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{{HPB-CW-comment | {{Style P-Align center|1={{HPB-CW-comment|1=[''La Revue Théosophique'', Paris, Vol. I, No. 2, April 21, 1889, pp. 1-8]}}}} | ||
{{Style P-Align center|1={{HPB-CW-comment|1=[''Translation of the foregoing original French text''.]}}}} | |||
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| 1 = ''The Initiates are sure to come in company with the gods''. | | 1 = ''The Initiates are sure to come in company with the gods''. | ||
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In the first issue of ''La Revue Théosophique'', at the beginning of the fine lecture of our Brother and colleague, the learned corresponding secretary of the ''Hermes'' Theosophical Society, we read in a note (note 2, p. 23) : | In the first issue of ''La Revue Théosophique'', at the beginning of the fine lecture of our Brother and colleague, the learned corresponding secretary of the ''Hermes'' Theosophical Society, we read in a note (note 2, p. 23) : | ||
{{Style P- | {{Style P-Quote|margin=0.5em 0|1=We term ''Initiate'' every seeker in possession of the elementary data of occult science. It is necessary to be careful not to confuse this term with the term ''Adept'', which stands for the highest degree to which an Initiate can attain. We have in Europe many Initiates, but I do not think there are any Adepts, like those of the Orient.}} | ||
Unfamiliar with the fine points of the French language, and not having at my elbow even an etymological dictionary, it is impossible for me to say whether this double definition is authorized in French, except in the terminology of Free-Masons. But in English, and according to the meaning sanctioned by usage among the Theosophists and the Occultists of India, these two terms have a meaning absolutely different from the one given to them by the author; I may say that the definition given by Monsieur Papus of the word ''Adept'' is one that applies to the word ''Initiate'', and ''vice versa''. | Unfamiliar with the fine points of the French language, and not having at my elbow even an etymological dictionary, it is impossible for me to say whether this double definition is authorized in French, except in the terminology of Free-Masons. But in English, and according to the meaning sanctioned by usage among the Theosophists and the Occultists of India, these two terms have a meaning absolutely different from the one given to them by the author; I may say that the definition given by Monsieur Papus of the word ''Adept'' is one that applies to the word ''Initiate'', and ''vice versa''. | ||
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Let no one object to this assertion which is a well-established fact. I take the opportunity of reminding the Masonic Gentlemen who might read this, that, as far as ''esoteric'' Masonry is concerned, nearly all its secrets have disappeared since Elias Ashmole and his immediate successors. If they try to contradict us, we will tell them, as Job did: “Thine own mouth condemneth thee and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee” (xv, 6). | Let no one object to this assertion which is a well-established fact. I take the opportunity of reminding the Masonic Gentlemen who might read this, that, as far as ''esoteric'' Masonry is concerned, nearly all its secrets have disappeared since Elias Ashmole and his immediate successors. If they try to contradict us, we will tell them, as Job did: “Thine own mouth condemneth thee and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee” (xv, 6). | ||
Our greatest secrets used to be taught in the Masonic lodges the world over. But their Grand Masters and ''Gurus'' perished one after the other, and what remained written in secret manuscripts — like the one of Nicholas Stone, for instance, destroyed in 1720 by conscientious brethren — was reduced to ashes between the end of the {{Style S-Small capitals|xvii}} | Our greatest secrets used to be taught in the Masonic lodges the world over. But their Grand Masters and ''Gurus'' perished one after the other, and what remained written in secret manuscripts — like the one of Nicholas Stone, for instance, destroyed in 1720 by conscientious brethren — was reduced to ashes between the end of the {{Style S-Small capitals|xvii}}th and the beginning of the {{Style S-Small capitals|xviii}}th century in England, as well as on the continent.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|1=[This is what Mackey’s ''Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry'' (1929), Vol. II, p. 970, says about it: | ||
{{Style P-Quote|margin=0.5em 0 0.5em 2em|1=“This manuscript is no longer in existence, having been one of those which was destroyed, in 1720, by some too scrupulous Brethren. Brother Preston (1792 edition, p. 167) describes it as ‘an old manuscript, which was destroyed with many others in 1720, said to have been in the possession of Nicholas Stone, a curious sculptor under Inigo Jones.’ Preston gives, however, an extract from it, which details the affection borne by Saint Alban for the Freemasons, the wages he gave them, and the Charter which he obtained from the King to hold a General Assembly. Anderson (''Constitutions'', 1738, p. 99) who calls Stone the Warden of Inigo Jones, intimates that he wrote the manuscript, and gives it as authority for a statement that in 1607 Jones held the Quarterly Communications. The extract made by Preston, and the brief reference by Anderson, are all that is left of the ''Stone Manuscript''.”|signature=—''Compiler''.]}} | |||
}} | |||
}}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
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{{Page aside|184}} | {{Page aside|184}} | ||
Certain brethren in England have said from mouth to ear that the destruction was the result of a shameful pact between certain Masons and the Church. An aged “brother,” a great Kabbalist, has just died here, whose grandfather, a renowned Mason, was an intimate friend of Count de Saint-Germain, when the latter was sent, it is said, by Louis XV, to England, in 1760, to negotiate peace between the two countries. The Count de Saint-Germain left in the hands of this Mason certain documents relating to the history of Masonry, and containing the key to more than one misunderstood mystery. He did so on the condition that these documents would become the secret heritage of all those descendants of the Kabbalists who became Masons. These papers, however, were of value to but two Masons: the father and the son who has just died, and they will be of no use to anyone else in Europe. | Certain brethren in England have said from mouth to ear that the destruction was the result of a shameful pact between certain Masons and the Church. An aged “brother,” a great Kabbalist, has just died here, whose grandfather, a renowned Mason, was an intimate friend of Count de Saint-Germain, when the latter was sent, it is said, by Louis XV, to England, in 1760, to negotiate peace between the two countries. The Count de Saint-Germain left in the hands of this Mason certain documents relating to the history of Masonry, and containing the key to more than one misunderstood mystery. He did so on the condition that these documents would become the secret heritage of all those descendants of the Kabbalists who became Masons. These papers, however, were of value to but two Masons: the father and the son who has just died, and they will be of no use to anyone else in Europe. Before his death, the precious documents were left with an Oriental (a Hindu) who was commissioned to transmit them to a certain person who would come to Amritsar, City of Immortality, to claim them. It is also told, confidentially, that the famous founder of the Lodge of Trinosophists, J. M. Ragon, was also initiated into many secrets by an Oriental, in Belgium, and some say that he knew Saint-Germain in his youth. This might perhaps explain why the author of the ''Tuileur général de la Franc-Maçonnerie'', or ''Manuel de l’Initié'', affirmed that Elias Ashmole was the real founder of modern Masonry. No one knew better than Ragon the extent of the loss of Masonic secrets, as he himself says: | ||
“It is of the very essence and nature of the Mason to seek light wherever he thinks he can find it,” proclaims the ''circular'' of the Grand Orient of France. “In the meanwhile,” he adds, “they give the Masons the glorious title of children of light, and they leave them enveloped in darkness!”<ref>''Cours philosophique'', etc., pp. 59-60.</ref> | |||
Thus, if Monsieur Papus copied the Masons, as we think, in his definition of the terms ''Adept'' and ''Initiate'', he was wrong, for one does not turn towards darkness when one is already standing in the light. Theosophy has invented {{Page aside|185}}nothing, has said nothing new, but simply faithfully repeats the lessons of the remotest antiquity. The terminology established some fifteen years ago in the Theosophical Society is the correct one, because in every case these terms are a faithful translation of their Sanskrit equivalents, almost as old as the latest human race. This terminology could not be modified at present, without running the risk of introducing into the theosophical teachings a chaos which would be deplorable and dangerous to their clarity. | Thus, if Monsieur Papus copied the Masons, as we think, in his definition of the terms ''Adept'' and ''Initiate'', he was wrong, for one does not turn towards darkness when one is already standing in the light. Theosophy has invented {{Page aside|185}}nothing, has said nothing new, but simply faithfully repeats the lessons of the remotest antiquity. The terminology established some fifteen years ago in the Theosophical Society is the correct one, because in every case these terms are a faithful translation of their Sanskrit equivalents, almost as old as the latest human race. This terminology could not be modified at present, without running the risk of introducing into the theosophical teachings a chaos which would be deplorable and dangerous to their clarity. | ||
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Let us remind ourselves of these truthful words of Ragon: | Let us remind ourselves of these truthful words of Ragon: | ||
{{Style P- | {{Style P-Quote|margin=0.5em 0|1=''Initiation had its cradle in India''. It has preceded the civilizations of Asia and Greece, and in refining the mind and the customs of the people, it has furnished the basis for all civil, political, and religious laws.}} | ||
The word ''initiate'' is the same as ''dvija'', the “twice-born” Brâhmana. It means that initiation was considered a birth into a new life, or, as Apuleius has it, it is a “resurrection to a new life,” ''novam vitam inibat'' . . .<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[Although these actual words could not be located in the Latin text of Apuleius’ ''Metamorphoses'', yet it is most likely that what is meant is the passage in Book XI, xvi (Helm’s ed.), which states in parts: “''qui vitae praecedentis innocentia fideque meruerit . . . ut renatus quodam modo statim'' . . .” — “one who earned by reason of the innocence (blamelessness) of his former life a sort of resurrection, etc.”<br> | The word ''initiate'' is the same as ''dvija'', the “twice-born” Brâhmana. It means that initiation was considered a birth into a new life, or, as Apuleius has it, it is a “resurrection to a new life,” ''novam vitam inibat'' . . .<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[Although these actual words could not be located in the Latin text of Apuleius’ ''Metamorphoses'', yet it is most likely that what is meant is the passage in Book XI, xvi (Helm’s ed.), which states in parts: “''qui vitae praecedentis innocentia fideque meruerit . . . ut renatus quodam modo statim'' . . .” — “one who earned by reason of the innocence (blamelessness) of his former life a sort of resurrection, etc.”<br> | ||
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Except for what has been pointed out above, the lecture of Monsieur Papus on the seal of the Society is admirable, and the erudition which he displays therein is most remarkable. The Fellows of our Fraternity owe him sincere thanks for explanations which are as clear and just as they are interesting. | Except for what has been pointed out above, the lecture of Monsieur Papus on the seal of the Society is admirable, and the erudition which he displays therein is most remarkable. The Fellows of our Fraternity owe him sincere thanks for explanations which are as clear and just as they are interesting. | ||
{{Style P-Signature custom|H. P. Blavatsky.|shift=2em}} | |||
{{Style P-Signature custom|H. P. {{Style S-Small capitals|Blavatsky.}}|shift=2em}} | |||
{{Style P-No indent|London, March, 1889.}} | {{Style P-No indent|London, March, 1889.}} | ||
{{Style P-Separator custom}} | {{Style P-Separator custom}} | ||
{{Footnotes}} | {{Footnotes}} | ||