast gorge in the mountains; the fall in the river bed is not great, but the width of the passage being only about one third of that of the river above, the rush of water is very strong. The cliffs rise sheer from the water on both sides to a height of about 300 feet and the path by means of which we towed the canoe appeared to be the work of hands long since crumbled to dust. It required our united strength to tow the empty canoe about a mile and a half, and we were nearly three hours in making that distance. Having passed through the gorge we camped for the night, tired out. The river above the gorge was broader and shallower than below, with a slower current. The scenery became every moment more picturesque, for here the profuse vegetation of the tropics strove to cover the wild ruggedness of the huge broken masses of rocks, scattered in the wildest confusion by some bygone earthquake.
Out of every crack and rent grew lianas and creeping plants of great variety and luxuriance, which covered the rocks and trailed in the water, forming a scene of wild beauty. Another day’s paddling brought us, early in the evening, to the mouth of a small river flowing into the Segovia, from the north. Up this we turned and in two hours’ time arrived at what seemed to be the source. This place was a deep basin, nearly in the form of a horseshoe, surrounded on three sides by sloping masses of rocks overgrown with tropical plants and trees; a small stream tumbled down the rocks on one side and plunged into the pool over a ledge about 20 feet high.
Here we camped in the usual way, and slept soundly. Next morning, after a plunge in the pool and a light breakfast, Mr. A. and I started alone, as the Poyas had warned him not to bring any natives with him.
Following the directions Mr. A. had received, we found a path leading towards the mountains and followed it all day, halting for rest and refreshment for two hours; the path led upwards but not very steeply, nor was travelling difficult; we crossed several streams during the day, and as we saw no signs of the Poyas at dusk, we concluded to camp for the night. We chose a flat piece of ground under an overhanging rock, and having collected a good supply of wood, which was plentiful, we slept alternately without being disturbed. In the morning we again followed the path, and at about 9 a.m. we met six men; they had come from their settlement to meet us, we having been seen by one of their hunting parties the day before; a man had been sent at once to the settlement with the news, while the hunters had kept us in 462sight since, which was very kind of them, but not sociable, since we were not aware of their proximity. These men were about as tall as the average European, of very fine physique, with black hair and eyes, and of an olive complexion; they were clothed with a kind of cloak of jaguar skin, worn over the shoulders, trousers of cotton, reaching to the knees and tied round the waist with a kind of scarf, made of the fibre of some plant unknown to us, and dyed in various colours; they wore sandals of hide on their feet, tied with strings of plaited leather and coloured. They were armed with bows about four feet long and very strong; the arrows were short but beautifully made and tipped with copper; they carried spears also, with copper heads and bamboo shafts about seven feet long; besides these, four of them were armed with the Pocuña, or blow gun. They spoke to us in Spanish, which only two of them understood indifferently well. They said they had orders from the “old men” to conduct us to the village; they asked us no questions and spoke in a grave and dignified manner. After stopping for some dinner and a rest, during which both parties were surprised to find that the use of tobacco was equally well known to each, we pushed on and reached the village about 5.30 p.m.; a messenger had been sent on ahead while we rested, and so we found the whole population turned out to receive us.
The village consisted of one continuous row of houses, built against the foot of a cliff some 700 feet high, with a small open plain in front, through which ran a stream, while opposite rose a huge mountain peak. As we came out upon the plain we were met by a body of men of venerable appearance; there were about 20 in number and some of them seemed to be extremely old. As we approached they bowed to us, at the same time drawing the left hand gently across the lips, evidently their mode of salutation. One of them then bade us welcome in a few words of bad Spanish, which we soon found was a language few of them understood at all. Their own language is soft and sonorous, and spoken with great rapidity. They conducted us to a house at the extreme end of the village, one which was evidently quite new, and was to be our quarters during our stay; one of the young men who first met us was appointed as interpreter for us, the rest then took leave; we were informed we should be expected to dine with them shortly, so we took advantage of the interval to improve our personal appearance as much as our limited means would allow.
While waiting for dinner, I may as well give some account of our surroundings. The house was built entirely of bamboo, strongly and very neatly put together; it was very deep from back to front, probably 60 feet, and about 20 feet wide, and contained several rooms of various sizes which all opened into a passage, running through the house along one side; there were no doors, only grass mats hanging over the openings; these were quite soft and dyed in various colours and patterns: hammocks 463were suspended in one large room; the rest of the furniture consisted of stools made of bamboo, a table in one room, which was a fixture, various vessels of glazed earthenware, some yellow, some black, chiefly for cooking, and two large jars full of water. Having taken in the details of the house, we began to study our neighbours’ manners and customs. In front of the whole row of houses extends a verandah some 20 feet wide, and here are to be seen nearly all the female population of the village, for all the cooking is done in the open air, and all other domestic work also. These ladies do not make a very elaborate toilette; their costume consists of a cotton garment without sleeves which extends to the knee; and in the evenings, which are often chilly, they throw over them a large piece of their native cloth, which is dyed in various bright colours, and which they wear with considerable grace. They all take great pride in their hair, which is fine and black; they plait it in a peculiar manner and fasten the plaits with two combs made of shell and many of them curiously wrought. Some of the girls wore necklaces of what looked to us like small nuggets of gold. They regarded us with much curiosity, but at a respectful distance, nor were we able to make any closer acquaintance with them during our stay. We remained with these people six days, and very pleasant days they were, spent mostly in hunting and in exploring the country; during these expeditions we came upon many scenes of great beauty and grandeur and in two instances on ruins of towers. The evenings were mostly spent in chatting with the “old men” and smoking, the whole population being generally asleep by 8.30 p.m.; during these conversations we were often puzzled by hearing allusions to “The Sakia” and at last we enquired of one of the “old men” what the Sakia was; he seemed rather troubled by this question, and at last said he would consult the rest of the council as to whether he could tell us or not.
Nothing more was said on the subject, but the following night about 9 o’clock, the “old man” came to our house and said that if we wished to know more about the Sakia we must go with him at once. In a few minutes we were ready and set off with our guide in a direction in which we had not hitherto been.
He told us the Sakia was a wise woman who knew everything and could do everything, and they always consulted her on affairs of importance. We followed our guide in silence over many crooked but not difficult paths, the moon being nearly full; at last, after some two hours’ tramp, we began to see that we were amongst the ruins of a city of larger dimensions than either of those we had seen before: then we saw the light of a fire, which appeared to be in the mouth of a cave, but upon a closer inspection was found to be in what was once the entrance of a temple or some such building. The space enclosed by the massive stone walls was about 30 feet square; the fire was in the centre of the floor, which was nearly covered with skins. As we approached 464the arched entrance, we were startled by a fierce growl from within, and the figure of a large jaguar rose up from beside the fire; he crouched for a spring and we prepared to shoot, but the “old man” stepped in front and called in a low tone to someone within; a word in reply caused the jaguar to resume his sleep by the fire, and the strange inhabitant of this strange habitation stood before us. We had expected from our guide’s description to see some withered old crone; what was our astonishment to behold a young woman of perhaps 20 years, tall and graceful, with a proud and dignified air. She was clothed in a garment made of the skin of the black jaguar, leaving the arms bare and descending to the knees; her black hair was loose and fell in heavy masses over her shoulders; she wore bracelets or bangles of gold upon both wrists and ankles, but we had no opportunity of examining them closely. Our visit seemed displeasing to her; she spoke to our guide with great animation for a few moments and appeared to cause the old man great uneasiness, and then disappeared in the hut. Our friend took us a few steps off, and then told us he was afraid we should have to go away, as the Sakia was angry with him for allowing us to see her; however we waited a few minutes, when we heard her begin to sing in a low, soft voice. After some moments the old man advanced to the door and spoke a few words; she then came out with a small wand in her hand and gave some brief direction to our guide; he at once began to collect wood for making a fire, and when he had a small pile he lighted it with a brand from the fire inside. While this was being done, the girl stood gazing, lost in thought, but when the fire had burned well up, she walked to a clump of bushes a few yards from the fire and poked amongst them with her wand, when a snake about 4 feet long crawled out and with a spiteful hiss reared himself for a spring. We recognized the snake at once as the Tamagassa, whose bite is always fatal within half-an-hour.
We were horrified to see the girl face this reptile and both of us were about to fire, when, with an imperious gesture, she stopped us, and holding out her right hand the snake sprang and hung from her wrist She quietly advanced to the fire and shook the snake off into it, and, making no attempt to escape, the reptile was burned to ashes. We looked at the girl’s wrist and saw the two marks of the snake’s teeth, which had now turned blue, but without inflammation; she walked quietly back to the hut and sat down beside the fire, silent for awhile; then she began a conversation with our guide, which lasted nearly half-an-hour. After this, she rose and went out, we following, and she led us to what must once have been the terrace of this ancient temple. Some 40 yards from her hut the ground sloped down steeply, and was clear of trees or bushes; only here and there were scattered huge fragments of stone, the ruins of some large building. Upon the edge of this terrace she stopped, and waving her arms, she began to sing in a 465low voice a chant; her voice was singularly sweet and pleasant to hear. The song gradually increased in power till it rang out clear and distinct in the still night air. We were so intent upon watching our beautiful prima donna that we observed not the effect of her song; our guide soon drew our attention to a number of dark forms, moving stealthily and rapidly towards us between the fragments of stone in front. We easily saw in the moonlight that these were jaguars, both yellow and black, probably about 20 or 30 in number. When within about 15 yards they all stopped as though they had reached some barrier they were unable to pass; there they crouched, snarling and growling with rage and fury. Suddenly the song changed to a soft, sweet tone; the effect upon the jaguars was curiously prompt; their howlings ceased, and they lay on the ground, still, and with an evident sense of enjoyment. The Sakia continued this for some minutes and then suddenly ceased. The jaguars at once rose to their feet, but she spoke a few words in a quick, sharp tone, when they all turned and trotted off to the bush whence they came. The Sakia walked slowly back to the temple, and throwing herself on a pile of furs appeared much exhausted by her efforts. Our guide spoke a few words to her and then signed to us to leave. We returned to the village by the way we had come, reaching it just before daylight. When parting with us at our door, the old man said: “When you asked me what the Sakia was I did not tell you of these things which you have seen, for you would not have believed them; now you have seen and know that these things are.” We left the village the following day and returned to the spot at which we had left the canoe, being accompanied nearly all the way by a party of young men. We found the canoe and men there all right, and returned by the river much more quickly than we had come, having spent a very pleasant and interesting ten days.
Like a flash of light the through express |
The Old House in the Canongate
About the Ego and the Unmanifested Being
480
“Kundalini”
“Take our two Serpents, which are to be found everywhere on the face of the Earth; they are a living male and a living female (understand in relation to the spirit always without all corporeal allusion); tie them in a love knot and shut them up in the Arabian Curaha. This is the first labour; but the next is more difficult. Thou must incamp against them with the fire of nature, and be sure thou dost bring thy line round about, circle them in and stop all avenues that they find no relief. Continue this siege patiently and they turn into an ugly venomous, black toad, which will be transformed to a horrible devouring dragon, creeping and weltering in the bottom of her cave without wings. Touch her not by any means, continues the Adept, not so much as with thy hands, for there is not upon earth such a vehement transcendant poison. As thou hast begun, so proceed, and this dragon will turn into a swan, but more white than the hovering virgin snow when it is not yet sullied with the earth. Henceforth, I will allow thee to fortify thy fire, till the Phœnix appears. It is a red bird of a most deep colour with a shining fiery hue. Feed this bird with the fire of his father and the ether of his mother; for the first is meat, the second is drink, and without this last he attains not to his full glory.
“Be sure to understand this secret; for fire feeds not well unless it be first fed. It is of itself dry and choleric, but a proper moisture tempers it, gives it a heavenly complexion and brings it to the desired exaltation. Feed thy bird thus as I have told thee and he will move in his nest, and rise like a star of the firmament. Do this and thou hast placed nature in the horizon of Eternity. Thou hast performed that command of the Cabalist, ‘Unite the end to the beginning as the flame is united to the coal; for the Lord is superlatively one and admits of no second’ (Liber Jezirah, Cap. i.) Consider what it is you seek – you seek an indissoluble, miraculous, transmuting uniting union; but such a tie cannot be without the first unity. For to create and to transmute essentially and naturally without violence is the first proper office of the first power, the first wisdom, and the first love. Without this love the elements will never be married, they will never inward and essentially unite, which is the end and perfection of Magic.”
481
The Numerical Basis of the Solar System
“The whole of the reasoning upon which the determination of the Solar System in space rests, is based upon the entire exclusion of any law, either derived from observation or assumed in theory, affecting the amount and direction of the real motions both of the sun and stars. It supposes an absolute non-recognition in those motions of any general directive cause, such as, for example, a common circulation of all about a common centre. Any such limitations introduced into the conditions of the problem of the solar motion would alter in toto both its nature and the form of its solution.”
The above statement, coming from such a source, must be accepted as formulating the no-system upon which existing Astronomy is founded. For while various theories and hypotheses have been constructed, both before and since the time of Sir John Herschel, designed to account for certain specific phenomena of the so-called Science of Astronomy, the general accomplishment has been purely empirical and without comprehensive result. To such an extent is this the case, that existing Astronomers differ widely in their statements of the simplest facts regarding the elements of the planets, while the phenomena relied upon to demonstrate these facts, or any of them – such as the transits of Venus, for instance – have proved misleading, and have only served to display the inexact results to be obtained from the use of instruments in such cases. With regard to the calculation of eclipses, and of the orbital paths and periodic returns of comets and of meteoric showers, these are purely mathematical problems, and, however complicated, are not abstruse nor even difficult to the competent mathematician. It seems extraordinary, however, that perceiving the inter-relation that is measurably demonstrated by such calculations, Astronomers should not have devoted themselves to seeking out the law, or laws, which, it would appear, must control and direct the manifest agreement of planetary movements. Meanwhile, whatever laws have been accidently discovered which affected these movements have been found susceptible of numerical expression. Such, for instance, are Kepler’s three laws governing the orbital motion of the planets, his law of the diminution of light in proportion to the inverse square of the distance, and his law that “the attractive force of the sun decreases as his light” (a statement which should have long since drawn attention to the subject under consideration by the present writer); such is Newton’s law of the attraction of gravitation; such is Bode’s law of the proportioned distances between the planets; and such, finally, is the more recently discovered law of sun-spot periodicity. When to these we add Kepler’s discovery of the dependence of the curvature of the path of the planets upon the attraction of the sun, and the proportional relation of the mutual attraction of bodies to their respective masses – it is 482surprising that the harmony between these various laws should not have invited Astronomers to the discovery of the source of all of them. It is the misfortune of science that the least adventure into its domain on the part of persons who are not devoted to it professionally, is, too often viewed by the scientific class as an intrusion, and the result of the labours of such persons is not even esteemed to be worthy of examination. This is peculiarly the case in the instance of professional astronomers in our own time; and the difficulty of overcoming such a prejudice has doubtless frequently deterred from the public expression and demonstration of their views many students who have been led by enthusiasm and natural bent, perhaps combined with incidental discovery, to most valuable and important researches.
One great and growing disadvantage under which modern astronomy labours is the entire surrender of the science into the hands of those who depend upon the telescope for all they know. And how very little is it generally understood that for the great immutable laws of astronomy the world is indebted – not to finite and unreliable instruments, but to the human intellect, and to that reasoning which has been conducted within the seclusion of the closet, and with utter disregard for material agencies. All the great discoveries of the Chaldean, Egyptian and Greek Astronomers, and of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Bode and Arago, were made without the use of instruments: not including those of Galileo made by means of the telescope – which he himself invented – and which were not great, in the sense in which the word is here used.
To define as the science of Astronomy the mere art of establishing measurements through the application of mathematical instruments, and the discovery of stars, comets or asteroids by means of the telescope, is to err in the primary conception of its meaning. The Greek roots of the word – “astron” – constellation, star; “nomos,” law or rule, sufficiently denote this. And any attempt at the discovery of laws and rules, by means of instruments, must ever be faulty: at best, these can only be used for their practical demonstration. Yet the accepted figures in which are recorded the angular velocities of the planets, have been obtained by such doubtful means as the comparison of recorded observations through the telescope – in every instance except the Earth. As might naturally be supposed, the results thus gained through the observations of different telescopic observers vary widely from each other: so much so, indeed, that Sir John Herschel, in referring to the accepted theory of the angular velocity of the planet Venus, derived from observation of the movement of the spots discerned upon that planet by means of the telescope, stated his want of confidence in such demonstration, and broadly asserted that he did not believe any astronomer knew the angular velocity of Venus.
“The best informed astronomers of the present day look with suspicion on nearly all these observations, being disposed to sustain the view of Herschel (which was against the theory). . . . . The balance of probabilities is largely in favour of the view that the rotation of Venus on its axis has never been seen or determined by any of the astronomers who have made the planet an object of study.”
The observations concerning the rotation of the other planets are no more trustworthy than those regarding Venus, yet the figures of one and all are given in all the astronomies.
483
At the annual meeting for 1883 of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Hastings read a paper in which he had recorded his belief that the accepted theories regarding the sun’s atmosphere would have to be abandoned, and that, in fact, the whole question of the solar elements’ constitution and action must be reopened. In these two cited instances of accepted authority disputing accepted theory, we have some indication of the grave discrepancies which exist among astronomers themselves, concerning simple yet vitally important elements of the structure and motions of the solar system. In recounting certain of the figures expressing others of these elements, we shall presently have occasion to exhibit the wide diversity existing among astronomers concerning these also. It would certainly appear, then, that the part of modesty and not that of prejudiced and dogmatic negation of every attempt – even on the part of laymen – to elucidate astronomical phenomena and solve astronomical problems, would most become those astronomers who cannot agree with each other, and whose theories are hardly constructed before they are overthrown. The dominion of Law in all departments of Nature has been enunciated in modern times by such recognized authorities as Oersted, Grove, Henry Thomas Buckle, the Author of “The Vestiges of Creation,” Herbert Spencer, Darwin, W. Stanley Jevons, Walter Bagehot, Henry Drummond and the Duke of Argyll – each having reached the same conclusion through widely different research.
The laws discovered and formulated by the earlier astronomers are conceded by those persons of our own day who assume that denomination as expressing their own profession. But concerning discoveries or recorded facts which tend to show the existence of still other laws bearing upon astronomy, these individuals sternly set their faces against them, belittling and ridiculing them as “Coincidences,” than which no other word in the language, unless it be its congener, “accident,” is so utterly misleading and so generally misused.
The earliest recorded investigations in Astronomy were solicitously concealed from the vulgar mind by being hidden in mystical utterance, the most of which is still inexplicable. Much of this knowledge is to be found set down in the works of Plato and Aristotle, in the Oracles of Zoroaster, the Orphic Hymns, and in the Mythologies of India, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, Mexico and South America. Now it is an extraordinary thing that while the perfectly lucid philosophy which was enunciated by the ancient teachers has been accepted and become the foundation of modern systems – that knowledge which they considered so important as to hide it with the closest caution in enigmatical writing, is deemed to be without sufficient value to demand or reward study and analysis. And the bearing of such writings upon the matter under present discussion is this: that the ancient and mystical writers exhibit in their work a profound recognition and knowledge of the “Reign of Law” in the domain of the stars and the planets, while they invariably though often only inferentially, manifest a conception that such Law is susceptible of numerical expression.
It is to demonstrate in some feeble degree the accuracy of this judgment, and to illustrate by possibly novel instances the practicability of reaching scientific conclusions by pure reason and analogy, and to apply this to the real science of Astronomy, that the present effort is made.
A series of investigations, begun in the winter of 1882-3 and continued at 484intervals ever since, led the writer step by step to certain novel discoveries in the mathematics of Astronomy, and the further he advanced the more he became satisfied that he was on the road to the development of certain laws upon which the movements of the planetary bodies depended, and which had not previously been made known. The purpose of the present paper is the setting forth of the nature of these laws, and the evidences that tend to demonstrate their existence.
To begin with the question of the rotation periods of the planets, it is to be observed that the authorities differ as to these, and, to refer to Herschel’s opinion, already mentioned, there is no positive certainty as to the exactness of any of the assertions regarding them, from the fact that they have been reached by telescopic observation and combination of results. Such observation, made through human eyes, by means of the telescope, the vision penetrating through one atmosphere and sometimes two, of varying conditions of density, could hardly be defined as certainly accurate. When it is considered, also, that they are made from the surface of a revolving sphere, moving in its orbit at the rate of 1,637,673 miles per day, and having reference to other objects, some of which have a still greater velocity – to contend that any conclusions thus reached unless they agree with each other, are mathematically accurate, is, to say the least, largely arrogant. And as to this, it is to be observed that five recognized authorities, in giving the angular velocities of the planets, differ in twenty instances in the six planets given. Thus Mercury is given in three different sets of figures, Venus in five, the Earth in two, Mars four, Jupiter three and Saturn three. “When doctors disagree, who shall decide?”
These differences are, as to a twenty-four hour period for the four inner planets: between 23h. 16m. 19s. in the case of Venus, and 24h. 37m. 23s. in that of Mars. And, as to the four outer planets, between 9h. 30m. in the case of Uranus, and 10h. 29m. 17s. in that of Saturn, including also several varieties of statement, the period of Neptune not being given. No astronomer has yet formulated any cause for the difference between the periods of the inner and outer planets, amounting to an average of 2.29 times. It is respectfully submitted that if a new law can be established with regard to the motions of these planets on the basis of a twenty-four hour and a ten hour period, respectively, there is nothing in the varying statements on the subject which have been vanished by the authorities, that should militate against the acceptance of that law.
It is well known by mathematicians that there are certain numbers, whose powers are exceptional and frequently inexplicable. An instance of this nature is offered in the fact that if the diameter of a planet be multiplied by .13=08 it will give the angular velocity (rotation speed). Now .13=08 is 1/24 of Π (Pi), the ratio of the diameter to the circumference of a circle. This fact alone, in its application to the planets, fully justifies the assumption of a twenty-four hour period.
It is a fact that the angular velocity of every planet bears a direct relation to its diameter. So far is this the case, that by simple proportion it can be proven in the instance of every planet: thus, 1st. Law: The axial velocities (angular) of the planets are – as their diameters.
485
| Diameter. miles |
Axial Velocity. miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Mars | 4363 | 570.8 |
| Mercury | 3058 | 400.28 |
| Diameter. miles |
Axial Velocity. miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Earth | 7926 | – |
| Venus | 7510 | 982.5 |
This process can be conducted with certainty with regard to the four inner planets, or any of them, and the same is true concerning the four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
| Diameter. miles |
Axial Velocity. miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Jupiter | 84.846 | – |
| Saturn | 70.136 | 21.041 |
And now, in order to test finally the accuracy of this law, we will apply it to the planet Neptune, whose axial velocity has not been discovered or announced by the astronomers. And first comparing with the planet Jupiter, we have: –
| Diameter. miles |
Axial Velocity. miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Jupiter | 84.846 | 25.454 |
| Neptune | 37.276 | Unknown. |
| Diameter. miles |
Axial Velocity. miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Saturn | 70.136 | 21.041 |
| Neptune | 37.276 | Unknown. |
486
| Diameter. miles |
Axial Velocity. miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Uranus | 33.246 | 9.973.8 |
| Neptune | 37.276 | Unknown. |
It will hardly be asserted that this proportion would hold exactly in the case of the relation between Neptune and the three other outer planets, if the law were not correctly defined and applied: it may therefore be stated that here is demonstrated the discovery of the angular velocity of the planet Neptune, never before known. Now, it will be undoubtedly alleged by the astronomers that – given twenty-four and ten hour periods, respectively, the velocity must necessarily be in proportion to the diameter, but that these not being the admitted periods, exactly, the law is therefore fallacious.
Concerning the value of the professed exactness of the periods, as given by the authorities, sufficient has been said; but assuming the stated periods to be correct – what force can be named, sufficient, and of a suitable nature, to move the planets on their axes and in their orbits, a force necessarily acting upon the superficial diameters of the planets? Certainly it could not be gravity (which acts on the mass) nor any other attractive force with which we are acquainted. The only force which can act only on half a sphere at a time – is Light. It is held, therefore, in this paper, and as a part of the theory involved that the force is Light, and evidences will now be given to prove this by demonstrating the law in its power over the orbital motions of the planets.
Rule I. Multiply the sq. root of the semi-diameter of the orbit of any planet by its orbital velocity, divide the product by the orbital velocity of any other planet, the quotient will be the sq. root of the semi-diameter of the orbit of the second planet: –
| Sq. root, semi-diam. of orbit |
Orbital veloc., miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Earth – | 9505.5 | 68.218 |
| Mars – | 11790. | 55.000 |
487
| Sq. root semi.-diam. of orbit. |
Orbital velocity, miles per hour. | |
|---|---|---|
| Mars, | 11790 | 55,000 |
| Jupiter. | 21616.46 | 30,000 |
Here the exactness of the result is quite wonderful considering the material supplied by the astronomers. We are handicapped by discrepancies in the figures to be found in the authorities. It is a fact that, concerning all the elements of the planets, no two authorities agree. But even an approximation in result, under such circumstances, is sufficient to establish the rule applied, and it is needless to multiply examples.
It has thus been shown that as there is an inter-relation among the planets as to their rotation, there is also an inter-relation in regard to their revolution in their respective orbits. And this inter-relation is shown in a most remarkable manner in the following fact, which is offered as a numerical law of astronomy.
Rule II. If the orbital velocity of a planet be multiplied by the square root of the semi-diameter of the planet’s orbit, the result will be, in the case of every planet, the same sum in millions, differing below from discrepancies between authorities.
| Planets. | Sq. root of semi.-diam. of orbit. |
Orbital velocity. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 5949.4 | × | 109000 | 648,484,600 | |
| Venus | 8076.69 | × | 80292 | = | 648,446,199 |
| Earth | 9505.5 | × | 68218 | = | 648,450,000 |
| Mars | 11790. | × | 55000 | = | 648,450,000 |
| Jupiter | 21616.46 | × | 30000 | 648,493,800 | |
| Saturn | 29477. | × | 22000 | = | 648,494,000 |
| Uranus | 41570.128 | × | 15600 | 648,543,996 | |
| Neptune | 51062.52 | × | 12700 | 648,494,004 | |
| Average | 648,482,074 |
Regarding this peculiar fact, it may be observed that it has been heretofore established and will be found set down in the authorities, that, “If the squares of the periodic times of the planets be divided by the cubes of their mean distances, the quotient is the same for all the planets.”
The “periodic times” of the planets are in days of 24 hours each, and the “orbital velocity” of a planet is dependent on its rotation, whose velocity, as is here shown, bears a direct relation to its diameter, which again can only be acted upon – exclusively – by the power Light, considered as a positive force.
488
Here is offered a departure from the regular order for the purpose of presenting a table which is one of the results of the original figuring in mathematical Astronomy in this paper, and which may give a hint of a novel theory concerning the Sun.
| Planets. | Diameter. | Diameter of the Sun. | Axial velocity. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 3059 | : | 852900 | :: | 400 | : | 111526 | |
| Venus | 7510 | : | 852900 | :: | 982 | : | 111524 | |
| Earth | 7926 | : | 852900 | :: | 1037 | : | 111463 | |
| Mars | 4363 | : | 852900 | :: | 571 | : | 111921 | |
| Jupiter | 84846 | : | 852900 | :: | 25540 | : | 256736 ÷ 2.29 | 111675 |
| Saturn | 70136 | : | 852900 | :: | 21041 | : | 255874 ÷ 2.29 | 111735 |
| Uranus | 33246 | : | 852900 | :: | 9973 | : | 255852 ÷ 2.29 | 111201 |
| Neptune | 37276 | : | 852900 | :: | 11182.8 | : | 255870 ÷ 2.29 | 111733 |
This table, it will be observed, carries into the relation of the planets to the Sun, the same rule of proportion which has been applied to the planets in their relation to each other. The natural sequence would be that the final factor in the sum is the rotary velocity of the Sun which probably makes one revolution in 24 hours. In the case of the four outer planets, the relation is preserved by bringing them, through division by 2.29, to a 24 hour period. Incidentally, it will be noticed that the planet Neptune, with the angular velocity which is herein ascribed to it, and which has been heretofore unknown, is no exception to the rule. It is respectfully submitted in this connection, that the peculiar spiral motion which has been observed in the Sun spots – their regular change of position to equatorial and polar places – may be dependent upon the Sun’s rotary motion, combined with its obliquity to its own ecliptic. Here the writer may as well state, parenthetically, that he has never, since he applied intelligence to the question, believed that the Sun is a hot body, or that the speculations of Mr. Proctor and others as to the number of millions of tons of coal, or the number of meteors it would require to furnish the altogether imaginary heat of the Sun, were worthy a place in print – even to astound the budding minds of children withal. At last, men like Hastings, Young, and some others, are growing sceptical of these Mumbo-Jumbo tales, and are reducing chromosphere and photosphere to their proper gaseous nature. It is far more than probable – if one wants to speculate – that the inner body of the Sun is a vast globe of water, in fact, a gigantic lens.
[It is to be observed that the alleged angular velocity of the Sun, multiplied by 24 hours, will give the average circumference of the Sun, as contained in the Astronomies.]
To conclude, and still more clearly demonstrate that the cause of the motions of the Planets is Light, the writer offers the following Law:
2nd Law. – The orbital velocity of the Planets is inversely as the square root of the semi-diameter of their orbits. Now it will be remembered that “the intensity of light diminishes inversely as the square of the distance.” Clearly, then, if the preceding statement be correct, the cause of the orbital motion must be Light.
489
| Square root of semi-diameter of orbit of Venus |
Square root of semi-diameter of orbit of Mercury | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Demonstration. | 8076.69. | 5949.4. |
| Inverse Proportion. – | Orbital velocity miles per hour of Mercury | Orbital velocity miles per hour of Venus |
| 109000. | 80292. |
| Square root of semi-diameter of orbit of Mars |
Square root of semi-diameter of orbit of the Earth | |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd Demonstration. | 11790.8. | 9505.5. |
| Inverse Proportion. | Orb. veloc. miles per hour of the Earth. |
Orb. veloc. miles per hour of Mars. |
| 68218 : | 55000 |
| Sq. r. of semi-diam. of orbit of Uranus. |
Sq. r. of semi-diam. of orbit of Saturn. | |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd. Demonstration. | 41570 : | 29477 :: |
| Inverse Proportion. | Orb. vel. miles per hour of Saturn. |
Orb. vel. miles per hour of Uranus. |
| 22000 : | 15600 |
490
If no more has been done in the present effort, the writer may, at least, have succeeded in showing that more can be accomplished at the desk in the matter of establishing natural laws in Astronomy than by means of the telescope: except possibly, in some instances, such as the appearance of comets, meteoric showers, and eclipses, in the way of verification. And as these phenomena are purely periodical, it is merely a matter of time and computation to predict them. Not one of all the great laws of Astronomy, we repeat, has ever been discovered through the use of the telescope.
It is to be hoped that some one better qualified than the writer will be induced to pursue investigation in the directions herein only roughly outlined, hampered as it has been by existing conditions of data.
The Place of Miracles
“On a certain day, Rabbi Eliezer Ben Orcanaz replied to the questions proposed to him, concerning his teaching; but his arguments being found to be inferior to his pretensions the doctors present refused to admit his conclusions. Then Rabbi Eliezer said, ‘My doctrine is true, and this Karoub tree, which is near us, shall demonstrate the infallibility of my teaching.’ Immediately the Karoub tree, obeying the voice of Eliezer, arose out of the ground and planted itself a hundred cubits farther off. But the Rabbis shook their heads, and answered, ‘The Karoub tree proves nothing.’ ‘What,’ cried Eliezer, ‘you resist so great a miracle? Then let this rivulet flow backwards, and attest the truth of my doctrine.’ Immediately the rivulet, obeying the command of Eliezer, flowed backwards towards its source. But again the Rabbis shook their heads and said, ‘The rivulet proves nothing. We must understand before we can believe.’ ‘Will you believe me,’ said Rabbi Eliezer, ‘if the walls of this house wherein we sit should fall down?’ And the walls, obeying him, began to fall, until Rabbi Joshua exclaimed, ‘By what right do the walls interfere in our debates?’ Then the walls stopped in their fall out of respect to Rabbi Joshua, but remained leaning out of respect for Rabbi Eliezer, and remain leaning until this day. But Eliezer, mad with rage, cried out: ‘Then in order to confound you, and since you compel me to it, let a voice from Heaven be heard!’ And immediately the Bath-Kol or Voice from Heaven was heard at a great height in the air, and it said, ‘What are all the opinions of the Rabbis compared to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer? When he has spoken his opinion ought to prevail.’ Hereupon Rabbi Joshua rose and said, ‘It is written, “The law is not in Heaven; it is in your mouth and in your heart.” It is in your reason; for again, it is written, “I have left you free to choose between life and death, and good and evil.” And it is in your conscience, for “If ye love the Lord, and obey His voice within you, you will find happiness and truth.” Wherefore then does Rabbi Eliezer bring in a Karoub tree, a rivulet, a wall, and a voice to settle questions of doctrine And what is the only conclusion that can be drawn from such miracles, but that they who have expounded the laws of nature have not wholly understood them, and that we must now admit that in certain cases a tree can unroot itself, a rivulet flow backwards, walls obey instructions, and voices sound in the air? But what connection is there between these observations and the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer? No doubt these miracles were very extraordinary and they have filled us with astonishment; but to amaze is not to argue, and it is argument, not phenomena, that we require. When therefore, Rabbi Eliezer shall have proved to us that Karoub trees, rivulets, walls, and unknown voices afford us, by unusual manifestations, reasonings equal in value and weight to that reason which God has placed within us to guide our judgment, then alone will we make use of such testimonies and estimate them as Eliezer requires.’”
The Talking Image of Urur
498
Lucifer Fund
| £ | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs. Norderling | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| A Chicago Theosophist | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mrs Gordon | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mrs. E. Knowles | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Lost Philida | 0 | 16 | 6 |
| 4 | 11 | 6 | |
| Previously Acknowledged | 373 | 0 | 9 |
| Total | 377 | 12 | 3 |
499
Ecclesiastical Christianity
IN the thirteenth century two mendicant friars, St. Dominic and St. Francis, who denounced the general wealth and corruption of the monastic societies, founded two new orders, and while the latter laid the foundation-stone of the Reformation, the former instituted that tribunal which more than all other ecclesiastical institutions has outraged the very name of Christianity, and become a byword for all ages, – called the “Holy Inquisition.” In 1208, Pope Innocent III. firmly established it for the suppression of heresy, and the story of human agony and human brutality which followed is one which no pen can ever attempt to record. The spirit of which it was the culmination, had, however, as it has been shown, manifested itself centuries before, and without further preface we may turn, beginning with the earlier ones, to some of the victims of the “Christian Church.”
In the year 385 of the Christian era, the Bishops Ursatius and Ithacus, put to death some Priscillianists for “heresy.”
In 414 Hypatia was brutally murdered by the monks of Cyril, at Alexandria, for teaching secular philosophy, and the very flesh torn from her bones. The era of mental slavery, the foundations of which had been laid by the Fathers, had begun.
In 782, at the bidding of Pope Stephen III., Charlemagne beheaded in one day between four and five thousand persons at Verden, for refusing to be baptised, and Pope Leo. III. crowned him emperor of the West under the title of “the most pious Augustus, crowned by God.” Shortly afterwards Charlemagne burnt some persons at the request of the pope, for preferring the Ambrosian to the Gregorian chant.
In 1007, several persons were burnt alive at Orleans for heresy.
In 1134, Peter de Brueys was burnt in Languedoc for denying “infant baptism,” and “transubstantiation.”
In 1155, Arnaldo de Brescia was strangled for uttering the “heretical and damnable doctrine” that ecclesiastics ought to subsist on voluntary alms.
In 1160, the Waldenses, a body of reformers headed by Peter Waldo, who strenuously opposed the papal pretensions, underwent a cruel persecution, during which numbers were burnt alive. From first to last some three thousand of.the Waldenses perished in France, including children of tender years.
In 1209, the Albigenses, another body of reformers who had long adhered to a less corrupted form of Christianity, were massacred for heresy in Bézières. At the lowest computation 30,000 persons were murdered, and at Lavaur 400 persons were burnt at one time. One Protestant earl in Provence was suffocated, and his wife, daughter, and sister burnt in one fire; another was hanged with eighty other persons. The province of Languedoc was wasted. Pope 500Innocent III. bestowed indulgences on all who undertook the crusade, and these unhappy people suffered during a period of sixty years, their descendants, the Huguenots, inheriting their legacy of martyrdom together with their Protestant faith.
In the thirteenth century the conflict between theology and freedom deepened, and assumed a more definite form. In 1215, it was decreed in council that all rulers should swear to exterminate those branded as heretics by the church, and the pope claimed universal spiritual authority. Auricular confession was formally instituted, and in 1208, or a year or two afterwards, the tribunal of the “Holy Inquisition” was established, and “Saint” Dominic appointed Inquisitor General.
In England, during William the Conqueror’s reign, the nobles and bishops united to tax and torture the people, and the whole country was laid waste by robbery and oppression. Magna Charta was subsequently denounced by Pope Innocent III. The Jews, in the reign of Richard I., John, and Henry III., were butchered, tortured and robbed, and in 1290, they were expelled from England and their property confiscated.
Louis IX., styled “saint,” for his zeal in persecution, permitted a monk to establish a tribunal for the suppression of heretics, through the agency of which many were put to death. One hundred and eighty-three “heretics” and their pastor were burnt together in a pen before the archbishop at Rheims, and in 1249, eighty heretics were burnt at Agens, in the presence of Raymond of Toulouse.
In 1222 a synod at Oxford caused a heretic to be burnt.
In 1267, Roger Bacon was imprisoned for fourteen years, and accused of “being in league with the devil,” for his scientific researches.
In 1300, Sargarelli, the founder of a peculiar sect resembling the modern Shakers, was burnt at Parma.
In 1302, Dante’s Monarchy was burnt, and himself sentenced to the same fate. He was compelled to live in exile, and the pope excommunicated him after his death.
In 1327, Cecco d’Asceli was burnt alive for asserting the existence of the Antipodes, and Orcagna represented him in a painting in the flames of hell! A bull of Pope Alexander VI. had proclaimed that the earth was flat, and the theory of the Antipodes was accounted a wicked and damnable doctrine.
In 1348, numbers of Jews were killed in Europe, accused of being the cause of a fatal epidemic, and others were mercilessly hunted from land to land.
In 1390, the Catholics of Seville massacred 4,000 Jews, through the influence of Hernando Martinez, a priest, who personally directed it. They had been universally condemned to slavery. In the reign of Isabella they were finally banished, after enduring terrible sufferings.
In 1393, 150 Vaudois in the Val Louise were burnt by the Inquisition at the instance of Borelli; and in the same century eighty at Embrun.
In England, the Lollards, disciples of Wycliffe, underwent cruel imprisonment and tortures. In 1401, William Sawtre was burnt; in 1410, William Thorpe, by the archbishop; in 1414, thirty more were hanged and burnt; and in 1417, Sir John Oldcastle (Lord Cobham) was roasted alive in a horrible manner for “heresy.” Wycliffe, himself, was called “the devil’s instrument,” for his 501translation of the Scriptures; and the Council of Constance, in 1415, ordered his corpse to be disinterred, and his remains were finally thrown into a river.
In 1416, John Huss, also a follower of Wycliffe, was basely betrayed and burnt at Constance, notwithstanding a safe-conduct from the Emperor Sigismund, because it was “unlawful to keep faith with a heretic.” He refused to recant, saying, “I appeal to Christ,” and passed away in prayer.
Jerome of Prague shared the same fate, also, at the same place.
In 1431, John Zisca, general of the Hussites, who avenged the murder of Huss, persecuted the sect of the Beghards, some of whom were put to the sword, and the remainder burnt.
In 1431, the inspired defender of her country against a cruel invasion, Jeanne d’Arc, was burnt alive at Rouen, at the instance of the bishop of Beauvais, her own countryman, for, “heresy and sorcery,” by the Inquisition, and people and priests alike assembled together to see the show. Not one of those for whom she fought had the courage to protest against this barbarous murder of a girl only nineteen years of age, and the unfortunate Jeanne, like many another martyr, died, calling upon that Christ whose holy name has been more outraged by priests than by any other class of human beings.[63]
In 1488 the whole of the inhabitants of Val Louise were suffocated in a cavern by the papal legate. Some three thousand of the Vaudois perished.
In 1498, Jerome Savonarola was hanged for sedition and “heresy” at Florence, and his body burnt. His adherents were burnt alive.
In Spain, during the eighteen years of Torquemada’s ministry, the Inquisition punished upwards of 105,000 persons at the lowest estimate, of whom no less than 8,800 were burnt alive; torture was inflicted in secluded vaults, and on mere suspicion, and the accused were without defence. In Andalusia alone, in one year, it put to death 2,000 Jews, besides 17,000 who underwent some form of punishment less horrible than the stake. The total number of victims burnt is estimated by Llorente at the incredible number of 40,000! Even supposing the statement as to the actual number exaggerated, it amounts to nothing as regards a mitigation of the facts. A large number of Jews were burnt alive at once to do honour to the marriage of a count in the Plaza of Pamplona, and the human bonfire, which illumined the whole place, must indeed have literally realised the orthodox idea of a hell. Thousands of “heretics” were sent to the galleys, and the property of the sufferers was universally confiscated, and their families left destitute. The church grew rich through her pious crusade. In this country, indeed, she was supreme, and miracles at this period, in particular, were of constant occurrence. The spirit of Antichrist has never been without its “lying wonders,” “Christian” as well as pagan, and priestcraft has never lacked the delusions which have kept it alive. These cruelties, these frightful spectacles of human beings roasted alive for the crime of thinking for themselves, or adhering to the faith of their fathers, were perpetrated with every circumstance of cold-blooded barbarity that could inflict agony on the victims and their families, and terrify or harden the hearts of the 502spectators. The autos-da-fé of heretic-burning would take place at a royal marriage, with the king and queen sitting on a platform; the condemned were dressed in a hideous costume, with high paste-board caps, on which devils were painted and representations of future torture; music accompanied the cavalcade, and mass was celebrated in the presence of the assembled crowd. The chief inquisitor was wont to complete the scene of crime and blasphemy by bearing with him the gospels containing the life of Christ!
When it is remembered that these inquisitors were almost all men of otherwise moral and devout life, and that the crimes they committed were perpetrated in the supposed interests of religion, a belief which absolutely made Francis I. kneel down while “heretics” were burning, and publicly ask the blessing of heaven on himself and the nation, it should act as a world-wide warning for all time against the idea which even now exists like a upas-tree in the churches and chapels of all countries and denominations, that truth is upheld by pious bigotry, and that mental slavery is acceptable to God.
Spain cast her dark shadow over Europe. In 1568 a sentence of the “Holy Office” condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as heretics – some three millions of men, women, and children! Fifty thousand of them were put to death by Charles V., and nearly half as many again during the reign of his son. And to pass on to a later date, in 1611 the Moors were expelled from Spain to the number of about one million persons. Upwards of 100,000 suffered death at the instance of the archbishop of Valencia, who bade the government root them out “as David had rooted out the Philistines, and Saul the Amalekites.” Industry, no less than science, well-nigh perished in Spain, and the waste places caused by wholesale depopulation became the strongholds of Banditti who have never been exterminated. At least 170,000 Jews were expelled during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Reformation was entirely suppressed, and the country overwhelmed with monasteries and convents, thousands of which were established during the reign of Charles V.
In France, in 1525, Jean Leclerc was burnt alive for preaching the gospel at Metz, and Jacques Pavent and Louis de Berquin at Paris. The tongue of the latter was pierced in order that he should not speak in his last hour.
In 1534, twenty men and one woman were burnt alive at Paris for having printed or sold the books of Luther, and for “heresy.”
In 1539, a number of persons who ate meat on Fridays also suffered at the stake.
In 1545, a massacre of the Vaudois of Provence took place, accompanied by inhuman cruelties. Towns and villages were burnt, and with them numbers of the unfortunate Huguenots. The fair land of France was desolated with the blackened ruins of Protestant homes.
In 1556, Jean Escalle and Pierre de Lavaur also perished at Toulouse, and many others.
In 1560, Palissy was seized for “heresy,” and would have been condemned to the stake but for his skill in pottery, which gained for him a titled and influential protector. He was, however, again arrested, and imprisoned in the Bastille, where he died.
In 1563, the massacre of Vassy took place, by the Duke of Guise, in which sixty persons were killed, out of some hundreds of Protestants who were 503engaged in service in a large barn. The clergy compared the duke to Moses, who exterminated “all who had bowed the knee to the golden calf!” Protestant churches were destroyed, and the Huguenots were murdered also at Paris, Senlis, Amiens, Meaux, Tours, and many other places.
In 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place, during which a large number of Protestants were murdered in Paris, as well as many in the provinces.[64] For this, Pope Gregory XIII. is said to have ordered public rejoicings and thanksgivings, and the celebration of “high mass.”
In Great Britain similar deeds of blood had been committed.
In 1528, Patrick Hamilton was burnt in Scotland for adhering to the “filthy Lutheran heresy.”
In 1532, Thomas Bilney, the friend of Latimer, was burnt for becoming a Protestant.
In 1534, in Scotland, near Leith, the bishops burnt two Scotch gentlemen for “heresy.”
In 1535, in England, fourteen persons of the reformed faith were burnt for rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiation, and several clergymen who adhered to Rome, including Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and also Sir Thomas Moore, executed, for refusing the oath of supremacy.
In 1536, William Tyndale was strangled and his body burnt for translating the Scriptures.
In 1538, John Lambert was burnt at Smithfield, and several others shortly afterwards.
In 1546, the heroic Anne Askew perished for embracing the reformed religion. Bonner sentenced her to the rack; every limb in her body was dislocated, and she was finally burnt alive, firmly refusing to “recant,” with four others, at Smithfield.
In the same year George Wishart was also executed at St. Andrews, at the instance of Cardinal Beatoun, who beheld his martyrdom from the castle-wall which became the scene of his own murder.
In 1550, Joan Bocher was burnt, and in 1551 Van Paris, at the instigation of Cranmer, for entertaining “heterodox” ideas concerning Christ.
In England in little more than three years during the reign of Mary, some 284 persons perished at the stake, including women and even children, and the bishops Bonner, Gardiner, and others personally conducted the persecution. Hooper, Ridley, Latimer, Rogers and Cranmer were among those burnt for denying the papal supremacy and transubstantiation. They died with words of heroism on their lips. Public thanksgivings were rendered for the restoration of Catholicism, and Mary was styled “Defender of the Faith.”
What that “faith” was may be gathered from the statement of Cardinal Cajetan in his controversy with Luther, that “one drop of Christ’s blood being sufficient to redeem the whole human race, the remaining quantity that was shed in the garden and upon the cross, was left as a legacy to the church, to be a treasure from whence indulgences were to be drawn and administered by the 504Roman pontiffs.” Is it, however, so far below the “salvation of blood” still taught by Protestant religious materialists? The gospel of death has been preached instead of the gospel of life, and has ever produced its own fruits.
The spirit of persecution and bigotry had survived the Reformation, however. The fatal union of Church and State still lived on.
In 1575, two Anabaptists were burnt in the reign of Elizabeth, and in her reign also 200 Roman Catholics were executed. The clergy called upon her to put to death the “false prophets and sorcerers.”
In England and Scotland alone, it has been estimated that more than two millions of human beings were imprisoned, hanged, burnt, drowned, beheaded, and tortured for their religious opinions, in the course of little more than two hundred years, and in the latter part of the seventeenth century no less than 3,192 persons were executed for so-called “witchcraft.”
In Charles II.’s reign, Sharpe, archbishop of St. Andrew’s, the inventor of the instrument of torture called “the Boot,” filled the prisons with men and women who were tortured, transported and hunted from their homes for “heresy.” It was death to preach in the fields, and a company of brutal soldiers commanded by Turner, inflicted the most horrible sufferings upon the unfortunate Protestants. They were beaten, wounded, stripped, scorched before fires; the women were insulted; and king, bishops, and clergy united together to effect their purpose. The clergy presented James with a list of 300 of the aristocracy, who were accused as “heretics,” with a view to accomplish their execution. And James II., at the instigation of Barillon, had the book written by the Huguenot pastor, Claude, which contained an account of the Protestant sufferings in France, burnt before the Royal Exchange.
On the continent the story of ecclesiastical crime was carried on. In 1600 Giordano Bruno was burnt alive by the Inquisition, at Rome, after a cruel imprisonment of several years. His offence was a belief in the Copernican theory, which he taught, and sympathy with the reformed doctrines. He believed, also, in the infinity of the universe, and the existence of the Divine Essence in all things. He met his cruel death with miraculous firmness, and turned away his head from the crucifix, which had indeed become a symbol of crime resembling that which had sacrificed the Man of Sorrows centuries before.
S. E. G., F.T.S.
“Learn that if to thee the meaning |
| E. B. Browning. |
505
Metaphor
There is perhaps something almost revolting to some scientific minds in the idea of treating analytically such a subject as Metaphor. It seems such a shifting, unsubstantial affair. It cannot be strapped down to a dissecting table like a live rabbit. It has absolutely no specific gravity. It is imponderable, immeasurable. A simile, when apt, is of course recognised as a power in argument and a flower of rhetoric, but to suggest that that power and beauty are due to a really fixed and definite unity between the metaphysical and the physical, capable of being actually investigated, would be considered grossly unscientific. In fact, to use the common phrase, analogies must never be pushed to extremes.
Now it has generally been a sort of permeating axiom of the papers which I have written, that while metaphysics are of themselves lost labour, physics are also of themselves somewhat barren, while a union of the two is illuminative and full of high value. The subject of metaphor affords an especially good groundwork for illustrating this principle.
The ancients, as is well known, did not at all share the modern scientific distrust for metaphor among the early Orientals; with them it actually took the place of argument. It was their very mode of thought, possibly the very origin of language.[65] All the old mythologies bear distinct traces of having descended, so to speak, from parables of deep-meaning solar myths, the doctrine of four elements, the histories of the Indian, Persian and Egyptian divinities, the conflict of Ormuzd and Ahriman, possibly even the legend of the wooden horse of Troy, show a mystical sense which proves them to be accretions upon allegorical teaching, whose original import gradually faded beneath a thickening veil of materialism. In fact the more the philosophy of the ancients is studied, the more evident it becomes that the thoughts of the very ancients were continuous metaphor. But who were these very ancients? Alas! they were far behind modern civilization. They did not even have buttons to their coats. They were totally destitute of waistcoats, flannel socks, lace boots and many other modern advantages. They cut their food up with pieces of flint, and it is even asserted that they fed on herbs and roots, and never in their lives tasted a beef-steak or a mutton-chop. They were what are called savages, without microscopes, without scalpels, without steam-engines – a terribly degraded set of people. Possibly they were something like those tribes discovered by Columbus, of whom he wrote to their Spanish Majesties, apologising for the fact that they had very little gold, that they were quite unacquainted with the creeds of the Catholic Church, and moreover were stark naked, while he pleaded in extenuation of these crimes that they did, nevertheless, love their neighbours as themselves, that their discourse was very sweet and gentle, and their manners decorous and praiseworthy. “Mine” 506and “thine” had no place with them. They dealt truly with one another without books and without judges. The men were content with one wife each. They took him for an evil and mischievous man who found pleasure in doing hurt to another; they were overflowing with hospitality and kindness, and while they delighted not in superfluities, yet they made provision for the increase of such roots as afforded them their bread, contented with such simple diet whereby health is preserved and disease avoided. So says Columbus; and such were some of the people that are known as savages, such are some of the characteristics which distinguish the savage from the civilised man. Possibly their minds were in some degree in a more healthy and perceptive state. Perhaps their non-scientist modes of thought had their advantages in point of clear-sightedness and even in adherence to the essence of truth.
At any rate it is fortunate that there are now a few men whose stature is sufficient to enable them to stretch the hand of fellowship between these nomadic individuals of the past, and the scientific leaders of the present day of their line of thought I am now going to speak. I will say nothing of these people who dolefully indulge in glorifying the ancients as against the moderns, and very little about those who glorify the moderns and despise the ancients. Both these classes of critics are equally vulgar. Those who desire to advance in thought will rather unite the two ends of the line of history, forming a circle typical of the whole of progress.
I will not occupy time by describing in detail the special features of the many members of the large family of Metaphor. We all know well enough the characteristics which distinguish Parable, Allegory, Type, Antitype, Myth, Analogy, Fable, Representation, Emblem, and so forth. Nor yet will I weary the reader with examples of all these. My object is not to set forth a lot of facts culled from cyclopaedias, but to point out a mode of thought attainable by making the wisdom of the ancients complementary to the sciences of the moderns.
We will therefore regard, by way of illustration, the peculiarities of simile. In a simile usually one phenomenon is substituted for another and described so as to suggest the other, and at the same time to bring it vividly before the consciousness. Thus the action of a steam engine or the combustion of a fire are phenomena which may be described to illustrate the phenomena of physiology and vitality. The latter are in themselves unfamiliar and hard to delineate; the former are familiar and comparatively easy of description. Intuition grasps the resemblance, and so the unknown becomes the known in a pleasant and facile manner. But how comes it about that these singular and often detailed resemblances between various phenomena exist? To get at this problem let us take another instance of simile. The light of the sun is an obvious simile, expressive of the diffusion of truth. So obvious, so expressive, that our ideas of light are absolutely inseparable from our notions of truth. Except as expressed by the simile of light we can have no conception of what truth means. The attributes of light enter into all our notions of truth; clearness, perceptiveness, brilliancy, lucidity, and so on are terms applicable equally to the one or to the other. Now there is an essential difference between the simile of the steam engine and the body, and the simile of light and truth. It is this. In the one case one physical phenomenon illustrates another; in the other case one physical 507phenomenon illustrates something metaphysical. The body and the engine are both of them material. Light and truth are not. One is, namely, light; the other is not, namely, truth. The realisation of this difference proves important. We shall find this: that when both halves of the simile are material it is very easy to push the analogy too far; but when the physical and metaphysical are united by simile it very often happens that we actually cannot press the resemblance too far. The instance we have taken – light and truth – is one of this sort. As far as I know all the phenomena known about light have their counterparts as to truth. What observation teaches us about the one, intuition proclaims to be applicable to the other. It is not, indeed, an easy task to trace the unity in all its details, as it involves tracing out the counterparts of the material things used experimentally in investigating the properties of light – though the general resemblance is even on the face of things patent in a consideration of reflection, refraction, colour, interference, diffraction and other phenomena. I will give just one striking illustration, because it is particularly easy to perceive. Rays of light streaming into a dark chamber seem to be visible. They are not. You have only to place a white-hot poker in them to see that the glowing iron is enshrouded in darkness. Why is this? It is because the hot poker consumes all the motes and dust particles around it. The rays are mere invisible vibrations of the ether. It is only the illuminated motes that we see. Their minuteness makes it seem that we see the rays. Does not this illustrate forcibly the equal impossibility of seeing truth? We are apt to think that we see truth, and consequently that our opinions must needs be absolutely correct, just as a prisoner in his dungeon may think he sees the light streaming through his grating window. The fact is that no one is in mental observation of absolute truth: however much it seems so, it is only the impinging of its pulsations on our thought motes that becomes obvious to the mind, and perhaps when people get overheated in argument, and lose all perception of even what gleams they had, then passion is doing very much the same destructive work to their thoughts as the white-hot poker did to the motes in the experiment. This is but one instance, showing how detailed is the coincidence of correlation, and how the laws governing truth are manifested by those governing light. And does it not in some degree establish my preliminary contention that a concurrent study of physics and metaphysics makes physical science more in touch with human nature, and generally more productive, while it renders the metaphysical tangible and substantial?
But we are only now on the very threshold of our subject. I have said that, as in the case of light and truth, very often we find that similes between the physical and metaphysical can be satisfactorily pressed ad extremum, implying that sometimes they cannot. So it is, and how shall we deal with that difficulty? Perhaps it will prove the key to the whole problem. By the whole problem I mean the mystery of the coincidence that such more or less detailed resemblances should exist. For it is a mystery, although, as with many mysteries, we get so used to it that we overlook the mysteriousness. Milton offers a solution:
“What if Earth |
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To put it prosaically – what if the metaphysical underlies the whole of the physical, coinciding with it as the hand with a glove? If we accept this hypothesis the completeness of our similes is no longer the difficulty, but the incompleteness of some of them. Sometimes the analogy seems as if it cannot be pressed to extremes. Is not the reason of this, if we still accept the hypothesis, very obvious? The incompleteness is due to the fact that we have found, not the true counterpart, but its brother. If there is a metaphysical origin to all physical phenomena, it must needs be that two will frequently share a common origin, like two leaves or branches springing from a common root – each having apparently a partial, but not complete oneness with the root, and each having a partial, but not complete resemblance to each other. The similar phenomena of the body and the steam engine, for instance, may be each the manifestation in the physical world of one and the same vast metaphysical truth, just as in coincidences the resemblance between some of the solar phenomena on the one hand and the career of Napoleon, or the life history of Samson on the other, may be due to the possible fact that each was the manifestation, microcosmic, or macrocosmic, of metaphysical laws.
But, however neatly all this fits in with our hypothesis as postulated by Milton, are we not basing all on what is pure assumption? We must justify this procedure. It is not enough to point out that we are in good company in so doing. We can, of course, easily do that. We can quote from Milton, from Keats, from Wordsworth, from Coleridge, from all the reflective poets for support. We can find a tremendous array of philosophers on our side, from Swedenborg, with his complete and systematic Correspondences, down to Carlyle, or even Drummond, with his Natural Law in the Spiritual World. We can go back to Plato, to Pythagoras, to Hermes Trismegistus, and all the other mystics for confirmation; but the fact remains that if a million people believe a thing, it neither makes it true nor false. What right, then, have we to found anything on an assumption?
Daring as the reply may seem, I will undertake to show that it always has been, and always must be, the first step in any discovery to assume. Take whatever branch of study you will, and this will be found to hold good. There is absolutely no proof whatever of the existence of the subtle medium called ether. It cannot in any way be made manifest to any of our senses. But by assuming it as a working hypothesis the phenomena of light and heat and electricity become to some degree explicable. There is no demonstration of atoms, but the atomic theory is accepted because it squares in with the known facts of chemical action. In mathematics we constantly assume. Let x = y, and then we test the hypothesis by results. We prove sums by seeing whether on the assumption that they are right they work out, and George Macdonald goes so far as to say that the very existence of the Deity is unprovable, but is the great Hypothesis which we must assume, and which is demonstrable by the mathematical method – seeing how it works out. The real proof of everything is like the proof of the pudding – viz., in the eating. Treated in this way, an assumption is not an unscientific proceeding, but a necessary beginning in every science.
The assumption, then, that there is a complete correspondence between the metaphysical and the physical can be fairly made if we demonstrate it by 509observing whether it squares with observation, and whether it explains what otherwise is mysterious. Each one can answer this for himself. I believe that it does both of these things, and that it is a key which fits the lock of the barrier between the inner and outer worlds. It unites the faith of the materialist and of the spiritualist. It shows that the physical being the manifestation of the metaphysical, they are one without separateness, and co-exist as one, and ought not to be put asunder by man. Thus Metaphor hinges upon a study of deep interest and importance, and shows us how replete is science with human interest, and how it has within its body an actually living soul.
It is very generally acknowledged that in all probability language originated in Metaphor. Locke is credited with being the first to establish this idea thoroughly, and his ideas have been accepted and developed by Max Müller and other leading philologists. The increasing influence which we find that Metaphor sways, as we take up older and older literature, is one great external evidence of the truth of the theory. But there is stronger evidence. All our conceptions of matter itself are, though we little suspect it, metaphorical. This requires some explanation. We are only able to know about the physical objects around us what their properties are – no, we do not even know those absolutely. We say that a billiard ball is round, white, smooth, and hard, and setting aside these qualities of roundness, smoothness, hardness, whiteness, we have no conception of what the billiard ball is in itself. But, after all, what are these qualities? They are mere effects in our brain, which we connect with the billiard ball simply by a sort of intuition. We touch a needle and it pricks us, causing a sensation of pain. We look at a billiard ball, and it causes a sensation of whiteness. We touch it, causing a sensation of smoothness, hardness, and roundness. These sensations are only attributes of the billiard ball in the same way that painfulness is an attribute of the needle. This puts it very strikingly. Think how little claim the painfulness has to be considered an attribute of the needle, and remember it is only in the same way that the roundness is a property of the ball. In each case they are sensations in our brain. Intuition and the association of continual experience leads us to associate the qualities with the billiard ball. It is, in fact, a form of metaphor – we transfer the metaphysical sensation to the physical object, and so, by association, we regard it as a property of the ball. So that apart from external evidence of a historical character, our own experience leads us to see that the origin of language and even all thought must be Metaphor. We learn it from the very nature of brain action, and its relation to phenomena. Bishop Berkeley, following this line of thought, actually came to the conclusion that there was no matter, and although Byron facetiously remarks “It was no matter what the Bishop said,” yet we cannot help seeing that from Berkeley’s standpoint there is no actual proof of the existence of matter. All that we know is that certain effects take place in our minds, and we associate them with assumed external phenomena. Of course, we believe that Bishop Berkeley was wrong, but in so believing we are bound to accept the principle I have already enunciated, that assumption must precede knowledge. His standpoint 510was that we must assume nothing – not even that these sensations in our mind indicate corresponding properties in matter, and if we are not to assume anything, he was right. There are plenty of people who do not believe there is anything beside matter in the universe because we have no proof – because we must assume. Bishop Berkeley started on the same principle, and came to the conclusion there was no matter. Surely his philosophy gives a good answer to theirs, for both are equally logical and start from the same premise. Such is the dead wall of absolute nothingness towards which materialism must tend, and therefore again it is that I say that metaphysics or physics are in themselves fruitless studies. They should go hand in hand. What we want is clearer perception of the depths of Metaphor, fuller realization that the material is the manifestation of the immaterial, and, being only a manifestation, in itself actually the less substantial of the two. And, realising this, we need also deeper intuition and perception to trace out the metaphorical meanings of natural phenomena, their applicability to human nature, their oneness with our consciousness. In Metaphor, then, we have a very comprehensive reconciliation and harmonising of a good many partial views, linking the past with the present, the seen with the unseeable, the finite with the infinite, the best things of materialism with the best things of metaphysics, making one solid arch out of two leaning towers; linking the beauty of poetry with the stern facts of prose, banding together religion and science, bringing dead matter in touch with living consciousness, and making a reconciliation or at-one-ment between the human and divine.
But, to look at the subject as practically as possible, can this be done? Can we take a text-book of chemistry and treat it throughout as metaphor, tracing the metaphysical equivalent of every physical law and experiment? I believe a few can, but probably most cannot. Yet all can to a certain extent. Heredity is a great power to contend with, and undoubtedly it has been against most of us these many generations. Therefore it is all the more important that the intuitional faculty, so long neglected, should be forfeited and encouraged before it lapses into rudimentariness. It is very little use to merely crowd the mind with what others have done. In this respect symbolic teaching differs in its method from scientific study. In the mere storing of facts, or manifestations, of course we can profit directly by the labours of others, but in ascertaining the meanings, the things manifested, the case is very different. For example, I know someone, by no means unscientific, who finds the works of Darwin a kind of poem full of inner meaning. To communicate that inner meaning in words might be, to some extent, possible, but that would not be to communicate the faculty of perceiving the inner meaning from its manifestations. Dr. Anna Kingsford, Jacob Bœhme, and more than all, Swedenborg, have published a great wealth of Correspondences; but to cram these into our minds would not be to see them with our perception. It would possibly hinder that. Those results indicate the method, but the work must be done by ourselves in order to be ours. Such is the prime difference in the mode of operation of the perceptive faculty and the scientific faculty.
It is remarkable what power and facility in expressing one’s ideas are gained by cultivating these perceptive powers of the mind; hundreds of men whose minds are crammed with scientific facts lack the power of expression because 511they are not versed in Metaphor, and their thoughts are not clarified by its constant influence; while on the other hand, our greatest writers owe much of the magic of their literary power to their constant appreciation of the principle that facts are but manifestations, a principle which widens the whole field of thought and enables the thinker to grasp an unwieldy branching subject by its very tap root. The full truth of this can only appeal to experience for confirmation and a very good court of appeal is experience.
And now to sum up. I have tried to show that not only is all language originally metaphorical, but that all Nature is a phenomenal manifestation of the unphenomenal, and consequently that all around us is symbol and metaphor. There is one further point to consider. I know very well what some people would say to all this. They would say that the physical sciences can jog along very comfortably without any symbolical treatment. They would say, “We find it a very delightful thing to investigate the wonderful laws of Nature for their own sakes, and we find them in themselves quite a large enough subject without embarrassing our minds with possible symbolical meanings.” In short, if they did not deny that all Nature is metaphorically representative, they would urge that to pursue the metaphor is superfluous and unnecessary. There are such people, and truly they are fearfully and wonderfully made, but still they do exist, and we must take the world as we find it. I have been on an excursion with a scientific body and found several of these people present. One, in particular, I remember, who would pick up a shell and rush off in a frenzied manner to the head conchologist. “What’s the name of this? What’s the name of this?” Buccinum undatum he would be told, and his mind immediately sank into perfect peace until he found another shell, when a similar process was repeated. I suppose, that to people of this class, it must seem superfluous, and even absurd, to talk of science and of Nature as metaphorical. But at the same time, there are plenty of other people, also fearfully and wonderfully made, with thinking brains and active wills, who have a positive distaste for science, simply because they think of it only as a dry inquiry into the Latin names of shells and fossils. Is it not somewhat remarkable that there are so many people who seem to have no more faculty for science than for flying? We ought never to forget the existence of these people. Those who meet together interested in scientific subjects sometimes wonder that they are so few, while they know there are plenty of people outside their meeting room who have very well-convoluted brains, but who somehow are unable to take any interest in scientific pursuits. It is surely somewhat of a reflection upon science that it appeals to so few. I have questioned men upon this point, men who take a great interest in politics and other branches of the quic quid agunt homines; I have found that they complain of a want of human interest, as they call it, in science. This is because of its severance from the metaphysical. If the mission of science were fulfilled it would not appeal to so few. If it were lifted up it would draw all men unto it, and the reconciliation that is needed is just the thing that I have been pointing out, a recognition of the great principle that science is Metaphor, that Nature is a manifestation of the supernatural. I do not for a moment ignore the immense value of the abours of the materialist school of scientists. One cannot help smiling at their self-satisfied frame of mind, but at the same time their patient grinding out of facts 512is undoubtedly affording valuable material for others who see in their work what they themselves do not see. They are faithful copyists of Nature, who do not appreciate the full beauty of their own productions, but who render every detail with such scrupulous fidelity that it becomes intensely valuable to others. They are labourers who till the soil, while others enjoy the benefit of the harvest. They plant the tree of which others eat the fruit. Yet while we are accordingly grateful to them, I think that he is more to be envied who combines the two, who is not neglectful of the drudge work of science, the observation and classification of forms and facts and laws, and at the same time recognising that the forms and facts and laws are but manifestations, intuitionally deduces the essence manifested, rooted in his very consciousness and experience.
The Propaganda of Theosophy
It is time that the richer. of our British Theosophists should begin to discharge their duty to the movement for which they express sympathy, by aiding in its propaganda. Many of the members of the T.S. do nothing towards spreading the doctrines of Theosophy, giving neither time nor money to Theosophical work. There are two objects which members of the British Section should now help, as the discharge of a plain Theosophical duty. (1.) A Lecture Fund, out of which should be paid the hire of halls and the expenses of printing and posting bills, for lectures on Theosophy: there are competent speakers, willing to give their services without fee or reward; but they cannot, in addition to this, pay the expenses connected with the lecture, amounting to from £3 to £5. Such expenses should be borne by a fund established for the purpose. Contributions to this fund, marked “Theosophical Lecture Fund,” may be sent to Herbert Burrows, F.T.S., 283, Victoria Park Road, London, N.E.
(2.) It is impossible, without paying an exorbitant rent, to obtain in London a house to serve as headquarters, large enough to accommodate the band of workers who carry on the organised work of the T.S. in the British Islands, under the immediate direction of H. P. B.; a house, further, which contains a room large enough for the weekly meetings of the “Blavatsky Lodge,” meetings crowded ever more and more by enquirers and learners. This headquarters in London, the heart of the British Section, ought to be established at once. The only way to do this, without a crushing yearly expenditure, is to choose a house in a garden where there would be room to build, and then add to it a large room for meetings and, over this, rooms for the accommodation of the staff. The ordinary rent of the house will be covered by the rents paid by those of the staff who are able to thus contribute to the support of the headquarters; but the cost of building and of maintaining the secretaries ought to fall on the Section at large. Contributions to this fund, marked “Theosophical Building Fund,” may be sent to Annie Besant, 19, Avenue Road, Regent’s Park, London, N.W.
We print this notice in Lucifer because it forms the most convenient medium for reaching the members of the Theosophical Society in Great Britain and Ireland; but the appeal is directed to them, and not to our American brethren who have already aided so well in the support of Lucifer.
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Theosophical Activities
We learn with great pleasure that the lectures of Mr. Bertram Keightley in America have been listened to with the greatest interest, and have everywhere given an additional impetus to Theosophical work. It may interest our readers if we briefly mention some of his latest addresses.
At Grand Island, Nebraska, on December 16, the Masonic Hall was crammed with an attentive and interested audience, although five other public entertainments were in progress. The lecture was the general subject of conversation on the following day.
On December 29, Mr. Keightley delivered two lectures, one at San Francisco and the other at Oakland, and a second lecture at San Francisco on December 29. The lectures were listened to by appreciative and intelligent audiences.
In every town the lecturer passed through on his way to the Pacific coast, where he has to visit the several branches of the T.S. now promising to become very numerous, he spoke to appreciative audiences of not only Theosophists, but outsiders interested in our movement.
This is very gratifying indeed. Our cause needs eloquent speakers, and in this case the eloquence is helped by a self-devotion and earnestness as valuable as they are rare. Every success, health, and good Karmic reward, are the heartfelt good wishes sent by his British Brothers and fellow-members to Bertram Keightley across the wide waters of the Atlantic.
The Annual Report for 1889, of the “Swedish Branch” of the Theosophical Society, was delivered by the council on January 12th, 1890. After noticing the insufficiency of Christianity on the one side, and materialistic science on the other, the report proceeds: –
“It is very natural that the Theosophical teachings on the one side, overthrowing so many religious fictions, and on the other maintaining that there is a higher and more perfect method of obtaining knowledge than that known to the materialistic sciences, must excite resistance and animosity among the followers of the prevailing creeds and sects, as among the materialists – scientists. But here, as elsewhere, there was a soil ready to receive and ripen the Theosophical seed, namely, those minds who, discontented with the religious ideas of the time, aspired to a higher and clearer knowledge on the origin and destiny of man.
“To these Theosophy came as a comforter with its principle: ‘There is no religion higher than truth;’ with its sublime history of evolution; with its evangel ‘God is no being exterior to man, but the divine spark within himself, which leads him through all the vicissitudes of evolution, from unconsciousness to divine consciousness,’ and with its clear ethics: ‘Live for your fellow-creatures and do your duty towards them as much as you can, and last towards
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yourself, for you are solidaire with mankind, and egoism is a criminal delusion which injures others without benefitting yourself. In raising yourself you raise humanity, falling into egoism and unrighteousness you will prevent its progress.’ Some persons, living in Stockholm and very much interested in Theosophy, assembled in order to discuss the constitution of a Theosophical branch in Sweden, and thus the Swedish branch of the T.S. was founded on February 10th, 1889.
“Seventeen members entered the society. Rules were accepted and officers elected on February 28th. At the meeting of March 10, it was decided to begin with literary activity for the spreading of knowledge about Theosophy by the publication of cheap pamphlets. During the year 10 pamphlets have been published containing 20 articles on different Theosophical topics, especially translations from English and German publications, but we have also issued a few original articles. A beginning is also made in publishing some more important Theosophical works translated into Swedish, such as Dr. Hartmann’s ‘Magic, white and black;’ Madame Blavatsky’s ‘Key to Theosophy,’ is also under translation. For this branch of the society’s activity 600Kr. have been subscribed.
“A Theosophical lending library has also been founded partly by purchase and partly by donations from foreign and native Theosophists, where members for a moderate price can get books.
“‘Stockholm’s Reading Room,’ is also furnished with Theosophical literature, as the ‘Secret Doctrine’ (given by Mrs. Bloomfield-Moore); the ‘Key to Theosophy’ (by the Countess Wachtmeister), Lucifer, and others.
“At the meetings we have had lectures and discussions on Theosophical subjects. The society is constantly increasing. The number of the members was at the close of the year 71: 46 in Stockholm, 24 in the country and 1 abroad. These numbers must not, however, be considered as a complete expression of the interest with which Theosophy is regarded in Sweden. Under the rules of the society, a considerable number of guests, non-Theosophists, have attended its meetings. . . .
“Although 400 copies of our pamphlets have been distributed to the different newspapers, they have tried to kill Theosophy by dead silence. Yet some articles in defence of Theosophy have appeared in ‘Göteborgs Handels and Sjöfartstidning.’ Some attacks have also been published. One from the side of the church was answered by the president in the eighth number of our pamphlet series. Though Theosophy has been ignored by some and attacked by others, its literature has forced its way, and has become widely known.”
A. F. Akerberg, secretary.
Emil Zander, treasurer.
Amalie Cederschiold, corr. secretary.
On January 14th, Herbert Burrows, F.T.S., lectured on Theosophy before the Croydon Socratic Society, and led his hearers, step by step, from accepted axioms of science into the depths of Theosophy. After sketching the objects of the Theosophical Society, he pointed out, touching the third of these, that 515Western science failed to accomplish the latter object in some very essential particulars, and that principally because its investigations were conducted on inperfect lines, while Theosophy, working upon an entirely different line, not only disagreed with the conclusions of the Western scientists, but could find a passage beyond the dead wall which blocked the path of all our scientists at a certain point, and beyond which wall no single Western investigator had yet been able to penetrate. What was the reason of this? Possibly because Western scientists started on too limited a basis. Personally he had long ago been led to the conclusion – from the study of Huxley’s lecture on protoplasm – that the vital forces of nature were the unseen forces, and from Professor Huxley’s own showing the material physical senses of the body proved rather a barrier than an assistance to the study of the powers of nature.
If this were so, it naturally led up to the conclusion that if our senses were only refined and acute enough it would be possible to perceive and understand the unseen forces of nature. On the other hand, the scientists of the West, every one of them, however profound their investigations, were met at one point in their inquiries by a barrier which they found it impossible to pass, in a very large class of phenomena which they found to be absolutely inexplainable by their modern science.
Mr. Burrows then showed how inexplicable were many natural effects from the materialist standpoint. For instance, by means of a definite arrangement of a violin, a tuning fork, a strong light, and a sort of disc suspended after the style of a magic lantern sheet, it was found that a note of music produces distinct and unmistakeable colours, which vary with different notes. Another instrument, the pendulagraph, demonstrates that a musical note possesses force. The apparatus is constructed upon vibrating principles, and is fitted with a universal-jointed pen. Upon a certain note being struck certain spiral curves are recorded by the pen. Strike another note, and a different class of spirals is produced; strike the first note again, and spirals are produced similar to those registered on the first occasion. Now, why are these spiral? That is what Theosophy alone can tell, and the man who has this knowledge can learn to control the forces of nature! The materialist failed to surmount the wall that stopped him, and why? Partly because he failed to recognise that there was no rigid line of demarcation between the spiritual and the material part of man. Judging by the state of clairvoyance, when the physical material senses of man were in a certain sense paralysed, the intelligent, spiritual, mental faculties of man were sharpened. Man dwelt in two worlds, the outward visible world, and the inward and invisible. The latter could only come into play when the other was deadened, or, in other words, purified and refined of a great deal of its material grossness. Taking another line, he showed that the Theosophist and the Western scientist, by widely differing methods, agreed, step by step, that under the whole of nature lay some widely diffused basic force, but that while the Western could only tell the relation between things – as in the molecular theory – the Theosophist could explain the essence of the things themselves, or rather, could get behind the relation of the things and explain why they were so related. This method, followed to its natural conclusion, must lead up to the explanation of the spiritual nature of man, and thus Theosophy was seen to comprehend the great truths that underlie all the great religions of the world 516From this point, Mr. Burrows took his hearers into the definite teachings of Theosophy, explaining the septenary nature of man, and the psychic powers latent in each human being, and concluding with a sketch of the cyclic evolution of the race. A lively and interesting discussion followed. The above is taken from the Croydon Advertiser, which gives a two column report.
Annie Besant has lectured on Theosophy during the month at Hatcham, Brixton, Leicester and Birmingham; the questions and discussions following the lectures show how much public attention has been aroused.
On January 21st, a lecture on Theosophy, from an antagonistic standpoint, was delivered in Morley Hall, Hackney, by Mr. Edwards, a coloured lecturer of the Christian Evidence Society, who is well-known in the East End of London. He showed the barest possible acquaintance with the subject, and endeavoured to make up for his lack of knowledge by treating it in a humorous way. At the close of the lecture discussion was invited, and Herbert Burrows, in the ten minutes allowed him, put very clearly to the large audience the leading points of Theosophy. His speech was heartily cheered, as was also his announcement that he would himself lecture in the hall on the subject before long. Mr. Campbell, F.T.S. did good service by distributing some hundreds of Theosophical pamphlets and leaflets, and this is an example which might well be followed by other Theosophists in various parts of the country.
Working men, especially in the Radical clubs, are beginning to show an interest in Theosophy, and it is now not an uncommon thing to see a lecture on the subject announced in their Sunday lecture lists.
The following pleasant greeting reaches us from Bombay:
“With heartfelt pleasure, the general secretary of the Bombay Section of the T.S. has to perform the duty of communicating to you the following ‘vote of Confidence and thanks to the Founders,’ proposed by Br. Tookaram Tatia, seconded by Br. P. R. Mesta, and carried by acclamation with three cheers for the Founders, at the General Conference of Theosophists of the Indian Section of the Society, held in Bombay, at the Hall of the Elphinstone High School, on 29th December, 1889, at 8 p.m.:
“‘That this Conference of the Fellows of all the Indian Sections of the Theosophical Society regards with unfeigned indignation the malicious attempts lately made to injure the Theosophical Society by cowardly attacks upon Madame Blavatsky, who, as well as her equally devoted colleague, Col. Olcott, has freely given her whole energies for the last fifteen years to the establishment of a nucleus of Universal Brotherhood and the revival of Eastern philosophy and religions.
“‘This Conference further wishes to convey to both the Founders of the Society the assurance of its most cordial and grateful recognition of the great
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services they have rendered to India, and are now rendering to the world at large.’
“With hearty love for the cause of Brotherhood, and for all who work in it, and for it, and through it.
“Yours fraternally,
“Jhonghie Khorshedji Dajr.”
This greeting is especially welcome from our Indian Brothers, as a reply to the many attacks made upon us in India, and to the attempts to sow discord in the Brotherhood.
Colonel H. S. Olcott and the British Section
Muddled Meddlers
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It is with unfeigned regret and sympathy for the family and surviving relatives that we read the following announcement in the Theosophist of the death of one to whom Eastern Theosophical literature – and the Adyar Oriental Library owe so much. The loss is heavy for our Headquarters.
Death of Pandit N. Bashya Charya
It is with great sorrow that we have to announce the death of Pandit N. Bashya Charya, Pandit of the Adyar Oriental Library, at 11.30 p.m. on the 22nd ultimo, at his brother’s house in Rayapuram, Madras. For many years our lamented Pandit had suffered from diabetes, a disease which seems to be as common among the Brahmins as consumption is in the West. Two years ago he suffered from an acute attack thereof, while living at Adyar, but recovered on removal to a distance from the Adyar river, on the banks of which the Headquarters is situated. This time, unfortunately, neither the entreaties of his friends nor the advice of his doctors could induce him, until it was too late, to go away from the library in which he loved so much to spend his days when in good health. The immediate cause of death was blood poisoning from carbuncle in the hand, and although the Pandit had suffered greatly for nearly two months from neuralgia in the head, which nothing seemed able to relieve, neither he himself nor his friends, nor even his medical advisers, thought the case so dangerous until the appearance of blood poisoning, which quickly brought on a fatal termination.
The death of Pandit N. Bashya Charya is an irreparable loss to the Theosophical Society in general and to the Oriental Library in particular. Where can there be found another man combining his rare qualities and qualification? Acknowledged to be one of the most learned Sanscritists in India; wonderfully well read in all the Sanscrit literature, sacred and other; an excellent English scholar; an orator equally at home in four languages; a man of singularly courageous disposition; an enlightened reformer; and, above all, an ardent Theosophist and devoted Fellow of the Theosophical Society, who gave up a lucrative profession – he was a lawyer in good practice – to gratuitously devote himself to the work of the Society.
That there is here in India but one universal expression of sorrow at the death of our respected Pandit need hardly be told, and it may safely be said that the same feeling wil be general in the Society everywhere when the fact that he is now no more with us is known and realized.
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"Going To and Fro in the Earth"
The Daily Telegraph, rejoicing over the vastness of London, gives the following menu for a year:
“In a year London folks swallow down 500,000 oxen, 2,000,000 sheep, 200,000 calves, 300,000 swine, 8,000,000 head of fowls, 500,000,000 pounds of fish, 500,000,000 oysters, 200,000,000 lobsters – is that enough to figure on? If not, there are some million tons of canned provisions, no end of fruit and vegetables, and 50,000,000 bushels of wheat. But how they wash all the food down you might feel glad to know. It takes 200,000,000 quarts of beer. But more than this, they drink 10,000,000 quarts of rum, and 50,000,000 quarts of wine – the wine, the rum, the beer, 260,000,000 quarts.”
Such a mass of food, presented to the imagination as a huge mountain, through which London steadily eats its way, is quite appalling. And when one remembers how many hundreds of thousands of the population never have “a square meal,” the gorging of the remainder becomes revolting. And there is a very serious side to this normal over-eating. If the stomach be overloaded the brain suffers. Strong intellectual work is not done by the alderman, waxing fatter and fatter on over-elaborated dinners, but by the man who lives on well-nigh ascetic fare, eating to keep the body in sound health as an efficient instrument of the mind.
Mr. Jerome K. Jerome, in his clever novel, “Three Men in a Boat,” has the following significant paragraphs on the influence of the stomach on the brain. Theosophists, by reading between the lines, may learn a useful lesson:
“How good one feels when one is full – how satisfied with ourselves and with the world! People who have tried it tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a full stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained. One feels so forgiving and generous after a substantial and well-digested meal – so noble minded, so kindly hearted.
“It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon it says, ‘Work!’ After breakfast and porter, it says, ‘Sleep!’ After a cup of tea (two spoonsful for each cup, and don’t let it stand more than three minutes) it says to the brain, ‘Now rise and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature and into life; spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!’
“After hot muffins, it says, ‘Be dull and soulless, like a beast of the field – a brainless animal, with listless eye, unlit by any ray of fancy, or of hope, or fear, or love, or life?’ And after brandy, taken in sufficient quantity, it says, ‘Now come, fool, grin and tumble, that your fellow men may laugh – drivel in folly, and splutter in senseless sounds, and show what a helpless misery is poor man,
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whose wit and will are drowned, like kittens, side by side, in half an inch of alcohol’
“We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after morality and righteousness, my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach, and diet it with care and judgment. Then virtue and contentment will come and reign within your heart, unsought by any effort of your own; and you will be a good citizen, a loving husband, and a tender father – a noble, pious man.” . . . .
Is it the “brain” or the “stomach” that inspired a Kentucky Yankee to write the curious letter just received by Mme. Blavatsky? A theosophist would hardly ascribe it to Manas but would assign it an undeniably Kamic origin. Here it is, style, spelling, and request – verbatim.
“Dear Madame, – We reade to-day with great interest, a description of yourself and wonderful age in the Cincinatti Commercial Gazette. At present I being young but, have the desire too remain longer on this earth than our allotted number 3 score years and 10 – I therefore take the privilege of writing too you and asking, whether you really are, five hundred years old, and what is your receipt for so long a life:
Hoping that the reumatism has now left you, and that you will not regard this note too insignificant too answer, I am, truly yours, etc.”
The “Adversary” takes “the privilege” of informing the Kentucky very ambitious young petitioner that Mme. Blavatsky does not regard the note “too insignificant too answer.” On the contrary, it is quite important enough to be assigned a niche in Lucifer. With regard to the “receipt” for living “five hundred years old,” the writer is advised to turn for information to the Cincinatti Commercial Gazette, which may perhaps part with its secret for a consideration.
A Logical Reasoning
Commenting on the revival in England of the slanders against Mme. Blavatsky, the London correspondent of the Hindu very aptly says:
“Many people are disgusted with this whole subject, and ask: ‘Why take any notice of this revival to state slander? Why not let the dog return to its vomit if that noble animal likes it? It seems from the above that the Rev. George Patterson, however, has not got rid of all his bile, and we are to be treated to further revelations, which it is to be hoped will be a little more artistic than the last, since the reverend gentleman has had several years to edit them.
“What an extraordinary muddle the reasoning faculties of these parsons must be in! What do they expect to gain by these accusations against Madame Blavatsky? Suppose for a moment that they had succeeded in proving every one of their points to the satisfaction of all the world, where would they stand even then? Their arguments run thus: – ‘Madame Blavatsky pretended to burn a cigarette and to make it appear again, whereas it was really a second cigarette that she palmed off on those present. THEREFORE Reincarnation is not a truth, and all the philosophers and sages who believed it are fools, and the great systems of religion and philosophy which teach it are lies.’ ‘Madame Blavatsky wrote messages purporting to come from the Masters and sent them to
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her chelas. THEREFORE, the doctrine of Karma is false, those who teach it are deceivers, and the dogmas of a personal God and of endless punishment in his all-beneficent hell are proved to be certainly facts, Jesus is the second person of the “God-head,” and all that the missionaries say is true’
“Let them go on spinning their lying gossip; it leaves Theosophy absolutely untouched, as far at least as those who are capable of understanding what that word means are concerned.
“The queerest thing is that these padris never seem to suspect that they have fallen into a trap. While they have been exercising all their intellect and generosity in trying to make out Madame Blavatsky a ‘charlatan,’ she has been quietly writing book after book, and pouring out a succession of articles in her several Magazines, all of which not only disproves absolutely and completely the ridiculous assumption that she is a ‘charlatan,’ but is noiselessly but irresistibly undermining the ‘rock’ upon which the padris stand in fancied security. Now, if these padris instead of spending their energy in a vain attempt to make Madame Blavatsky personally despised and disliked, had used their splendid intellects in opposing the spread of theosophical ideas, would it not have been much better for themselves?
“Perhaps so. Perhaps not; for they are in the awkward position that they cannot open their mouths about Theosophy without advertising it, and thus doing it a service; for theosophy only wants to be known; it asks nothing more, and cares very little whether the clergy talk sense or nonsense about it, so long as they only talk.”
Here is a fresh item of scientific news. Another “calculating boy” has appeared. We read in the Globe of January 3rd that:
“Kentucky boasts a negro prodigy in a calculating farm labourer, thirty-four years of age. Sam Summers, as he is called, can neither read nor write, and does not know one figure from another. He does not look particularly intelligent, but nevertheless he answers very difficult questions in arithmetic with great promptitude. Here are some of the tests he has been able to withstand. Multiply 597,312 by 13⅝. How much gold can be bought for 719 dols. in greenbacks if gold is worth 1·65 dol? If a grain of wheat produces seven grains, and these are sown every second year, each yielding the same ncrease, how many bushels will be produced in twelve years, there being 1,000 grains to the pint?
What does materialism say? Shade of Carpenter appear and confabulate with Ludwig Büchner! Vain appeal, for we want something more than “labels” now-a-days. Perhaps after all reincarnation is not so “unthinkable.”
We cordially agree with the following views of the National Reformer and wish that more of our contemporaries were as dauntless in the cause of truth.
“There is one point in which the Indian Congress stands|out superior to all other political congresses that one hears of, from Parliament downwards – it admits women as delegates. In this it sets an example to the nations that boast of a higher civilisation, but whose views of women have been degraded by Christianity. Buddhist women, it is well known, enjoy an absolute equality with men. being admissible even to that last citadel of male privilege – the priestly office. Hindu women, under the Institutes of Manu, also enjoyed a free and dignified position, but since the Mahommedan invasion of India, they have been degraded by the zenana system and have been shut out of all healthy life, made the mere appanage of man. I trust that the appearance of women delegates is a sign that the awakening of India is not to be confined to her sons.
“The Christian Commonwealth has an ill-tempered article, abusing ‘scepticism, agnosticism, atheism, ignorance, sorcery, slavery, polygamy, fetishism, Islamism, Theosophism, and devilry in all
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its phantasmagoria.’ It wants to know what sort of a place the world would have been without Christianity:
“‘What kind of a brutal people would be coming up from the slums, and what sort of nice humanity would be coming down to meet them from gilded club rooms where earls and baronets gamble and drink?’
“Well, but my dear Christian Commonwealth, the brutality of the slums, the prostitution, the awful nameless cruelties, the murders, the drunkenness, are all here, outgrowths of your Christian community, and at the other end you have your Cleveland Street horror and your ‘society’ divorces. In the name of outraged Humanity, what worse than these could you have under any creed or no creed? The Christian Commonwealth goes on:
“‘From our infancy, our first weakness, Jesus of Bethlehem is with us. Mahommedanism and Buddhism alike fail to begin with human nature in sympathy of the right point – the point of lowest weakness. Mercy for women and children is a secret of one religion. Fine ladies who have such contempt for Chist are not above enjoying all the homage and honours which, outside of a Christian community, would be an impossible attainment for their sex. They owe everything to the Emancipator of womanhood and acknowledge nothing.’
“‘Mercy for women and children’!! Why, there is no country in which wife-beating and child-torture are as common as in Christian England. Among Buddhists they are absolutely, unknown. And as to ‘the impossible attainment’ for women, let the editor of the C. C. go to Ceylon and study the Singhalese women. The ‘Emancipator of Womanhood’ is a title due to Buddha rather than to Christ. Principal Donaldson used to think as does the editor of the C.C., but study of the facts has made him confess his error. The gentle creed which forbids the slaying of any living thing, and which built hospitals for sick brutes as well as sick men (long before the birth of Christ), never sees its votaries stained with the cruelties which come daily before the police-courts of this Christian land.”
Jarveyan Theosophy
A funny skit at the audiences that assemble to hear our President lecture on Theosophy. That’s about the size of the average Britisher who hears for the first time anything of the old Esoteric doctrines. The Dublin “Punch,” The Jarvey, has the following:
“We’ve all been there before, |
| – Hymn of the Esoteric Buddhist. |
“Have we been in this world before?” said the “Office Lyre,” as he took his seat in the Ancient Concert Rooms, and prepared to take notes of Colonel Olcott’s lecture.
“I have been before this world for some time,” sighed the Poet Flanagan, “and have failed to make much of a mark as yet.”
“Never mind, old man; perhaps in some prehistoric state your sonnets were sung by the stately Saurians, and your comic verses may have sent the cave man forth to slaughter his enemies with renewed relish.”
“It's a curious thing,” remarked Flanagan, “that when reading some of Shakespeare's finest passages, I feel as if that is exactly how I would have expressed myself. Is it possible, think you, that I can be a re-embodiment of the Bard of Avon?”
“Your style has changed somewhat since you brought out ‘Hamlet,’ but I've no doubt you are the same man.”
Further conversation was prevented by the entrance of Colonel Olcott.
The Colonel (a short and patriarchal looking gentleman in spectacles and a long white beard) in the course of a two hours' address said: “The inner spirit of man was something apart from his body. and that in Eastern countries there was a fixed belief that during sleep a man’s spirit might wander to distant realms. They held it was a most dangerous thing to wake a man suddenly, for if his spirit had not returned the man would probably die.”
“That’s a splendid doctrine,” whispered the Office Lyre to Flanagan; “I wish my landlady believed in it; she wouldn’t jerk the bolster from under my slumbering form on Sunday morning.”
The lecturer stated his belief that we had all lived various times on this or some other world, and would probably have to appear again several times before our astral or star bodies were perfected.
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“This law is essentially the same as that found among the players of pool,” remarked the Poet Flanagan to his companion; “you must lose all your lives before you are allowed to ‘star.’”
Here a young man who had been listening intently to the discourse, turned to the Office Lyre and said: “When is he going to talk about cycology?”
“About what?” twanged the Lyre.
“About cycles. A fellow told me the Colonel knew more about cycology than any man living. ‘Cycology means a knowledge of cycles, doesn’t it?” enquired the young man anxiously.
“My friend, replied the Lyre, “you are no theosophist; you have been developing your body at the expense of your mind. The world is not yet ripe for these doctrines. Come with us to that sub-astral Nirvana, otherwise known as the ‘Brotherhood of the Bodega,’ and we will study the evolution f the oyster and the embodiment of various spirits.”
That night it is said that an oriental “adept” appeared to the Poet Flanagan in his astral shape, and, transporting him to the Himalayan mountains, offered to teach him the laws of occultism at the lowest possible figure.
When he awoke, he found himself reposing close to the giddy heights of the Stephen's Green mountain range, and his guide had disappeared.
As a proof that occult forces had been at work, the poet produced the following lines, which he declares were dictated to him by his astral guide:
I may have been a porpoise, and you a tall Zulu; |
Theosophical Lending Libraries
Mr. F. Chapman has formed a Theosophical Lending Library for the Whitechapel district in Mile End Road, E.
We have now such libraries at 7, Duke Street, Strand; Sheffield; Penrith; Merthyr Tydvil; Newcastle; Edinburgh. Theosophists who can enlarge these libraries by gifts of money or of books, should write to the Countess Wachtmeister, 7, Duke Street, Strand, London, W.C., and she will tell them where their help will be most useful.
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Reviews
Balzac in English
Honoré de Balzac was born out of due time; he came in the dark half of the century. Therefore was he little understood by his contemporary critics, and flippant Paris refused him his just laurels.
Even in the present day, little is known by the English-speaking public of the masterpiece of the French writer. Those of his works which they have read, are the least important, and disclose the generally unpalatable fact that Balzac was no dilettante talemonger, but a man with a purpose. If we turn to any of the many bourgeois “encyclopædias” we find but scanty notice taken of him, even as a writer, and none at all as a philosopher; in fact some of these “royal roads to learning,” entirely omit any mention of his three greatest works.
The Magic Skin, Louis Lambert, and Seraphita are the trilogy which crown his great effort, La Comédie Humaine.
It is therefore with the liveliest pleasure that we take up these three handsome volumes, and this not only because it is a striking sign that the times have changed, and changed marvellously, in that the public are making some reparation to a great genius by creating a demand for his masterpieces, but also because the novels are most excellently done into English, and retain, as much as translations can, the charm of the originals. But this is not all; for us, as Theosophists, there is something far more important: Mr. George Frederic Parsons, one of the earliest and most appreciated members of the T. S., in his lengthy introduction, has written an excellent treatise on the philosophy of Balzac from the occult standpoint; and although for the intelligent student of that great body of literature on occult subjects which is increasing with such extraordinary rapidity nowadays, there are no new facts, still in the exposition and application it is excellent, and, wedded to Balzac’s great masterpieces, will win an entrance where alone it would have been unceremoniously hustled off the premises.
These introductions cover a wide survey of psychological literature and will supply one who pays his first visit to the magic hills of occult lore with an excellent bird’s-eye view of the whole subject.
Balzac, like many other great writers, was not without some portion of the “psychic power latent in man.” Unconsciously no doubt, but still actually, he had regained his great birthright and by intellectual Kriya Sakti produced “mind-born sons.” As Mr. Parsons says, in speaking of the –
“Unparalleled vitality and reality of Balzac's creations, the creation of these eidola, however wonderful, is as nothing to the psyschical feat of maintaining them in existence. Both Thackeray and Dickens asserted that they were often absolutely surprised by the sayings and doings of their creations.’
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Who knows but that the fact that: “Balzac was as well acquainted with the metaphysics of Hindustan as with those of Europe,” may account in some measure for the wonderful charm that this mystic philosopher and true student of man exercises on theosophic minds?
“Know thyself,” cried the voice of the mysteries. And the little poet of Twickenham, catching some echo of its world-reverberation, wrote: “The proper study of mankind is man.” So thought Balzac, and in the Comédie Humaine he strove to study his kind with the result that they either ignorantly misunderstood him, or were forced to keep grim silence in self-defence, and probably we should still do so if we did not, with the Trojan hero, “boast ourselves to be greater than our fathers.” How daring and desperate was this attempt we learn from Madame Surville, his sister, who wrote in her memoir:
“In ‘Louis Lambert,’ my brother, in order to obtain a hearing for certain ideas which were not yet accepted by the world, believed it necessary to put them forward under the safeguard of (simulated) insanity.”
Mr. Parsons sees in The Magic Skin something more than a mere novel; he see in it an allegory.
“The Eastern talisman is the undiciplined lust of worldly success which shortens life literally and directly by exhausting the nervous energy. The Countess Fedora, the woman without a heart . . . is symbolical of Society, which lives for itself and its own pleasures and luxuries; which is polished, cold, indifferent, yet desirous of obtaining gratuitously the best of all the lives attracted by its glitter and ostentation; which allures by its air of distinction, its parade of wealth, its affectation of exclusiveness, its versatility and surface show of intellect and wit; and which is, like the beautiful and fascinating Russian, absolutely void of heart, and scarcely capable of feigning sensibility enough to make a decorous appearance.”
Society, queen of the heartless, come into court!
“Raphael is designed to illustrate Balzac's theory of the baleful social effect of excess. He exhibits from the first an absorbed Egoism which puts him morally almost on a level with the Society he learns to hate and despise. . . . The possessor of the magic skin must be a self-indulgent, egoistic person. Pauline is a foil, both exoterically and esoterically, to the heartless, cold-blooded Fedora.
She is a foil also to the selfishness of Raphael. She is a beautiful ideal, and may further be regarded as symbolizing the superior purity and elevation of true womanly love. That is to say of sacrifice.”
We are inclined to agree with Mr. Parsons that the dramas of Balzac’s great trilogy are allegories, and thus meet the objections of a critic, who says of Balzac that his:
“Most ambitious types of piety and purity in woman,” appear to have been described “from pure imagination, with the result that his creations of this class are cold, unapproachable, abnormal, bloodless beings, where goodness does not impress us as meritorious, because they are essentially incapable of wrong-doing.”
No doubt they are all intuitional types, representing generally the supremacy of Buddhi-Manas over Kama-Manas. In “Seraphita” we have the highest of these, almost a girl-Buddha, who has conquered the hosts of Mara and gained some portion of the robe of Dharma.
In “Louis Lambert” we have an example of the Intuitive dominating the Intellectual: as Mr. Parsons says:
“The biographer who visits Louis . . . does not feel altogether certain that his friend is truly insane. He even asks himself whether the condition of chronic ecstasy in which the patient seems withdrawn may not be the consequence of an illumination so much higher than that vouchsafed mankind at large as to transcend expression – to separate the recipient from intellectual contact with his fellows by revealing to his inner sense untranslatable things.”
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We must not, therefore, take Louis Lambert as an example to be too zealously emulated. He fell short of the perfect type by excess. The grand old Greek adage μηδὲν ἄγαν, nothing too much, is an immortal truth, and Aristotle was never on surer ground than when he enunciated the doctrine of τὸ μέσον, or the Mean, the corner stone of his philosophy. The truly wise ever strike the balance between Intellect and Intuition; excess in either direction destroys the harmony of perfection.
Balzac, moreover, was no slavish admirer of scientific “authority,” the first-born of priestcraft. In this connection Mr. Parsons very aptly remarks:
“It is well to recall a fact usually overlooked, namely, that when objections are raised against wha' are called unverifiable assumptions, such objections apply not only to the intuitional methods of research, but to many of the fundamental concepts of physical science. In fact we should have no coherent cosmology were the use of the scientific imagination excluded. Every theory of the universe advanced by science demands the acceptance of postulates which are in most instances figments of the imagination, and some of which go counter to the primal laws of scientific research, in positing conditions wholly foreign to experience. . . . . . . . The habit of accepting whatever comes to us with the endorsement of Science causes men to think they comprehend such statements, whereas, in truth, no story of a miracle can possibly be harder to grasp by the reason alone.”
When we find that Balzac had eagerly devoured such works as he could obtain on Indian philosophy and psychology; that he was a great admirer of Boehme, Saint, Martin and Swedenborg, and that he was also familiar with such writers as Lully, Agrippa, Paracelsus, Reuchlin, Mesmer, Porphyry, Plotinus and the Neoplatonists, Hermes Trismegistus and the books of the Kabbala, we shall be little astonished at his disagreement with the scientific dogmas of his day, or to find Mr. Parsons telling us that:
“We shall see, when we examine Balzac’s speculations, the curiously close relation between the latest conclusions of modern science and the central concepts of a philosophy which has much in common with these archaic and mystical views, the study of which commends itself more and more to a generation educated to resent and suspect dogmatism wherever encountered, and equally disinclined to accept imposed authority, the credentials of which are not beyond doubt.”
As an example of the daring flights of Balzac’s genius, the following aphorism from one of his categories is especially to be remarked: “Facts are nothing; they do not exist; there subsists nothing but ideas.” Such has ever been the cry of blind mortals when they gain their vision or have it given them artificially. Sir Humphrey Davy, after having been under the influence of nitrous oxide, is reported to have sprung from his chair exclaiming: “Gentlemen, gentlemen, nothing exists but Ideas.”
If, then, “Facts really do not exist,” what, we may ask, will be the market price per ton of scientific libraries?
The major part of the introduction to Louis Lambert is taken up with a consideration of the categories of Balzac’s philosophy. It is not too much to say, that no student of this philosophy should be without Mr. Parsons’ introduction, for he is always interesting and successful in producing the impression on the reader, that perhaps after all there is something in it. Undoubtedly there is much to commend itself in the views which were condensed by the great French writer into his terse and rigid sentences. But did Honoré de Balzac aim at presenting a complete system of thought? Were his intuitive flights always reliable?
Perhaps it may be said that he died before rounding out the edifice, with 528some plans indeed before him and with some of the stones cut, perhaps even with some of the courses laid; but the Work was never completed and even the unity of the edifice imperfectly conceived.
The story of Seraphita deals with the highest phase of the mysticism of Swedenborg. As it stands, however, it is somewhat unnatural. The beautiful Seraphita, a maiden of some seventeen summers, is endowed with all the virtues and siddhis of an Eastern Arhat; probably this was done to champion a cause which Balzac had ever at heart – the restoration of woman to her proper dignity.
Taken as a narration of fact, the story is somewhat improbable. Taken as an allegory or soul-drama, it is most beautiful. Mr. Parsons leans to the latter view and writes a very lucid exposition of the meaning of the characters.
Most probably, Seraphita was considered by Balzac as his masterpiece. In the introduction we find the following quotation from a letter of his to the Duchesse de Castries: “The toil upon this work has been crushing and terrible. I have passed, and must still pass days and nights upon it. I compose, decompose and recompose it.” If the advice of Horace in his Ars Poetica is to be taken, Balzac did well in this. Horace, however, never dealt with works of really high inspiration, but confined his advice to what we now classify under the somewhat threadbare label of “literature.” We may therefore fairly conclude that Balzac aimed at the portrayal of an ideal which ever escaped full expression, and that laborious art is of secondary importance in a work of real genius.
In connection with the tardy recognition of woman’s proper place in human evolution, Mr. Parsons very appositely remarks:
“Woman practised the long forgotten virtue (Unselfish Love), while suffering in silence the tyranny to which her constitutional weakness condemned her. From the beginning she has been the chief conservator of this indispensable aid to the higher life. If she has not succeeded in manifesting so strikingly as advanced men the serviceableness of Altruism to material progress, it is because the repression from which she suffered through so protracted a period stunted her intellectual growth and thus rendered her deficient in the capacity to apply practically what she cultivated almost instinctively.’
This, unfortunately, is only too true. Generally speaking, woman is more spiritual or intuitive, man more material or intellectual. Let men therefore cultivate their intuition and women their intellect, and we shall some day have matters not too intolerable, for as things stand, the case is indeed desperate.
Students of the Eastern system however, will scarcely agree entirely with Mr. Parsons when he says:
“It is one of the central merits of Christianity that it did much to recover for Woman the position too long denied her in the psychical scheme. Buddha indeed went far beyond his Asiatic predecessors in this direction. He admitted women to all the spiritual gains open to men, with one exception. No woman could become a Buddha, according to him, though any man might elevate himself to Arhatship. Christianity raised woman to the highest celestial dignities.”
Quite so; but it denied her any place in the priesthood, and its earliest authorities placed many indignities upon her. “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.” (i. Cor. xiv. 84).
Moreover Protestant Christianity expels the Virgin Mary and the women-saints from the highest celestial dignities. Gautama, on the contrary, admitted women 529to Arhatship, and some of the most renowned of the Buddhist missionaries were women. As well as men they can become Buddhas, for the term means generally “the enlightened,” one who has reached a certain state of spiritual development. There have been and there are women initiates. No doubt they are few compared to men, but that is owing to the long ages of repression to which their sex has been subjected.
But surely the equality of the sexes is in the nature of things. Man, originally the divine hermaphrodite, was androgynous previous to the separation of the sexes. Following therefore the cycle of evolution and the ascending arc of the curve, the sexes will gradually tend to an entire equality, and so the sexual attraction will cease and give place to something nobler, holier and more god-like.
Further on the consideration that:
“To this theory of spiritual evolution taught by Swedenborg the doctrine of metempsychosis, or as it is more commonly termed at present, the doctrine of re-incarnation, is necessary,”
gives Mr. Parsons an opportunity of writing a clear and interesting account of this fundamental postulate of all sound philosophy.
Very just also is his view of Swedenborg as an “authority.”
“It must be admitted,” he says, “by all candid students of the Seer, that his supposed revelations are often clogged and overlaid with the most palpable anthropomorphism; that he derives his notions of celestial phenomena and existences from his personal environment with a curious childish simplicity at times; that he exhibits in many ways his inadequacy as the vehicle of supra-mundane communications; and his inability, partly through physical, partly through intellectual conditions, to transmit with fidelity or even to observe with accuracy that which was presented to his internal vision.”
How true is this of all untrained seers! Omne ignotum pro magnifico is true on all planes, and psychic senses are even more delusive than physical. Yet, as Mr. Parsons says:
‘It is not that the various Seers are hallucinated, or that they invent; it is that the divergence in their reports represents the insuperable influence of their material elements upon their spiritual perception. This may be tested by harmonies as well as by discords indeed. The student of such subjects knows that remarkable resemblances in outline occur frequently among the mystical writings of widely separated races and ages. These resemblances cannot, in many instances, be accounted for on the theory of simple borrowing, for the proof is frequently attainable that borrowing would have been impossible.”
Perhaps also our amateur seer would do well to remember that:
“He may easily drift into a Fool’s Paradise wherein illusions of every kind cheat his undisciplined senses, and he may return to material existence qualified to do much more harm than good by disseminating views which perhaps his personal character invests with a factitious value.”
How repeatedly have facts paid their tribute to the wisdom of the aphorism of the Voice of the Silence, which says: “The name of Hall the Second is the Hall of Learning. In it thy soul will find the blossoms of life, but under every flower a serpent coiled.” Had this been always understood how many Angelic and other Revelations would have been spared a long-suffering world. Nature never makes leaps, but somehow or other a psychic imagines himself privileged to reach the seventh heaven at a bound.
Speaking of the final ordeal before the apotheosis of Seraphita, Mr. Parsons writes:
“In this great ordeal Seraphita finds no help in her sinlessness, because her spiritual development has brought with it not only increase of sensitiveness, but an expansion of the perceptive faculties which enables her to comprehend to the fullest extent the attractions and delights of the materia
530
opportunities and enjoyments she is required to renounce. The sacrifice demanded of her, moreover, embraces the slaying of Self. It is not only earthly desires that she must surrender, but all desires; for the yearning for the Divine, pure as it may seem, is capable of perversion into a disguised form of selfishness. She cannot cease to aspire, for all her nature is attuned heavenward; but she must be prepared for any event, even for the disappointment of her dearest hopes.”
Balzac’s philosophical trilogy ends with a dramatic scene called “The Assumption.” Seraphita wings her flight to heaven and is received within its portals. For some readers, perhaps, the setting is too Swedenborgian; still, if they be lovers of Balzac, they will agree with Mr. Parsons that:
“Notwithstanding the unavoidable employment of some conventional forms, the elevation, nobility, solemnity and beauty of the whole picture render it a literary masterpiece, scarcely equalled and not surpassed by the most glowing conceptions of the great mystical poets.”
Much of the philosophy of Balzac is really excellent, and where he fails or is obscure the learned and lucid introduction of the present edition will prove an excellent “Guide to the Perplexed” and convince us that we have at last a critic who has understood the great French novelist.
Briefly, the work is well done: translation, introduction, printing and binding are a meet offering to the Man who dwelt for a brief half-century in the personality named Honoré de Balzac.
The Indian Religions
The Indian Religions are somewhat of a misnomer for the latest work from the pen of Mr. Hargrave Jennings. We learn little from his volume of what the Hindus have to say for themselves and a good deal of the reasonings of the author towards some of the fundamentals of Aryan philosophy.
Mr. Jennings justly remarks that “Buddhism . . . . underlies all the religious beliefs of the vast East.” This is true of original Buddhism, or rather Bodhism or Gupta Vidya, the Gnosis of the Orient.
We are informed that the Brahmins do not eat flesh because of their belief in transmigration, and that the Castes “deem milk the purest of food, because they think it partakes of some of the properties of the nectar of their gods, and because they esteem the cow itself almost like a divinity.” But surely this explains nothing! As well ask us to believe that Gautama actually died of a too hearty meal of boar's flesh.
This is the superstition of religion, the literal interpretation of symbols and scriptures. Surely the thinking public, to whom Mr. Jennings addresses his book, deserves some better treatment. Nowadays, when so many believe that superstition and myths have a rational explanation and that such sublime philosophers as the ancient Aryans did not suddenly descend to the level of the cretin in their ceremonies, such becauses can only be greeted with a smile. Explanations which satisfy the child do not content the man; an orthodox catechism is no key to the mysteries.
The greater portion of the volume deals largely with the metaphysical. “Thirty-nine years of metaphysics are exhibited in the conclusions of this book,” 531the author tells us at the close. It would therefore be supposed that we should have a purely philosophical treatment of the subject. The author of “The Rosicrucians,” however, is fond of warming up to his task, and with the aid of the denunciatory second person, breaks into many passages of Teufelsdrochian diction, from which we may quote the following as a type.
“Why, thou wretched disbeliever! – atheist – if that term of the beasts shall be pleasing to thee and gratify thy intense and yet thy meanest pride! – the circuits of the round world must be stored, thick beyond count, with the shapes, or shows, or souls of . . . . . escaped life – evolved out of its organisms . . . .! What if thou – with thy miserable optics – cannot see these realms of escaped vitality?”
On the whole the volume is interesting, especially when Mr. Hargrave Jennings treats of some of the old customs, and traces them back through centuries. But how the old mythologies, ceremonies, customs and mysteries have been made the obedient servants of the most contradictory theories; and what a fertile field of adventure have they proved for literary knight-errants!
It would take too long to carp about details, but we certainly do wonder how the permutation Trimour Tree (sic) for Trimurti was arrived at.
While saying that there is much in the volume for which Mr. Jennings is to be commended, let us briefly see what are the conclusions of a writer who gives us the result of a thirty-nine years’ study of metaphysics, and a criticism of Indian philosophy.
“We might gather that there was and is no alternative for man – but Revelation or despair. Nature can, at the utmost, do little for us. It can tell us very little. This the highest of philosophers have ever felt (including some of the Alchemists). And, hence, they have tried to get behind nature: – and to get so behind it as to read the future of the past. In reading rightly – that is, out of their own nature – they have all miserably failed. And ever shall they so fail. One only reached the ultimate secrets of this sublime and mysterious scheme of things. One only – living was permitted to pass behind the tremendous veil of creation. And why? Because he came from the excellent Glory (which is, perhaps, only another name for that “unparticled matter,” that sublime Reality of Existence which is within all things; as well as because he confirmed his power by privilege of virtue. He alone, even in the days of his flesh, with unveiled face looked upon the Glory of God.”
“But . . . shall we not end with the solemn words of the only Book which has given us authentic and commanding tidings from those unknown worlds? ‘Seeing, therefore, that all these things shall be dissolved, what should ye not make yourselves as heirs of this kingdom?’ This heaven into which all – in the final glory – shall be absorbed.” [68]
This is surely a very strange mixture. Here we have an orthodox theologian standing under the bright lamp of Eastern philosophy, and cutting a somewhat comical figure. Had he rested in the darkness of his theology no one would have noticed his raiment, but stepping into the light he shows himself clad in a suit of motley. . . . .
Three Sevens
The Three Sevens is an interesting little volume of occult fiction. It is a speculation on Initiation, a romance that reminds one of Bulwer Lytton’s works and Christian’s Histoire de la Magie. No doubt many are curious to know the life of the schools of Initiation, and what are the trials of the Neophyte, but those who know are few and must “keep silence.” The Three Sevens, however, is full of interest and contains much food for thought; it 532will certainly do useful work among those who can only be got at by mind-picture books and is worth the perusal of serious students.
Facing the Sphinx
In Facing the Sphinx, we have a book of some 200 pages, treating of such subjects as Continents, Races, Symbology, Numbers, etc. It contains long references to the Secret Doctrine; Isis Unveiled and other works with which students of the subjects treated of in these volumes are familiar. In brief, it is a handy compilation. As the author says: “We have followed in the footsteps of learned scholars who have preceded us in the same useful field, and we present the result of their researches in the most comprehensible way allowed by such a deep subject.” The work is on the whole a fair and clever summary of certain portions of our philosophy.
Editorial Announcements
In our next number, which commences Volume VI., we shall publish the first of a series of papers by U. L. Desai, F.T.S., entitled “Hardwar, or, the Mysteries of the Himalayas.” They will deal with the personal experiences of the writer among the Himalayan Yogis, and with the Vedantin philosophy held by them.
A series of papers under the heading of “Theosophical Gleanings,” by “Two Students of the E.S.,” will be commenced in our March issue. They are intended for those who are really studying Theosophy, to throw light for beginners on some portions of our philosophy.
We shall also, in an early number, insert the first of some “Selections from the Gnostic Gospel, the Pistis Sophia,” translated by G. R. S. Mead, and annotated by H. P. B.
It is found absolutely necessary to raise, in future, the subscription price of Lucifer, by the addition of postage. At the present time, subscribers obtain it for 15s. a year, post free, and as 2s. 6d. of this goes for postage, they pay for it only 1s. 0½d. per copy, a reduction greater than is made on any other magazine. For the future, the annual subscription will be 17s. 6d., but all subscribers now on the books will be supplied at the old rate until the expiry of their subscriptions.
Footnotes
- ↑ From the first number of the Buddhist Ray.
- ↑ Editor’s note: The final letter of this word is indistinct in the available scan; the visible reading is retained.
- ↑ The Coulombs “earned their money,” well, this is undeniable. But that they never got it all is as undeniable; those who had not scrupled to bribe, did not stop at cheating people who had so well served them. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Upon his return the other day to India from Japan, Colonel H. S. Olcott sent to a few friends in the form of a circular letter, the above touching and eloquent apostrophe to India, personified as the genius of the ancient Aryan Bharatavarsha. It was immediately published and went the round of the whole Indian press, with a running accompaniment of blessings and home-greetings from the Hindu public to whom he is universally endeared. – [Ed.]
- ↑ He must then have revealed the fact, couched in precisely the same words, to “Nemo,” the author of Theosophia, a pamphlet issued some months ago by the notorious Hiram Butler & Co. late of Boston. Or is it “Nemo,” who revealed it to him? At all events it connects the two noble “adepts” both so well initiated into the mysteries of the transmutation of human gullibility into hard cash. – [Ed.]
- ↑ The “Records at L––” have been consulted and the results may be found in the article called “The Astral Plague” in the present number. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Twixt Heaven and Earth. By Mrs. Sidney Rosenfeld. Washington and New York.
- ↑ Posthumous Humanity, a Study of Phantoms. By A. d’Assier, member of the Bordeaux Academy of Sciences. Translated and annotated by H. S. Olcott. London, G. Redway.
- ↑ Glimpses of Irish Industries. By J. Bowles Daly, LL.D.
- ↑ By Josiah Mallett. – The English Publishing Co.
- ↑ Editor’s note: The punctuation after “Immensity” is indistinct in the available scan; the visible raised dot is retained.
- ↑ Editor’s note: “infinite” has been corrected to “finite” as directed in the original journal’s “Errata in Psychic Fire, November Number”, Lucifer, vol. V, p. 444.
- ↑ Editor’s note: “life of” has been corrected to “line of” as directed in the original journal’s errata, Lucifer, vol. V, p. 444.
- ↑ Editor’s note: “in” has been corrected to “is” as directed in the original journal’s errata, Lucifer, vol. V, p. 444.
- ↑ Nor was it ever claimed by us. On the contrary, the hitherto very esoteric doctrine of the Nirmanakayas was lately brought forward as a proof and explained in the treatise called The Voice of the Silence. These Nirmanakayas are the Bodhisattvas or late Adepts, who having reached Nirvana and liberation from rebirth renounce it voluntarily in order to remain invisibly amidst the world to help poor ignorant Humanity within the lines permitted by Karma. These are the real spirits of the disembodied men, and we recognise no others. The rest are either Devachanees to whose plane the spirit of the living medium must ascend, and who therefore, can never descend to our plane, or spooks of the first water. But then no Nirmanakaya will influence any man for the benefit of the latter for his own weal, or to save him from anything save death, and that only if the man’s life is useful. By the fruit we recognise the tree. Units are as the leaves of that tree for them; and they look forward to benefit and save the trunk, not to concern themselves with its every leaf, whether good, bad, or indifferent. Even living Adepts have no such right. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Not on the physical plane, as it would come then to a deliberate gratification of all our passions, in order to get rid of them by satiety, and this is an abomination. – [Ed.]
- ↑ “Experience must be gained” of every evil as good passion mentally, and overcome in thought, by reflection. Love and longing for higher things on a Spiritual plane will thus leave no room for the lower animal longings.
- ↑ Whether this teaching agrees with Theosophy depends on the meaning given by the mystic to “the All-Good Intelligence.” If this is a Being or “Intelligence” outside of us, then it would point to either a personal God or a spirit, which is no part of the Theosophical teachings. But if it refers to our Higher Self, then we are at one with the writer. Only in this case It (Atman) has no Will of its own, as It is no conditioned thing. The expression is faulty. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Theosophists would call this necromancy and unconscious black magic. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Surely no “Indian” nor any other adept, would go to the trouble of disturbing himself to announce such a trifling event as the one mentioned! Especially when a letter to that effect came “an hour later” and was all that was required. This was simply a case of the writer’s own natural clairvoyance. What would an adept have to do with this? – [Ed.]
- ↑ Why “loving”? If absolute, it can have no attributes either of love or hatred. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Vide foot note supra. We recognise no Being to whom such a phrase may be addressed. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Editor’s note: An unexplained vertical stroke precedes “ourselves” in the available scan; the visible reading is retained pending comparison with another copy.
- ↑ By Alfred J. Pearce. Cousins & Co. 6 Helmet Court (338) Strand. Price 15/0.
- ↑ By Gilbert Elliot, F.T.S. London, G. Redway, 1889.
- ↑ By Wm. C. Eldon Serjeant. Author’s Edition. London, 1889. The Theosophical Publishing Company Limited, pp. 79. Price 5s.
- ↑ By Alfred Pioda, F.T.S.
- ↑ Would not “thy body below be tinctured of a violet colour” rather refer to the Linga Sharira which corresponds to the violet colour as a compound of red (Kamarupa) and indigo dark blue of the upper Manas – the “purple” becoming obscure, meaning simply the beginning of the purification of the lower Quaternary? – [Ed.]
- ↑ That is to say, the “Soul (Manas) and Body of Man” (Body standing for the astral man) assimilate Spirit (Buddhi); are made “Life with Life” (or merge into the one life). In other words the mysterious process of the transformation of lead (personality) into gold (pure, homogeneous Spirit) is here meant. Verily the Stone is born of the Spirit. – [Ed.]
- ↑ “This translation is described in the Theologica Germanica (Chap. xi.) as something which is called “the Eternal Good,” and is said to be “so noble and passing good that none can search out or express its bliss, consolation and joy, peace, rest and satisfaction.”
- ↑ The transcendent red or golden orange of the Sun. This must not be confused with the scarlet Kamarupan redness. Have in mind the colour of the Yogi-robes, the colour of which is symbolical of the sun of life and of human life-blood. – [Ed.]
- ↑ By “Lord” the Higher Self is here meant – “that self which is the Redeemer of man” whether it be called Christos or Krishna. – [Ed.]
- ↑ The four elements of nature are seen running into each other, so that they constitute a circle.
- ↑ This “philosophical Vine” is the lower Manas merged at last and reunited to its higher Alter Ego, when it begins to bring forth the green clusters of the “true Vine” for the Husbandman, the “Father” or Higher Self (Atma Buddhi) vide Gosp. St. John xv. – [Ed.]
- ↑ This “danger” comes from the Antaskarana the bridge of communication between the Personality and the individuality not being yet destroyed. Vide “Shri Vakya Sudha,” the Philosophy of Subject and Object, page 3, 1st note in Raja Yoga, Practical Metaphysics of the Vidanta. – [Ed.]
- ↑ The green of the lower Monas, the Animal Soul, will be “overcome with azure” or the reflection of the Higher, (which is Indigo) into their aura which is blue, when pure. – [Ed.]
- ↑ The cycle of the 46 Fires, the period between death and new rebirth, on Devachan. The cycle o the 49 Fires is the period between two manvantaras. The members of the E. S. will understand it better than the F. T. S. – [Ed.]
- ↑ The Higher Self will shed its radiance on the heart (the chamber of Brahma) of even the still living Man. – [Ed.]
- ↑ From the death in matter into the Life in Spirit. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Man becomes a Christos, the Master and custodian of “death and hell,” i.e. of Earth, Matter and of the physical body of Senses. – [Ed.]
- ↑ All the “Principles” in Man merge into one “Principle” – Atma Buddhi, the grosser terrestrial elements of the lower body being of course destroyed. – [Ed.]
- ↑ It is hardly necessary to render this more clearly. With the ancient Mystics and even the modern Occultists, the physical body was ever called, “the grave” and the “Hell,” while the Spiritual man was referred to as the Heavenly Power etc. – [Ed.]
- ↑ Man rises to glory through suffering in order to be made “pliable and yielding,” or impervious to the emotions and feelings of his physical senses. – [Ed.]
- ↑ This “Fire” is that of Alaya, the World-Soul,” the essence of which is Love, i.e. homogeneous Sympathy, which is Harmony, or the “Music of the Spheres.” Vide “Voice of the Silence” IIId Treatise page 69.
- ↑ This sentence must not be misunderstood as it is reported a little too vaguely. The “Spiritual Monad” is eternal because uncreate, but its “individual persistence” – in human form and bodies on this terrestrial chain or during the life-cycle, lasts only “one manvantara.” This does not prevent the same Spiritual Monad starting at the end of Mahapralaya (the Grand Age of Rest) unto another higher and more perfect “life-cycle” with the fruit of the accumulated experiences of all the personalities the “individual” Ego (manas) had informed.
- ↑ By Nizida. Theosophical Publishing Co., 7, Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C. –
- ↑ According to Occult teaching the Astral light is not the “thought substance” of the Universe, but the recorder of every thought; the universal mirror which reflects every event and thought as every being and thing, animate or inanimate. We call it the great Sea of Illusion, Maya. – [Ed.]
- ↑ By Lord Queensberry: London, Watts & Co.
- ↑ By Lizzie Mary Little. Dublin, William Magee.
- ↑ Taken from a legend in the history of Buddhism
- ↑ This is in reference to an article already written by Dr. Carter Blake in answer to an attack in the “Medical Press and Circular” upon the Secret Doctrine, or rather upon its author who was more abused in it than her work. As the latter had evidently never been read by the writer of the attack, Dr. Carter Blake, who is certainly a greater authority on Anthropology than our kind critic, was good enough to write in defence of the Secret Doctrine, but his reply was courteously declined. – [Ed.]
- ↑ “Magic, White and Black,” p. 176.
- ↑ Five Years of Theosophy, p. 241.
- ↑ Five Years of Theosophy, p. 252.
- ↑ Secret Doctrine, Vol. I. p. 567.
- ↑ Secret Doctrine, Vol. I. p. 389.
- ↑ Copyright.
- ↑ That interpolations in the original scriptural MSS. were made at different times is a fact known to scholars, and even if they may be of no great importance, they prove a principle. 1 John v. 7 is an admitted addition to the original text, and by no means stands alone. The Council of Trent, in 1545, declared the Vulgate version of Jerome in Latin, issued in 405, to be authentic. Wycliffe translated from the Vulgate; Tyndale from the original Greek.
- ↑ A. W. Hall, 132, Fleet Street.
- ↑ Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, E.C.
- ↑ By Mary Boole. London: Francis Edwards, High Street, Marylebone.
- ↑ From the writings of the Author of “From Over the Tomb.” London: James Burns.
- ↑ Attempts have recently been made to discredit the martyrdom of Jeanne d’Arc, probably for the credit of both Church and State in France, but the evidence is too strong. During the reaction which followed only a few years after her death, France would have eagerly seized on any substantial proof that she was guiltless of one of the darkest crimes which stains her history.
- ↑ Reference is made to a fast held in memory of this massacre in an old register of the Huguenot refugees in the church of “God's House” at Southampton. It is there stated that twelve or thirteen thousand were killed in one night, “the 24th of August last.” Various numbers have been stated, and I therefore refrain from quoting any.
- ↑ “Examine language,” says Carlyle; “what, if you except some few primitive elements (as natural sound), what is it all but metaphors, recognised as such or no longer recognised; still fluid and florid, or now solid-grown and colourless?”
- ↑ Translated by Katherine Prescott Wormeley, with an Introduction by George Frederic Parsons. Roberts Bros. Boston, 1889.
- ↑ By Hargrave Jennings: London, George Redway, 1890.
- ↑ The Italics are the Reviewer’s.
- ↑ By the Phelons: The Hermetic Publishing Co. Chicago, Ill. 1889, price $1·50.
- ↑ By Marie L. Farrington. Published by the author, San Francisco, Cal., 1889.